• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2020

Methods for detecting the presence of genetically modified (GM) crops are evolving to comply with legislation and to enhance monitoring by biotechnology companies and regulators. In order to cover a broad range of detection methods for a new GM crop, conventional multiplex PCR methods are required. Based on the genetic information on three GM alfalfa varieties (J101, J163, and KK179), which were recently approved in South Korea, we developed a fast, reliable, and highly specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method with basic PCR equipment and inexpensive reagents. To validate and verify the newly developed multiplex PCR method, we applied a limit of detection assay and random reference material analysis. We also monitored the unintentional environmental release of GM alfalfa in South Korea by performing the multiplex PCR analysis with 91 feral alfalfa specimens collected from 2000 to 2018. Our methodology is a sensitive, simple, quick, and inexpensive tool for detecting and identifying three GM alfalfa varieties.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.301-308
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• 2009

Higher agricultural commodity prices are a particular concern for food importing countries like Korea that has a very low self-sufficiency ratio. Korean people eat approximately 4.5 million metric tons of rice each year, which is met without a problem by domestic production. The domestic production of corn and soybean which are important raw materials for commercial food processing and livestock feed is only minimal. Demands of corn and soybean in Korea are approximately 7.2 million and 1.3 million metric tons per year, respectively. Since Korean consumers are reluctant to accept biotech (GM) foods, Korean food processors are fighting an up-hill battle in purchasing non-biotech (non- GM) crops which are becoming scarce.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.205-214
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• 2016

A drought-tolerant transgenic rice (Agb0103) was developed using a pepper methionine sulfoxide reductase (CaMsrB2) under the control of rice Rab21 promoter with a selection marker, the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) gene. Commercialization of genetically modified (GM) crops will require the evaluation of risks associated with the release of GM crops. With the potential problems associated to GM crops safety testing, the investigation of their effects on non-target organisms is necessary for environmental risk research. This study was carried out to assess acute toxicity of a GM crop using the water flea (Daphnia magna) for non-target organism risk evaluation. The effect of acute toxicity on Daphnia magna of Agb0103 rice and a non-GM rice, Ilmibyeo, were investigated at different concentrations (0, 625, 1,250, 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 mg/L). The Agb0103 rice used for the test was confirmed to express the CaMsrB2/PAT gene by the PCR and ELISA. Daphnia magna feeding tests showed no significant differences in cumulative immobility or abnormal response with either Agb0103 rice or non-GM rice. The 48hr-EC50 values showed no difference between Agb0103 rice (2243 mg/L) and non-GM rice (2694 mg/L). These results suggest that there is no significant difference in toxicity to Daphnia magna between Agb0103 rice and its non-GM counterpart.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.305-312
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• 2010

During a last decade, the introduced traits in commercialized GM crops have been diversified from a simple trait such as herbicide resistance gene or insectresistance gene which are related to the crop production into more complicated traits such as modification of fatty acid or essential amino acid composition, modified coloring pattern of flower. In addition, it was investigated that several other GM crops bearing more refined traits expected to lead next generation are also awaiting for risk assessment (RA) or under field test for the preparation of RA in the near future. These GM crops include abiotic stress resistance including drought or cold, increased biomass, production of bioethanol or diesel, production of pharmaceuticals or functional materials for industrial. In particular, in 2008 and 2009, it was reported that the highest number of GM crops for molecular farming are under developed in laboratory or green house level in all the world. Likewise, in Korea, 171 events from 49 plant species are under developed to introduce several important traits. At present, about 10 events are under field test to select elite lines for RA application. For the first time, herbicide resistance turfgrass developed by Korean research team has been submitted for RA and currently under requested for additional data. Moreover, GM rice resistant to leaf roll (folder) disease is expected as a next event to be submitted for RA application.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.227-231
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• 2004

A total of 219 polymerase chain reaction tests of genetically modified (GM) DNA sequences in soybean seeds and soybean sprouts were conducted during 2000-2001. No CM gene was found in 96 tests of soybean seeds. However, either a functional CP4EPSPS gene or the 355 promoter gene was found three times in 2000 and eight times in 2001, in between 0.01 and 0.17％ of soybean spout products, in 123 tests. Since the amount of GM genes was much less than the threshold limit of 3％, none of the 11 positive soybean-sprout samples needed to be libeled GM crops. Of these, seven sprout samples were from domestic seeds and four were from seeds imported from China. To find the contamination route, the raw materials, seed surface, floor of the storage room, area around the selection machine, surface of the packaging film and corn powder used in the package were tested. The 35S promoter gene was detected in only two samples of the corn powder (0.1％). Although we could not find the cause of the GM contamination, the sprout package film is one possibility. In total,8.9％ of the soybean sprout tests were GM positive, but the amounts were much less than the threshold of 3％. This means that there are frequent false-positives and these would threaten the sprout industry if GMO were decided qualitatively. Food companies should make their safety data available to the public and make an effort to address people's concerns about GM food more openly. In addition, there is a need to establish a quantitative test for GM genes in sampled water and a sampling method for raw materials.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 2021

Trapping efficacy of lures obtained by mixing sex pheromone attractants of two or three species in a single dispenser were evaluated in peach and apple orchards for three lepidopteran fruit borers, Grapholita molesta (GM), Carposina sasaki (CS), and Conogethes punctiferalis (CP) which use different chemicals as their sex attractants. In the peach orchard, the trapping efficacy of the mixed lures of GM and CS attractants were reduced for GM trapping, compared with the single GM lure. The population fluctuation patterns of GM were highly correlated between the single lure and all the mixed lures. In the apple orchard, the efficacy of all the mixed lures were not reduced for GM trapping. The trapping efficacy of all the mixed lures for CS trapping were not reduced compared with the CS single lure in both the peach and apple orchards. In the peach orchard, the population fluctuation patterns of CS were highly correlated between the single lure and the mixed lures. The efficacy of the mixed lures for CP trapping could not be determined because of the small number of caught samples. The results indicated that mixed lures could be utilized for monitoring of the annual adult emergence of two species, GM and CS.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.317-324
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• 2009

