This study aimed to evaluate the characteristic differential between whole cabbage kimchi (pogi kimchi) and sliced cabbage kimchi (mat kimchi) during kimchi fermentation at 6oC. The difference of microbial and physicochemical properties was investigated until 6 weeks. For the changes in the microbial flora, both kimchi samples exhibited a continuous increase in total aerobic bacteria and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) population size up to 2 weeks followed by a stationary phase until 5 weeks. Interestingly, the number of LAB of mat kimchi was overall higher than that of pogi kimchi during kimchi fermentation. We speculate that mat kimchi has in a more advantageous growth condition than pogi kimchi for microbial growth because small kimchi cabbage size appropriately derives nutritional supply in order to increase the LAB growth. During lactic fermentation at 6oC, physicochemical changes in the pH, salinity, and titratable acidity was observed to be no significant differences between two types of kimchi. Furthermore the contents of organic acids such as oxalic acid, citric acid, malic acid, lactic acid, fumaric acid, and acetic acid was not significantly different (p>0.05) between both kimchi samples as well as the contents of total free amino acid.

Prolactin is an anterior pituitary hormone involved in various physiological phenomenon including reproduction. The prolactin receptor (PRLR) is detected in diverse tissues such as brain, ovary, placenta and uterus in several mammalian species. A total of 227 pigs [Korean native pigs (KNP) 27; Landrace pigs 29; Korean native pigs x Landrace F1 91; Nanchuckmacdon pigs 80] were used to investigate the allele frequency difference of the prolactin receptor (PRLR) gene among the four pig lines. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) with Alu I restriction enzyme was used to determine the genotypes of PRLR. Frequencies of PRLR alleles among the four different pig lines were not significantly different (Chi-square=3.94, DF=3, P=0.27). A total of 40 Nanchuckmacdon pigs were used to investigate the effect of the prolactin receptor (PRLR) gene on total number of piglets born (TNB), number of piglets of alive (NBA) using general linear model implemented in MINITAB software. For TNB, the AB genotype had higher genotypic value (10.61) than the values of AA (9.83) and BB (10.30). Likewise, the AB genotype had higher genotypic value (8.96) than the values of AA (8.18) and BB (8.90) for NBA. However, these associations of the PRLR gene with TNB and NBA were not statistically significant. In conclusion, it is necessary to increase the sample size for investigating the effect of the PRLR gene on TNB and NBA in pigs.

Blood types in pigs are divided into two types, A and O type. It is important to select and breed O-type pigs that have no hematologic rejection, because the blood type of the donor is an important factor causing immune rejection in xenotransplantation. Therefore, the gene that determines the blood type is GGTA1(glycoprotein, alpha-1,3-galactosyltransferase 1), which generally belongs to the ABO blood group. This study was carried out to develop a simple and accurate method by analyzing the structure of GGTA1 gene which determines blood type. A primer was designed to allow easy identification of the blood type of the target in the first and second deletion regions of intron 7 to distinguish between the A and O genotypes. That is, for the purpose of identifying the blood type using length difference after the PCR, the forward and reverse primers were designed in the highly conservative region. As a result, a pair of primers were prepared and PCR amplification was performed to distinguish three types of genotypes, AA, AO, and OO, using the length difference by electrophoresis. Using the above primers, the parents and their offspring were compared with each other to confirm the correct genetic pattern. And, in four pig breeds, the genes were amplified and the genotype could be correctly identified. In this study, we could diagnose the blood type of AA, AO, OO genotype of pigs by using primer of INDEL region. Especially, since it is possible to diagnose the genotype by the length difference, it is possible to diagnose it quickly and accurately from the gene amplification to the genotype reading

