Aroma development in rice has been reported due to the lack of function of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (badh2) on rice chromosome 8. A lot of functional markers have been designed based on the InDels, such as 7bp deletion in exon 2, 803bp deletion in exon 4 and 5, 8bp deletion in exon 7, and 3bp insertion in exon 13. Although there were a lot of functional SNPs, other InDels have not been detected by a PCR-based marker. Here we developed a simple, co-dominant, functional cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker for fragrance trait based on 1bp insertion in exon 14. The developed marker showed a high efficiency in discriminating that special aromatic rice variety, and displayed perfect co-segregation with the trait of fragrance in the F2 population. This new marker developed in the present study would be useful in molecular breeding of fragrant rice varieties.

Vitamin E and phytosterols are both valuable nutrients that act as antioxidants in human bodies. Understanding the genetic basis of these traits is necessary for the improvement of nutritional quality by breeding. In this study, 119 rice accessions of diverse origin were genotyped using 232 SSR markers to identify marker–trait associations with Vitamin E and phytosterols in rice. Analysis of population structure revealed four subgroups in the population. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns and distributions are of fundamental importance for genome-wide mapping associations. The mean r2 value for all intra-chromosomal loci pairs was 0.3361. LD between linked markers decreased with distance. Marker–trait associations were investigated using the unified mixed-model approach, considering both population structure (Q) and kinship (K). In total, 81 marker–trait associations were identified using 232 different SSR markers covering 12 chromosomes. The results suggest that association mapping in rice is a viable alternative to quantitative trait loci mapping. The results from this association mapping study will be the basis for improving rice nutritional quality.

Arabidopsis Fused kinase TWO-IN-ONE (TIO) controls phragmoplast expansion and interacts with the Kinesin-12 subfamily proteins that anchor the plus ends of interdigitating microtubules (MTs) in the phragmoplast midzone. Previous analyses of loss-of-function mutants and RNA interference lines revealed that TIO positively controls both somatic and gametophytic cell cytokinesis, however, knowledge of the full spectrum of TIO functions during plant development remains incomplete. In order to further characterize TIO functions, we expressed TIO and a range of TIO variants under control of its own promoter in wild type Arabidopsis plants. We discovered that TIO-overexpressing transgenic lines produce enlarged pollen grains, arising from incomplete cytokinesis during male meiosis, and showed sporophytic abnormalities indicating polyploidy. These phenotypes arose independently in TIO variants that abolished either gametophytic function or the ability of TIO to interact with Kinesin-12 subfamily proteins. Interaction assays in yeast showed TIO to bind to AtNACK2/TETRASPORE and plants doubly homozygous for kinesin-12a and kinesin-12b knockout mutations to produce enlarged pollen grains. Our results show that TIO dominantly inhibits male meiotic cytokinesis in a dosage dependent manner that may involve direct binding to acomponent of the canonical NACK-PQR cytokinesis signaling pathway.

‘Youhan’ (Hordeum vulgare L.), a new whole crop barley cultivar, was developed by the breeding team at the Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop, National Institute of Crop Science, RDA in 2012. ‘Youhan’ has the growth habit of III, light green and middle size leaf, hooded and lax-type spikes. The cultivar showed 107 cm of culm length, 641 spikes per m2. Heading date of ‘Youhan’ was May 1, one day later than that of check cultivar ‘Yuyeon’ in upland, and 2 days earlier than that of check in paddy field. Maturing time was similar to check cultivar ‘Yuyeon’ as June 4 in upland and May 31 in paddy field. ‘Youhan’ also showed better winter hardiness, the resistance to lodging and disease than those of check cultivar. The average forage dry matter yield in the regional yield trial was about 12.6 and 12.0 ton ha-1 in upland and paddy field, respectively, which were 6%, 5% higher than that of the check. It also showed 7.3% of crude protein, 26.8% of ADF(Acid Detergent Fiber), 47.8% of NDF(Neutral Detergent Fiber), and 67.7% of TDN(Total Digestible Nutrients), including higher grade of silage quality for whole crop barley. Fall sowing cropping of ‘Youhan’ is recommended only in areas where average daily minimum mean temperatures in January are higher than －8°C, and it should not be cultivated in mountain areas of Korea.

