SHARP Corporation (hereinafter “SHARP”), 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, 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 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 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.

■ Summary of the study to verify the mechanisms of plant growth acceleration with Plasmacluster ions

● 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)

● Place of study: Laboratory at the Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University
*Analysis Collaborator: Food analysis laboratory at Shizuoka University

● Test apparatus: Test apparatus equipped with Plasmacluster technology

● Test conditions: a. Without Plasmacluster ions (fan only)
b. With Plasmacluster ions

● Plasmacluster ion density: Approx. 1,000,000 ions/cm3

● 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

● Results:

The following results were obtained 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