• Toxicological Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2003

New breeding method by genetic engineering is expected as a key technology to solve food shortage due to the growing world population in the year 2000s. Many genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were already developed and the commercial cultivation had started. The first GMO, Flavr Savr tomato, which rotted at a much slower pace than ordinary ones, was developed in US in 1994. Since then, over than 70 different agricultural products including corn, cotton, soybean, papaya, potato, and squash made with genetically modified plants are reportedly on sale worldwide. Supporters favor the GMOs because they have greater yields, longer shelf lives and stronger resistance to disease and insects. On the other hand, opponents say that the supporters ignore a potential danger that they may damage the environment as well as human beings. To assure the safe development and use of GMOs as food and other biotech products, the possible risks on biological environment and human health should be throughly examined and regulated by developer and government. Because the biosafety problem is a global, environmental, and trade issue, a new international treaty is under development. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was adopted at the 1 st Extraordinary Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity which was held at Mont-real, Canada, Jan. 29th, 2000. The adoption of the Protocol is seen as a breakthrough in that it is based on the" Precautionary Principle" despite scientific uncertainties surrounding potential risks that GMOs may inflict on human health and the environment and that it has laid the ground for introduction of specific steps to handle international trading of GMOs. In this paper, the authors would like to introduce the current status and perspective of environmental and human risk assessment of GMOs.t of GMOs.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2001

To develop herbicide-resistant cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L. cv Green Angle) embryogenic suspension cultures were co-cultured with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 carrying a disarmed binary vector pGA-bar. The T-DNA region of this binary vector contains the nopalin synthase/neomycin phosphotransferase Ⅱ (npt Ⅱ) chimeric gene for kanamycin resistance and the cauliflower 35S/phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (bar) chimeric gene for phosphinothricin (PPT) resistance, After co-cultivation for 48 h, embryogenic calli were placed on maturation media containing 20 mg/L PPT. Approximately 200 putatively transgenic plantlets were obtained in hormone free media containing 40 mg/L PPT. Northern blot hybridization analysis confirmed the expression of the bar gene that was integrated into the genome of five transgenic plants. Transgenic cucumber plants were grown to maturity. Mature plants in soil showed tolerance to the commercial herbicide (Basta) of PPT at the manufacturer's suggested level (3 mL/L).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.181-181
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• 2017

Global warming and climate change have been one of the most important problems last 2 decades. Global warming is known to cause abnormal climate and influence ecology, food production and human health. According to climate change model global warming is causing expansion of drought and increase of evaporation. Therefore, securing water in agriculture has been an important issue for crop cultivation. As potato is susceptible to drought, water shortage generally results in decrease of yield and decrease of biomass. In this research, we investigated characteristics of inorganic nutrient absorption and growth of plants grown under drought condition. Plants were sampled in sites of Cheong-ju and Gangneung, where the severity of drought stress were different. During the growth period in Gangneung, total rainfall in 2016 decreased by 50% compared with those in last 5 years average. Especially, there was almost no rain in tuber enlargement period (from mid-May to mid-June). On the other hand, the total rainfall in of Cheong-ju was is similar to those in last 5 years average. Inorganic components including K, Ca and Mg and plant growth factors such as plant length, stem length, leaf area index and plant biomass were investigated. Tuber yields in both areas were investigated at harvest. Growth period of plants was is longer in Cheong-ju than that in Gangneung. Contents of all inorganic components were higher in plants grown in Cheong-ju than in Gangneung. The results were attributed to higher production of plant biomass in Cheong-ju. Considering the results, severe drought stress conditions in Gangneung accelerated plant aging and resulted in low plant growth. Although total yield was greatly reduced under drought stress the rate of commercial yield was is not significantly different with non-drought conditions.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.154-158
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• 2004

To analyze the relationship between CGMMV occurrence and seed contamination by cucumber cultivars, cucumber cultivars of CGMMV infected field and diseased degree were investigated in cucumber main cultivation regions of Jeonnam province from 1999 to 2002. While the diseased degree was different by years and cultivars, CGMMV occurred for 4 years in 'Janghyeongnakhap', for 3 years in 'Jangjukcheongjang', and for 2 years in 'Gyeoulsali' and 'Gyeoulnagi'. CGMMV was detected in seeds of 'Janghyeongnakhap' and 'Jangjukcheongjang' by ELISA test, and seed of 'Jangjukcheongjang' showed positive reaction in bioassay. As a result of resistant test of 34 cultivars to CGMMV, all cultivars showed mosaic symptoms in pot test but only 'Hanboksamcheok' showed mild mosaic symptom in field test.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.294-297
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• 2006

