• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.213-218
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• 2008

Swertia chirata is an endangered gentian species that prefers to grow at higher altitudes. This ethnomedicinal herb is known primarily for its bitter taste caused by the presence of important phytochemicals that are directly associated with human health benefits. Due to a continuous loss of habitat and inherent problems of seed viability and seed germination, alternative strategies for propagation and conservation are urgently required to prevent the possible extinction of this species. We have formulated a reproducible protocol for the rapid propagation and conservation of this plant using leaves taken from in vitro shoot cultures. Direct induction of more than seven shoot buds per explant was achieved for the first time when the explants were placed on MS medium supplemented with $2.22{\mu}M$ N-6-benzyladenine, $11.6{\mu}M$ kinetin, and $0.5{\mu}M$ ${\alpha}-naphthalene$ acetic acid. Direct organogenesis was noted exclusively from the adaxial surface of the basal segments of leaves. Leaves closer to the apical meristem were more responsive than those farther away from the meristem. Plants raised through direct organogenesis were evaluated for their clonal fidelity by chromosomal analysis and DNA fingerprinting. Complete plants were successfully transferred to the field condition and produced viable seeds. Given the enormous potential of this age-old medicinal plant in terms of potential health-benefitting drugs, this protocol can be used for commercial propagation purposes and to initiate future genetic improvement studies.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.56-61
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• 1989

In the present paper, we intented to analyze and to compare the different seed dormancy of two legume plants, Albizzia and Cercis. We found two different types of seed dormancy: one type of dormancy in Albizzia seed was caused by the water impermeability, and other type of seed dormancy was found in Cercis and it was induced by inhibitors. We confirmed that the extract substances from Cercis seed seemed to have strong regulational functions on the inhibition of seed germination and primary root growth of lettuce seed.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2009

Seed storage lipids of plants, essential for seed germination as energy supplier, have been used for humankind and animal as nutrition sources. Fatty acids of vegetable oils have the characters appropriate for industry based on their chain length, the position and the number of double bonds. So they are used as raw materials for lubricants, cosmetics, soaps, paints and plastics or as energy source such as bio-diesel. However, there is a limit that applies vegetable oils from typical oil crops for industrial uses, mainly because of the mixture of five common fatty acids. Therefore, identification of unusual fatty acids for industrial uses from diverse plant resources and metabolic engineering to produce unusual fatty acids have been carried out in Arabidopsis as a model for the study of oilseed biology. Here, we discuss the unusual fatty acids for industrial uses, the genes synthesizing them in lipid metabolism, and the current limits in production of transgenic plants accumulating unusual fatty acid in their seeds. In addition, we describe our work on metabolic engineering of Brassica napus for the production of the unusual fatty acid ricinoleic acid in the seed, because of its industrial uses.

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.141-146
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• 2007

The roots of Aristolochia elegans Mast.(Aristolochiaceae) are widely used in Mexican traditional medicine as a remedy for scorpion venom. Current experimental evidence supports its purported antidote properties. However, collection from the wilderness has lead to local extinction of natural populations. In order to contribute to species preservation, cultivation, and standardization of morphological and pharmacological properties, a micropropagation method was developed. This includes in-vitro germination of seeds to produce aseptic plantlets, induction of multiple budding, and acclimatization. The treatment with benzylamino purine(10 ${\mu}M$) induced the highest number of buds(3.1 on average) in both types of explants. On the other hand, indolebutyric acid(1.5 ${\mu}M$) caused the highest root index(11.8) per explant. One hundred percent of the micropropagated plantlets developed vigorously after the acclimatization process.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.29-42
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• 2020

Acidovorax citrulli causes bacterial fruit blotch in Cucurbitaceae, including watermelon. Although A. citrulli is a seed-borne pathogen, it can cause diverse symptoms in other plant organs like leaves, stems and fruits. To determine the infection routes of A. citrulli, we examined the virulence of six isolates (Ac0, Ac1, Ac2, Ac4, Ac8, and Ac11) on watermelon using several inoculation methods. Among six isolates, DNA polymorphism reveals that three isolates Ac0, Ac1, and Ac4 belong to Clonal Complex (CC) group II and the others do CC group I. Ac0, Ac4, and Ac8 isolates efficiently infected seeds during germination in soil, and Ac0 and Ac4 also infected the roots of watermelon seedlings wounded prior to inoculation. Infection through leaves was successful only by three isolates belonging to CC group II, and two of these also infected the mature watermelon fruits. Ac2 did not cause the disease in all assays. Interestingly, three putative type III effectors (Aave_2166, Aave_2708, and Aave_3062) with intact forms were only found in CC group II. Overall, our results indicate that A. citrulli can infect watermelons through diverse routes, and the CC grouping of A. citrulli was only correlated with virulence in leaf infection assays.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 1971

