• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.53-58
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• 2002

Adverse environmental conditions such as drought, high salt and cold/freezing are major factors that reduces crop productivity worldwide. According to a survey, 50-80% of the maximum potential yield is lost by these "environmental or abiotic stresses", which is approximately ten times higher than the loss by biotic stresses. Thus, improving stress-tolerance of crop plants is an important way to improve agricultural productivity, In order to develop such stress-tolerant crop plants, we set out to identify key stress signaling components that can be used to develop commercially viable crop varieties with enhanced stress tolerance. Our primary focus so far has been on the identification of transcription factors that regulate stress responsive gene expression, especially those involved in ABA-mediated stress response. Be sessile, plants have the unique capability to adapt themselves to the abiotic stresses. This adaptive capability is largely dependent on the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), whose level increases under various stress conditions, triggering adaptive response. Central to the response is ABA-regulated gene expression, which ultimately leads to physiological changes at the whole plant level. Thus, once identified, it would be possible to enhance stress tolerance of crop plants by manipulating the expression of the factors that mediate ABA-dependent stress response. Here, we present our work on the isolation and functional characterization of the transcription factors.n factors.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2012

Drought and high salinity stresses often imposes adverse effects on crop yield. MYB transcription factors have been shown to be an important regulator in defense responses to these environmental stresses. In this study, we have cloned and characterized a soybean gene GmMYB184 (Glycine max MYB transcription factor 184). Deduced amino acid sequences of GmMYB184 show highest homology with that from Vitis vinifera legume plant (75%). Different expression patterns of GmMYB184 mRNA were observed subjected to drought, cold, high salinity stress and abscisic acid treatment, suggesting its role in the signaling events in the osmotic stress-related defense response. Subcellular localization studies demonstrated that the GFP-GmMYB184 fusion protein was localized in the nucleus. Using the yeast assay system, the C-terminal region of GmMYB184 was found to be essential for the transactivation activity. These results indicate that the GmMYB184 may play a role in abiotic stress tolerance in plant.

• Plant Resources
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.163-169
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• 2004

To investigate the defense mechanism against the abiotic stress, a cDNA clone encoding a CuZn superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) protein was isolated from a cDNA library prepared from tabroot mRNAs of Codonopsis lanceolata. The eDNA, designated ClSODCc, is 799 nucleotides long and has an open reading frame of 459 bp with a deduced amino acid sequence of 152 residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of ClSODCc matched to the previously reported CuZnSODs. Consensus amino acid residues (His-45, -47, -62, -70, -79, -119 and Asp-82) were involved in Cu-, Cu/Zn-, and Zn- binding ligands. The deduced amino acid sequence of ClSODCc showed high homologies (82％-86％) regardless of species. Expression of ClSODCc by oxidative stress was increased up to 1 h after treatment and declined gradually. Much earlier and stronger expression of ClSODCc was observed in the cold stress treatment.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.353-360
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• 2006

Ecological correlates of flowering times often are examined to infer evolutionary mechanisms for flowering time diversities. We examined ecological characteristic associations such as growth habits and pollination modes with flowering times among 3,037 Korean angiosperms experiencing strong climatic seasonalities. We first examined taxonomic membership effects on flowering times across diverse taxonomic levels. Phylogeny constrained flowering times at all levels down to the genus level. We then analyzed the effects of ecological characteristics using subset data consisting of species randomly selected from each genus to control phylogenetic effects. The commonly observed patterns of early flowering of woody species in temperate regions existed. Spring flowering shrubs and trees, however, both being woody, were involved with biotic and abiotic vectors, respectively. In two herbaceous groups of annuals and perennials, annuals flowered later in the growing season than perennials although both herbs tended to be associated with abiotic vectors when flowering in autumn. These results support our hypothesis that species able to decouple vegetative and reproductive growth flower in spring's dry season, but species with different habits, even when they flower within the same season, are subjected to different selective pressures for efficient pollination.

• ALGAE
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2017

In rocky intertidal habitats, abiotic stress due to desiccation and thermal extremes increases with elevation because of tides. A study in Atlantic Canada showed that, at low elevations where conditions are benign due to the brief low tides, fucoid algal canopies (Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus spp.) do not affect the structure of benthic communities. However, at middle and high elevations, where low tides last longer, fucoid canopies limit abiotic extremes and increase the richness (number of invertebrate and algal species, except fucoids) of benthic communities. Using the data from that study, this paper compares the intensity of facilitation and its importance (relative to all other sources of variation in richness) between middle and high elevations, which represent intermediate and high stress, respectively. Facilitation intensity was calculated as the percent increase in benthic richness between quadrats with low and high canopy cover, while the importance of facilitation was calculated as the percentage of variation in richness explained by canopy cover. Data for 689 quadrats spanning 350 km of coastline were used. Both the intensity and importance of facilitation were greater at middle elevations than at high elevations. As canopies do not affect benthic communities at low elevations, this study suggests that the facilitation-stress relationship at the community level is unimodal for this marine system. Such a pattern was found for some terrestrial systems dominated by canopy-forming plants. Thus, it might be ubiquitous in nature and, as further studies refine it, it might help to predict community-level facilitation depending on environmental stress.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.260-267
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• 2012

