Compared to wide ranges of genetic variation of natural populations, very limited Miscanthus cultivar has been released. This study was the first report on the development of Miscanthus cultivar by means of radiation breeding. Seeds of M. sinensis were initially exposed to gamma rays of 250 Gy for 24 h, generated from a 60Co gamma-irradiator. The irradiated seeds were sown and then the highly tiller-producing mutants were selected for this study. Biomass-related parameters including tiller number, plant height, stem diameter, and leaf number were measured. Ploidy level and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) were investigated to characterize the mutants compared to wild type (WT) Miscanthus. Plant height and tiller number were negatively related, where multi-tillering mutants were relatively short after 4 month growth. However stem diameter and leaf number were greater in mutants. All the materials used in this study were diploid, implying that the mutants with greater tiller numbers and stem diameter were not likely related to polyploidization. Based on the sequence of ITS regions, the mutants demonstrated base changes from the gamma irradiation where G+C content (%) was decreased in the ITS1, but increased in ITS2 when compared to WT sequence. ITS2 region was more variable than in ITS1 in the mutants, which collectively allows identification of the mutants from WT. Those mutants having enhanced tillers and allelic variations might be used as breeding materials for enhanced biomass-producing Miscanthus cultivars.

Plant biomass is a huge carbon-complex that has potential as a nutrient. Therefore we extracted and separated useful materials for plant growth from tea leaf and stem. The pre-treatment process including high temperature (200 °C) and pressure (20-40 kgf/cm2) was treated for several minutes and extracted at 120 °C for 30-60 minutes. After that the chemical compositions and ingredients were analyzed from that plantnutrient. As a result of mineral contents, calcium and magnesium concentrations are higher than other minerals. Also the result of carbohydrates analyses has shown that the sugar oligomer consists of xylose(95.3%) and glucose(4.7%), and the sugar monomer consists in the order of xylose (52.7%) > manose (22.8%) > arabinose (10.8%) > galactose (10.2%) > glucose (3.5%). Before applied to field, in vitro plant growth system and formulation were examined. To evaluate the effect of the nutrients, both strawberry green-house and persimmon fields were used in this test. The treated persimmons were heavier than controls scored at 13-22%. In addition, the storageperiod was extended in the treated strawberries. Interestingly in the treated strawberry, the contents of polyphenols were increased (38-57%). These results suggest that the plant-nutrient can afford to help for plant growth and storage, and it can be substituted for other commercial nutrients. In conclusion, this plant-nutrient may help to extend eco-friendly or organic farming in Hadong-gun area.

Self-incompatibility (SI) prevents self-fertilization by inhibiting the pollen tube growth of self-pollen. Molecular analysis has revealed that the S locus comprises a number of genes, such as the S-locus glycoprotein (SLG), the S-locus receptor kinase (SRK), and SP11 (SCR). Although molecular markers related to those genes have been developed, a simple S-haplotype detecting method has not been reported due to the highly polymorphic and relatively small coding regions. In this study, the sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers were used to establish an efficient radish genotyping method. We identified the S-haplotypes of 192 radish accessions using 19 different markers, which proved to be highly reliable. The accessions were assigned to 17 types of S-haplotypes, including 8 types of SRKs and 9 types of SLGs. Since the developed SCAR markers are based on their gene sequences, we could easily identify the S-haplotypes by a single specific band, with the highest frequencies detected for SLG 5, SRK 1, and SLG 1, in order. Among the tested markers, the SLG 1, SRK 1, and SRK 5 markers exhibited high reliability, compared to phenotypic results. Furthermore, we identified the seven types of unreported SLGs using SLG Class -I and -II specific markers. Although the developed SCAR markers still need to be improved for the genotyping of all S-haplotypes, these markers could be helpful for monitoring inbred lines, and for developing the MAS in radish breeding programs.

The objective of this study was to investigate the response of seed germination based on seed treatment of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) sterilization. Seeds of eleven species were treated with SC-CO2 at 150 bar, 55℃ and 15 min (condition of fungi sterilization). Standard germination tests were used to evaluate germinability of seeds. Compared with non-treated seeds, SC-CO2 treatment caused significant variation of germination rate in different species. Different species showed different response to SC-CO2 treatment. The results suggest that crop of Leguminosae family is suitable for SC-CO2 sterilization.

A new kidney bean cultivar, “Noghyeob 1” was developed at the Yeongnam Agricultural Research Institute (YARI) in 2005. “Noghyeob 1” was selected from a cross between KLG50074 and KLG50063. It has determinate growth habit, white flower, green pod color, oval shape of crossed section of pod at the harvesting time for edible pod, white seed coat and middle seed size (21.1 grams per 100 seeds). The average yield of edible pod of “Noghyeob 1” was 24.25 M/T per hectare in the yield trials which were carried out at the green house in spring and autumn in 2005. It was 7 percent higher than that of the check cultivar “Kangnangkong 1”.