“Hojoong”, a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar was developed by the National Institute of Crop Science, RDA, Iksan, Korea, during the period from 2006 to 2012. The heading and maturing dates of this variety were May 2 and June 10 in upland, and May 3 and June 7 in paddy field, respectively. It is an It is an awned, semi-dwarf and soft red winter wheat. Culm and spike length of “Hojoong” were 79cm and 9.1cm. It had lower test weight (803 g/ℓ) and 1,000 grain weight (39.5g) than “Keumkang”. It showed resistance to pre-harvest sprouting, which lower rate of pre-harvest sprouting (5.5%) than “Keumkang”. “Hojoong” had lower flour yield (66.7%) and ash content (0.38%) than “Keumkang”. It showed lower protein content (11.3%) and lower SDS-sedimentation volume (34.0㎖) and amylose content (20.5%) than “Keumkang”. It showed higher high viscosity (204BU) and lightness of noodle dough sheet (80.63). It showed different composition in HMW-GS compositios (2.2+12), PPO18 (876bp), GBSS B (null type) and Puroindolines composition compared th “Keumkang”. Average yield of “Hojoong” in the regional adaptation yield trial test was 5.51 ton/ha in upland and 5.10 ton/ha in paddy field. “Hojoong” would be suitable for the area above –10℃ of daily minimun temperature in January in Korean peninsula

“Baechal”, a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar was developed by the National Institute of Crop Science, RDA, Iksan, Korea, during the period from 2006 to 2012. The heading and maturing dates of this variety were May 1 and June 5 in upland, and May 2 and June 8 in paddy field, respectively. It is an It is an awned, semi-dwarf and hard white wheat. Culm and spike length of “Baekchal” were 75cm and 8.7cm. It had lower test weight (794g/ℓ) and 1,000 grain weight (35.7g) than “Keumkang”. It showed moderate to pre-harvest sprouting, which lower rate of pre-harvest sprouting (13.7%) than “Keumkang”. “Baekchal” had similar ash content (0.47%) and protein content (13.1%) to “Keumkang”. It showed lower gluten content (9.6%), SDS-sedimentation volume (38.2㎖) and amylose content (6.5%) than “Keumkang”. It showed higher high viscosity (643BU), water absorption (213%), expansibility of cooking (357%). It showed different composition in HMW-GS compositios (2*), PPO18 (876bp), GBSS (waxy type) and Puroindolines composition compared th “Keumkang”. Average yield of “Baekchal” in the regional adaptation yield trial test was 4.89 ton/ha in upland and 4.83 ton/ha in paddy field. “Baekchal” would be suitable for the area above –10℃ of daily minimun temperature in January in Korean peninsula

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum is a major disease problem on wheat and barley in Korea. The objectives of this study were to evaluation of korean wheat cultivars for Type I and Type II resistance to FHB. We screened for Type II resistance in the greenhouse using single floret inoculation and for Type I resistance in the field using spray inoculation. Sumai 3 was used the FHB resistant check. Thirty-two korean wheat cultivars were evaluated for resistance to spread of symptoms within spike. The 2013 field screening with wheat cultivar was located in Kimjae-si Joeonbuk Korea. All plots were inoculated twice. Mist-irrigation was applied to facilitate FHB development. FHB severity was assessed visually 21 days after inoculation on 20 arbitrarily selected spikes per plot. FHB severity was determined as the percentage of symptomatic spikelets from the total of all spikelets. For FHB resistance, the average of FHB severity of Type I exhibited ranging from 21.9% to 77.2% and FHB severity of Type II ranging from 20.8% to 100%. Namhae, Milseong, Geuru, Joen, Anbaek and Sukang were the moderately resistant cultivars while Gobun, Alchan, Dajoong, Eunpa, Shinmichal1, Eunpa and Uri were the most susceptible cultivars for Type II resistance.

