With medical use of hemp, many medicinal cultivars were bred worldwide. Propagating cultivar using seed has a high cost. On the other hand, vegetatively propagating cultivar has various merits including short breeding period and uniformity. This study aimed to determine optimal conditions for propagating hemp after cutting, including sterilizing of rooting media, rooting hormone, and mixing ratio of growing media and sand of rooting media. Korean landrace strain of hemp plant was grown in Wagner pot (size: 1/2,000 a) for 60 days. Its branches were cut to 70∼80 mm in length and used for cutting slips. The rooting medium, a horticultural nursery medium, was autoclaved for 3 hours at 120 ℃. The mixing ratio of sand and nursery media was 9:1, 7:3, 5:5, or 3:7 in weight. Cutting slips were coated with rooting hormone (1-naphthylacetamide 0.4%) just before planting. Cutting materials were planted in a tray pot of 72 cells and grown in a walk-in-chamber for 28 days with a temperature of 25 ℃ and an intensity of radiation of 800 μmol/㎡/sec. Seedling rates were 61.1%, 77.8%, and 63.0% for mixing ratios of 1:9, 3:7, and 5:5 of sand mixed with horticultural nursery medium. These seedling rates were significantly higher than a seedling rate of 31.5 % for a mixing ratio of 7:3. Root lengths were 97 mm, 91 mm, and 81 mm for mixing ratios of 1:9, 3:7, and 5:5 of sand mixed with horticultural nursery medium. These root lengths were significantly longer than a root length of 37 mm for a mixing ratio of 7:3. Rooting rates were 81.1 % and 91.2 % for slips coated with rooting hormone and sterilized rooting media, respectively. They were 40.0 % and 18.3 % for slips not coated with rooting hormone or sterilized rooting media, respectively. Thus, for vegetative propagating (cutting) of medicinal hemp, sterilizing of rooting media and coating slips with rooting hormone will be essential to conducting the propagation process.

During the larval development process of insects, juvenile hormone (JH) is essential for regulating various aspects of larval life, including growth, reproduction, and behavior, throughout their larval stage. The larval stage of Spodoptera frugiperda, when it consumes plant-derived metabolites, develops into pupae, but these pupae are unable to molt successfully. In this way, plant-derived metabolites contain or produce inhibitors of juvenile hormone, thereby disrupting the development of insect larvae and making them vulnerable to harm. Therefore, in this study, we established an in vitro screening system using yeast cells transformed with the Met-SRC juvenile hormone receptor of S. frugiperda. Through this system, we were able to identify juvenile hormone disruptors from plant-derived metabolites and confirm their developmental inhibitory effects on the larvae of S. frugiperda.

In crustaceans, molting is regulated by interactions between ecdysteroid and juvenile hormone (JH) signaling pathway-related genes. Unlike the ecdysteroid signaling pathway, little information on the role of JH signaling pathway-related genes in molting is available in zooplanktonic crustaceans. In this study, three genes (juvenile hormone acid O-methyltransferase (JHAMT ), methoprene-tolerant (Met ), and juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase (JHEH )) which are involved in the synthesis, receptor-binding, and degradation of JH were identified using sequence and phylogenetic analysis in the brackish water flea, Diaphanosoma celebensis. Transcriptional changes in these genes during the molting cycle in D. celebensis were analyzed. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed that these putative proteins may be functionally conserved along with those of insects and other crustaceans. In addition, the expression of the three genes was correlated with the molting cycle of D. celebensis, indicating that these genes may be involved in the synthesis and degradation of JH, resulting in normal molting. This study will provide information for a better understanding of the role of JH signaling pathwayrelated genes during the molting process in Cladocera.

본 연구는 Yorkshire종, Landrace종 및 Duroc종에 대한 유전체자료를 이용하여 수퇘지의 웅취를 유발하는 세 가지 호르몬인 androstenone, indole 및 skatole 호르몬에 대한 유의적인 유전자영역, SNP 마커 및 후보유전자를 발굴하여 최종적으로 저웅취 종돈을 육종하는데 그 목적이 있다. Genomoe-Wide Association Study를 수행하기 위한 참조집단으로 수집한 유전체 정보는 Yorkshire, Landrace 및 Duroc종에서 각각 3,858 두, 472두 및 1,029두로 총 5,359두에 대한 유전체자료를 분석에 이용하였다. 추정되는 육종가의 정확도를 평가하기 위하여 REML방법을 ASREML 4.1 소프트웨어를 이용하여 분석하였고 세 가지 호르몬에 대하여 다형질 개체모형을 적용하였으며 추정된 육종가로부터 산출한 deregreessed DEBVincPA를 반응변수로 이용하여 연구를 수행하였다. 세 가지 호르몬에 대하여 BayesB와 C의 방법론을 통하여 분석한 결과 BayesB에서 세 가지 호르몬과 연관될 것으로 예상되는 SNP marker 9개, 즉 androstenone에서 3개, indole에서 1개 및 skatole에서 5개가 발굴되었다. BayesC에 서는 이보다 적은 SNP marker 3개가 발굴되었다. 수퇘지의 웅취 호르몬에 영향을 미칠 것으로 예상되는 후보유전자는 총 6개로 각각 LMAN2L, ABLI, NRG3, CDH12, TRAPPC9, MAN1A2로 나타났다

