• Molecules and Cells
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• v.46 no.11
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• pp.710-724
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• 2023

The plant defense responses to microbial infection are tightly regulated and integrated with the developmental program for optimal resources allocation. Notably, the defense-associated hormone salicylic acid (SA) acts as a promoter of flowering while several plant pathogens actively target the flowering signaling pathway to promote their virulence or dissemination. Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum inject tens of effectors in the host cells that collectively promote bacterial proliferation in plant tissues. Here, we characterized the function of the broadly conserved R. pseudosolanacearum effector RipL, through heterologous expression in Arabidopsis thaliana. RipL-expressing transgenic lines presented a delayed flowering, which correlated with a low expression of flowering regulator genes. Delayed flowering was also observed in Nicotiana benthamiana plants transiently expressing RipL. In parallel, RipL promoted plant susceptibility to virulent strains of Pseudomonas syringae in the effector-expressing lines or when delivered by the type III secretion system. Unexpectedly, SA accumulation and SA-dependent immune signaling were not significantly affected by RipL expression. Rather, the RNA-seq analysis of infected RipL-expressing lines revealed that the overall amplitude of the transcriptional response was dampened, suggesting that RipL could promote plant susceptibility in an SA-independent manner. Further elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underpinning RipL effect on flowering and immunity may reveal novel effector functions in host cells.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1996.07a
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• pp.4-9
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• 1996

The majority of plants sense environmental signals, such as day length or temperature, to select their transition timing from vegetative growth t flowering. Here, we report the identification of a regulatory gene, OsMADS1, that controls the photoperiod sensitivity of flowering time. Constitutive expression of OsMADS1 in a long-day flowering plant, Nicotiana sylvestris, resulted in flowering in both short-day long-day conditions. Similarly, ectopic expression of the gene in a short-day flowering plant, N. tabacum cv. Maryland Mammoth, also induced flowering regardless of the day length. The transition time was dependent on the level of the OsMADS1 transcript in transgenic plants. These suggest that OsMADS1 is a key regulatory factor that determines the transition from shoot apex to floral meristem and that it can be used for controlling flowering time in a variety of plant species.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.190-199
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• 2023

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.: Arecaceae) is a dioecious species where only female trees bear fruits. In their natural state, date palms produce dates once a year. However, in Thailand, some trees were observed to produce dates during the off-season, despite no variations in morphology. The availability of such off-season fruits can significantly increase their market value. Interestingly, most female off-season date palms investigated in this study were obtained through micropropagation. Hence, there is an urgent need for genetic markers to distinguish female offseason flowering plantlets within tissue culture systems. In this study, we aimed to develop random amplification of polymorphic DNA-sequence characterized amplified region (RAPD-SCAR) markers for the identification of female off-season flowering date palms cultivated in Thailand. A total of 160 random decamer primers were employed to screen for specific RAPD markers in off-season flowering male and female populations. Out of these, only one primer, OPN-02, generated distinct genomic DNA patterns in female off-season flowering (FOFdp) individuals compared to female seasonal flowering genotypes. Based on the RAPD-specific sequence, specific SCAR primers denoted as FOFdpF and FOFdpR were developed. These SCAR primers amplified a single 517-bp DNA fragment, predominantly found in off-season flowering populations, with an accuracy rate of 60%. These findings underscore the potential of SCAR marker technology for tracking offseason flowering in date palms. Notably, a BLAST analysis revealed a substantial similarity between the SCAR marker sequence and the transcript variant mRNA from Phoenix dactylifera encoding the SET DOMAIN GROUP 40 protein. In Arabidopsis, this protein is involved in the epigenetic regulation of flowering time. The genetic potential of the off-season flowering traits warrants further elucidation.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1988

