Purple acid phosphatase is important for phosphorus remobilization in plants, but its role in plant adaptation to low phosphorus availability is not known. The cDNA encoding O. sativa purple acid phosphatase (OsPAP1) has 1008 bp with an open reading frame of 335 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence of OsPAP1 cDNA shows of 50-51% identity with other plant purple acid phosphatases. OsPAP1 was expressed in rice plants and in cell cultures in the absence of phosphate (Pi). The expression was organ-specific with the strongest expression in Pi-deprived roots. Functional expression of the OsPAP1 gene in the transgenic Arabidopsis line was confirmed by northern and western blot analysis. OsPAP1 overexpression lines had higher phosphatase activity than wild-type. Overexpression of OsPAP1 in Arabidopsis plants resulted in increased Pi accumulation under Pi sufficient condition. These results show that the OsPAP1 gene represents more efficient Pi uptake and can be used to develop new transgenic dicotyledonous plants.

During the period of every summer to early autumn seasons, ships have been wrecked or grounded from effect of a typhoon in the water areas around Korean Peninsula Typhoon Rusa killed more than 100 people in September 2002. Super Typhoon Maemi passed southeast of South Korea in September 12-13, 2003, with a strong gale blowing at a record 60 m/s and caused much ship groundings, collisions and sinkings over 3000 in dockyards, harbors and places of refuge. These are things that could have been prevented had there merely been prior warning. This study outlines the occurrence characteristics of maritime accidents caused by a typhoon in South Korea for the period from 1962 to 2002. The distribution of the accident records is also compared with the trajectories, winds, central pressures of typhoons, passed during the 1990-2003. It is shown that attack frequency of typhoon and number of marine accidents is the highest in August and the marine accidents due to typhoon have a close relation to the distribution of accumulated wind and pressure fields.

“Surabyeo” is a new japonica rice cultivar developed from a backcrossed combination between the F1 of “Suweon 345/ Kanto PL4” and “Suweon 345” of lodging tolerant, semi-dwarf, high-quality rice line by the rice breeding team of National Crop Experiment St

Nonghobyeo', was derived from a mutant of Milyang 95, by pure line selection method, which was developed from the single cross between Chukei 1016 and Milyang 79, by the rice breeding team of National Yeongnam Agricultural Experiment Station (NYAES) in 19