In this study, genetic diversity of wild Codonopsis lanceolata collected in Korea were analysed using SSR makers. Wild C. lanceolata roots were collected in Jeollanam-do Jangheung-gun Choentae Mountain as in roots. The wild C. lanceolata plants were cultivated in Chungbuk National University greenhouse and the leaves were sampled from 36 plants. The genomic DNA of C. lanceolata was extracted using CTAB. PCR was performed using a program of 35 cycles at 94℃ for 30 sec, 60℃ for 30 sec, and 72℃ for 30 sec with an pre-denaturation of 94℃ for 5 min and a final extension of 72℃ for 30 min. The PCR reaction mixture contains 5 pmole of primers and 20 ng of DNA template in a 20 μL reaction volume. The genotype of the analyzed samples were very different. Therefore, the wild C. lanceolata collected in Korea look genetically diverse.

Codonopsis lanceolata is a perennial climber. The roots are used as medicinal materials or vegetables. Recently, demand for C. lanceolata is increasing as a healthy food. C. lanceolata is distributed in India and East Asia such as China, Japan as well as Korea. In South Korea, this plant is widely cultivated in Gangwon-do province. No C. lanceolata varieties were developed in Korea. The objective of this study is to analyze genetic diversity of C. lanceolata cultivated in Korea using SSR makers. C. lanceolata roots were collected in each region were cultivated in Chungbuk National University greenhouse. Samples were obtained from fresh leaves of 5 plants from each collection region. The genomic DNA was extracted using CTAB. Genetic diversity was analysed using 4 sets of C. lanceolata SSR makers. PCR was performed in total 20 μL reaction volume containing 20 ng of DNA template, 5 pmole of primers. The genotypes of the analyzed samples were very similar. That means that the genetic diversity of C. lanceolata cultivated in Korea is very low.

The high quality of gene set is necessary to study the functional research of genes. Although perilla is cultivated as an oil crop and as a vegetable crop in Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, northeast China and Nepal, the reference genome is absent. To assembly perilla gene set, we sequenced the various tissues of perilla (Perilla citriodora) RNA-seq with Illumina HiSeq platform, generating 548,549,314 short reads. When de novo transcriptome assembly was performed with five samples, 86,396 and 38,413 transcripts were assembled as total and representative transcripts, respectively. Using 1,917,424 proteins at Phytozome ver. 9.1, we annotated the perilla assembled transcripts, and 66,139(76.55%) and 24,030(62.55%) transcripts showed the similarity with known plant proteins (E-value < 1e-10) as total and representative transcripts, respectively. Among the diverse molecular functions, we were interested in the regulatory components, such as transcription factor and transcription regulator. Using this data, we identified 499 transcripts annotated the putative transcription factor differentially expressed transcripts. 165 putative transcription factors were significantly expressed in perilla flower and 121 putative transcription factors in both leaf and flower. This study provides the perilla reference gene set and the understanding of the molecular regulation of transcription factor dependent on the tissue.

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) is a Gramineae perennial grass species and commonly used as a forage crop and developed to be used for pasture. In Korea, in order to improve high persistence and forage quality, through selection of various superior parental varieties for breeding and synthesis of them with new lines, there are ongoing worldwide studies aiming to enhance the quality and environmental adaptability of Orchardgrass. Between 2010 and 2014, a Orchardgrass variety named Onnuri 2ho was developed by the Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA), Republic of Korea. For the production of synthetic seeds for Onnuri 2ho 4 superior clones, Dg7506, Dg9508, Edg215 and Edg218 were selected and polycrossed. Between 2010 and 2011, the agronomic growth characteristics and forage production capability of the seeds were studied at Cheonan, and between 2012 and 2014, regional trials were conducted in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jinju, and in Jeju. The main growth characteristic of Onnuri 2ho is a tetraploid variety, a medium-late maturity variety, the heading stage of which is around May 17, which is four days later than that of Amba. This study tested the regional adaptability of Orchardgrass in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jeju, and in Jinju. The average dry matter yield of Onnuri 2ho in the four regions was 15,814 kg/ha, which is greater than that of Amba by 34%. These differences show that Onnuri 2ho is more resistant to environmental stresses than Amba and that this growth characteristic directly led to dry matter yield. Thus, Onnuri 2ho is a suitable variety for the establishment of grasslands as it has enhanced disease resistance and persistence, compared to Amba. The forage quality of Onnuri 2ho was similar to that of Amba in crude protein (11.5%), total digestible nutrients (59.2%), neutral detergent fiber (62.7%), and acid detergent fiber (37.6%), whereas the forage quality of Ongreen was higher than that of Amba in (71.0%). The new variety was selected and named Onnuri 2ho from Composite 34 by the RDA in November 2014, and the application for the protection of the new variety by the Korea Seed and Variety Service is currently pending. In this study, a new variety of Orchardgrass with excellent environmental adaptability was developed, in order to contribute to the vitalization of the Korean grassland industry.

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops in the world and a model plant for functional genomics of monocotyledon. Recently, rice crop loss is estimated to be approximately 30% of the total yield due to herbivorous pests, mainly insects. Cry1Ac toxin is a protein produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and has insecticidal properties. CryBP1 toxin also is an insecticidal protein produced by the bacterium Bacillus popilliae. These two toxic genes derived bacteria, which were inserted into a binary vector, have been introduced into rice plants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation in order to enhance resistance to insects. Here, we utilized anthers to regenerate transgenic rice plants when it has been plated on the callus induction media as a callus-inducing material. Anther culture has a benefit in terms of being apt to produce doubled haploids in short term in plants breeding compared to seed culture. However, anther culture method in generating transgenic rice still has low productivity of plant regeneration in some genotypes of Japonica rice. Therefore, we examined the efficiency of callus induction and transformation with three different cultivars of Japonica rice, Haiami, Ungwang and Dongjin. In this study, our results showed that Haiami is the best genotype among three cultivars of Japonica rice as callus inducing material in anther culture to produce transgenic rice plants conferring resistance to insects.

Neutropenic enterocolitis (NE), the most serious gastrointestinal complication, has been reported as a clinical syndrome that occurs in the setting of disease- or chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Complications of NE include bowel necrosis with perforation, fistula, stenosis, massive bleeding, abscess formation, and pneumatosis intestinalis (PI). Most physicians recommend initial conservative management with bowel rest, intravenous fluids, total parenteral nutrition, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and normalization of neutrophil counts. Surgical intervention is recommended in the event of obstruction, perforation, persistent gastrointestinal bleeding despite correction of thrombocytopenia and coagulopathy, or clinical deterioration. We experienced a patient whose abdominal computed tomography scan showed pneumoretroperitoneum, intramural gas in the colon, and inferior vena caval gas. Her condition improved after treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and broad-spectrum antibiotics. We report on this case along with a review of the literature.