We develop a purification process of Hg2Br2 raw powders using a physical vapor transport(PVT) process, which is essential for the fabrication of a high performance acousto-optic tunable filter(AOTF) module. Specifically, we characterize and compare three Hg2Br2 powders: Hg2Br2 raw powder, Hg2Br2 powder purified under pumping conditions, and Hg2Br2 powder purified under vacuum sealing. Before and after purification, we characterize the powder samples through X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The corresponding results indicate that physical properties of the Hg2Br2 compound are not damaged even after the purification process. The impurities and concentration in the purified Hg2Br2 powder are evaluated by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy. Notably, compared to the sample purified under pumping conditions, the purification process under vacuum sealing results in a higher purity Hg2Br2 (99.999 %). In addition, when the second vacuum sealing purification process is performed, the remaining impurities are almost removed, giving rise to Hg2Br2 with ultra-high purity. This high purification process might be possible due to independent control of impurities and Hg2Br2 materials under the optimized vacuum sealing. Preparation of such a highly purified Hg2Br2 materials will pave a promising way toward a high-quality Hg2Br2 single crystal and then high performance AOTF modules.

Porcine spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) prefer three-dimensional (3D) culture systems to 2D ones for the maintenance of self-renewal. Of the many 3D culture systems, agar-based hydrogels are candidates for supporting porcine SSC self-renewal, and there are various types of agar powder that can be used. In this study, we sought to identify an agar-based 3D hydrogel system that exhibited strong efficacy in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. First, 3D hydrogels with different mechanics were prepared with various concentrations of Bacto agar, lysogeny broth (LB) agar, and agarose powder, and the 3D hydrogel with the strongest alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and greatest increase in colony size was identified for the different types of agar powder. Second, among the porcine SSCs cultured in the different 3D hydrogels, we analyzed the colony formation, morphology, and size; AP activity; and transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes, and these were compared to determine the optimal 3D hydrogel system for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. We found that 0.6% (w/v) Bacto agar-, 1% (w/v) LB agar-, and 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogels showed the strongest maintenance of AP activity and the most pronounced increase in colony size in the culture of porcine SSCs. Moreover, among these hydrogels, the strongest transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes and largest colony size were detected in porcine SSCs cultured in the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel, whereas there were no significant differences in colony formation and morphology. These results demonstrate that the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel can be effectively used for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal.

Entomopathogenic fungi have been used as important part of integrated pest management program to control aphid. In particular, Beauveria bassiana was distributed throughout the world including temperate and tropical area, various habitats from alpine soil, desert soil to running water and both insect and plant. Especially the fungus has also been isolated from the surface and the interior of plants and act as natural control agent. Viability of fungi on the plant surface may be influenced by temperature, humidity, sunlight and plant type as well as fungal isolate. Persistence of treated fungal control agent on phylloplane and control efficacy may differ from environmental conditions and isolates. In this study, we investigated the persistence of an B. bassiana which is developing as prototype wettable powder to control cotton aphid, and the residual efficacy of the prototype on cucumber under three different greenhouse conditions.

Cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Gloever is one of the major pests on a wide range of economically important crops in the world. The sustained use of chemical insecticides to control the aphid has led to the emergence of resistant strains to numerous used insecticides. As an alternative strategy entomopathogenic fungi have been used as part of integrated pest management program to control aphid, especially insecticide-resistance population. In particular, Beauveria bassiana-based commercial bio-insecticide has been used to reduce the pest population under greenhouse conditions in various countries. In this study, we investigated the control efficacy of a prototype of commercial mycopesticide using an B. bassiana (wettable powder) against cotton aphid on potted cucumber plant in greenhouse conditions.

Entomopathogenic fungi are natural enemies of insect pests and contribute to the natural regulation of their host populations. These fungal group are often used as active ingredients for microbial insect pest control. In addition, the potential antimicrobial effect by entomopathogenic fungi including Beauveria bassiana, Lecanicillium spp., and Isaria fumosorosea have recently been reported against fungal plant pathogens. Dual microbial control effects with entomopathogenic fungi against both aphids and cucumber powdery mildew had reported in Canada. In our previous studies we conducted bioassay with entomopathogenic fungi to develop dual microbial control agent which can control both aphid and fungal plant disease. We selected an Beauveria bassiana isolate which has high dual control effects against both cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii and sclerotinia rot, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. In this study, we have tested the dual control efficacy of the B. bassiana isolate against cotton aphid and sclerotinia rot on whole potted cucumber plants. We found that the B. bassiana isolate protected the plant from cotton aphid and sclerotinia rot under laboratory condition.

