Magnetic flux ropes, often observed during intervals of interplanetary coronal mass ejections, have long been recognized to be critical in space weather. In this work, we focus on magnetic flux rope structure but on a much smaller scale, and not necessarily related to interplanetary coronal mass ejections. Using near-Earth solar wind advanced composition explorer (ACE) observations from 1998 to 2016, we identified a total of 309 small-scale magnetic flux ropes (SMFRs). We compared the characteristics of identified SMFR events with those of normal magnetic cloud (MC) events available from the existing literature. First, most of the MCs and SMFRs have similar values of accompanying solar wind speed and proton densities. However, the average magnetic field intensity of SMFRs is weaker (~7.4 nT) than that of MCs (~10.6 nT). Also, the average duration time and expansion speed of SMFRs are ~2.5 hr and 2.6 km/s, respectively, both of which are smaller by a factor of ~10 than those of MCs. In addition, we examined the geoeffectiveness of SMFR events by checking their correlation with magnetic storms and substorms. Based on the criteria Sym-H < -50 nT (for identification of storm occurrence) and AL < -200 nT (for identification of substorm occurrence), we found that for 88 SMFR events (corresponding to 28.5 % of the total SMFR events), substorms occurred after the impact of SMFRs, implying a possible triggering of substorms by SMFRs. In contrast, we found only two SMFRs that triggered storms. We emphasize that, based on a much larger database than used in previous studies, all these previously known features are now firmly confirmed by the current work. Accordingly, the results emphasize the significance of SMFRs from the viewpoint of possible triggering of substorms.

This study was conducted to investigate the antibacterial, antioxidant, and in vitro greenhouse gas mitigation activities of fermented Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi extract. Seven starter cultures were used, comprising four of lactic acid bacteria and three of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ten grams of S. baicalensis Georgi powder was diluted in 90 mL autoclaved MRS broth. Each seed culture was inoculated with 3-10% (v/v) S. baicalensis Georgi MRS broth and incubated at 30℃ for 48 h. Among the starter cultures used, only Lactobacillus plantarum EJ43 could withstand the fermentation conditions. This fermentation broth was dried and extracted with ethanol to assess its antibacterial, antioxidant, and in vitro methane mitigation activities. The extract of S. baicalensis Georgi fermented by L. plantarum EJ43 (SBLp) showed higher antibacterial activity (bigger clear zone) compared to the unfermented S. baicalensis Georgi extract (SB0). SBLp also presented 1.2 folds higher antioxidant activity than SB0. During in vitro rumen fermentation, SBLp showed reduction in methane production compared to SB0 or the control. In conclusion, fermentation by L. plantarum EJ43 may enhance antibacterial and antioxidant activities of S. baicalensis Georgi and decrease enteric methane production.

Different biotic agents such as bacteria, fungi, nematode and virus interact with plants, and causes significant annual crop loss. The plants interact with these pathogen and undergo various changes at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. The omics technique is a powerful way which provides important information related to molecular changes occurring during plant-pathogen interaction. Several studies have been conducted and revealed either up or down-regulation of many genes involved in metabolism, energy, photosynthesis, signaling, defense and ROS upon pathogen interaction. In this review, we highlight recent progress in proteomic studies of plant-pathogen interaction, which could be useful for controlling disease and development of molecular markers for early detection of different diseases.

More than 300 Miscanthus accessions as a potential bioenergy crop were collected in Korea and their morphological traits were investigated at various growth stages. Among morphological traits, stem growth habit, the presence of awn in spikelet, and autumn new shoot are the most important key traits enabling to cluster Miscanthus accessions into M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus groups. Miscanthus sinensis has bunch stem growth habit and awn in spikelet, and produces autumn new shoot, while M. sacchariflorus has scattering stem growth habit with no awn in spikelet and does not produce autumn new shoot. Interestingly, we found several Miscanthus accessions showing intermediate morphological traits. 7 M. sinensis accessions showed morphological traits similar to M. sacchariflorus and 17 M. sacchariflorus accessions showed morphological traits similar to M. sinensis. Flow cytometry and chromosome counting finally revealed 5 Miscanthus hybrids, suggesting that they are resulted from natural hybridization between M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus. Therefore, these Miscanthus hybrids can be used to understand genetic recombination between these two Miscanthus species and our understanding may support future efforts for breeding new Miscanthus variety with high biomass productivity and environmental adaptability.

An important worldwide plant source of dietary protein and oil, modern breeding and improvement of soybean is suffered from a narrow cultivated germplasm relative to other crop species likely because of underuse of wild soybeans as breeding resources. SNP genotyping array is regarded as a promising tool for dissecting wild and cultivated germplasms to find important adaptive genes by high-density genetic mapping and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Here, we present the establishment of a large soybean SNP array and its use for diversity analysis and high density linkage mapping. More than 4 million high-quality SNPs identified from 16 high-depth and 31 low-depth soybean genome resequencing data were used to select 180,961 SNPs for the AxiomÒ SoyaSNP array. Our validation analysis for a set of 222 diverse soybean lines showed that a total of 171,161markers were of good quality for genotyping. Of the converted SNPs, 82.6% 82.6% SNPs had a marker spacing of less than 9 kb and 17.4% SNPs greater than 9 kb with the 297 inter-SNP spacings of >100 kb and with 812 kb of the largest spacing, thereby suggesting that our array is likely suitable for GWAS of soybean germplasm. This array is being used to construct high-density genetic map in populations generated from intermatings of two cultivated and two wild soybeans, with an objective to confirm large structural variations of chromosomes using the ultra-high-density maps

