• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.233-240
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• 2011

Food security has been a main global issue due to climate changes and growing world population expected to 9 billion by 2050. While biodiversity is becoming more highlight, breeders are confronting shortage of various genetic materials needed for new variety to tackle food shortage challenge. Though biotechnology is still under debate on potential risk to human and environment, it is considered as one of alternative tools to address food supply issue for its potential to create a number of variations in genetic resource. The new technology, phenomics, is developing to improve efficiency of crop improvement. Phenomics is concerned with the measurement of phenomes which are the physical, morphological, physiological and/or biochemical traits of organisms as they change in response to genetic mutation and environmental influences. It can be served to provide better understanding of phenotypes at whole plant. For last decades, high-throughput screening (HTS) systems have been developed to measure phenomes, rapidly and quantitatively. Imaging technology such as thermal and chlorophyll fluorescence imaging systems is an area of HTS which has been used in agriculture. In this article, we review the current statues of high-throughput screening system in phenomics and its application for crop improvement.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2231-2235
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• 2013

Background: Categorizing breast tumors based on the ER, PR and HER/Neu 2 receptor status is necessary in order to predict outcome and assist in management of breast cancer. Herfe we assessed this question in South Indian patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 619 formalin fixed paraffin embedded breast tumor tissues were collected from pathology archives after receipt of ethical clearance. With the help of primary and secondary conjugated antibodies, expression status of ER, PR and HER2/neu was determined. All the experimental data were assessed for correlations with histopathological features of tumors and clinical presentation of the subjects. Results: In the present study, the ages ranged from 20-87 years with a mean of $50.0{\pm}12.q$ years, and majority of the tumors (84%) were of infiltrating duct cell carcinoma type. Assessment of ER, PR and Her-2/neu expression showed that 46% were triple negative. Interestingly, an inverse relation between ER, PR and HER-2/neu was apparent in 41.2% (p<0.0001) of the tumors, of which 24.5% (p<0.0001) were ER and PR co-negative but HER-2 positive. Conclusions: ER and PR positive tumors are less common (i.e<30%) compared to HER-2/neu positive tumors (i.e>50%) in Indian breast cancer patients, underlining the need for effective diagnostic screening and specific therapeutic managements in order to improve the survival rate of patients in low resource countries such as India.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.215-219
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• 2016

Value of excellent breeding animals is important in livestock industry, but their economic life time is limited. And, many countries have been trying procuration of genetic resource in good animals. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine embryo production and to test efficiency of embryo transfer via non-surgical artificial insemination (AI) in different breed of superior sows. A total of 17 sows were used in this experiment (Duroc, n=10; Landrace, n=4; Yorkshire, n=3). The sows were artificially inseminated by semen of same breed boars. After 4 or 5 days following the AI, the embryos were obtained from the sows and then transferred to Landrace and Yorkshire recipients (n=3, respectively) by non-surgical method. The corpora lutea tended to be increased in Yorkshire and Landrace than Duroc(28 and 26 vs. 17, respectively). The recovery of embryo was 78.8% in Landrace, 65.4% in Duroc and 51.4% in Yorkshire. Duroc showed lower morulaes and early blastocyst embryos than 2, 4, 8 and 16 cell. The morula in Yorkshire was higher (P<0.05) than that of Duroc (4.7 vs. 3.4). Similarly, the morulaes and early blastocyst embryos presented greater (P<0.05) in Landrace compared with other breed sows. The recipient sows were pregnant in a Landrace only. This reason may be due to little embryos inserted in the recipients. In addition, pregnancy results were limited because of the little sows. In conclusion, ovulated ovum in sows can be affected by different breed. Also, further study needed pregnant test by using the many embryo in each breed.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2015

