Genetically modified (GM) papaya (Carica papaya L.) line 55-1 (55-1), which is resistant to papaya ringspot virus infection, has been marketed internationally. Many countries such as the European Union, Japan, and Korea have a mandatory safety assessment, approval and labeling regulations for GM foods. Thus, there is a need for specific methods for detecting 55-1. In this study, we established a real-time PCR detection method applicable to 55-1 for a variety of papaya products. The limit of detection was possible for fresh papaya fruit up to dilutions of 0.005% and 0.01% (weight per weight [w/w]) for homozygous SunUp and heterozygous Rainbow cultivars, respectively, in non-GM papaya. The 55-1 event-specific detection method observed parallelism (r2>0.99) between the concentration of line 55-1 cultivars and Ct values obtained in amplification plots at concentrations of 0.005-10% for SunUp DNA and 0.01-10% for Rainbow DNA. The method was applicable to the qualitative detection in various types of processed products (cocktail fruit, dried fruit, juice, etc.) containing papaya as a main ingredient. Monitoring papaya products for the presence of GM papaya were demonstrated using a P35S and T-nos real-time PCR detection method but no amplification signals were detected.

Mungbean (Vigna radiata) is a fast-growing, warm-season legume crop that is primarily cultivated in developing countries of Asia. We constructed a draft genome sequence of mungbean to facilitate genome research into the subgenus Ceratotropis and to enable a better understanding of the evolution of leguminous species. The draft genome sequence covers 80% of the estimated genome, of which 50.1% consists of repetitive sequences. In total, 22,427 high confidence protein-coding genes were predicted. Based on the de novo assembly of additional wild mungbean species, the divergence of what was eventually domesticated and the sampled wild mungbean species appears to have predated domestication. Moreover, the de novo assembly of a tetraploid Vigna species (Vigna reflexo-pilosa var. glabra) provided genomic evidence of a recent allopolyploid event. To further study speciation, we compared de novo RNA-seq assemblies of 22 accessions of 18 Vigna species and protein sets of Glycine max and Cajanus cajan. The species tree was constructed by a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method using highly confident orthologs shared by all 24 accessions. The present assembly of V. radiata var. radiata will facilitate genome research and accelerate molecular breeding of the subgenus Ceratotropis.

It is a crucial matter to select a landing site for landers or rovers in planning the Mars exploration. The landing site must have not only a scientific value as a landing site, but also geographical features to lead a safe landing for Mars probes. In this regard, this study analyzed landing site of Mars probes and rovers in previous studies and discussed the adequacy of the landing site to scientific missions. Moreover, this study also examined domestic studies on the Mars. The frameworks of these studies will guide the selection of exploration sites and a landing site when sending Mars probe to the Mars through our own efforts. Additionally, this paper will be used as the preliminary data for selection of exploration site and a landing site.

In this study, the transient second or third layer on the topside of the Martian ionosphere were investigated with the most recently released Mars advanced radar for subsurface and ionospheric sounding/Mars Express data obtained from January 2010 to September 2011 to study the correlation between these topside additional layers and surface magnetic fields, solar zenith angle and solar activities. When examining the zones where the topside layer appeared, the occurrence rate of the topside layer was low at the areas with a strong Martian crustal magnetic field as observed by the Mars global surveyor. The occurrence rate of additional layers on the Martian topside ionosphere decreases as the solar zenith angle increases. However, these layers appeared significantly near the terminator of which solar zenith angle is 90°. In comparison between F10.7 which is the index of solar activities and the occurrence rate of the topside layer by date, its occurrence rate was higher in 2011 than in 2010 with less solar activities. The result of this study will contribute to better understanding of the environments in the topside of the ionosphere through the correlation between the various conditions regarding the Martian ionosphere and the transient layer.

Mutagenesis approach in combination with whole genome sequencing has become an import role in genetic and molecular biological study and breeding of crop plants. In this study, we screened the fast neutron M4 10,000 soybean mutant plants based on morphological phenotypes of agronomically important traits and characterized the mutant of interest using resequencing. Fast neutron radiation has been known to be a very effective mutagen to cause large deletion in genome. The screened mutant showed abnormal phenotypes in plant heights, seed sizes, color of leaves, number of leaves, maturity and number of branches etc. Among them, the mutant displaying short plant height and bush type of growth habit was selected for identification of the altered genomic regions. Analysis of deletion sites of genome in interesting soybean mutant was performed using next generation sequencer Illumina Hi-seq. Mutant sequence reads generated by paired-end shotgun library were mapped on a draft soybean reference soybean (G. max cv. Williams 82). The paired-end DNA sequences of 21.6 Gb produced by Illumina Hi-seq produced 21 fold sequence depth. Among the predicted deletion sites, total 3 deletion regions confirmed by PCR. Glyma03g02390 gene and Glyma03g03560 gene were involved in the deletion regions. Glyma03g02390 gene was related to AMP binding, catalytic activity, cofactor binding and metabolic process of cell growth and Glyma03g03560 gene was concerned to oxygen binding, defense response to bacterium, and especially process of indole acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis. These genes detected in this mutant will be studied about their molecular function in stunted phenotype.