Leafy lettuce(Lactuca sativa L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops in Korea, cultivated throughout the year in greenhouses. During the autumn of 2005, powdery mildew of lettuce that is a new disease caused by Podosphaera fusca occurred in several plantings grown in plastic houses near Suwon in central Korea. Further survey on commercial fields of the plant in central and southern Korea revealed its widespread occurrence and severe losses. Infections occur on upper part of mature leaves often cause leaf distortions, withering, and reduced vigor and growth. Among 184 greenhouses surveyed 121 were infested by the disease and 52 showed over 10% infection rate. Yields were greatly reduced by the disease reaching only 59% compared to healthy plants. About 60% leaves of infected plant were not marketable and fresh weight of the leaves was 73.6% compared to healthy leaves. Total yield of the greenhouses infested by the disease ranged from $100{\sim}140kg$, while it was 260 kg in a non-infested greenhouse at one time harvest. Since the disease represents a threat to safe cultivation of leafy lettuce in Korea, environmentally-friend control strategies should be urgently developed.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2009

Teak (Tectona grandis) is one of the most valuable timber yielding species in the world, with predominant distribution in tropical or sub-tropical countries. However, natural teak available only in few countries like India, Myanmar, Laos People's Democratic Republic and Thailand. Teak grows well in deep, well-drained alluvial soils, fairly moist, warm, tropical climate with pH ranges from 6.5-7.5. Teak is cultivated in many Asian, African and South American countries for timber production. The global teak plantations are estimated to be three million hectare with major share in India (44%) followed by Indonesia (33%). India is considered as richest genetic resources of teak with large areas of natural teak bearing forests (8.9 million ha), plantations (1.5 million ha), clonal seed orchards (1000 ha) and seed production areas (5000 ha). The studies on diversity of teak populations showed that teak is an out crossing species with major portion of diversity present within the populations. The productivity and quality of teak timber varies depending upon the site and environmental conditions. Teak wood is moderately heavy, strong and tough,straight grained, coarse textured and ring porous with specific gravity varies from 0.55 to 0.70. The sapwood is white to pale yellow in colour and clearly demarcated while heartwood is dark brown or dark golden yellow in colour. Teak is one of the most durable timbers in the world, practically, impervious to fungus and white ant attack and resistant to decay. Teak wood is used in ship and boat constructions, furnitures and aesthetic needs. Genetic improvement programmes have been undertaken in countries like Thailand, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. The programme includes provenance identification and testing, plus tree selection and clonal multiplication, establishment of seed orchards and controlled hybridization. Several aspects like phenology, reproductive biology, fruit characteristics, silvicultural practices for cultivation, pest and diseases problems, production of improved planting stock, harvesting and marketing, wood properties and future tree improvement strategy to enhance productivity have been discussed in this paper.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.84-86
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• 2014

Mass production of biocontrol agent is an essential step for its commercial use. Media composition and culture conditions for production of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SKU-78, a potential biocontrol agent against bacterial wilts, were optimized by a flask culture. Low cost media combining nitrogen and carbon sources were tested. Maximum cell growth (> $2{\times}10^9$ CFU/ml) was obtained in a medium of 5% soy flour combined with 3% corn starch after 24 h cultivation. The optimum initial pH, temperature and shaking speed was 5.5, $30^{\circ}C$ and 150-250 rpm, respectively. Fermentation of SKU-78 was scaled up in 30 L fermenter and the profiles of cell density, pH, dissolved oxygen and spore formation were recorded. After 8 h lag phase, exponential growth occurred and reached at maximum viable cell number ($1.2{\times}10^{11}$ CFU/ml) after 20 h. The SKU-78 strain grown in a low cost medium exhibited the high suppression of bacterial wilts. The results indicate that SKU-78 strain can be produced in a low cost medium and provide a basis for scaling up to industrial level.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.231-236
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• 2004

