Salinity is a major abiotic stress for crop plants that cause reduced food production. The application of plant growth-promoting microorganisms can improve the adaptability of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to enhance the mitigation effects of artificially applied rhizobacterium Klebsiella variicola AY13 on salinity stress in Trifolium repens L. The results suggested that AY13 innately produced indole-3-acetic acid and accelerated the morphological adaptation of T. repens to salt stress conditions. Furthermore, AY13 promotes a Trp-dependent pathway for indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production, as adding L-tryptophan (L-Trp) increased IAA production in pure culture. AY13 improved plant growth by maintaining relative water content and minimizing water loss in excised leaves. Moreover, AY13 inoculation significantly reduced the endogenous levels of abscisic acid and antioxidants such as glutathione and catalase. These results suggest that AY13 plays a crucial role in reprogramming stress-related metabolism and enhancing plant stress tolerance.

This study investigated chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) residues in milk of intramuscularly dosed dairy cows and established the withdrawal time (WT) of CPM in milk. Sixteen healthy Holstein cows were injected with 10 (CPM-1) and 20 mL (CPM-2) of the drug containing 4 mg/mL of CPM, respectively. After administration of CPM, milk samples were collected from all cows at 12 hour intervals for 5 days. CPM residue concentrations in milk were determined using LC-MS/MS. The correlation coefficient of the calibration curve was 0.9956, and the limits of detection and quantification (LOQ) were 0.6 and 1.0 μg/kg, respectively. Recoveries ranged between 98.5-115.0%, and coefficient of variations were less than 10.96%. After treatment, CPM in CPM-1 and CPM-2 was detected below the LOQ in all milk samples at 12 hours. According to the European Medicines Agency’s guideline on determination of withdrawal periods for milk, withdrawal periods of both CPM-1 and CPM-2 in milk were established to 12 hours. In conclusion, the developed analytical method is sensitive and reliable for detection of CPM in milk, and the estimated WT of CPM in bovine milk will contribute to ensuring the safety of milk.

210Po is a naturally occurring radionuclide of 238U decay series with a half-life of 138.4 days. 210Po is decay products of 222Rn, which escapes into the atmosphere and present in all environments with aerosol particles. Also, 210Po has high radiotoxicity and emits a high alpha energy of 5.305 MeV, and it decays to finally become a stable isotope, 206Pb. Therefore, 210Po entering the body by continuously ingestion or inhalation is likely to cause severe damage to the bone marrow, kidney and spleen and other sites in the body. Accordingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that screening level of gross alpha for drinking water not exceed 0.5 Bq·L−1. Alpha spectrometry has been mainly used for analysis of 210Po, and for the accurate measurement of alpha particle with short range, it is essential to prepare suitable source for alpha detection. The 210Po alpha source is made by a spontaneous deposition method in which polonium is adsorbed thin and flat onto a metal disc, such as silver, nickel and copper. There are various pretreatment methods to separate and concentrate polonium from water samples prior to spontaneous deposition, including Fe(OH)3 or MnO2 co-precipitation and evaporation. However, in the case of co-precipitation, sample contamination or loss of polonium may occur through the experimental processes, and evaporation lead to not only time-consuming process but also may cause loss of polonium due to the low boiling point of polonium. Therefore, in order to compensate for these problems, an efficient polonium analysis method that directly collects polonium from the original sample without a pretreatment is required. In this study, 210Po in bottled drinking water sold in Korea was analyzed using alpha spectrometry. A high purity silver disc (99.99%) was inserted into a newly designed polonium deposition kit to quickly and conveniently collect polonium from a water sample. The polonium alpha detecting source was made effectively only by the spontaneous deposition method without a complicated pretreatment. The source was measured using a PIPS detector, and the radioactivity concentration of 210Po was calculated using 209Po as a yield tracer.

The objective of the present study was to determine the best model to describe and quantify the changes in live body weight, height at withers, height at rump, body length and chest girth of Holstein cows raised under Korean feeding conditions for 50 months. The five standard growth models namely polynomial linear regression models, regression of growth variables on the first and second-order of ages in days (model 1) and regression of growth variables on age covariates from first to the third-order (model 2) as well as non-linear models were fitted and evaluated for representing growth pattern of Holstein cows raised in Korean feeding circumstances. Nonlinear models fitted were three exponential growth curve models; Brody, Gompertz, and von Bertalanffy functional models. For this purpose, a total of 22 Holstein cows raised in Korea used in the period from April 2016 to May 2020. Each model fitted to monthly growth curve records of dairy cows by using PROC NLIN procedure in SAS program. On the basis of the results, nonlinear models showed the lower root mean square of error (RMSE) for live body weight, height at withers, height at rump, body length and chest girth (12.22, 1.95, 1.55, 4.04, 2.06) with higher correlation coefficiency (R2) values for live body weight, height at withers, height at rump, body length and chest girth (0.99, 0.99, 0.99, 1.00, 1.00). Overall, the evaluation of the different growth models indicated that the Gompertz model used in the study seemed to be the most appropriate one for standard growth of Holstein cows raised under Korean feeding system.

