[6]-Gingerol, a major polyphenol of ginger(Zingiber officinale), exhibits a variety ofbiological properties including anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity. However,the radioprotective effect of [6]-gingerol is still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigatethe radioprotective effect of [6]-gingerol against radiation-induced cell cytotoxicity and oxidativestress in HepG2 cells. [6]-Gingerol pretreatment attenuated radiation-induced cell cytotoxicitycaused by 5Gy(half lethal dose, LD50of HepG2 cells). The measurements of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase(CAT) activity were also performed. The results showed that [6]-gingerol pre-treatment reduced increasing SOD and CAT activity after exposure of IR, indicating that [6]-gin-gerol protected oxidative stress by regulating cellular antioxidant enzyme(SOD and CAT) activity.These findings suggest that [6]-gingerol acts as a radioprotector by attenuating cell cytotoxicityand oxidative stress.

This study investigated the association between PM2.5 concentrations obtained with portable real-time monitors and those obtained with gravimetric methods in national urban air-quality monitoring sites in Seoul, South Korea. We used the SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor (TSI Inc., 500 Cardigan Road Shoreview, MN) and DustTrak DRX 8533 (TSI Inc., 500 Cardigan Road Shoreview, MN) as portable real-time monitors for measuring PM2.5 concentrations and compared these values with those measured with the PMS-103 or SEQ 47/50 models operated by Federal Reference Method (FRM) or the European Committee for Standardization(ECS), respectively, in national urban air-quality monitoring sites in Seoul. Measurements were conducted every other day in the winter and spring seasons of 2014. The estimated daily mean concentrations of PM2.5 ranged between 13.4 and 161.9 μg/m3 using AM 510 and between 22.0 and 156.0 μg/m3 using DustTrak. The Spearman correlation coefficient for PM2.5 concentrations between AM 510 and gravimetric results was 0.99, and the correlation between DustTrak and gravimetric results was 0.87. The correction factor suggested was 0.42 and 0.29 for AM 510 and DustTrak, respectively. We found that PM2.5 concentrations measured with real-time monitors could overestimate true PM2.5 concentrations and therefore the application of a correction factor (0.43) is strongly suggested for quantification when Real-time monitors were operated of PM2.5 levels at urban atmospheric environment of South Korea.

Spikelets per panicle (SPP) is one of the most important traits associated with rice yield. In this study, IL28, a near isogenic line (NIL) developed by introgressing chromosomal segments from ‘Moroberekan’ into ‘Ilpumbyeo’ showed significantly higher number of spikelets per panicle than the recurrent parent, ‘Ilpumbyeo’. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis in 243 F2 plants derived from a cross between IL28 and Ilpumbyeo indicated that a QTL for spikelets per panicle, qSPP6 was located in the interval RM3430 - RM20580. The Moroberekan allele increased SPP. The fact that QTLs for panicle length and the number of secondary branches were mapped in the same interval as qSPP6 appears to indicate that this locus was associated with panicle structure. To map the QTL more precisely, substitution mapping of qSPP6 using F3 lines was conducted. Substitution mapping with 41 F3 lines further narrowed the interval containing not only qSPP6 for spikelets per panicle but also qNDW6 for node width to about 680-kb between markers RM20521 and RM20572 based on Nipponbare genome sequence. The locus, qSPP6 is of particular interest because of its independence from undesirable height and flowering time. SSR markers tightly linked to the qSPP6 will facilitate cloning of the gene underlying this QTL as well as marker assisted selection for variation in SPP in the breeding program.

The growth charateristics and karyotypes of Aster spathulifolius collected from 5 sites including coastal and island region on the Korean peninsula, were analysed. Several morphological characteristics of the plants such as leaf length, leaf width, top internode, medium internode, spike branching, flower diameter, number of petal, leaf color, leaf form, stem and leaf hair, viscosity, and serration of the plants were distinctly different depending on the native region from which they were collected. Karyotypic analysis showed that the chromosome number was all diploid (2n=18), with one pair of submetacentric satellite chromosomes. The chromosome composition included 7 pairs of metacentric chromosomes and 2 pairs of submetacentric chromosomes in all plants. However, chromosome order and the ranges of the chromosome lengths were a little different from plant to plant according to their native growing regions. The plants from Geoje-Do especially showed large differences in the chromosome lengths between the longest and the shortest compared to the plants from other places. This results provide important data to support the classification of the species into several sub-species.