Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is a short day plant and has been adapted to various climates and environments during cultivation. However, the cultivation area is restricted to a very narrow range of latitudes. To date, nine major genes (E1 to E8 and J) have been reported to control the flowering time and maturity. Here, we evaluated the role of E2, E3, E4, and their paralogue genes in late flowering soybean cultivars under long day (LD) conditions using Soybean yellow common mosaic virus (SYCMV)-based virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system. A total of nine VIGS constructs were infiltrated into two fully expanded cotyledons and primary leaves. After inoculation with these VIGS constructs on Jangyeobkong, which is a late-flowering cultivar, phenotypic traits were evaluated for the first flowering dates (FFDs) and pod maturities under LD conditions. The FFDs of the silenced plants occurred 50-56 days after sowing (das), while the non-silenced plants bloomed on 60-61 days. We found that the E3 paralogue-silenced plants flowered the fastest and responsive genes were identified to be associated with the promotion of flowering time. As the knock-down of E3 paralogue, expression of E1 was up-regulated, E2 was no difference, E3 and E4 genes were down-regulated in the silenced plants. Expression of GmFT2a and GmFT5a is known to be controlled by E3 and E4. Interestingly, GmFT5a were highly expressed in SYCMV:E3 paralogue-silenced plants, whereas the expression of GmFT2a was not significant. These results support that GmFT5a is able to independently promote flowering under LD conditions.

Understanding the response of a crop to water deficiency is the first step towards breeding drought-tolerant varieties. In this study, inbred maize (Zea mays L.) lines KS140 and KS141 were subjected to drought stress by withholding water for 10 days at the V5 or V6 leaf stage. Water-deficient plants experienced a decrease in relative leaf water content, stomatal conductance, net CO2 assimilation rate, and water use efficiency compared to well-watered plants. This was accompanied by a decrease in the relative leaf water content that resulted in severe growth retardation in KS140 and KS141. However, leaf chlorophyll content in KS140 was unchanged. To understand the proteome dynamics during the 10-day drought stress in maize leaves, comparative proteome analysis was carried out between the well-watered and water-withheld leaves. Differential expression was observed for 29 protein spots from KS140 and 14 protein spots from KS141, and these were identified using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Among identified proteins, metabolism and stress related proteins were highly were increased by drought stress. This study provides a protein profile of a Korean maize inbred line during drought stress, which will be valuable for future studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying drought resistance and for development of selective breeding markers for drought tolerance in maize.

다평옥은 다수성 종실용 옥수수 품종 개발을 위하여 2010 년에 농촌진흥청 국립식량과학원에서 자식계통 KS158과 KS155를 교잡하여 육성한 다수성 단교잡종이다. 다평옥의 종피색은 황색이며 입질은 마치종이다. 2006～2007년까지 2 년 동안 생산력검정시험을 거쳐 2008～2010년까지 3년 동안 수원 등 3지역에서 지역적응시험을 실시하였다. 그 결과 우수 성이 인정되어 2010 농작물 직무육성 신품종으로 결정되었고 다평옥으로 명명하였다. 다평옥의 출사일수는 장다옥과 같다. 간장은 장다옥과 비슷하며 착수고율은 장다옥과 같다. 도복은 장다옥 정도로 강한 것으로 나타났다. 이삭길이는 장다옥보다 다소 작으며 100립중은 장다옥보다 가볍다. 깨씨무늬병과 그 을음무늬병에는 강한 편이다. 검은줄오갈병, 이삭썩음병 및 조명나방 저항성은 중 정도를 보인다. 다평옥의 종실수량은 8.6 톤/ha로 장다옥보다 8% 많았다. 4 : 1(모본 : 부본) 재식 비율로 동시 파종하여 채종 시험한 결과 모본 출사기와 부본 화분비산기간이 일치하였으며 채종수량은 2.8 톤/ha이었다. 다평옥은 전국적으로 재배가 가능하다(품종출원등록번호: 제 4969호).

The objective of this study was to evaluate the drought tolerance in maize seedling using leaf rolling. Nineteen maize resources, seven Nested Association Mapping parents lines, six Korean commercial cultivars, and six Southeast Asia commercial cultivars, were used to examine drought tolerance. The leaf rolling scores were measured on each leaf in three stress conditions with moderate drought (10%), severe drought (7%), and extreme drought (5%). Generally leaf rolling score of seedlings increased at the lower soil water potentials (5~7%). As a result, drought-tolerant cultivars showed lower leaf rolling score (below 2.5) than the drought sensitive cultivars (above 3.5). Nine varieties, NK4043, CML322, DK9955, NK4300, Ki11, DK8868, CML228, LVN99, and LVN10, have been selected for tolerance to drought stress. These results suggest that the leaf rolling score in maize seedling has been made available to indirect index for drought tolerance.

