Tea polysaccharide had high antioxidant activity and it could be used to cure diabetes. Antioxidant activity of tea poly-saccharide (TPS) from three kinds of tea (green tea, oolong tea and black tea) were compared, the result indicated that oolong tea polysaccharide (OTPS) had the highest antioxidant activity. In order to explicate the mechanism of antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity, the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mice model (DM) was established. The influence of OTPS on blood-glucose, content of MDA and NO, and activities of GSH-PX, SOD, NOS in serum, kidney and liver were investigated. The result showed that after four weeks injection of OTPS to DM mice, the blood-glucose of three treatment group reduced by 14.5%,21.5% and 33.3%, respectively, comparing to the model control. The reduction effect of OTPS increased with the rise of dose. The activity of SOD and GSH-PX elevated significantly, while the activity of NOS decreased. The content of MDA and NO reduced significantly. The above results imply that antioxidant activity was enhanced. Comparing to XKW treatment, the effect of a dose of 300mg/(kg. bw) OTPS was much better. The research showed that the OTPS had a significant effect on reducing blood glucose, and could enhance the antioxidant activity of DM mice.

Three rice cultivars of Goami2 (G2), Ilpumbyeo (IP), and Baegjinju (BJJ) of which physicochemical properties are significantly different, were blended by a simplex-lattice mixture design. The effect of blending those rice cultivars on pasting and texture properties were observed. Rapid Visco Analysis (RVA) indicated that the onset gelatinization temperature of pure blend of G2 rice (83.80~pm0.07~circC) was higher than that of IP (68.08~pm0.01~circC) and BJJ (68.08~pm0.04~circC) . Increasing G2 rice resulted in lower peak and breakdown viscosity, and adhesiveness and cohesiveness, whereas higher setback viscosity and hardness. Pasting and texture properties of IP and BJJ indicated that G2 rice has quite different physical characteristics compared to IP and BJJ. Thus, it is expected that blending those three rice cultivars can be used to formulate a desirable rice blend on purpose, furthermore to promote the consumption of G2 rice, which has higher indigestible carbohydrate contents.

It is important to understand pedigree of rice cultivars commonly used for breeding. In this paper, pedigree tables for tracking the pedigree of 17 representative rice cultivars recommended by Rural development Adminstration (RDA) were completed and analyzed using two kinds of web database system; 'IRIS' and 'RRDB'. Seven cultivars, namely, 'Sangmibyeo', 'Ilpumbyeo', 'Saegewhabyeo', 'Surabyeo', 'Shindongjinbyeo', 'Ilmibyeo' and 'Jungwhabyeo' had 'Koshihikari' on the pedigree of their ancestor. Besides 'Koshihikari', the most feguently used ancestral germplasms among the high quality rice cultivars were 'Fujisaka 5', 'Kameno o' and 'Asahi', 'Fujisaka 5' was used as ancestral parent in 12 out of 17 cultivars. Interestingly, 'Kameno o' was used in pedigree of 16 out of 17 high quality varieties and 'Asahi' was used in the ancestral pedigree of all 17 varieties. 'Hwayeongbyeo' was used as one of parent in the breeding of 'Dongjin 1', 'Hwabongbyeo', 'Saegewhabyeo' and 'Junambyeo'. 'Ilpumbyeo' was used in the breeding pathway of 'Junambyeo' and 'Saegewhabyeo', 'Mangeumbyeo' itself was not enlisted as one of high quality rice cultivars, but was used as a breeding parent of three high quality varieties, namely, 'Saegewhabyeo', 'Hwabongbyeo' and 'Nampyeongbyeo'. Incorporated with evaluation data, pedigree will provide a valuable chance to genealogical tracking of agronomic traits such as disease resistance, grain quality and etc.

