• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.59-63
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• 2009

Calcium ion ($Ca^{2+}$) is thought to play the important role as a second messenger for signal transduction that results in various physiological responses to cope with developmental programs and environmental changes in plant. In plant cells, the central vacuole functions as a major calcium store, which is important for both signal transduction and preventing cytotoxicity. Although there is evidence for the biochemical characterizations of a calmodulin-regulated $Ca^{2+}$-ATPase (ACA11) localized to vacuole membrane, the biological function to ACA11 in plant has not been verified. In this study, we show that the cell death as the hypersensitive response (HR) in mature leaves is induced in transgenic plant of a vacuole ACA-type $Ca^{2+}$-ATPase, ACA11. Evidence that cell death phenotype is the result of ACA11 gene silencing is provided by Western blot assay using membrane fraction proteins extracted from transgenic plant. The 3, 3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining study provides that the cell death is caused by the increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mature leaves of transgenic plants.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.8 s.88
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• pp.1157-1165
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• 2007

VvMSA, a grapevine ASR which is highly inducible by sugar and abscisic acid signals was previously shown to be a transcription factor for a hexose transporter gene VvHT1. We isolated a cDNA clone, VlASR which is regulated temporally during the grape berry development by ACP RT-PCR (annealing control primer reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) and it proved identical to VvMSA. RT-PCR and real-time PCR analyses revealed that the VlASR gene was expressed in berries at fruit set and that its expression increased as berries aged but decreased at the late ripening stage. In order to understand the regulatory mechanism of the asr gene, a genomic fragment was cloned from grapevine. The genomic DNA was 1375 bp long and a sugar box (sucrose box 3 and sucrose responsive element 1) was identified in the 611 bp upstream region of the open reading frame. Analysis of the VlASR promoter::reporter gene fusion demonstrated that this promoter was expressed in transgenic Arabidopsis even without sucrose treatment. This result suggests that the ASR/VvHT1-mediated sugar/ABA signaling, previously reported in grapevine, may not function in Arabidopsis which has no ASR homologue.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.239-256
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• 1997

Plants belonging to the category of 2n apomixis or agamospermy form embryos and seeds without the processes of normal meiosis and syngamy. Seeds produced in this way have identical genotype of their maternal parent. Three different types of agamospermy are recognized: diplospory, apospory, and adventitious (adventive) embryony. $F_1$ hybrid cultivars cannot be used as seed sources in the next ($F_2$) generation because this generation would be extremely variable as a result of genetic segregation. Hybrid vigor is also reduced in the $F_2$ generation. Therefore, parental stocks for hybrid seed production need to be maintained and cross must be continuously repeated. Agamospermic 2n apomixis would make it possible to fix the genotype of a superior variety so that clonal seeds faithfully representing that genotype could be continuously and cheaply produced independent of pollination. That is, $F_1$ hybrid seeds could be produced for many generations without loss of vigor or genotype alteration. Production of apomictic $F_1$ hybrid seed would be simplified because line isolation would not be necessary to produce seed or to maintain parental lines, and the use of male-sterile lines could be avoided. Overall, apomixis would enable a significant reduction in hybrid seed production costs. Additionally, the production of clonal seed is not only important for seed propagated crops, but also for the propagation of heterozygous fruit trees and timbers. Clonal seed would help avoid costly and time-consuming vegetative propagating methods that are currently used to ensure the large-scale production of these plants. Apomixis is scattered throughout the plant kingdom, but few important agricultural crops possess this trait Therefore, most research to date has centered on introgressing the trait of apomixis into agricultural crops such as wheat, maize, and some forage grasses from wild distant relatives by traditional cross breeding. The classical breeding approach, however is slow and often impeded by many breeding barriers. These problems could be surmounted by taking mutagenesis or molecular approach. Arabidopsis thaliana is a tiny sexually reproducing plant and is convenient in constructing and screening in molecular researches. Male-sterile mutants of Arabidopsis are particularly suitable genetic background for mutagenesis and screening for apomictic mutants. Molecular approaches towards isolating the genes controlling the apomictic process are feasible. Direct isolation of genes conferring apomixis development would greatly facilitate the transfer of this trait to wide variety of crops. Such studies are now in progress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.71-80
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• 2005

