• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.103-110
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• 2011

This study was performed to enhance anticancer activities of Lithospermum erythrorhizon by eluting high amount of shikonin through ultra high pressure process. Extraction yield was increased up to 5~10% by ultra high pressure process, compare to the normal extraction processes such as water solvent extraction, 70% ethyl alcohol solvent extraction. The cytotoxicity of the extracts ($1.0{\mu}g/m{\ell}$) from ultra high pressure process was showed the lowest cytotoxicity 13.4% for human lung cell (HEL299). The anticancer activities showed 80~85% by adding $1.0{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of the extracts from ultra high pressure process in several cancer cell lines such as AGS, Hep3B, MCF-7 and HeLa cells. Among them, MCF-7 cell of the endocrine system was highest inhibited than other cells. The anticancer activities of the extracts from ultra high pressure extraction process showed 10~15%, which was higher than the extracts from normal extraction processes. From HPLC analysis of the extracts, the contents of shikonin in the extracts from ultra high pressure process was 11.42% (w/w), which was 20% higher than others. This results indicate that ultra high pressure process could increase the extraction yield of shikonin and other contents, which resulted in higher anticancer activities.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.364-368
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• 2006

Survival of biocontrol agents and their effective colonization of rhizhosphere are the essential components for successful disease suppression. The effects of hydrogel supplement on bacterial survival and disease control were evaluated in pot and in the field. Addition of 2% hydrogel material to potting soil resulted in significant enhancement of colonization of biocontrol agent Serratia plymuthica A21-4 both in soil and rhizosphere of pepper plants. Rhizosphere colonization of S. plymuthica A21-4 retrieved from 40 days old pepper seedlings indicated 100 times higher bacterial population in hydrogel treated soil than in ordinary pot soil. The pepper plants sown in hydrogelated potting soil showed higher seed germination rate and the better growth of pepper plant than those in ordinary commercial pot soil. Although the suppression of Phytophthora capsid density in the potting soil by treatment of biocontrol agent A21-4 was not significantly different between in hydrogelated soil and ordinary potting soil, the suppression of Phytophthora blight between two treatments was significantly different. A21-4 treatment in hydrogelated potting soil was completely disease-free while same treatment in ordinary potting soil revealed 36% disease incidence. Our field study under natural disease occurrence also showed significantly less disease incidence(12.3%) in the A21-4 treatment in the hydrogelated soil compared to other treatments. Yield promotion of pepper by the A21-4 treatment in the hydrogelated potting soil was also recognized. Our results indicated that hydrogel amendment with biocontrol agent in pot soil would be a good alternative to protect pepper seedlings and increase plant yield.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2010

A marine alga, Spirulina maxima, was extracted under high pressure and low temperature conditions at 500 MPa and $60^{\circ}C$ for 5 and 10 min. A high pressure of 500 MPa was applied to improve process yields because of low temperature extraction. This method resulted in highest higher extraction yield of 26.1% (w/w) in comparison to those results obtained from conventional extraction methods which produced a yield of 17.6% (w/w) from water. The extracts from this process also showed 19% of low cytotoxicity against human normal fibroblast cells in adding 1.0 mg/ml of the highest concentration. The crude extract significantly reduced the production of Prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) from CCD-986sk cells and increased nitric oxide production by macrophages. These higher activities of enhancing skin immune functions were found to have high antioxidant extract properties, like a 98% increase in DPPH radical scavenging activity. The extracts from the high pressure process showed a higher elution of active components than other processes and generated new compounds based on HPLC analysis. This clearly indicates that the extracts from high pressure and low temperature conditions have higher skin immune activation properties that have not been previously reported.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.101-109
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• 2010

