• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.146-158
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• 2014

Camelina sativa that belongs to Brassicaceae family is an emerging oilseed crop. Camelina seeds contain approximately 40% storage oils per seed dry weight, which are useful for human and animal diets and industrial applications. Microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase2 (FAD2) catalyzes the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. The polymorphisms of FAD2 genes are correlated with the levels of oleic acids in seed oils. Microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase2 (FAD2) catalyzes the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid. The polymorphisms of FAD2 genes are correlated with the levels of oleic acids in seed oils. In this study, three CsFAD2 genes (CsFAD2-1, CsFAD2-2 and CsFAD2-3.1) were isolated from developing seeds of Camelina sativa (L.) cv. CAME. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of three CsFAD2 genes were compared with those from dicotyledon and monocotyledon plants including Camelina cultivars Sunesone and SRS933. Three histidine motifs (HECGH, HRRHH, and HVAHH) required for FAD activity and a hydrophobic valine or isoleucine residue, which is a SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) marker related with enzyme activity are well conserved in three CsFAD2s. The expressions of CsFAD2-1 and CsFAD2-3.1 were ubiquitously detected in various Camelina organs, whereas the CsFAD2-2 transcripts were predominantly detected in flowers and developing seeds. The contents of oleic acids decreased, whereas the amounts of linoleic acid increased in dry seeds of transgenic fad2-2 lines expressing each CsFAD2 gene compared with fad2-2 mutant, indicating that three CsFAD2 genes are functionally active. The isolated CsFAD2 genes might be applicable in metabolic engineering of storage oils with high oleic acids in oilseed crops.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1359-1370
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• 2012

Arabidopsis AtERF71/HRE2, a transcription activator, is located in the nucleus and is involved in the signal transduction of low oxygen and osmotic stresses. In this study, microarray analysis using AtERF71/HRE2-overexpressing transgenic plants was performed to identify genes downstream of AtERF71/HRE2. A total of 161 different genes as well as AtERF71/HRE2 showed more than a twofold higher expression in AtERF71/HRE2-overexpressing transgenic plants compared with wild-type plants. Among the 161 genes, 24 genes were transcriptional regulators, such as transcription factors and DNA-binding proteins, based on gene ontology annotations, suggesting that AtERF71/HRE2 is an upstream transcription factor that regulates the activities of various downstream genes via these transcription regulators. RT-PCR analysis of 15 genes selected out of the 161 genes showed higher expression in AtERF71/HRE2-overexpressing transgenic plants, validating the microarray data. On the basis of Genevestigator database analysis, 51 genes among the 161 genes were highly expressed under low oxygen and/or osmotic stresses. RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of three genes among the selected 15 genes increased under low oxygen stress and another three genes increased under high salt stress, suggesting that these genes might be downstream genes of AtERF71/HRE2 in low oxygen or high salt stress signal transduction. Microarray analysis results indicated that AtERF71/HRE2 might also be involved in the responses to other abiotic stresses and also in the regulation of plant developmental processes.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.251-256
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• 2005

Cytokinins are essential plant hormones that play crucial roles in various aspects of plant growth and development. To better understand the molecular mechanisms of cytokinin action, we identified cytokinin related proteins by a proteomic approach. Proteins extracted from control and trans-zeatin treated Arabidopsis seedlings were separated and analyzed by two dimensional gel analysis. Differentially expressed protein spots were identified with peptide mass fingerprinting based on matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and database searching, We obtained ten up-regulated and one down-regulated proteins upon t-zeatin treatment. The expression of the following proteins was induced; pollen allergen like protein, L-ascorbate peroxidase, tetrapyrrole methylase family protein, SGT1 protein homolog, disease resistance related protein, maternal embryogenesis control protein, paxneb related protein, gluthathione S-transferase and IAA amino acid hydrolase homolog.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.394-401
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• 2013

