• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.114-126
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• 2020

Bloom-forming toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis spp. are common in the summer season in temperate freshwater ecosystems. Often, it leads to the degradation of water quality and affects the quality of drinking water. In a previous study, NQ (naphthoquinone) compounds were shown to be effective, selective, and ecologically safe algicides for Microcystis spp. blooms. To analyze the superiority of developed NQ derivatives, we conducted a microcosm experiment using clay, which is frequently used in South Korea. Similar to previous studies, the NQ 40 and NQ 2-0 compounds showed high algicidal activities of 99.9% and 99.6%, respectively, on Microcystis spp. at low concentrations (≥1 μM) and enhanced phytoplankton species diversity. However, when treated with clay, a temporary algicidal effect was seen at the beginning of the experiment that gradually increased at the end. In addition, treatment with the NQ compounds did not affect either the abiotic or biological factors, and similar trends were observed with the control. These results showed that the NQ 2-0 compound was more effective, with no ecosystem disturbance, and more economical than the currently used clay. These results suggest that NQ 2-0 compound could be a selective, economically and ecologically safe algicide to mitigate harmful cyanobacterial blooms in the field.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 2004

The effects of pretreatment of GAC and dissolved oxygen (DO) on the sorption capacity for ο-cresol were investigated using pretreated GAC under oxic and anoxic conditions. Virgin GAC was used with pretreated GACs by $O_2$, acid and base as sorbents. Sorption capacity of GAC was dependent on the oxygen conditions according to the pretreatment methods. Virgin GAC showed increased sorption capacity when DO was present in the solution, while $O_2$-pretreated GAC did not show any considerable capacity change. Acid- and base-pretreated GACs were relatively more influenced by presence of DO as compared with virgin GAC. Both acid and base-pretreated GACs showed a rapid sorption rate at the initial stage, but as contact time became longer the sorption was slower. Sorbed ο-cresol was extracted with micro-Soxhlet extraction apparatus using the GAC separated from the rate experiments. Within 1 hour both acid and base-pretreated GACs showed the decrease in extraction efficiencies under both oxic and anoxic conditions. After 1 hour such a trend (the increase as contact time was longer) was not observed and showed relatively constant efficiencies of 35∼50%. According to the results of this study $O_2$contacted with GAC before sorption as well as DO present in the solution during sorption could influence the GAC sorption capacity.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2011

Calmodulin (CaM), a $Ca^{2+}$ binding protein in eukaryotes, mediates cellular $Ca^{2+}$ signals in response to a variety of biotic and abiotic external stimuli. The $Ca^{2+}$-bound CaM transduces signals by modulating the activities of numerous CaM-binding proteins. As a CaM binding protein, AtCBP63 ($\b{A}$rabidopsis thaliana $\b{C}$aM-binding protein $\underline{63}$ kD) has been known to be positively involved in plant defense signaling pathway. To investigate the pathogen resistance function of AtCBP63 in potato, we constructed transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants constitutively overexpressing AtCBP63 under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. The overexpression of the AtCBP63 in potato plants resulted in the high level induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes such as PR-2, PR-3 and PR-5. In addition, the AtCBP63 transgenic potato showed significantly enhanced resistance against a pathogen causing bacterial soft rot, Erwinia carotovora ssp. Carotovora (ECC). These results suggest that a CaM binding protein from Arabidopsis, AtCBP63, plays a positive role in pathogen resistance in potato.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.272-280
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• 2016

Chrysanthemum is one of the top floriculture species with ornamental and medicinal value. Although chrysanthemum breeding program has contributed to the development of various cultivars so far, it needs to be advanced from the traditional phenotype-based selection to marker-assisted selection (molecular breeding) as shown in major cereal and vegetable crops. Molecular breeding relies on trait-linked molecular markers identified from genetic, molecular, and genomic studies. However, these studies in chrysanthemum are significantly hampered by the reproductive, genetic, and genomic properties of chrysanthemum such as self-incompatibility, inbreeding depression, allohexaploid, heterozygosity, and gigantic genome size. Nevertheless, several genetic studies have constructed genetic linkage maps and identified molecular markers linked to important traits of flower, leaf, and plant architecture. With progress in sequencing technology, chrysanthemum transcriptome has been sequenced to construct reference gene set and identify genes responsible for developments or induced by biotic or abiotic stresses. Recently, a genome sequencing project has been launched on a diploid wild Chrysanthemum species. The massive sequencing information would serve as fundamental resources for molecular breeding of chrysanthemum. In this review, we summarized the current status of molecular genetics and genomics in chrysanthemum and briefly discussed future prospects.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.264-270
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• 2017

Brassinosteroid (BR), a plant steroid hormone, plays a critical role in the growth and developmental processes through its canonical signaling and crosstalk with various internal and external signaling pathways. Recent studies have revealed the essential interplay mechanisms between BR and ABA during seed germination and early seedling establishment. However, molecular mechanisms for this important signaling crosstalk are largely unknown. To understand the crosstalk between BR-mediated signaling pathways and ABA functions during early seedling development, we carried out a comparative genome-wide transcriptome analysis with an Agilent Arabidopsis $4{\times}44K$ oligo chip. We selected and compared the expression patterns of ABA response genes in ABA-insensitive bes1-D mutant with wild type seedlings on which ABA was exogenously applied. As a result, we identified 2,353 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ABA-treated bes1-D and wild type seedlings. GO enrichment analysis revealed that ABA signaling, response, and metabolism were critically down-regulated by BR-activated signaling pathways. In addition, the genome-wide transcriptome analysis data revealed that BR-regulated signaling pathways were tightly connected to diverse signal cues including abiotic/biotic stress, auxin, ROS etc. In this study, we newly identified the molecular mechanisms of BR-mediated repression of ABA signaling outputs. Also, our data suggest that interplay among diverse signaling pathways is critical for the adaptive response of the plant to various environmental factors.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.296-302
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• 2017

Rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars show an impairment of growth and development in response to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat and cold at the early seedling stage. The tolerance to heat stress in plants has been genetically modulated by the overexpression of heat shock transcription factor genes or proteins. In addition to a high temperature-tolerance that has also been altered by elevating levels of osmolytes, increasing levels of cell detoxification enzymes and through altering membrane fluidity. To examine the heat tolerance in transgenic rice plants, three OsOPT10 overexpressing lines were characterized through a physiological analysis, which examined factors such as the electrolyte leakage (EL), soluble sugar and proline contents. We further functionally characterized the OsOPT10 gene and found that heat induced the expression of OsOPT10 and P5CS gene related proline biosynthesis. It has been suggested that the expression of OsOPT10 led to elevated heat tolerance in transgenic lines.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2017

Many crops including cereals, tuber crops, feeds, and turf grasses are often damaged by various environmental stresses such as drought, salt, cold, and high temperature, causing the reduction of their productivity. Plants are sessile and cannot escape from environmental stresses. Thus, plants evolve in the direction of overcoming the environmental stresses. Some plant genes such as ARF, ABI3, NAC, HSF, and WRKY are known to respond to environmental stresses as they transcriptionally regulate the stress response pathways. For example, the OsWRKY76 gene contributes to the enhanced resistance to low temperatures and pathogenic infections. The AtWRKY28 also plays a role in environmental stresses. Zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) is popularly grown for gardens and golf courses. However, the function of the WRKY gene, another environmental stress-related gene, is not known in zoysiagrass. In this study, the ZjWRKY3 and ZjWRKY7 genes with one shared WRKY domain have been isolated in zoysiagrass. The expression of these genes increased in response to low temperature, drought, and salt stresses. Furthermore, the infection of the brown patch-causing Rhozoctonia solani induced the expression of ZjWRKY3 and ZjWRKY7. The corresponding proteins bind to the W-box of the Zjchi promoter, possibly regulating their transcriptions. The researchers suggest that the ZjWRKY3 and ZjWRKY7 genes transcriptionally regulate abiotic and biotic stress related downstream genes.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.845-852
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• 2014

Among various abiotic stress factors, soil salinity decreases the photosynthetic rate, growth, and yield of plants. Recently, many genes have been reported to enhance salt tolerance. The objective of this study was to characterize the Brassica rapa Salt Stress Resistance (BrSSR) gene, of which the function was unclear, although the full-length sequence was known. To characterize the role of BrSSR, a B. rapa Chinese cabbage inbred line ('CT001') was transformed with pSL94 vector containing the full length BrSSR cDNA. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that the expression of BrSSR in the transgenic line was 2.59-fold higher than that in the wild type. Analysis of phenotypic characteristics showed that plants overexpressing BrSSR were resistant to salinity stress and showed normal growth. Microarray analysis of BrSSR over-expressing plants confirmed that BrSSR was strongly associated with ERD15 (AT2G41430), a gene encoding a protein containing a PAM2 motif (AT4G14270), and GABA-T (AT3G22200), all of which have been associated with salt tolerance, in the co-expression network of genes related to salt stress. The results of this study indicate that BrSSR plays an important role in plant growth and tolerance to salinity.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.205-211
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• 2018

In this study, we estimated the applicability of length-weight relationship-based biomass calculations by comparison of body length of genus Polyarthra collected from different habitats. Through the comparison, we also tested availability of representative species-specific biomass value of Polyarthra which is often used without length measurement. Polyarthra samples were collected from rivers (Han River and Nakdong River) and reservoir (Paldang Reservoir), and the body length was measured for statistical comparison among habitats and biomass calculations using different equations suggested previously. According to the results, the body length of Polyarthra spp. was significantly different among sampling sites, and the necessity of body length measurement for rotifer species in each situation has been suggested rather than using the representative biomass values which is fixed without considering time and space. Comparison of suggested biomass calculations based on our measured Polyarthra body length, the equation suggested by McCauley showed more reasonable range of biomass values than that suggested by EPA. In addition, in order to calculate more accurate biomass, it is necessary to measure the body length of rotifers, at least more than 44 individuals to reduce error probability to less than 5% with 99% probability. However, since direct measurement of rotifers biomass is limited, it is considered that further analyses are required for more precise application of rotifer biomass of which has high variability due to complex morphologies and species-specific cyclomorphosis often induced by biotic and abiotic factors in the habitats.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.214-227
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• 2018

An object oriented crop model was developed to perform crop growth simulation taking into account complex interaction between biotic and abiotic factors in an agricultural ecosystem. A set of classes including Atmosphere class, Plant class, Soil class, and Grower class were designed to represent weather, crop, soil, and crop management, respectively. Objects, which are instance of class, were linked to construct an integrated system for crop growth simulation. In a case study, yield of corn and soybean, which was obtained at an experiment farm in Rural Development Administration from 1984 to 1986, were compared with yield simulated using the integrated system. The integrated system had relatively low error rate of corn yield, e.g., <4%, under sole and intercropping conditions. In contrast, the system had a relatively large underestimation error for above ground biomass except for grain compared with those observed for corn and soybean. For example, estimates of biomass of corn leaf and stem was 31% lower than those of observed values. Although the integrated system consisted of simple models, the system was capable of simulating crop yield under an intercropping condition. This result suggested that an existing process-based model would be used to have more realistic simulation of crop growth once it is reengineered to be compatible to the integration system, which merits further studies for crop model improvement and implementation in object oriented paradigm.