Calling behavior is often used to infer breeding patterns in anurans. We studied the seasonal and diel calling activities of anuran species in a wetland in central Korea to determine the calling season and to evaluate the effects of abiotic factors on male calling. Acoustic monitoring was used in which frog calls were recorded for a full day, once a week, throughout an entire year. Using acoustic monitoring, we identified three frog species in the study site. Males of Rana dybowskii called in late winter and early spring; we thus classified this species as a winter/spring caller. The results of binary logistic regression showed that temperature, relative humidity, and 1-day lag rainfall were significant factors for male calling in R. dybowskii. Temperature and relative humidity were important factors for the calling activity of R. nigromaculata, whereas 24-h rainfall and 1-day lag rainfall were not significant. Thus, we determined R. nigromaculata to be a summer caller independent of weather. In Hyla japonica, relative humidity, 24-h rainfall, and 1- day lag rainfall were significant for male calling, suggesting that this species is a summer caller dependent on local rain.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.415-427
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• 2021

A plethora of compounds stimulate protective mechanisms in plants against microbial pathogens and abiotic stresses. Some defense activators are synthetic compounds and trigger responses only in certain protective pathways, such as activation of defenses under regulation by the plant regulator, salicylic acid (SA). This review discusses the potential of naturally occurring plant metabolites as primers for defense responses in the plant. The production of the metabolites, hexanoic acid and melatonin, in plants means they are consumed when plants are eaten as foods. Both metabolites prime stronger and more rapid activation of plant defense upon subsequent stress. Because these metabolites trigger protective measures in the plant they can be considered as "vaccines" to promote plant vigor. Hexanoic acid and melatonin instigate systemic changes in plant metabolism associated with both of the major defense pathways, those regulated by SA- and jasmonic acid (JA). These two pathways are well studied because of their induction by different microbial triggers: necrosis-causing microbial pathogens induce the SA pathway whereas colonization by beneficial microbes stimulates the JA pathway. The plant's responses to the two metabolites, however, are not identical with a major difference being a characterized growth response with melatonin but not hexanoic acid. As primers for plant defense, hexanoic acid and melatonin have the potential to be successfully integrated into vaccination-like strategies to protect plants against diseases and abiotic stresses that do not involve man-made chemicals.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.329-338
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• 2010

Drought, salinity and flooding are three important abiotic factors limiting soybean production worldwide. Irrigation, soil reclamation, and drainage systems are not generally available or economically feasible for soybean production. Therefore, productive soybean varieties with tolerance are a cost effective means for reducing yield losses due to these factors. Genetic variability for higher tolerance to drought, salt and flooding is important. However, only a small portion of nearly 200,000 world soybean accessions have been screened to find genotypes with tolerance for use in breeding programs. Evaluation for tolerance to drought, salinity and flooding is difficult due to lack of faster, cost effective, repeatable screening methods. Soybean strains with higher tolerance to the above stresses have been identified. Crosses with lines with drought, salt and flooding tolerance through conventional breeding has made a significant contribution to improving tolerance to abiotic stress in soybean. Molecular markers associated with tolerance to drought, salt and flooding will allow faster, reliable screening for these traits. Germplasm resources, genome sequence information and various genomic tools are available for soybean. Integration of genomic tools coupled with well-designed breeding strategies and effective uses of these resources will help to develop soybean varieties with higher tolerance to drought, salt and flooding.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 2019

Plants are consumed by a myriad of organisms that compete for resources. Direct interactions among multiple plant-feeding organisms in a single host can range for each species from positive to negative. Wood-boring beetle faces a number of biotic and abiotic constraints that interfere with the good prospects from the tree. Biotic factors, including arthropod pests and diseases, and abiotic factors, such as drought and water-logging, are the major constraints affecting the species. The present study aimed to provide basic data for analyzing forest health, identify the kinds of wood-boring beetles in the central part of Korea. Our second goal was to analyze the species composition and diversity of regional communities and to examine. A total of 10,461 individual wood-boring beetles belonging to 8 families and 50 species attracted to trap trees in the pine forests were recorded during the study period on study sites. The results of the analysis of collected species showed that the community structure on all study sites was similar. Seasonal occurrences of dominant wood-boring beetles (5 species) from each study site showed the highest number of all species, except for Siphalinus gigas in May, followed by a gradual decline, and the largest number of Siphalinus gigas appeared in June. The similarity index of species composition was relatively high, ranging from 0.75 to 0.90 for each study site.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1937-1943
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• 2020

Although classical metabolic engineering strategies have succeeded in developing microbial strains capable of producing desired bioproducts, metabolic imbalance resulting from extensive genetic manipulation often leads to decreased productivity. Thus, abiotic strategies for improving microbial production performance can be an alternative to overcome drawbacks arising from intensive metabolic engineering. Herein, we report a promising abiotic method for enhancing lycopene production by UV-C irradiation using a radiation-resistant ΔcrtLm/crtB+dxs+ Deinococcus radiodurans R1 strain. First, the onset of UV irradiation was determined through analysis of the expression of 11 genes mainly involved in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in the ΔcrtLm/crtB+dxs+ D. radiodurans R1 strain. Second, the effects of different UV wavelengths (UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C) on lycopene production were investigated. UV-C irradiation induced the highest production, resulting in a 69.9% increase in lycopene content [64.2 ± 3.2 mg/g dry cell weight (DCW)]. Extended UV-C irradiation further enhanced lycopene content up to 73.9 ± 2.3 mg/g DCW, a 95.5% increase compared to production without UV-C irradiation (37.8 ± 0.7 mg/g DCW).