Development of transgenic plant with desirable traits to cultivated plant is one of the important procedures in plant molecular breeding. However, applicable assessment of transgenic plant in laboratorial scale is not much except cultivating transgenic plant for a whole life in field condition. Here, we analyzed chlorophyll fluorescence in three transgenic soybean lines with AtMYB44 transcription factor for assessment of photosynthetic activity under abiotic stresses such as drought. Soybean varieties used in this study were ‘Bert’ and ‘Bert’ derived three transgenic soybeans, ‘AtMYB44 CM35101’, ‘AtMYB44 CM2471’, and ‘AtMYB44 CM4481’. Analyzed five different chlorophyll fluorescence variables are maximum PSII quantum yield (QY_max), steady state PSII quantum yield (QY_Lss), steady state non-photochemical quenching (NPQ_Lss), coefficient of photochemical quenching in steady-state (Qp_Lss), and fluorescence declineratio in steady-state (Rfd_Lss). To determine main chlorophyll fluorescence variable affected by abiotic stress, principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted with five chlorophyll fluorescence variables measured from four varieties. QY_Lss and NPQ_Lss were main chlorophyll fluorescence variables to evaluate abiotic stress, particularly in drought stress. In comparison with transgenic soybean lines based on chlorophyll fluorescence variables, ‘AtMYB44 CM2471’ and ‘AtMYB44 CM4481’ are more tolerant to drought than the others. Interestingly, three transgenic soybean lines which have a same AtMYB44 gene with different regions of chromosome revealed the quite different responses of chlorophyll fluorescence to drought treatment.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are of great interest for cell-based therapies and tissue engineering approaches, as these cells are capable for extensive self-renewal and display a multilineage differentiation potential. Clinical application of these cells for degenerative and age-related diseases has been accumulating. However, preparation of MSC before the onset of the diseases, it needs to develop the cryopreservation method. Most cryopreservation methods include fetal bovine serum (FBS) which is essential for effective cryopreservation. Yet it should not be used clinically because of the potential risk of infection. In the present study, we investigated whether human serum albumin (HSA), human serum (HS), and knockout serum replacement (KSR) can be used as an alternative of FBS for cryopreservation of human adipose derived stem cells (hADSC). Cells cryopreserved with 9% HSA showed much higher viability after thawing compared with cells frozen with 5% or 1% HSA. Cells cryopreserved with 90% HS or KSR exhibited greater viability than cells frozen with 25% and 5% HS or KSR, respectively. Viability of cells frozen with 9% HSA, 90% HS or 90% KSR was comparable to that with 90% FBS. Morphology and proliferation ability of these cells were not affected by cryopreservation when compared the freshly obtained cells. Cryopreserved hADSC expressed transcription factor genes including Oct3/4, Nanog, Nestin and Sox2, which are related to the self-renewal of stem cells. Flow cytometric analyses showed that both fresh and cryopreserved hADSC were positive for the antigens of HLA-ABC, CD44, CD73, CD90, and CD105, CD166, and negative for HLA-DR, CD31, and CD34. Similar to fresh cells, cryopreserved hADSC could differentiate into mesodermal lineages, adipogenic, osteogenic, or chondrogenic cells. These results suggest that 9% HSA, 90% HS or 90% KSR can be used to replace FBS during successful cryopreservation of hADSC.

