For rapid production of freesia ‘Shiny Gold’ shoots by using a bioreactor, several culture conditions were investigated. Young shoots (< 1 ㎝) obtained from freesia corm section in vitro were used as plant materials for this experiment. As a basic experimental environment, 20 young shoots were inoculated into a 5 L balloon type bubble reactor which contained 1 L 1/2 strength MS medium supplemented with 30 g sucrose (3%), and the aeration was 0.1 vvm (vessel volumes per minute). The bioreactors were placed in a growth room with 23℃ temperature, 60% relative humidity and 60 μmol·m-2·s-1 light condition (16 h/8 h, day/night). The concentrations of MS media were set with 1/4, 1/2, 1 strength, medium volume 10, 20, 40%, sucrose concentration 3, 6, 9%, and aeration 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 vvm. After 4 weeks of cultivation, the growth indexes including the fresh and dry weight, and plant height were evaluated. At the same time, the consumption, pH, and EC of medium were estimated 4 weeks after incubating. The best results were achieved when 40 young shoots were incubated in a bioreactor in which 1 L of 1/2 strength MS medium supplemented with 6% sucrose was used for the rapid production of freesia shoots. The shoots were 17 cm in plant height and 1.0 g in fresh weight only 4 weeks after incubation which could be a good plant material suitable for corm enlargement i

This study attempts to propose the possibility of the sex reversal in Sinonovacula constricta and Gomphina veneriformis by confirming the changes in the sex ratio with the shell length in the same population level. For analysis of sex ratio, 100 individuals of S. constricta (SL 26.5-95.0 mm) and 2385 individuals of G. veneriformis (SL 15.1-60.1 mm) were used. Sex was analyzed histologically. Both species displayed the tendency of increase in the female proportion with increase in shell length. In this study, changes in the sex ratio in accordance with the growth of S. constricta and G. veneriformis are determined to be indirect evidence that signifies their sex reversal.

Agastache rugosa, a member of the mint family (Labiatae), is a perennial herb widely distributed in East Asian countries. It is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of cholera, vomiting, and miasma. This study assessed the genetic diversity and population structures on 65 accessions of Korean mint A. rugosa germplasm based on inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. The selected nine ISSR primers produced reproducible polymorphic banding patterns. In total, 126 bands were scored; 119 (94.4%) were polymorphic. The number of bands generated per primer varied from 7 to 18. A minimum of seven bands was generated by primer 874, while a maximum of 18 bands was generated by the primer 844. Six primers (815, 826, 835, 844, 868, and 874) generated 100% polymorphic bands. This was supported by other parameters such as total gene diversity (HT) values, which ranged from 0.112 to 0.330 with a mean of 0.218. The effective number of alleles (NE) ranged from 1.174 to 1.486 with a mean value of 1.351. Nei's genetic diversity (H) mean value was 0.218, and Shannon's information index (I) mean value was 0.343. The high values for total gene diversity, effective number of alleles, Nei's genetic diversity, and Shannon's information index indicated substantial variations within the population. Cluster analysis showed characteristic grouping, which is not in accordance with their geographical affiliation. The implications of the results of this study in developing a strategy for the conservation and breeding of A. rugosa and other medicinal plant germplasm are discussed.

Discovery, identification, and informatics of low molecular weight peptide are extensively rising in the field of proteomics research. In this study, we analyzed protein profiles to discover peptide based biomarker for twelve different soybean seeds with three different agronomic types using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS). For optimization of SELDI-TOF MS in soybean seed proteome analysis, four different extraction buffers were tested with urea solubilization buffer, thiourea/urea solubilization buffer, phenol extraction buffer, and modified trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation/urea solubilization extraction buffer. Two different type of ProteinChip arrays, cation exchange (CM10) and anion exchange (Q10), applied to profile peptides. Among the four different extraction buffers, phenol extraction was selected to protein extraction methodology. Numbers of detected peak cluster in twelve soybean seeds were 125 at CM10 and 90 at Q10 array in the mass range from 2 to 40 kDa. Among them, 82 peak clusters at CM10 and 33 peak clusters at Q10 array showed significantly different peak clusters at p<0.00004 (CM10) and p<0.00005 (Q10) among twelve different soybean cultivars. Moreover, 29 peak clusters at CM10 and 17 peak clusters at Q10 array were detected in all cultivars as an ‘universally existed peptide’. In comparison with three different agronomic types, total of 55 peak clusters (CM10) and 23 peak clusters (Q10) were significantly different peak clusters at p<0.00004 and p<0.0001, respectively. In these probability levels, soybean seeds were well discriminated into different cultivar and different type with each other. Also we could find several specific peptide biomarkers for agronomic type.

The effect of salicylic acid(SA) on antioxidant system and protective mechanisms against UV-B induced oxidative stress was investigated in cucumber(Cucumis sativus L.) leaves. UV-B radiation and SA were applied separately or in combination to first leaves of cucumber seedlings, and dry matter accumulation, lipid peroxidation and activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured in both dose and time-dependant manner. UV-B exposure showed reduced levels of fresh weight and dry matter production, whereas SA treatment significantly increased them. SA noticeably recovered the UV-B induced inhibition of biomass production. UV-B stress also affected lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme defense system. Malondialdehyde(MDA), a product of lipid peroxidation, was greatly increased under UV-B stress, showing a significant enhancement of a secondary metabolites, which may have antioxidative properties in cucumber leaves exposed to UV-B radiation. Combined application of UV-B and SA caused a moderate increase in lipid peroxidation. These results suggest that SA may mediate protection against oxidative stress. UV-B exposure significantly increased SOD, APX, and GR activity compared with untreated control plants. Those plants treated with 1.0 mM SA showed a similar pattern of changes in activities of antioxidant enzymes. SA-mediated induction of antioxidant enzyme activity may involve a protective accumulation of H2O2 against UV-B stress. Moreover, their activities were stimulated with a greater increase by UV-B+SA treatment. The UV-B+SA plants always presented higher values than UV-B and SA plants, considering the adverse effects of UV-B on the antioxidant cell system. ABA and JA, second messengers in signaling in response to stresses, showed similar mode of action in UV-B stress, supporting that they may be important in acquired stress tolerance. Based on these results, it can be suggested that SA may participates in the induction of protective mechanisms involved in tolerance to UV-B induced oxidative stress.

The aim of this study was to isolate chicken feather-degrading bacteria with high keratinolytic activity and to investigate cultural conditions affecting keratinolytic enzyme production by a selected isolate. A chicken feather-degrading bacterial strain CH3 was isolated from poultry wastes. Isolate CH3 degraded whole chicken feather completely within 3 days. On the basis of phenotypical and 16S rDNA studies, isolate CH3 was identified as Bacillus thuringiensis CH3. This strain is the first B. thuringiensis described as a feather degrader. The bacterium grew with an optimum at pH 8.0 and 37℃, where maximum keratinolytic activity was also observed. The composition of optimal medium for keratinolytic enzyme production was feather 0.1%, sucrose 0.7%, casein 0.3%, K2HPO4 0.03%, KH2PO4 0.04%, MgCl2 0.01% and NaCl 0.05%, respectively. The keratinolytic enzyme had a pH and temperature optima 9.0 and 45℃, respectively. The keratinolytic activity was inhibited ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and metal ions like Hg2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+. The enzyme activated by Fe2+, dithiothreitol and 2-mercaptoethanol.