Scotinophara lurida is one of major sap-sucking pests in an organic rice farming paddy fields in Korea. Several Poaceae grasses (e.g, rice, barley etc) have been known as a host plant. To find out a true host plant of S. lurida, the developmental characteristics such as weight gain and developmental duration were checked on total eight grasses species including rice and corn. In the results, weight of the fifth nymphal stage was the highest value in the barnyard millet and rice plant. In addition, nymphal duration was the shortest value in the barnyard millet and rice plant. But, in corn and common millet plant, S. lurida nymphs could not complete the development to the adult stage. These results suggest that six Poaceae grasses including rice and barnyard millet out of eight test grasses are close related to true host plants of S. lurida.

Genetic structure of 22 populations of two self-pollinating pasture species, Elymus nutans and E. burchan-buddae collected from various altitudes of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was studied using fluorescence-based amplified fragment length polymorphism technique. Analysis of molecular variance revealed 42.97% and 37.63% among-population variation for the two Elymus species, respectively, indicating that the majority of the total variation presented within populations. This result contradicts the common genetic variation pattern for a selfing plant species: lower generic variation within populations. STRUCTURE analyses of the Elymus populations indicated an evident admixture genetic structure, particularly among neighboring populations from the same region, supporting the hypothesis of considerable seed dispersal among populations. The among-population gene flow promulgated by grazing animals may promote the maintenance of genetic diversity in the pasture species, particularly in small and fragmented populations within a given region. The gene flow promulgated by grazing animals may promote the maintenance of genetic diversity in the pasture species, particularly in small and fragmented populations within a given region.

This study aims to identify the most tolerant species under salinity stress from amongst Asteraceae and Poaceae. The seeds of six species were exposed to different concentrations of CaCl2 (0, 9, 18, 45, 90 mM) and NaCl (0, 17, 34, 85, 170 mM), and germination was measured once every two days. The results indicated that percent germination of the six species of Asteraceae and Poaceae seeds were affected differently by changes in salinity concentration. Seed germination was reduced as salinity levels increase, and longer mean germination times correlated to lower percent germination and earlier germination cessation. Both Asteraceae and Poaceae seeds had the highest germination rates at 18 mM CaCl2 and 34 mM NaCl, and seed germination and growth were severely reduced at salinities greater than 90 mM CaCl2 and 170 mM NaCl. In the seeds of Poaceae, salt resistance was strong in the order of Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Spreng., and Phragmites communis Trin. In the seeds of Asteraceae, salt resistance was strong in the order of Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum (Maxim.) Kitam, Aster yomena (Kitam.) Honda, and Dendranthema boreale (Makino) Ling ex Kitam.. Overall, the germination rate was higher in Asteraceae than in Poaceae. This study demonstrated that Dendranthema zawadskii var. latilobum (Maxim.) Kitam. is the most tolerant species and that a relationship exists between the salt tolerance of percent germination and the mean germination time in the leaves.

An unrecorded alien species plant, Phalaris paradoxa L. (Poaceae) was found in Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo-si, Jeju island, Korea. It is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, and it is currently found worldwide. Phalaris paradoxa is distinguishable from related taxa (P. arundinacea, P. canariensis, P. minor and P. arundinacea var. picta) in Korea by the following combination of characterstics: spikelets in clusters (the upper central fertile spikelet surrounded by six lower sterile spikelets), wing of the keel. This taxon was named ‘Nal-gae-ca-na-ri-sae-pul’ in Korean based on its character. We provide its description, illustrations, photographs and a key of related taxa in Korea.

In this study, we report that the development of a multiplex PCR method using species-specific primers for the simultaneous detection of Poaceae family members, including adlay, barley, maize, rice and wheat, based on the sequence polymorphism of the DNA-directed RNA polymerase beta'' chain (rpoC2) genes Species-specific primers were constructed with common forward primer and each reverse primers which have differences on the basis of sequences. Each primer pairs could amplify PCR products of 443 bp for rice, 346 bp for barley, 278 bp for adlay, 221 bp for wheat and 96 for maize, respectively, from the five chloroplast DNAs. The series of template DNA concentrations were identified by the sensitivity of multiplex PCR. The band of products were clearly amplified from the DNA concentration range of 0.01 to 10 ng/μL. In addition, the species-specific primers were examined for the detection of seven commercial flour mixed products. The combination of the sensitivity of a multiplex PCR with the specificity of the primers for the detection of species would allow to be applied in analyses of processed foods.