• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2017

Gibberellic Acid-Stimulated Arabidopsis (GASA) genes are involved in plant hormone signaling, cell division and elongation, as well as in responses to stress conditions in plants. In this study, we isolated a GASA gene from hybrid poplar (Populus alba ${\times}$ P. glandulosa) and analyzed its physiological phenotype and molecular functions in poplar. PagGASA cDNA encodes a putative protein composed of 95 amino acids containing an N-terminal signal peptide and a conservative cysteine-rich C-terminal domain. Southern blot analysis revealed that one or two copies of the PagGASA are present in the poplar genome. The PagGASA transcripts were highly detected in flowers and roots. Moreover, the expression of PagGASA was induced by growth hormone (gibberellic acid) and stress hormones (abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid). By using transgenic analysis, we showed that the upregulation of PagGASA in poplar provides high tolerance to drought stress. Therefore, our results suggest that PagGASA plays an important role in drought stress tolerance via stress-related plant hormone signaling in poplar.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.409-415
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• 2017

The vegetation period of trees might be prolonged by the delay of the leaf senescence in autumn. Thus, we focused on the generation of senescence-delayed transgenic trees to enhance biomass production. The PagMYC2, a gene containing the basic helix-loop-helix domain, was selected as a candidate for a senescence-delayed transgenic tree. The PagMYC2 gene was specifically induced after treatment with phytohormone jasmonic acid, and upregulated by abiotic stresses such as salinity, osmotic pressure and a low temperature. The constitutive overexpression of the PagMYC2 delayed the leaf senescence and inhibited chlorophyll degradation in the transgenic poplars. Leaf senescence analysis was performed in the leaf tissues of the PagMYC2-over-expression transgenic poplars. The transgenic poplars exhibited higher photochemical efficiency than did a wild type plant under a short-day condition (6 hours light/18 hours darkness) or a low temperature condition ($15^{\circ}C$) that was similar to the weather conditions of autumn. These results suggest that the PagMYC2 is a useful genetic resource to improve biomass production, which is able to sustain growth with senescence-delayed leaves for a long time in autumn.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.75-75
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.140-140
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.113-113
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• 2004

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.243-248
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• 2001

This study was peformed to find out the optimal conditions for the selection of transformed cells using already established transgenic plants. Several transgenic poplar (Populus alba$\times$P giandulosa) lines carrying npt II or hpt gene as a selectable marker were tested against kanamycin or hygromycin. Two culture explants, leaf discs and nodes, were compared regarding their sensitivity to the antibiotics. When leaf discs of untransformed control plants were cultured on callus inducing media in the presence of varying levels of kanamycin or hygromycin, only those cultured on the media containing lower than 50 mg/L kanamycin or 2 mg/L hygromycin formed callus. However, much higher concentration of kanamycin was needed to suppress the growth of axillary buds of untransformed plants. On the other hand, hygromycin at the concentration of 5 mg/L effectively suppressed shoot growth of untransformed plants. Root induction from untransformed plants could also be suppressed at the concentration of 50 mg/L kanamycin or 5 mg/L hygromycin. The transgenic plants showed resistance to 100 mg/L kanamycin or 50 mg/L hygromycin in the growth of callus, shoots, and roots. Hygromycin appeared to be more efficient in selecting untransformed cells than kanamycin.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2004

The expression of a chimeric transgene (nos-npt II) has been examined in 9 years old transgenic poplars (Populus koreana x P. nigra) growing in a nursery. The expression of the gene in twenty six independentely transformed plants were examined by 1) enzyme (NPT II) assay, 2) RT-PCR, and 3) resistance to kanamycin. High NPT II activities in young leaves of all the transformed plants were found even without a selection pressure for antibiotics for 9 years. However, the activity varied with the positions of leaves in the stem in that young leaves showed higher activity than did mature tissues. When leaf segments were cultured in the presence of 150 mg/l kanamycin, only those from young leaves produced vigorously growing callus. However, as in the case of NPTII assay, the leaf segments from mature leaves did not form callus well on the media. RT-PCR with nptII specific primers also showed that amplification products were observed only when RNAs from young tissues were used. The total RNA gel showed that while RNA in young leaves are relatively stable and in a large quantity, those in old leaves were mostly degraded. All the above results suggest that the gene is transcriptionally active only in young tissue even though it is attached to a constituitive promoter. Therefore, the expression of foreign gene in poplar plants seemed to be affected by the metabolic state of the cells and thus vary greatly with the developmental stages and the age of tissue.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.334-340
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• 1998

