• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.97-130
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• 1979

Many industrial processes those employ bacteria are subjected to phage infestations. In L-glutamic acid fermentions using acetic acid, the phage infestations of the organisms have been recently recognized. In efforts to elucidate the sources of phage contamination involved in the abnormal fermentation, a series of study was conducted to isolate the phages both from the contents of abnormally fermented tanks and the soil or sewage samples from the surroundings of a fermentation factory, to define major charateristics of the phage isolates, and finally to determine the correlation between the phage isolates and temperate phages originating from the miscellaneous bacterial species isolated from the soil or sewage samples. The results are summarized as follows; 1) All phages were isolated from the irregular fermentation tanks and soil or sewage samples, and they were designated as phage PR-1, PR-2, PR-3, PR-4, PR-5, PR-6, and PR-7, in the order of isolation. These PR-series phages were proved to be highly specific for the variant strains of Br. lactofermentum only, namely, phage PR-1 and PR-2 for Br. lactofermentum No. 468-5 and phage PR-3~PR-7 for Br. lactofemrentum No. 2256. By cross-neutralization test, the 7 phagescould be subdivided into 3 groups, i. e., phage PR-I and PR-2 the first, phage PR-3, PR-4, PR-5, PR-6 the second, and the phage PR-7 the third. 2) The 7 phages were virulent under the experimental conditions. They produced plaques with clear and relatively sharp margins without distinct halo. The mean sizes of plaques were 1.5mm in diameter for phage PR-1 and PR-2, and 1. Omm for phages PR-3~PR-7. Double layer technique modified by Hongo and described by Adams, was applied to assay of the PR-series phages. The factors influencing the plaques were as follows;young age cells of host bacteria cultured for 3-6 hours represented the largest number and size, optimum was pH 7.0, incubation temperature was $30^{\circ}C$, and agar concentration and amount of overlayer medium were 0.6% and 0.2ml, respectively. 3) PR-series phages were stable in 0.05M tris buffer and 0.1M ammonium acetate buffer solution. The addition of $5{\times}10^{-3}M$ magnesium ion effectively increased the stability. Thermostability experiments indicated that PR-series phages were stable at the teinperture between $50^{\circ}{\sim}55^{\circ}C$ in nutrient medium, $45^{\circ}{\sim}50^{\circ}C$ in buffer solution. However, the phages mere completely inactivated at 603C and 65$^{\circ}$C within 10 minutes. The phages were stable at the range of pH6~9 in nutrient medium and of pH 8-9 in buffer solution, respectively. Exposure of the phages to UV for 25, 60 and 100 seconds resulted in the complete loss of infectivily, respectively. 4) Electron microscopy showed that PR-series phage particles exhibited rather similar morphology, differing in the size All of PR-series phages had a multilateral head and had a simple long tiil about three to five times long as compared with head. By the size, phage PR-1 and PR-2, PR-3, PR-4, PR-5, and PR-6 and PR-7 were classified into same groups, respectively. The head and tail size of phage PR-1, PR-5, PR-5(T) and PR-7 were 85nm, 74nm and 235nm and 350mm, and 72nm and 210nm, respectively. 5) Nucleic acids of PR-series phages were double stranded DNA. The G+C contents of phage PR-1, PR-5 and PR-7 were 56.1, 52.9 and 53.7, respectively. The values of G+C contents derived from the $T_m$ were in agreement with the chemically determined values. 6) PR-series phages effectively adsorbed on their host bacteria at the rate of more than 90% during 5 min. K value for phage PR-1, PR-5 and PR-7 were calculated to be $6{\times}10^9 ml$ per minute, respectiveky. The pH of the medium did effect adsorption rate, but both temperature and age of host cells did not. Generally, optimum adsorption condition of phages seemed to be almost same as optimum growth conditions of host bacteria. 7) In one-step growth experiments, the latent periods at $30^{\circ}C$ for PR-1, and PR-7 were about 70, 50 and 55 min, respectively. The corresponding average burst size was 200, 70 and 90, respectively. Lpsis period according to the multiplicity of infection and a phage series. In case of m. o. i. 100, strain No. 2256 (PR-5) and No. 468-5(PR-1) failed to grow and turbidity decreased after 50 and 70min, respectively. 8) In the lysate of a plaque purified phage PR-5 infected bacteria, there observed 2 types ofphage particles, i. e., phage PR-5 and PR-5 (T) of similar morphology but differing at the length of phage tail, and phage tail like particles. The phage taillike particles could be divided into 4 types by the length. Induction experiments of Br. lactofermentum with UV irradiation, mitomycin C or bacitracin treatment produced neither phage PR-5 (T) or phage tail-like particles. 9) No lysis occured when the growth of 7 strains of miscellaneous bacteria, isolated from soil and sewage samples, were inoculated with either phage PR-5 (T) or phage tail-like particles the inoculation of phage PR-5 pellet resulted in the growth inhibition of the orgainsms in the spot test. The lysates obtained from 3 miscellaneous soil derived bacteria following mitomycin C treatment the growth of Br. lactofermentum, but did not lyze the bacterium.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.272-281
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• 2003

