人参享有“百草之王”的美誉，是我国出口额最大的中药材品种之一。改良现有人参品种，开发出性状好、有效成分含量高的人参新品种，是提升中国人参国际竞争力的源头，而解决以上问题的关键在于阐明人参外在性状与内在质量的关系。课题组前期研究发现，人参皂苷对拟南芥干细胞具有调控作用，影响初生根长；人参不定根不同发育部位，干细胞调控基因WOX与人参皂苷合成基因的表达有明显差异。本项目拟基于已有工作基础，全面系统地研究WOX家族对人参质量变异的影响，深入挖掘人参WOX基因功能，明确不同WOX成员对人参干细胞分布及人参皂苷合成的影响，阐释人参性状与有效成分的内在关系，为靶向调控人参皂苷合成提供全新思路，为定向培育不同品系的人参奠定理论基础。

As “king of herbs”, ginseng is one of the largest export varieties of Chinese herbal medicines in China. It is essential to enhance the international competitiveness by means of improving the existing ginseng varieties and developing the new varieties with good properties and high effective component content. The key to solve the above problem is to clarify the regulatory mechanism of ginseng quality variation. In our previous study, ginsenoside can affect the primary root length by regulating the root stem cell of Arabidopsis thaliana. In addition, we have found the significant expression differences of WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) genes and genes related to ginsenoside biosynthesis in different developed parts of ginseng adventitious root. The project intend to study ginseng quality variation influenced by WOX members, explore the function of ginseng WOX genes, and clarify the relation among WOX members, properties and ginsenoside biosynthesis based on the previous work. This study will interpret the internal relation between ginseng properties and active constituents, give a new thought of targeted regulation of ginsenoside biosynthesis, and provide the theoretical basis for directional cultivating different ginseng varieties.