Some characteristics of the formations of acrosomal vesicles during the late stage of spermatids during spermiogenesis and taxonomical charateristics of sperm morphology in male two species (Saxidomus purpurata and Meretrix petechialis) in the family Veneridae were investigated by electron microscope observations. In two species, the morphologies of the spermatozoa have the primitive type and are similar to those of other bivalves in that it contains a short midpiece with five mitochondria surrounding the centrioles. The morphologies of the sperm nuclear types of S. purpurata and M. petechialis in Veneridae have the curved cylindrical and cylinderical type, respectively. And the acrosome shapes of two species are the same cap-shape type. In particular, the axial filament is not found in the lumen of the acrosome of two species, however, subacrosomal material are observed in the subacrosomal spaces between the anterior nuclear fossa and the acrosomal vesicle of two species. The axoneme of the sperm tail flagellum shows a 9+2 structure. In particular, taxonomically important some charateristics of sperm morphologies of two species in the family Veneridae are acrosomal morphology of the sperm, The axial filament is not found in the acrosome as seen in a few species of the family Veneridae in the subclass Heterodonta. The acrosomal vesicle is composed of right, left basal rings and the apex part of the acrosomal vesicle. These charateristics belong to the subclass Heterodonta, unlikely a characteristic of the subclass Pteriomorphia showing all part of the acrosome being composed of electron opaque part (region). Therefore, it is easy to distinguish the families or the subclasses by the acrosomal structures. The number of mitochondria in the midpiece of the sperm of S. purpurata and M. petechialis in Veneridae are five. However, the number of mitochondria in the midpiece of the sperm in most species of Veneridae in the subclass Heterodonta are four. Therefore, the number of mitochondria of the sperm midpiece of two species are exceptionally 5, and it is only exceptional case in the species in Veneridae in the subclass Heterodonta. Except these cases, the number of mitochondria in the sperm midpiece in all families in the subclass Heterodontaare are 4, and now widely used in taxonomic analyses.

The human eyelid adipose-derived stem cells (HEACs) are known as a candidate source for stem cell-based therapy. HEACs possess the ability to proliferate in vitro and multipotency to differentiate into adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic cells. To be used later than the time of collection, a long-term storage is needed. In this study, we investigated stem cell characteristics after cryopreservation of HEACs for 6 months and 1 year in liquid nitrogen. Frozen-thawed stem cells have shown that cumulative cell and doubling numbers were similar to those of fresh HEACs. After thawing, HEACs expressed stem cell-related genes of SCF, NANOG, OCT4, and TERT, ectoderm-related genes of NCAM and FGF5, mesoderm/endoderm-related genes of CK18 and VIM. They also consistently expressed transcripts of the immune-related genes of HLA-ABC and β2M. To induce mesodermal differentiation, cell were cultivated in adipogenic, osteogenic or chondrogenic medium for 2～3 weeks. After each differentiation culture, HEACs expressed adipocyte-, osteocyte- and chondrocytespecific genes. They were also stained with Oil red O, von Kossa, or alcian blue, revealing adipogenic, osteogenic, or chondrogenic character, respectively. The results suggest that long-term storage up to 1 year do not affect their biological properties, HEACs may be suitable for clinical application on cell-based therapies.

Conventional staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) karyotypes of the non-genetically modified (GM) parental rice line, 'Nakdong' (Oryza sativa L. japonica), and its four GM rice lines, LS28 (event LS30-32-20-1), Cry1Ac1 (event C7-1-9-1), and LS28 × Cry1Ac1 (events L/C1-1-3-1 and L/C1-3-1-1) were analyzed using 5S and 45S rDNAs as probes. Both parental and transgenic lines were diploids (2n=24) with one satellite chromosome pair. The lengths of the prometaphase chromosomes ranged from 1.50 to 6.30 μm. Four submetacentric and eight metacentric pairs comprised the karyotype of 'Nakdong' and its four GM lines. One pair of 5S rDNA signals was detected near the centromeric region of chromosome g in both the parental and transgenic lines. The 45S rDNA signals were detected on the secondary constrictions of the satellite chromosome pair in both the parental and transgenic lines. There was no significant difference in chromosome size, length, and composition between 'Nakdong' and its four GM lines. This research was conducted as a preliminary study for chromosomal detection of transgenes in GM rice lines and would be useful for their breeding programs.

