• Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 2017

Rhus chinensis is a shrub widely distributed in Asia. It has been used for traditional medicine and ecological restoration. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of two R. chinensis genotypes collected from China and Korea. The assembled chloroplast genome of Chinese R. chinensis is 149,094 bp long, consisting of a large single copy (97,246 bp), a small single copy (18,644 bp) and a pair of inverted repeats (16,602 bp). Gene annotation revealed 77 protein coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. A phylogenomic analysis of the chloroplast genomes with 11 known complete chloroplast genomes clarified the relationship of R. chinensis with the other plant species in the Sapindales order. A comparative chloroplast genome analysis identified 170 SNPs and 85 InDels at intra-species level of R. chinensis between Chinese and Korean collections. Based on the sequence diversity between Korea and Chinese R. chinensis plants, we developed three DNA markers useful for genetic diversity and authentication system. The chloroplast genome information obtained in this study will contribute to enriching genetic resources and conservation of endemic Rhus species.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.145-149
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• 2022

Airborne fine dust (FD) particles smaller than 10 ㎛ in diameter (PM10) are one of the major causes of air pollution in East Asia, including Korea, and have become a major contributor to respiratory and skin problems. FD inordinately promotes the production of reactive oxygen species and inflammatory response in macrophages, leading to cell damage and death. Rosa rugosa, a deciduous shrub of the Rosa genus, has been used in traditional East Asian herbal medicine to treat various illnesses. The present study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of R. rugosa organ extracts on PM10-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Compared to non-treated RAW264.7 cells, treatment with 100 ㎍.ml^-1 PM10 resulted in increased nitric oxide (NO) production, similar to lipopolysaccharide treatment. Additionally, 100 ㎍/ml stem extract reduced NO production by more than 45% compared to mock treatment. Furthermore, PM10-induced expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, inducible NO synthase, and cyclooxygenase-2 was significantly reduced by stem extract treatment, indicating that the anti-inflammatory effect of the stem extract is mediated by the inhibition of pro-inflammatory mediators in PM10-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. These results indicate that the R. rugosa stem could be considered a natural remedy with a protective effect against inflammatory responses induced by harmful airborne dust.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.1607-1615
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• 2021

Objective: Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) leaf has been found to be an important source of protein, vitamins, minerals, as well as phytonutrients. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of Chaya leaf pellet (CHYP) with various level of crude protein (CP) in the concentrate on rumen fermentation characteristics and nutrient degradability in in vitro gas production technique. Methods: In an in vitro rumen fermentation study the dietary treatments were arranged according to a 3×5 factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design, consisting of Factor A: three levels of CP of concentrate mixtures (14%, 16%, and 18% CP, respectively) and Factor B: five levels of CHYP supplementation (at 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% of dry matter substrates). Results: The gas production kinetics, fraction (a) and fraction (b) were lower (p<0.05) with an increasing CHYP addition. Additionally, the fraction (a+b) was found to yield a significant interaction (p<0.05) while the fraction (c) was not impacted by CHYP addition. However, in vitro DM degradability was enhanced and interactive (p<0.05), using 16% CP of concentrate with 6% and 8% CHYP, when compared with 18% CP in the non-addition. Additionally, the treatment with higher CP of the concentrate was higher in NH₃-N concentration (p<0.001) and by CHYP supplementation group (p<0.05). Nevertheless, protozoal counts in the rumen were remarkably decreased (p<0.05) with increasing level of CHYP supplementation. Furthermore, rumen C₂ concentration was lower (p<0.05) in the treatments with CHYP supplementation, while C₃ was significantly increased and interactive (p<0.05) between levels of CP and CHYP supplementation especially at 8% CHYP supplementation. Conclusion: Based on this study, the results revealed CHYP as a promising feed supplement to enhance rumen fermentation and to mitigate methane production. However, in vivo feeding experiments should be subsequently conducted to elucidate the effect of CHYP supplementation on rumen fermentation, as well as ruminant production efficiency.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.4
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• pp.644-650
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• 2022

