Discrimination of Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) cultivar Chunpoong and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) using the auxin repressed protein gene.

BACKGROUND: Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng) is one of the most important medicinal plants in the Orient. Among nine cultivars of P. ginseng, Chunpoong commands a much greater market value and has been planted widely in Korea. Chunpoong has superior quality "Chunsam" (1st grade ginseng) when made into red ginseng. METHODS: A rapid and reliable method for discriminating the Chunpoong cultivar was developed by exploiting a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the auxin repressed protein gene of nine Korean ginseng cultivars using specific primers. RESULTS: An SNP was detected between Chunpoong and other cultivars, and modified allele-specific primers were designed from this SNP site to specifically identify the Chunpoong cultivar and P. quinquefolius via multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that great impact to prevent authentication of precise Chunpoong and other cultivars using the auxin repressed protein gene. We therefore present an effective method for the authentication of the Chunpoong cultivar of P. ginseng and P. quinquefolius.

Characterization and antimicrobial application of biosynthesized gold and silver nanoparticles by using Microbacterium resistens.

Various microorganisms were found to be cable of synthesizing gold and silver nanoparticles when gold and silver salts were supplied in the reaction system. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the extracellular synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles by the type strain Microbacterium resistens(T) [KACC14505]. The biosynthesized gold and silver nanoparticles were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), field emission transmission electron micrograph (FE-TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), elemental mapping, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Moreover, the nanoparticles were evaluated for antimicrobial potential against various pathogenic microorganisms such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus [ATCC 33844], Salmonella enterica [ATCC 13076], Staphylococcus aureus [ATCC 6538], Bacillus anthracis [NCTC 10340], Bacillus cereus [ATCC 14579], Escherichia coli [ATCC 10798], and Candida albicans [KACC 30062]. The silver nanoparticles were found as a potent antimicrobial agent whereas gold nanoparticles not showed any ability. Therefore, the current study describes the simple, green, and extracellular synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles by the type strain Microbacterium resistens(T) [KACC14505].

Pseudomonas deceptionensis DC5-mediated synthesis of extracellular silver nanoparticles.

The biological synthesis of metal nanoparticles is of great interest in the field of nanotechnology. The present work highlights the extracellular biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Pseudomonas deceptionensis DC5. The particles were synthesized in the culture supernatant within 48 h of incubation. Extracellular synthesis of silver nanoparticles in the culture supernatant was confirmed by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, which showed the absorption peak at 428 nm, and also under field emission transmission electron microscopy which displayed the spherical shape. In addition, the particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, which corresponds to the crystalline nature of nanoparticles, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis which exhibited the intense peak at 3 keV, resembling the silver nanoparticles. Further, the synthesized nanoparticles were examined by elemental mapping which displayed the dominance of the silver element in the synthesized product, and dynamic light scattering which showed the distribution of silver nanoparticles with respect to intensity, volume, and number of particles. Moreover, the silver nanoparticles have been found to be quite active in antimicrobial activity and biofilm inhibition activity against pathogenic microorganisms. Thus, the present work emphasized the prospect of using the P. deceptionensis DC5 to achieve the extracellular synthesis of silver nanoparticles in a facile and environmental manner.