In ruminants, Interferon-τ (IFN-τ) has the role of recognizing pregnancy signals produced by the embryo and it may have an important role during the luteolysis. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of IFN-τ on prostaglandin synthesis, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression in vitro and secretion of progesterone (P4) in vivo. The epithelial and stromal cells isolated from bovine endometrium were cultured with different doses of IFN-τ (0, 0.02, 0.2 and 2 μg/ml). Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, 1.5 IU/ml) was used as a positive control. Prostaglandin E2 and F2α levels in the culture media were analyzed by enzyme immunoassays, and total RNA was extracted from the cells for RT-PCR. P4 concentrations in blood samples were assayed by chemiluminescent immunoassay system. In epithelial cells, COX-2 gene expression was increased in the presence of IFN-τ (p<0.05), but it was not significantly different in all groups of stromal cells except 2 μg/ml IFN-τ group (p<0.05). Although IFN-τ did not affect PGE2 and PGF2α production in epithelial cells, it decreased PGE2 and PGF2α production significantly in stromal cells (p<0.05). In vivo experiment, the P4 concentrations in blood sample was significantly increased after injection of 1 μg/ml IFN-τ. These results indicate that PG production was mediated by COX-2 expression in the stromal cells but it did not affect in the epithelial cells, and suggest that treatment of IFN-τ was to improve the implantation environment of uterine by maintenance of high P4 concentration. * This work was carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project No. PJ907008)” Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

The occurrence of major pest infestation was compared between conventional tea plantation and organic tea plantation at Sulloc tea garden in Dosun-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do from 2002 to 2009. Tetranychus kanzawai was observed a lot in the second year, but it waned from late June. There was not much difference between conventional farming and organic farming in terms of pest density. Empoasca onukii was infested in the second year of organic farming compared with conventional farming, which highlighted the fact that second year of organic farming requires a special care. Scirotothrips dorsalis was highly dense in the second and third year of conventional farming, but its occurrence was lowered when the farming technique was shifted to organic farming. The number of Homona magnanima peaked 4 times each year. In 2008, the first year of organic farming, saw high occurrence of 771.2 per trap per year. In 2009, the second year, the population per trap dropped to 80, showing a great variance depending on year. The occurrence of Caloptilia theivora peaked 5 times annually. In 2008, the first year of organic farming, an average of 2,779 pests per trap was found, and in the following year, 4,143 pests were observed. It showed that density rose in organic growing period.