This research was conducted to identify plant regulatory regions by gene tagging method. A promoterless GUS coding sequence was introduced to Populus nigra ${\times}$ P. maximowiczii via Agrobacterium strains(LBA4404/EHA101), and putative transgenic poplars were selected by culturing on medium containing G418($60mg/{\ell}$) and by GUS assay. Among them one positive plant was to amplify the native sequences flanking to the introduced GUS gene in plant genome by inverse PCR method and from this 730 by DNA product was obtained. After subcloning and sequencing, it has 88% homology to the Eucalyptus gunnii CAD(cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase) gene. The GUS gene fused with the putative promoter reinserted into poplar leaves by particle bombardment method to test the funtional promoter activity. Upon staining with X-gluc, many blue spots appeared on the leaf segments bombarded by the chimeric gene 2-3 days, thus the isolated DNA fragment contain some possible coding region as well as a putative regulatory sequences of poplar CAD gene.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.163-169
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• 1999

This study was conducted to produce herbicide resistant plants by transferring phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) gene into Populus alba $\times$ Populus glandulosa No .3 using Agrobacterium tumefaciens MP 90/PAT. Leaf segments from in vitro grown shoots of hybrid poplar No. 3 were soaked in a AB medium containing Agrobacterium tumefaciens MP 90/PAT for 10 min and cocultivated for 2 days on MS medium containing 1.0 mg/L 2,4-D and 0.2mg/L kinetin (CIM). Putative transformed calli could be selected after cocultivation of leaf segments on CIM supplemented with 50mg/L kanamycin and 500mg/L cefotaxime for 3 weeks. The selected calli were cultured on CIM supplemented with 50 mg/L kanamycin and 500 mg/L cefotaxime for 5~8 weeks before transfer to WPM containing 1.0mg/L zeatin, 0.1mg/L BAP, 50 mg/L kanamycin and 500mg/L cefotaxime for shoot regeneration. Shoots were regenerated from the callus after 4 week cultivation, and the regenerants were grown on the same medium for 7~l0 weeks. The plants rooted on 1/2 WPM containing 0.2 mg/L IBA and 50 mg/L kanamycin. To confirm the gene insertion into plants, GUS activity was detected by histochemical assay in the transformed plants. Finally, the presence of both NPT II and PAT genes from the transgenic plants were confirmed by PCR amplification with the gene specific primers and subsequent PCR-Southern blot with DIG-labeled PAT gene probe. After acclimatization in pots for 4 weeks, the plants were sprayed by 3 mL/L of Basta to test resistance to the herbicide. The transgenic plants remained green, whereas all the control plants died after one week.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2009

Simple, reproducible, high frequency, improved plant regeneration protocol in Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) clones, WIMCO199 and L34, has been reported. Initially, aseptic cultures established from axillary buds of nodal segments from mature plus trees on MS liquid medium supplemented with $0.25mg\;1^{-1}$ KIN and $0.25mg\;1^{-1}$ IAA. Nodal and internodal segments were found to be extra-prolific over shoot apices during course of aseptic culture establishment, while $0.25mg\;1^{-1}$ KIN concentration played a stimulatory role in high frequency plant regeneration. Diverse explants, such as various leaf segments, internodes, and roots from in vitro raised cultures, were employed. Direct plant regeneration was at high frequency of 92% in internodes, 88% in leaf segments, and 43% in root segments. This led to the formation of multiple shoot clusters on established culture media with rapid proliferation rates. Many-fold enhanced shoot elongation and growth of the clusters could be achieved on liquid MS medium supplemented with borosilicate glass beads, which offer physical support for proliferating shoots leading to faster growth in comparison to semi-solid agar or direct liquid medium. SEM examination of initial cultures confirmed direct plant regeneration events without intervening calli. In vitro regenerated plants induced roots on half-strength MS medium with $0.15mg\;1^{-1}$ IAA. Rooted 5- to 6-week-old in vitro regenerated plants were transferred into a transgenic greenhouse in pots containing 1:1 mixture of vermicompost and soil at $27{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ for hardening and acclimatization. 14- to 15-week-old well-established hardened plants were transplanted to the field and grown to maturity. The mature in vitro raised poplar trees exhibited a high survival rate of 85%; 4-year-old healthy trees attained an average height of 8 m and an average trunk diameter of 25 cm and have performed well under field conditions. The regeneration protocol presented here will be very useful for undertaking genetic manipulation, providing a value addition to Eastern Cottonwood propagation in future.