Trichoderma harzianum is one of rhizosphere fungus usually lives near the plant root regions in the soil. T. harzianum plays an important role in plant growth promotion and increases disease resistance against various plant pathogens on crops. In this study, the strain T. harzianum MPA167 was isolated from the barley rhizosphere soil in Suwon, Korea. Among 183 isolates, the strain T. harzianum MPA167 was selected as promising strain in which based on hyperparasitical activity against Phytophthora capsici and estimated disease control activity against P. capsici in the greenhouse conditions. The strain T. harzianum MPA167 was identified using 23s rDNA internal transcribed spacer(ITS) region sequences. MPA167 treatment ($1{\times}10^6$ spores/ml) showed greater disease suppression against Phytophthora blight of red-pepper caused by P. capsici in greenhouse compared with the water-treated control. Volatiles derived from T. harzianum MPA167 elicit growth promotion of tobacco and Arabidopsis seedlings in I-plate assay. In addition, T. harzianum MPA167 strain was also found to be effective for the growth promotion and induction of systemic resistance on red-papper plant. These results suggest that MPA167 might be used as one of the potential biocontrol agents.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.364-375
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• 2016

Post-translational modification is an efficient process to rapidly transduce external stimulus into cellular response. Ubiquitination is a typical post-translational modification which is a highly conserved process in eukaryotes. UPS (Ubiquitin/Proteasome System) mediated by the ubiquitination is to target diverse cellular proteins for degradation. Among E3 ubiquitin ligases that function as the key determinant for substrate recognition, CRL (cullin–RING E3 ubiquitin ligase) is the largest family and forms the complex composed of cullin, RBX1, adaptor and substrate receptor. Although CRL1, also known as SCF complex, has been widely researched for its biological role, the functional studies of CRL4 have been relatively elusive. In Arabidopsis, there are 119 substrate receptors named DCAF (DDB1 CUL4 Associated Factor) proteins for CRL4 and a fraction of DCAF proteins have been identified for their potential functions so far. In this paper, current understanding on structure and biological roles of plant CRL4 complexes in a diverse of cellular events is reviewed, especially focusing on CRL4 substrate receptors. Moreover, the regulatory mechanism of CRL4’s activity is also introduced. These studies will be helpful to further understand the signal transduction pathways in which such CRL4 complexes are involved and give a clue to establish the action network of entire CRL4 complexes in plants.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1390-1394
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• 2008

Previously, we found that the transgenic rice plants over-expressing the Arabidopsis $H^+/Ca^{2+}$ antiporter CAX 1 (accession no. U57411) gene accumulated 2.7 to 7.5-fold more calcium in the T3 rice grains as compared to those of control. To examine physiological safety of the $T_3$ rice grains, the effect of the $T_3$ brown rice on change in levels of body weight and white blood cells was compared with that of the control Ilpum brown rice by feeding trial in mice. During the feeding trial for one month, there was no significant difference between two mice groups, which were fed by the $T_3$ brown rice or Ilpum brown rice. There were no detectable differences in their effects on immune functions including plaque-forming unit, peritoneal macrophage number, and NK-cell activity. In addition, biochemical analysis of the blood failed to exhibit any difference between two mice groups. Together, these results suggested that the $T_3$ brown rice, which was produced from a genetically modified organism (GMO), might be safe and possess a potential to be applicable as calcium-fortified feed or food. Long-term safety of the $T_3$ brown rice, however, remains to be elucidated.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.312-325
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• 2015

In this review, we summarized the trends of genomics and transcriptomics research on peach, a model species of Rosaceae. Peach genome maps have been developed from various progeny groups with many next-generation sequencing (NGS) based single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Molecular markers of qualitative traits and quantitative trait loci (QTL) such as fruit characteristics, blooming date, and disease resistance have been analyzed. Among many characteristics, markers related to flesh softening and flesh adhesion are useful for marker assisted selection. Through comparative genomics, peach genome has been compared to the genome of Arabidopsis, Populus, Malus, and Fragaria species. Through transcriptomics and proteomics, fruit growth and development, and flavonoid synthesis, postharvest related transcriptomes and disease resistance related proteins have been reported. Recently, development of NGS based markers, construction of core collection of germplasm, and genotyping of various progenies have been preceded. In the near future, accurate QTL analysis and identification of useful genes are expected to establish a foundation for effective molecular breeding.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.9 s.89
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• pp.1177-1181
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• 2007