During the Joseon period, the East Sea would be called ‘Gyeonghae’ due to a large number of whales. In the Republic of Korea, whaling was locally permitted in 1946. However, the number drastically dropped because the hunting of the marine mammal had already been carried out in Russia, the U.S. and Japan since 1800s. Before a moratorium on commercial whaling was introduced by the International Whaling Commission(IWC) in 1986, whale populations in the East Sea had plunged. Furthermore, Korean gray whales and fin whales weren’t found anymore in that area. With the suspension, whale hunting was banned in Korea as well. Even so, accidentally caught whales have been allowed to be distributed on the market with respect for local food culture. With the establishment of Whale Museum and hosting of the 57th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission(IWC) at Jangsaengpo in 2005, whale tourism was facilitated in earnest. This whale tourism has been operated by Nam-gu Office and Nam-gu City Management Corporation in Ulsan. However, the popularity of whale tourism has increased a demand for whale meat. At the same time, there has been concern over decrease in whale populations because of illegal whaling. In addition, a conflict between the use and protection of whales has caused confusion in tourism identity. Actually, there is a serious doubt on the sustainability of whale tourism due to the decade-long deficit and excessive investments. This study attempts to define a concept of whale tourism and propose a future direction for the sustainable growth and development of Korea’s whale tourism industry after developing such comprehensive assessment indicators as a basic research for the introduction of sustainable whale tourism. To achieve the aim of this study, AHP(Analytic Hierarchy Process) was chosen as a main research tool and the factors were ranked by a comprehensive analysis of principal factors and detail factors. The current study showed the following results. First, ecological environment(0.430) was indicated the most important factor of whale tourism assessment indicators. Moreover, Population(0.1302), Action for Cetacean protection(0.1031), Governance(0.0898) were critical factors. On the other hand, Accommodations(0.0085), Whale meat(0.0088) were unimportant factors than others.

An organophosphorus pesticide, ethoprophos, has been widely used in agriculture to control major insect pests. As ethoprophos is a well-known neurotoxin, its accumulation in soils and groundwater is concerning worldwide. In this study, we constructed an artificial ethoprophos-enrichment soil system, and its active concentration in soils was measured by gas chromatography on 15-days intervals during 90 days after ethoprophos treatment. Furthermore, the changes in bacterial community and microorganisms responsible for efficient bioremediation were investigated while ethoprophos was degraded in soils. From 15 to 60 days after the treatment, ethoprophos was actively degraded in soils and members of genera Collimonas and Sphingobium appeared dominantly in a natural microbial community especially in 60-days-after-treatment soil. We isolated a bacterium EP60845 from this soil sample, showing significant ethoprophos biodegradation activity in vitro. When we challenged EP60845 strain into ethoprophos-enrichment soils (250 mg/kg of soil), most ethoprophos was removed within 5-days. Phylogenetic 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and biochemical properties by API 20GN kit demonstrated that the EP60845 strain was a novel Sphingobium sp., which could be used as an efficient ethoprophos- degrading agents for bioremediation purposes.

Riboswitches are structured RNA motifs that can directly bind specific metabolites. The binding of metabolites further regulates downstream metabolism eliminating the need for any regulatory proteins. We searched for novel bacterial vitamin B1 binding riboswitches in the metagenome of sun-dried saline soil. Soil microbial metagenomes were studied using NGS analysis. A total of approximately 50 Gb of the sequence data was obtained by Hi-seq and 454 GS FLX sequencing, and these sequences were subjected to riboswitch search. Hi-seq generated 614 contigs showing similarity to riboswitches, while 454-based sequencing generated 383 similar contigs. We matched whole metagenome contigs to local BLAST databases constructed using 91 previously known bacterial vitamin B1 thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)-box motifs, and 11 SAM S-box motifs. Repetitive BLAST comparisons to local BLAST databases with nucleotide sequences from NGS identified 14 novel TPP-box motifs, and 7 S-box motifs respectively from the metagenome contigs. Further, RNA secondary structure analysis with public databases Rfam, and RibEx using these 21 riboswitch candidates revealed one contig, D8PYI to possess the most probable TPP-box structure. We constructed intragenic synthetic riboswitches to investigate whether the TPP-box motif region in D8PYI could harness gene expression in the presence of TPP. Construction of biosensors containing 100~400 bp fragments of D8PYI contigs, and in vivo imaging using the biosensors displayed TPP-specific changes in the expression of a green fluorescence protein reporter. In this regard, the adaptation of in silico riboswitch screening from environmental metagenomes could provide biosensors for detection of specific metabolites.