곤충생장조절제(IGR)은 대상 해충에 대한 특이성이 높고 환경에 대한 독성이 상대적으로 낮다는 장점으로 유기합성 살충제를 효과적으로 대체할 수 있는 유망한 수단으로 여겨진다. 현재 시판되는 곤충생장조절제는 작용 기작에 따라 유충호르몬 작용제(JHA), 탈피호르몬 작용제 (EA) 및 키틴 합성 저해제(CSI)의 세 가지로 구분된다. 최근 들어, 이집트숲모기의 Met과 FISC/CYC 유전자를 yeast two-hybrid system에 도 입하여 유충호르몬에 의해 매개되는 Met과 FISC/CYC의 결합을 in vitro에서 구현하였으며, yeast two-hybrid β-galactosidase assay를 통하 여 식물과 미생물 및 화합물 library로부터 다양한 유충호르몬 길항제(JHAN)가 분리되고 있다. 유충호르몬은 곤충의 발달, 생식, 휴면 등을 포함 한 다양한 생리 작용을 조절하기 때문에, 유충호르몬 길항제는 대상 해충의 내분비 신호 전달을 방해하여 비정상적인 발달 및 유충 단계에서의 치 사를 초래하며, 이는 유충호르몬 길항제가 넓은 기주 범위를 가진 살충제 개발에 효과적으로 이용될 수 있다는 것을 시사하였다. 따라서 본 논문 에서는 유충호르몬 길항제의 작용점인 Met에 의해 매개되는 유충호르몬의 신호 전달 체계와 친환경 살충제로서의 유충호르몬 길항제의 전망에 대해 알아보고자 하였다.

Embryo transfer (ET) in the animal is an important procedure to generate genetically engineered animals and conserve genetic resources. For ET experiments in mice, pseudopregnant recipients are usually prepared with proestrus stage of females and vasectomized males. However, this conventional method is inefficient because the size of female colonies should be large to select only the proestrus stage in the estrous cycle and the surgical procedures are required to generate vasectomized males. In this study, we established a simple and efficient protocol to prepare ET recipients using the estrous synchronization with hormone injection and the mating with wild male mice. The delivery rate of ET recipients tended to be increased with estrous synchronization using hormone injection (100%) compared to the conventional method (71%). Further, natural pregnancy of the recipients, induced by mating with a wild male, significantly enhanced the birth rate of ET offspring than the conventional method (33% vs. 13%). Based on the results, we concluded that our new protocol using hormone injection to ET recipients and mating with wild males could be more efficient and simpler compared to the conventional method.

Mutations in the luteinizing hormone/chorionic gonadotropin receptors (LH/CGRs), representatives of the G protein-coupled receptor family, have been rapidly identified over the last 20 years. This review aims to compare and analyze the data reported the activating and inactivating mutations of the LH/CGRs between human, rat, equine and fish, specifically (Japanese eel Anguilla japonica). Insights obtained through detailed study of these naturally-occurring mutations provide a further update of structure-function relationship of these receptors. Specifically, we present a variety of data on eel LH/CGR. These results provide important information about LH/CGR function in fish and the regulation of mutations of the highly conserved amino acids in glycoprotein hormone receptors.

