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Abstract : To find the optimal propagation condition for endangered Cypripedium macranthos Sw., also known as lady’s slipper orchid, the effect of various organic additives on in vitro germination, protocorm formation and seedling growth was investigated during asymbiotic seed culture. When 100 ml?L^-1 coconut water was added to the basal medium, the highest germination rate and protocorm formation rate were achieved, with 70.8% and 74.2% respectively. Supplementation of phloem sap from birch tree or maple tree also showed a facilitating effect to improve the germination and protocorm development. With 100 ml?L^-1 birch sap or maple sap, both the germination and protocorm formation rates were roughly more than 65% and 68%. The roots and buds of the seedlings grew vigorously in the medium containing 100 ml?L^-1 coconut water or phloem sap, in particular, their bud formation rates increased by more than 70%. Addition of banana powder and peptone could not create a more significantly favorable culture condition, and non-addition had the worst results. Our results demonstrated that proper organic amendments such as coconut water and phloem sap might be preferred to in vitro germination and the growth of seedlings developed from the protocorm of C. macranthos Sw. during asymbiotic seed culture.

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Abstract : The genus Cypripedium, known as lady’s slipper orchid, has been considered to have a considerable marketability as a potted and garden plant with beautiful flowers; however, this species is becoming endangered and, in some places extinct, due to habitat destruction and illegal collections. As such, an optimized artificial propagation system is necessary for its conservation and horticultural cultivation. For the establishment of the in vitro proliferation of the endangered Cypripedium macranthos Sw., native to Korea, the effects of medium strength and sucrose concentrations on germination, protocorm formation and seedling growth were investigated through asymbiotic seed culture. The highest germination rate and protocorm formation rate were obtained with a 1/4 MS medium; higher MS medium strengths did not generate the favorable conditions required for germination and protocorm growth. The overall growth characteristics of roots and buds developed from protocorms were best in cultures of 1/4 MS medium. On this medium containing 10 g·L^-1 sucrose, both the germination rate and protocorm formation rate increased significantly. The general growth properties of seedlings developed on the medium with 10 g·L^-1 sucrose were best, showing the highest bud formation rate and root number. Our results demonstrate that the 1/4 MS medium, supplemented with 10 g·L^-1 sucrose, could improve in vitro germination, and facilitate the growth of seedlings developed from the protocorms of C. macranthos Sw.

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Abstract : Pueraria lobata is a perennial legume plant that produces a variety of isoflavones, such as puerarin, daidzin and daidzein. These are metabolized to equol via dihydrodaidzein and tetrahydrodaidzein by the bacterial fermentation of natural isoflavone sources in the human intestines. In this study, we described the growth and accumulation of isoflavone in the hairy root of the Korean wild arrowroot according to the culture period, as well as dihydrodaidzein biosynthesis in hairy root extracts fermented with Pediococcus pentosaceus. Daily proliferation was best in DY1 cultured for 1 week. DY1 showed significant differences in daily production of puerarin and daidzin+daidzein, as compared to DJ7; furthermore, both were best in DY1 cultured for 1 week. The hairy root extract was fermented successfully with P. pentosaceus with confirmed production of dihydrodaidzein, an equol precursor formed by biotransformation. The results indicated that the growth of hairy roots and isoflavone accumulation in the hairy roots is best 1 week after culture. These results are expected to contribute to the mass production of hairy root and isoflavones as equol precursors from the Korean wild arrowroot and provide a basis for equol production by biotransformation in vitro.

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Abstract : Anthocyanin accumulation and plant growth were examined in petunia (NT and T₂ transgenic plants) by determining the effects of different sources of light and varying light/dark cycles. Red light significantly enhanced anthocyanin content of B-peru+mPAP1; however, it had a negative effect on anthocyanin production in RsMYB1 plants. In general, white light was found to be reasonable for anthocyanin accumulation in all plants. In case of light/dark cycles, application of seven days of light:14 days of dark significantly enhanced anthocyanin content. We found that anthocyanin content detected in transgenic plants expressing anthocyanin regulatory transcription factor genes (B-peru+mPAP1 or RsMYB1) was higher than that in NT plants in all treatments. Plant growth was also influenced by the different light sources and dark/light cycles. Taken together, our results suggest that light source and light/dark cycle play an important role in anthocyanin production and plant growth. The choice of the optimal conditions is also important for anthocyanin production and plant growth depending on NT or transgenic plants carrying anthocyanin regulatory transcription factors.

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Abstract : We compared germination efficiency for somatic embryos (SE) of Liriodendron tulipifera using semi-solid (SS), temporary immersion bioreactors (TIB), and continuous immersion bioreactors (CIB) to produce vigorous plants. The bioreactors were designed to be immersed in liquid media with plantlets with an adjustable immersion time. TIB and CIB improved germination rates up to 80.86% and 95.21%, respectively, however, CIB produced more hyperhydric plantlets than TIB. The height of plantlets in TIB was significantly higher than for those in CIB. Fresh weights of plantlets grown in CIB of were significantly lower than for those grown in TIB. The lowest chlorophyll concentration was found in in vitro plantlets from CIB. We examined abnormally developed leaves, stems, and apical zones of in vitro plantlets that were produced in CIB.Among the three types, SS showed the highest stomatal density and the shortest stomatal length in in vitro plantlets. After acclimatization, plants from CIB exhibited the lowest values in biomass, such as height, root collar diameter, leaf fresh weight, leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, petiole diameter, and leaf area. Photosynthesis and transpiration rates of ex vitro plants were not significantly different among the three culture types, but stomatal conductance was higher in TIB than in the SS and CIB. Therefore, the results suggest that TIB is the preferable bioreactor to improve in vitro plantlet regeneration of L. tulipifera. TIB-originated plants showed higher growth rate than SS and CIB after transferring to soil.

