• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.5
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• pp.663-672
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• 2010

The pollen morphology of eleven species and three forms of the genus Rhododendron (Ericaceae) in Korea was examined using light, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. The pollen grains are grouped in permanent tetrahedral tetrads; viscin threads are present on the tetrads. The hexacolporate tetrads are of tricolporate monads whereby the apertures form in pairs at six points in the tetrad. The exine sculpture pattern is rugulate, scabrate or verrucate on mesocolpium but psilate, rugulate or microscabrate around the aperture on apocolpium. The exine of Korean Rhododendron pollen consists of tectum, columella, foot layer and endexine. The surface of viscin threads is more or less smooth. The threads are sometimes tangled together and occasionally divided into strands. Six types are recognized based on the pollen morphology. The types are: (1) Micranthum-type (rugulate mesocolpium and psilate apcolpium), (2) Tomentosum-type (rugulate mesocolpium and apocolpium), (3) Aureum-type (scabrate mesocolpium and rugulate apocolpium), (4) Brachycarpum-type (scabrate mesocolpium and rod shaped-microscabrate apocolpium), (5) Schlippenbachiitype (scabrate mesocolpium and round-microscabrate apocolpium) and (6) Weyrichii-type (verrucate mesocolpium).

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.297-303
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• 1989

Attempts to isolate the naturally occurring ultra-violet resistant bacteria from environmental sources were made. The isolates, designated No.29, 100, and 107, among numbers of bacterial isolates revealed a remarkable resistance to UV ray, whose degree of resistance in dose/response kinetics was comparable to that of an endospore-former, Bacillus subtilis. In a range of 100-300 $Jm^{-2}$/min of UV irradiation, the isolates exhibited 500-1000 fold resistance compated with E. coli. The isolated appeared to possiss cell-bound pigment of organge or crimson-red. The isolate 29 is spherical in pairs or tetrads, whereas the isolates 100 and 107 are rod. All are Gram-gositive bacteria and seemed to be non-endospore-bearer. A number of biochemical studies pursued on the isolates suggested that they are quite different to each other. Electron microscopic examination and the physiological characters of the isolate 29 suggested that this UV resistant spherical bacterium might be one species of Deinococcus, probably Deinococus radiophilus. Since there is no documents on UV resistant, Gram-positive, non-sporeformer bacillus so far, the isolates 100 and 107 might be turned out as new kinds of UV resistant bacteria occurring in nature by further investigation.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.639-646
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• 2003

In this study, we evaluated genotoxicity of heavy metals among particulates with Tradescantia-micronucleus (Trad-MCN) assay in the various working environment. In a synthetic fiber factory and a rubber factory, chromium concentration was higher than any other heavy metals. On the other hand, nickel concentration was the highest in a semi-conductor factory. The difference in genotoxicity among the working environment was statistically significant as Trad-MCN frequencies were 4.07 $\pm$0.35 MCN/100 tetrads (p< 0.01) for the synthetic fiber factory,5.73 $\pm$0.81 MCN/100 tetrads (p< 0.01) for the rubber factory, and 15.60$\pm$2.58 (p< 0.01) (p< 0.001) for the semi -conductor factory. As a result, heavy metals among particulates in the working environment can be considered to have hazardous potential to human health, although they cannot directly induce DNA damage to the workers in the working environments.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.225-230
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• 1999

This study was carried out to investigate the radiation dose-response of micronucleus frequencies in Tradescantia pollen mother cells. The number of micronuclei increased in the tetrads as a result of chromosome deletion after irradiation. The maximal frequency of micronuclei showed a good dose-response relationship in the range of dose $0{\sim}50$ cGy. On the basis of the relationship, a dose of 1 cGy results maximally in two additional micronuclei in 100 tetrads. The radiation dose-response relationship of micronucleus occurrence is prerequisite to biological monitoring of radiations. The micronucleus assay can be applied to biological risk assessment of environmental toxicants, and to integrity test of water or soils of interest.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.448-458
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• 2020

