The development of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and expressed sequence tag-derivedsimple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) provided a useful tool for investigating Korean ginseng genetic diversity. In this study,18 polymorphic markers (7 RAPD and 11 EST-SSR) selected to assess the genetic diversity in 31 ginseng accessions (11Korean ginseng cultivars and 20 breeding lines). In RAPD analysis, a total of 53 unique polymorphic bands were obtainedfrom ginseng accessions and number of amplicons ranged from 4 to 11 with a mean of 7.5 bands. Pair-wise genetic similaritycoefficient (Nei) among all pairs of ginseng accessions varied from 0.01 to 0.32, with a mean of 0.11. On the basis of theresulting data, the 31 ginseng accessions were grouped into six clusters. As a result of EST-SSR analysis, 11 EST-SSR mark-ers detected polymorphisms among the 31 ginseng accessions and revealed 49 alleles with a mean of 4.45 alleles per primer.The polymorphism information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.06 to 0.31, with an average of 0.198. The 31 ginsengaccessions were classified into five groups by cluster analysis based on Nei’s genetic distances. Consequently, the results ofginseng-specific RAPD and EST-SSR markers may prove useful for the evaluation of genetic diversity and discrimination ofKorean ginseng cultivars and breeding lines.

We bred a new green-kerneled glutinous rice variety that can be cultivated in the whole area of Korea, because only one native green-kerneled glutinous rice cultivar, “aengdongchalbyeo” has been cultivated in the southern coastal area due to its late heading. The seeds of “aengdongchalbyeo”were irradiated with 200 Gy of gamma ray in 1995. A promising mutant variety, “ogwonchalbyeo”(“onnong 17” was selected through line selection and regional yield trials. In particular, the new variety revealed at the earlier mid of August compared to that of “aengdongchalbyeo” the early of September, and it was considerably tolerant to a field lodging due to its shortened culm length. Also, “ogwonchalbyeo”had a higher ripened grain ratio and 1,000 grain weight compared to the original variety. The brown grain yield of the new variety was about 5.40 MT/ha, which was 11.3% higher than that of the original variety, in the regional yield trials at 3 different fields during 2000∼2001. The brown and milled grains of the new rice variety contained 20 to 65% higher amount of total amino acids, respectively than that of the original and two checks. For chlorophyll -a, -b and total chlorophyll, the new variety showed nearly two-fold higher than the checks, and for the carotenoid, it had 5.3 –7.6 times higher amount. These results showed that the new variety can be cultivated as a special green-kerneled glutinous rice with high functional compounds.

A new sprout-soybean cultivar, “Wonhwang” was developed at the Honam Agricultural Research Institute (HARI) in 2005. Wonhwang was selected from a cross between Camp and Myeongjunamulkong. The preliminary, advanced, and regional yield trials for evaluation and selection of Iksan45 were carried out from 2001 to 2005. This cultivar has a determinate growth habit with purple flower, grayish brown pubescence, grayish brow hilum, lanceolate leaflet shape and small seed size (10.0 grams per 100 seeds). The maturity date of Wonhwang is 7 days earlier than that of the check variety, Pungsan. It has good seed quality for soybean-sprout, and resistance to lodging. It has also been identified to have resistance to soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and necrotic symptom(SMV-N). The average yield of “Wonhwang” was 2.80MT/ha, which was higher by 4% than “Pungsannamulkong” at the regional yield trials.

This study is to identify the physiological traits of submergence-tolerant varieties of rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) in Yeongnam area, southeastern part of Korea, where the reduction of rice yield due to submergence is remarkably severe. In the present study, two tolerant varieties of rice plants were selected from over 30 rice varieties grown in under a 10-day period. The tolerant varieties selected from a submerged paddy field. As a control, one intolerant variety of rice plant was chosen. Of the tolerant variety Samgangbyeo, rather than Haepyungbyeo, had a lower dissolved oxygen consumption and maintained a higher dry weight than the intolerant variety. The leaf photosynthetic rates (LPS) of the two tolerant varieties were significantly higher than that of the intolerant-variety after four days of submergence treatment. These results indicate that lower dissolved oxygen consumption in a limited pool is prevented by ethylene formation in the tolerant varieties, which may be a mechanism of submergence tolerance.