Background : The Aralia cordata and Dendropanax morbifera, belonging to the family Araliacea, is a perennial herbaceous species. Although its beneficial effects for several chronic diseases are well-known, the role of its effects on chronic intestinal inflammation, colon carcinogenis are limited. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic inflammatory disorders of gastrointestinal tract. It has been reported that IBD is associated with colon cancer which is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed and a major cause of cancer-related mortality. Methods and Results : The present study hypothesized that Araliacea family would exert a protective effect on inflammation and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mouse model. Effect of Aralia cordata extracts (ACE) and Dendropanax morbifera leaf extracts (DMLE) on pro-inflammatory markers, mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling (MAPKs), activation of nuclear factor κB (NF- κB) in THP-1 human monocyte and HT-29 colon epithelial cell model were investigated. In addition, colon inflammation inhibitory effects of ACE and DMLE on the characteristics of in DSS-induced colitis model. Results showed that ACE, DMLE attenuated the severity of DSS-induced colitis, as assessed by disease activity index scores, shrinkage of colon length, and histopathologic changes and infirmatory cytokine concentration. Furthermore, ACE treatment significantly suppressed the colon carcinogenesis in AOM/DSS induced colon cancer model. The apoptosis induction abilities of the DMLE were studied by analyzing the expressions of Bcl2 family protein, caspase, Annexin V/PI staining and DNA fragmentation. According to our results, DMLE significantly induced cell death in SW-480 cells. Apoptosis was determined by cell morphology and electrophoresis of DNA fragmentations. Furthermore, treatment with DMLE also induced the increase in caspase activity, pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax and Bad) and the decrease in anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL). In addition, DMLE induce cell cycle arrested at the G1/S phase in SW-480 cells and exhibited significant inhibition on the expressions of G1/S phase specific CDK, cyclin and up regulation of CDK inhibitors. Conclusion : Taken together, these results provide evidence that ACE and DMLE prevention colon cancer by regulating inflammation, colitis, and colon carcinogenesis which indicates its benefit for colon health.

A new poinsettia cultivar 'Scarlet' was bred by the National Horticultural Research Institute (NHRI) in 2006. A cross was made between 'Christmas Eve', a variety with dark green leaves and dark red bracts, and 'Red Velvet', a red colored variety in 2003. 'Scarlet' was finally selected in 2006 after investigating the growth and flower characteristics from 2004 to 2006. 'Scarlet' has bright red colored and elliptic bracts and has absent or very weak intensity of rugosity between veins in bract. In comparison with the check variety, 'Red Velvet', plant height is tall, leafblade is long and narrow. Petiole is also longer than that of 'Red Velvet'. Short day response is fast and its bracts are fully colored 7 weeks after short day commencement.

A new poinsettia cultivar 'Miss Maple' was bred by the National Horticultural Research Institute (NHRI) in 2006. A cross was made between 'Sonora Red', a variety with short plant height, dark green leaves and dark red bracts, and 'Cranberry Punch', a deep pink colored variety in 2003. 'Miss Maple' was finally selected in 2006 after investigating the growth and flower characteristics from 2004 to 2006. 'Miss Maple' has light red colored and obovate bracts, and has weak intensity of rugosity between veins in bract. Fully colored transitional leaves are so deeply lobed that they resemble the leaves of maple. Plant height is shorter than that of 'Cranberry Punch', the check variety. Short day response fast and its bracts are fully colored 7 weeks after short day commencement.

A new standard rose cultivar ‘Pink Stone’ 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 ‘Pink Stone’ was finally selected in 2006 after investigating characteristics for three years from 2003 to 2006. ‘Pink Stone’, a deep pink standard cultivar grows vigorously and has powder mildew resistant. The major characteristics of this cultivar are 115.1 stems/m2/year in yield, 77.7 cm in length of cut flower, 10.5 cm in flower diameter, 67.0 in petal number, and 12.0 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’.

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is known to produce the highest total digestible mutrients (TDN) yield among summer grain legumes in Jeju area but little is known about the effects of cultural practices on forage yield and quality. A determinate soybean cv. Baegunkong was planted on 5 June, 20 June, and 3 July and grown at four plant densities (30, 50, 70 and 90 plants m-2 in 1998 in Jeju to evaluate the effects of planting date and plant density on the yield and quality of soybean forage. Days to flowering decreased from 47 to 38 days, average plant height from 61 to 51cm and main stem diameter from 6.31 to 5.00mm as planting was delayed from 5 June to 3 July. Average plant height quadratically increased from 45 to 62cm as plant density increased from 30 to 90 plants m-2 . Planting date did not affect the average dry matter, crude protein, and TDN yields. The average dry matter and TDN yields displayed a quadratic response to plant density and the optimum plant density for both dry matter and TDN yields was estimated about 60 plants m-2 . Plant density had no effect on crude protein yield. Planting date did not significantly influence forage quality. The crude protein content was not significantly influenced by plant density. Increasing plant density slightly increased acid detergent fiber content but slightly decreased TDN content.

This study was conducted to assess the allelopathic potentiality of Korea traditional seventy-nine rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars on barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli P. Beauv. var. oryzicola Ohwi) and to identify possible allelopathic compounds from selected rice cultivars, such as Seogandodobyeo, Huadobyeo and Heugbalbyeo. In the straw mixture, Seogandodobyeo showed the greatest inhibition (67.07%) on total emergence percentage. The greatest inhibition on total seedling length and dry weight of barnyardgrass occurred in Huadobyeo (58.32 %) and Heugbalbyeo (81.20%), respectively. An HPLC analysis with nine standard compounds showed that the concentrations and compositions of allelopathic compound depend upon the cultivars. Four compounds including Ο-coumaric acid in Seogandodobyeo extracts, four compounds including p-coumaric acid in Huadobyeo extracts, and seven compounds including Ο-coumaric acid in Heugbalbyeo were detected, respectively. Ο-coumaric acid (0.97 mg/g) in Seogandodobyeo, p-coumaric acid (0.92mg/g) in Huadobyeo and Ο-coumaric acid (1.02 mg/g) in Heugbalbyeo was detected as the highest amounts, respectively. The preliminary identification by HPLC analysis resulted in peaks with retention times close to those of standards which were confirmed with EI/MS. The mass spectra of p-coumaric, and Ο-coumaric acids showed molecular ions (m/z) at 164 and 164, and their base peaks (m/z) at 164 and 118, respectively.