Porcine spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) prefer three-dimensional (3D) culture systems to 2D ones for the maintenance of self-renewal. Of the many 3D culture systems, agar-based hydrogels are candidates for supporting porcine SSC self-renewal, and there are various types of agar powder that can be used. In this study, we sought to identify an agar-based 3D hydrogel system that exhibited strong efficacy in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. First, 3D hydrogels with different mechanics were prepared with various concentrations of Bacto agar, lysogeny broth (LB) agar, and agarose powder, and the 3D hydrogel with the strongest alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and greatest increase in colony size was identified for the different types of agar powder. Second, among the porcine SSCs cultured in the different 3D hydrogels, we analyzed the colony formation, morphology, and size; AP activity; and transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes, and these were compared to determine the optimal 3D hydrogel system for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. We found that 0.6% (w/v) Bacto agar-, 1% (w/v) LB agar-, and 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogels showed the strongest maintenance of AP activity and the most pronounced increase in colony size in the culture of porcine SSCs. Moreover, among these hydrogels, the strongest transcription and translation of porcine SSC-related genes and largest colony size were detected in porcine SSCs cultured in the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel, whereas there were no significant differences in colony formation and morphology. These results demonstrate that the 0.2% (w/v) agarose-based 3D hydrogel can be effectively used for the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal.

This studies was conducted to compare functional diversity of terrestrial arthropods in commercial apple orchards under conventional and organic practices. We collected terrestiral arthropods using pitfall traps in four conventional and seven organic apple orchards from April to October, 2012-2014. Sampled arthropods were identified at the species level and then classified three functional groups (detritivores, herbivores and beneficial arthropods included pollinators, parasitoids and predators). Biodiversity was analyzed with species richness, abundance and shannon index for each group and compared between conventional and organic orchards. In results, species richness of detritivores and benefical arthropods were higher in organic orchards than in conventional orchards (detritivores: t=-2.68, df=9, P=0.03; beneficial arthropods: t=-3.98, df=9, P=0.003). Organic orchards showed significant difference at abundance of beneficial arthropods (t=-3.33, df=9, P=0.008) and higher shannon index at detritivores (t=-2.36, df=9, P=0.04) than conventional orchards. However, all biodiversity indices of herbivores were not significantly different between conventional and organic orchards at 95% confidence level.

This studies was conducted to define community structure and diversity of epigeal spiders in apple orchards under different farming practices (organic and conventional). In 11 commercial apple orchards, epigeal spider community structure was investigated during 2012-2014 (3 orchards, 2012; 3 orchards, 2013, 5 orchards, 2014). Epigeal spiders were collected by pitfall traps from April to October, 2012 in Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do; 2013 in Muju-gun, Jeollabuk-do; 2014 in Cheongsong-gun and Uiseong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. Sampled spiders were identified to the species level. Biodiversity was analyzed with species richness (total numbers of spider species), abundance (total numbers of individuals) and Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H΄) for each site and compared between organic and conventional orchards. In all regions, abundance of the spider communities were relatively higher in organic orchards than in conventional orchards. But, no significant difference in species richness and specie diversity (H΄) between organic and conventional orchards. Lycosidae was the most dominant family in all orchards regardless farming practices. However, Linyphiidae dominated in organic orchards only. The most dominant species were Pardosa laura (Lycosidae), Erigone koshiensis (Linyphiidae) in organic, Piratula procurvus (Lycosidae) in conventional orchards.