고당옥은 2011년에 농촌진흥청 국립식량과학원에서 개발한 단교잡종 단옥수수로 이삭의 색깔은 노란색이며 자식계통KSE5를 종자친으로 하고 KSE19를 화분친으로 한다. 고당옥의 출사일수는 표준품종(단옥3호)보다 3일 정도 늦었고 고당옥의 이삭길이는 17.6 cm, 이삭직경은 4.4 cm였으며 착립장률은 87.1%로 표준품종과 유사하였다. 그러나 당도는 24.3 °Bx로 표준품종 14.1 °Bx보다 높았고 내도복성도 표준품종보다 우수하였다. 2009년부터 2011년까지 지역적응시험에서 고당옥의 단위면적당 이삭수와 이삭중은 표준품종과 유사하였으며 채종시험결과 종자친과 화분친간 개화기가 잘 일치하였다.

‘보안찰’은 답리작 적응성이 높은 조숙 내한 내도복 유색 찰성 겉보리로 육성된 품종으로 파성은 Ⅲ이며, 이삭의 밀도는 밀수형으로 까락 긴 장망형이다. 출수기와 성숙기는 각각 2일 빠른 조숙종이다. 흰가루병과 보리호위축병은 서둔찰보리와 비슷하였다. 내한성과 내도복성은 서둔찰보리보다 다소 강하였다. 간장(79 cm)은 작고, 수장은 서둔찰보리보다 약간 작다. m2당 수수는 854개로 서둔찰보리보다 많고, 1수립수는 43개로 적다. 천립중은 서둔찰보리보다 작은 중소립종이며, 1ℓ중은 다소 가벼웠다. 단백질 함량, β-glucan 함량과 정맥률은 비슷하였고, 입백도는 낮았다. 취반특성 중 흡수율과 퍼짐성은 비슷하였고, 안토시아닌 함량은 181.1 ㎍/g으로 높았다. 수량은 전작에서 2.96 MT/ha, 답리작에서 3.91 MT/ha 있었다.

Fresh edible sweet corns demand relatively short period to harvest fresh ears, which can allow farmers to make a choice sweet corns for various cropping systems. For this reason, we were to find the optimum planting date of late-planted sweet corns to sell fresh ears in the autumn linked to cropping system with winter crops, investigating yield and properties of marketable fresh ears and growth traits of sweet corns (cv. 'Godangok' and cv. 'Guseulok') depending on planting dates such as 10 July, 20 July, and 30 July in Suwon 2012 and 2013, respectively. The 20 July-planted sweet corns showed the most fresh ear yield. However, the 10 July-planted and the 30 July-planted had 32% less yield caused by consecutive rainfall from 10 July through 20 July, and 15% less yield due to low air temperature during ripening than the 20 July-planted, respectively. The 10 and 20 July-planted sweet corns had average 140g of a fresh ear weight and 15% heavier ear than the 30 July-planted. For the July-planted sweet corns, silking days after planting (r=-0.80**), and harvesting days after silking (r=-0.97**) and planting (r=-0.91**) were highly negatively correlated with daily mean air temperature during the period, resulting in it takes 1,100 growing degree days (GDD) to harvest fresh ears from the July-planted sweet corns. The fresh ears of the 20 July-planted sweet corns are able to be harvested by early October. Therefore it will be a good choice for the cropping system based on winter vegetable cash crops such as temperate garlic and onion with medium or late maturity. Among three planting dates 20 July-planted sweet corns had the best field performance in every year considering fresh ear yield, ear size, and stability to grow.

