The MethioninesulfoxidereductaseB2(MsrB2) gene catalyzes the reduction of free and protein-bound methionine sulfoxide to methionine and is known to provide tolerance to biotic and abiotic environmental stresses. There have yet to be any reports that MsrB2 enhances drought tolerance. Two drought-tolerant transgenic rice lines, L-8 (single copy) and L-23 (two copy), expressing the Capsicum annuum MsrB2 (CaMsrB2) gene were selected for stress tolerance phenotyping under drought stress conditions. CaMsrB2 enhanced relative water content (RWC), maintained substantial quantum yield (Fv/Fm ratio), and subsequently improved photosynthetic pigments. Interestingly, L-23, carrying two-copy T-DNA insertion, showed greater drought tolerance through more effective stomatal regulation, carotenoid concentration, and osmotic potential than the wild type. High-tech infrared technology (FLIR SC620) was used for the selection of stress-tolerant physiotypes. Later, the IR results were correlated with other tested physiological parameters. The IR images, average plant temperature, and physiological parameters of the treated plants were discussed in detail.

Korean Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (P. ginseng) is a well-known and one of the most important tonic herbs used in traditional Korean medicine. The pharmacological effects of P. ginseng have been reported by many researchers. Nevertheless, little is known between the mechanism of action and the active compounds. In this study, we performed a comprehensive proteomic analysis and protein categorization in order to understand the physiological characteristics of the major components in the adventitious roots of P. ginseng. Whole proteins extracted from the cultured adventitious roots of P. ginseng were separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE). Among the 1000 spots which were detected by silver staining, 113 spots were labeled and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Our results showed that 40 proteins were identified among the 113 spots, with a hit ratio of 35.3%. A number of proteins identified on the 2-DE gels (30%; 16 spots) were involved in energy metabolism. These proteomic data will be helpful to better understand the physiological and pharmacological effects of P. ginseng.

’Dahan’ (Avena sativa L.), a winter oat for forage use, was developed by the breeding team at the Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop, National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA in 2011. It was derived from an original cross between the F1 hybrid of ‘Sprinter’ and ‘73625’ and ‘Gwiri26’ (PA7507-37). Subsequent generations followed by the cross were handled in bulk and pedigree selection programs at Suwon. A line, ‘SO99027-GB-B-113-4-4-3’, was selected for cold tolerance and good agronomic characteristics and designated as a line name of ‘Gwiri75’. The line ‘Gwiri75’ was subsequently evaluated for cold tolerance, earliness, and forage yield in four different locations, Yesan, Iksan, Kimjae, and Jeju, from 2009 to 2011 and finally named as ‘Dahan’. Over 3 years, the average forage dry matter yield of ‘Dahan’ harvested at milk-ripe stage was 15.6 MT ha-1, compared with 14.1 MT ha-1 of check cultivar ‘Samhan’. Though similar in heading date to the check cultivar, ‘Dahan’ had tall plant length and lodging resistance. The feed value of ‘Dahan’ was superior to the check cultivar in percent total digestible nutrients (TDN) and TDN yield per ha. ‘Dahan’ is recommended primarily for winter planting use in the areas where daily minimum mean temperatures are averaged higher than -6 ℃ in January, and excluded in mountain area where frost damage is presumable.

Five constituents were isolated from the stem of Acanthopanax senticosus. Their structures were elucidated as (-)-sesamin (1), iso-fraxidin (2), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (3), syringin (4) and acanthoside D (5) by spectral analysis. Among these compounds, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (3) was isolated for the first time from this plant.