Despite many researches related with in-vitro culture of porcine spematogonial stem cells (SSCs), adherent culture system widely used has shown a limitation in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. Therefore, in order to overcome this obstacle, suspension culture, which is known to have numerous advantage over adherent culture, was applied to the culture of porcine SSCs. Porcine SSCs retrieved from neonatal testes were suspension-cultured for 5 days or 20 days, and characteristics of suspension-cultured porcine SSCs including proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity, and self-renewal-specific gene expression were investigated and compared with those of adherent-cul-tured porcine SSCs. As the results, the suspension-cultured porcine SSCs showed entirely non-proliferative and significantly higher rate of AP-positive cells and expression of self-renewal-specific genes than the adherent-cultured porcine SSCs. In addition, long-term culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition induced significant decrease in the yield of AP staining-positive cells on post-day 10 of culture. These results showed that suspension culture was inappropriate to culture porcine SSCs, because the culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition didn’t stimulate proliferation and maintain AP activity of porcine SSCs, regardless of culture periods.

Beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua are difficult to control using chemical insecticides because of the development of insecticide resistance. For eco-friendly beet armyworm managements, various control agents are required. Entomopathogenic fungus is one of promise control agents as an alternative to chemical control agent. We isolated entomopathogenic fungi from soil samples of suwon by insect-bait method using Galleria mellonella and conducted bioassay to larva of beet armyworm. As a result of bioassay isolate FG274, FG340, FG344 had high virulence as 100% against second instar larva of S. exigua. To identify the fungus isolates, their’s morphological characteristic was observed and ITS of 18srRNA was sequenced. ITS sequence of FT274, 340, 344 were highly matched (100%) to that of Beauveria bassiana, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus, Metarhizium anisopliae. To investigate the optimal concentration, three isolates were sprayed at three different concentration(1×106 ,107 and 108 conidia/㎖) in laboratory conditions. 나타내었다.

Suspension culture is a useful tool for culturing embryonic stem (ES) cells in large-scale, but the stability of pluripotency and karyotype has to be maintained in vitro for clinical application. Therefore, we investigated whether the chromosomal abnormality of ES cells was induced in suspension culture or not. The ES cells were cultured in suspension as a form of aggregate with or without mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and 0 or 1,000 U/ml leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) was treated to suspended ES cells. After culturing ES cells in suspension, their karyotype, DNA content, and properties of pluripotency and differentiation were evaluated. As a result, the formation of tetraploid ES cell population was significantly increased in suspension culture in which ES cells were co-cultured with both MEFs and LIF. Tetraploid ES cell population was also generated when ES cells were cultured alone in suspension regardless of the existence of LIF. On the other hand, the formation of tetraploid ES cell population was not detected in LIF-free condition, in which MEFs were included. The origin of tetraploid ES cell population was turned out to be E14 ES cells and not MEFs by microsatellite analysis and the basic properties of them were still maintained despite ploidy-conversion to tetraploidy. Furthermore, we identified the ploidy shift from tetraploidy to near-triploidy as tetraploid ES cells were differentiated spontaneously. From these results, we demonstrated that suspension culture system could induce ploidy-conversion generating tetraploid ES cell population. Moreover, optimization of suspension culture system may make possible mass-production of ES cells.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of heat appli˗ cation on the immune activities of the human body. To exam, further˗ more, the immune effect from the healthy volunteer(male:15, female:15) by monitoring changes of immune substances such as various leukocytes[total white blood cell(WBC), eosinophil, neutrophil, basophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte], a comparative study with warm water immersion(40.8±0.3℃) and infrared(250W) was carried out. The plasma analysis showed that the count of white blood cell, eosinophil, and neutrophil were elevated in warm water immersion- or infrared˗ stimulated group compared with control group. However, the count of basophil was decreased in both warm water immersion- and infrared-stimulated group than control group. Therefore, these results suggest that the thermostimulation improved immune activity.

In this study, genetic diversity of wild Codonopsis lanceolata collected in Korea were analysed using SSR makers. Wild C. lanceolata roots were collected in Jeollanam-do Jangheung-gun Choentae Mountain as in roots. The wild C. lanceolata plants were cultivated in Chungbuk National University greenhouse and the leaves were sampled from 36 plants. The genomic DNA of C. lanceolata was extracted using CTAB. PCR was performed using a program of 35 cycles at 94℃ for 30 sec, 60℃ for 30 sec, and 72℃ for 30 sec with an pre-denaturation of 94℃ for 5 min and a final extension of 72℃ for 30 min. The PCR reaction mixture contains 5 pmole of primers and 20 ng of DNA template in a 20 μL reaction volume. The genotype of the analyzed samples were very different. Therefore, the wild C. lanceolata collected in Korea look genetically diverse.