Despite many researches related with in-vitro culture of porcine spematogonial stem cells (SSCs), adherent culture system widely used has shown a limitation in the maintenance of porcine SSC self-renewal. Therefore, in order to overcome this obstacle, suspension culture, which is known to have numerous advantage over adherent culture, was applied to the culture of porcine SSCs. Porcine SSCs retrieved from neonatal testes were suspension-cultured for 5 days or 20 days, and characteristics of suspension-cultured porcine SSCs including proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity, and self-renewal-specific gene expression were investigated and compared with those of adherent-cul-tured porcine SSCs. As the results, the suspension-cultured porcine SSCs showed entirely non-proliferative and significantly higher rate of AP-positive cells and expression of self-renewal-specific genes than the adherent-cultured porcine SSCs. In addition, long-term culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition induced significant decrease in the yield of AP staining-positive cells on post-day 10 of culture. These results showed that suspension culture was inappropriate to culture porcine SSCs, because the culture of porcine SSCs in suspension condition didn’t stimulate proliferation and maintain AP activity of porcine SSCs, regardless of culture periods.

This study was conducted to investigate the community structure and species distribution of ground beetle assemblages in western part of Yeongwol-gun, Korea. Ground beetles were collected by pitfall traps from 9 study sites during July to October in 2013. A total of 30 species were identified from 4,439 collected ground beetles. Two dominant species, Synuchus nitidus (1,916 individuals) and Synuchus cycloderus (1,900 individuals) were occupied 85.8% of total. Interestingly, Pterostichus orientalis orientalis and Synuchus melantho were only collected in relative high altitude above 350 m, such as Beopheung-ri, Unhak-ri, and Yongseok-ri. Large-sized beetles, such as Damaster, Leptocarabus, and Carabus species, were generally more collected from Suju-myeon (Beopheung-ri and Unhak-ri) and Jucheon-myeon (Docheon-ri and Yongseok-ri) as well-conserved area, but not occurred in Yeongwol-eup and Hanbando-myeon, which forests may have lower habitat quality for these species. These differences also lead to increasing of dissimilarity among study sites, which were diverged into 3 groups at 53.0% of similarity. In particular, species composition of Samok-ri was significantly different at 8.2% of similarity because of difference in habitat characteristics as river side. This study has an important value to provide the fundamental information of inventory and monitoring in Yeongwol-gun. For detail mapping of species distribution in Yeongwol-gun, however, further studies are necessary, especially eastern parts of Yeongwol-gun.

Epigeic spiders (Araneae) were surveyed in apple orchards under different farming practices (organic and conventional) in Muju-gun, Jeollabuk-do, Korea. The study was conducted from April to October in 2013 with 2 weeks interval using pitfall traps. Collected spiders were identified as 20 species of 6 families from 819 individuals in organic orchardⅠ, 19 species of 10 families from 759 individuals in orchardⅡ and 16 species of 8 families from 209 individuals in conventional orchard for from 1,787 captured spiders. Biodiversity was analyzed with species richness, abundance and Shannon diversity index (H΄). Species richness was statistically higher in organic orchard than in conventional orchard. Organic orchardⅡ comprised the greatest abundance followed by organic orchard and conventional. But species diversity was the highest in organic orchardⅡ, intermediate in conventional orchard and the lowest in orchardⅠ. Lycosidae was the most dominant family in all orchards regardless farming practices. However, Linyphiidae dominated in organic orchards only. The most dominant species were Erigone koshiensis (Linyphiidae) in organicⅠ, Pardosa laura (Lycosidae) in organicⅡ and Arctosa pungcheunensis (Lycosidae) in conventional orchard.

