Background : The natural stable isotope ratio of common bio-elements like carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), or sulfur (S) varies with diverse isotope fractionation processes in nature. Therefore, measuring the variation of these stable isotope ratios in ginseng roots can be a feasible tool to discriminate the geographical origins of ginseng in Korea. Methods and Results : The 3-year-old six Korean ginseng cultivars were cultivated at the five regions in Korea, and then used for measuring the stable isotope ratios of C, N, O, and S by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). The mean C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratio values in the ginseng roots significantly differed according to the cultivation regions (p < 0.05). However, these isotope ratios in ginseng roots had relatively weak discriminative power against to the ginseng cultivars at each cultivation region. The interaction of the cultivation region and ginseng cultivar type also significantly affected to the C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratio in ginseng roots (p < 0.0001). The two-dimensional plots associated with the N stable isotope ratio can effectively separate the ginseng roots in Jinan compared to those in the other regions. The partial least squares-discriminant analysis showed more significant separation between ginseng geographical origins compared to the principal component analysis. Conclusion : Our findings improve our understanding of how the isotope composition of ginseng roots varies with respect to cultivation regions and cultivars, and suggest that the analysis of the stable isotope ratios combined with chemometrics can be used as a feasible tool to discriminate geographical origin of ginseng in Korea.

This study was performed to investigate the growth characteristics and inorganic components of Codonopsis lanceolata regarding regional differences. The plant height of Japanese Codonopsis lanceolata was 373.6 cm, so it’s revealed that it has more vigorous growth than Korean won. The flowering time of Korean Codonopsis lanceolata was 2 weeks faster than Japanese one. Total fresh weight of root was 41.0 g and 39.0 g for Korean and Japanese respectively, thus, no significance difference was found. However, regarding fresh weight, Korean one had a more fresh weight (35.4 g) of main root parts, but Japanese one had a more fresh weight (9.6 g) of the lateral root part. Each inorganic component was found more in the aboveground parts, regardless of the region and the content of K was the largest. Regarding the content of macroelements for each part of Codonopsis lanceolata, the content of Na, Mg, P, S, and Ca in Korean Codonopsis lanceolata was found the highest on the leaf, followed by stem and root. In the case of Japanese Codonopsis lanceolata, same result was found on the content of Mg and Ca, however, the highest content of Na and P was found in the stem.

This study was conducted to compare the growth, inorganic components, and proximate components of Codonopsis lanceolata grown in 10 regions of Korea for selecting superior species and breeding by crossing. Among the all tested lines, the shortest plant height (217.12 cm) was observed from the Ulleungdo region line (No. 4) while the longest (273.9 cm) was observed from Hwasun region line (No. 9). In addition, the lines of central and northern region (No. 1~No. 7) tend to have shorter plant height than those of southern region (No. 8~No. 9) except Jejudo region line (No. 10). Flowering tends to be late towards southern region, and lines in central and northern regions were started flowering about 2 weeks earlier than those in southern regions. However, the heaviest root weight was 13.1 g, found in only Jejudo line (No. 10) whereas there was no significant difference found in the other regions which have a range of 8.3~11.0 g. The inorganic components were varied in each line, however, proportion of macroelements, such as K, Ca, and P, was the largest for every line. Especially for Heongseong region line (No. 2), had larger proportion of macroelements than the others. There was a difference of proximate compositions of Codonopsis lanceolata, except the moisture content, among all regions, however, it was generally shown that the content of crude protein (1.31~3.76%) and crude fiber (2.18~3.12%) was the highest.

A prototype of the GMT FSM has been developed to acquire and to enhance the key technology – mirror fabrication and tiptilt actuation. The ellipsoidal off-axis mirror has been designed, analyzed, and fabricated from light-weighting to grinding, polishing, and figuring of the mirror surface. The mirror was tested by using an interferometer together with CGHs, which revealed the surface error of 13.7 nm rms in the diameter of 1030 mm. The SCOTS test was employed to independently validate the test results. It measured the surface error to be 17.4 nm rms in the diameter of 1010 mm. Both tests show the optical surface of the FSMP mirror within the required value of 20 nm rms surface error.