Transcription factors are essential for the regulation of gene expression in plant. They are binding to either enhancer or promoter region of DNA adjacent to the gene and are related to basal transcription regulation, differential enhancement of transcription, development, response to intercellular signals or environment, and cell cycle control. The mechanism in controlling gene expression of transcription can be understood through the assessment of the complete sequence for the maize genome. It is possible that the maize genome encodes 4,000 or more transcription factors because it has undergone whole duplication in the past. Previously, several transcription factors of maize have been characterized. In this review article, the transcription factors were selected using Pfam database, including many family members in comparison with other family and listed as follows: ABI3 / VP1, AP2/EREBP, ARF, ARID, AS2, Aux/IAA, BES1, bHLH, bZIP, C2C2-CO-like, C2C2-Dof, C2C2-GATA, C2C2- YABBY, C2H2, E2F/DP, FHA, GARP-ARR-B, GeBP, GRAS, HMG, HSF, MADS, MYB, MYB-related, NAC, PHD, and WRKY family. For analyzing motifs, each amino acid sequence has been aligned with ClustalW and the conserved sequence was shown by sequence logo. This review article will contribute to further study of molecular biological analysis and breeding using the transcription factor of maize as a strategy for selecting target gene.

Maize is one of the most important food and feed crops in the world including Southeast Asia. In spite of numberous efforts with conventional breeding, the maize productions remain low and the loss of yields by drought and downy mildew are still severe in Asia. Genetic improvement of maize has been performed with molecular marker and genetic engineering. Because maize is one of the most widely studied crop for its own genome and has tremendous diversity and variant, maize is considered as a forefront crop in development and estimation of molecular markers for agricultural useful trait in genetics and breeding. Using QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci) and MAS (Marker Assisted Breeding), molecular breeders are able to accelerate the development of drought tolerance or downy mildew resistance maize genotype. The present paper overviews QTL/MAS approaches towards improvement of maize production against drought and downy mildew. We also discuss here the trends and importance of molecular marker and mapping population in maize breeding.

청다옥은 다수성 사료용 옥수수 품종 개발을 목표로 2010년에 농촌진흥청 국립식량과학원에서 자식계통 KS159과 KS155의 교잡으로 육성된 다수성인 단교잡종이다. 청다옥의 종피색은 황색이며 입질은 마치종이다. 2006～2007년까지 생산력검정시험을 거쳐, 2008～2010년까지 3년간 4지역에서 지역적응시험을 실시하였다. 청다옥의 출사일수는 광평옥보다 1일 빠르고 간장은 광평옥보다 다소 짧고 착수고율은 광평옥보다 낮다. 도복은 광평옥과 비슷한 정도로 강하다. 후기녹체성은 광평옥과 비슷하며 이삭비율은 광평옥과 같다. 깨씨무늬병 저항성은 중정도이고, 그을음무늬병에는 강한 편이다. 검은줄오갈병, 이삭썩음병 및 조명나방 저항성은 중정도를 보인다. 청다옥의 건물수량(20.24 톤/ha)은 광평옥과 비슷하였으며, TDN수량(13.80 톤/ha)도 광평옥과 비슷하였다. 청다옥의 종실수량(8.51 톤/ha)은 장다옥보다 많았다. 4∶1(모본:부본) 재식비율로 동시 파종하여 채종시험한 결과 모본의 출사기와 부본의 화분비산기간이 일치하였으며 채종수량은 1.8 톤/ha이었다. 청다옥은 전국적으로 재배가 가능하다.

‘구슬옥’(수원단55호)은 자식계통 KSE19를 종자친으로 하 고 KSE7를 화분친으로 하여 교잡된 단옥수수 단교잡종으로 Sugary enhancer (se) 인자를 가지고 있어 당도가 높고 옥수 수 립의 색은 흰색과 노란색, 두 가지색을 나타낸다. ‘구슬옥’ 은 2005년 생산력검정시험을 거쳐, 2007년부터 2009년까지 3년 동안 전국 5개 지역에서 지역적응시험을 실시한 결과 그 우수성이 인정되어 2009년 농작물 직무육성 신품종으로 결정 되었다. ‘구슬옥’의 출사일수는 65일로 조생종에 속하며 이삭 길이가 18.0 cm로 대조군인 ‘GCB70’과 비슷하다. ‘구슬옥’ 은 당도가 20.5%로 ‘GCB70’보다 높으며 경도가 낮아 씹힘 성이 부드러우며 전체적 기호도가 우수하였다. ‘구슬옥’은 깨씨무늬병, 조명나방, 도복에 강하였다. ‘구슬옥’의 ha당 이삭 수는 ‘GCB70’보다 많지만 이삭중은 비슷하였다. ‘구슬옥’의 모본 출사기와 부본의 화분 비산기간이 잘 일치하였으며 채 종량은 재식비율 모, 부본 2:1에서 1.39 ton/ha, 3:1에서 1.43 ton/ha이였다.

