• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.189-192
• /
• 2002

An efficient plant regeneration system of major cultivars of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) in Korea via somatic embryogenesis was established. Embryogenic calli were formed from shoot apical meristems of sweetpotato cultivars when cultured on LS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L auxin (2,4-D, picloram, dicamba). Among three kinds of auxin, 1 mg/L 2,4-D showed the highest embryogenic calli induction rate. After 4 weeks of cultures on LS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 2,4-D, embryogenic calli induction rates of Sinhwangmi, Zami, Yulmi, and White Star were 86%, 78%, 76%, and 80%, respectively. Upon transfer onto LS basal medium, most of somatic embryos developed into plantlets. Regenerated plantlets were transplanted to potting soil and grown to mature plants in a greenhouse.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.329-333
• /
• 1998

$\beta$-Glucuronidase (GUS) gene of Escherichia coli was introduced into sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) cells by particle bombardment and expressed in the regenerated plants. Microprojectiles coated with DNA of a binary vector pBI121 carrying CaMV35S promoter-GUS gene fusion and a neomycin phosphotransferase gene as selection marker were bombarded on embryogenic calli which originated from shoot apical meristem-derived callus and transferred to Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 100 mg/L kanamycin. Bombarded calli were subcultured at 4 week intervals for six months. Kanamycin-resistant calli transferred to MS medium supplemented with 0.03 mg/L 2iP, 0.03 mg/L ABA, and 50 mg/L kanamycin gave rise to somatic embryos. Upon transfer to MS basal medium without kanamycin, they developed into plantlets. PCR and northern analyses of six regenerants transplanted to potting soil confirmed that the GUS gene was inserted into the genome of the six regenerated plants. A histochemical assay revealed that the GUS gene was preferentially expressed in the vascular bundle and the epidermal layer of leaf, petiole, and tuberous root.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.190-195
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to figure out the best condition in growth and sod quality of Mentha spp. according to cutting methods and soil depth. Applemint (M. suaveolens), Peppermint (M. piperita), and Spearmint (M. spicata) were used. Regardless of cultivar and soil depth condition, the growth rate in top cutting was higher than layering method. The difference between layering and layering without apical meristem was not significant. Optimal condition for growth was 5cm depth of soil. However, the shallower the depth of the soil, the better quality of sod. Among three Mentha species, M suavelens showed plant height and node number and M. piperita had shoot number were higher than other variety. The best condition of sod was top cutting and 1cm depth of soil regardless of cultivar.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.406-417
• /
• 2019

RICE FLOWERING LOCUS T 1 (RFT1) is a major florigen that functions to induce reproductive development in the shoot apical meristem (SAM). To further our study of RFT1, we overexpressed the gene and examined the expression patterns of major regulatory genes during floral transition and inflorescence development. Overexpression induced extremely early flowering in the transgenics, and a majority of those calli directly formed spikelets with a few spikelets, thus bypassing normal vegetative development. FRUITFULL (FUL)-clade genes OsMADS14, OsMADS15, and OsMADS18 were highly induced in the RFT1-expressing meristems. OsMADS34 was also induced in the meristems. This indicated that RFT1 promotes the expression of major regulatory genes that are important for inflorescence development. RFT1 overexpression also induced SEPALLATA (SEP)-clade genes OsMADS1, OsMADS5, and OsMADS7 in the greening calli before floral transition occurred. This suggested their possible roles at the early reproductive stages. We found it interesting that expression of OsFD1 as well as OsFD2 and OsFD3 was strongly increased in the RFT1-expressing calli and spikelets. At a low frequency, those calli produced plants with a few leaves that generated a panicle with a small number of spikelets. In the transgenic leaves, the FUL-clade genes and OsMADS34 were induced, but SEP-clade gene expression was not increased. This indicated that OsMADS14, OsMADS15, OsMADS18, and OsMADS34 act immediately downstream of RFT1.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.257-261
• /
• 1998

