The purpose of this study was to improve the functionality of a healthy drink with examining the possibility of manufacturing different enzymes (alpha-, beta-, glucose-amylase) in barley malts (BM) produced in various malting periods. The study showed that enzyme treatment increased significantly total polyphenol content (TPC), DPPH radical scavenging activity and hydroxly radical scavenging activity in malted liquid samples (MLS) which obtained from various malting periods. The highest of TPC were found in Gluco-24M with 1.981 ㎎TAE/㎖, followed by Beta-24M and Alpha-72M with 1.878 ㎎TAE/㎖ and 1.845 ㎎TAE/㎖, respectively. The DPPH result revealed that percent of inhibition increased by 71-75% compared to the control. No statistical difference was found between MLS obtained by 24 hr of malting (24 M) and 72 hr of malting (72 M) after enzyme treatment. In addition, an increasing of hydroxyl radical was in the same trend to the TPC and DPPH. The hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of enzyme treated samples was 1,5 times higher than the control. These results suggest the possibility of enzyme application to barley malts obtained in various germination periods for improving quality and functionality of barley malts.

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum) is a global staple food crops. However, saline soil reduces the production of durum wheat in a lot of countries including Tunisia. This problem would be more severe as soil salinization ascribed by the global climate changes and worldwide water deficiencies. To overcome this circumstance, we performed two experiments related to salinity stress tolerance of durum wheat. Two Tunisian durum wheat cultivars (‘Om Rabia’, ‘Mahmoudi’) were applied to examine the reaction to salt stress. At the third leaf stage, salt stress was treated by submerging the pots into 500 mM NaCl for 5 mins everyday instead of irrigation in greenhouse. The treatment was applied for 1 week and their tolerances to salt stress were determined by comparing their growth parameters to the control plants. Total RNA was extracted and Quantitative reverse transcript PCR (qRT-PCR) using the genes linked with the salt tolerance was performed. The plant height and leaf chlorophyll content were reduced during salt stress treatment in both cultivars. The growth parameters of ‘Om Rabia’ was reduced less than that of ‘Mahmoudi’. The transcription level of the genes linked with the salt tolerance was greater in ‘Om Rabia’ than in ‘Mahmoudi’. These results will be fruitful to future breeding program for salt tolerant tetraploid durum wheat.

