Phytic acid, myo-inositol (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)-hexakisphosphate, is a material that plants store phosphorus in seeds. Phytic acid is classified as an antinutrient because of indigestibility. Non-ruminant animals, such as human and swine, excrete unavailable phytic acid. The unavailable phytic acid run off to ground water, river, sea, causing eutrophication as a factor. Accordingly, low-phytic acid crops draw the attention due to both nutritional and environmental reasons. Using more than 900 Glycine accessions including G. max, G. soja and G. gracillis, colormetric method was applied for detecting low-phytic acid mutant. Two hundred fifty accessions were screened by the colormetric method so far, but no mutant was identified. Screening of mutants with the rest 710 accessions is in progress. MIPS1 (D-myo-inositol 3-phosphate synthase) is considered as gene related to phytic acid content in soybean. Also, lpa1 (Zea mays low phytic acid 1) known as controlling phytic acid content in maize was recently reported that homologs of lpa1 were responsible for phytic acid content in soybean and located on linkage groups L and N (Chromosomes 19 and 3). After primers were designed from these three candidate genes for phytic acid content, identification of genes responsible for low phytic acid and investigation of genetic variation among 960 accessions will be performed as further study.

The effect of biofertilizer (compound of microbial inoculants or groups of micro-organisms) on growth and yield of rice was investigated. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications and 7 treatments namely: RF=N-P2O5-K2O (11-5.5-4.8 kg 10a-1 ); half of the recommended fertilizer rate, HRF=N-P2O5-K2O (5.5-2.75-2.4 kg 10a-1 ); HRF+Bio 250=HRF combined with 250 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; HRF+Bio 500=HRF combined with 500 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; Bio 250=250 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; Bio 500=500 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 ; and NF = No Fertilizer. Results showed that the recorded values of plant height, tiller number and chlorophyll content at 40 to 60 days after transplanting (DAT) in HRF+Bio 500 were significantly higher than those recorded in the RF treatment. Similar observations between these two treatments were only recorded from 60 DAT onwards. Yield components were also superior in HRF+Bio 500 treatment and comparable to that of RF. The highest grain yield obtained in HRF+Bio 500 treatment (785.8 kg 10a-1 ) was statistically similar to that of RF (739.8 kg 10a-1 ) but significantly higher than that of NF (506.7 kg 10a-1 ). Finally, head grain recovery (90.9) was low while chalkiness (0.03) was high at HRF+Bio 500 treatment as compared with RF, which were (96.1) and (0.3), respectively. Results showed that combined treatment of HRF and 500 kg biofertilizer 10a-1 has similar effects on the growth and yield of rice with that of RF.

Fifty-four Korean native and 28 foreign rice varieties harvested in 1998 and 1999 were examined for antioxidative activity that is measured to a chemiluminescence and superoxide radical intensity, by the flow injection chemiluminescence (FI-CL) system and an electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrophotometer, respectively. In the chemiluminescence measurement by FI-CL, radical scavenger activity did not differ significantly among rice varieties between origin types of rice varieties, and between storage periods. GinSun and Hongchoengdo, colored rice exhibited high electron scavenging effect by ESR. Therefore, these results indicate that the pigments of rice varieties may play important antioxidative roles and that it may be possible to breed rice varieties with higher antioxidative potentials.