Selecting surrogated species is the first step for environmental risk assessment of GM crop on non-target arthropods. To select surrogated species considering the domestic environment, we surveyed the arthropod fauna in five main localities (Changnyeong-gun in Gyeongsangnam-do, Goesan-gun in Chungcheongbuk-do, Gokseong-gun in Jeollanam-do, Hongcheon-gun in Gangwon-do and Hwaseong-si in Gyeonggi-do) in which maize was cultivated with large scale. Maize is one of the main imported GM crop in Korea. Arthropods were surveyed with yellow sticky traps and pitfall traps from May to August with a week interval considering the crop growing season in 2012 and 2013. A total of 135 species of 51 families in 13 orders were identified from the 17,470 arthropods. Six orders (Coleoptera, Araneae, Hemiptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera) were dominant in species richness and three orders (Collembola, Thysanoptera and Diptera) in abundance, representing 84% and 86% of the total, respectively. In the composition of fuctional guilds, herbivore group was the most dominant followed by predator group occupying 40% and 37% of the total abundance.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been known to affect to cell migration, proliferation, morphogenesis and apoptosis by degrading the extracellular matrix. In the previous studies, undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were successfully proliferated inside the extracellular matrix (ECM) analog-conjugated three-dimensional (3D) poly ethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogel. However, there is no report about MMP secretion in ESCs, which makes it difficult to understand and explain how ESCs enlarge space and proliferate inside 3D PEG-based hydrogel constructed by crosslinkers containing MMP-specific cleavage peptide sequence. Therefore, we investigated what types of MMPs are released from undifferentiated ESCs and how extracellular signals derived from various niche conditions affect MMP expression of ESCs at the transcriptional level. Results showed that undifferentiated ESCs expressed specifically MMP2 and MMP3 mRNAs. Transcriptional up-regulation of MMP2 was caused by the 3D scaffold, and activation of integrin inside the 3D scaffold upregulated MMP2 mRNAs synergistically. Moreover, mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) on 2D matrix and 3D scaffold induced upregulation of MMP3 mRNAs, and activation of integrins through conjugation of extracellular matrix (ECM) analogs with 3D scaffold upregulated MMP3 mRNAs synergistically. These results suggest that successful proliferation of ESCs inside the 3D PEG-based hydrogel may be caused by increase of MMP2 and MMP3 expression resulting from 3D scaffold itself as well as activation of integrins inside the 3D PEG-based scaffold.

In apple orchards under different farming practices (organic and conventional), arthropod community structure was investigated. Arthropods were collected with pitfall traps, band traps, yellow sticky traps and pheromone traps from May to December, 2012 in Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea. Biodiversity was analyzed with species richness and Shannon diversity index (H΄). Sampled arthropods were identified 37 families in 14 orders from 21,618 individuals in organic orchard-1 and 33 families in 10 orders from 11,318 individuals in organic orchard-2 and 35 families in 13 orders from 27,711 individuals in conventional orchard. Species richness was relatively highest in organic orchard-1, intermediate in conventional orchard and lowest in organic orchard-2. In ecologically functional group, abundance of pests was higher in conventional orchard than in organic orchards due to the high occurrence of Phyllonorycte ringoniella (Gracillariidae) and Lyonetia prunifoliella (Lyonetiidae). Organic orchards showed higher abundance, species richness and species diversity of epigeic predators and those of parasitoids above ground than conventional orchard. Abundance of detritivores, mainly collembola, were higher in organic orchard than in conventional orchard.

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) is a Gramineae perennial grass species and commonly used as a forage crop and developed to be used for pasture. In Korea, in order to improve high persistence and forage quality, through selection of various superior parental varieties for breeding and synthesis of them with new lines, there are ongoing worldwide studies aiming to enhance the quality and environmental adaptability of Orchardgrass. Between 2010 and 2014, a Orchardgrass variety named Onnuri 2ho was developed by the Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA), Republic of Korea. For the production of synthetic seeds for Onnuri 2ho 4 superior clones, Dg7506, Dg9508, Edg215 and Edg218 were selected and polycrossed. Between 2010 and 2011, the agronomic growth characteristics and forage production capability of the seeds were studied at Cheonan, and between 2012 and 2014, regional trials were conducted in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jinju, and in Jeju. The main growth characteristic of Onnuri 2ho is a tetraploid variety, a medium-late maturity variety, the heading stage of which is around May 17, which is four days later than that of Amba. This study tested the regional adaptability of Orchardgrass in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jeju, and in Jinju. The average dry matter yield of Onnuri 2ho in the four regions was 15,814 kg/ha, which is greater than that of Amba by 34%. These differences show that Onnuri 2ho is more resistant to environmental stresses than Amba and that this growth characteristic directly led to dry matter yield. Thus, Onnuri 2ho is a suitable variety for the establishment of grasslands as it has enhanced disease resistance and persistence, compared to Amba. The forage quality of Onnuri 2ho was similar to that of Amba in crude protein (11.5%), total digestible nutrients (59.2%), neutral detergent fiber (62.7%), and acid detergent fiber (37.6%), whereas the forage quality of Ongreen was higher than that of Amba in (71.0%). The new variety was selected and named Onnuri 2ho from Composite 34 by the RDA in November 2014, and the application for the protection of the new variety by the Korea Seed and Variety Service is currently pending. In this study, a new variety of Orchardgrass with excellent environmental adaptability was developed, in order to contribute to the vitalization of the Korean grassland industry.