Calmodulin (CaM), a ubiquitous calcium-binding protein, regulates diverse cellular functions by modulating the activity of a variety CaM-binding proteins (CaMBPs). Because eukaryotes have multiple CaMBPs, it is important to isolate and characterize them in different tissues and conditions. So far a number of CaMBPs have been identified through classical screening methods. Many classes of proteins have been predicted to bind CaMs based on their structural homology with already known targets. In an effort to develop a method for large-scale analysis of CaMBPs in Arabidopsis, we have generated a transgenic plants overexpressing AtCaM2-GFP. We performed protein pull-down assay to test whether exogenously expressed AtCaM2-GFP proteins can interact with CaMBPs. The exogenously expressed AtCaM2-GFP could strongly interact with a CaMBP, AS1 protein. This result suggests that AtCaM2-GFP in transgenic plants may interact with many CaMBPs in plant cell. Therefore, we will be able to isolate kinds of CaMBPs by using these transgenic plants in many different tissue and environments.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1015-1021
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• 2008

This study was performed to examine the accumulated concentrations (conc.) of cadmium (Cd) in the organs of Arabidopsis thaliana grown in the soil with different conc. of Cd. The official standard conc. of Cd of pollutant exhaust notified by the Korean ministry of environment (0.1 mg/L) and ten times higher (1 mg/L) and fifty times higher (5 mg/L) conc. and no Cd in the soil as control were used for this investigation. The results showed that accumulated conc. of Cd in the stems of plant grown in the soil with different conc. (0.1, 1 and 5 mg/L) were increased 9%, 24% and 286% respectively, compared with normal plant stem. The accumulated conc. of Cd in the leafs of plant gown in the soil with official standard conc. and conc. ten times higher and conc. fifty times higher were increased 3%, 22% and 453%, respectively, compared with normal plant leaf. The accumulated conc. of Cd in the root of plant grown in the soil with 0.1 and 1 mg/L conc. of Cd were increased 6%, 19%, respectively, compared with normal plant root. However, it was observed about 84% of increased accumulation of the Cd in the root of plant, when highest (5 mg/L) conc. was used. The accumulated conc. of Cd in the different organs of Arabidopsis thaliana were increased according to increase of Cd conc. in the soil. When official standard conc. and ten times higher conc. of Cd were used, the accumulated conc. of Cd increased average 6%, 21%, respectively, compared with normal plant organ, and the accumulated conc. of Cd between leaf, stem and root were not significant. However, the accumulated conc. of Cd in the plant organs gown in the conc. fifty times higher were increased about 285%, compared with normal plant. In addition, the accumulated conc. of Cd in different organs of Arabidopsis thaliana exhibited wide differences between organs, that is, stem was increased 118% than root, leaf was increased 256%, 64% than root and stem, respectively. These results show that accumulated conc. of Cd in Arabidopsis thaliana with highest (5 mg/L) conc. of Cd in soil, were much higher in the leaf than the stem or root in proportion to the conc. of Cd contaminated within the soil.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.155-170
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• 2018

In this paper, mechanisms of gene editing technologies including ZFN, TALENS and CRISPR were briefly discussed with mutual advantages and disadvantages. Classification criteria of gene edited, site-directed mutagenesis (SDN) crops for regulatory purpose were also discussed. The number of studies using CRISPR technology was high and studies conducted on Arabidopsis thaliana and rice were highest, followed by tobacco, tomato, wheat, and corn. It has been applied to a variety of plants such as other grain crops, flower crops, vegetable crops, and fruit trees. The number of studies focused on practical application or commercialization in the future were also increasing yearly, and the scope of studies also expanded to include research on metabolic engineering for mass production of useful proteins or substances, development of disease resistant crops against viruses, bacteria, and fungi, abiotic environmental stressresistant crops, and increased yields. In addition to this, it was revealed that application range is becoming more diversified, including the development of parthenocarpic tomatoes, hybrid rice lines using male sterility and increased shattering resistance Brassica napus. It was also revealed that the number of CRISPR gene edited crops permitted by the USDA(APHIS) increases yearly, to be released in the international seed market soon.