The PepMoV has been considered the most frequently detected potyvirus. When it co-infects with CMV or PMMoV, it gives severe impact to total pepper harvest in Korea. Since F1 hybrid that resistant to PepMoV has not been developed, we have developed transgenic peppers using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with a Hc-Pro gene of the PepMoV. A large number of GM peppers were tested for resistance to the PepMoV, and after consequent self-crossing up to T4 generation, a highly tolerant pepper to PepMoV called T20 was selected. So far, BC4F1 lines have been selected by back-crossing with 4 elite lines through a breeding program. Very recently, based on molecular analysis, we have selected another event, #10-2, which is also resistant to PepMoV. Horticultural difference was investigated for both GM lines, #T20 and 10-2, and no significance was found comparing to non-GM lines.

A new bright pink gladiolus “May Queen” was released by the National Horticultural Research Institute (NHRI) in 2004. A cross was made between early flowering pink cultivar “Calista” and early flowering white cultivar “White Friendship”. It was crossed in 1999 and finally selected in 2004 after investigation of the characteristics for 5 years from 2000 to 2004. “May Queen” has a bright pink color with white core as a cut flower. This cultivar is early flowering without stem bending. It has good production of cormels and resistant to Fusarium and Thrips. The width of “May Queen” flower is 11.0 cm. The plant height is 121 cm. Days to flowering of “May Queen” is average 92days in summer season.