This experiment were carried out to study the heritability, genotypic, pheno-typic and environmental correlation in four edible oil crops. Heritabilities of flowering date, maturing date, plant height and weight of 1, 000 grains in rape were high. A highly significant positive correlation was found between flowering date and maturing date, plant hight and ear length, number of pods per ear and flowering date, maturing date and plant hight, The number of seed per pod showed also significant positive correlation with flowering or maturing date as well as with the relationship between weight of 1, 000 grains and plant height or ear length inrapeseed, respectively. Heritabilities of maturing date, length of stem with eapsule and number of seed per capsule were high, in sesame. Genotypic correlation between plant height and length of stem with capsule, length of stem with capsule and number of capsule per plant, number of capsule per plant and weight of 1, 000 grains, weight of 1, 000 grains and yield were highy positive in sesame. Heritabilities of flowering date, length of main stem, weight of 100 grains and number of shells per square meter in peanut were high, There was positive genotypic correlation between length of main stem and yield, number of shells per quare meter and matured seed ratio, number of shells per square meter and yield, 100 grains weight and yield. On the other hand, a significant negative correlation appeared between flowering date and yield. Heritabilities of days to flowering, stem length, stem diameter and weight of 1, 000 grains in perila were high. There was positive genotypic correlation between stem length and stem diameter, number of pods per plant, stem weight etc, between number of internodes and number of pods per plant, stem weight, number of valid branches and number of pods plant as well, respectively. While, a significant negative correlation was observed between number of valid branches and weight of 1, 000 grains, between number of pods per plant and weight of 1, 000 grains.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.368-372
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• 2008

Recent molecular and genetic studies in rice, a short-day plant, have elucidated both conservation and divergence of photoperiod pathway genes and their regulators. However, the biological roles of rice genes that act within the autonomous pathway are still largely unknown. In order to better understand the function of the autonomous pathway genes in rice, we conducted molecular genetic analyses of OsFVE, a rice gene homologous to Arabidopsis FVE. OsFVE was found to be ubiquitously expressed in vegetative and reproductive organs. Overexpression of OsFVE could rescue the flowering time phenotype of the Arabidopsis fve mutants by up-regulating expression of the SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CO1 (SOC1) and down-regulating FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) expression. These results suggest that there may be a conserved function between OsFVE and FVE in the control of flowering time. However, OsFVE overexpression in the fve mutants did not rescue the flowering time phenotype in in relation to the response to intermittent cold treatment.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.323-328
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• 2012

This paper describes the potential use of deep sea water to stimulate seed germination in both common and Tartary buckwheat. Treatment of 10% deep sea water at $25^{\circ}C$ would slightly enhance germination of buckwheat seeds compared to non-DSW treatment and other temperature. In this study, the significant effects of photoperiod and temperature on seedling growth were also found in the HL treatment for the number of leaf, plant height, and plant fresh weight and LL treatment for root length and leaf size. Common buckwheat (Suwon No.1) showed higher rate (93%) of flowering plants in the HS and LL (93% of flowering rates) than those revealed in the HS and LS treatment, while the low percentage(67%) of plant flowering plants was shown in the LS treatment. All plants (100%) of a Korean landrace, Ahndong-jaerae showed flowers in the HS and LS treatment. HL and LL treatment status did not occur in the plant's flowering. Any Tartary buckwheat (KW45) plant did not yet flowered when it was 21 days-old.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.355-363
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was conducted on Forsythia velutina, a special plant, in Gyeongsangnam-do Arboretum under the Gyeongsangnam-do Forest Environment Research Institute, which is located in the southern part of Korea. Methods: The research aimed to analyze the flowering characteristics of the plant by calculating the optimal temperature and humidity according to the flowering time and flowering period for 8 years from 2010 to 2017 in order to provide basic data for bioclimate studies of endemic plants. Results: It was observed that the Forsythia velutina showed a life cycle from mid-March and to mid-November. Average growth period was 243 (± 6.5) days. In testing the reliability of a single variable according to the meteorological factors, the Cronbach's Alpha was 0.701, which indicates that the findings were relatively reliable. The average date of flowering was March 16 (SD = 5.8) and the average date on which blossoms fall was March 29 (SD = 5.2). A substantial difference in flowering period was observed from year to year 11 to 23 days, with an average of 16 days (± 4.7). The temperature and humidity in February to March, which affect the flowering, were 2.9-5.5℃, and 66.5-73.0%, respectively, and showed differences every year. Conclusion: The correlation between flowering time and meteorological factors was positive, and the highest daily temperature and average daily temperature had the highest significance. When establishing basic data on plant species for the conservation of endemic plants, the changes in life cycle events and weather conditions are identified. It is believed that it will be helpful in establishing a conservation strategy for the plant species in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.5_1
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• pp.457.2-486
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• 1998