Citrus is one of the major fruits produced in Korea. There are about 20 species mainly grown in Jeju Island, Korea. Four representative species, which are quite different in the shape of leaf and the taste of fruit, were selected and were used to profile the transcriptomes. These species are ‘Miyagawa Wase’ (C. unshiu Marcov.) satsuma mandarin, ‘Kiyomi’ (C. unshiu Marcov. × C. sinensis) mandarin hybrid, ‘Dangyuja’ (C. grandis) and ‘Natsudaidai’ (C. natsudaidai). Classification of the up-regulated and down-regulated genes using the Cluster of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COG) database reveals that the number of genes included in each group differed significantly among the four species. Several genes that showed significant differences in expression on the microarray were selected and their expression patterns were examined by reverse transcription- ploymerase chain reaction. Metabolic genes such as tyrosine decarboxylase and β-glucosidase ligase were found to be highly expressed in Miyagawa Wase, relative to other species. On the other hand, the expression level of mannose phosphate isomerase was lower in Miyagawa Wase. An efflux pump gene was found to be up-regulated in Kiyomi, whereas cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase was down-regulated. β-carotene 15,15’-dioxygenase, which is involved in the vitamin metabolism, was up-regulated in Natsudaidai. Interspecific differentiations of gene expression are analyzed in terms of the metabolic pathways and their possible roles in citrus species.

To elucidate genetic diversity of common reed in Korea, we collected a total of 674 common reed plants from 27 regions in South Korea. Hierarchical clustering using 7 morphological traits divided the 27 common reed populations into 7 groups. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) results identified three distinct groups of common reed. Common reed accessions in group I mostly inhabit coastal areas. Group II includes reeds mostly collected from inland areas. Group III consists of common reed accessions collected from inland and coastal areas, suggesting that this group might contain hybrids. In summary, we suggest that parapatric speciation might be an important factor in the genetic diversity of common reed and geographical speciation of common reed that might be also affected by environmental gradients.

The bulb storability of eight red and ten yellow onion (Allium cepa L.) cultivars grown primarily in Korea was evaluated. During storage, sprouting occurred earlier in red cultivars than in yellow cultivars. In addition, the ratio of sprouted to unsprouted bulbs increased more rapidly in red cultivars than in yellow cultivars. However, not all yellow cultivars had strong storabilities. Bulb storability of three yellow cultivars was as poor as that of red cultivars, suggesting only a slight possibility of a pleiotropic effect of color and bulb storability. Meanwhile, F3 lines of a red cultivar selected based on stronger storabilities showed intermediate storabilities between those of the red and yellow cultivars, implying that strong storability could be obtained by successive selection. In contrast, F1 hybrids from crosses between yellow and red breeding lines showed poor storability compared with the yellow cultivars, indicating that poor storability may be dominant over strong storability. The relationships between color and other traits that potentially affect storability, such as fresh and dry weight, water content, and firmness of bulbs, were evaluated. No significant differences in these traits were observed between the two colors, although the water content of yellow cultivars and the dry weight of red cultivars were slightly higher than their counterparts. Correlation analyses between bulb storability and other traits, including weight, water content, and firmness, also showed no significant correlations. In this study, no correlations were identified between bulb color, storability, and other traits. However, based on these results, red cultivars with stronger storabilities could be developed through successive selection of bulbs with stronger storabilities.

Human umbilical cord blood cells(HUCBC) are rich in mesenchymal progenitor cells, endothelial cell precursors and hematopoietic cells. HUCBC have been used as a source of transplantable stem and progenitor cells. However, little is known about survival and development of HUCBC transplantation in the CNS. Estrogen has a neuroprotective potential against oxidative stress-induced cell death so has an effect on reducing infarct size of ischemic brain. We investigated the potential use of HUCBC as donor cells and tested whether estrogen mediates intravenously infused HUCBC enter and survive in ischemic brain. PKH26 labeled mononuclear fraction of HUCBC were injected into the tail vein of ischemic OVX rat brain with or without -estradiol valerate(EV). Under fluorescence microscopy, labeled cells were observed in the brain section. Significantly more cells were found in the ischemic brain than in the non-ischemic brain. HUCBC transplanted into ischemic brain could migrate and survive. Some of cells have shown neuronal like cells in hippocampus, striatum and cortex tissues. These result suggest that estrogen reduces ischemic damage and increases the migration of human umbilical cord blood cells. This Study was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation(KOSEF) though the Biohealth Products Research Center(BPRC), Inje University, Korea.

The uterus undergoes dynamic changes during the cycle and displays many features typical of developmental process. In order to be prepared for implantation, endometrium undergoes predictable, sequential phases of proliferation and secretory changes. The uterus during estrus cycle synthesize a complex of signaling molecules with specific spatial and temporal modes of expression and which are critical for cell proliferation and differentiation. The purpose of this investigation was to use cDNA microarrays to evaluate the expression of genes of rat uterus in estrus cycle. Animals were sacrificed on proestrus, estrus, metestrus, diestrus. Differential gene expression profiles were revealed(growth-related c-myc reponsive protein RCL, heat shock 47-kDa protein (HSP47), cytochrome c oxidase polypeptide Vlc2 (COX6C2), calreticulin (CALR)). Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to validate the relative expression pattern. Using this approach, we found several genes whose expression in rat uterus was altered with estrus cycle. Our long-term goal is to determine the role of these differentially expressed genes during estrus cycle. This study was supported by through the Biohealth Products Research Center(BPRC), Inje University.