Molecular Cloning of ATPase $\alpha$-Subunit Gene from Mitochondria of Korean Ginseng (Panu ginseng C.A. Meyer)

Molecular cloning and restriction mapping on ATPase $\alpha$-subunit gene (atpA) were carried out to obtain genomic information concerned with the gene structure and organization in Korean ginseng mitochondria. Two different clones containing the homologous sequence of atpA gene were selected from SalI and PstI libraries of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Korean ginseng. The sizes of mtDNA fragments inserted in SalI and PstI clones were 3.4 kb and 13 kb, respectively. Southern blot analysis with [$^{32}P$] labelled Oenothera atPA gene probe showed that atpA gene sequence was located in 2.0 kb XkaI fragment in PstI clone and in 1.7 kb XbaI fragment in SalI clone. A partial sequening ascertained that the SalI clone included about 1.2 kb fragment from SalI restriction site to C-terminal sequence of this gene but about 0.3 kb N-terminal sequence of open reading frame was abscent. The PstI fragment was enough large to cover the full sequence of atpA gene. The same restriction pattern of the overlapped region suggests that both clones include the same fragment of atiA locus. Data of Southern blot analysis and partial nucleotide sequencing suggested that mtDNA of Korean ginseng has a single copy of atpA gene. Key words ATPase a-subunit, mitochondrial DNA, Panax ginseng.