Ecological success of introduced species is frequently attributed to the reproductive characters of those species. We examined the relationship between both flowering season and plant size and reproductive characters in two introduced species of Taraxacum, e.g., T. officinale and T.laevigatum. Seventy six plants of T. officinale and 23 plants of T. laevigatum were randomly tagged from a population at the sungshin Women's University in April of 1997. The size and number of vegetative characters such as rosette diameter, leaf number, and the largest leaf length and width were measured for each plant at the onset of flowering. The infructescence was collected continually from each plant before seed dispersal from April to August of 1997. The number of infructescence per plant, and seed number and total seed weight per infructescence were measured. Mean individual seed weight per infructescence was also obtained. T. officinale possessed larger sized, but smaller number of, leaves than T. laevigatum, thereby resulting in no significant difference in total leaf area. There was a trend that vegetatively larger plants in both of these species produced reproductive characters larger in size or greater in number, except for seed number and total seed weight per infructescence in T. laevigatum. All reproductive characters examined in T. officinale decreased toward the end of flowering season. In T. laevigatum, infructescence number per plant also declined during a flowering season: however, mean seed number per infructescence increaed toward the end of flowering season with no significant seasonal change in the total seed weight per infructescence. T. officinale produced on average about twice as many seeds per plant as T. laevigatum during a growing season. These two Taraxacum species produced quite small seeds in size compared to the endemic species, exhibiting a far better dispersal ability of introduced species. These data demonstrate that most reproductive characters decline in size and number in both species during a long flowering period, but the two species appear to employ different strategies to achieve reproductive success in disturbed habitats.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1987.07a
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• pp.213-237
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• 1987

In vitro flowering system may minimize the confounded influence of non-floral meristem parts of plants in studying the relationship of a given treatment and flowering responses. We have induced flower buds from plantlets regenerated from zygotic embryo-derived somatic embryos of ginseng, which circumvented the normal 2-year juvenile period before flowering. The result suggests that the adulthood of ginseng root explants in the experiment previously conducted by Chang and Hsing (1980; Nature 284: 341-342) is not prerequired to flowering of plantlets regenerated through somatic embryogenesis. We have also induced flower buds from elongated axillary brandches from cotyledonary nodes by culturing ginseng zygotic embryos, seedlings, and excised cotyledonary nodes. It was found that 6-benzyladenine (BA) supplemented to the medium was essential for flowering, whereas abscisic acid (ABA) was inhibitory. Gibberellic acid(GA3) was also required for flowering when ABA was present with BA in the medium. The results suggest that cytokinins, gibberellins, and inhibitors play primary, permissive, and preventive roles, respective-ly, in the induction of flowering of ginseng. Tran Thanh Van (1980; Int. Rev. Cytol., Suppl. IIA: 175-194) has developed the "thin cell layer system" in which the induction of shoots, roots, or flower buds from epidermal layer explants were controlled by culture conditions and exogenous growth regulators in the medium, Utilizing the thin cell layer system, Meeks-Wagner et al. (1989; The Plant Cell 1: 25-35) have cloned genes specifically expressed during floral evocation. However, the system is too tedious for obtaining a sufficient amount of plant materials for biochmical and molecular biological studies of flowering. We have developed a garlic callus culture system and one obvious advantaging over the thin cell layer system is that an abundant cells committed to develope into flower buds proliferate. When the above cells were compared by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with those which have just lost the competence for developing into flower buds, a few putative proteins specific to floral evocation were detected. The garlic callus culture system can be further explored for elucidation of the molecular biological mechanism of floral evocation and morphogenesis.hogenesis.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2018

The interplay of plant hormones is one of the essential mechanisms for plant growth and development. A recent study reported that Brassinosteroids (BR) and ABSCISIC ACID (ABA) interact antagonistically in early seedling developments through the BR-mediated epigenetic repression of ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 3 (ABI3). However, the other physiological roles of the BR-mediated regulation of ABI3 and ABA responses beyond early seedling developments remain largely unknown. Here, we showed that the activation of BR signaling by high temperatures promotes flowering time through the suppression of ABI3 expressions. Elevated ambient temperature induced early flowering in wild type Col-0 plants, but not in BR-defective bri1-116 mutant plants. Conversely, a hyper BR biosynthetic dwf4-D mutant displayed more sensitive thermomorphic long shoot elongation and early flowering. Both expression patterns and physiological responses supported the biological roles of ABI3 in the regulation of floral transition and reproduction under high temperature conditions. Finally, we confirmed that the lowered expressions of the transcript and protein levels of ABI3 brought on by elevated temperature were correlated with warmth-induced early flowering phenotypes. In conclusion, our data suggest that the BR- and warmth-mediated regulation of ABI3 are important in thermomorphic reproductive phase transitions in plants.