Ecological factors limiting Stipa pulchra have been determined in experimental gardens and at several sites in the hills south and east of Monterey, California. The Stipa pulchrafacies of Valley Grassland communities were found to be dominated by that species, though a total of 36 grasses and forbs were collected and identified. Basal area was not large, but aerial cover by Stipa alone averaged over 50 per cent. Across an ecotone between a Stipa association and the California Annual Type a sudden and dramatic change was recorded. Soil measurements there, and in other nearby areas, showed a much higher clay content with more available water and elemental phosphorus at the Stipa sites. Germination of Stipa seeds was high under all laboratory and field conditions, though growth of seeldings was highly variable. Seedlings grown in Stipa woil with an abundance of water were vigorous and reached anthesis the first year. In other soils they grew less, and when grown in competition with Avena fatua they scarcely grew at all. These findings indicate that when established on desirable soils, Stipa competes well and apparently precludes the dominance of Avena fatua and other large annual grasses. On the other hand, because of a lack of vigor in its seedlings, Stipa cannot reinvade the rich more friable soils on which it was once found, and on which it was shown to grow satisfactorily. This supports the contention that Sipa pulchra was the dominant grass through much of the Valley Grassland and Foothill Woodland, but also indicates that well-drained soils and those poor in mineral nutrients probalby never supported such associations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.126-131
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• 1996

In this study effects of isolation distance, transplanting time of maternal plants, and bagging of flower head with the gauze-cloth bag on the outcrossing of burley tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) were investigated. Also the effect of fertilizer level and control of the number of capsules per plant on seed production and quality were examined. A male sterile line. produced 0.3 to 3.8 capsules Per plant when it was Planted with normally flowering tobacco with the average outcrossing of 7.2 plants, ranging from 2 to 18 out of 20 plants. With the farther the isolation distance between maternal plants and pollen donor plant, the lower the outcrossing occurred. Outcrossing occurred even at the isolation distance of 312 m. When the maternal plants were transplanted 35 days after transplanting the pollen donor ones, the outcrossed plants were not decreased significantly. The bagging of the flower head with the gauze-cloth bas (#0.9∼ 1.0 mm) decreased the outcrossed plants significantly, but couldn't prevent the outcrossing completely. The seed amount per plant was higher in the highly fertilized cultivation. The number of seed capsules per plant affected significantly on seed yield and quality. When the seed capsules was controlled by 30 or 50 capsules per plant, the weight of 1,000 seeds and germination rate were higher than those with 70 or 90 capsules per plant. Key words : Nicotiana tabacum, outcrossing, bagging.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.540-544
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• 1996

Ferritins from germinated pumpkin seeds were isolated by ammonium sulfate precipitation (0.55 saturation), ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, and gel filtration chromatographies on Sephacryl S-300 and Sephadex G-100. Pumpkin ferritin contains less iron than soybean ferritin. Pumpkin ferritin cross-reacted with anti-soybean ferritin antiserum made in rabbit, and showed two distinct antibody reactive bands, both of equal intensity. The pumpkin ferritins corresponding to the two bands were separable by centrifugation in a sucrose gradient (20~50%). The molecular weights of the native pumpkin ferritins based on the estimation of sucrose gradient centrifugation, gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300 and non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis appeared to be: 530~580 KD (the large molecular weight pumpkin ferritin) and 330-360 KD (the small molecular weight pumpkin ferritin) The large molecular weight pumpkin ferritin contains less iron. Both pumpkin ferritins cross-reacted with anti-soybean ferritin antibody with a spur formation suggesting partial antigenic recognition.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.710-717
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• 2015

Humankind has been searching for medicinal materials from various plant sources in an attempt to treat disease. Mistletoe is one indubitable plant source for these materials due to its effectiveness in treating various diseases, but it has almost disappeared from the mountainous areas of Korea due to excessive harvesting. In this study, in order to select host tree species for Korean mistletoe [Viscum album var. coloratum (Kom.) Ohwi] by seed inoculation and to clarify the effect of host specificity among various tree species were conducted for the purpose of gaining basic information for the artificial cultivation of Korean mistletoe. Almost all the seeds of Korean mistletoe germinated in vitro at the temperature of 15℃. Among host trees used in this study, Prunus mume showed the highest parasitic affinity with inoculated Korean mistletoe, compared with any other host plants. However, treatment of hormones could not increase the low survival rate of Korean mistletoe on the host trees.

• Mycobiology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.149-154
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• 2004

Toxin produced by Colletotrichum falcatum Went, the incitant of red rot of sugarcane was isolated, purified and assayed to determine host specificity and identify its chemical nature. The toxin was found to be not host specific as it inhibited germination of various seeds(gram, greengram, blackgram, pea, cowpea, rice and sugarcane) as well as different seedlings viz. tomato, coriander, pea and rice. The toxin consists of two distinct fraction-one fraction having $R_f$, value at 0.36 producing identical red rot lesion when inoculated at leaf midrib of sugarcane, and the other having $R_f$, value at 0.72 not showing any red rot lesion. Chromatogram of high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) of the red rot lesion causing fraction showed a sharp peak at 1.62 min of retention time(RT), and spectral analysis indicated the presence of following chemical $CH_3$ - groups-C-H, C=O, C-N, $-CH_3,\;-CH_2$ -CH and molecular mass of the compound was 203. - ($M^+,\;C_{11}H_{11}N_2O_2$).