Apolipophorin III (apoLp-III) is a well-known hemolymph protein having a functional role in lipid transport and immune response of insects. We cloned full-length cDNA encoding putative apoLp-III from larvae of the coleopteran beetle, Tenebrio molitor (TmapoLp-III), by identification of clones corresponding to the partial sequence of TmapoLp-III, subsequently followed with full length sequencing by a clone-by-clone primer walking method. The complete cDNA consists of 890 nucleotides, including an ORF encoding 196 amino acid residues. Excluding a putative signal peptide of the first 20 amino acid residues, the 176-residue mature apoLp-III has a calculated molecular mass of 19,146 Da. Genomic sequence analysis with respect to its cDNA showed that TmapoLp-III was organized into four exons interrupted by three introns. Several immune-related transcription factor binding sites were discovered in the putative 5’-flanking region. BLAST and phylogenetic analysis reveals that TmapoLp-III has high sequence identity (88%) with Tribolium castaneum apoLp-III but shares little sequence homologies (<26%) with other apoLp-IIIs. Homology modeling of Tm apoLp-III shows a bundle of five amphipathic helices, including a short helix 3’. The ‘helix-short helix-helix’ motif was predicted to be implicated in lipid binding interactions, through reversible conformational changes and accommodating the hydrophobic residues to the exterior for stability. Highest level of TmapoLp-III mRNA was detected at late pupal stages, albeit it is expressed in the larval and adult stages at lower levels. The tissue specific expression of the transcripts showed significantly higher numbers in larval fat body and adult integument. In addition, TmapoLp-III mRNA was found to be highly up-regulated in late stages of L. monocytogenes or E. coli challenge. These results indicate that TmapoLp-III may play an important role in innate immune responses against bacterial pathogens in T. molitor.

Anthocyanins are very important constituent of human diet. In recent years, they have gained much attention due to their antioxidative properties. As the radish (Raphanus sativus L) has rich content of anthocyanins, the study is aimed to develop increased functional radish from selected radish varieties. ‘Bordeux’ is a hybrid variety of breeding between one accession derived from ‘Oharu’ as a maternal variety and ‘Chungpihongsim’ as a paternal variety. In this study, we investigated the new varieties of radish commonly consumed in Republic of Korea for their total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activities using three (DDPH, FRAP and CUPRAC) different assays. The selected radish varieties like ‘Bordeux’, ‘Chungbok’, ‘3209’, ‘Chungwoon’, ‘Oharu’, and ‘Chungpihongsim’ were procured from the company Syngenta Korea. Among the selected radish varieties, ‘Bordeux’ (289 μg/g FW) and ‘Chungpihongsim’ (276 μg/g FW) revealed maximum amount of phenolics; whereas ‘3209’ (103 μg/g FW) and ‘Chungwoon’ (166 μg/g FW) showed the lower amount of phenolics content, respectively. Extracts from these studied radishes showed good to moderate antioxidant activities. The varieties ‘Chungpihongsim’ and ‘Bordeux’ revealed maximum antioxidant activity for all assays as demonstrated. However, some varieties like ‘3209’ and ‘Oharu’ exhibited the lowest antioxidant activity in all the tested assays, viz; DPH, FRAP and CUPRAC in μg TE/g FW, respectively. The antioxidant activities may be attributed to the higher phenolic acid contents as a linear relation was observed between the two components and the antioxidant parameters.

Soybean self-sufficiency in Korea was 22.5% in year 2011, and as free trade agreement between Korea and US comes into effect, the amount of soybean importation increases. In 2012, paddy field soybean cultivation was over 0.1 million ha and it is expected to increase continuously due to rise in market price of soybean. Moreover, double cropping system including paddy field soybean is widely adopted nationwide, but studies on appropriate cultivar for this environment are insufficient. In this research, the effect of planting date and different cultivars on soybean growth and yield was investigated for three planting dates (June 20, July 5, and July 20) with 15 cultivars. According to ANOVA test, soybean yield was significantly different depending on sowing date and cultivars and interaction between sowing date and cultivars was also detected, meaning each of cultivars resulted different yield depending on sowing date. When planted on July 20, stem length, nod number, branch number and grain weight was decreased because of short growing period, resulting in yield decrease. Percentage of yield obtained from July 20 in contrast to that of June 20 showed that Pungwon, Nampung and Daepung recorded the least yield decrease and the highest yield when planted late. Evaluation of late-sowing-adaptable soybean cultivar in paddy field is now being carried on following last year.