T-DNA insertional mutations in Arabidopsis genes have conferred huge benefits to the research community, greatly facilitating gene function analyses. However, the insertion process can cause chromosomal rearrangements. Here, we show an example of a likely rearrangement following T-DNA insertion in the Anti-Silencing Function 1B (ASF1B) gene locus on Arabidopsis chromosome 5, so that the phenotype was not relevant to the gene of interest, ASF1B. ASF1 is a histone H3/H4 chaperone involved in chromatin remodeling in the sporophyte and during reproduction. Plants that were homozygous for mutant alleles asf1a or asf1b were developmentally normal. However, following self-fertilization of double heterozygotes (ASF1A/asf1a ASF1B/asf1b, hereafter AaBb), defects were visible in both male and female gametes. Half of the AaBb and aaBb ovules displayed arrested embryo sacs with functional megaspore identity. Similarly, half of the AaBb and aaBb pollen grains showed centromere defects, resulting in pollen abortion at the bi-cellular stage of the male gametophyte. However, inheritance of the mutant allele in a given gamete did not solely determine the abortion phenotype. Introducing functional ASF1B failed to rescue the AaBb- and aaBb-mediated abortion, suggesting that heterozygosity in the ASF1B gene causes gametophytic defects, rather than the loss of ASF1. The presence of reproductive defects in heterozygous mutants but not in homozygotes, and the characteristic all-or-nothing pollen viability within tetrads, were both indicative of commonly-observed T-DNA-mediated translocation activity for this allele. Our observations reinforce the importance of complementation tests in assigning gene function using reverse genetics.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.113-117
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• 1997

Simple sequence repeats (SSR) are widely dispersed throughout eukaryotic genomes, highly polymorphic, and easily typed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The objective of this study was to determine the polymorphism of different Chlamydomonas reinhartdtii strains and to determine the mode of inheritance of the SSR locus in Chlamydomonas. A genomic DNA library of C. reinhardtii was constructed and screened with a radiolabeled $(AC)_{11}$ probe for the selection of (CA/GT)n repeat clone. Selected clone was seqeuenced, and PCR primer set flanking (CA/GT)n sequence was constructed. PCR was used to specifically amplify the SSR locus from multiple isolates of C. reinhardtii. The locus was polymorphic in some of the C. reinhardtii isolates. However, the locus was amplified only 4 of 6 isolates of C. reinhardtii, not in other 2 isolates of C. reinhardtii, suggesting that this locus is not extensively conserved. A simple Mendelian inheritance pattern was found, which showed 2:2 segregation in the tetrads resulting from a cross between C. reinhardtii and C. smithii. Our results suggest that this simple sequence repeat DNA polymorphism will be useful for identity testing, population studies, linkage analysis, and genome mapping in Chlamydomonas.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.74-83
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• 2005

The ontogeny of pollen wall in Panax ginseng was studied with transmission and scanning electron microscopy from early tetrad stage until pollen maturity. Initial indication of exine development is undulation of plasma membrane for the preparation of bacular mound. The first recognizable structure of the pollen wall is the cellulosic primexine which is formed outside of the plasma membrane while microspore tetrads are still surrounded by callose wall. As development proceeds, foot-layer and baculum differentiation, callose dissolution and exine formation were progressed. During this process, sporopollenin is deposited into the exine, and then endexine development was followed. The intine, innermost pollen wall layer, is developing form hypertrophic Golgi vesicles. The thickness of exine is very even on all along the pollen wall, but intine thickness of apertural region is thicker than that of nonapertural region. Mature pollen of ginseng is $20{\mu}m$ in size, tricolpate and shows fine reticulate sculpturing.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1-14
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• 2007