Gliadins are the main class of wheat seed storage proteins. Since gliadins show a high level of polymorphism as well as genetically fixed, it can be used as a marker for the genetic identification. Gliadin subunit diversity information can be useful for wheat quality breeding programs. Tunisia is a country in the North Africa bordered with the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the east but with the Sahara desert to the south, which represent extremely different growth climate. Therefore, there may be a numerous variation in Tunisian common wheat and durum wheat. Total 48 lines of wheat consisted of 32 common wheat (16 Korean wheat and 16 Tunisian common wheat) and 16 Tunisian durum wheat were incorporated in this study. Gliadins were extracted with 70% ethanol and fractionated by acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (A-PAGE) at 8% in aluminum lactate buffer (pH 3.1). The gel was stained with 0.25% Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) R-250. The presence of each gliadin subunit band was scored and cluster analysis was carried out. The cluster showed that wheat varieties were classified into some groups and their genetic distance could be identified. The obtained information will be helpful to the future breeding program of tetraploid durum wheat as well as hexaploid common wheats. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2012K1A3A1A09028123) and carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project title: Development of high yielding wheat with stress tolerance via molecular breeding strategies, Project No. PJ008031)”, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Soil salinity limits crop productivity in many regions. This problem would be more serious as the global climate changes and worldwide water shortages would accelerate soil salinization. This study is fulfilled with aim on resolve crop cultivation in dry/saline land as an international joint research project with Tunisia. Total 48 lines of wheat cultivars including 32 common wheat (16 Korean wheat, 16 Tunisian common wheat) and 16 Tunisian durum wheat were incorporated in this study. Salt stress was applied for 2 weeks by submerging the pots into 500 mM NaCl at 3-leaf stage followed by re-watering for restoration in greenhouse. Numerous agronomic/growth parameters were scored for tolerence. SSR primers that have been known to be related to salt tolerance were applied to explain selected population. The correlation between PCR-based length polymorphism of selected lines and their resistance were evaluated. The obtained information will aid selection for salt tolerance hexa/tetraploid wheats. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2012K1A3A1A09028123) and carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project title: Development of high yielding wheat with stress tolerance via molecular breeding strategies, Project No. PJ008031)”, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Drought tolerance is the ability of a plant to live, grow, and reproduce properly with limited water supply or under periodic conditions of water deficit. However, the climate changes and worldwide water shortages would result in the loss of applied water to irrigated land, increasing soil water deficit. To control the situation, we have carried out the international joint research project for the aim of developing that drought tolerance common wheat and durum wheat in Korea and Tunisia. Total 79 (41 common wheat, 39 durum wheat) Tunisian lines and 33 Korean wheat cultivars were incorporated in this study. Drought stress was applied for 25 days of stopping irrigation from the 3-leaf stage followed by re-watering for restoration in greenhouse. We selected top 13 (5 Korean line, 8 Tunisian line) tolerant lines and 11 (5 Korean, 6 Tunisian) susceptible lines based on growth parameter analysis. Primers (Operon primers and wheat Dreb1 gene) that have been known to be related drought resistance were applied to explain selected population. The correlation between PCR-based length polymorphism of selected lines and their resistance were evaluated. The obtained primer information will aid selection for drought tolerance durum as well as hexaploid common wheat.

Brachypodium has been focused as new model plant for grass species. Like small size, small room requirement, and fast growth, Brachypodium shows numerous advantages as a model plant. Brachypodium is a typical grass at the genome level, which also exhibits an overall similarity of gene content and gene families when compared with rice (Oryza sativa) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) genomes. Brachypodium is an excellent material for structural and functional genomic studies in grass species. Targeting-Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) is a high-throughput technique and an approach for reverse genetics study. Moreover, it has been wildly utilized to find induced mutation. Bradi3g45515 is orthologue of the cellulose synthase-like HvCslF8 in barley. For TILLING library construction, 384 M2 Brachypodium mutants induced by chronic-gamma irradiation were used. Single nucleotide polymorphysm (SNP) and small deletion in Bradi3g45515 were searched through TILLING analysis. Template DNA for PCR reaction were prepared according to two dimensional pooling (eightfold) strategy. Heteroduplex DNA was digested by SURVEYOR nuclease (TRANSGENOMIC) and the DNA fragment was detected using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Positive signal appeared at polyacrylamide gel from more than 4 lines and their Bradi3g45515 region were sequenced. SNP(s) were identified in 509-2 and 677-3 mutant line. Cellulose content and/or cell wall materials content will be measured using these mutants.

Mutant analysis is one of most optimized genome-wide approach towards acquiring utile phenotypes and defining related genes. Gamma-irradiation, an acknowledged way of mutant-generating method, was applied to gain sets of mutant line in Brachypodium distachyon. B. distachyon is a model plant, commonly used in genus of Gramineae for the research of structure genomics and functional genomics. B. distachyon contribute to rapid and easy analysis because of its small size and quick growth. Mutant population was generated by different doses of gamma-irradiation (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 Gy) in the gamma field phytotron. Distance from the source gives same irradiation duration for each plant. Plant growth parameters such as plant height, tiller number, leaf length & width, internode number & diameter, maturity and yield components (ear number biomass) were scored on M0 plants. Plant responses to different doses of radiation are evaluated and the effective radiation dosages to generate mutant using gamma-phytotron are suggested. Chronic irradiation using gamma-phytotron is useful tool to generate mutants for genomic variations such as SNP or INDEL as well as suitable for functional study of genes in Gramineae.