Genetically modified (GM) papaya (Carica papaya L.) line 55-1 (55-1), which is resistant to papaya ringspot virus infection, has been marketed internationally. Many countries such as the European Union, Japan, and Korea have a mandatory safety assessment, approval and labeling regulations for GM foods. Thus, there is a need for specific methods for detecting 55-1. In this study, we established a real-time PCR detection method applicable to 55-1 for a variety of papaya products. The limit of detection was possible for fresh papaya fruit up to dilutions of 0.005% and 0.01% (weight per weight [w/w]) for homozygous SunUp and heterozygous Rainbow cultivars, respectively, in non-GM papaya. The 55-1 event-specific detection method observed parallelism (r2>0.99) between the concentration of line 55-1 cultivars and Ct values obtained in amplification plots at concentrations of 0.005-10% for SunUp DNA and 0.01-10% for Rainbow DNA. The method was applicable to the qualitative detection in various types of processed products (cocktail fruit, dried fruit, juice, etc.) containing papaya as a main ingredient. Monitoring papaya products for the presence of GM papaya were demonstrated using a P35S and T-nos real-time PCR detection method but no amplification signals were detected.

Mungbean (Vigna radiata) is a fast-growing, warm-season legume crop that is primarily cultivated in developing countries of Asia. We constructed a draft genome sequence of mungbean to facilitate genome research into the subgenus Ceratotropis and to enable a better understanding of the evolution of leguminous species. The draft genome sequence covers 80% of the estimated genome, of which 50.1% consists of repetitive sequences. In total, 22,427 high confidence protein-coding genes were predicted. Based on the de novo assembly of additional wild mungbean species, the divergence of what was eventually domesticated and the sampled wild mungbean species appears to have predated domestication. Moreover, the de novo assembly of a tetraploid Vigna species (Vigna reflexo-pilosa var. glabra) provided genomic evidence of a recent allopolyploid event. To further study speciation, we compared de novo RNA-seq assemblies of 22 accessions of 18 Vigna species and protein sets of Glycine max and Cajanus cajan. The species tree was constructed by a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method using highly confident orthologs shared by all 24 accessions. The present assembly of V. radiata var. radiata will facilitate genome research and accelerate molecular breeding of the subgenus Ceratotropis.

Perilla frutescens (L.) is an annual herbaceous and ornamental plant in the Lamiaceae family. Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt.cv.Chookyoupjaso were irradiated using a 200 Gy gamma ray in 1995. By HPLC analysis, this new cultivar significantly induced isoegomaketone content compared with ‘Chookyoupjaso’ control. The phenotypical difference was the changed leaf color of the ‘Atom-Ketone’ from violet to green. The yield potential of this cultivar (106 kg/10a) was 1.83 folds higher than that of ‘Chookyoupjaso’ (57.65 kg/10a). The methanol extracts of ‘Atom-Ketone’ inhibit nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. This extract was further partitioned using ethyl acetate (EtOAc), butanol (BuOH), and water. The EtOAc fraction (EF-Atom-Ketone) was evaluated for antiinflammatory activities. These results indicated that the EF-Atom-Ketone reduced NO production by inhibiting inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression. The EF-Atom-Ketone treatment also significantly diminished expression of MCP-1 and IL-6. Therefore, ‘Atom-Ketone’ reveals the potential therapeutic use of bioactive

Perilla frutescens (L.) is an edible plant, not only used as s food ingredient, but also in skin cream, soaps, and medicinal preparetions. ‘Atom-Ros’, a perilla (Perilla frutescenc (L.) Britt. cv. Chookyoupjaso was developed in 1995 by 200 Gy gamma irradiation-mutagenesis. This new cultivar has high rosmarinic acid content more than two fold compare with ‘Chookyoupjaso’ control. The observed phenotypical difference was changed leaf color of the ‘Atom-Ketone’ from violet to green. The yield potential of this cultivar (123.5 kg/10a) was 2.14 fold higher than that of ‘Chookyoupjaso’ (57.65 kg/10a). The methanol extracts of ‘Atom-Ros’ were tested for inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophase cells. Atom-Ros showed significant inhibition of NO production. This rosmarinic acid extracted from ‘Atom-Ros’ has a good potential to be developed as an antioxidant agent.

