• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.142-142
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• 2017

Wheat (Triticum asetivum L.) is one of the major grain crops worldwide. The reduced productivity ascribed by adverse environment is increasing the risk of food security. Wheat cultivars have been actively released by public side since 1960s in Korea. Each variety has been developed for superior regional adaptation, pest resistance and mostly high yield. Heat stress tolerance is one of the major parameters that threaten wheat production in Korea. Heat stress during grain filling period has been conceived as critical level and directly influences on wheat production. We evaluated 11 common wheat cultivars ("Baegjoong", "Dajung", "Goso", "Hanbaek", "Jokyoung", "Joeun", "Jopum", "Keumgang", "Olgeuru", "Sinmichal", "Uri") that were exposed to abnormally high temperature during the grain filling period. Each plant was grown well in a pot containing "Sunshine #4" soil in controlled phytotron facility set on $20^{\circ}C$ and 16 h photoperiod. At 9 day-after-anthesis (DAA9), plants were subjected to a gradual increase in temperature from $20^{\circ}C$ to $33^{\circ}C$ and maintained constantly at $33^{\circ}C$ for 5 days. After the treatment, plants were subjected to gradual decrease to normal temperature ($20^{\circ}C$) and continue to grow till harvest. Seeds were harvested from each tiller/plant. Total chlorophyll contents decrease level as well as grain parameters were measured to evaluate varietal tolerance to heat stress. We also divide each spike into five regions and evaluate grain characteristics among the regions in each spike. The obtained results allow us to classify cultivars for heat stress tolerance. The pedigree information showed that typical wheat lines provide either tolerance or susceptible trait to their off-springs, which enable breeders to develop heat stress tolerance wheat by appropriate parental choice.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.257-264
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• 2007

Over-expression of a copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD) resulted in substantially increased tolerance to cadmium exposure in Arabidopsis thaliana. Lower lipid peroxidation and $H_2O_2$ accumulation and the higher activities of $H_2O_2$ scavenging enzymes, including catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in transformants (CuZnSOD-tr) compared to untransformed controls (wt) indicated that oxidative stress was the key factor in cadmium tolerance. Although progressive reductions in the dark-adapted photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) and quantum efficiency yield were observed with increasing cadmium levels, the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were less marked in CuZnSOD-tr than in wi. These observations indicate that oxidative stress in the photosynthetic apparatus is a principal cause of Cd-induced phytotoxicity, and that Cu/ZnSOD plays a critical role in protection against Cd-induced oxidative stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.195-195
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• 2022

Abiotic stress is a major problem in global agriculture as it negatively affects crop growth, yield, and quality. Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the world's second-highest-producing food resource, so the importance of mitigating damage caused by abiotic stress has been emerging. In this study, we performed GWAS to search for SNPs associated with salt tolerance and drought tolerance. NaCl (200 mM) treatment was performed at the seedling stage using 613 wheat varieties in Korean wheat core collection. Root length, root surface area, root average diameter, and root volume were measured. Drought stress was applied at the seedling stage, and the above phenotypes were measured. GW AS was performed for each phenotype data using the MLM, MLMM, and FarmCPU models. The best salt-tolerant wheat varieties were 'MK2402', 'Gyeongnam Geochang-1985-3698', and 'Milyang 13', showing superior root growth. The significant SNP AX-94704125 (BA00756838) were identified in all models. The genes closely located to the significant SNP were searched within ± 250 kb of the corresponding SNP. A total of 11 genes were identified within the region. NB-ARC involved in the defense response, FKSI involved in cell wall biosynthesis, and putative BP Ml involved in abiotic stress responses were discovered in the 11 genes. The best drought-tolerant wheat varieties were 'PI 534284', 'Moro of Sind', and 'CM92354-33M-0Y-0M-6Y-0B-0BGD', showing superior root growth. This study discovered SNPs associated with salt tolerance in Korean wheat core collection through GWAS. GWAS of drought tolerance is now proceeding, and the GWAS results will be represented on a poster. The SNPs identified by GWAS can be useful for studying molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance and drought tolerance in wheat.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.41-47
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• 2002