The repeated subcultures of in vitro plant materials in wasabi became highly vitrified and the capacity for multiple shoot formation from the vitrified plant materials was very low. In order to improve the quality of in vitro propagated planting materials, the experiments were carried out using culture vessels capped with membrane filter(MF). When vitrified shoots were cultured on MS medium with 0.2mg/L BA in the vessels with MF or without MF for 60 days, the shoots in the vessels with MF did not vitrified. In contrast, the shoots grown in the vessels without MF vitrified at 65%. The stomates of vitrified leaves were circular and inflated, whereas those of normal leaves acclimatizated in the vessels with MF were ovate in shape. The hardened shoots were also cultured on MS media without sucrose containing 0.01mg/L IBA in vessels with(photoautotrophic culture) or without(control) MF. Sucrose was necessary for survival of the in vitro plantlets in the vessels without MF. After 20 days of culture, the shoots in the vessels without MF on the sucrose-free media turned yellow and died. But the shoots in the vessels with MF in the sucrose-free media produced a lot of roots. When shoots were cultured on MS medium with 2% sucrose containing 0.01mg/L IBA in the vessels with(photomixotrophic culture) or without(heterotrophic culture) MF, best growth occured in photomixotrophic culture.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.20 no.9
• /
• pp.1314-1323
• /
• 2010

In this study, we constructed various kinds of binary vectors with the pPZP backbone for co-overexpression, tissue- or development-specific expression and stress-inducible expression, and validated them for ectopic expression of target genes. Using a modified CaMV 35S promoter, a binary vector was generated for co-overexpression of two different genes and was confirmed to be efficient for overexpressing two different target genes at the same time and place. Binary vectors containing At2S3, KNAT1 or LFY promoters were constructed for tissue-specific or development-specific gene expression, and the binary vectors were suited for embryo/young seedling stage-, shoot apical meristem- or leaf primordia-specific expressions. Furthermore, the binary vectors containing RD29A or AtNCED3 promoters were validated as suitable vectors for gene expression induced by abiotic stresses such as high salt, ABA, MV and low temperature. Taken together, the binary vectors constructed in this study would be very useful for analyzing the biological functions of target genes and molecular mechanisms through ectopic expression.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.277-283
• /
• 2007

Embryogenic calluses derived from shoot apical meristem explants of sweetpotato were subjected to particle bombardment to generate transgenic plants for antisense expression of cDNAs encoding two different AGPase small subunit (ibAGP1 and ibAGP2). Plants were generated via somatic embryogenesis. PCR and Southern analysis demonstrated that the incorporation of ibAGP1 and ibAGP2 into the genome in an antisense orientation. Immunoblot analysis confirmed reduced levels of AGPase small subunit in transgenic plant leaves. Plants with both ibAGP1 and ibAGP2 produced a lower level of the protein than plants with ibAGP1 alone. iodine test demonstrated that transgenic plant leaves and storage root accumulated reduced amounts of starch. Iodine staining of leaf tissues indicated that transgenic plants accumulated less amount of starch than control. In accordance with western blot analysis, plants with both ibAGP1 and ibAGP2 accumulated a lower amount of starch than plants with ibAGP1 alone. Both transgenic plants exhibited a severely retarded growth, resulting in bare survival. It is suggested that disrupted expression of the gene encoding AGPase small subunit is lethal to the growth of sweetpotato contrast to other species including potato.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.423-428
• /
• 2000

