This study aimed to elucidate the variations in primary and secondary metabolites during Lycorisradiata flower development using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). The result showed that seven carotenoids, seven phenolic acids, three anthocyanins, and galantamine were identified in the L. radiata flowers. Most secondary metabolite levels gradually decreased according to the flower developmental stages. A total of 51 metabolites, including amines, sugars, sugar intermediates, sugar alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, phenolic acids, and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, were identified and quantified using GC-TOFMS. Among the hydrophilic compounds, most amino acids increased during flower development; in contrast, TCA cycle intermediates and sugars decreased. In particular, glutamine, asparagine, glutamic acid, and aspartic acid, which represent the main inter- and intracellular nitrogen carriers, were positively correlated with the other amino acids and were negatively correlated with the TCA cycle intermediates. Furthermore, quantitation data of the 51 hydrophilic compounds were subjected to partial least-squares discriminant analyses (PLS-DA) to assess significant differences in the metabolites of L. radiata flowers from stages 1 to 4. Therefore, this study will serve as the foundation for a biochemical approach to understand both primary and secondary metabolism in L. radiata flower development.

The effects of black ginseng, which has many kinds of biological activities, on dogs was investigated. Serum samples of beagle dogs, which were fed with black ginseng for 8 weeks, were measured using high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry. Acquired NMR data from the serum of dogs fed for 0, 4, and 8 weeks were analyzed by metabolic profiling and multivariate statistical analysis. In statistical analysis and biomarker analysis results of metabolite profiles, formate, glutamine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, proline, and valine had variable importance in projection (VIP) scores above 1.0 and excellent area under the curve (AUC) values of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves above 0.9. In the result of multivariate statistical analysis, the score plot showed the discrimination between before and after feeding of black ginseng. These differences in metabolic profiles are considered to be due to the involvement of metabolic processes following black ginseng administration, such as enhancing immunity and energy metabolism. Through metabolomics analysis, we confirmed the biological efficacy of black ginseng in dogs and also confirmed that metabolomics can be applied to the pet health industry.

Korean Journal for Food Science of Animal Resources (Korean J. Food Sci. An.) is an international, peerreviewed bimonthly journal publishing original research and reviews on basic and applied aspects of the use of animal resources including the meat, egg, and dairy product. Korean J. Food Sci. An. is published and distributed by the Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources (Korean J. Food Sci. An).

Chlorophyll biosynthesis is a crucial biological process in plants, and chlorophyll content is one of the most important traits in rice breeding programs. In this study, we identified a lethal, chlorophyll-deficient, yellow seedling (YS) phenotype segregating in progeny of CR5055-21, an F₂ plant derived from a backcross between Korean japonica variety ‘Hwaseong’ (Oryza sativa) and CR5029, which is mostly Hwaseong with a small amount of Oryza grandiglumis chromosome segments. The segregation of the mutant phenotype was consistent with a single gene recessive mutation. Light microscopy of YS leaf cross-sections revealed loosely arranged mesophyll cells and sparse parenchyma in contrast to wildtype. In addition, transmission electron microscopy showed that chloroplasts did not develop in the mesophyll cells of the YS mutant. Quantitative trait loci (QTL)-seq analysis did not detect any significant QTL, however, examination of the individual delta-SNP index identified a 2-bp deletion (AG) in the OsCHLI gene, a magnesium (Mg)-chelatase subunit. A dCAPs marker was designed and genotyping of a segregating population (n = 275) showed that the mutant phenotype co-segregated with the marker. The 2-bp deletion was predicted to result in a frameshift mutation generating a premature termination. The truncated protein likely affects formation and function of Mg-chelatase, which consists of three different subunits that together catalyze the first committed step of chlorophyll biosynthesis. Transcriptome analysis showed that photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism pathways were significantly altered although expression of OsCHLI was not. Chlorophyll- and carotenoid-related genes were also differentially expressed in the YS mutant. Our findings demonstrated that OsCHLI plays an important role in leaf pigment biosynthesis and leaf structure development in rice.

Lavandula pubescens, belonging to the Labiatae family, is a newly discovered strongly aromatic species of lavender that is potentially beneficial for human health. Given the economic importance of lavender species, we sought in this study to characterize the terpenoid biosynthesis of L. pubescens by obtaining transcriptomic and metabolic datasets. Transcriptome analysis of L. pubescens grown aseptically in tissue culture medium yielded 124,233 unigenes with an average length of 470 bp and N50 value of 522 bp from 9,476,122,928 raw reads. In order to provide relevant biological information, the unigenes were annotated using the following public databases: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) nucleotide (NT) and non-redundant protein (NR), Brassica (BRAD), Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR), Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), and Gene Ontology (GO). NR annotation results revealed that L. pubescens is genetically closely related to Sesamum indicum. On the basis of the transcriptome data, a total of 14 cDNA clones encoding the terpene biosynthetic genes LpDXS, LpMCT, LpMCS, LpHDR, LpIDI, LpAACT, LpHMGS, LpHMGR, LpMVK, LpPMK, LpMVD, LpGPPS, LpSQS, and LpGGPPS were identified in L. pubescens. These were quantified in the roots, stems, and leaves of L. pubescens using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), which revealed that the gene expression levels were higher in the leaves and stems than in the roots, which was found to be consistent with the levels of ursolic and oleanolic acids in the different organs using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A total of 48 hydrophilic metabolites were identified and quantified in the organs using gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of an ethyl acetate extract of L. pubescens leaves was examined using different methods to determine the potential therapeutic properties. A reducing power assay revealed that the absorbance values increased in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay indicated the strong activity (60.4 ± 0.9%) of the ethyl acetate extract at a concentration of 100 µg/mL, which also showed strong hydrogen peroxide (57.4 ± 2.7%), superoxide radical (62.1 ± 0.7%), and hydroxyl radical (58.6 ± 0.4%) scavenging activities.

Agastache rugosa, otherwise called Korean mint, has a wide range of medicinal benefits. In addition, it is a rich source of several medicinally valuable compounds such as acacetin, tilianin, and some phenolic compounds. The present study aimed to investigate how the Tartary buckwheat transcription factor AtMYB12 increased the primary and secondary metabolites in Korean mint hairy roots cultured under light and dark conditions. A total of 50 metabolites were detected by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). The result showed that the AtMYB12 transcription factor upregulated the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway genes, which leads to the highest accumulation of primary and secondary metabolites in the AtMYB12-overexpressing hairy root lines (transgenic) than that of the GUS-overexpressing hairy root line (control) when grown under the light and dark conditions. However, when the transgenic hairy root lines were grown under dark conditions, the phenolic and flavone content was not significantly different from that of the control hairy root lines. Similarly, the heat map and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) result showed that most of the metabolites were significantly abundant in the transgenic hairy root cultures grown under light conditions. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed that the identified metabolites were separated far based on the primary and secondary metabolite contents present in the control and transgenic hairy root lines grown under light and dark conditions. Metabolic pathway analysis of the detected metabolites showed 54 pathways were identified, among these 30 were found to be affected. From these results, the AtMYB12 transcription factor activity might be light-responsive in the transgenic hairy root cultures, triggering the activation of the primary and secondary metabolic pathways in Korean mint.