Plant growth and development strongly influenced by light quantity and its spectral composition. Young tomato plants were cultivated in growth cabinets under artificial light provided by red and blue light emitting diodes(LEDs) during 12 hours, then plants were exposed to monochromatic ultraviolet, blue, green and red lights as an end-of-day(EOD) treatment during 4 hours to study their effect on plant growth parameters. EOD lighting from various LEDs increased total fresh and dry weights as well as assimilation area compared to those in control. Blue light increased stem height, internode length and stem diameter. Monochromatic UV-A light reduced stem elongation, highly increased stomatal conductance. Compactness and health index of young tomato plants were increased in UV-A and red light treatments.

Many transgenic domestic animals have been developed to produce therapeutic proteins in the mammary gland. However, purification of therapeutic proteins from transgenic milk are very important for productivity of recombinant protein. Development of a knock-in vector system is needed to improve production of therapeutic proteins. In this study, we are develop Knock-in vector to express human Erythropoietin protein (hEPO) using Gluthathione S-transferase (GST) fusion system on mouse β-casein exon 3 locus. The knock-in vector consisted of the 5 homologous arm (1.02 kb), GST, PreScission protease site, hEPO cDNA, BGH polyA signal, CMV-EGFP, and 3homologous arm(1.81 kb). The analysis of nucleotide and amino acid sequence revealed that GST-hEPO mRNA is probably translated with the mouse β-casein sequence and the β-casein-GST-hEPO fusion protein is probably secreted by ER-Golgi pathway. After that, the hEPO protein can be cleaved to remove the GST from the fusion protein by PreScission protease during purification of recombinant protein. This knock-in vector may help to create transgenic mouse expressing human Erythropoietin protein via the endogenous expression system of the mouse β-casein gene in the mammary gland.

The production of therapeutic proteins from transgenic animals is one of the most important successes of animal biotechnology. Endostatin is 20 KDa C-terminal fragment derived from type XVIII collagen and an endogenous inhibitor of tumor growth by inhibition of angiogenesis. In this study, we are developed knock-in vector consists of 5’ arm region (1.02 kb), human Endostatin cDNA, CMV-EGFP, and 3’ arm region (1.83 kb). To express Endostatin gene as transgene, the F2A sequence was fused to the 5’ terminal of Endostatin gene and inserted into exon 3 of the β -casein gene. If this knock-in vector is inserted into the porcine β-casein gene locus by homologous recombination, human Endostatin mRNA are expressed using the gene regulatory region of the β-casein. Also, the β-casein and Endostatin fusion protein is translated and Endostatin protein is separated by F2A self cleavage during translation. In conclusion, our knock-in vector may help to create transgenic pig expressing human Endostatin protein via the endogenous expression system of the porcine β-casein gene in the mammary gland.

The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) are major insect pests that causes crop damage worldwide by piercing leaves, sucking sap and transmitting numerous plant viruses. A new strategy for IPM, the push–pull method uses a combination of repellent intercrops (push) and alluring trap plants (pull) to manipulate the distribution of insect pests and control their populations. So, we surveyed the responses of these pests of tomato to several plants in green house. Lavandula angustifolia, Petunia hybrid, Ocimum basilicum and Rosmarinus officinalis showed about forty-percent push response to F. occidentalis in tomato. However, Gypsophila paniculata attracted the F. occidentalis in tomato on the contrary. Pelargonium tomentosum showed about fifty-percent push response to B. tabaci in tomato. However, Mentha spicata and Gypsophila paniculata attracted the B. tabaci in tomato. The utilization technique of these plants should be more inspected in further study.