Tensions are high between Korea and Japan as a result of Japan’s export restrictions on three essential semiconductor materials exported to Korea and the removal of South Korea from their White List of countries. The Abe Administration announced that these measures were necessary to “ensure non-proliferation of weapons-related materials.” However, it is widely suspected that these measures were adopted as a retaliation against the Korean Supreme Court’s decision recognizing compensation for the forced labor victims during the Japanese occupation period. The Korean government filed a complaint concerning these measures at the WTO DSB for resolution under international law. In this research, the authors will critically analyze Japan’s export restrictions under international law to facilitate a peaceful resolution to the current conflict. This paper will tackle the relevant issues under the WTO/GATT regulations and the Korea-Japan Claims Agreement to address the issue of who violated international law.

This study investigated the characteristics of obesity induced by a high-fat diet (HD) over 13 weeks in Rhbdf2 gene knockout (KO) mice. Forty 7-week-old Rhbdf2 wild and KO mice were used and the mice were divided into 4 groups: Wild-ND (n=10, Rhbdf2 wild mice, normal diet (ND)), Wild-HD (n=10, Rhbdf2 wild mice, HD), KO-ND (n=10, Rhbdf2 KO mice, ND) and KO-HD (n=10, Rhbdf2 KO mice, HD). The relative epididymal fat weight in KO-HD was significantly increased compared with that in KO-ND (P<0.01). The relative liver and spleen weights in KO-HD were decreased compared with those in Wild-HD (p < 0.05) and KO-ND (p < 0.01). The mRNA expression of SOD1 in KO-ND was significantly reduced compared with that in Wild-ND (p < 0.05). In Wild-ND and HD, the mRNA expressions of TNF-α and IL-6 in epididymal fat were significantly increased compared with those in KO-ND and HD (p < 0.01). A significant increase of TNF- α and IL-6 mRNA expression was observed in KO-HD compared with KO-ND (p < 0.01). These results indicated that Rhbdf2 genes may regulate high fat diet-induced obesity damage by anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative roles in fat tissue of mice.

Appropriate water level is the primary factor for the optimal yield of crop plants. The required water level varies according to the variety of the crops. In the present study, we investigated the optimum requirement of groundwater level(GWL) to grow sorghum and adzuki bean under paddy field soil. Here, we cultivated sorghum and adzuki bean using lysimeter filled with paddy soil under GWL 0 cm(NT) and GWL(20, 40 cm) where GWL 20 cm is maintained as a waterlogging condition. The plant growth promoting attributes were measured on the first day after treatment(0 DAT), 10 DAT and 20 DAT. The results showed that the growth parameter such as shoot length, leaf length, leaf width, and stem thickness of both sorghum and adzuki bean were constantly increased and were found higher at GWL 40 cm(except stem thickness and leaf width in sorghum at 20 DAT). The physiological parameters such as chlorophyll content and stomatal conductance were also found higher at GWL 40 cm in all DAT. In addition, the elements like P and K contents in adzuki bean, and Ca content in sorghum were constantly increased and was found higher in GWL 40 cm at all DAT. These results suggest that the GWL of 40 cm is appropriate for production of sorghum and adzuki bean especially in case of paddy soil.

Geminiviruses are plant-infecting viruses with monopartite or bipartite single-stranded circular DNA genomes. They are known to be mediated by insects such as whiteflies, treehoppers, leafhoppers or aphids and can cause devastating plant diseases in a wide range of economically significant crops worldwide. In Korea, occurrence of geminiviruses were reported officially after the 2000s. Although Honeysuckle yellow vein virus (HYVV) and Sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) were identified from honeysuckle and sweet potato in 2004 and 2006 respectively, these viruses did not spread and cause much concern for geminiviruses. In 2008, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) that has caused severe tomato production loss in many subtropical and tropical countries was first reported in tomato plants cultivated in Tongyeong. TYLCV rapidly spread through the country and has been continuously reported from tomato cultivating areas in Korea. In addition to TYLCV, Tobacco leaf curl virus and Sweet potato golden vein associated virus have occurred. In recent years, new geminiviruses including Papaya leaf curl Guangdong virus (PaLCGdV) and Euphorbia leaf curl virus (EuLCV) have been introduced. Newly emerging geminiviruses from tropical and subtropical countries are due to increased demand for various fruits and vegetables, and climate change. In addition, there are reports that some geminiviruses including TYLCV can be transmitted by infected seeds. Therefore it is important to study on epidemiology of virus introduction and spread among the countries and within country.