The inexpensive large-scale production of pure PGA (Penicillin G Acylase) has been a commercial goal. PGA has been used as a model enzyme in the development of simple one-step purification methods. In this study, the purification of poly-His tagged PGA protein secreted into the periplasmic space was carried out by using immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). The PGA gene was obtained from E. coli ATCC 11105. Codons encoding histidines were fused at the C-terminus of the PGA gene by PCR. E. coli JM109 harboring pPGA-HIS6 vector produced active his-tagged acylases in the presence of lac promoter during cultivation at $26^{\circ}C$. The maximum specific activity of the acylase purified by using one-step chromatography after osmotic shock was 38.5 U/mg and was recovered with the yield of 70％. Both 23 kDa ($\alpha$) and 62 kDa ($\beta$) subunits were recovered by using IMAC with just C-terminus tagging of the $\beta$ subunit. The purification of the periplasmic fraction by osmotic shock and that of purified acylase was increased by 2.6-fold and 19-fold, respectively, compared to the crude extract.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.437-447
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• 2012

Natural and beneficial associations between plants and bacteria have demonstrated potential commercial application for several agricultural crops. The sunflower has acquired increasing importance in Brazilian agribusiness owing to its agronomic characteristics such as the tolerance to edaphoclimatic variations, resistance to pests and diseases, and adaptation to the implements commonly used for maize and soybean, as well as the versatility of the products and by-products obtained from its cultivation. A study of the cultivable bacteria associated with two sunflower cultivars, using classical microbiological methods, successfully obtained isolates from different plant tissues (roots, stems, florets, and rhizosphere). Out of 57 plant-growth-promoting isolates obtained, 45 were identified at the genus level and phylogenetically positioned based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing: 42 Bacillus (B. subtilis, B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, B. pumilus, B. megaterium, and Bacillus sp.) and 3 Methylobacterium komagatae. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis showed a broad diversity among the Bacillus isolates, which clustered into 2 groups with 75% similarity and 13 subgroups with 85% similarity, suggesting that the genetic distance correlated with the source of isolation. The isolates were also analyzed for certain growth-promoting activities. Auxin synthesis was widely distributed among the isolates, with values ranging from 93.34 to 1653.37 ${\mu}M$ auxin per ${\mu}g$ of protein. The phosphate solubilization index ranged from 1.25 to 3.89, and siderophore index varied from 1.15 to 5.25. From a total of 57 isolates, 3 showed an ability to biologically fix atmospheric nitrogen, and 7 showed antagonism against the pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The results of biochemical characterization allowed identification of potential candidates for the development of biofertilizers targeted to the sunflower crop.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1306-1318
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• 2009

The filamentous ascomycete Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is well known for its ability to produce a large variety of hydrolytic enzymes. Two $\alpha$-amylases ScAmy54 and ScAmy43 predicted to play an important role in starch degradation were showed to produce specific oligosaccharides essentially maltotriose that have a considerable commercial interest. Primary structure of the two enzymes was established by N-terminal sequencing, MALDI-TOF masse spectrometry and cDNA cloning. The two proteins have the same N-terminal catalytic domain and ScAmy43 derived from ScAmy54 by truncation of 96 amino acids at the carboxyl-terminal region. Data of genomic analysis suggested that the two enzymes originated from the same $\alpha$-amylase gene and that truncation of ScAmy54 to ScAmy43 occurred probably during S. sclerotiorum cultivation. The structural gene of Scamy54 consisted of 9 exons and 8 introns, containing a single 1,500-bp open reading frame encoding 499 amino acids including a signal peptide of 21 residues. ScAmy54 exhibited high amino acid homology with other liquefying fungal $\alpha$-amylases essentially in the four conserved regions and in the putative catalytic triad. A 3D structure model of ScAmy54 and ScAmy43 was built using the 3-D structure of 2guy from A. niger as template. ScAmy54 is composed by three domains A, B, and C, including the well-known $(\beta/\alpha)_8$ barrel motif in domain A, have a typical structure of $\alpha$-amylase family, whereas ScAmy43 contained only tow domains A and B is the first fungal $\alpha$-amylase described until now with the smallest catalytic domain.