Technological convergence is yielding new values and affecting various fields not by single technology but by convergence between technologies. This study aims to analyze the IT -BT-NT convergence and differences between technologies in respect of collaboration within (inventor) and between (assignee) organizations. Among the main technologies leading the technological convergence, IT is the most active of converging with other fields. BT is knowledge-intensive and strong cooperative networks are important in this area. NT is applied in various industrial fields upon the basic technology. Using the data on applied and granted patents by Korean applicants in the U.S., this study conducted quantitative analysis and ANOVA to gain the following results. First, the degree of convergence in between IT-BT-NT is continuously increasing since 2002. Second, BT is where the collaboration within and between organizations is the most active among IT-BT-NT. Third, there were certain differences in the degree of convergence according to the years and the fields of technologies in all the IT-BT-NT. Organizations cooperate with other institutions to sustain their competitiveness with limited internal resources. Companies in these fields are recommended to perform diverse strategies to pursue further collaboration with the outside.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most abundant variation in plant genomes. As DNA markers, SNPs are rapidly replacing simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and sequence tagged sites (STSs) markers, because SNPs are more abundant, stable, easy to automation, efficient, and increasingly cost-effective. We developed a 96-plex indica/japonica SNP genotyping set for genetic analysis and molecular breeding in rice using Fluidigm platform. Informative SNPs for indica/japonica populations were selected from 1536 Illumina SNPs and 44K Affymetrix SNP chip data of Rice Diversity and our resequencing data sets. Selected SNPs were evenly distributed across 12 chromosomes and average physical distance between adjacent SNP markers was 4.38Mb. We conducted genetic diversity analysis of 49 Bangladesh germplasm and check varieties to test a 96-plex indica/japonica SNP genotyping set we developed. High-throughput Fluidigm SNP genotyping system will serve a more efficient and valuable tool for genetic diversity analysis, DNA fingerprinting, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and background selection for crosses between indica and japonica in rice. This work was supported by a grant from the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (Plant Molecular Breeding Center No. PJ008125), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Hybrid sterility is a critical barrier of inter-subspecific crosses in rice. However, hybrid sterility can be overcome by wide compatibility variety. The HWC-line of rice had slender grain shape, tall culm length, wide compatibility with both indica and japonica cultivars. For QTL analysis of HWC-line, two F2 populations were derived from the crosses between the HWC-line and each of two Korean variety, Dasan (Korean Tongil-type cultivar) and Hwacheong (temperate japonica cultivar). In the cross between HWC-line/Dasan (HD), 93 STS markers and 13 SSR markers were mapped on 12 chromosomes. In the population from HWC-line/Hwacheong (HH) cross, 28 STS markers, 29 SSR markers and 1 FNP marker were mapped on 11 chromosomes. Eight agronomic characters were evaluated for QTL analysis in two F2 populations and parents. The F2 population from HD cross revealed 21 M-QTLs and 3 E-QTL for culm length, spikelet per panicle, spikelet fertility, grain length, grain width, grain shape and 100 grains weight. 8 QTLs of culm length, grain length, grain width and grain shape were newly detected in this study. In the F2 population from HH cross, 17 M-QTLs were detected for culm length, panicle length, spikelet fertility, grain length, grain width, grain shape and 100 grains weight. 6 QTLs of culm length, grain length, grain width and grain shape were newly found in this study. These QTLs will be able to provide basic information on putative functional genes related with agronomic characters and promote breeding new rice cultivar. HWC-line could be used as bridge for inter-subspecies crosses and in hybrid breeding.

The HWC-line of rice showed wide compatibility with both indica and japonica cultivars, tall culm length, long and slender grain shape. For QTL analysis, two F2 populations were derived from the crosses between the HWC-line and each of two Korean variety, Dasanbyeo (Korean Tongil-type cultivar) and Hwacheongbyeo (temperate japonica cultivar), respectively. A total of 190 F2 plants were evaluated in each of two F2 populations. Eight agronomic characters were measured for QTL analysis in F2 populations and parents. Two molecular linkage maps were constructed. In the F2 population from cross between HWC-line / Dasanbyeo (HD) cross, 93 STS markers and 13 SSR markers were mapped on 12 chromosomes, covering a total length of 1942.6 cM, with an average distance of 18.33cM between adjacent markers. In the F2 population from HWC-line / Hwacheongbyeo (HH) cross, 28 STS markers, 29 SSR markers and 1 FNP marker were mapped on 11 chromosomes, spanning a total length of 925.53cM, with an average distance of 15.96cM between adjacent markers. In the F2 population from HD cross, 16 M-QTLs and 1 E-QTL were detected for culm length, spikelets per panicle, spikelet fertility, grain length, grain width, grain shape and 100 grains weight. 7 QTLs of spikelet fertility, grain length, grain width and grain shape were newly identified in this study. In the F2 population from HH cross, 15 M-QTLs were detected for culm length, panicle length, spikelet fertility, grain length, grain width, grain shape and 100 grains weight. 6 QTLs of culm length, grain length, grain width and grain shape were newly identified in this study. The QTLs identified in this study would provide basic information on putative functional genes related agronomic characters and facilitate breed new rice cultivar.