The insecticidal toxin gene of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is one of the most commonly used in the development of genetically modified (GM) crops. In this research, we analyzed Bt rice showing lepidopteran pest-resistance. The Bt gene is a synthetic Cry1Ac composed of optimal codons for plants, and the Bt protein is targeted to the chloroplast by a transit peptide. Three Cry1Ac rice events (C103-3, C127-1, and C7-1) were analyzed for molecular characterization. C103-3 contains two copies of T-DNA where the left border (LB) region is truncated. Both C7-1 and C127-1 have a single copy of T-DNA, but a part of the vector backbone DNA is inserted into the genome of C127-1; thus, only C7-1 had intact T-DNA. Progenies of C7-1 crossed with the original cultivar, Nakdong, and double-haploid lines from anther culture of lines crossed with the elite cultivar, Dongjin, were analyzed for T-DNA flanking genomic DNA and genotyping. Results showed that an intact T-DNA region without the vector backbone was inserted into the genome and was stably inherited through generations. The C7-1 homozygous event could be used as breeding material to develop GM rice with pest resistance.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.456-464
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• 2010

Potato is one of the most important crops in the world. Due to vegetative propagation of this crop, techniques of plant tissue culture and genetic transformation are often applied for potato researches and a lot of progress has been made in the breeding programs using these techniques during the last decades. In potato, there have been several trials to introduce GM potato varieties to the world market, but they so far failed due to the changed legislation and unwillingness of large processors to process GM potatoes. These issues are highly associated with the general acceptances of the public and other political decisions. In addition to these, there are still obstacles to overcome to achieve the development of commercial potato variety and several factors to improve horticulturally important traits. In this study, therefore, we reviewed recent advances and research status on tissue culture and genetic transformation in potato and discussed future perspective.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2020

Advances in biotechnology have led to progress in crop genetic engineering to improve agricultural productivity. The use of genetically modified (GM) crops has increased, as have consumers' and regulators' concerns about the safety of GM crops to human health, and ecological biodiversity. As such, the identification of GM crops is a critical issue for developers and distributors, and their labeling is mandatory. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been developed and its use validated for the detection and identification of GM crops in quarantine. Herein, we established a simultaneous detection method to identify four GM maize events. Event-specific primers were designed between the junction region of transgene and genome of four GM maize lines, namely 5307, DAS-40278-9, MON87460, and MON87427. To verify the efficiency and accuracy of the multiplex PCR we used specificity analysis, limit of detection evaluation, and mixed certified reference materials identification. The multiplex PCR method was applied to analyze 29 living, modified maize volunteers collected in South Korea in 2018 and 2019. We performed multiplex PCR analysis to identify events and confirmed the result by simplex PCR using each event-specific primer. As a result, rather than detecting each event individually, the simultaneous detection PCR method enabled the rapid analysis of 29 GM maize volunteers. Thus, the novel multiplex PCR method is applicable for living modified organism volunteer identification.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2001

It is possible to use hairy vetch as green manure for corn not only in corn single cropping but also in double cropping system of corn and fall oats. Fall oats and hairy vetch were mixed-sown after corn harvest and harvested as forage in the early of November, and then hairy vetch stubble was over-wintered and incorporated into soil at corn planting as green manure without N fertilizer (FO+HV-GM). Other treatments were fall oats without N fertilizer on corn (FO-0N) and with N fertilizer 200kg/ha on corn (FO-200N), hairy vetch green manure without N fertilizer on corn (HV-GM), and fell winter follow without N fertilizer on corn (WF-0N). Soil nitrate content, corn growth and nitrogen uptakes, and yield of corn were measured and compared during 2-year experimental seasons. Dry matter and N amount of hairy vetch at the plot of FO+HV-GM were 60% less than those at the plot of HV-GM. The N effect of hairy vetch green manure on corn at the plot of HV-GM was similar to that at FO-200N plot for two years. Soil nitrate at the plot of FO+HV-GM was below the half of those at plots of HV-GM and FO-200N at 6-leaf stage of corn. N uptake of corn at the plot of FO+HV-GM at silking stage was 30% less than those at plot of HV-GM and FO-200N. However, soil nitrate at 6-leaf stage of corn and the amount of nitrogen uptake of corn at silking stage increased two times and 30-40 kg/ha, respectively, compared with those at the plot of FO-0N. Corn yield at FO+HV-GM decreased about 2 ton/ha due to the decrease of corn grain weight in the first year compared with plot of HV-GM and FO-200N, but its difference was not shown in succeeding second year. Corn N uptake at FO+HV-GM decreased 60 kg/ha and 20 kg/ha in 1999 and 2000, compared with plot of HV-GM and FO-200N, respectively, but increased 30kg/ha and 45kg/ha compared with the plot of FO-0N in 1999, 2000, respectively. Therefore, it is estimated that hairy vetch green manure in fall oats-corn double cropping system can reduce nitrogen chemical fertilizer on corn as much as 50-100 kg/ha although its N effect is much lower than the N effect of hairy vetch green manure in corn single cropping of which N effect is over 200 kg/ha.