Thin sections of cellulose fibers were incubated with an endo- and an exoglucanase labeled with gold particles of differing sizes. The hydrolytic sites were then visualized under transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The potential interaction between the β-1, 4-glucan substrates and the endo- and the exoglucanases was investigated using cellulosic and lignocellulosic substrates. The simultaneous visualization was very successful in distinguishing preferred substrates for each cellulase in lignocellulosic substrates. When plant lignocellulose was preincubated with endocellulase, density of the gold labeling greatly increased suggesting that preliminary exposure of lignocellulosic material to endocellulase may have enhanced the accessibility of the substrate to endocellulase and exocellulase. This result provided a plausible explanation for the observed endo/exo cellulase co-hydrolysis.

A cinnamoyl CoA reductase (CCR) cDNA (ClCCR) was isolated from tabroot mRNAs of Codonopsis lanceolata by cDNA library construction, and its expression was investigated in relation to abiotic stresses. The ClCCR is 1008 bp in length with an open reading frame (ORF) of 336 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence was showed high similarity with cinnamoyl-CoA reductases of P. tremuloides (AAF43141) 87%, F.×aranassa (AAP46143) 83%, L. album (CAD29427) 80%, E. gunnii (CAA66063) 72%, S. tuberosum (AAN71761) 83%. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was revealed that the ClCCR expression was regulated by abiotic stresses.

In order to discern the possibility of functional food product or ingredient of a new medicine, the leaf parts and fruit parts of Prunus mume was partitioned with various solvents and their antioxidative activity was measured. When the antioxidative activity of MeOH extracts of leaf parts and fruit parts of Korea and China was compared, all of them showed the highest antioxidative activity in EtOAc fraction. In case of Korean Prunus mume leaf parts showed that quantity required for RC50 to be 27.04μg in EtOAc fraction and in case of China Prunus mume leaf parts, it was 23.31 μg which is similar to that of α-tocopherol (22.14 μg) and showed the highest activation. In case of Prunus mume fruit parts MeOH extract, Korean fruit showed 29.16 μg, and Chinese fruit showed 31.21 μg in EtOAc fraction and thus Korean fruit extract showed a higher activity of antioxidant than the Chines fruit extract. When the antioxidative activity between the fruit parts and leaf parts of Prunus mume was compared, the leaf parts showed a higher antioxidative activity.

A cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase, hydrogen peroxide-scavenging enzyme, was characterized from Codonopsis lanceolata. The cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase cDNA (CAPX) was 983 nucleotides long and possess an open reading frame of 753 bp with 251 amino acids (MW 27.9 kDa) with pI 5.61. The deduced amino acid sequence of CAPX shows high homology to other known cytosolic APXs (78~83%), but the CAPX was clustered independently from compared ten plant APXs. The CAPX gene was highly expressed in leaf and stem tissues, but not in root. When Codonopsis leaves cut using scalpel were soaked in 1 mM hydorgen peroxide, the expression of CAPX gene was suppressed.

Osmotic stress is one of major limiting factors in crop production. In particular, seasonal drought often causes the secondary disease in the field, resulting in severe reduction in both quality and productivity. Recent efforts have revealed that many genes encoding protein kinases play important roles in osmotic stress signal transduction pathways. Previously, the AtSIK (Arabidopsis thaliana Stress Inducible Kinase) mutants have shown to enhance tolerance to abiotic stresses, accompanying with higher expression of abiotic stress-related genes than did the wild-type plants. In this study, we have transformed potato (cv. Taedong Valley) with the AtSIK expression cassette. Both PCR and RT-PCR using AtSIK-specific primers showed stable integration and expression of the AtSIK gene in individual transgenic lines, respectively. Foliar application of herbicide (Basta®) at commercial application rate (0.3% (v/v)) revealed another evidence of stable gene introduction of T-DNA which includes the bar gene for herbicide resistance. Overexpression of the AtSIK gene under dual CaMV35S promoter increased sensitivity to salt stress (300 mM NaCl), which was demonstrated by the reduction rate of chlorophyll contents in leaves of transgenic potato lines. These results suggest that possible increase of osmotic tolerance in potato plants may be achieved by antisense expression of AtSIK gene.

Persicaria thunbergii has been utilized for the treatment of cancer as a folk medicine. We examined the effect of isorhamnetin, a flavonoid isolated from Persicaria thunbergii, on angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a potent angiogenic factor found in various tumors. In this study, we found that the isorhamnetin decreased bFGF-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) proliferation and migration in a concentration-dependent manner (5, 10 and 20 μM) whereas, it did not inhibit bFGF-induced capillary-like formation of HUVECs. The chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay revealed that addition of isorhamnetin (10, 20 and 40 μM) displayed an antiangiogenic effect in vivo. These results suggest that the isorhamnetin inhibits the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells induced by bFGF, which may explain its anti-angiogenic properties.

