Background : The roots of Curcuma longa Radix is used to make herbal medicine, which is registrated in the Korean Pharmacopoeia. This species is a perennial herb, and is distributed throughout tropical and/or sub tropical regions. High temperature and humidity with small difference between daytime and nighttime is the finest environment condition in this species. Recently, demand for C. longa has been expanded to cultivation area as central region from southern region. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of harvest time on the growth, yield characteristics and main composition contents in C. longa. Methods and Results : Curcuma longa rhizomes were harvested from farmland in Jindo, Jeollanam-do in end October, early November, middle November, end November, early December, middle December and end December 2015. Harvested rhizome were dried in hot air drier, and it was investigated as growth characteristics and yield. Contents of curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin was analyzed from dried powder of rhizome. The analysis column was used to Phenomenex, Kinetex 2.6um F5 100A 100*2.1mm. 10 mg of standard was taken, 80% MeOH was added to dissolve in 10 ㎖ flask. 0.5, 1, 2, 4 ㎖ was taken from dissolved solution and then was added to 10 ㎖ of 80% MeOH. It was filtered through 0.45 ㎛ filter and then 5 μℓ was taken to make standard solution. Analytical calibration curve was measured to diluted solution within sample concentration. 2 g of ground sample was taken, 40㎖ of 80% MeOH was added to extract by ultrasound sonication during 60 minutes and then it was filtered through 0.2 ㎛ filter to analyze component content. Conclusion : The root weight significantly increased from 376.1 g in end October to 695.9 g in end December as 1.8 double. Curcumin contents differed significantly among harvest times in end November and early December. Demethoxycurcumin increased from early November to end November, and Bisdemethoxycurcumin increased to the early November.

Background : Adenophora triphylla var. japonica Hara. is used to cure internal organ, which is called to important one of the five “Sam (ginseng)” oriental medicinal herbs included Panax ginseng, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Sophora flavescens, Scrophularia buergeriana. Korea imported 24 ton 129 thousand dollar for medicinal herbs and 23 ton 29 thousand dollar for food at 2013. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of several organic compost on the growth and root yield of A. triphylla var japonica with organic fertilizer. Methods and Results : Seeds were collected from Adenophora triphylla var. japonica Hara. at last year in nursery of Department of Herbal Crop Research, NIHHS, RDA. Four types organic fertilizer (germiculture (GG), granular mix oil cake (CJ), mixed organic (DJ), plant oil cake (TG)), chemical fertilizer (CF) and non-fertilizer (NF) were treated. It was fertilized on soil before 2 month of planting. Seeds A. triphylla var. japonica were sowed in tray at early March and then were grown during 2 month. It were planted in furrowed nursery at early with 30 × 10 cm planting distance and black vinyl covering condition. Soil chemical property, survival rate, aerial part and root growth characteristics and yield were investigated at harvest time. For main composition analysis, 10 mg of standard (b-sitosterol, lupenone) was taken, 80% MeOH was added to dissolve in 10 ㎖ flask. 0.5, 1, 2, 4 ㎖ was taken from dissolved solution and then was added to 10 ㎖ of 80% MeOH. It was filtered through 0.45 ㎛ filter and then 5 μℓ was taken to make standard solution. Analytical calibration curve was measured to diluted solution within sample concentration. 2 g of ground sample was taken, 40㎖ of 80% MeOH was added to extract by ultrasound sonication during 60 minutes and then it was filtered through 0.2 ㎛ filter to analyze component content. Conclusion : GG and DJ were the most suitable for organic cultivation of denophora triphylla var. japonica. Content of beta-sitosterol showed the highest value in DJ treatment and the lowest value in CF. Content of lupenone showed the highest value in DJ and the lowest value in CJ.

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV), a member of Potyviridae family, is one of the most typical viral diseases and results in yield and quality loss of cultivated soybean. Due to the depletion of genetic resources for resistance breeding, a trial of genetic transformation to improve disease resistance has been performed by introducing SMV-CP and HC-Pro gene by RNA interference (RNAi) method via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transgenic plants were infected with SMV strain G5 and investigated the viral response. As a result, two lines (3 and 4) of SMV-CP(RNAi) transgenic plants and three lines (2, 5 and 6) of HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants showed viral resistance. In genomic Southern blot analysis, most of lines contained at least one T-DNA insertion in both SMV-CP(RNAi) and HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants. Subsequent investigation confirmed that no viral CP and HC-Pro gene expression was detected in two SMV-resistant lines of SMV-CP(RNAi) and three lines of HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants, respectively. On the other hand, non-transgenic plants and other lines showed viral RNA expression. Viral symptoms affected seed morphology, and clean seeds were harvested from SMV-resistant line of SMV-CP(RNAi) and HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants. In addition, strong viral gene expression was detected from seeds of SMV-susceptible non-transgenic plants and SMV-susceptible transgenic lines. When compared the viral resistance between SMV-CP(RNAi) and HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants, soybean transgenic plants with the HC-Pro gene using RNAi strategy showed much stronger and higher frequency of viral resistance.