Cryopreservation of boar semen is continually researched in reproductive technologies and genetic resource banking in breed conservation. For evaluating the boar semen quality, sperm motility (MOT) is an important parameter because the movement of spermatozoa indicates active metabolism, membrane integrity and fertilizing capacity. Various researches have been trying to improve the quality of semen post-thawed in boar. Recently, polymorphism (g.358A>T) of cluster-of-differentiation antigen 9 (CD9) gene reported to be significant association with MOT. Also, CD9 gene was expressed in the male germ line stem cells is crucial for sperm-egg fusion, and was therefore selected as candidate gene for boar semen. This study was conducted to evaluate the pig SNP (g.358A>T) of CD9 gene as a positional controlling for semen parameters of post-thawed boar semen. To results, the g.358A>T SNP of the CD9 gene was significantly associated with the traits such as MOT, curve linear velocity, straight line velocity, average path velocity and amplitude of lateral head displacement. Particularly, the g.358A>T SNP significantly has the highest association with MOT and animals with AA genotype (p<0.001). Therefore, we suggest that the g.358A>T in the intron 6 region of the porcine CD9 may be used as a molecular marker for Duroc boar Post-thawed semen quality, although its functional effect was not defined yet.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.409-415
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• 2017

The vegetation period of trees might be prolonged by the delay of the leaf senescence in autumn. Thus, we focused on the generation of senescence-delayed transgenic trees to enhance biomass production. The PagMYC2, a gene containing the basic helix-loop-helix domain, was selected as a candidate for a senescence-delayed transgenic tree. The PagMYC2 gene was specifically induced after treatment with phytohormone jasmonic acid, and upregulated by abiotic stresses such as salinity, osmotic pressure and a low temperature. The constitutive overexpression of the PagMYC2 delayed the leaf senescence and inhibited chlorophyll degradation in the transgenic poplars. Leaf senescence analysis was performed in the leaf tissues of the PagMYC2-over-expression transgenic poplars. The transgenic poplars exhibited higher photochemical efficiency than did a wild type plant under a short-day condition (6 hours light/18 hours darkness) or a low temperature condition ($15^{\circ}C$) that was similar to the weather conditions of autumn. These results suggest that the PagMYC2 is a useful genetic resource to improve biomass production, which is able to sustain growth with senescence-delayed leaves for a long time in autumn.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.2
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• pp.165-174
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate composition of understory vegetation and indicator species by altitude and slope azimuth in Mt. Gyebang designated as Protected Area for Forest Genetic Resource Conservation and National Park. Tracheophytes were 350 taxa; 80 families, 203 genera, 303 species, 38 varieties, 5 forma and 4 sub-species in research area. The species of greatest importance value were Tripterygium regelii (9.143%), Acer pseudosieboldianum (7.594%), Symplocos chinensis for. pilosa (6.347%) in the shrub layer and were Sasa borealis (8.653%), Isodon excisus (2.936%) and Carex siderosticta (2.897%). In the herb layer as a result of NMS analysis, the distribution range of the major species were found to be affected by the altitude (shrub layer: $R^2$ > 0.3, herb layer: $R^2$ > 0.6). The result of plexus diagram analysis showed that Acer pseudosieboldianum was associated with Magnolia sieboldii, Acer barbinerve, Euonymus oxyphyllus etc. in the shrub layer; Meehania urticifolia was associated with Aconitum jaluense, Veratrum oxysepalum, Prunus padus etc. in the herb layer. The significant indicator species were analyzed for 60 species by the altitude and investigated for 30 species in accordance with the slope azimuth. As a consequence of MRPP, interspecies composition along the altitude group was heterogeneous and the species composition according to the azimuth slope was extremely different between the NE and SW.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.260-267
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• 2008

The choice of expression vector is very important for industrial production of proteins. Therefore, the systematic mining of promoters over a wider range of genetic resource and/or host is required. We previously reported a novel bidirectional reporting system (pBGR) for the isolation of promoters from metagenome and screened useful promoters that functioned constitutively in E. coli under general culture conditions. Among them, three promoter sequences including each upstream region were amplified by PCR and used to construct new expression vectors. To facilitate subcloning, a multi-cloning site was incorporated into the downstream region of the revere primer sequence. At these sites, GFP, esterase and $\beta$-glucosidase were subcloned and analyzed the constitutive expression ability of new promoter in terms of protein solubility and expression level. As a result, these vectors expressed the proteins constitutively to a level of $2{\sim}3%$ of the total cell protein in soluble fraction (>80 %). This study suggested that excavation of metagenomic promoters for construction of expression vector in a certain strain could provide a way for the development of the expression systems.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1170-1176
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• 2015