최근 지구온난화에 의한 이상기상으로 겨울철 한파와 봄철 저온에 의한 농작물 피해가 심각하게 발생하고 있다. 특히 과수의 개화기 저온피해는 꽃눈의 생육단계에 따라 차이가 있으며 발육이 진전될수록 내한성이 약해져 개화 직전부터 낙화 후 1주까지 한계온도가 다르게 발생한다. 따라서 개화기가 빠른 사과 ‘홍로’가 ‘후지’보다 피해가 심각한 것이 일반적이나 2020년 4월 저온피해는 개화기가 늦은 ‘후지’의 피해가 심하게 발생하여 그 원인을 분석하고자 본 연구를 수행하였다. 충북 보은군 사과나무 ‘후지’와 ‘홍로’를 동시에 재배하는 2농가를 대상으로 품종 간 피해율 실태조사를 실시하였다. 또한 정확한 품종 간 비교 분석을 위하여 생육단계가 동일한 시료를 선택하여 인위적으로 저온처리(－2.0℃, －4.0℃)를 하여 피해 정도를 조사하고, 원인 분석을 위해 조직 내 유리당과 호르몬 함량을 분석하였다. 실태조사 결과 2농가 모두 ‘후지’가 ‘홍로’보다 피해율이 높았으며, 특히 B농가(저지대, 평지) ‘후지’의 경우 피해율이 60.5%로 가장 높았다. 또한 동일한 생육 단계의 시료를 사용한 인위적 저온 처리 시험결과에서도 ‘후 지’와 ‘홍로’ 품종 간 피해율에 유의한 차이가 있었다. 유리당 함량은 저온 피해율이 낮았던 ‘홍로’가‘후지’보다 높았으며, 호르몬 분석 결과 정상 꽃눈보다 손상된 조직에서 ABA, IAA 와 SA 함량이 높게 나타났다. 따라서 본 연구 결과 조직내 유리당 함량이 높으면 저온 피해율이 낮은 것을 확인할 수 있었으며, 특히 저온 피해율은 sorbitol 함량과 부의 상관관계를 이루고 있다.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of environmental temperature and backfat thickness (BT) on the reproductive performance of lactating sows. Sixty crossbred sows were allotted to four groups in a 2×2 factorial arrangement by environmental temperature (high temperature [HT], 27.5±1.76℃; low temperature [LT], 23.3±0.89℃) and BT (<20 mm, average 17.70 mm; ≥20 mm, average 23.20 mm) from July to August 2019. Sows in the HT group experienced a greater change in BT and a lower feed intake. Losses in body weight and BT were lower in sows with <20 mm BT than in those with ≥20 mm BT. Sows with low BT had a lower weaning-to-estrus interval than sows with high BT (5.20, 4.93 d vs. 5.87, 5.60 d, respectively). Piglet survivability was lower in the HT group (90.31%) than in the LT group (94.87%). Piglet weaning weight and average daily weight gain were greater in sows with <20 mm BT (5.75 kg and 201.46 g, respectively) than in those with ≥20 mm BT (5.49 kg and 188.41 g, respectively). Sows in the HT group had higher cortisol concentrations than those in the LT group (post-farrowing: HT 7.86 μg/mL vs. LT 6.04 μg/mL; weanling: HT 5.48 μg/mL vs. LT 4.40 μg/mL). In conclusion, environmental temperature adversely influenced sow performance and cortisol levels. Moreover, sows with low BT had a greater weaning-to-estrus interval when subjected to heat stress.

Equine follicle stimulating hormone receptor (eFSHR) has a large extracellular domain and an intracellular domain containing approximately 10 phosphorylation sites within the G protein-coupled receptor. This study was conducted to analyze the function of phosphorylation sties at the eFSHR C-terminal region. We constructed a mutant of eFSHR, in which the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail was truncated at residue 641 (eFSHR-t641). This removed 10 potential phosphorylation sites from the C-terminal region of the intracellular loop. The eFSHR-wild type (eFSHR-wt) and eFSHR-t641 cDNAs were subcloned into the pCMV-ARMS1-PK2 expression vector. These plasmids were transfected into PathHunter CHO-K1 Parental cells expressing β-arrestin 2 enzyme acceptor fusion protein and analyzed for agonist-induced cAMP response. The cAMP response in cells expressing eFSHR-t641 was lower than the response in cells expressing eFSHR-wt. EC50 values of eFSHR-wt and eFSHR-t641 were 1079 ng/mL and 1834 ng/mL, respectively. eFSHR-t641 was approximately 0.58-fold compared with that of eFSHR-wt. The maximal response in eFSHR-wt and eFSHR-t641 was 24.7 nM and 16.7 nM, respectively. The Rmax value of phosphorylation sites in eFSHR-t641 was also decreased to approximately 68.4% of that in eFSHR-wt. The collective data implicate that the phosphorylation sites in the eFSHR C-terminal region have a pivotal role in signal transduction in PathHunter CHO-K1 cells, and indicate that β-arrestin is involved in coupling the activated receptors to the internalization system.