Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is a perennial herb belonging to the family Araliaceae and has been used for thousands of years in East Asia as an essential traditional medicine with a wide range of pharmacological activities of its main active ingredient, ginsenosides. The AP2/ERF gene family, widely present in plants, is a class of transcription factors capable of responding to ethylene regulation that has an influential role in regulating the synthesis of major active ingredients in medicinal plants and in response to biotic and abiotic stresses, which have not been reported in Panax ginseng. In this study, the AP2/ERF gene was localized on the ginseng chromosome, and an AP2/ERF gene duplication event was also discovered in Panax ginseng. The expression of seven ERF genes and three key enzyme genes related to saponin synthesis was measured by fluorescence quantitative PCR using ethylene treatment of ginseng hairy roots, and it was observed that ethylene promoted the expression of genes related to the synthesis of ginsenosides, among which the PgERF120 gene was the most sensitive to ethylene. We analyzed the sequence features and expression patterns of the PgERF120 gene and found that the expression of the PgERF120 gene was specific in time and space. The PgERF120 gene was subsequently cloned, and plant overexpression and RNA interference vectors were constructed. Ginseng adventitious roots were transformed using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated method to obtain transgenic ginseng hairy roots, and the gene expression, ginsenoside content and malondialdehyde content in overexpression-positive hairy roots were also analyzed. This study preliminarily verified that the PgERF120 gene can be involved in the regulation of ginsenoside synthesis, which provides a theoretical basis for the study of functional genes in ginseng and a genetic resource for the subsequent use of synthetic biology methods to improve the yield of ginsenosides.

Jilin ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) has a long history of medicinal use worldwide. The quality of ginseng is governed by a variety of internal and external factors. Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y), an important transcription factor in eukaryotes, plays a crucial role in the plant response to abiotic stresses by binding to a specific promoter, the CCAAT box. However, the NF-Y gene family has not been reported in Panax ginseng. In this study, 115 PgNF-Y transcripts with 40 gene IDs were identified from the Jilin ginseng transcriptome database. These genes were classified into the PgNF-YA (13), PgNF-YB (14), and PgNF-YC (13) subgroups according to their subunit types, and their nucleotide sequence lengths, structural domain information, and amino acid sequence lengths were analyzed. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the 79 PgNF-Y transcripts with complete ORFs were divided into three subfamilies, NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC. PgNF-Y was annotated to eight subclasses under three major functions (BP, MF, and CC) by GO annotation, indicating that these transcripts perform different functions in ginseng growth and development. Expression pattern analysis of the roots of 42 farm cultivars, 14 different tissues of 4-year-old ginseng plants, and the roots of 4 different-ages of ginseng plants showed that PgNF-Y gene expression differed across lineages and had spatiotemporal specificity. Coexpression network analysis showed that PgNF-Ys acted synergistically with each other in Jilin ginseng. In addition, the analysis of the response of PgNF-YB09, PgNF-YC02, and PgNF-YC07-04 genes to salt stress treatment was investigated by fluorescence quantitative PCR. The expression of these genes increased after salt stress treatment, indicating that they may be involved in the regulation of the response to salt stresses in ginseng. These results provide important functional genetic resources for the improvement and gene breeding of ginseng in the future.Conclusions: This study fills a knowledge gap regarding the NF-Y gene family in ginseng, provides systematic theoretical support for subsequent research on PgNF-Y genes, and provides data resources for resistance to salt stress in ginseng.