Optimum culture conditions for high frequency plant regeneration from leaf explants of Kalanchoe daigremontiana Hamet &Perrier were established. Shoot regeneration was achieved from leaf explant cultures using MS medium supplemented with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and thidiazuron (TDZ) or benzyladenine (BA). Percent regeneration was influenced by plant growth regulators and source of explants. MS medium supplemented with TDZ (1.0 mg/l) and IAA (0.4 mg/l) was the most effective, providing shoot regeneration for 76.7 % of ex vitro leaf explants associated with a high number of shoots per explant (9.5 mean shoots per explant), whereas 100% shoot regeneration associated with 12.4 shoots per explant occurred from in vitro leaf explants on the same medium. Clusters of shoots were multiplied and elongated on MS medium containing several concentrations of BA. MS medium supplemented with 0.25 mg/l BA was proved as the most effective shoot elongation medium. Elongated shoots (2-3 cm) were rooted at 100% on half-strength MS medium. Rooted plantlets were then transferred to potting soil. Regenerated plants were established in the soil with 90% success.

Phenotypes of panicle, hull and seed of mutant rice (Oryza sativa L.) were characterized. Panicle mutants were classified in 4 groups with their internode length of main rachis, primary rachis, secondary rachis and pedicel. Hull and seed mutants were grouped into 12 based on their mutant characters in shape, size and color of seeds. These natural and spontaneous mutant collections showed distinct phenotypes to wild type rice. This might be useful for the identification of the functions of genetic factors in the Mendelian inheritance.

A new cultivar ofDianthus caryophyIIus "Gamet" was selected from the progenies ofa cross "Master" and "97007-2"in 1998 at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Rural Development Administration. It was fmally selected in 2001 afterthe investigatio

A new cultivar ofDianthus caryophyUus "Pavo" was selected from the progenies ofa cross "Sarangbyul" and "TargetWhite" in 1997 at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Rural Development Administration. It was finally selected m 2001after the inves

Photoperiod sensitive genetic male sterile (PGMS) rice 920S was characterized as sterile when it was grown under longday condition but fertile when grown under short day condition. PGMS rice 920S, Fl and F2 plants were examined for their fer-tilities unde

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

A thoredoxin (CTRX) gene was cloned and characterized from a full length cDNA library prepared from taproot of three-year old Codonopsis lanceolata. A CTRX was 666 nucleotides long and has an open reading frame of 372 bp with 124 amino acid residues (pI = 4.92). The deduced amino acid sequence of the CTRX matched to the previously reported plant thioredoxin h genes. The deduced amino acid sequence of CTRX exhibited the similarity of 33-67% among previously registered thioredoxin genes. The expression of CTRX in leaves of Codonopsis lanceolata was increased by wounding and 1 mM H2O2, but decreased by 0.1 mM cadmium.

A class I type 2 metallothionein (CMet2) cDNA from taproot of Codonopsis lanceolata was isolated and characterized. A CMet2 cDNA was 572 nucleotides long and had an open reading frame of 234 bp with a deduced amino acid sequence of 78 residues (pI = 4.99). The deduced amino acid sequence of CMet2 matched to the previously reported type 2 metallothionein-like protein genes and showed 74% identity with that of G. max (BAD18377) and C. arietinum (CAA65009). Expression of CMet2 by the RT-PCR was increased at 1 hr after cadmium and hydrogen peroxide treatment, respectively.

Early predictions of crop yields call provide information to producers to take advantages of opportunities into market places, to assess national food security, and to provide early food shortage warning. The objectives of this study were to identify the most useful parameters for estimating yields and to compare two model selection methods for finding the 'best' model developed by multiple linear regression. This research was conducted in two 65ha corn/soybean rotation fields located in east central South Dakota. Data used to develop models were small temporal variability information (STVI: elevation, apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) , slope), large temporal variability information (LTVI : inorganic N, Olsen P, soil moisture), and remote sensing information (green, red, and NIR bands and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), green normalized difference vegetation index (GDVI)). Second order Akaike's Information Criterion (AICc) and Stepwise multiple regression were used to develop the best-fitting equations in each system (information groups). The models with δi~leq2 were selected and 22 and 37 models were selected at Moody and Brookings, respectively. Based on the results, the most useful variables to estimate corn yield were different in each field. Elevation and ECa were consistently the most useful variables in both fields and most of the systems. Model selection was different in each field. Different number of variables were selected in different fields. These results might be contributed to different landscapes and management histories of the study fields. The most common variables selected by AICc and Stepwise were different. In validation, Stepwise was slightly better than AICc at Moody and at Brookings AICc was slightly better than Stepwise. Results suggest that the Alec approach can be used to identify the most useful information and select the 'best' yield models for production fields.