Genome sequencing researches for considerable numbers of crops and wild plants are being developed. Cytogenetic researches according to chromosome number and size are essential to confirm and comprehend ploidy level and genome size before genome sequencing project is actually conducted. Cytogenetic researches on six food crop plants were carried out by DAPI staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method. Fagopyrum esculentum Moench showed 2n=2x=16, each chromosome length of 1.42㎛ to 1.77㎛, total chromosome length of 13.31㎛, and karyotypic formula of 2n=8m; Phaseolus angularis W.F. Wight, 2n=2x=22, 2.01㎛ to 3.84㎛, total 28.03㎛, 2n=9m+2sm, Perilla frutescens var. japonica Hara, 2n=2x=40, 1.73㎛ to 2.76㎛, total 44.36㎛, 2n=5m+13sm+2st. Chromosome sizes of the other three species such as, Panicum miliaceum L., 2n=2x=36, total chromosome length of 30.83㎛, Sesamum indicum L., 2n=2x=26, 27.39㎛, lpomoea batatas L., 2n=2x=30, total 33.51㎛ were too small for each chromosome type to be identified and analyzed. The result of FISH analysis using 5S and 45S rDNA probe showed species-specific chromosome locations in the genome. These preliminary analyses were carried out to decide which food crop to prioritize for genome sequencing. This work was supported by the “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (No.PJ009837), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a chaperone protein that involves in oxidative protein folding by acting as catalysts and folding assistants in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Genome database showed that rice contains three PDI-like genes. But, their functions and subcellullar localization are not clearly identified. Here, we show possible functions of rice PDI (OsPDI) during seed development. Seeds of OsPDI T-DNA insertion mutants which were identified by genomic DNA PCR and western blot display chalky phenotype. Electron microscope analysis revealed that endosperms of the OsPDIL1-1Δ mutant show imperfect packing of round starch granules, causing floury-white color. Abnormal form of protein body I (PB-I) containing prolamin and thick aleurone layer were also observed in the OsPDIL1-1Δ mutants. Protein content per seed was significantly low in the OsPDIL1-1Δ mutant. However, free sugar content was high in the OsPDIL1-1Δ mutant seed. Northern and western blot analyses showed that during seed development, OsPDI protein is steadily accumulated in the seed until maturation while its transcript level was highest at 10 days after flowering and rapidly decreased to basal level. In addition, OsPDI strongly interacts with cysteine protease OsCP1 and chaperone BiP protein accumulates in OsPDIL1-1Δ mutant. Besides, proteomic analysis of the OsPDIL1-1Δ mutant seed showed that OsPDI is post-translationally regulated and its loss causes accumulation of many types of seed proteins. Our results indicate that OsPDI plays a critical role in seed development through its regulatory activity for various proteins.

Grain yield, one of the most important agronomic traits, is greatly affected by architecture in rice. Here, we show that an OsPrMC3, a rice PrMC3 orthologue with a lipase or esterase domain, involves in yielding by tillering. Phenotypic analysis of T-DNA insertion mutant revealed that it has high number of tillers than wild type although height and leaf width are shorter and narrower than wild type. Size and branch number of panicle were greatly reduced in the mutant, which resulted in significant decrease of seed number per panicle and dry weight of the seeds. OsPrMC3 is highly expressed in the leaf during the early stage of development. However, it is mainly expressed in mature seed and root after flowering although its expression is detected in all of the tissues. Our result indicates that OsPrMC3 involves in leaf growth and tillering during vegetative growth and also seed development after flowering, suggesting its crucial regulatory role in yielding

To produce abiotic stress resistant transgenic cucumber, the cotyledonary node explants of cucumber (c.v. Eunsung) were inoculated with A. tumefaciens strain EHA105 containing the binary vector (pPZP211) carrying Nit gene. The 491 explants inoculated with bacterium solution for 30 min were maintained on 50 mg/L paromomycin contained shoot induction (SI) medium for first 2 weeks and then subcultured on 100 mg/L paromomycin to obtain transgenic adventitious shoots for 4 x 14 days. So far, 5 plant were selected, and then acclimated in soil. Of them, 3 transgenic plants with Nit gene were confirmed by Southern blot analysis.

The objective of this study was to map gene/QTL for photoblastism in a weedy rice (photoblastic rice: PBR) using DNA markers. Light-induced effect on germination of seeds was compared among three accessions (Oryza sativa L.), PBR, Milyang 23 and Ilpum. Results showed that PBR seeds started to show photoblastism during seed development, different from Ilpum and Milyang 23. Frequency distribution of germination in the F4 lines from crosses between Ilpum and PBR and, Milyang 23 and PBR revealed bimodal distributions suggesting that photoblastism was controlled by a few genes. Bulked segregant analysis using F4 populations derived from the above two crosses was conducted to identify gene/QTL for photoblastism. Two QTL were identified on chromosomes 1 and 12 explaining 11.2 and 12.8% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. Two QTL were further mapped between two SSR markers, RM8260 and RM246 on chromosome 1, and between RM270 and 1103 on chromosome 12. It is noteworthy that two QTL for photoblastism were colocalized with the QTL for seed dormancy reported in the previous QTL studies. The clustering of two genes for photoblastism and dormancy possibly indicates that these regions constitute rice phytochrome gene clusters related to germination. Because PBR has a low degree of dormancy, a pleiotropic effect of a single gene controlling dormancy and photoblastism can be ruled out. The linked markers will provide the foundation for positional cloning of the gene.