Ginsenosides, the major active component of ginseng, are traditionally used to treat various diseases, including cancer, inflammation, and obesity. Among these, compound K (CK), an intestinal bacterial metabolite of the ginsenosides Rb₁, Rb₂, and Rc from Bacteroides JY-6, is reported to inhibit cancer cell growth by inducing cell-cycle arrest or cell death, including apoptosis and necrosis. However, the precise effect of CK on breast cancer cells remains unclear. MCF-7 cells were treated with CK ($0-70{\mu}M$) for 24 or 48 h. Cell proliferation and death were evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and flow cytometry assays, respectively. Changes in downstream signaling molecules involved in cell death, including glycogen synthase kinase $3\beta$ ($GSK3\beta$), $GSK3\beta$, $\beta$-catenin, and cyclin D1, were analyzed by western blot assay. To block $GSK3\beta$ signaling, MCF-7 cells were pretreated with $GSK3\beta$ inhibitors 1 h prior to CK treatment. Cell death and the expression of $\beta$-catenin and cyclin D1 were then examined. CK dose- and time-dependently inhibited MCF-7 cell proliferation. Interestingly, CK induced programmed necrosis, but not apoptosis, via the $GSK3\beta$ signaling pathway in MCF-7 cells. CK inhibited $GSK3\beta$ phosphorylation, thereby suppressing the expression of $\beta$-catenin and cyclin D1. Our results suggest that CK induces programmed necrosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells via the $GSK3\beta$ signaling pathway.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2006

This study was conducted on a commerce silt loam soil at paddy field in the southwestern Korea ($36^{\circ}N$ lat). In the study of planting time, seed were hand planted at 24 May, 14 June and 5 July, and at 24 May, 14 June and 5 July in 2005, respectively. Two seedlings plants per hill were taken prior to V3 stage. Fertilizer was applied prior to plant at a rate of 3.0 - 3.0 - 3.4 g (N - P - K) per square meter. Experimental design was a randomized complete block in a split plot arrangement with three replications. Yield was significantly affected by different of the planting times and cultivars. The seed yield in planting time was the highest on late in May 24 but was the lowest on July 5. Also, the plant time significantly affected on increasing pod and seed number and seed weight. The days from emergence to flowering and maturity was reducing tendency with late planting time. The highest and lowest total dry matter production per square meter appeared at late in May and early in July with planting time, respectively. RGR, LAR and SLA was increased with late planting time. Photosynthetic rate at each planting time was not significant on the expanded the highest leaf position but at seed development stage, it was higher photosynthetic rate at May 24 than that of late planting time on $7^{th}$ laef position from the basal part.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.234-239
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• 2009

This study aims to establish the directions for the optimal nutrient contents determined by soil and leaf analyses. The study is to be used as a source for basic information in investigating the effects of nutritional environment on ginseng growth at the fields of Ansung region in Gyeonggi province. The physical property of soil porosity is closely related to ginseng growth, with more than 50% of good growth in the field. The optimal range of chemical properties in soil was analyzed as 0.20-0.28% T-N, 500-900 mg/kg Av.P$_2$O$_5$, and 2.3-3.5 cmol$^+$/kg Exch.Ca. The optimal range of inorganic nutrient contents in leaves was also analyzed. P value was less than 0.25%, and Mg was more than 0.22%. Other elements were not found clearly. The ratios of N/P, N/Mg, K/Mg, and Ca/P of leaves with good growth in the field showed 10<, 10-13, <14, 1<, respectively. In addition, the Ca:Mg:K ratio of the Exch.cation (cmol$^+$/kg) may be useful as an indicator in the assessment of plant growth in ginseng.