Two hundred and sixty Korean soybean landrace accessions were analyzed for polymorphism at 92 simple sequence repeat(SSR) loci. The 995 identified alleles served as raw data for estimating genetic diversity and population structure. The number of alleles at a locus ranged from three to 27 with a mean of 10.4 alleles per locus. $F_{ST}$ values estimated by analysis of molecular variance(AMOVA) using SSR data set were 0.018, 0.027, and 0.016 for usage, collection site and maturity groups, respectively, indicating little genetic differentiation. The model-based clustering analysis placed the accessions into three clusters(K=3) with 0.0503 of $F_{ST}$, indicating moderate genetic differentiation. Duncan's Multiple Range Test at K = 3 on the basis of 18 quantitative traits revealed that one cluster was mainly differentiated from the other two clusters by seed related traits and the other two clusters were differentiated from each other by biochemical traits. Genetic structure of Korean soybean landraces was differentiated by model-based clustering and supported by their phenotypic traits in part. This preliminary study could be the first step towards more efficient germplasm management and utilization of soybean landraces and helpful in association studies between genotypic and phenotypic traits in Korean soybean landraces.

Melting curve analysis of fluorescently labeled DNA fragments is used extensively for genotyping single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP). Here, we evaluated a SNP genotyping method by melting curve analysis with the two probe chemistries in a 384-well plate format on a Roche LightCycler 480. The HybProbe chemistry is based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET) and the SimpleProbe chemistry uses a terminal self-quenching fluorophore. We evaluated FRET HybProbes and SimpleProbes for two SNP sites closely linked to two quantitative trait loci(QTL) for southern root-knot nematode resistance. These probes were used to genotype the two parents and 94 $F_2$ plants from the cross of PI 96354$\times$Bossier. The SNP genotypes of all samples determined by the LightCycler software agreed with previously determined SSR genotypes and the SNP genotypes determined on a Luminex 100 flow cytometry instrument. Multiplexed HybProbes for the two SNPs showed a 98.4% success rate and 100% concordance between repeats two of the same 96 DNA samples. Also, we developed a HybProbe assay for the Rcs3 gene conditioning broad resistance to the frogeye leaf spot(FLS) disease. The LightCycler 480 provides rapid PCR on 384-well plate and allows simultaneous amplification and analysis in approximately 2 hours without any additional steps after amplification. This allowed for a reduction of the potential contamination of PCR products, simplicity, and enablement of a streamlined workflow. The melting curve analysis on the LightCycler 480 provided high-throughput and rapid SNP genotyping and appears highly effective for marker-assisted selection in soybean.

To identify inheritance of clubroot disease resistance genes in Chinese cabbage, seedling tests of $BC_1P_1,\;BC_1P_2$, and $F_2$ populations derived from $F_1$ hybrid(var. CR Saerona) using single spore isolate(race 4 identified with William's differential host) from Plasmodiophora brassciae were conducted. Resistance(R) and susceptible(S) plants segregated to 1:0 in backcross to the resistant parent. The $F_2$ population segregated in a 3(R):1(S) ratio. This result implied that the resistance of clubroot disease is controlled by a single dominant gene to the race 4 of P. brassicae in CR Saerona. To develop DNA markers linked to clubroot resistance genes, 185 plants of CR Saerona among $F_2$ populations were used. A total of 300 arbitrary decamer was applied to $F_2$ population using BSARAPD(Bulked segregant analysis-Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA). One RAPD marker linked to clubroot resistance gene in CR Saerona($OPJ_{1100}$) was identified. This marker was 3.1 cM in distance from resistance gene in $F_2$ population. This marker may be useful for a marker-assisted selection(MAS) and gene pyramiding of the clubroot disease resistant gene in Chinese cabbage breeding programs.

A high-efficiency, reproducible somatic embryogenesis system for strawberry cultivar Chandler was developed. Thirty-one somatic embryos per explant(max no.) were recorded in leaf discs which were cultured on medium containing MS salts+$B_5$ vitamins+2% glucose+4.0 mg $1^{-1}$TDZ(Thidiazuron) and incubated at $10{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ under darkness for one week followed by three weeks under 16-h photoperiod. The scanning electron microscopic(SEM) ontogeny revealed the normal development of somatic embryos from globular to heart-shaped and dissection microscopy from torpedo-shaped to cotyledonary-stage embryos. The maximum germination percentage of 48% could be obtained on MS medium containing kinetin(1.0 mg $1^{-1}$) and the maximum survival percentage(79%) of plantlets after four weeks was found to be in the mixture of vermiculite, peatmoss, and soilrite(1:1:1).