‘다혜’는 답리작 적응 조숙 내재해 다수성 등을 목표로 조 숙 대립 특성을 지닌 ‘수원318호’를 모본으로, 보리호위축병 에 강한 ‘수원311호’를 부본으로 인공교배 육성 선발된 ‘익산 409호이다. 파성은 Ⅲ형이며, 이삭의 밀도가 조밀한 편이며 까락이 길지만 탈망성이 좋다. 출수기와 성숙기는 각각 4일 빠른 조숙종이다. 흰가루병은 ‘올보리’와 비슷하며, 보리호위 축병에 대한 저항성을 나타냈다. 내한성과 내도복성은 ‘올보 리’보다 다소 강하였다. 간장(88 cm)과 수장은 ‘올보리’와 비 슷하였으며, m 2당 수수는 666개로 ‘올보리’보다 7개 적고, 1 수립수는 52개로 2개 많으나 통계적인 차이는 없었다. 천립 중은 ‘올보리’와 비슷한 대립종이며, 1 L중은 다소 가벼웠다. 단백질 함량, β-glucan 함량과 정맥률은 비슷하였고, 입백도 는 약간 높았다. 엿기름의 효소력가는 ‘올보리’보다 25 DP 높았다. 수량은 전작에서 4.00 MT/ha, 답리작에서 4.11 MT/ha 이었다.

콩의 수량은 건물생산성에 비해 고온에 민감하게 반응하는 하는 형질로 알려져 있다. 따라서 본 연구는 등숙기 고온이 종실의 발달, 품질특성 및 수분흡수특성에 미치는 영향을 검토하기 위해 수행하였으며 그 결과를 요약하면 다음과같다.1. 등숙온도가 높을수록 백립중은 감소되었는데, 황금콩은 선유콩에 비해 감소폭이 컸고, 등숙기 지속적인 고온은 종실비대를 억제시켜 소립종의 비율이 증가될 뿐만 아니라 종피율을 감소시키는 것으로 나타났다.2. 등숙온도가 높을수록 지방 함량 및 C/N율이 감소되고,단백질 및 총당 함량이 증가되었으나 당의 조성으로볼 때 단당류와 이당류는 증가되고 올리고당류는 오히려 감소되는 것으로 나타나 고온은 동화물질의 축적을억제시키는 것으로 판단되었다.3. 고온에서 등숙된 콩은 침지초기에 부피 및 무게의 증가가 비교적 빠르게 이루어졌으나 침지시간이 경과됨에 따라 대조구에 비해 부피 및 무게증가율이 모두 낮게 나타났고, 황금콩은 선유콩에 비해 침지에 따른 부피증가율 및 무게증가율이 상대적으로 낮았다.4. 콩의 백립중과 종피율은 침지에 따른 종실의 부피 및무게증가율뿐만 아니라 용출액의 TDS와 EC에 영향을 미치는 주요 형질로 판단되었고, 단백질 함량과C/N율은 TDS 및 EC와 유의한 상관을 보였으나, 당함량은 부피증가율과 무게증가율뿐만 아니라 TDS 및EC와 상관이 인정되지 않았다.5. 따라서 등숙온도가 높을수록 종실에 동화물질의 축적이 불완전하게 이루어져 침지에 따른 가용성 고형물의용출량이 많아지고, 결과적으로 TDS 및 EC가 높아지는 것으로 판단되었다.

헤어리베치의 꽃색 중 보라색, 분홍색, 백색의 유전 양상을 구명하기 위하여 보라색 꽃 품종(청풍보라), 분홍색 꽃 품종(Mamecho) 그리고 백색 꽃 품종(HV-Kw1) 상호 간에 교잡하여 잡종 2세대(F2)에서 꽃색 분리 비율을 조사하고, 또한 분홍색과 연분홍색 사이의 유전 양상을 조사하기 위하여 연분홍색 꽃 품종(HV-Mp1)과 분홍색 꽃 품종(Mamecho)을 교잡하여 F2에서 꽃색 분리 비율을 조사한 결과 백색/보라색 조합과, 보라색/분홍색 조합에서 보라색은 백색과 분홍색에 대해 3 : 1의 비율로 분리하였고, 연분홍색/분홍색 조합에서 분홍색 3, 연분홍색 1의 비율로 분리하였으나, 백색/분홍색 조합의 F2 집단에서는 보라색 9, 분홍색 3, 백색 4의 비율로 분리하였다. 이러한 헤어리베치 꽃색 유전분리 결과로 볼 때 본 연구에서 사용된 품종들의 보라색, 분홍색, 그리고 백색 꽃은 서로 다른 두 쌍의 유전자 열성상위 작용에 의해 발현되며, 연분홍색은 분홍색에 대하여 단일 열성관계인 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구결과는 헤어리베치 품종 육성의 기초 자료로 유용하게 활용될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

