A new leaf-mustard kimchi season is here, stimulating appetites with the unique flavor and aroma of leaf mustard and ground red chili, plus the promise of enriched calcium.

The joint research by Professor Youngsook Lee of the Department of Life Science. and Dr. Won-Yong Song and Prof. Martinoia of University of Zurich  have created a way for producing the calcium-rich product.

The research team found that the protein, BjPCR1, facilitates transportation to calcium absorbed from root hair of plants to inner cells. Prof. Lee’s research team demon-strated the fact that BjPCR controls the transport of calcium by developing BjPCR1 over-expressed leaf-mustards at epidermis cells of roots.

Previously, it is known that the endodermis of roots decides the selective permeability of ions. However, based on this result, the research team proposed the hypothesis that the concentration of calcium ions of inner cells also depend on the amount of BjPCR1 expressed inside the epidermis cells of roots. Prof. Lee expects this research to be applied to producing calcium-rich products.

The paper, titled “Brassica Juncea Plant Cadmium Resistance 1 Protein (BjPCR1) Facilitates the Radial Transport of Calcium in the Root,” was published in the online edition of Proceedings of National Academyof Sciences of the United States of America on Nov. 17.