"Hyehwa" an Asiatic lily cultivar was released in 1998 at National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science (RDA), Suwon, Korea. The cross was made in 1991 between Asiatic lily "White Bird", a white colored, and "Avignon", an unspotted scarlet red colored. It was preliminarily selected as A93-20 in 1993. Its multiplication, bulbing growth and flowering characteristic tests were conducted from 1994 to 1998. A new cultivar "Hyehwa" flowers in middle of June and grows 98.7 cm in height. Flowers bloom upward-facing, thick orange (RHS, 28A). Year-round flowering is possible by storage of the bulb under -1.5℃ conditions. For forcing culture, it is necessary to add calcium to the fertilizer or remove side scales to prevent leaf scorch. Botrytis disease control is needed in the wet season.

Cowpea might have been introduced from China to Korea and cultivated for several hundred years but it has never been a staple food crop in Korea. In this study, genetic diversity of 492 Korean cowpea landrace accessions that have passport information was estimated using six SSR markers. The mean of Weir's gene diversity was 0.665 from all accessions investigated in the study. Cowpea gene diversity of six local provinces in Korea was ranged from 0.370 in accessions of Gangwon to 0.680 in Jeonra provinces. Low gene diversity of the cowpea genepool of Gangwon province was probably derived from relatively few introductions. Especially SSR markers VM36 and VM39 seem to be good markers to distinguish the Gangwon accessions from others by occurring at a specific locus with higher than 78% of allele frequency. Except for the Gangwon province with the low genetic diversity, gene diversity of cowpea accessions from other provinces was ranged from 0.600 to 0.680 indicating no big differences among provinces. Distribution pattern of the allele frequencies was similar among the other provinces. This may reveal that Korean farmers might exchange cowpea seeds easily with even their neighbors with geographical barriers. A core collection, 100 landraces, ca. 20% of base collection, was developed at the 70% of a similarity coefficient level using random sampling approaches after stratification of the entire landrace collection based on the phenetic dendrogram. The variability of SSR in the base and core collections of Korean cowpea landrace was compared by calculating Weir's gene diversity. The mean of Weir's gene diversity of the core was 0.707 while that of the base collection was 0.665. The higher diversity index in the core collection indicates that it maintains the initial variability and well represents the base collection. The core collection included one of determinate accession (IT 216155) and two of no branching type accessions (IT 103959 and IT 161024). The core collection could be used to guide more efficient management and utilization of the entire collection. This core collection should be revised periodically as additional accessions are collected and further characterization is conducted.

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 spray chrysanthemum cultivar, 'Yellow PangPang' was released by National Horticultural Research Institute (NHRI), Rural Development Administration (RDA), in 2005. The cross between 'Restone' and 'Focus' was made in 2001. After evaluation for the characteristics including shading culture in summer and retarding culture in spring and consecutive selection from 2002 to 2005, final selection was made. The natural flowering time of "Yellow PangPang" is late October, but year-round flowering is possible by shading and illumination. It has pompon type flowers with yellow petals and greenish yellow flower center. It shows very strong stem hardness, especially flower neck, and excellent flower setting. The diameter of flower is 3.9 cm. The number of flowers per stem is 11.3 and the days to flower under the short day treatment is about 54 in autumn season. It has long vase life of 21 days in autumn.

A new spray chrysanthemum cultivar, 'Innocence' was released by National Horticultural Research Institute (NHRI), Rural Development Administration (RDA), in 2005. It was selected from the progenies of open pollination of 'Sei-Alps' in 2002. After evaluation for the characteristics including shading culture in summer and retarding culture in spring between 2002 and 2005, final selection was made. The natural flowering time of "Innocence" is late October, but year-round flowering is possible by shading and illumination. It has round and wide petal, single type flowers with pure white petals and yellowish green flower center. The flowers are large and volumed. The plant shows vigorous growth. The diameter of flower is 7.4 cm. The number of flowers per stem is 9.3 and number of petals per flower is 27.7. The days to flower under short day treatment is about 57 and its vase life is 19 days in autumn season.