We tested the hypothesis that alpine plants have special physiological and biochemical mechanisms in addition to their structural adaptation in order to survive under extreme conditions. The photosynthetic organs of Pinus pumila were used to examine the seasonal changes in sugar concentration, antioxidative enzyme, and lipid peroxidation. The concentrations of sucrose, glucose, fructose and reducing sugar were the highest in the leaves in April. But sugar contents in buds and inner barks did not respond sensitively on temperature change. Meanwhile superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity responded sensitively on the change of temperature and SOD in all tissues maintained high activity in April. Meanwhile anthocyanin content increased rapidly in June but the increase of anthocyanin content was not enough to prevent their tissues from the damage by the exposure of high temperature or other stress. In conclusion, under low temperature condition, P. pumila increased the concentration of soluble sugars and SOD activity in their tissues in order to overcome extreme environmental condition. But in summer, these stress defense system against high temperature might be disturbed slightly. This results in the increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in three tissues by lipid peroxidation.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of activated carbon on leave production of Allium tuberosum. Growth characteristics including plant height and leaf length were the highest when activated carbon was added with 5%, suggesting that optimum amount of activated carbon was ranged from 5 to 10%. Weight of fresh green vegetable in Allium tuberosum was low in control. And fresh weight of Allium tuberosum was higher in 5% treatment of activated carbon. However, when the plants were grown in activated carbon of 5~10%, fresh yield of green vegetable of Allium tuberosum can be increased by using Activated Carbon. Activated carbon can be utilized as a soil conditioner in agricultural crop areas.

This study was conducted to determine feasibility of utilization of Angelica acutiloba. Especially, the quality characteristics of bread prepared with the addition of Angelica acutiloba powder were investigated. Sensory evaluation and spoilage test were conducted for preparation of functional breads which added with ground plant matters (leaves and stems) from Angelica acutiloba. The result showed that the functional breads had high score of overall liking as well as low spoilage rate when added with 0.5 to 1.0% ground plant matters of Angelica acutiloba. Consumer acceptability evaluation showed a significant preference when added 0.5 to 1.0% ground leaves and stems of Angelica acutiloba into breads. Functional breads which added powder of Angelica acutiloba inhibited the growth of fungi. The more addition of Angelica acutiloba powder, the higher the degrees of this inhibited. These results suggested that the shelf-lives of the breads were extended by the addition of Angelica acutiloba powder. Further studies were required for improvement of functionality and diversity of bread products using medicinal plant materials as an additive.

The purpose of this research is to establish basic database on Cornus kousa by way of investigation, analysis and comparison of characteristics of leaf and flower, then fostering good cultivar on each morphological characteristics - leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, left lateral vein, right lateral vein. Leaf length and leaf width in Mt. Jiri shows big tendency which is 83.5 mm, 52.4 mm each in comparison with the whole mean of 72.5 mm, 41.2 mm, whereas populations of Suwon and Mt. Halla has leaf length of 66.0 mm, 65.7 mm - 9.8%, 10.4% lower value in comparison with seven mean population; leaf width is 38.4 mm, 35.3 mm - 7.3%, 16.7% lower than whole mean and shows lowest tendency among seven selected populations. Long width of flower and short width of flower in Boeun shows big tendency which is 99.9mm, 96.5 mm each in comparison with the whole mean of 76.0 mm, 73.6 mm, whereas populations of Mt. Halla has 50.1 mm, 48.2 mm which shows lowest tendency. On petal length, petal width and length of flower petiole, Boeun populations have bigger and Mt. Halla shows little tendency. The measurement result of flower colors on each population by using Spectrum Color Mater shows followings: populations of Mt. Duckyoo and Mt. Halla shows lower lightness than any other populations, but wholly shows higher lightness which is refers brightness in seven selected populations. Thus it shows peculiarities of white flower color.

The growth charateristics and karyotypes of Aster spathulifolius collected from 5 sites including coastal and island region on the Korean peninsula, were analysed. Several morphological characteristics of the plants such as leaf length, leaf width, top internode, medium internode, spike branching, flower diameter, number of petal, leaf color, leaf form, stem and leaf hair, viscosity, and serration of the plants were distinctly different depending on the native region from which they were collected. Karyotypic analysis showed that the chromosome number was all diploid (2n=18), with one pair of submetacentric satellite chromosomes. The chromosome composition included 7 pairs of metacentric chromosomes and 2 pairs of submetacentric chromosomes in all plants. However, chromosome order and the ranges of the chromosome lengths were a little different from plant to plant according to their native growing regions. The plants from Geoje-Do especially showed large differences in the chromosome lengths between the longest and the shortest compared to the plants from other places. This results provide important data to support the classification of the species into several sub-species.

This study was performed to provide basic information of the development and breeding of new cultivars of Hibiscus syriacus L., which have more beautiful and diverse flowers. Morphological characteristics of the flowers and leaves, and genetic variation of the flowers color of two Jeoktanshim-line cultivars, Bulsae and Pyungsung, were crossed each other. The result of the cross between Bulsae and Pyungsung are as follows: Mean flower height and width were 5.35 cm and 7.69 cm, respectively. Mean length and width of petal were 5.43 cm and 3.80 cm respectively, and mean length and width of flower pistil were 4.67 cm and 0.44 cm, respectively. The flower color of all ten individuals was the color of the Jeoktanshim-line, and Pyungsung, and all flower type were I-c type.