Adverse environmental conditions such as drought, high salt and cold/freezing are major factors that reduces crop productivity worldwide. According to a survey, $50-80\%$ of the maximum potential yield is lost by these 'environmental or abiotic stresses', which is approximately ten times higher than the loss by biotic stresses. Thus, Improving stress-tolerance of crop plants is an important way to improve agricultural productivity. In order to develop such stress-tolerant crop plants, we set out to identify key stress signaling components that can be used to develop commercially viable crop varieties with enhanced stress tolerance. Our primary focus so far has been on the identification of transcription factors that regulate stress responsive gene expression, especially those involved in ABA-mediated stress response. Be sessile, plants have the unique capability to adapt themselves to the abiotic stresses. This adaptive capability is largely dependent on the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), whose level increases under various stress conditions, triggering adaptive response. Central to the response is ABA-regulated gene expression, which ultimately leads to physiological changes at the whole plant level. Thus, once identified, it would be possible to enhance stress tolerance of crop plants by manipulating the expression of the factors that mediate ABA-dependent stress response. Here, we present our work on the isolation and functional characterization of the transcription factors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2002.04b
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• pp.41-47
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• 2002

Adverse environmental conditions such as drought, high salt and cold/freezing are major factors that reduces crop productivity worldwide. According to a survey, 50-80% of the maximum potential yield is lost by these 'environmental or abiotic stresses', which is approximately ten times higher than the loss by biotic stresses. Thus, improving stress-tolerance of crop plants is an important way to improve agricultural productivity. In order to develop such stress-tolerant crop plants, we set out to identify key stress signaling components that can be used to develop commercially viable crop varieties with enhanced stress tolerance. Our primary focus so far has been on the identification of transcription factors that regulate stress responsive gene expression, especially those involved in ABA-mediated stress response. Be sessile, plants have the unique capability to adapt themselves to the abiotic stresses. This adaptive capability is largely dependent on the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), whose level increases under various stress conditions, triggering adaptive response. Central to the response is ABA-regulated gene expression, which ultimately leads to physiological changes at the whole plant level. Thus, once identified, it would be possible to enhance stress tolerance of crop plants by manipulating the expression of the factors that mediate ABA-dependent stress response. Here, we present our work on the isolation and functional characterization of the transcription factors.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.101-106
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• 2012

Trifloxystrobin is a strobilurin fungicide, which possesses broad spectrum control against fungal plant diseases. We demonstrated that pre-treating red pepper plants with trifloxystrobin resulted in increased plant growth and leaf chlorophyll content compared with those in control plants. Relative water content of the leaves and the survival rate of intact plants indicated that plants acquired systemic tolerance to drought stress following trifloxystrobin pre-treatment. The recovery rate by rehydration in the drought treated plant was better in those pre-treated with trifloxystrobin than that in water treated plants. Induced drought tolerance activity by trifloxystrobin was sustained for 25 days after initial application. The trifloxystrobin treated red pepper plants also had induced systemic tolerance to other abiotic stresses, such as frost, cold, and high temperature stresses. These findings suggest that applying the chemical fungicide trifloxystrobin induced systemic tolerance to certain abiotic stresses in red pepper plants.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.151-159
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• 2005

