Plant Growth Acceleration Mechanism to Which Plasmacluster Technology Contribution Has Been Verified
Plant Growth Acceleration Mechanism to Which Plasmacluster Technology Contribution Has Been Verified
Rice seedlings after seven days of seeding left: fan only, right: with Plasmacluster ions
SHARP Corporation, jointly with Takashi Ikka, Associate Professor, and Hiroto Yamashita, Assistant Professor, at the Faculty of Agriculture, a national university corporation Shizuoka University*1, studied the mechanisms by which its Plasmacluster technology accelerates the growth of plants, verifying for the first time that Plasmacluster technology contributes to accelerating early stage growth in plants*2.
SHARP Corporation, which focused already on the possibility of the effect of Plasmacluster technology in being favorable to plant growth, examined this possibility and verified in 2016 that Plasmacluster technology accelerated the growth of lettuce*3.
In the present study, in order to verify the background mechanism by which Plasmacluster ions contribute to the growth of plants, experiments were conducted using a rice cultivar, with the entirety of its genetic information decoded. The results showed that in case where the plants were exposed to Plasmacluster ions from immediately after seeding, seedlings at an early stage of growth grew four times longer at maximum*4 than early-stage seedlings grown with a fan only, and it was confirmed that the growth accelerating mechanism involved amplification of the activity directed toward energy production (gene expression) by three times at the maximum*5. These results suggested that early-stage plant growth can be accelerated by the exposure to Plasmacluster ions.
Plasmacluster technology is an air-purifying technology using positive negative ions equivalent to those occurring in nature. SHARP Corporation has conducted studies on a variety of subjects related to this technology through national and international testing organizations for more than 20 years, where high levels of safety and different effects have been confirmed.
The results of the present study demonstrate the potential of Plasmacluster technology to contribute to solving the global challenge of sustainable increase of food productivity. SHARP Corporation continues to study the effects of Plasmacluster technology on plants and the mechanisms to exerting these effects to improve their reliability, as well as to pursue the possibilities and additional effectiveness of Plasmacluster in applying to new fields.
| <Comments from Associate Professor Takashi Ikka (Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University)> In conducting growth evaluation studies using rice and its genetic analyses, we have partly understood the mechanism by which exposure to Plasmacluster ions accelerates early-stage growth in plants. This finding leads us to believe that further studies will enable us application of Plasmacluster technology with various other crops. For example, application of Plasmacluster ions during the period between germination and seedling raising will shorten cultivation periods and reduce production costs, which lead to practical applications in crop cultivation. Additionally, in present plant factory, leafy vegetables such as lettuce are mainly cultivated in Japan, and in other countries grains such as rice have begun to be cultivated, and this verification results are highly significant for such fields. I hope the technology will help solve social issues through further studies for practical applications. |
*1 Location: Shizuoka-shi University president: Kazuyuki Hizume
*2 Growth from germination through the early stage of vegetative growth. In this study, we evaluated growth within several days after germination.
*3 Growth acceleration effects from Plasmacluster technology were verified in lettuce. https://jp.sharp/plasmacluster-tech/closeup/closeup03/
*4 Calculated from the average level after three days of seeding. (See Fig. 4 on page 2.)
*5 Calculated from the average level for Amy (amylase gene) after one hour of seeding. (See Fig. 5 on page 2.)
l Plasmacluster is a registered trademark of SHARP Corporation.
¢ Summary of the study to verify the mechanisms of plant growth acceleration with Plasmacluster ions
l Individuals conducting the study: Takashi Ikka, Associate Professor, Hiroto Yamashita, Assistant Professor, Yoshiki Ishiguro, 2nd year master’s course student (Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University)
l Place of study: Laboratory at the Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University
*Analysis Collaborator: Food analysis laboratory at Shizuoka University
l Test apparatus: Test apparatus equipped with Plasmacluster technology
l Test conditions: a. Without Plasmacluster ions (fan only)
b. With Plasmacluster ions
l Plasmacluster ion density: Approx. 1,000,000 ions/cm3
l Study method:
• Rice (cultivar: Nipponbare) seeds were placed on a net floating on the water surface in the test apparatus.
