• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.177-186
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• 2005

Xenotransplantation may help to overcome the critical shortage of human tissues and organs for human transplantation, Swine represents an ideal source of such organs owing to their anatomical and physiological similarities to human besides their plentiful supply, However, the use of organs across the species barrier may be associated with the risk of transmission of pathogens, specially porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs).• Although most of these potential pathogens could be eliminated by pathogen-free breeding, PERVs are not eliminated by this treatment. PERVs are integrated into the genome of all pigs and produced by normal pig cells and infect human cells. They belong to gamma retroviruses and are of three classes viruses: A, B and C. In the present study, PCR based cloning was performed with chromosomal DNA extracted from pigs from domestic pigs in Korea. Amplified PCR fragments of about 1.5 Kb, covering the partial env gene, were cloned into pCR2.l-TOPO vectors and sequenced. A total of 91 env clones were obtained from domestic pigs, Berkshire, Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire in Korea. Phylogenetic analysis of these genes revealed the presence of only PERV class A and B in the proportion of 58 % and 42 %, respectively. Among these, 28 clones had the correct open reading frame: 18 clones in class A and 10 clones in class B. Since both these PERV classes are polytropic and have the capacity to infect human cells, our data suggest that proviral PERVs have the potential to generate infectious viruses during or after xenotransplantation in human.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1446-1457
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• 2016

Wetlands exhibit intermediate characteristics of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and the biodiversity is rich in these unique biological habitats. The symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi that inhabit these wetlands play an important role in natural resource management, biodiversity, and conservation. Accordingly, the mujechi, having academic value for the study of the natural environment, was investigated in terms of genetic diversity of endophytic fungi, which inhabit the roots of wild plants. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified to identify fungal strains. In total, 226 strains were isolated and categorized into three phyla, seven classes, 10 orders, 22 families, and 31 genera. In plants by endophytic fungi were classified in Isachne globosa (Ig) to 19 genera, Scirpus karuisawensis (Sk) to 11 genera, Utricularia racemosa (Ur) to 19 genera, and one incertae sedis, Eriocaulon decemflorum (Ed) to 11 genera. The fungal taxa was identified the genera Acephala (19.9%), Tolypocladium (16.3%), Neopestalotiopsis (11.5%), and Perenniporia (7.1%). The fungal group isolated from Isachne globosa (Ig) grew the largest number of isolated fungal strains. After comprehensive evaluation, the endophytic fungal group from Utricularia racemosa (Ur) ranked highest in diversity analyses. From the roots of wild plant in mujechi-neup, it confirmed the distribution and diversity of endophytic fungi. This study provides the basic data to understand fungal community structure in peat wetlands.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2003

Korean ginseng(Panax gmseng C.A. Meyer) is very difficult to obtain stable production of qualified ginseng roots because of variable stresses in soil environments. In environment stresses, soil condition is the most important factor, among which nutrients, especially inorganic materials such as N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, etc., influence greatly on the ginseng growth. However, present ginseng field soils in Korea contain so much amount of such inorganic materials that a variety of remarkable disorders were noted in many ginseng plantations, resulting in decrease of qualitative ginseng production. Therefore, it is required to search for genetic resources and genes tolerant to salt stress for the development of ginseng cultivars. Selection of stress-tolerant ginseng lines in fields is very difficult because it is almost impossible to control properly the environmental conditions of soil. On the contrary, it can be studied with ease to search for stress-tolerant ginseng lines through in vitro culture because of easy manipulation of stress conditions. Murashige & Skoog(MS) media with 2.5 folds of $KNO_3,\;NH_4NO_3,\;MgSO_4\;7H_2O,\;KH_2PO_4,\;and\;CaCl_2\;2H_2O$ was established for the selection of ginseng lines tolerant to salt stress under the embryo culture.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.256-262
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Seed of perilla (Perilla frutescens var. japonica Hara) is short-lived in conventional storage conditions. For long-term conservation of plant species, cryopreservation is the method currently available. This study was performed to find out reliable methods for a long-term storage of seeds of perilla as a genetic resource. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using seeds of 9 perilla cultivars, the effects of desiccation, aging, and cryopreservation on seed germinability and ascorbate peroxidase activity in the seeds were investigated. Initial germinability of the seeds was various, and dry seeds of all cultivars survived cryopreservation without loss of viability. The highest germination was achieved at 4-5% moisture content, and stimulatory effect of cryogenic temperature on the seed germination was observed in some cultivars. Accelerated aging of perilla seeds led to reduction in germination and ascorbate peroxidase activity, and the susceptibility of seeds to aging was different among the tested cultivars. No significant difference in germination was observed for the aged seeds of control and liquid nitrogen exposed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that cryopreservation at 4-5% moisture content would be a suitable method for long-term conservation of perilla seeds without detrimental effects on germination.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.116-122
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• 2011