The THO/TREX complex mediates the transport of nascent mRNAs from the nucleus towards the cytoplasm in animals, and it has a role in small RNA-dependent processes in plants. Here we describe five mutant alleles of Arabidopsis thaliana THO2, whichencodes a core subunit of the plant THO/TREX complex. tho2 mutants present strong developmental defects resembling those in plants compromised in microRNA (miRNA) activity. In agreement, not only the levels of siRNAs, but also of mature miRNAs were reduced in tho2 mutants. As a consequence miRNA target mRNAs accumulated to higher levels than in wild type. Yeast two hybrid experiments showed that THO2 does not seem to interact with any of the known miRNA biogenesis components, implying a more indirect role of THOs in small RNA biogenesis. We also detected alterations in the splicing pattern of genes encoding Serine/Arginine-rich proteins in tho2 mutants, suggesting a previously unappreciated role of the THO/TREX complex in alternative splicing.

Copy number variations (CNVs) are considered major sources of genetic variation, and CNVs may influence phenotypic variation and gene expression. To detect CNVs, rice seeds were exposed with 100～400 Gy of gamma-ray (GA, 60Co), cosmic-ray (CR) by Russia ISS, and 30 and 40 Gy of ion beam (IB, 220 Mev carbon ion). After the exposed rice seeds were cultured in 1/2 MS medium for 14 days, they were used for array-based Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis using Agilent’s RICE CGH array. As a results, the highest number of CNVs (Gain 808 and Loss 24,080) were detected in the CR treatment, whereas GA100 (100 Gy of GA) was identified the least CNVs. Compared individual chromosome, the chromosome 8 and 11 were identified the highest CNVs, the chromosome 3 had the least CNVs. Most of identified CNVs existed in the range of 10～500kb. In particular, the same CNV locations among different types of ionizing radiation were observed in chromosome 12, and these CNVs contained the commonly 5 amplified genes, containing retrotransposon protein, NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase chain 3, heavy metal transport/detoxification protein domain containing protein, and 2 unknown proteins. Other studies were reported that Ty1 (Long Terminal Repeat-retrotransposon family 1) transcription and retrotransposition were induced by different environmental stresses such as ionizing radiation, UV-light exposure, DNA damage and nutrient starvation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our results also show that retrotransposon protein (LOC_Os12g34016) was specifically amplified by different types of ionizing radiation.

Molecular genetic markers have been widely used as powerful tools for analyzing the genome. In particular, SSR markers have practical applications in breeding systems because they can be used in high-throughput analyses for genetic mapping, heritable diversity testing, purity analysis, and marker-assisted selection. Currently, due to technical advances in DNA sequencing, large sequence databases are available for large-scale SSR mining and marker development. Here, we describe an automated method, the SSR Finder program, for SSR discovery in the onion sequence database, and primer design for amplifying the detected SSRs. A total of 1,049 SSR primers were obtained for genetic purity testing, and 100 SSR sets were analyzed in 14 bulb onion breeding lines using clustering analysis. A total of 20 selected markers from screening of all 1,049 SSR primers, were finally applied for genetic purity testing in three breeding lines, NW1, NW9, and NW10. The initial tests showed that 15%, 71%, and 97% of individuals within NW1, NW9, and NW10, respectively, were genetically homogeneous. These markers produced using the SSR Finder will be useful for investigating the genetic purity of onion breeding lines.

