To facilitate breeding of lines with either the Ppd-D1a or ppd-d1a, we screened 342 F2 progenies from a cross between Laura (photoperiod insensitive, Ppd-D1a) spring wheat and SWP5304 (photoperiod sensitive, ppd-d1a) for their time to heading under 10 hour day length, and with a set of 37 microsatellite primers previously mapped to chromosome 2D. Bulk segregant analysis was used to identify tow linked microsatellite loci. The Ppd-D1a locus was flanked by Xgwm484 with 13.7 cM distance and Xgwm455 with 27 cM. These markers may be useful in selection of the desired photoperiod sensitivity in segregating populations grown in Northern latitude.

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.