‘Subo’ is a new japonica rice variety developed by a cross breeding between HR21124-B-59 and HR19567-B-70-3 having a good Phenotype with a multi-resistance and high yield elite line. The new variety developed for direct seeding by the rice breeding team in Rice Breeding and Cultivation Research Division, Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop, NICS, RDA in 2012. The heading date of this variety is August 13 and earlier than that of check variety, Nampyeongbyeo, by two days. ‘Subo’ has 72cm of culm length and 104 spikelets per panicle in direct seeding cultivation. This variety showed resistance to bacterial leaf blight and rice stripe virus and have germinating ability in sumerged soil conditions. The milled rice of this variety exhibits translucent and very clear non-glutinous endosperm. ‘Subo’ has much better palatability of cooked rice than that of Nampyeongbyeo. The whole grain rate of milled rice are 86.9% and milled rice recovery of are 74.6%. The yield of ‘Subo’ in direct seeding cultivation is 5.55MT/ha in milled rice. ‘Subo’ could be adaptable to the southern part plain area of Pyeongtaek and southwestern in Korea.

‘Hyeonpum’ is a new japonica rice variety developed by a cross breeding between Iksan469 having a good canopy architecture and Sindongjin and Musashino 7 having a good eating-quality with a view to develop a new variety having high quality of grain and palatability by the rice breeding team of Rice Breeding and Cultivation Research Division, Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop, NICS, RDA in 2012. The heading date of this variety is August 18 and later than that of check variety, Nampyeongbyeo, by four days. ‘Hyeonpum’ has 74cm of culm length and 101 spikelets per panicle. This variety showed resistance to bacterial leaf blight and rice stripe virus, but susceptible to leaf blast and planthoppers. The milled rice of this variety exhibits translucent and very clear non-glutinous endosperm. ‘Hyeonpum’ has much better palatability of cooked rice than that of Nampyeongbyeo. The whole grain rate of milled rice and milled rice recovery of ‘Hyeonpum’ are slightly higher than those of Nampyeongbyeo as 91.8% and 75.2% respectively. The yield of ‘Hyeonpum’ is 5.6 MT/ha in milled rice. ‘Hyeonpum’ could be adaptable to the southern part plain area of Pyeongtaek and southwestern costal areas in Korea.

Bakanae disease of rice, caused by Fusarium moniliforme Sheldon, the imperfect stage of Gibberella fujikuroi, is one of the most important rice diseases worldwide, but no rice variety has been found to be completely resistant to this fungus. Cultivation of resistant cultivars is the most beneficial way of reducing quantitative or qualitative losses to for bakanae disease in rice. To facilitate the study of this disease, accurate and large scale screening methods were developed for the inoculation and evaluation of Bakanae disease. Even and large scale infection was achieved by using F. moniliforme spore in tissue embedding cassette and seedling tray. The efficiency of F. moniliforme infection with the concentration of 1×106 spore/ml caused better distribution (F-value=33.96) than 1×102 (F-value=10.69), and 1×104 spore/ml (F-value=2.63). We established new criteria of healthy and non-healthy plant, and introduced calculation of proportion of healthy plants to meet fast evaluation of resistance level of each variety. The effect of F. moniliforme strains containing different genetic background was also evaluated with rice varieties to figure out the stability of resistance level. GA3 response of rice variety was significantly correlated with bakanae disease, but it did not adequate for direct indicator of bakanae disease resistance. These results indicated that a large scale infection method developed in this study is fast and reproducible, as well as a disease evaluation system provides an accurate measurement of bakanae disease resistance of rice.

JAK2 V617F mutation is a common event in chronic myeloproliferative disorders. However, de novo acute myeloid leukemia with JAK2 V617F is rarely encountered. The authors report the case of a 74-year-old male with de novo acute myeloblastic leukemia without maturation (AML M1) and a JAk2 V617F heterozygotic mutation. Despite treatment with standard AML regimens, the patient died 2 months after a diagnosis of acute leukemia. This case of an AML patient with a JAK2 V617F mutation with a poor prognosis suggests that despite its rarity, a JAK2 V617F mutational study be considered for prognostic purposes in AML.

