• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2020

For the conservation of both Sericinus montela (vulnerable species by red book of Korea) and A. contorta, we investigated environmental factors affecting the growth and reproduction of Aristolochia contorta. We selected four A. contorta habitats at Gapyeong, Pyeongtaek, Cheongju, and Yeoju in Korea and surveyed community and habitat characteristics of companion species, herbivore appearance, support types, and soil physicochemical properties in July and October, 2018. Habitat environments and the growth and reproduction characteristics of A. contorta were different according to four habitats of different regions. In particular, the fastest growth speed and earliest flowering and fruiting were observed in Pyeongtaek. Growth of A. contorta in Cheongju and Yeoju were interrupted by aboveground damage from human disturbance. In this study, support types seemed to be important for growth speed of A. contorta. Flowering and fruiting timing were likely to be related to combined effects of soil cation contents and competitive and herbivore stresses. Therefore, providing effective support and reducing biological stress should be necessary for stable growth and proper flowering and fruiting timing of A. contorta. In addition, experimental evidence would be needed to figure out the effect of soil cation and biological stress on flowering and fruiting of A. contorta in detail.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.141-151
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• 2021

Insects affect crop harvest yield and quality, making plant response mechanisms to insect herbivores a heavily studied topic. However, analysis of plant responses to honeybees is rare. In this study, comprehensive metabolic profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to honeybees was performed to investigate which metabolites were changed by the insect. A total of 85 metabolites-including chlorophylls, carotenoids, glucosinolates, policosanols, tocopherols, phytosterols, β-amyrin, amino acids, organic acids, sugars, and starch-were identified using high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The metabolite profiling analysis of Arabidopsis exposed to honeybees showed higher levels of stress-related metabolites. The levels of glucosinolates (glucoraphanin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin), policosanols (eicosanol, docosanol, tricosanol, tetracosanol), tocopherols (β-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol), putrescine, lysine, and sugars (arabinose, fructose, glucose, mannitol, mannose, raffinose) in Arabidopsis exposed to honeybees were higher than those in unexposed Arabidopsis. Glucosinolates act as defensive compounds against herbivores; policosanols are components of plant waxes; tocopherols act as an antioxidant; and putrescine, lysine, and sugars contribute to stress regulation. Our results suggest that Arabidopsis perceives honeybees as a stress and changes its metabolites to overcome the stress. This is the first step to determining how Arabidopsis reacts to exposure to honeybees.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.107-113
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• 2012

Trichomes are specialized epidermal structure having the functions of physical and chemical block against biotic and abiotic stresses. Several studies on $Capsicum$ species revealed that virus and herbivore resistance is associated with trichome-formation. However, there is no research on the structural characterization of trichomes developed on the epidermis of $Capsicum$ spp. Thus, this study attempts to charaterize the trichome morphologies in 5 species of $Capsicum$ using a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Six main trichome types were identified by their morphology under FESEM. Both glandular and non-glandular types of trichomes were developed on the epidermal tissues of $Capsicum$ spp. The glandular trichome were further classified into type I, IV and VII according to their base, stalk length, and stalk. Non-glandular trichomes were also classified into type II, III, and V based on stalk cell number and norphology. Almost all the species in $C.$ $chinense$ and $C.$ $pubescens$ had glandular trichomes. To our knowledge, this is the first study on classification of trichomes in the genus $Capsicum$ and, our results could provide basic informations for understanding the structure and function of trichomes on the epidermal differentiation and association with biotic stress tolerance.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.241-248
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• 2003

Sodium salicylate, a plant stress hormone that plays an important role(s) in defenses against pathogenic microbial and herbivore attack, has been shown to induce a variety of cell responses such as anti-inflammation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in animal cells. p38MAPK plays a critical role(s) in the cell regulation by sodium salicylate. However, the signal pathway for sodium salicylate-induced p38MAPK activation is yet unclear. In this study, we show that although sodium salicylate enhances reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a general ROS scavenger, did not prevent sodium salicylate-induced p38MAPK, indicating ROS-independent activation of p38MAPK by sodium salicylate. Sodium salicylate-activated p38MAPK appeared to be very rapidly down-regulated 2 min after removal of sodium salicylate. Interestingly, sodium salicylate-pretreated cells remained fully responsive to re-induction of p38MAPK activity by a second sodium salicylate stimulation or by other stresses, $H_2O$$_2$ and methyl jasmonate (MeJA), thereby indicating that sodium salicylate does not exhibit both homologous and heterologous desensitization. In contrast, pre-exposure to MeJA, $H_2O$$_2$, heat shock, or hyperosmotic stress reduced the responsiveness to subsequent homologous stimulation. Sodium salicylate was able to activate p38MAPK in cells desensitized by other heterologous p38MAPK activators. These results indicate that there is a sensing mechanism highly specific to sodium salicylate for activation of p38MAPK, distinct trom pathways used by other stressors such as MeJA, $H_2O$$_2$ heat shock, and hyperosmotic stress.