A number of Korean Chicken breeds were registered in Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS, http://dad.fao.org/) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Evaluation of genetic diversity and relationship of local breeds is an important factor towards the identification of unique and valuable genetic resources. Therefore, this study aimed to analysis the genetic diversity and relationship of 22 Korean Chicken breeds using 12 microsatellite (MS) markers. The mean number of alleles for each variety was 5.52, ranging from a 3.75 (Leghorn F; NF) to a 7.0 (Ross). The most diverse breed was the Hanhyup3 (HCC), which had the highest expected heterozygosity (HExp) (0.754) and polymorphic information content (PIC) (0.711). The NF was the least diverse population, having the lowest HExp (0.467) and PIC (0.413). As a result of the principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) confirmed that Hy-line Brown (HL) and Lohmann Brown (LO) are very close to each other and that Leghorn and Rhode Island Red (RIR) are clearly distinguished from other groups. Thus, the reliability and power of identification using 12 types of MS markers were improved, and the genetic diversity and probability of individual discrimination were confirmed through statistical analysis. This study is expected to be used as basic data for the identification of Korean chicken breeds, and our results indicated that these multiplex PCR marker sets will have considerable applications in population genetic structure analysis.

This study was conducted from October 2014 to May 2015 to explore forage production and feed values of Italian ryegrass, Rye and whole crop barley as winter forage crops in the Southern region of Korea. The experimental location was over 10 points for each species and each sampling point area was 1 m² (Width: 1 m × Length: 1 m). Air mean temperature and rainfall in the Southern region of Korea during the experimental period was 6.95 ± 5.75℃ and 70.45 ± 54.68 mm, respectively. Fresh forage yield of Italian ryegrass, the most cultivated forage in the Southern region of Korea, was 44.4 ± 7.0 ton/ha. The percentage of dry matter for whole crop barley was 28.9 ± 7.0%. Crude protein (CP) was higher in Italian ryegrass (10.7 ± 5.3%) while total digestible nutrient (TDN) had the highest value in whole crop barley. Crude protein was not significantly different by location. However, the neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and total digestible nutrient value of forage from Jeonbuk province were higher than in forage from Gyeongnam province.

약용식물을 플러그 트레이를 이용하여 공정육묘를 한 연구결과는 거의 없는 실정이다. 세 종류 약용식 물 묘의 생산을 위한 기준을 마련하기 위해 플러그셀 크기가 플러그묘의 생장에 미치는 영향을 구명하기 위하여 본 연구를 수행하였다. 상업용 상토가 들어있는 128, 200, 288구 플러그셀 트레이에 종자를 파종하였다. 세 종류 약용식물은 플러그 셀 크기가 커질수록 생육이 우수하였다. 하나의 플러그 트레이에서 얻어진 총 바이오 매스는 차조기와 산두근은 288구에서 가장 높았고, 참당귀는 200구에서 가장 높았다. 총 엽록소와 안토시아닌 함량을 제외한 차조기의 지상부와 지하부 생장은 128구에서 가장 우수하였다. 하지만 최대근장, 엽장, 엽폭, 엽 면적, 절간장, 뿌리 생체중, 근군형성은 200구와 288구에서 유의한 차이가 없었다. 산두근은 최대근장, 경경, 엽폭, 엽면적, 지상부 생체중, 근군형성을 제외한 모든 생장에서 처리간에 유의한 차이가 없었다. 그러나 최대 근장, 경경, 엽폭, 엽면적, 지상부 생체중, 근군형성은 128구에서 가장 우수하였다. 엽록소 함량을 제외한 참당 귀의 지상부와 지하부의 모든 생장이 128구에서 우수하였다. 경제적인 부분과 총 바이오매스를 고려했을 때 차조기와 산두근은 288구에서 육묘하는 것이 좋고, 참당귀는 200구에서 육묘하는 것을 권장한다.

Pleurotus eryngii (also known as king trumpet mushroom, french horn mushroom, king oyster mushroom) is an edible mushroom native to Mediterranean regions of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but also grown in parts of Asia. It has the ability to produce various biologically active compounds and possesses a well-developed ligninolytic enzyme system that participates in the degradation of lignin and different aromatic compounds. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of the ethyl acetate extract of Pleurotus eryngii (PEE) on the development of atopic dermatitis (AD) in human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. Keratinocytes, one of major cell types in the skin, can be induced by TNF-α and IFN-γ to express thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC/CCL17), which is considered to be a pivotal mediator in the inflammatory responses during the development of inflammatory skin diseases, such as AD. In addition, normal T-cell–expressed and secreted chemokine (RANTES) is a (C-C) chemokine released by T lymphocytes, other inflammatory cells, and platelets and plays an important role in allergic inflammatory processes. Pretreatment of HaCaT cells with PEE suppressed TNF-α/IFN-γ-induced protein and mRNA expression of CCL17 and RANTES. PEE significantly inhibited TNF-α/IFN-γ-induced NF-κB activation. These results suggest that PEE may exert anti-inflammatory responses by suppressing TNF-α and IFN-γ-induced activation of NF-κB in the keratinocytes and might be a useful tool in therapy of skin inflammatory diseases.

