UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (UGE; EC 5.1.3.2) is an enzyme that plays an essential role in the interconverts UDP-D-glucose (UDP-Glc) and UDP-Dgalactose (UDP-Gal). Five members of the Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) UDP-glucose 4-epimerase gene family, designated BrUGE1 to BrUGE5, have been cloned and characterized. Quantitative PCR shows that the BrUGE1and BrUGE4 mRNA are most abundant among other BrUGE genes, accounting for more than 55% of total BrUGE transcripts in most of the tissues examined. All genes showed organ specific expression pattern, two of which (BrUGE1 and 4) actively responded after Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum infection, while four genes (BrUGE-1, -3, -4 and -5)were shown to respond considerably against salt, drought and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. To better understand the function of the UGE gene, we constructed a recombinant pART vector carrying the BrUGE1 gene under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter and nos terminator and transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. We then investigated BrUGE1 overexpressing rice lines at the physiological and molecular levels under biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Bioassay of T3 progeny lines of the transgenic plants in Yoshida solution containing 120 mM Nacl for 2 weeks, confirmed that the BrUGE1 enhances salt tolerance to transgenic rice plants. Also T3 progeny lines of the transgenic plants, when exposed to infection caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae, showed tolerance to bacterial blight. These results showed that BrUGE1 can be used as potential genetic resource for engineering Brassica with multiple stress resistance.

The antimicrobial peptide possesses defence system to virus, fungi and bacteria. To study antibiotic in plant, antimicrobial peptides were obtained by PCR analysis by primers designed from antimicrobial peptides (Gene bank accession no. NM-004345), cloned in pET28 expression vector and the vector transformed into E. coli. And this gene was inserted into Ti-plasmid VB2 vector, which contained the pGD1 promoter. The expression construction was transformed into Agrobacterium EHA105 and then plant tissues of rice (Oryza sativa). Seeds from transgenic plants (T0) were germinated on selective media containing spectinomycin 50 mg/L. Selected plants and wild type were analyzed by PCR and RT-PCR with pGD1 promoter region and transgene specific primer set. All transgenic plants showed expression pattern of similar levels. We showed that the chromobody is effective in binding GFPand antimicrobial peptide gene in tobacco leaf. Most interestingly, this can be applied to interfere with the function of GFP fusion protein and to mislocalize (trap) GFP fusions to the plant cytoplasm in order to alter the phenotype mediated by the targeted proteins. Bacterial blight disease was enhanced resistance in transgenic lines. These results showed that antibiotic peptides might show a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity.

“Younbaek”, a new noodle making wheat cultivar, was developed from the cross between “Keumkang” with white grain color and “Tapdongmil” by the Honam Agricultural Research Institute(HARI), National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA, Korea in 2005. Amon