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Mey.) is an important and valuable medicinal plant species used in traditional Chinese medicine, and its metabolite ginsenoside is the primary active ingredient. The FAR1/FHY3 gene family members play critical roles in plant growth and development as well as participate in a variety of physiological processes, including plant development and signaling of hormones. Studies have indicated that methyl jasmonate treatment of ginseng adventitious roots resulted in a significant increase in the content of protopanaxadiol ginsenosides. Therefore, it is highly significant to screen the FAR1/FHY3 gene family members in ginseng and preliminarily investigate their expression patterns in response to methyl jasmonic acid signaling. In this study, we screened and identified the FAR1/FHY3 family genes in the ginseng transcriptome databases. And then, we analyzed their gene structure and phylogeny, chromosomal localization and expression patterns, and promoter cis-acting elements, and made GO functional annotations on the members of this family. After that, we treated the ginseng adventitious roots with 200 mM methyl jasmonate and investigated the trend of the expression of four genes containing the largest number of methyl jasmonate cis-acting elements at different treatment times. All four genes were able to respond to methyl jasmonate, the most significant change was in the PgFAR40 gene. This study provides data support for subsequent studies of this family member in ginseng and provides experimental reference for subsequent validation of the function of this family member under methyl jasmonic acid signaling.

Genes are the keys to deciphering the molecular mechanism underlying a biological trait and designing approaches desirable for plant genetic improvement. Ginseng is an important medicinal herb in which ginsenosides have been shown to be the major bioactive component; however, only a few genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis have been cloned through orthologue analysis. Here, we report the identification of 21 genes controlling Rb1 biosynthesis by stepwise ginseng transcriptome and Rb1 content integrated analysis. We first identified the candidate genes for Rb1 biosynthesis by integrated analysis of genes with the trait from four aspects, including gene transcript differential expression between highest- and lowest-Rb1 content cultivars, gene transcript expression–Rb1 content correlation, and biological impacts of gene mutations on Rb1 content, followed by the gene transcript co-expression network. Twenty-two candidate genes were identified, of which 21 were functionally validated for Rb1 biosynthesis by gene regulation, genetic transformation, and mutation analysis. These genes were strongly correlated in expression with the previously cloned genes encoding key enzymes for Rb1 biosynthesis. Based on the correlations, a pathway for Rb1 biosynthesis was deduced to indicate the roles of the genes in Rb1 biosynthesis. Moreover, the genes formed a strong co-expression network with the previously cloned Rb1 biosynthesis genes, and the variation in the network was associated with the variation in the Rb1 content. These results indicate that Rb1 biosynthesis is a process of correlative interactions among Rb1 biosynthesis genes. Therefore, this study provides new knowledge, 21 new genes, and 96 biomarkers for Rb1 biosynthesis useful for enhanced research and breeding in ginseng.

Mentha spicata, also known as mint, is the best known source of aromatic essential oil. It was widespread in Europe and Asia. But due to human activity, it has been classified as Least Concern (LC) species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Here, we presented the complete chloroplast genome of M. spicata. The circular genome is 16,430 bp in length and contains 132 genes, including 87 protein-coding genes (PCG), 37 transfer RNA genes (tRNA) and eight ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA). The overall nucleotide composition is: 30.7% A, 19.2% C, 18.6% G, 31.5% T, with a total G + C content of 37.85%. The phylogenetic tree was constructed to explore the taxonomic status of M. spicata, which contributes to phylogenetic studies and further conservation strategies for this species.

GRAS transcription factors are a kind of plant-specific transcription factor that have been found in a variety of plants. According to previous studies, GRAS proteins are widely involved in the physiological processes of plant signal transduction, stress, growth and development. The Jilin ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is a heterogeneous tetraploid perennial herb of the Araliaceae family, ginseng genus. Important information regarding the GRAS transcription factors has not been reported in ginseng. In this study, 59 Panax ginseng GRAS (PgGRAS) genes were obtained from the Jilin ginseng transcriptome data and divided into 13 sub-families according to the classification of Arabidopsis thaliana. Through systematic evolution, structural variation, function and gene expression analysis, we further reveal GRAS’s potential function in plant growth processes and its stress response. The expression of PgGRAS genes responding to gibberellin acids (GAs) suggests that these genes could be activated after application concentration of GA. The qPCR analysis result shows that four PgGRAS genes belonging to the DELLA sub-family potentially have important roles in the GA stress response of ginseng hairy roots. This study provides not only a preliminary exploration of the potential functions of the GRAS genes in ginseng, but also valuable data for further exploration of the candidate PgGRAS genes of GA signaling in Jilin ginseng, especially their roles in ginseng hairy root development and GA stress response.