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Abstract : Crab apple cultivars, ‘Maypole’, ‘Tuscan’, and ‘Manchurian’, were evaluated as potential pollinizers of major apple cultivars, ‘Fuji’, ‘Hongro’, and ‘Tsugaru’, cultivated in high-density apple orchard systems. Numerous cultivar characteristics, including blooming time, pollen germination, fruit set, disease and pest resistance, and self-incompatibility, were examined. The blooming times of both ‘Maypole’ and ‘Tuscan’ ranged from April 19 to May 5, which was 2-4 days earlier than those of the major commercial apple cultivars. PCR analysis did not reveal the presence of any of the S-alleles (S1, S3, S7, or S9) identified in major commercial apple cultivars. In addition, the percentage of the fruit set was high after trees were artificially fertilized with crab apple pollen. Artificially cross-pollinated fruits were of similar or higher quality than open-pollinated fruits. They also demonstrated resistance to apple blotch, sooty blotch, and fly speck. The results indicate that the two crab apples, ‘Maypole’ and ‘Tuscan’ would be potential candidates for pollinizers of major apple cultivars in Korea. Use of the pollen of these crap apples in commercial production will improve fruit quality and promote sustainable and robust fruit production.

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Abstract : The roots of Codonopsis lanceolata (Campanulaceae) contain several kinds of triterpenoid saponin with high medicinal values, which have been used in traditional medicines. This study investigates the impacts of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) - adding time on the saponin synthesis and the hairy root growth of C. lanceolata. A significant decrease in major saponin (lancemaside of three kinds) content of hairy roots was observed with MeJA treatments. Contents of lancemaside A, B and E decreased about 15% more than non-treated hairy roots. In contrast, minor saponin (foetidissimoside A and aster saponin Hb) accumulation was about 15% higher than the non-treated hairy roots. These results suggest that MeJA treatment could be used in the production of teriterpene saponins.

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Abstract : To determine whether metabolite fingerprinting for whole cell extracts based on Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy can be used to discriminate and compare metabolic equivalence, standard medicinal parts from four medicinal plants (Cynanchum wilfordii Hemsley, Atractylodes japonica Koidz, Polygonum multiflorum Thunberg and Astragalus membranaceus Bunge) and their in vitro-produced adventitious roots were analyzed by FT-IR spectroscopy. The principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) from the FT-IR spectral data showed that the whole metabolic pattern from Cynanchum wilfordii was highly similar to Astragalus membranaceus. However, Atractylodes japonica and Polygonum multiflorum showed significantly different metabolic patterns. Furthermore, adventitious roots from Cynanchum wilfordii and Astragalus membranaceus also showed similar metabolic patterns compared to their standard medicinal parts. These results clearly show that mass proliferation of adventitious roots may be applied to aquire novel supply of standard medicinal parts from medicinal plants. However, the whole metabolic pattern from adventitious roots of Atractylodes japonica and Polygonum multiflorum were not similar to their standard medicinal parts. Furthermore, FT-IR spectroscopy combined with multivariate analyses established in this study may be applied as an alternative tool to discriminate the whole metabolic equivalence from several standard medicinal parts. Thus, we suggest that these metabolic discrimination systems may be applied for metabolic standardization of herbal medicinal resources.

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Abstract : In the agricultural industries, LEDs are used as supplementary, as well as main lighting sources in closed cultivation systems. In cultivation using artificial light sources, various light qualities have been tried to supplement fluorescent lamps to promote plant growth and metabolism. Microarray analysis of Brassica rapa seedlings under blue and fluorescent mixed with blue light conditions identified changes in three genes of the glucosinolate pathway. This attracted attention as functional materials highly expressed 3.6-4.6 fold under latter condition. We selected four more genes of the glucosinolate pathway from the Brassica database and tested their expression changes under fluorescent light mixed with red, green, and blue, respectively. Some genes increased expression under red and blue mixed conditions. The Bra026058, Bra015379, and Bra021429; the orthologous genes of CYP79F1, ST5a, and FMOGS-OX1 in Arabidopsis, are highly expressed in Brassica rapa under fluorescent mixed with blue light conditions. Further, Bra029355, Bra034180, Bra024634, and Bra022448; the orthologous genes of MAM1, AOP3, UGT74B1, and BCAT4 in Arabidopsis, are highly expressed in Brassica rapa under fluorescent mixed with red light conditions. The various light conditions had unique effects on the varieties of Brassica, resulting in differences in glucosinolate synthesis. However, in some varieties, glucosinolate synthesis increased under mixed blue light conditions. These results will help to construct artificial light facilities, which increase functional crops production.

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Abstract : Calanthe striata f. sieboldii Decne. ex Regel is a terrestrial orchid with beautiful flowers arranged in racemose inflorescences. This species is threatened due to over-collection and loss of suitable habitats. Asymbiotic germination is useful in the conservation efforts to re-establish plants in the wild, and for commercial propagation. In this study, we investigate the effects of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), three types of culture media (Phytomax Orchid Maintenance ? POM, Seed Germination Maintenance - SGM, and Murashige and Skoog 1962 - MS), and plant growth regulators on embryo swelling, protocorm formation, and embryo diameter of C. striata f. sieboldii. Treatment with 1% NaOCl for 30 min greatly enhanced embryo swelling (28.3%), embryo diameter (205.8 μm), and embryo protocorm formation (54.8%) compared to seeds without NaOCl treatment (embryo swelling 8.5%, embryo diameter 14.6 μm, and protocorm formation 13.4%) on POM medium. Protocorm formation on POM medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L N6-benzyladenine (BA) (95.6%) was better than the control (54.5%). Additionally, the effects of activated charcoal (AC) and sucrose on seedling growth in in vitro culture were examined. The protocorm converted into healthy plants with well-developed shoot primordia on the POM medium with AC and sucrose. The most suitable conditions for seedling growth after 10 weeks of culture were the POM medium with AC or sucrose. These results show effective asymbiotic seed germination and in vitro seedling growth of C. striata f. sieboldii.