In this study, we report the generation and analysis of 1,392 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from Korean Stewartia (Stewartia koreana Nakai). A cDNA library was generated from the young leaf tissue and a total of 1,392 cDNA were partially sequenced. EST and unigene sequence quality were determined by computational filtering, manual review, and BLAST analyses. Finally, 1,301 ESTs were acquired after the removal of the vector sequence and filtering over a minimum length 100 nucleotides. A total of 893 unigene, consisting of 150 contigs and 743 singletons, was identified after assembling. Also, we identified 95 new microsatellite-containing sequences from the unigenes and classified the structure according to their repeat unit. According to homology search with BLASTX against the NCBI database, 65% of ESTs were homologous with known function and 11.6% of ESTs were matched with putative or unknown function. The remaining 23.2% of ESTs showed no significant similarity to any protein sequences found in the public database. Annotation based searches against multiple databases including wine grape and populus sequences helped to identify putative functions of ESTs and unigenes. Gene ontology (GO) classification showed that the most abundant GO terms were transport, nucleotide binding, plastid, in terms biological process, molecular function and cellular component, respectively. The sequence data will be used to characterize potential roles of new genes in Stewartia and provided for the useful tools as a genetic resource.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.168-173
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• 2011

This study was carried out to optimize the embryogenic callus induction and plant regeneration from mature seeds of Sorghum bicolor. The effect of growth regulators was investigated on formation of embryogenic callus. The highest frequency of embryogenic callus was observed when the mature seeds were cultured on B5 medium supplemented with 2 mg/L 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). The highest frequency of plant regeneration from embryogenic callus was observed on MS medium with 0.5 $mg\;l^{-1}$ 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP) and 0.25 $mg\;l^{-1}$ indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to optimize the shoot regeneration. High concentration of BAP (1 $mg\;l^{-1}$) supplemented with IBA (0.25 $mg\;l^{-1}$) was effective combination for shoot multiplication. MS medium supplemented with 1 $mg\;l^{-1}$ IBA was found to be the most effective for inducing roots. Normal rooted plantlets were transferred to the greenhouse for hardening with over 90% survival rate. Hence, this reproducible protocol could be useful for mass propagation and genetic transformation of S. bicolor.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2011

In order to distinguish the cultivation area of Panax ginseng, principal component analysis (PCA) using quantitative and qualitative data acquired from HPLC was carried out. A new HPLC method coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD) was developed for the simultaneous quantification of ten major ginsenosides, namely $Rh_1$, $Rg_2$, $Rg_3$, $Rg_1$, Rf, Re, Rd, $Rb_2$, Rc, and $Rb_1$ in the root of P. ginseng C. A. Meyer. Simultaneous separations of these ten ginsenosides were achieved on a carbohydrate analytical column. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water-isopropanol, and acetonitrile-water-isopropanol using a gradient elution. Distinct differences in qualitative and quantitative characteristics for ginsenosides were found between the ginseng roots produced in two different Korean cultivation areas, Ganghwa and Punggi. The ginsenoside profiles obtained via HPLC analysis were subjected to PCA. PCA score plots using two principal components (PCs) showed good separation for the ginseng roots cultivated in Ganghwa and Punggi. PC1 influenced the separation, capturing 43.6% of the variance, while PC2 affected differentiation, explaining 18.0% of the variance. The highest contribution components were ginsenoside $Rg_3$ for PC1 and ginsenoside Rf for PC2. Particularly, the PCA score plot for the small ginseng roots of six-year old, each of which was light than 147 g fresh weight, showed more distinct discrimination. PC1 influenced the separation between different sample sets, capturing 51.8% of the variance, while PC2 affected differentiation, also explaining 28.0% of the variance. The highest contribution component was ginsenoside Rf for PC1 and ginsenoside $Rg_2$ for PC2. In conclusion, the HPLC-ELSD method using a carbohydrate column allowed for the simultaneous quantification of ten major ginsenosides, and PCA analysis of the ginsenoside peaks shown on the HPLC chromatogram would be a very acceptable strategy for discrimination of the cultivation area of ginseng roots.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.540-547
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• 2017