Efficient L-lactic acid production from Jerusalem artichoke tubers, by Lactobacillus casei G-02, using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) in a fed-batch culture, is demonstrated. A kinetic analysis of the SSF revealed that the inulinase activity was subjected to product inhibition, whereas the fermentation activity of G-02 was subjected to substrate inhibition. It was also found that the intracellular NADH oxidase (NOX) activity was enhanced by the citrate metabolism, which dramatically increased the carbon flux of the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas (EMP) pathway, along with the production of ATP. As a result, when the SSF was carried out at $40^{\circ}C$ after an initial hydrolysis of 1 h and included a sodium citrate supplement of 10 g/l, an L-lactic acid concentration of 141.5 g/l was obtained after 30 h, with a volumetric productivity of 4.7 g/l/h. The conversion efficiency and product yield were 93.6% of the theoretical lactic acid yield and 52.4 g lactic acid/l00 g Jerusalem artichoke flour, respectively. Such a high concentration of lactic acid with a high productivity from Jerusalem artichokes has not been reported previously, making G-02 a potential candidate for the economic production of L-lactic acid from Jerusalem artichokes on a commercial scale.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1435-1447
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• 2012

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of hexaconazole (HEX), a triazole fungicide, on the growth, yield, photosynthetic response and antioxidant potential in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants subjected to UV-B stress. UV-B radiation and HEX were applied separately or in combination to cucumber seedlings. The growth parameters were significantly reduced under UV-B treatment, however, this growth inhibition was less in HEX treated plants. HEX caused noticeable changes in plant morphology such as reduced shoot length and leaf area, and increased leaf thickness. HEX was quite persistent in inhibiting shoot growth by causing a reduction in shoot fresh and dry weight. HEX noticeably recovered the UV-B induced inhibition of biomass production. Significant accumutation in anthocyanin and flavonoid pigments in the leaves occurred as a result of HEX or UV-B treatments. HEX permitted the survival of more green leaf tissue preventing chlorophyll content reduction and higher quantum yield for photosystemII under UV-B exposure. HEX treatment induced a transient rise in ABA levels in the leaves, and combined application of HEX and UV-B showed a significant enhancement of ABA content which activates $H_2O_2$ generation. UV-B exposure induced accumulation of $H_2O_2$ in the leaves, while HEX prevented UV-B induced increase in $H_2O_2$, indicating that HEX serves as an antioxidant agent able to scavenge $H_2O$ to protect cells from oxidative damage. An increase in the ascorbic acid was observed in the HEX treated cucumber leaves affecting many enzyme activities by removing $H_2O_2$ during photosynthetic processes. The activities of antioxidant enzymes including catalase(CAT), ascorbate peroxidase(APX), superoxide dismutase(SOD) and peroxidase(POD) in the leaves in the presence of HEX under UV-B stress were higher than those under UV-B stress alone. These findings suggest that HEX may participate in the enhanced tolerance to oxidative stress. From these results it can be concluded that HEX moderately ameliolate the effect of UV-B stress in cucumber by improving the components of antioxidant defense system.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.157-160
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• 2002

This study was carried out to the harvesting efficiency of equipment used fer harvesting of rhizomes of Saururus chinensis Bail. Labor-saving efficiency showed 60-67% enhancement by using tillage operations with power tiller, digger attached to power tiller, and digger attached to tractor compared with manual harvest. Loss percentage of rhizomes by harvesting equipments was 2.2-8.8% lower than by manual harvest. Fresh rhizome yield and income index were increased 3-10% and 13-27% respectively by harvesting equipments, showing the highest yield and index in digger attached to tractor, Thus, digger attached to tractor showed the most effective harvest equipment for Saururus chinensis rhizome.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 2011

