Regulation of somatic embryogenesis in Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer cell cultures by PgCDPK2DS1

We isolated the full-length cDNA of PgCDPK2DS1 gene whose expression was significantly increased at early stages of embryo development in cell cultures of ginseng P. ginseng 2c3. Interest in this gene also was supported by its nonstandard structure: the amino acid sequence of the PgCDPK2DS1 gene contained only the N-terminal domain and 80% of the kinase domain. Overexpression of the PgCDPK2DS1 gene in nonembryonic calli 1c resulted in the appearance of embryonic structures in the PgCDPK2DS1-transgenic ginseng cell culture 1c-2d. Also, expression of the plant embryogenesis marker genes WUS and SERK significantly increased in cell culture 1c-2d. The observed embryo-like structures were at early stages of embryo development; attempts to obtain adult plants from these embryo-like structures were unsuccessful. Overexpression of PgCDPK2DS1 gene in the embryonic cell culture PG resulted in a decrease of embryonic structures in the PgCDPK2DS1-transgenic ginseng cell culture PG-2d. Moreover, expression of plant embryogenesis marker genes WUS and SERK and expression of the endogenous PgCDPK2DS1 significantly decreased in the cell culture PG-2d. Thus, for the first time it was shown that the PgCDPK2DS1 gene is involved in the regulation of somatic embryogenesis in P. ginseng cell cultures.