In autumn, to determine the optimal planting date and plant density of rapeseed in southern areas of Korea, Yudal variety for autumn sowing, the highest yielding variety was grown under three different planting dates and five different plant densities. Yield components such as plant height, ear length, number of seedling stand per m2, number of branches and pod length were highest at the plots with Sep. 30 of planting date and 30/20 cm drilling of plant density. Yield of seed, oil and 1,000 grains weight were highest at the Sep.30 of planting date and 30/20 cm drilling of plant density. Judging from the results reported above, at optimum planting date and plant density of rapeseed seemed to be Sep.30 of planting date and 30/20cm plant density in autumn sowing.

We have studied the effects of dampening papers (Dampened paper, Newspaper, Korean paper, Flower sheet), silica gel (30g, 60g) and temperature (20℃, 25℃) on color changes of Erythronium japonicum. In the treatment of 20℃, color changes were low in treatments with silica gel rather than in a treatment of dampening papers. In particular, newspaper and Korean paper showed much less changes in colors by the combination treatments with 30g of silica gel. Likewise, in the treatment of 25℃, color changes were low in combination treatments with silica gel rather than in a alone treatment of dampening papers. For the combination treatment with 30g of silica gel, low color changes were shown in the divisions of newspaper and Korean paper, while for the combination treatment with 60g of silica gel, low color changes were shown in the those of Korean paper and dampened paper.

Tissue culture systems to optimize regeneration plant species of Ocimum spp were evaluated as a method to micropropagate individual plants and to better study their biology in vitro. Ocimum species were also evaluated for the production of natural plant products during and following the regeneration process. The primary goal of this project was to enhance the regeneration efficiency of basil. Several factors were examined using different Ocimum species and commercial varieties. The effect of cytokinin combination, activated charcoal, gelling agents, and different carbon sources were investigated. Anthocyanin callus spots were produced only in four varieties among six tested. 'Sweet Dani' showed the best results on anthocyanin accumulation, while 'African beauty', 'Tree basil' and 'Methylcinnamate' produced only a few spots. Shoot regeneration was only achieved from 'Sweet Dani' explants. As the activated charcoal concentration increased, callus formation rate decreased respectively compare to the controls for all varieties. There was a decrease in callus growth with increasing concentration of agar and phytagel.

In order to select suitable fertilizer level and sowing rate of Dangyo #8(hybrid) rapeseed at the southern area of Korea, two varieties of Naehanyuchae (Normal) and Dangyo #8(hybrid) rapeseed currently grown for oil production by two fertilizer level with 10-8-8 kg/10a and 15-8-8 kg/10a and three sowing rate with 500 g/10a, 1,000g/10a and 1,500g/10a with relatively high yield was grown at the same condition yield and yield components were observed. Dangyo #8(hybrid) rapeseed was superior to oil-eed rapeseed for yield at the 15-8-8 kg/10a of fertilizer and 1,500 g/10a of sowing rate. Fertilizer level, N-P2O5-K2O = 15-8-8 kg/10a and sowing rate, 1,500 g/10a showed somewhat higher value in two varieties of Naehanyuchae(Normal) and Dangyo #8(hybrid).

Shoot induction system was developed in the recalcitrant plant species, Brassica rapa ssp. rapifera by using optimum selection of profit organ, phytohormone combination, seedling age and kind of culture container. Out of in vitro cultured leaf segment, petiole, hypocotyl, and cotyledon with petiole, only cotyledon with petiole derived from 4 day-old seedlings induced multiple shoot. The optimum combination of auxin and cytokinin for the multiple shoot induction was MS medium containing 5mg/L BA and 0.5mg/L NAA. The major factors for multiple shoot propagation were part of plant organ, age of seedling, and ratio of auxin and cytokinin. In addition, shoot regeneration was promoted in the 100ml Erlenmeyer flask compared with the 90mm×20mm Petri-dish. The induced shoots formed roots easy on MS medium containing 0.1mg/L IBA and the whole plants were successfully cultivated in soil.

This study used RAPD markers to assume genetic diversity and variation in selected populations of Hovenia dulcis var. koreana. Ratio of polymorphic RAPD markers were 93.4% in selected populations of Hovenia dulcis Thunb., difference of genetic structure among populations and within populations showed 16.45%, 83.55%, respectively in amount of total genetic variation of 4 populations. Total gene diversity(HT) that show genetic diversity appeared 0.313 and coefficient of gene differentiation(GST) that compare genetic differentiation of populations appeared 0.1645, analysis of AMOVA for variation among populations and within populations was significantly different (P〈0.001). Genetic diversity of whole populations showed that 12.44% difference among population and 87.56% difference within populations. As a result, difference within populations was larger than difference among populations in genetic diversity. Nei's genetic distance and cluster analysis appeared that mean genetic distance among populations was 0.076, thus dividing two main groups and geographic relationship did not show in populations.