MYB proteins are a superfamily of transcription factors (TF) that play regulatory roles in developmental processes and resistance mechanism in plants. We identified 130 and 109 genes in the MYB superfamily from an analysis of the complete Arabidopsis and rice genome sequence. Although microarray based transcriptome analysis approach allows the investigation of the biological networks of MYB TF in DNA level, the underling mechanisms related to their functional role is not fully understood. In this work, we performed meta-analysis of public microarray data that analyzed with Arabidopsis and rice using co-expression analysis. A phylogenetic comparison of the members of this superfamily were performed with Sorghum bicolour to suggested that MYB super family underwent a rapid expansion their evolutionary times. We identified conserved expression pairs which play important role in transcription. Our comprehensive analysis of this huge transcription factor of Arabidopsis and rice may shed further light on the possible biological roles of the MYB TF in various plants.

This study was done to understand the G x E interaction of rice blast reaction for Japonica high quality rice varieties and to observe blast pattern for high quality varieties. Twenty one percent of the total sum of squares (SST) in blast reaction data of high quality Japonica varieties is attributed to genotype (G) by environment (E) interaction variation. This portion of blast response is higher than 8～12% of G x E effect in blast severity data obtained from various ecotypes of rice varieties. Blast response scores obtained from high quality Japonica varieties group were more severely affected by environment condition than mixed groups with Japonica and Indica varieties. Interaction Principal Component Analysis (IPCA) scores obtained from AMMI analysis for the leaf blast response implied variation of G x E interaction. Correlation analysis suggested that IPCA1 was associated with latitude, maximum mean temperature, precipitation and mean cloud amount. IPCA2 was associated with mean relative humidity, and IPCA3 was associated with precipitation and minimum relative humidity. Pattern analysis generated nine genotype clusters according to blast reaction over 11 regions. Collectively, the A, B, C, and D groups were susceptible to rice blast, where as the E, F, G, H, and I groups were relatively resistant to rice blast through multi-location blast nursery test. Relationship between the identified genes of high quality varieties and blast scores at each test site in the level of group could be analyzed based on the results from G x E Interaction analysis.

The sewage sludges and livestock manures, respectively, were composted with sawdust used for control moisture in the static piles system composter. The variations of temperature, pH, moisture, C/N ratio, inorganic content, forms of organic materials and nitrogen, and contents of heavy metals were investigated. The results were summarized as follows ; The temperature for composting the sewage sludges reached the highest temperature of 52℃, after 3 days and lasted for 7 days, and then went down 30℃ after 52 days. In the case of composting livestock manures, the temperature reached to 63℃ after 10 days, that lasted for 10 days, and then went down gradually. After upsetting the sewage sludges and livestock manures, the temperature went up but was little changed after 52 days. Thus we decided that the terminal of composting periods would be 52 days. The moisture contents of the sludges and livestock manures for composting were decreased to 30% and 36%, respectively. The contents of inorganic matters and heavy metals were changed by the characteristics of raw materials but increased gradually during composting process. The total contents of organic materials in the sewage sludges and livestock manures for composting were decreased to 7% and 9%, respectively. The contents of ether extracts, resins, hemicellulose and cellulose were decreased but those of water soluble polysaccharides and lignins were not changed. The total contents of nitrogen in sewage sludges and livestock manures were decreased to 43% and 34%, respectively.