Effects of low temperature ($8^{\circ}C$) on the hydraulic conductivity of young roots of a chilling-sensitive (cucumber; Cucumis sativus L.) and a chilling-resistant (figleaf gourd; Cucurbita ficifolia Bouche) crop have been measured at the levels of whole root systems (root hydraulic conductivity, $Lp_r$) and of individual cortical cells (cell hydraulic conductivity, Lp). In figleaf gourd, there was a reduction only in hydrostatic $Lp_r$ but not in osmotic $Lp_r$ suggesting that the activity of water channels was not much affected by low root temperature (LRT)treatment in this species. Changes in cell Lp in response to chilling and recovery were similar asroot level, although they were more intense at the root level. Roots of figleaf gourd recovered better from LRT treatment than those of cucumber. In figleaf gourd, recovery (both at the root and cell level) often resulted in Lp and $Lp_r$ values which were even bigger than the original, i.e. there was an overshoot in hydraulic conductivity. These effects were larger forosmotic (representing the cell-to-cell passage of water) than for hydrostatic $Lp_r$. After a short term (1 d) exposure to $8\;^{\circ}C$ followed by 1 d at $20\;^{\circ}C$, hydrostatic $Lp_r$ of cucumber nearly recovered and that of figleaf gourd still remained higher due to the overshoot. On the contrary, osmotic $Lp_r$ and cell Lp in both species remained high by a factor of 3 as compared to the control, possibly due to an increased activity of water channels. After pre-conditioning of roots at LRT, increased hydraulic conductivitywas completely inhibited by $HgCl_2$ at both the root and cell levels. Different from figleaf gourd, recovery from chilling was not complete in cucumber after longer exposure to LRT. It is concluded that at LRT, both changes in the activity of aquaporins and alterations of root anatomy determine the water uptake in both species. To better understand the aquaporin function in plants under various stress conditions, we examined the transgenic Arabidopsisand tobacco plants that constitutively overexpress ArabidopsisPIP1;4 or PIP2;5 under various abiotic stress conditions. No significant differences in growth rates were found between the transgenic and wild-type plants under favorable growth conditions. By contrast, overexpression of PIP1;4 or PIP2;5 had a negative effect on seed germination and seedling growth under drought stress, whereas it had a positive effect under cold stress and no effect under salt stress. Measurement of water transport by cell pressure probe revealed that these observed phenotypes under different stress conditions were closely correlated with the ability of water transport by each aquaporin in the transgenic plants. Together, our results demonstrate that PIP-type aquaporins play roles in seed germination, seedling growth, and stress response of Arabidopsis and tobacco plants under various stress conditions, and emphasize the importance of a single aquaporin-mediated water transport in these cellular processes.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2011

Calmodulin (CaM), a $Ca^{2+}$ binding protein in eukaryotes, mediates cellular $Ca^{2+}$ signals in response to a variety of biotic and abiotic external stimuli. The $Ca^{2+}$-bound CaM transduces signals by modulating the activities of numerous CaM-binding proteins. As a CaM binding protein, AtCBP63 ($\b{A}$rabidopsis thaliana $\b{C}$aM-binding protein $\underline{63}$ kD) has been known to be positively involved in plant defense signaling pathway. To investigate the pathogen resistance function of AtCBP63 in potato, we constructed transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants constitutively overexpressing AtCBP63 under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. The overexpression of the AtCBP63 in potato plants resulted in the high level induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes such as PR-2, PR-3 and PR-5. In addition, the AtCBP63 transgenic potato showed significantly enhanced resistance against a pathogen causing bacterial soft rot, Erwinia carotovora ssp. Carotovora (ECC). These results suggest that a CaM binding protein from Arabidopsis, AtCBP63, plays a positive role in pathogen resistance in potato.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.264-270
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• 2017

Brassinosteroid (BR), a plant steroid hormone, plays a critical role in the growth and developmental processes through its canonical signaling and crosstalk with various internal and external signaling pathways. Recent studies have revealed the essential interplay mechanisms between BR and ABA during seed germination and early seedling establishment. However, molecular mechanisms for this important signaling crosstalk are largely unknown. To understand the crosstalk between BR-mediated signaling pathways and ABA functions during early seedling development, we carried out a comparative genome-wide transcriptome analysis with an Agilent Arabidopsis $4{\times}44K$ oligo chip. We selected and compared the expression patterns of ABA response genes in ABA-insensitive bes1-D mutant with wild type seedlings on which ABA was exogenously applied. As a result, we identified 2,353 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ABA-treated bes1-D and wild type seedlings. GO enrichment analysis revealed that ABA signaling, response, and metabolism were critically down-regulated by BR-activated signaling pathways. In addition, the genome-wide transcriptome analysis data revealed that BR-regulated signaling pathways were tightly connected to diverse signal cues including abiotic/biotic stress, auxin, ROS etc. In this study, we newly identified the molecular mechanisms of BR-mediated repression of ABA signaling outputs. Also, our data suggest that interplay among diverse signaling pathways is critical for the adaptive response of the plant to various environmental factors.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.162-168
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• 2011