In this study, we elucidated anti-cancer activity and potential molecular mechanism of 70% ethanol extracts from Taxilli Ramulus (Taxillus chinensis (DC.) Danser) (TR-E70) against human colorectal cancer cells. Anti-cell proliferative effect of TR-E70 was evaluated by MTT assay. The effect of TR-E70 on the expression of cyclin D1 in the protein and mRNA level was evaluated by Western blot and RT-PCR, respectively. TR-E70 suppressed the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cell lines, HCT116 and SW480. Although TR-E70 decreased cyclin D1 expression in protein and mRNA level, decreased level of cyclin D1 protein by TR-E70 more dramatically occurred than that of cyclin D1 mRNA. Cyclin D1 downregulation by TR-E70 was attenuated in presence of MG132. In addition, TR-E70 phosphorylated threonine-286 (T286) of cyclin D1. TR-E70-mediated cyclin D1 degradation was blocked in presence of LiCl as an inhibitor GSK3β but not PD98059 as an ERK1/2 inhibitor and SB203580 as a p38 inhibitor. Our results suggest that TR-E70 may downregulate cyclin D1 as one of the potential anti-cancer targets through GSK3β-dependent cyclin D1 degradation. From these findings, TR-E70 has potential to be a candidate for the development of chemoprevention or therapeutic agents for human colorectal cancer.

Soybean mosaic virus (SMV), a member of Potyviridae family, is one of the most typical viral diseases and results in yield and quality loss of cultivated soybean. Due to the depletion of genetic resources for resistance breeding, a trial of genetic transformation to improve disease resistance has been performed by introducing SMV-CP and HC-Pro gene by RNA interference (RNAi) method via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transgenic plants were infected with SMV strain G5 and investigated the viral response. As a result, two lines (3 and 4) of SMV-CP(RNAi) transgenic plants and three lines (2, 5 and 6) of HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants showed viral resistance. In genomic Southern blot analysis, most of lines contained at least one T-DNA insertion in both SMV-CP(RNAi) and HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants. Subsequent investigation confirmed that no viral CP and HC-Pro gene expression was detected in two SMV-resistant lines of SMV-CP(RNAi) and three lines of HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants, respectively. On the other hand, non-transgenic plants and other lines showed viral RNA expression. Viral symptoms affected seed morphology, and clean seeds were harvested from SMV-resistant line of SMV-CP(RNAi) and HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants. In addition, strong viral gene expression was detected from seeds of SMV-susceptible non-transgenic plants and SMV-susceptible transgenic lines. When compared the viral resistance between SMV-CP(RNAi) and HC-Pro(RNAi) transgenic plants, soybean transgenic plants with the HC-Pro gene using RNAi strategy showed much stronger and higher frequency of viral resistance.

Korean soybean variety Kwangan was transformed with coat protein (CP), helper component-proteinase (HC-Pro), and ABRE binding factor 3 (ABF3) genes using highly efficient soybean transformation system. Among these genes, CP and HC-Pro were transformed using RNAi technology. Transgenic plants with CP were confirmed for gene introduction and their expression using PCR, real-time PCR, RT-PCR, Southern blot, and Northern blot. To investigate the response of viral infection with CP, T1 plants were inoculated with SMV-infected leaves and confirmed the existence of mosaic symptom in both leaves and seeds. Two transgenic lines with CP were highly resistant to SMV with clear leaves and seeds while SMV-susceptible lines showed mosaic symptom with seed mottling. The transcript levels of T1 plants with CP were also determined by northern blot, suggesting that SMV-resistant T1 plants did not show viral RNA expression whereas SMV-susceptible T1 plants showed viral RNA expression. Currently, the response of viral infection with HC-Pro is investigating to produce SMV-resistant soybean transgenic plants, and the physiological experiment with ABF3 is also carrying out to produce drought-tolerant soybean transgenic plants.