Background: It is generally accepted that skeletal muscle contraction is triggered by nerve impulse and intracellular $Ca^{2+}\;([Ca^{2+}]_i)$ released from intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ stores such as sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Specifically, this process, called excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling, takes place at intracellular junctions between the plasma membrane, the transverse (T) tubule L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channel (dihydropyridine-sensitive L-rype $Ca^{2+}$ channel, DHPR, also called tetrads), and the SR $Ca^{2+}$ release channel (ryanodine-sensitive $Ca^{2+}$ release channel, RyR, also called feet) of internal $Ca^{2+}$ stores in skeletal muscle cells. Furthermore, it has been reported that the $Ca^{2+-}$ dependent and -independent contraction determine the expression of skeletal muscle genes, thus providing a mechanism for tightly coupling the extent of muscle contraction to regulation of muscle plasticity-related excitation-transcription (E-T) coupling. Purpose: Expression and activity of plasticity-associated enzymes in gastrocnemius muscle strips have not been well studied, however. Methods: Therefore, in this study the expression and phosphorylation of E-C and E-T coupling-related mediators such as protein kinases, ROS(reactive oxygen species)- and apoptosis-related substances, and others in gastrocnemius muscles from rats was examined. Results: I found that expression and activity of MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases, ERK1/2, p38MAPK, and SAPK/JNK), apoptotic proteins (cleaved caspase-3, cytochrome c, Ref-1, Bad), small GTP-binding proteins (RhoA and Cdc42), actin-binding protein (cofilin), PKC (protein kinase C) and $Ca^{2+}$ channel (transient receptor potential channel 6, TRPC6) was observed in rat gastrocnemius muscle strips. Conclusion: These results suggest that MAPKs, ROS- and apoptosis-related enzymes, cytoskeleton-regulated proteins, and $Ca^{2+}$ channel may in part functionally import in E-C and E-T coupling from rat skeletal muscles.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 1999

This study was carried out with the purpose of looking into the transcriptionally regulated genes related to the anther development, characterizing them, and applying their promoters to induce male-sterile plants and restore their fertility. Fifteen anther-specific clones were isolated from the anther cDNA library of Chinese cabbage through the differential screening and sequenced partially at both ends. These partial sequence data showed that cDNA clones BAN52, 84, 101, and 229 are very similar to polygalacturonase, ascorbate oxidase, $H^+-translocating$ ATPase, and pectin esterase genes respectively. However, the other clones have not been matched to any of gene sequences in data bank. In northern dot blot analysis, the transcripts of cDNA clone BAN5, 10, 33, 52, 57, 102, 103, 215, 229 appeared in the flower bud of 2.1 mm in length and their amounts were gradually increased along with the anther development. Transcription of cDNA clone BAN32, 54, 62, 84, 101 began in flower bud of 3.9 mm, which is the late stage in anther development. However, the transcription of BAN87 was very small, but its transcript was detected in all anther developmental stages.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.158-164
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• 2002

Some of synthetic chemicals can net as an endocrine disrupting substance in higher animals. Dioxins, DDT, PCBs and bisphenol A (BPA) are classified into endocrine disruptors and aye under a strict control in many countries. This research was designed to compare the clastogenic effects of BPA to those of ionizng radiation to establish the relaltive effectiveness of BPA by means of Tradescantia micronucleus assay. For the uptake of the BPA through the stems, groups of fresh cuttings of Tradescantia BNL 4430 weve placed in BPA solutions of 0 to 4 $\mu$M for 6 hours under continuous aeration. The other groups of the cuttings were irradiated with 0 to 0.5 Gy of gamma- rays. The frequencies of micronucleus showed a positive dose- response relationship in the range of 0 to 0.5 Gy, and a clear concentration-response relationship in the experimental range of BPA concentrations. By comparing the two experimental results, it is possible to estimate the BPA concentration and its equivalent radiation dose for a fixed value of MCN frequency. BPA of $ll.8\mu{M}$ can give rise to 53.3 MCN/100 tetrads, which is the same frequency induced by 25 cGy of gamma- rays. It is of biological importance that clinical symptoms start to develop after a whole body exposure to radiation higher than 25 cGy. The results indicate that the pollen mother cells are an excellent biological end- point for toxicity test of suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A, cotylphenol and nonylphenol.