Aralia elata (Miq.) SEEM is a deciduous shrub that has attracted attention as a high-income forest product. To improve the efficiency of cultivation and increase income, productivity according to the pruning period and annual pruning after harvesting Aralia elata shoots was analyzed. The optimal time was determined by pruning five times at 2-week intervals from 6 days after shoot harvesting. To investigate the pruning effect, pruning was performed at 30 cm from the ground in the first year after planting. From the second year after planting, branches grown for 1 year were pruned to 10 cm, and the annual shoots and branches were compared. Thenumber of first pruned branches after 6 days was 1.3-2.1 times higher after shoot harvesting than at other times, and the shoot characteristics were 1.2-1.7 times better than those at other periods. The faster the pruning, the better the quality of the harvested shoots. Annual pruning produced high-quality shoots (approximately 1.5 cm in diameter and 16 cm in length) from the second year after planting, and it was possible to increase productivity by inducing generation of branches capable of harvesting shoots. Annual pruning also made it possible to maintain easy shoot harvesting at approximately150 cm. These results showed that it was efficient to perform Aralia elatapruning as early as approximately 6 days after shoot harvesting. Pruning enabled production ofuniform-quality shoots every year and increasedthe yield of the trees.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.72-86
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• 2022

This study was conducted to identify structural characteristics of the evergreen broad-leaved forests distributed in Hak-dong, Geojae island. For a survey, 52 sites were set up in areas with changes in the vegetation community or location environment where Cinnamomum yabunikkei, Neolitsea sericea, and Machilus thunbergii dominated or appeared in the canopy, sub-canopy, or shrub layer. The community classification with TWINSPAN identified the following communities: N. sericea-C. yabunikkei, C. yabunikkei-Camellia japonica, Ca. japonica, Quercus variabilis-Ca. japonica, Pinus thunbergii-Ca. japonica, Castanopsis sieboldii, P. thunbergii, and Platycarya strobilacea-Mallotus japonicus. Considering the result of the study that succession series of warm-temperate forest reflecting the latent natural vegetation is the transition of conifers and deciduous broad-leaved forest to evergreen broad-leaved forest, the communities predominated by the communities predominated by the communities predominated by P. thunbergii, Q. variabilis, and Pl. strobilacea are likely to transform into the evergreen forest predominated by N. sericea and C. yabunikkei. The sites where C. yabunikkei, N. sericea, and Castanopsis sieboldii are dominant in the canopy and sub-canopy layers are likely to maintain the status quo if there is no artificial disturbance. The relationship between the impact of the environmental factors and the vegetation distribution showed silt among the physical properties of the soil directly or indirectly affected it, which was judged to be due to the fact that it was located on a steep slope. The soil acidity (pH) was 5-5.84, electrical conductivity 0.047-0.139 dS/m, and organic matter content was 3.32-12.06%. Although there were differences by the colony, they were generally low.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2022

In modern society, interest in antioxidants is increasing as the stress caused by oxidants increases. However, the demand for synthetic antioxidants is decreasing because some studies have confirmed that they are harmful when consumed in large quantities; thus, studies on antioxidants derived from natural substances are actively being conducted to replace synthetic antioxidants. Blueberry, known as one of the world's top ten long-lived foods, is a plant of the Vaccinium (Ericaceae) family, and various pharmacological activities of blueberry including antioxidant activity have been studied. Vaccinium oldhamii (VO) is a deciduous broad-leaved shrub in the same genus as blueberries, and in this paper, we summarize the studies on the efficacy analysis of VO extracts and purified products. The content of phenolic compounds in VO fruits was proportional to antioxidant and anti-influenza activity such as the inhibition of NO production, and the total content of polyphenols and anthocyanin was higher than that in blueberries. VO fruit extracts showed anti-inflammatory activity and anti-cancer activity against human acute leukemia; in contrast, VO branch extracts showed anti-inflammatory activity, activity to inhibit osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption due to inflammatory response, and anti-cancer activity against several human cancer cell lines. Compared to blueberries, VO showed higher phenolic compound content, antioxidant activity, and various physiological activities. In addition, VO is considered to have sufficient value as an alternative crop to blueberries, such as it can be grown natively in Korea, with simple mass cultivation and no need to pay royalties for commercialization.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.662-675
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• 2022

This study was intended to investigate and analyze the current status of the plant community structure in order to provide basic data for the systematic conservation and management of the Buxus sinica area appearing on the ridgeline connecting the Gyeokjabong(Mt.) and Keungiljae, on Bogildo Island. In consideration of location characteristics such as density, topography, and direction of B. sinica appearing in the shrub layers, a total of 26 sites were set as the survey area for representative vegetation communities or areas with changes in topography. According to DCA and TWINSPAN, it was classified into 6 communities, namely Carpinus turczaninovii-Deciduous broad-leaved, C. turczaninovii, C. turczaninovii-B. sinica, C. turczaninovii-Evergreen broad-leaved, Q. acuta, and D. trifidus-Q. acuta. The community dominated by C. turczaninovii maintains the status quo for the present moment, however, Q. acuta will dominate the surrounding area in the long term, so Q. acuta has high succesion potential. In the case of the Q. acuta and D. trifidus-Q. acuta communities, Q. acuta, known as the climax species of warm-temperate forests, will maintain dominant status. In a case of B. sinica, the community dominated by C. turczaninovii will remain in good status due to the topographical conditions, but the community dominated by Q. acuta growth difficulties are expected due to the high coverage. In the relationship between environmental factors and vegetation distribution, analysis showed that only soil pH affect vegetation distribution. Furthermore, the soil acidity (pH) was 3.78-5.30, the electrical conductivity was 0.186-0.543 dS/m, and the organic matter content was 2.25-2.89%.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2023