Lhx8 (LIM homeobox 8) gene encodes a LIM homeodomain transcriptional regulator that is preferentially expressed in germ cells and critical for mammalian folliculogenesis. However, Lhx8 DNA binding sequences are not characterized yet. We aimed to identify and characterize a cis-acting sequence of germ-cell specific transcriptional factor, Lhx8. To identify Lhx8 DNA binding element, Cyclic Amplification of Sequence Target (CAST) Analysis was performed. Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) was processed for the binding specificity of Lhx8. Luciferase assay was for the transcriptional activity of Lhx8 through identified DNA binding site. We identified a putative cis-acting sequence, TGATTG as Lhx8 DNA binding element (LBE). In addition, Lhx8 binds to the LBE with high affinity and augments transcriptional activity of luciferase reporter driven by artificial promoter containing the Lhx8 binding element. These findings indicate that Lhx8 directly regulates the transcription of genes containing Lhx8 binding element in oocytes during early folliculogenesis.

EST-SSRs were developed in Brassica napus by database mining. We isolated 7,802 EST-SSRs from the B. napus 643,946 ESTs deposited in the NCBI. With the cut-off value of >10 repeats in di-nucleotide repeats and >7 tri-nucleotide repeats, 303 ESTs were suitable for primer designing for PCR amplification. Of the sixteen possible di-nucleotide combinations, only three types of repeats (AC/GT, AG/CT, and AT/TA) were present among the di-nucleotide EST-SSRs. Whereas, 27 tri-nucleotide repeat motifs from the 64 possible combinations were present. The repeat numbers ranged from 10-15 in di-nucleotide repeats and 7-9 in tri-nucleotide repeat motifs, respectively. By checking PCR amplification in 10 Korean rapeseed breeding lines or cultivars, 234 primer pairs showed successful PCR amplification and 142 of the 234 primer pairs revealed polymorphism among the control cultivars or breeding lines. While the repeat length does not related with the SSR polymorphisms, the repeat motif number showed positive relation with the polymorphism generation by showing higher repeat numbers with higher polymorphisms. We are here presenting the PCR amplifiable primer sequences of the 234 SSR primer pairs to aid in the germplasm management and breeding programs of the B. napus in Korea.

Allelic variations in glutenin and puroindolines of 26 Korean wheat cultivars were evaluated to determine their effects on the physicochemical properties of flour and quality of white salted noodles. Cultivars carrying Pina-D1b and Pinb-D1b exhibited a coarser particle size of wheat flour and a higher ash and damaged starch content than those with Pina-D1a and Pinb-D1a. Glu-B1b, Glu-D1f, Glu-B3d and Pina-D1a alleles exhibited lower protein content than other alleles. Glu-A1c, Glu-B1b, Glu-D1f Glu-B3d, Glu-B3i and Pinb-D1b alleles appeared to be related to a lower SDS-sedimentation volume than other alleles. In dough rheological properties, Glu-A1a and Glu-D1d alleles showed a longer mixing time on the mixograph and maximum dough height but Glu-A3e and Glu-B3i alleles had a lower mixing time on the mixograph and a lower maximum dough height than other alleles at Glu-1 and Glu-3 loci. Regarding the quality of white salt noodles, about 10% of the variations in the hardness of cooked noodles were explained by Glu-A1 and Glu-B3 loci. Hardness rankings of cooked noodles were Glu-A1a > Glu-A1c > Glu-A1c at the Glu-A1 locus. Glu-B3h showed higher cooked noodle hardness (5.10 N) than other alleles at the Glu-B3 locus (< 4.66 N).

