Arulkumar Nagappan
Research Institute of Life Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea
Nithya Karunanithi
Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Avinashilingam University for Women, Coimbatore 641043, Tamil Nadu, India
Sundareswaran Sentrayaperumal
Seed Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India
Kwang-II Park
Research Institute of Life Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea
Hyeon-Soo Park
Research Institute of Life Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea
Do Hoon Lee
Research Institute of Life Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea
Sang-Rim Kang
Research Institute of Life Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea
Jin-A Kim
Korea National Animal Research Resource Center, Gazwa, Jinju, 660-701, Republic of Korea
Kalaiselvi Senthil
Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Avinashilingam University for Women, Coimbatore 641043, Tamil Nadu, India
Senthil Natesan
Department of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, Tamil Nadu, India
Raveendran Muthurajan
Department of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, Tamil Nadu, India
Gon Sup Kim
Correspondence to: Dr. Gon Sup Kim, Research Institute of Life Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, 900 Gajwadong, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea. Tel: (+82) 55-772-2346, Fax: (+82) 55-772-2349.
Research Institute of Life Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongnam 660-701, Korea

Ginsenosides and withanolides are the secondary metabolites from Panax ginseng and Withania somnifera, respectively. These compounds have similar biological properties. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis was utilized to reveal the protein profile in the roots of both plants, with the aim of clarifying similarly- and differentially-expressed proteins. Total proteins of Korea ginseng (P. ginseng) and Indian ginseng (W. somnifera) roots were separated by 2-DE using a pH 4–7 immobilized pH gradient strip in the first dimension and 12% sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the second dimension. The protein spots were visualized by silver staining. Twenty-one P. ginseng proteins and 35 W. somnifera proteins were chosen for identification by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry; of these, functions were ascribed to 14 and 22 of the P. ginseng and W. somnifera proteins, respectively. Functions mainly included general cell metabolism, defense and secondary metabolism. ATPase and alcohol dehydrogenase proteins were expressed in both plants. The results of this study, to our knowledge, are the first to provide a reference 2-DE map for the W. somnifera root proteome, and will aid in the understanding of the expression and functions of proteins in the roots of Korean ginseng and Indian ginseng.

Comparative Proteomics; Panax ginseng; Withania somnifera; Solanaceae; Two Dimensional Electrophoresis