Soybean is sensitive to waterlogging stress, leading to reduce their growth and yield significantly. The objective of this study was to characterize the relative sensitivities of biomass accumulation and specific nodule activity under waterlogging stress between supernoduating mutants, 'SS2-2' and 'Sakukei 4' and their wild-type soybeans, 'Sinpaldalkong 2' and 'Enrei', respectively. Flooding treatment was performed to soybean plants grown in a pot by waterlogging for 15 days from the beginning bloom(R1) stage under natural light. The nodule number and weight were considerably decreased by waterlogging stress. The bleeding sap rate of waterlogging soybean plants was decreased by 78-80% in supernodulating mutants and 65-74% in their wild types compared to control plants. The relative ureide-N content was also decreased by waterlogging and the reduction was high in supernodulating mutants. This may cause the massive reduction of shoot and root dry weight and leaf area in waterlogged soybean plants. There was a varietal difference in response to the waterlogging stress. During the waterlogging, supernodulating mutants maintained higher spad value than their wild types. Particularly, the difference between soybean varieties was clear in low rank leaves from the top. Also, supernodulating mutants showed a weak waterlogging tolerance than their wild types. Under waterlogging conditions, massive nodules were considerably destroyed and specific nodule activity after waterlogging may not be recovered when compared to their wild-type soybeans. Supernodulating mutants showed lower seed yield than their wild types in waterlogging conditions.

Since somatic embryogenesis combined with ethylmethane sulfonate(EMS) treatments is the most efficient technique for mutagenesis, the embryogenic capacity of four soybean cultivars was evaluated at different EMS concentrations, treatment times, and preculture durations. Two to 4 mm long immature cotyledons were placed in induction medium after EMS treatment, and the numbers of somatic embryos formed per explant were counted four weeks after culture initiation. We observed genotypic differences in the efficiency of somatic embryogenesis from immature embryos among four cultivars treated with different concentrations of EMS for six hours. Cultivars, Sinpaldalkong 2 and Jack, displayed highly efficient somatic embryogenesis regardless of EMS concentration, whereas very low efficiency or no survival was observed in Jinju 1 and Iksannamulkong cultivars. Preculture duration did not influence the efficiency of somatic embryogenesis. Because Sinpaldalkong 2 exhibited the best somatic embryogenesis, much higher concentrations of EMS were used to test somatic embryo formation under different periods of time in this cultivar. Three and six hour treatments with both 1 and 2 mM EMS yielded higher embryo formation than longer periods of time. Increasing the time with embryos in 2 mM EMS caused a reduction in somatic embryogenesis in Sinpaldalkong 2, but many chlorophyll-deficient soybean variants were identified in the $M_1R_0$ and $M_2R_1$ generations. In addition to Jack, Sinpaldalkong 2 is a good genotype for plant regeneration from EMS-treated immature embryo cultures.

Tobamoviruses are the major viral pathogens of tomato and bell pepper. The preliminary results showed that Acibenzolar-Smethyl(ASM; S-methylbenzo(1,2,3) thiadiazole-7-carbothiate) pre-treatment to tomato and tobacco plants reduces the concentration of Tomato mosaic tobamovirus(ToMV) and Tobacco mosaic tobamovirus(TMV) in tomato and bell pepper seedlings, respectively. Pre-treatment of the indicator plant(Nicotiana glutinosa) with the ASM followed by challenge inoculation with tobamoviruses produced a reduced number and size of local lesions(67 and 79% protection over control to TMV and ToMV inoculation, respectively). In order to understand the mechanism of resistance the gene expression profiles of antiviral genes was examined. RT-PCR products showed higher expression of two viral resistance genes viz., alternative oxidase(AOX) and RNA dependent RNA polymerase(RdRp) in the upper leaves of the ASM-treated tomato plants challenge inoculation with ToMV. Further, the viral concentration was also quantified in the upper leaves by reverse transcription PCR using specific primer for movement protein of ToMV, as well as ELISA by using antisera against tobamoviruses. The results provided additional evidence that ASM pre-treatment reduced the viral movement to upper leaves. The results suggest that expressions of viral resistance genes in the host are the key component in the resistance against ToMV in the inducer-treated tomato plants.