High salinity is a common stress condition that adversely affects plant growth and crop production. In response to various environmental stresses, plants activate a number of defense genes that function to increase the tolerance. To isolate Arabidopsis genes that are involved in abiotic stress responses, we carried out genetic screening using various mutant lines. Among them, the blh8 ($\b{B}$EL1-$\b{L}$ike $\b{H}$omeodomain $\underline{8}$) mutant specifically shows chlorotic phenotypes to ionic (specifically, $Na^+$ and $K^+$) stresses, but no differences in root growth. In addition, BLH8 is related to plant development and abiotic stress as predicted by a Graphical Gaussian Model (GGM) network program. It implies that BLH8 functions as a putative transcription factor related to abiotic stress responses. Collectively, our results show that gene network analysis is a useful tool for isolating genes involved in stress adaptation in plants.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.156-162
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• 2013

Plant tolerance to drought is a beneficial trait for stabilizing crop productivity under water deficits. Here we report that genetically engineered Chinese cabbage expressing Arabidopsis $H^+$-pyrophosphatase (AVP1) shows enhanced physiological parameters related to drought tolerance. In comparison with wild type plants under soil water deficit stress created by cessation of irrigation, soil water potential in pot with AVP1-expressing plants was more rapidly decreased that might lead to increased relative water content in leaves, while both genotypes had indistinguishable wilting phenotypes. Transgenic plants subjected to drought treatment also exhibited higher photosystem II quantum yield in addition to lower electrolyte leakage and $H_2O_2-3,3^{\prime}$-diaminobenzidine content when compared to wild type plants.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-169
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• 2007

We identified two alternatively spliced variants of the peroxisomal targeting signal 1 (PTS1) receptor protein Pex5ps in monocot (rice, wheat, and barley) but not in dicot (Arabidopsis and tobacco) plants. We characterized the molecular and functional differences between the rice (Oryza sativa) Pex5 splicing variants OsPex5pL and OsPex5pS. There is only a single-copy of OsPEX5 in the rice genome and RT-PCR analysis points to alternative splicing of the transcripts. Putative light-responsive cis-elements were identified in the 5' region flanking OsPEX5L and Northern blot analysis demonstrated that this region affected light-dependent expression of OsPEX5 transcription. Using the pex5-deficient yeast mutant Scpex5, we showed that OsPex5pL and OsPex5pS are able to restore translocation of a model PTS1 protein (GFP-SKL) into peroxisomes. OsPex5pL and OsPex5pS formed homo-complexes via specific interaction domains, and interacted with each other and OsPex14p to form hetero-complexes. Although overexpression of OsPex5pL in the Arabidopsis pex5 mutant (Atpex5) rescued the mutant phenotype, overexpression of OsPex5pS only resulted in partial recovery.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1132-1139
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• 2018

The stability of diverse cellular proteins in eukaryotes is regulated via ubiquitination. Moreover, E3 ligase plays a crucial role in determining substrate specificity and transfers ubiquitins into the substrates during the ubiquitination process. As a type of multi-subunit E3 ligase, cullin4 (CUL4)-based E3 ligase (CRL4) complex is involved in a variety of cellular processes, such as hormonal and stress responses in plants. In spite of several reports on the versatile roles of CRL4 in various signalings in Arabidopsis, CRL4's function in rice has been poorly known. To learn about CRL4-mediated cellular processes in rice in more detail, OsCUL4 that exhibits the highest homology with Arabidopsis CUL4 was isolated, and its expression patterns in various tissues and in response to plant hormones and abiotic stresses were monitored. Exogenous application of ABA or cytokinin increased the transcript levels of the OsCUL4 gene. Moreover, OsCUL4 was significantly upregulated in response to drought and salt stresses. These findings imply that OsCUL4 may be functionally related to ABA- and/or cytokinin-mediated cellular responses. OsCUL4 directly interacted with OsDDB1, an adaptor protein of CRL4, indicating that OsCUL4 can act as a scaffold protein of CRL4. An expression study on the OsCUL4 gene from this report could be used as a starting point to elucidate cellular responses in which a CRL4-mediated ubiquitination process is involved in rice.