Artemisinin is effective against both chloroquine-resistant and -sensitive strains of Plasmodium species. However, the low yield of artemisinin from cultivated and wild plants is a serious limitation to the commercialization of this drug. Optimization of artemisinin yield either in vivo or in vitro is therefore highly desirable. To this end, we have overexpressed the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) gene (hmgr) from Catharanthus roseus L. in Artemisia annua L. and analyzed its influence on artemisinin content. PCR and Southern blot analyses revealed that the transgenic plants showed stable integration of the foreign hmgr gene. The reverse transcriptase-PCR results suggested that the hmgr was expressed at the transcriptional level in transgenic lines of Artemisia annua L., while the high-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that artemisinin content was significantly increased in a number of the transgenic lines. Artemisinin content in one of the A. annua transgenic lines was 38.9% higher than that in non-transgenic plants, and HMGR enzyme activity in transgenic A. annua L. was also higher than that in the non-transgenic lines.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 1978

The effect of lithium chloride on the borane reduction of organic compounds was studied for three ketones, seven acid derivatives, three epoxides and cyclohexene in tetrahydrofuran at $0^{\circ}$. When compared with borane itself, borane-lithium chloride system enhanced the rates of reductions markedly of 2-heptanone, acetophenone, benzoyl chloride, phthalic anhydride, and three epoxides, whereas the reductions of benzophenone, four esters and cyclohexene showed little or no effect. $BH_3$-LiCl (1 : 0.1) reduced styrene oxide in 2 hr at $0^{\circ}$ to give 94.2 % yield of alcohols, 1-to 2-phenylethanol ratio being 60.8 to 39.2. And in the reduction of cyclohexene oxide, $BH_3$-LiCl (1 : 0.1) gave a quantitative yield of cyclohexanol in 2 hr at $0{\circ}$, however $BH_3$-LiCl (1 : 1) gave 58 % cyclohexanol and 42 % 2-chlorocyclohexanol. In the reduction of cyclohexene oxide, lithium nitrate showed no rate enhancement even when the salt was added in large excess. A formation of lithium chloroborohydride in the$BH_3$-LiCl system is suggested.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.204-208
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• 2014

This study investigated the effect of hydrogen permeance and selectivity, catalyst amount, $H_2O/CO$ ratio in a feed stream, and Ar sweep gas on the performance of a water gas shift reaction in a membrane reactor. It was observed that a minimum hydrogen selectivity of 100 was needed in a membrane reactor to obtain a hydrogen yield higher than the one at equilibrium and the hydrogen yield enhancement gradually decreased as the hydrogen permeance increased. The CO conversion in a membrane reactor initially increased with the catalyst amount and reached a plateau later for a membrane reactor with a low hydrogen permeance while the high CO conversion independent of a catalyst amount was observed for a membrane reactor with a high hydrogen permeance. For the $H_2O/CO$ ratio in a feed stream higher than 1.5, a hydrogen permeance had little effect on the CO conversion in a membrane reactor and it was found that a minimum Ar molar flow rate of $6.7{\times}10^{-6}mol\;s^{-1}$ was needed to achieve the CO conversion higher than the one at equilibrium in a membrane reactor.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2011

Considering that the world population is expected to total 9 billion by 2050, it will clearly be necessary to sustain and even accelerate the rate of improvement in crop productivity. In the 21st century, we now face another, perhaps more devastating, environmental threat, namely climate change, which could cause irreversible damage to agricultural ecosystem and loss of production potential. Enhancing intrinsic yield, plant abiotic stress tolerance, and pest and pathogen resistance through agricultural biotechnology will be a critical part of feeding, clothing, and providing energy for the human population, and overcoming climate change. Development and commercialization of genetically engineered crops have significantly contributed to increase of crop yield and farmer's income, decrease of environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide, and to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from this cropping area. Advances in plant genomics, proteomics and system biology have offered an unprecedented opportunities to identify genes, pathways and networks that control agricultural important traits. Because such advances will provide further details and complete understanding of interaction of plant systems and environmental variables, biotechnology is likely to be the most prominent part of the next generation of successful agricultural industry. In this article, we review the prospects for modification of agricultural target traits by genetic engineering, including enhancement of photosynthesis, abiotic stress tolerance, and pest and pathogen resistance associated with such opportunities and challenges under climate change.