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Abstract : Rosa rugosa is a medicinal, ornamental, and edible plant native to Eastern Asian countries, including Korea, Japan, and China. The aim of this study was to establish a system for biomass production and secondary metabolite accumulation during in vitro culture and acclimatization of Rosa rugosa. The highest rate of multiple shoot proliferation was achieved with 8.8 μM benzyladenine (BA) (83.3%). However, the number of shoots (14.4 per explant) at 4.4 μM BA was higher than that at 8.8 μM BA. Compared to BA, a combination of thidiazuron (TDZ) and indole butyric acid (IBA) exhibited significantly lower shoot induction, with only 50.0~79.2% and 4.2~16.7% relative shoot formation, respectively. During acclimatization, shoots were sampled every week and their total phenolic contents were analyzed. Among various growth factors, fresh weight showed the most dramatic increase from the 3rd week (88.0 mg/plant) to 4th week (132.7 mg/plant). Total phenolics and flavonoids contents were the highest at 1^st week of acclimatization. Depending on developmental stages, total phenolics and flavonoids contents were higher in 1-yr-old shoots grown ex vitro than in those of older field-grown or in vitro-grown plants. Amongst different ages of field grown plants, 6-year-old plants, the oldest in this study, showed the lowest content in total phenolics.

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Abstract : In perennial ginseng plantations, the effective control of various diseases is one of the most critical factors for increasing yields. Enhancing the resistance to disease through induced systemic resistance (ISR) and anti-microbial activity of beneficial soil bacteria, is currently considered to be a potential promising approach to integrate pathogen management for sustainable agriculture. However, the effective in vitro culture systems for testing ISR in ginseng plants have been rarely reported. In this study, I have successfully developed an in vitro germ-free culture system of Panax ginseng seedling for diverse purposes. With this useful system, we also tested BTH-induced priming effects against Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum panacicola. Compared to the drain method for enhancing ISR effects to ginseng seedlings, the direct method of spraying leaves somewhat increased the defense activity to these major fungal pathogens. Consistently, the expression of pathogen related PgPR10 and PgCAT were greatly and rapidly enhanced in the BTH-treated ginseng seedlings by treatment with C. panacicola. Our results revealed that the in vitro culture system can be used for developing eco-friendly and versatile bio-control agents for harmful diseases in ginseng cultivation.

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Abstract : The growth area of living modified (LM) cotton has steadily increased every year, since its first commercialization in 1996. Development of environmental risk assessment tools and techniques for LM cotton is required for ecosystem safety. We therefore developed multiplex PCR assays for simultaneous detection of two (MON15985, MON531) and four (GHB614, LLCOTTON25, MON88913 and MON1445) LM cotton events approved in Korea, with event specific primer pairs. The PCR reactions were optimized by using event specific primers of six LM cottons at various concentrations. The reactions allows amplification of estimated amplicons of MON15985 (214 bp), MON531 (270 bp), GHB614 (119 bp), LLCOTTON25 (164 bp), MON88913 (276 bp), and MON1445 (389 bp) from multiplex PCR reactions. The multiplex PCR assay developed allowed that two annealing steps (15 cycles at 55°C and 25 cycles at 60°C) were performed for amplification of distinguished two LM cottons, and only one annealing step (50 cycles at 60°C) was necessary for tetraplex PCR. Primer extension step of all PCR reactions was skipped for time-effective amplification. Our methods suggest that two multiplex PCR assays can be cost-effective and a rapid diagnostic tool for environmental LMO monitoring of six LM cottons.

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Abstract : Most Araliaceae plant species distributed in Korea are economically important because of their high medicinal values. This study was conducted to develop barcode markers from sequence analysis of chloroplast DNA in 14 taxa of Araliaceae species grown in South Korea. Sequencing of seven chloroplast DNA regions was performed to establish the DNA barcode markers, as suggested by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL). From the sequence analysis of chloroplast DNA, we identified specific sequences and nucleotides that allowed us to discriminate among each other 14 Korean Araliaceae species. The sequence in the region of psbA-trnH revealed the most frequent DNA indels and substitutions of all 7 regions studied. This psbA-trnH marker alone can discriminate among all 14 species. There are no differences between Korean and Chinese Panax ginseng in all seven sequenced chloroplast DNA regions. A phylogenetic tree constructed using the seven chloroplast DNA regions revealed that Tetrapanax papyriferus should be classified as an independent clade. The Aralia and Panax genera showed a close phylogenetic relationship. Five species in the Eleutherococcus genus were more closely related to Kalopanax septemlobus than to any Panax species.

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Abstract : We performed a molecular marker-based analysis of quantitative trait loci for traits that determine the quality of appearance of grains using 120 doubled haploid lines developed by anther culture from the F₁ cross between ‘Cheongcheong’ (Oryza sativa L. ssp. Indica) and ‘Nagdong’ (Oryza sativa L. ssp. Japonica). We therefore calculated the alkali digestion value (ADV), used to indirectly measure gelatinization temperature, to evaluate the quality of cooked rice in 2013 and 2014. The ADV score of frequency distribution was higher milled rice than brown rice. In total, nine different quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were found on 5 chromosomes in 2013 and 2014. Also, chromosome 5, 8 were detected over two years. We conclude that selected molecular markers from this QTL analysis could be exploited in future rice quality. In conclusion, we investigated ADV of brown and milled rice in CNDH population. This study found nine QTLs related to the ADV of brown and milled rice. The detected one marker can be used to select lines with desirable eating-quality traits because ADV is closely associated with the eating quality of cooked rice. Therefore, it will be useful to collect resources and distinguishable in many varieties for rice breeding program.