The AP2/ERF Transcription Factor PgERF120 Regulates Ginsenoside Biosynthesis in Ginseng

Ginseng (<i>Panax ginseng</i> C.A. Meyer) is a perennial herb belonging to the family <i>Araliaceae</i> 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 <i>AP2/ERF</i> 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 <i>Panax ginseng</i>. In this study, the <i>AP2/ERF</i> gene was localized on the ginseng chromosome, and an <i>AP2/ERF</i> gene duplication event was also discovered in <i>Panax ginseng</i>. The expression of seven <i>ERF</i> 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 <i>PgERF120</i> gene was the most sensitive to ethylene. We analyzed the sequence features and expression patterns of the <i>PgERF120</i> gene and found that the expression of the <i>PgERF120</i> gene was specific in time and space. The <i>PgERF120</i> gene was subsequently cloned, and plant overexpression and RNA interference vectors were constructed. Ginseng adventitious roots were transformed using the <i>Agrobacterium tumefaciens</i>-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 <i>PgERF120</i> 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.