• The seeded rice was cultivated under the conditions of using a fan only and with Plasmacluster ions for a given periods of time (days).
• The lengths of seedlings and the degree of gene expression in the embryo (from which roots and leaves develop) were compared. Gene expression was determined via qRT-PCR*.
Four genes were analyzed: Amy, PK, PDC, ADH**
* qRT-PCR: a method for determining the degree of gene expression by quantitating the products of gene expression.
** Amy: amylase gene OsAmy3D PK: pyruvate kinase gene OsPK1
PDC: pyruvate decarboxylase gene OsPDC2 ADH: alcohol dehydrogenase gene OsADH1
l Results:
We obtained the following results in plants exposed to Plasmacluster ions, in comparison with plants grown in fan-only conditions:
[1] The growth of the seedlings was accelerated at an early stage of growth (Fig. 4)
[2] Activity directed toward energy production (gene expression) was amplified at an early stage of growth (Fig. 5).
These results suggest that Plasmacluster technology accelerates early-stage plant growth.
■ Research Institutes That Provided Data for Sharp’s Academic Marketing
| Target | Testing and Verification Organization |
| Mechanism of plant growth acceleration | Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University |
| Working mechanism of its enhancing effect on work performance | Kyushu Sangyo University, Department of Sport Science and Health, Faculty of Human Sciences |
| Working mechanism of inhibitory effects on viruses, fungi, and bacteria | Professor Gerhard Artmann, Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany |
| Working mechanism of inhibitory effects on allergens | Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University |
| Working mechanism of skin moisturizing (water molecule coating) effect | Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University |
| Efficacy proven in clinical trials | Shibaura Institute of Technology, College of Systems Engineering and Science, Department of Machinery and Control Systems |
| Kyushu Sangyo University, Department of Sport Science and Health, Faculty of Human Sciences | |
| National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya | |
| Littlesoftware Inc. | |
| Dentsu ScienceJam Inc. | |
| Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo / Public Health Research Foundation | |
| Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University / Clinical Research Support Center, University Hospital, University of Tokyo | |
| National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Georgia | |
| Animal Clinical Research Foundation | |
| Soiken Inc. | |
| School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Technology | |
| National Trust Co., Ltd. / HARG Treatment Center | |
| Plant | Facility of Agriculture, Shizuoka University |
| Allergens | Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University |
| Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University | |
| Safety | LSI Medience Corporation |
| Evaluation of effects on cells | Columbia University, Department of Medicine |
| Odors, pet smells | Boken Quality Evaluation Institute |
| Animal Clinical Research Foundation | |
| Skin beautifying effects | School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Technology |
| Hair beautifying effects | Saticine Medical Co., Ltd. |
| C.T.C Japan Ltd. | |
| Hazardous chemical substances | Sumika Chemical Analysis Service Ltd. |
| Indian Institutes of Technology Delhi | |
| Fungi | Ishikawa Health Service Association |
| University of Lübeck, Germany | |
| Professor Gerhard Artmann, Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany | |
| Japan Food Research Laboratories | |
| Shokukanken Inc. | |
| Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China | |
| Biostir Inc. | |
| Medical Mycology Research Center, Chiba University | |
| Bacteria | Ishikawa Health Service Association |
| Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China | |
| Kitasato Research Center of Environmental Sciences | |
| Kitasato Institute Medical Center Hospital | |
| Dr. Melvin W. First, Professor Emeritus, Harvard School of Public Health, US | |
| Animal Clinical Research Foundation | |
| University of Lübeck, Germany | |
| Professor Gerhard Artmann, Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany | |
| Japan Food Research Laboratories | |
| Shokukanken Inc. | |
| Chest Disease Institute, Thailand | |
| Biostir Inc. | |
| Viruses | Kitasato Research Center of Environmental Sciences |
| Seoul National University | |
| Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China | |
| Kitasato Institute Medical Center Hospital | |
| Retroscreen Virology, Ltd., UK | |
| Shokukanken Inc. | |
| University of Indonesia | |
| Hanoi College of Technology, Vietnam National University, Vietnam | |
| Institut Pasteur, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | |
| National Research Center for the Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University | |
| Department of Microbiology, Shimane University, Faculty of Medicine | |
| Columbia University, Department of Medicine |