In U.S.A. maize breeding, exotic germplasm is considered as high-risk and usually introduced by backcrossing specific traits into elite lines. The U.S.A. maize germplasm base is narrow. Only a few open-pollinated varieties are well represented in current programs. Currently, the barrier in using of exotic germplasm in the U.S.A is less formidable than in the 1980s. The major reason is that U.S.A materials are now used in tropical breeding to accelerate earlier maturity and lodging resistance. These exotic materials, developed with U.S.A germplasm, are being introduced back into the U.S.A.Since1994, the ARS-led Germplasm Enhancement of Maize (GEM) project has sought to help broaden the genetic base of America’s corn crop by promising exotic germplasm and crossing it with domestic lines. New hybrids derived from such crosses have provided corn researchers and the producers. These may include improved or alternative native source of resistance to insect pests such as corn rootworms and diseases like northern leaf blight. GEM’s aim is to provide source of useful genetic maize diversity to help the producers to reduce risks from new or evolving insect and disease threats or changes in the environment or respond to new marketing opportunities and demand. During the 2009 growing season, the Ames (Iowa) and Raleigh (North Carolina) locations managed or coordinated evaluations on 17,200 nursery plots as well as 14,000 yield trial plots in Ames and 12,000 in Raleigh. A new “allelicdiversity” study is devoted to exploring and capturing the genetic variation represented by over 300 exotic corn races. Since 2001, GEM has released 221 new corn lines to cooperators for further development into elite commercial new hybrids. GEM has already identified about 50%-tropical, 50%-temperate families tracing primarily to tropical hybrids that are competitive with commercial checks. In North Carolina State University program, they have examined the potential of tropical inbredand hybrids for U.S.A. breeding by crossing temperate-adapted, 100%-tropical lines to U.S.A hybrids. There should be favorably unique alleles or genomic regions in temperate germplasm that can be helpful in tropical maize improvement as well as utilization of tropical lines in temperate areas.

본 연구는 자색 옥수수 부산물인 옥수수 줄기와 잎을 이용하여 염액을 추출하여 여러 가지 염색 조건에서 염색정도를 관찰하고 자색옥수수 부산물의 염료로서의 가능성을 타진하여 이용성 증진을 위한 기초자료를 제공하고자 실시하였다.1. 자색 옥수수 추출시 pH에 따른 흡광도의 변화가 없으므로 자색 옥수수 색소 함량을 측정하기 위하여 UV흡광도를 측정할 때 520∼560 nm를 이용하는 것이효율적일 것으로 생각된다.2. 자색 옥수수 잎 추출물로 염색한 silk와 cotton은 pH가높아질수록 직물의 밝기와 적색도가 낮아졌다. 줄기추출물의 경우에는 뚜렷한 경향을 나타내지는 않았지만 pH 값이 높아질수록 밝기와 적색도가 높아지는 경향을 나타내었다.3. 농도에 따른 직물의 염색 정도는 silk와 cotton 모두 농도가 높아질수록 밝기는 낮아지고 적색도는 증가하는경향을 나타내었다.4. Silk와 cotton은 일반적으로 염색시간이 길어질수록명도가 증가하고, 적색도는 감소하는 경향을 나타내었다.

Improvement of winter hardiness, diseases resistance and good quality have been recently received more attention by covered barley(Hordeum vulgare L.) breeders than ever in Korea. “Hyegang”, a new covered barley cultivar with similar maturing and high yield was developed by the National Institute of Crop Science, RDA in 2011. It was derived from the cross between “Milyang87/NWX-GB-G 2” and “Milyang87/Chalbori” with good quality. The initial cross was done in 2000 and the selected line, “Iksan445” (YB4625-B-B-6-2), showed high yield and good quality characteristics under yield trial test in 2008. It was cultivated three times for three years (2009～2011) in the four locations of regional yield trial (RYT) in korea and was investigated about agronomic and quality characteristics and released as “Hyegang”. The heading date was May 4 in upland and April 26 in paddy field which was 1 and 0 day lateness respectively than that of check cultivar, “Olbori”. The culm length was 77 cm which was 6 cm shorter than that with check cultivar. It showed the spike length of 4.7 cm, 800 spikes / m2, 64 grains / spike and 25.1g for 1,000 grains weight. It showed similar maturing and stronger resistance to barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) compare to check cultivar. It showed higher diastatic power 216DP than that of check cultivar, ‘Olbori’. Average yield of “Hyegang” in the RYT was 4.61 MT/ha in upland and 4.38 MT/ha in paddy field, espectively.