Spiraea prunifolia f. simpliciflora Nakai is a perennial shrub widely used for horticultural and medicinal purposes. We simultaneously obtained the complete plastid genome (plastome) and nuclear ribosomal gene transcription units, 45S nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) and 5S nrDNA of S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora, using Illumina short-read data. The plastome is 155,984 bp in length with a canonical quadripartite structure consisting of 84,417 bp of a large single-copy region, 18,887 bp of a short single-copy region, and 26,340 bp of two inverted repeat regions. Overall, a total of 113 genes (79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNAs, and four rRNAs) were annotated in the plastome. The 45S nrDNA transcription unit is 5,848 bp in length: 1,809 bp, 161 bp, and 3,397 bp for 18S, 5.8S, and 26S, respectively, and 261 bp and 220 bp for internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 and ITS 2 regions, respectively. The 5S nrDNA unit is 512 bp, including 121 bp of 5S rRNA and 391 bp of intergenic spacer regions. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the genus Spiraea was monophyletic and sister to the clade of Sibiraea angustata, Petrophytum caespitosum and Kelseya uniflora. Within the genus Spiraea, the sections Calospira and Spiraea were monophyletic, but the sect. Glomerati was nested within the sect. Chamaedryon. In the sect. Glomerati, S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora formed a subclade with S. media, and the subclade was sister to S. thunbergii and S. mongolica. The close relationship between S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora and S. media was also supported by the nrDNA phylogeny, indicating that the plastome and nrDNA sequences assembled in this study belong to the genus Spiraea. The newly reported complete plastome and nrDNA transcription unit sequences of S. prunifolia f. simpliciflora provide useful information for further phylogenetic and evolutionary studies of the genus Spiraea, as well as the family Rosaceae.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.69-80
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• 2016

The present study was to survey the site environment, vegetation structure and soil characteristics in the wild habitats of Acer tegmentosum Maxim. and offers basic information for habitats conservation and restoration. Most of the wild habitats were located at altitudes between 605~1,413m with inclinations ranged as 8~30°. The bare rock rate were 8~50%. The vegetation structure by the PC-ORD based on the Two Way Cluster Analysis were divided into three groups Community I(Acer tegmentosum - Quercus mongolica), Community II(Acer tegmentosum - Carpinus cordata), Community III(Quercus mongolica - Tilia amurensis). The species diversity(H') was highest in Community II as 1.474, Community I was 1.471, Community III was 1.219. The soil textures were Clay loam, The average soil pH was 4.8, Soil organic matter was 15.15% and available phosphorus was 2.33ppm. Ordination analysis result by soil characteristics, community, characteristic species showed that the greatest effect factors were slope, altitude, tree and shrub's cover rate, organic matter, total-nitrogen, calcium, magnesium. Correlation analysis between environment factor result showed that O.M. - (T.N., K+, Mg2+, CEC, EC), T.N. - (K+, Mg2+, CEC, EC) were positive correlations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.112 no.4
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• pp.405-416
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• 2023

In this study, the sustainability of Abies nephrolepis in the presence of Tripterygium regelii was analyzed. To accomplish this, a field survey of140 stands was conducted. Based on the presence or absence of T. regelii, as well as the layer in which it was present (where appropriate), the type of T. regelii presence wasclassified as follows: TP type, indicating the presence of T. regelii in the tree and sub-tree layers; SP type, indicating its presence in the shrub layer; and A type, indicatingits absence from all layers. The indicator species analysis revealed T. regelii to be an indicator species of the TP type and SP type. The MRPP test was used to examine the differences among the types. Moreover, the seedling and DBH class analysis indicated there to be a difficulty in terms of the status competition, as the number of young trees generated by A. nephrolepis was the lowest in the TP type. The findings of this study enhanced our understanding of the vegetation structure of A. nephrolepis, thereby contributing to efforts concerningits conservation and management.