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Abstract : Adventitious buds were obtained from isolated cotyledons cultured on MS medium with various concentrations of 6-benzylamino purine (BA) and thidiazuron (TDZ). The highest numbers of adventitious buds were obtained on MS medium supplemented with 0.2 mg/L BA. Experimental culturing with half the petiole portion and half with the terminal segments were grown on MS medium contained with 0.2 mg/L BA. Frequency of the adventitious bud induction was variable accordingly to the type of cultured explants. Explants with the half petiole showed the highest adventitious bud induction rate (80%) compared to explants of half with terminal segment (20%). An elongated shoot from the buds and growth of advent roots were both possible on the 1/2 MS medium without a plant growth regulator. These results offer an effective way in which clonal propagation can be accomplished.

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Abstract : Using either the apical or axillary bud of the endangered species Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai, we tested the effect of bud position and culture method on shoot proliferation and rooting. In shoot proliferation, the axillary bud explant was more effective than the apical bud and the effect was fostered by BA treatment, whereas no differences were observed in shoot elongation by the explant position. Spontaneous rooting was observed in the MS basal medium and resulted in conspicuous differences in the explant position : more than 80% in apical bud explant and 28% in axillary bud explant was achieved, respectively. The positional effects were also observed in BA pre-treatments: generally vertical culture method appeared to be better in shoot proliferation, growth, and rooting than that of the horizontal culture method regardless of the BA pre-treatment duration. The highest shoot multiplication was achieved through the vertical culture method with axillary bud explant, whereas the best shoot elongation and rooting was obtained using the vertical culture method with the apical bud explant. Apical bud explant was superior to axillary bud explant in ex vitro micro-cuttings and revealed a significant difference in shoot growth and root development. The above results suggest that explant position and culture method influence the efficiency of micropropagation for a rare and endangered plant Abeliophyllum distichum.

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Abstract : Embryogenic callus (EC) was created from mature embryos of Larix kaempferi. With the mature embryos, keeping the culture in dark conditions throughout the experiment (38.2%) seemed to give better results than exposing them to 16 h light (25 μEm^-2s^-1) for the first week (21.9%). EC was obtained most frequently from Quoirin and Lepoivre (LP) mediums with 1.0 mg/L 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid (Picloram), plus 1.0 mg/L benzyladenine (BA) (62.8%) or Litvay’s medium (LM) containing 1.0 mg/L p-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (pCPA) plus 1.0 mg/L BA (62.8%) treatment. In both cases, best results were obtained when zygotic embryos were cultured in darkness. As for the effective sucrose concentration on initiation of EC, 29.2 mM sucrose (38.6%) gave the best results.

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Abstract : The radish (Raphanus sativus L.) is an important Brassicaceae root vegetable crop worldwide. Several studies have been conducted concerning radish breeding. There are major challenges to prevent premature bolting in spring plantings. Here, we performed the characterization of two inbred radish lines which vary in bolting time. “Late bolting radish” (NH-JS1) and “early bolting radish” (NH-JS2) were generated by a conventional breeding approach. The two inbred lines showed different bolting phenotypes depending on vernalization time at 4°C. NH-JS1, the late bolting radish, was less sensitive to cold treatment and the less sensitivity was inversely proportional to the duration of the vernalization. We also measured gene expression levels of the major bolting time related genes in the NH-JS1 and NH-JS2 lines. RsFLC1 plays a central role in the timing of flowering initiation. It is a strong repressor and it’s transcript is highly expressed in NH-JS1 compared to NH-JS2 under no treatment and vernalization conditions. RsFRI, a positive regulator of RsFLC, is also highly expressed in NH-JS1 compared to NH-JS2 regardless of vernalization. In contrast, RsSOC1, suppressed by FLC as a floral integrator gene, showed the most difference, a 5-fold increase, between NH-JS1 and NH-JS2 under vernalization conditions. From these results, we conclude that NH-JS1 showed a late flowering phenotype after cold treatment due to the expression differences of flowering time regulator genes rather than difference sensitivity to cold. These results may be useful to understand the control mechanisms of flowering time and may help identify molecular markers for selecting late bolting trait in radish.

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Abstract : SHI-RELATED SEQUENCE (SRS) genes are plant-specific transcription factors that contain a zinc-binding RING finger motif, which play a critical role in plant growth and development. Among Brassica rapa SRS genes, BrSRS7 and BrLRP1 genes, isolated from shoot apical regions are important regulators of plant growth and development. In order to explore the function of BrSRS genes in horticultural plant growth and development, two constructs containing BrSRS7 and BrLRP1 under the control of a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter were introduced into petunia by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The resulting transgenic plants were dwarf and compact plants with reduced plant height and diameter. Additionally, these transgenic plants had upward-curled leaves of narrow width and short internodes. Interestingly, the flower shapes of petunia were different among transgenic plants harboring different kinds of SRS genes. These phenotypes were stably inherited through generations T₂ and T₃. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses of transgenic plants revealed that BrSRS7 and BrLRP1 regulate expression of gibberellin (GA)- and auxin-related genes, PtAGL15- and PtIAMT1-related, involved in shoot morphogenesis. These results indicate that the overexpression of BrSRS7 and BrLRP1 genes suppressed the growth and development of petunia by regulating expression of GA- and auxin-related genes. From these data, we deduce that BrSRS7 and BrLRP1 genes play an important role in the regulation of plant growth and development in petunia. These findings suggest that transformation with the BrSRS genes can be applied to other species as a tool for growth retardation and modification of plant forms.