Background: In general, after Panax ginseng is administered orally, intestinal microbes play a crucial role in its degradation and metabolization process. Studies on the metabolism of P. ginseng by microflora are important for obtaining a better understanding of their biological effects. Methods: In vitro biotransformation of P. ginseng extract by rat intestinal microflora was investigated at $37^{\circ}C$ for 24 h, and the simultaneous determination of the metabolites and metabolic profile of P. ginseng saponins by rat intestinal microflora was achieved using LC-MS/MS. Results: A total of seven ginsenosides were detected in the P. ginseng extract, including ginsenosides Rg1, Re, Rf, Rb1, Rc, Rb2, and Rd. In the transformed P. ginseng samples, considerable amounts of deglycosylated metabolite compound K and Rh1 were detected. In addition, minimal amounts of deglycosylated metabolites (ginsenosides Rg2, F1, F2, Rg3, and protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides) and untransformed ginsenosides Re, Rg1, and Rd were detected at 24 h. The results indicated that the primary metabolites are compound K and Rh1, and the protopanaxadiol-type ginsenosides were more easily metabolized than protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides. Conclusion: This is the first report of the identification and quantification of the metabolism and metabolic profile of P. ginseng extract in rat intestinal microflora using LC-MS/MS. The current study provided new insights for studying the metabolism and active metabolites of P. ginseng.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2015

Yongneup wetland protected area, the only high moor in Korea, is a core area to conserve biodiversity. Even though the Yongneup wetland protected area is relatively small, various plant species are distributed in the Yongneup wetland protected area because it includes various habitats showing different environmental gradients. Vascular plants distributed in the Yongneup wetland protected area were identified as a total of 376 taxa that is composed of 73 families, 217 genera, 322 species, 3 subspecies, 44 varieties and 7 forms. For endangered plants designated by the Ministry of Environment, 5 species including Trientalis europaea var. arctica, Lilium dauricum, Halenia corniculata, Lychnis wilfordii and Menyanthes trifoliata were found and 34 taxa were confirmed to be distributed only in the mountainous wetland habitats. Regarding naturalized plants, a total of 11 taxa were distributed, but most of them were distributed in the areas where artificial interference has occurred. And in areas inside the wetlands that are relatively well preserved, 2 species of Bidens frondosa and Erigeron annuus were observed. In this study, the occurrence and distribution of Pseudostellaria baekdusanensis M. Kim, which was recently found in Mt. Baekdu and reported as a new species, were identified in the Yongneup wetland protected area. A wetland is a very vulnerable area to drastic environmental changes and damages to its ecosystem could cause the extinction of rare plant species which are distributed only in the wetlands. Therefore, it is mandatory that current status of the Yongneup wetland protected area is evaluated and actions to prevent rapid environmental changes are taken. Fourteen separate investigations were conducted in 2013 and another four in 2014, to evaluate current status of the Yongneup wetland protected area. These investigations have provided us the basic information for future actions of conservation and restoration.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.197-222
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• 2008

A recently published Korean Flora, "The genera of vascular plants of Korea (GFK)", includes the descriptions and keys for 217 families, 1,044 genera, and 3,209 species of Korean vascular plants. We reclassified these taxa according to the recent APG classification system, which resulted in 64 orders, 204 families, 1,044 genera and 3,209 species. Twenty-two families from the GFK were abandoned because of changes to the familial delimitations in the APG system. In contrast, the number of families in the Liliaceous group was increased. The Liliaceae in the GFK included 31 genera and 109 species. These taxa are now assigned to 10 families in four different orders including Liliales, Asparagales, Alismatales, and Dioscoreales because of the drastic changes to the monocot classification system in the past 20 years. In addition, the family name of the Aucubaceae was changed to Garryaceae. As a result, the number of families in the GFK has been reduced to 204. The results were summarized in four tables and two figures at the levels of unofficial higher taxonomic hierarchies, orders, families and genera. This new information can provide a guidelines for selecting the phylogenetic analysis unit for the Korean tree of life (KTOL) project. Futhermore, the updated classification system also provides an important summarization for the systematic community for placing the Korean flora in a modern phylogenetic context.