With the purpose of improving ginsenoside content in adventitious root cultures of Korean wild ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer), the roots were treated with different dosages of γ-ray (5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 200 Gy). The growth of adventitious roots was inhibited at over 100 Gy. The irradiated adventitious roots showed significant variation in the morphological parameters and crude saponin content at 50 to100 Gy. Therefore, four mutant cell lines out of the propagation of 35 cell lines treated with 50 Gy and 100 Gy were selected on the basis of phenotypic morphology and crude saponin contents relative to the wild type control. The contents of 7 major ginsenosides (Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rf, and Rd) were determined for cell lines 1 and 3 from 100 Gy and lines 2 and 4 from 50 Gy treatments. Cell line 2 showed more secondary roots, longer length and superior growth rate than the root controls in flasks and bioreactors. Cell line 1 showed larger average diameter and the growth rate in the bioreactor was comparable with that of the control but greater in the flask cultured roots. Cell lines 1 and 2, especially the former, showed much more ginsenoside contents than the control in flasks and bioreactors. Therefore, we chose cell line 1 for further study of ginsenoside contents. The crude saponin content of line 1 in flask and bioreactor cultures increased by 1.4 and 1.8-fold, respectively, compared to the control. Total contents of 7 ginsenoside types (Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rf, and Rd) increased by 1.8 and 2.3-fold, respectively compared to the control. Crude saponin and ginsenoside contents in the bioreactor culture increased by about 1.4-fold compared to that the flask culture.
Keywords: Adventitious root; Ginsenosides; Mutant; Panax ginseng; γ-irradiation.