Injury caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS), known as oxidative stress, is one of the major damaging factors in plants exposed to environmental stress. Chloroplasts are specially sensitive to damage by ROS because electrons that escape from the photosynthetic electron transfer system are able to react with relatively high concentration of $O_2$ in chloroplasts. To cope with oxidative stress, plants have evolved an efficient ROS-scavenging enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and low molecular weight antioxidants including ascorbate, glutathione and phenolic compounds. To maintain the productivity of plants under the stress condition, it is possible to fortify the antioxidative mechanisms in the chloroplasts by manipulating the antioxidation genes. A powerful gene expression system with an appropriate promoter is key requisite for excellent stress-tolerant plants. We developed a strong oxidative stress-inducible peroxidase (SWPA2) promoter from cultured cells of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) as an industrial platform technology to develop transgenic plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stress. Recently, in order to develop transgenic sweetpotato (tv. Yulmi) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Atlantic and Superior) plants with enhanced tolerance to multiple stress, the genes of both CuZnSOD and APX were expressed in chloroplasts under the control of an SWPA2 promoter (referred to SSA plants). As expected, SSA sweetpotato and potato plants showed enhanced tolerance to methyl viologen-mediated oxidative stress. In addition, SSA plants showed enhanced tolerance to multiple stresses such as temperature stress, drought and sulphur dioxide. Our results strongly suggested that the rational manipulation of antioxidative mechanism in chloroplasts will be applicable to the development of all plant species with enhanced tolerance to multiple environmental stresses to contribute in solving the global food and environmental problems in the 21st century.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.115-115
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• 2017

Zinc finger proteins constitute a large family which has been studied to have various functions in different organisms. Tandem CCCH zinc finger proteins (TZFs), members of the zinc finger protein family, are known to participate as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression in eukaryotes. Here, we showed that the OsZn15, a gene for tandem CCCH zinc finger protein, is induced by abiotic stress and its overexpression in transgenic rice plants (PGD1:OsZn15) gains higher drought tolerance. Gene expression analysis of promoter:GFP plants revealed that OsZn15 is specifically expressed in anther and embryo, but not in vegetative organs. In-field evaluation, grain yield was higher in the PGD1:OsZn15 than nontransgenic plants under drought conditions. Interestingly, OsZn15 is shown to not only localize at nucleus but also co-localize with both processing bodies (PB) and stress granules (SG), two messenger ribo-nucleoprotein complexes which are known to activate by forming cytoplasmic foci under stress conditions. In sum, these results suggest that OsZn15 increases drought stress tolerance of rice probably by participating in RNA turnover in PB and SG.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.173-179
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• 2016

Leaf water and osmotic potential, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, and electrolyte leakage were measured to evaluate tolerance to water stress in wild-type (WT) and transgenic tobacco plants (TR) expressing copper/zink superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in chloroplasts. Leaf water potential of both WT and TR plants decreased similarly under water stress condition. However, leaf osmotic potential of TR plants more negatively decreased in the process of dehydration, compared with WT plants, suggesting osmotic adjustment. Stomatal conductance (Gs) in WT plants markedly decreased from the Day 4 after withholding water, while that in TR plants retained relatively high values. Relatively low chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate under water stress were shown in WT plants since $4^{th}$ day after treatment. In particular, damage indicated by electrolyte leakage during water stress was higher in WT plants than in TR plants. On the other hand, SOD and APX activity was remarkably higher in TR plants. These results indicate that transgenic tobacco plants expressing copper/zink superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in chloroplasts improve tolerance to water stress.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.129-133
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• 1999

Excessive soil water at vegetative growth stages during the rainy season induces yield losses in soybeans. Our objectives were to obtain basic information about the cultivar differences and to understand the stress-tolerance process for due to excessive soil water. Previous experiments revealed soybean genotypic differences in tolerance to excessive soil water. A field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of Korea University near Seoul on 21 May 1998. Soybean[Glycine max (L.) Merrill] cultivars, 'Hannamkong' (sensitive) and 'Taekwan-gkong'(tolerant) were planted in vinyl-lined plots(1.2 x 4.2 x 0.3 m deep) and control plots. Drip irrigation began at VI growth stage to submerge the soil surface. Three weeks of excessive soil water treatment reduced all growth parameters measured to soybean plants. Excessive soil water stress resulted in decreases of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Cu, and increases of Fe and Mn contents in soybean leaves. The stress index of tolerant cultivars under excessive soil water showed no large difference in soybean growth characteristics measured at three growth stages. However, K, Ca, Mg, Fe and Mn contents in soybean leaves appeared to differ between sensitive and tolerant cultivars. From the above results, stress and tolerance indices are proposed for a method to test cultivar differences in plant responses within a species under adverse growth environments.