Improving eating quality is one of the most important objectives in japonica rice breeding programs in Yunnan Province of China. Eating quality and its relevant traits of nine Korean and 11 Yunnan rice cultivars were comparatively analyzed in this study. The grain shape of most Yunnan japonica rice cultivars have a relatively slender shape and are slightly larger than Korean rice cultivars. Palatability value of cooked rice of Yunnan rice cultivars was significantly lower, while the protein content of Yunnan rice cultivars was significantly higher than that of Korean cultivars. Peak viscosity and breakdown viscosity of the Yunnan rice cultivars were significantly lower, while setback viscosity of the Yunnan rice cultivars was significantly higher than in Korean rice cultivars. Palatability value of cooked rice was negatively correlated with protein content and setback viscosity but positively correlated with peak viscosity, breakdown viscosity, and cool paste viscosity. Through multiple linear regression analysis, an equation for estimating palatability value(PV) of cooked rice based on quality traits was generated as dependent only upon protein content(PC), PV=139.024-(10.865$\times$PC) with an $R^2$ value of 0.822. The results suggest that reducing protein contents should be the major target in improving eating quality of Yunnan japonica rice cultivars through integrated approaches of both cultivar development and appropriate cultural practices. Genetic similarities among cultivars based on DNA markers which had been identified as associated with grain quality seemed not to be directly related to PV.

The response of grain yield(GY) and milled-rice protein content(PC) to crop growth status and nitrogen(N) rates at panicle initiation stage(PIS) is critical information for prescribing topdress N rate at PIS(Npi) for target GY and PC. Three split-split-plot experiments including various N treatments and rice cultivars were conducted in Experimental Farm, Seoul National University, Korea in 2003-2005. Shoot N density(SND, g N in shoot $m^{-2}$) and canopy reflectance were measured before N application at PIS, and GY, PC, and SND were measured at harvest. Data from the first two years(2003-2004) were used for calibrating the predictive models for GY, PC, and SND accumulated from PIS to harvest using SND at PIS and Npi by multiple stepwise regression. After that the calibrated models were used for calculating N requirement at PIS for each of nine plots based on the target PC of 6.8% and the values of SND at PIS that was estimated by canopy reflectance method in the 2005 experiment. The result showed that SND at PIS in combination with Npi were successful to predict GY, PC, and SND from PIS to harvest in the calibration dataset with the coefficients of determination ($R^2$) of 0.87, 0.73, and 0.82 and the relative errors in prediction(REP, %) of 5.5, 4.3, and 21.1%, respectively. In general, the calibrated model equations showed a little lower performance in calculating GY, PC, and SND in the validation dataset(data from 2005) but REP ranging from 3.3% for PC and 13.9% for SND accumulated from PIS to harvest was acceptable. Nitrogen rate prescription treatment(PRT) for the target PC of 6.8% reduced the coefficient of variation in PC from 4.6% in the fixed rate treatment(FRT, 3.6g N $m^{-2}$) to 2.4% in PRT and the average PC of PRT was 6.78%, being very close to the target PC of 6.8%. In addition, PRT increased GY by 42.1 $gm^{-2}$ while Npi increased by 0.63 $gm^{-2}$ compared to the FRT, resulting in high agronomic N-use efficiency of 68.8 kg grain from additional kg N. The high agronomic N-use efficiency might have resulted from the higher response of grain yield to the applied N in the prescribed N rate treatment because N rate was prescribed based on the crop growth and N status of each plot.

The objective of this study is to identify main-effect QTLs, epistatic QTLs, and the interactions between QTL and the environment associated with grain appearances of brown rice. A genetic linkage map was created with 172 DNA markers spanning 12 rice chromosomes based on 120 DH lines, which derived from a cross between 'Samgang'(Tongil) and 'Nagdong'(Japonica). One thousandgrain weight, length, width, length-to-width ratio, and thickness were evaluated regarding the DH population. Twenty independent QTLs and fourteen epistatic QTLs were identified in using CIM by two programs, known as WinQTLcart2.5 and QTLMAPPER. The QTLs of qgw9.1 in an interval of RM434-RM242 on chromosome 9 and qgw11.1 at a peak marker of RM287 on chromosome 11 for one thousand-grain weight, qgwi2.2 for grain width at a peak marker of RM450, qlw2.1 for length-to-width ratio flanked by RM492 and RM324, and qgt2.1 for thickness flanked by 2009 and RM492 on chromosome 2 were detected over two years, which can be considered as stable QTLs. The epistatic effect might be an important component for genetic basis of one thousand-grain weight and width. The main-effect QTLs of grain width and length to width ratio were easily influenced by environments.