This study was conducted to analyze the effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the equine chromosomes (ECA) 3 for the body conformations of 12 month of age in Jeju crossbred (Jeju horses × Thoroughbred). A total of 199 Jeju crossbred horse samples were obtained from the National Institute of Subtropical Livestock Research Institute for this study. To correctly estimate the body conformations, we measured thirteen elements relevant to the body conformation such as body weight, wither height, body length for all the 199 horses at 12 month of age. Furthermore, all the horses were genotyped using four SNPs including the BIEC2-808466, BIEC2-808543, BIEC2-808967, BIEC2-809370, of which genomic coordinates range approximately from 105.1Mbp to 110 Mbp in the ECA3. For the phenotypic data sets, the average body weight was 193.7 ± 24.5㎏ and the height was 124.5 ± 4.0㎝. As for the genotypic data, the miner allele frequencies of the SNPs were shown to be varied from 0.01 to 0.291. Using the phenotypic and genotypic data sets, analysis of covariance was performed to find any association between those SNP genotypes and body conformations, using year of birth, month of birth, sex, and parity as the covariance components. The result showed that alternative genotypes in the BIEC2-808967 and BIEC2-809370 SNPs were significantly associated with the body length (P<0.05) and the wither height (P<0.05) respectively in the Jeju crossbred horses. Therefore, it is estimated that there are significant associations in the body conformation of 12 month of age of Jeju crossbred for those two SNPs used in this study.

큰느타리버섯의 아미노산을 함량을 분석하고, 70% 메 탄올, 95% 발효주정, 물 추출물의 항산화 활성을 측정하 였다. 아미노산 17종류 분석결과 필수아미노산에서는 체 내 단백질을 구성하는 Phe의 함량이 가장 높았고, 비필수 아미노산에서는 감칠맛을 내는 Glu가 가장 높은 함량을 보였다. DPPH 라디칼 소거능에서는 ASI 2887이 70% 메 탄올, 95% 발효주정, 열수 추출용매별로 34.37±1.19, 34.66±5.46, 40.97±1.65 mg/g으로 소거능을 보였고, 아질 산염 소거능 역시 열수추출물이 다른 추출물보다 소거능 이 높았으며 ASI 2820이 70% 메탄올, 95% 발효주정, 열수 추출물에서 각각 21.45±2.73, 33.32±1.06, 33.31±2.65 mg/g으로 추출용매에 상관없이 높은 아질산염 소거능을 보였다. 폴리페놀 함량도 열수 추출물에서 가장 높은 함 량을 보였고 가장 높은 함량을 보인 것은 ASI 2887로 DPPH 라디칼 소거능과 유사한 관계를 보이는 것을 확인 하였다. 큰느타리버섯은 아미노산과 생리활성 물질의 다 량 함유하고 있어 기능성 식품 및 건강식품으로서의 활용 이 기대된다.

Purpose – Unstable vegetable prices have been one of the major concerns in Korean agricultural and food marketing system. The Korean government has implemented a number of policy instruments, including government purchasing programs in order to alleviate fluctuations in vegetable prices. The economic impact of policy instruments has been assessed based on the average monthly price change rate before and after the implementation of the policy. However, this approach failed to provide a net impact of policy measures on price stabilization in the vegetable markets, as policy impacts could not be successfully distinguished from other effects on price changes in the vegetable market. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the net impact of the government purchasing program on the price volatility of dried red pepper which is considered one of the major vegetables in Korea. Research design, data, and methodology – This study develops a monthly dynamic partial equilibrium model of Korean dried red pepper market. Behavioral equations in the model were estimated by OLS and synthetic method based on the annual and monthly time series data from 1993 to 2015. The model is first simulated to yield actual dried red pepper market conditions in 2015 as a baseline and then compared it to the scenario assuming that there were no government purchases of dried red pepper in 2015. Results - According to the ex-post scenario analysis using the developed model, without the government procurements in 2015, the average monthly price change rate and the value of coefficient of variation of dried red pepper in 2015 would be respectably 7.9 percent and 0.10. It is relatively higher than the actual average monthly price change rate and the value of coefficient of variation of dried red pepper in 2015 which were respectively 1.7 percent and 0.06. Conclusions - The ex-post simulation results in this study shows that if there were no government purchases of dried red pepper in 2015, the dried red pepper market would have had much higher volatile price movements. The results of this study would provide useful information for future price stabilization policy of vegetable markets in Korea.