Farmers have use phosphate fertilizer to provide sufficient yields. However, overuse of phosphorus accumulate in soil and causes soil and water pollution. We evaluated the phosphate acquisition and growth characteristics of OsPT1 transgenic rice (OsPT1-OX, over-expressing the high affinity phosphate transporter 1) in high phosphate soils with different level of nitrogen fertilizer treatment to investigate removing ability of excessive phosphate from soil. OsPT1-OX had shorter culm length but more tillers than those of wild-type plants in each soil conditions. Phosphate content per dry weight of OsPT1-OX was 1.8 times higher than that of wild-type under control fertilizer treated conditions. Although the dry weight of OsPT1-OX was not different from that of wild-type plants, whole plant phosphate content was 1.7 times higher than that of wild-type plants under control fertilizer conditions. Tiller number and phosphate content per dry weight of wild-type plants increased following high levels of phosphate application but did not change by following additional nitrogen application. Tiller number and phosphate content per dry weight of OsPT1-OX did not change under the high phosphate condition, but increased following nitrogen application under similar conditions. Whole plant phosphate content was highest under high nitrogen and high phosphate application conditions. These results suggest that OsPT1-OX may reduce phosphate content in soils containing excess phosphate and may be further effective under high nitrogen condition.

Pollen development in flowering plants is regulated by a comprehensive pattern of genes. One way to produce hybrid rice based on nuclear male sterility is to find out firstly the potential promoters that function specifically in anthers since it is a specific site for transcription initiation and play key roles for the spatial and temporal expression of the genes. To implement this objective, we were selected promoter region of 16 genes based on the expression pattern of microarray and then those were introduced into the promoterless final destination vector which containing the GFP and GUS reporters genes. The resulting twelve vectors were transformed into monocotyledonous rice (Oryza sativa L) and a dicotyledonous Arabidopsis as heterologous system. Minimum 20 plants for each vector were analyzed by histochemical GUS assay at the flowering stage in Arabidopsis. 9 vectors out of 12 vectors constructed were expressed exclusively at the anther, especially in pollen, however one vector exhibited expression in stigma. For rice, T-DNA insertion were confirmed with specific primers in each promoter and GFP region. All T0 transgenic plants contained T-DNA insertion in their genome. This study would provide valuable information for biotechnological application for the induction of male sterility in plants.

The transport of nascent messenger RNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm is mediated by the THO/TREX complex and is evolutionary conserved from yeast, metazoa and humans. However, in plants, it is still yet unclear if the similar mechanism of transport exists. Here we identified and characterized a mutant gene, AtTHO2, a putative Arabidopsis thaliana THO2 component protein, homologous to yeast THO2 of the THO/TREX pathway required for mRNA transport. The mutation from this gene resulted to various developmental defects that include semi-dwarfism and abnormal floral development which further leads to sterility. Gene expression analysis revealed that AtTHO2 is expressed in all organs and pollen developmental stages. In addition, the homozygote progeny of null mutants did not persist until mature stage. These results suggest an indispensable role of AtTHO2 in the development of Arabidopsis. Differential gen expression and silencing were also observed between the null mutants and wild type depending on T-DNA insertion. Furthermore, alternative splicing which was tightly linked with the THO/TREX pathways was also defective on AtTHO2 and null mutants. A similar pattern of defect in SR34a was observed in the AtTHO2 and null mutants. In terms of microRNA biosynthesis, no significant differences were seen on the wild-type and mutant plants; however this data should be validated. Thus this work provides some evidences that a similar THO/TREX complex exist in plants and gave a foundation for further studies on the mechanism of nuclear export in plants.

A diverse number of genes are involved in the floral transition and development to ensure the proper timing on the switch from vegetative to reproductive development in Arabiodopsis. MADS-box genes play a major role in floral development especially in the case of vernalization process, In this study we mapped a mutation in MAF5 encoding a MADS-domain protein which was reported to be up-regulated during vernalization and regulates flowering time. The mutant in MAF5 showed several pleiotropic phenotypes that includes semi-dwarfism, delayed senescence and abnormal pollen phenotype, High percentages of vacuolated and aborted pollen phenotype were observed in the mutant plant. Transmission efficiency showed that mutation from this gene was defective in both male and female gametes. Furthermore, gene expression analysis revealed that this gene was predominantly expressed in reproductive organs and gave a strong expression in the mature pollen which coincides with the defect in pollen phenotype. The results from this study provide some evidences on the additional role of MAF5 in pollen development however more specific approaches should be done to determine the specific stages of pollen development altered in this mutant.