Discovery, identification, and informatics of low molecular weight peptide are extensively rising in the field of proteomics research. In this study, we analyzed protein profiles to discover peptide based biomarker for twelve different soybean seeds with three different agronomic types using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS). For optimization of SELDI-TOF MS in soybean seed proteome analysis, four different extraction buffers were tested with urea solubilization buffer, thiourea/urea solubilization buffer, phenol extraction buffer, and modified trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation/urea solubilization extraction buffer. Two different type of ProteinChip arrays, cation exchange (CM10) and anion exchange (Q10), applied to profile peptides. Among the four different extraction buffers, phenol extraction was selected to protein extraction methodology. Numbers of detected peak cluster in twelve soybean seeds were 125 at CM10 and 90 at Q10 array in the mass range from 2 to 40 kDa. Among them, 82 peak clusters at CM10 and 33 peak clusters at Q10 array showed significantly different peak clusters at p<0.00004 (CM10) and p<0.00005 (Q10) among twelve different soybean cultivars. Moreover, 29 peak clusters at CM10 and 17 peak clusters at Q10 array were detected in all cultivars as an ‘universally existed peptide’. In comparison with three different agronomic types, total of 55 peak clusters (CM10) and 23 peak clusters (Q10) were significantly different peak clusters at p<0.00004 and p<0.0001, respectively. In these probability levels, soybean seeds were well discriminated into different cultivar and different type with each other. Also we could find several specific peptide biomarkers for agronomic type.

Dwarfuess and Kunitz trypsin inhibitor (KTI) protein in soybean is useful traits for basic studies. df2 and ti gene control dwarfness and the expression of Kunitz trypsin inhibitor (KTI) protein in soybean, respectively. The objective of this research was to verify genetic linkage or independent inheritance of df2 and ti loci in soybean. The F2 population was made by cross combination between "Gaechuck#2" (Df2Df2titi genotype, KTI protein absence and a normal growth type) and T210 (df2df2TiTi genotype, a dwarf growth type and KTI protein present). A total of 258 F2 seeds were analyzed for the segregation of KTI protein using SDS-PAGE. And so, 198 F2 plants were recorded for the segregation of dwarfness. The segregation ratio of 3 : 1 for Ti locus (201 Ti : 57 titi) and Df2 locus (143 Df2 : 55 df2df2) was observed. Segregation ratio of 9 : 3 : 3 : 1 (116 TiDf2: 44 Tidf2df2: 27 titiDf2: 11 titidf2df2) between df2 gene and ti gene was observed (x2 =3.53, P = 0.223). These results showed that df2 gene was inherited independently with the ti gene in soybean.

A resveratrol synthase (RS) gene was isolated from peanut (Arachis hypogaea, L. cv. Jinpoong) plants. This gene was placed under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV35S) and introduced into two Korean varieties of potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cvs. Jasim and Jowon) plants by Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer. Putative transformants were screened by PCR with primers designed from CaMV 35S promoter, NOS terminator and RS gene. Most of selected transgenic potato plants showed the amplification of expected fragments by PCR of genomic DNA with gene-specific primers, while they were absent in untransformed control plants. Expression of the resveratrol synthase gene was also examined by northern blot analysis. The transformants showed a band which was lacking in the control plant, confirming that the introduced gene is transcribed into mRNA in the transformants. The strength of the band, which reflected the level of mRNA expression, differed among the individual transformants. Among the transformants obtained, the highest trans-resveratrol content in the transgenic young leaves of purple-fleshed "Jashim" was 2.11 μgg-1 fresh weight and that in the microtubers in vitro of purple fleshed "Jashim" was 8.31 μgg-1 fresh weight. This amount of resveratrol may have a positive biological effect on human health.

We study on the dynamic interaction with a simulated physical-biological coupled model response to nutrient reduction scenario in Jinhae Bay. According to the low relative errors, high regression coefficients of COD and DIN, and realistic distribution in comparison to the observation, our coupled model could be applicable for assessing the marine ecosystem response to nutrient input reduction in Jinhae Bay. Due to the new construction and expansion of sewage treatment plant from our government, we reduce 50% nutrient inputs near Masan Bay and sewage treatment plant. COD achieves Level Ⅱ in Korea standard of the water quality from the middle of the Masan Bay to all around Jinhae Bay except the inner Masan Bay remaining at Level Ⅲ. When our experiment reduces 50% nutrient inputs near Masan Bay and Dukdong sewage treatment plant simultaneously, COD decreases to about 0.1-1.2 mg/L (128°30’~128°40’ E , 35°05’~35°11’ N). The COD from the middle of the Masan Bay to Jinhae Bay achieves Level Ⅱ.

In this study, we present different physiological responses to cold acclimation between the freezing tolerant barley landrace, Jeonnamjaerae, and the freezing sensitive line, PI283398, chosen by the previous field test. We tried to identify some key facto