Codonopsis lanceolata is a perennial climber. The roots are used as medicinal materials or vegetables. Recently, demand for C. lanceolata is increasing as a healthy food. C. lanceolata is distributed in India and East Asia such as China, Japan as well as Korea. In South Korea, this plant is widely cultivated in Gangwon-do province. No C. lanceolata varieties were developed in Korea. The objective of this study is to analyze genetic diversity of C. lanceolata cultivated in Korea using SSR makers. C. lanceolata roots were collected in each region were cultivated in Chungbuk National University greenhouse. Samples were obtained from fresh leaves of 5 plants from each collection region. The genomic DNA was extracted using CTAB. Genetic diversity was analysed using 4 sets of C. lanceolata SSR makers. PCR was performed in total 20 μL reaction volume containing 20 ng of DNA template, 5 pmole of primers. The genotypes of the analyzed samples were very similar. That means that the genetic diversity of C. lanceolata cultivated in Korea is very low.

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) is a Gramineae perennial grass species and commonly used as a forage crop and developed to be used for pasture. In Korea, in order to improve high persistence and forage quality, through selection of various superior parental varieties for breeding and synthesis of them with new lines, there are ongoing worldwide studies aiming to enhance the quality and environmental adaptability of Orchardgrass. Between 2010 and 2014, a Orchardgrass variety named Onnuri 2ho was developed by the Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA), Republic of Korea. For the production of synthetic seeds for Onnuri 2ho 4 superior clones, Dg7506, Dg9508, Edg215 and Edg218 were selected and polycrossed. Between 2010 and 2011, the agronomic growth characteristics and forage production capability of the seeds were studied at Cheonan, and between 2012 and 2014, regional trials were conducted in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jinju, and in Jeju. The main growth characteristic of Onnuri 2ho is a tetraploid variety, a medium-late maturity variety, the heading stage of which is around May 17, which is four days later than that of Amba. This study tested the regional adaptability of Orchardgrass in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jeju, and in Jinju. The average dry matter yield of Onnuri 2ho in the four regions was 15,814 kg/ha, which is greater than that of Amba by 34%. These differences show that Onnuri 2ho is more resistant to environmental stresses than Amba and that this growth characteristic directly led to dry matter yield. Thus, Onnuri 2ho is a suitable variety for the establishment of grasslands as it has enhanced disease resistance and persistence, compared to Amba. The forage quality of Onnuri 2ho was similar to that of Amba in crude protein (11.5%), total digestible nutrients (59.2%), neutral detergent fiber (62.7%), and acid detergent fiber (37.6%), whereas the forage quality of Ongreen was higher than that of Amba in (71.0%). The new variety was selected and named Onnuri 2ho from Composite 34 by the RDA in November 2014, and the application for the protection of the new variety by the Korea Seed and Variety Service is currently pending. In this study, a new variety of Orchardgrass with excellent environmental adaptability was developed, in order to contribute to the vitalization of the Korean grassland industry.

A new standard rose cultivar 'White Christmas' was bred from the cross between red standard cultivar 'Red Queen' and pink standard cultivar 'Vivaldi' at the National Horticulture Research Institute. The cross was made in 2001 and `White Christmas' was finally selected in 2006 after investigating characteristics for three years from 2003 to 2006. 'White Christmas', a white standard cultivar grows vigorously and has good flower shape. The major characteristics of this cultivar are 123.8 stems/m2/year in yield, 82.3 cm in length of cut flower, 11.0 cm in flower diameter, 60.1 in petal number, and 12.2 days in vase life. This cultivar can be propagated by both cutting and grafting. The consumer's preference of this cultivar is relatively higher than that of control cultivar, 'Tineke'.

A new standard rose cultivar 'Magic Pink' was bred from the cross between light yellow standard cultivar 'Medeo' and pink standard cultivar 'Veronica' at the National Horticulture Research Institute. The cross was made in 2001 and 'Magic Pink' was finally selected in 2006 after investigating characteristics for three years from 2003 to 2006. 'Magic Pink', a pink standard cultivar grows vigorously and has fashionable flower color. The major characteristics of this cultivar are 184.8 stems/m2/year in yield, 63.0cm in length of cut flower, 7.2 cm in flower diameter, 28.5 in petal number, and 10.4 days in vase life. This cultivar can be propagated by both cutting and grafting. The consumer's preference of this cultivar is relatively higher than that of control cultivar, 'Noblesse'.