The plant family chrysanthemum is known for its medicinal, ornamental, and economic purposes. Owing to its economic and biological significance to the difficult identification based on morphological characters, it is useful to develop DNA barcodes. DNA sequence data enable not only the inference of phylogenetic relationships but also provide an efficient method for species-level identifications under terms DNA barcoding or DNA taxonomy. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the utility of DNA barcoding in discriminating Chrysanthemum species. Four cpDNA regions (matK, rpoC, rpoB, trnH-psbA) and one nuclear (ITS) marker have sequenced from 28 specimens of 11 species from 4 genera of Chrysanthemum which were collected from 5 provinces in Korea. Comparisons of within and between species levels of sequence divergence showed that genetic variation between species exceeds variation within species.

Allele mining in starch synthesis-related genes (SSRGs) has facilitated the discovery of desired natural sequence variations for eating quality in rice. This study investigated the sequence variations from 10 SSRGs, and further evaluated their relationship with the amylose content (AC) and rapid viscosity analysis profiles in a global collection of rice accessions by association mapping (AM). In total, 83 sequence variations were found in 10 sequenced amplicons, including 73 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), eight insertion-deletions (InDels) and two polymorphic simple sequence repeats (SSRs). Four subpopulations were identified by population structure analysis based on 170 genome-wide SSR genotypes. AM revealed 11 significant associations between three phenotypic indices and three sequence variations. One SNP with a g/c transversion at the 63rd nucleotide downstream of the OsBEIIb gene termination codon on rice chromosome 2 was significantly associated with multiple trait indices in both the general linear and mixed linear models (GLM and MLM), including the final viscosity (p < 0.001, R2 = 23.87%) in both 2009 and 2010, and AC (p < 0.01, R2 = 11.25%) and trough viscosity (p < 0.01, R2 = 20.43) in 2010. This study provides a new perspective of allele mining for breeding strategies based on marker-assisted selection.

A. arguta is found nationwide whether the altitude is low or high if good drainage is achieved with plenty of water. The distribution of A. polygama seems to be more limited to higher altitude than A. arguta so it can be found in deep valley of highland even in Mt. Halla. A. kolomikta seems rather limited to colder area than A. arguta to Mt. Jiri to the south. Meanwhile, A. rufa is very confined to southern islands including Jeollanamdo and Jeju islands. Some institutes still continue to utilize Korean native Actinidia plants commercially since early 1980"s. More collaborative efforts are needed for further development of these plants nationwide.

The high incidence of polyspermic fertilization is one of the major causes lowering the overall efficiency of porcine IVF. The common procedure for IVF involves the co-culture of both gametes in the medium drop, which increases sperm concentration and incidence of polyspermy. Therefore, the present study was carried out to increase the efficiency of porcine IVF by reducing polyspermy using a modified swim-up method. This method modifies conventional swim-up washing by placing oocytes directly at the time of washing. Sperm pellet was prepared in the tube and mature oocytes were placed on cell strainer with pore size (Falcon 2350) at the top of the tube. After insemination, the oocytes were stained for examination. Also, the developmental potential of fertilized embryos was measured to evaluate for the feasibility of this method. While having similar penetration rates in both methods (), there was a significant reduction of polyspermy in modified swim-up method () compare to the control ( (p<0.05). Subsequent culture showed higher rate of blastocyst formation in modified swim-up method (20.440.99%) than the control () (P<0.05), even though there was no significant difference. These results suggest that, by controlling the number of spermatozoa reaching the oocytes, porcine oocytes might be protected from polyspermy in vitro. Also, the developmental potential of the fertilized embryos using this method could be improved by increasing the pool of spermatozoa with better quality. Further optimization of the procedure required to implicate this method in routine porcine IVF.

The lutropin/choriogonadotropin receptor (LHR) is a member of the rhodopsin-like subfamily of G protein coupled receptor (GPCRs), that has been shown to mediate the internalization of its two naturally occurring agonist, lutropin and choriogonadotropin (CG). The clustered agonist-receptor complex is internalized by a dynamin-dependent pathway and traverses the endosomal compartment without agonist dissociation Dissociation of the agonist-receptor complex occurs in the lysosomes, where both the agonist and receptor are degrade. Recently, constitutively activating mutations of the receptor have been identified that are associated with familial male-precocious puberty (FMPP). A FMPP is a form of sexual precocious puberty in boys in which testosterone levels are elevated independent of changes in luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and serum luteinizing hormone levels, We have now analyzed two naturally occurring, constitutively active mutants of the human LHR. These mutations were introduced into the rat LHR (rLHR) and are designated L435R and D556Y. Cells expressing rLHR-D556Y bind human choriogonadotropin (hCG) with normal affinity, exhibit a 25-fold increase in basal cAMP and respond to hCG with a normal increase in cAMP accumulation. Cells expressing rLHR-L435R also bind hCG with normal affinity, exhibit a 47-fold increase in basal cAMP, and do not respond to hCG with a further increase in cAMP accumulation. This mutation enhances the internalization of the free and agonist-occupied receptors ~2- and ~17- fold, respectively We conclude that the state of activation of the rLHR can modulate its basal and/or agonist-stimulated internalization. Since the internalization of hCG is involved in the termination of hCG actions, we suggest that the lack of responsiveness detected in cells expressing rLHR-L435R is due to the fast rate of internalization of the bound hCG. The finding that membranes expressing rLHR-L435R respond to hCG with an increase in adenylyl cyclase activity supports this suggestion. Autonomous Leydig cell activity in FMPP is caused by a constitutively activating LH/CGR.

출수 후 수확할 때까지 이삭이 전혀 추출하지 않고 엽초에 싸여 등숙되는 특성을 가진 Nepal의 수도품종 GAMADI를 포장 및 벽실 양조건의 8시간, 자연일장 및 24시간 일장하에서 생육시켜 일장조건이 GAMADI 품종의 이삭 추출에 미치는 영향을 검토하었다. 그 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 1. 8시간과 자연일장 조건에서는 이삭이 전혀 추출되지 않았으며 24시간 일장조건에서 생육된 경우에만 전체 이삭 길이의 71% 정도가 추출되었다. 2. 24시간 일장조건에서는 상위 제일절간신장 정도가 8시간과 자연일장에 비하여 현저하여 이삭추출과 유의한 관계에 있는 것으로 나타났다. 3. 제3 및 제4절간신장 정도는 자연일장에 비하여 8시간 및 24시간 일장조건에서 유의하게 낮게 나타났다. 4. GAMADI 품종의 수장, 수당입수는 일장에 영향하지 않았다. 5. 수원의 자연상태에서의 GAMADI 품종의 임실율은 Nepal에서 보다 현저하게 낮았다.