’Dahan’ (Avena sativa L.), a winter oat for forage use, was developed by the breeding team at the Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop, National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA in 2011. It was derived from an original cross between the F1 hybrid of ‘Sprinter’ and ‘73625’ and ‘Gwiri26’ (PA7507-37). Subsequent generations followed by the cross were handled in bulk and pedigree selection programs at Suwon. A line, ‘SO99027-GB-B-113-4-4-3’, was selected for cold tolerance and good agronomic characteristics and designated as a line name of ‘Gwiri75’. The line ‘Gwiri75’ was subsequently evaluated for cold tolerance, earliness, and forage yield in four different locations, Yesan, Iksan, Kimjae, and Jeju, from 2009 to 2011 and finally named as ‘Dahan’. Over 3 years, the average forage dry matter yield of ‘Dahan’ harvested at milk-ripe stage was 15.6 MT ha-1, compared with 14.1 MT ha-1 of check cultivar ‘Samhan’. Though similar in heading date to the check cultivar, ‘Dahan’ had tall plant length and lodging resistance. The feed value of ‘Dahan’ was superior to the check cultivar in percent total digestible nutrients (TDN) and TDN yield per ha. ‘Dahan’ is recommended primarily for winter planting use in the areas where daily minimum mean temperatures are averaged higher than -6 ℃ in January, and excluded in mountain area where frost damage is presumable.

The level of β-glucan which is a major soluble dietary fiber found in the grain endosperm cell wall was highly variable among 25 barley genotypes grown at four locations including Suwon, Naju, Jinju, and Jeju. Statistically significant genotypic effects were observed for β-glucan content at each or across growing sites (P<0.001). On average, 'Chalssalbori' showed the lowest percentage β-glucan (4.04%) among genotypes in the grain, whereas 'Yonezawa Mochi' was highest in percentage β-glucan (6.46%) compared to other genotypes. The significant difference between genotypes was approximately 1-2% across environments. The effects of location or interaction between locations and genotypes were not significant on the variation of β-glucan contents. High β-glucan content seemed to be greatly associated with such grain traits as waxiness and presence of husk except for 'Chalssalbori'. The waxy genotypes had a mean of 5.37% and values ranging from 5.28 to 5.47%, but normal genotypes had a mean of 4.78% and values ranging from 4.69 to 4.88% over environments. Hulless barley genotypes were also higher than hulled barley genotypes for the average β-glucan content in both individual and over all environments. The difference between the hulled and hulless gene pools was on average of 0.37% with ranges from 0.19% to 0.56% at four environments. β-glucan content measured from a mapping population of F5 -derived 107 lines derived from the cross between 'Yonezawa Mochi' and 'Neulssalbori' was not significantly associated with other agronomic traits except for 1,000-kernel weight at the '01 Suwon environment. Not too much information on the relationship of β-glucan content to agronomic traits was available.

The three Korean wheat cultivars with different plant types; the erect, the middle and the creeping growth habit, were studied for their utilization to solar radiation, temperature changes on the furrow and to provide optimum planting space for producing the high yield in 2003. The average solar radiation rate was lowest for creeping type (39.2~% ) and highest for erect type (75.8~% ) The correlation coefficient between the coverage rate and the solar transmission rate was r = 0.8624 which was significant at 5~% level. The relative growth of the plant, tiller rate and leaf size was increased in the erect and the middle type at lower plant density, while no change on plant growth at creeping type regardless of plant density. The increase of leaf size in the lower plant density was due to longer flag and the first leaf than those of other plant types. The temperature on the furrow of growing plants was changed by the canopy. The changes in temperature pattern on the furrow according to plant types during winter season was different compared to the non plant ground. The temperature of the nonplant ground was the lowest due to solar reduction increasing the amount of cool air flowing in the furrow.