Citrus is one of the major fruits produced in Korea. There are about 20 species mainly grown in Jeju Island, Korea. Four representative species, which are quite different in the shape of leaf and the taste of fruit, were selected and were used to profile the transcriptomes. These species are ‘Miyagawa Wase’ (C. unshiu Marcov.) satsuma mandarin, ‘Kiyomi’ (C. unshiu Marcov. × C. sinensis) mandarin hybrid, ‘Dangyuja’ (C. grandis) and ‘Natsudaidai’ (C. natsudaidai). Classification of the up-regulated and down-regulated genes using the Cluster of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COG) database reveals that the number of genes included in each group differed significantly among the four species. Several genes that showed significant differences in expression on the microarray were selected and their expression patterns were examined by reverse transcription- ploymerase chain reaction. Metabolic genes such as tyrosine decarboxylase and β-glucosidase ligase were found to be highly expressed in Miyagawa Wase, relative to other species. On the other hand, the expression level of mannose phosphate isomerase was lower in Miyagawa Wase. An efflux pump gene was found to be up-regulated in Kiyomi, whereas cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase was down-regulated. β-carotene 15,15’-dioxygenase, which is involved in the vitamin metabolism, was up-regulated in Natsudaidai. Interspecific differentiations of gene expression are analyzed in terms of the metabolic pathways and their possible roles in citrus species.

Rye has important genes for biotic and abiotic stress resistance. Introduction of these genes to wheat by breeding wheat-rye translocation have been intensively used in wheat breeding program. Rye chromatin 1RS and/or 2RL show superior performance in unfavorable environments. In order to develop high yielding wheat, we applied various molecular breeding strategies. To develop EST-derived 1RS specific markers, we used comparative genomics with public sequence databases of Poaceae family. Putative rye chromatin specific sequences were used to design 1RS specific markers. To identify genes related to water deficiency, cDNA AFLP analysis was used in PEG treated seedlings of 1RS RILs. For functional analysis of identified genes and markers, we used Brachypodium distachyon, as a new model plant of temperate grasses. B. distachyon were recently applied for transformation and we constructed Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. Integration of those strategies and conventional breeding method would enhance the usefulness of rye chromatins for wheat improvement.

Wild rice might have previously unidentified genes important for disease resistance and stress tolerance in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. A set of subtractive library was constructed both from leaves of wild rice plants, Oryza grandiglumis (CCDD, 2n=48), treated with fungal elicitor and from wounded leaves. A partial fragment that was homologous to PR10 genes from other plant species was identified via suppression subtractive hybridization and cDNA macroarray. The obtained full-length cDNA sequence (OgPR10) contains an open reading frame of 480 bp nucleotide, encoding 160 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 16.944 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) of 4.91. The multiple alignment analyses showed the higher sequence homology of OgPR10 with PR10 genes identified in rice plants at amino acid level. The OgPR10 mRNA was not expressed by treatment with wounding, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid, but markedly expressed in leaves treated with protein phosphatase inhibitors cantharidin and endothall, and yeast extract. In addition, the expression of OgPR10 mRNA was induced within 72 h after treatment with probenazole, one of well-known chemical elicitors, and reached the highest level at 144 h. Heterologous expression of OgPR10 caused growth inhibition and seedling lethality in E. coli and Arabidopsis, respectively. Chemically induced OgPR10 expression with glucocorticoid-mediated transcriptional induction system further reconfirmed its lethality on Arabidopsis seedling. In addition, OgPR10-expressing rice plants, Oryzae sativar were resistant against the infection of rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea. These results indicate that OgPR10 is involved in probenazole- and microbe associated molecular patterns-mediated disease resistance responses in plants and is a potential gene for developing disease resistance crop plants.

Brachypodium distachyon is rapidly emerged in biological study and has been currently used as a model system for genetics and functional studies for crop improvement and biofuel production. Phosphinothricin (PPT) has been widely used as a selectable agent, which raises ammonium content and induces toxicity in non-transformed plant cells. However PPT selection is not much effective on Brachypodium callus consequently reducing transformation efficiency. In order to identify the efficient conditions of PPT selection, calli obtained from mature seeds of Brachypodium (PI 254867) were cultured on the callus inducing medium (CIM) or regeneration medium (ReM) containing serial dilutions of the PPT (0, 2, 5, 10, and 15 mg/l) in dark or light condition. Callus growth and ammonium content of each treatment were measured 2 weeks after the treatment. Although callus growth and ammonium content did not show much difference in CIM, slow callus growth and increased ammonium accumulation were found in ReM. No significant difference of ammonium accumulation in response to PPT was found between dark and light conditions. In order to identify major factors affecting increased ammonium accumulation, callus was cultured on the media in combined with phytohormones (2,4-D or kinetin) and carbon sources (sucrose or maltose) containing with PPT (5 mg/l). The highest ammonium content in callus was found in the kinetin and maltose media.