Abstract:

Five Panax ginseng hairy root lines expressing antisense βAS were established. After 30 days of growth cultured in liquid, the levels of oleanane-type ginsenoside Ro in these antisense hairy root lines decreased by 13% to 40% compared with control line. While levels of dammarane-type ginsenosides (Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, Re, Rf and Rg1) increased in all five antisense hairy root lines, of which line A19 exhibited the max levels of dammaranetype ginsenosides, 30% higher than those of control line. It was observed that dammaranetype ginsenosides contents in these hairy root lines gradually increased during culture process. Additionally, relative to control lines, βAS enzyme activities of the antisense lines decreased up to 30%; while DAS enzyme activities were enhanced, especially in the antisense lines A19 (20% increase). Furthermore, the antisense lines show higher level of ginsenoside precursor (2, 3-oxidosqualene) than the control line.

Key words: bioengineering, metabolic engineering, ginsenosides, βAS,DAS, hairy roots