In 1997 when cloned sheep Dolly and soon after Polly were born, it had become head-line news because in the former the nucleus that gave rise to the lamb came from cells of six-year-old adult sheep and in the latter case a foreign gene was inserted into the donor nucleus to make the cloned sheep produce human protein, factor IX, in e milk. In the last few years, once the realm of science fiction, cloned mammals especially in livestock have become almost commonplace. What the press accounts often fail to convey, however, is that behind every success lie hundreds of failures. Many of the nuclear-transferred egg cells fail to undergo normal cell divisions. Even when an embryo does successfully implant in the womb, pregnancy often ends in miscarriage. A significant fraction of the animals that are born die shortly after birth and some of those that survived have serious developmental abnormalities. Efficiency remains at less than one % out of some hundred attempts to clone an animal. These facts show that something is fundamentally wrong and enormous hurdles must be overcome before cloning becomes practical. Cloning researchers now tent to put aside their effort to create live animals in order to probe the fundamental questions on cell biology including stem cells, the questions of whether the hereditary material in the nucleus of each cell remains intact throughout development, and how transferred nucleus is reprogrammed exactly like the zygotic nucleus. Stem cells are defined as those cells which can divide to produce a daughter cell like themselves (self-renewal) as well as a daughter cell that will give rise to specific differentiated cells (cell-differentiation). Multicellular organisms are formed from a single totipotent stem cell commonly called fertilized egg or zygote. As this cell and its progeny undergo cell divisions the potency of the stem cells in each tissue and organ become gradually restricted in the order of totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. The differentiation potential of multipotent stem cells in each tissue has been thought to be limited to cell lineages present in the organ from which they were derived. Recent studies, however, revealed that multipotent stem cells derived from adult tissues have much wider differentiation potential than was previously thought. These cells can differentiate into developmentally unrelated cell types, such as nerve stem cell into blood cells or muscle stem cell into brain cells. Neural stem cells isolated from the adult forebrain were recently shown to be capable of repopulating the hematopoietic system and produce blood cells in irradiated condition. In plants although the term$\boxDr$ stem cell$\boxUl$is not used, some cells in the second layer of tunica at the apical meristem of shoot, some nucellar cells surrounding the embryo sac, and initial cells of adventive buds are considered to be equivalent to the totipotent stem cells of mammals. The telomere ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes cannot be replicated because the RNA primer at the end of a completed lagging strand cannot be replaced with DNA, causing 5' end gap. A chromosome would be shortened by the length of RNA primer with every cycle of DNA replication and cell division. Essential genes located near the ends of chromosomes would inevitably be deleted by end-shortening, thereby killing the descendants of the original cells. Telomeric DNA has an unusual sequence consisting of up to 1,000 or more tandem repeat of a simple sequence. For example, chromosome of mammal including human has the repeating telomeric sequence of TTAGGG and that of higher plant is TTTAGGG. This non-genic tandem repeat prevents the death of cell despite the continued shortening of chromosome length. In contrast with the somatic cells germ line cells have the mechanism to fill-up the 5' end gap of telomere, thus maintaining the original length of chromosome. Cem line cells exhibit active enzyme telomerase which functions to maintain the stable length of telomere. Some of the cloned animals are reported prematurely getting old. It has to be ascertained whether the multipotent stem cells in the tissues of adult mammals have the original telomeres or shortened telomeres.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.199-211
• /
• 1994

Butachlor applied pre-emergence at 3.6kg ai/ha inhibited the growth and developments of shoot of barnyardgrass under dry condition, whereas rice was unaffected. Growth of rice and barnyardgrass under water condition was severely inhibited by treatment of butachlor but that of transplanted rice was not affected. The inhibition rate was higher under water condition, in broadcast rice and direct seeded rice than under dry condition, drilled rice and transplanted rice, respectively. The major anatomical response of stem of barnyardgrass seedling to butachlor under dry condition were partial reduction in thickness and collapse of leaf sheath, while not in rice. Broadcast rice on soil under water condition appeared reduction and constriction of leaf primordia thickness, and barnyardgrass formed tubular-like leaves and showed inhibited elongation of apical meristem. On the other hand, transplanted rice did not show these responses.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.83-91
• /
• 2007

The present study examined the epidermal changes of adhesive disks which occur during attachment in Parthenocissus tricuspidata using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Several adhesive disks, each covered with a bract, develop from the shoot apical meristem during early development. In the initial stage, the adhesive disks are club-shaped and their upper and lower epidermis are indistinguishable. However, in the actively growing stage, they become spherical and both epidermis are clearly differentiated into the adventitious roots. Prior to wall attachment, the adhesive disks exhibit adaxial convex and abaxial concave shapes, and electron-dense substances are abundant in the vacuoles of epidermal cells. The peripheral area of the adhesive disk is adhered first to the wall surface, while the central area is drawn inward in a vacuum-like state during attachment. As the attachment progresses and the electron-dense substances continue to discharge, the upper and lower epidermis rapidly undergo deterioration and the disks shrink considerably. At this stage, structural changes of the lower epidermis occur much faster than in the upper one. The discharged substance is accumulated on the wall surface, and this aids the attachment of adhesive disks on the wall for long periods. In this manner, the shape and structure of the adhesive disk epidermis change drastically from initial growth to the mature stage. Further, the role of electron-dense substance and shrinkage of the disk during attachment has been discussed in Parthenocissus tricuspidata.