Nontraditional or alternative medicine is becoming an increasingly attractive approach for the treatment of various inflammatory disorders and cancers. Curcumin is the major constitute of turmoric powder extracted from the rhizomes of the plant Curcuma longa. Resveratrol is a phytoalexin present in grapes and a variety of medicinal plants. In this report, We investigated the effect of curcumin and resveratrol on regulatory protein of cell cycle, induction of apoptosis and MMP activity. Treatment with 75 M curcumin for 24 hrs produced morphological changing in HN-4 cells. Curcumin and resveratrol inhibited the cellular growth in HN-4 cells. Inhibition of cell growth was associated with down-regulation of cell cycle regulatory proteins. Curcumin-induced caspase-3 activation and Bax degradation were dose-dependent with a maximal effect at a concentration of 100 M. The elevated caspase-3 activity in curcumin treated HN-4 cells are correlated with down-regulation of survivin and cIAP1, but not cIAP2. Curcumin induced a dose-dependent increase of cytochrome c in the cytosol. Curcumin induced-apoptosis was mediated through the release of cytochrome c. In addition, curcumin-induced apoptosis was caused by the generation of reactive oxygen species, which was prevented by antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). Cotreatment with NAC markedly prevented cytochrome c release, Bax cleavage and cell death. Also resveratrol-induced apoptosis was preceded by down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, cIAP1, and caspase-3 activity. However, resveratrol-induced apoptosis was not prevented by antioxidant NAC. In addition, HN-4 cells release basal levels of MMP2 when cultured in serum-free medium. Treatment of the cells with various concentrations of PMA for 24 hr induced the expression and secretion of latent MMP9 as determined by gelatin zymography. HN-4 cells were treated with various concentrations of curcumin and resveratrol in the presence of 75 nM PMA, and MMP2 and 9 activities were inhibited by curcumin and resveratrol. These findings have implications for developing curcumin-based anticancer and anti-inflammation therapies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.74-82
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• 1979

Pinus densiflora S. et Z. which has the widest distribution and highest stock at present in Korea and has used as materials for fuel, house construction, furniture and many other purposes for several hundred years, is considered as one of major species of economic importance, although there are a few epidemic insect injuries and silvicultural difficulties in regeneration. However, since disorderly cutting has been conducted for long time, the valuable local stands have disappeared. Therefore immediate attempts should be taken on the gene conservation and genetic studies including heritabilities and genetic gains of desirable characters. One hundred and twently five plus trees have so far been selected from the nationwide area and kept for the purpose of seed orchard establishment and other theoretical studies. In this study, the wind pollinated seeds of grafted stocks of 13 plus trees in clone bank located in Suweon and the seeds of 4 Japanese plus trees were collected and their progenies were used for heritability study. As indicated in figure 1, thirteen plus trees are from the middle part of Korea and two experimental plantations were laid out in ]972 (1-1 stock) by the randomized block design with five replications, consisting of 10 trees line plots of each family in each replication. Tree height, root collar diameter and branch diameter at 1cm apart from the main stem were measured. The results are summarized as follows 1. The rank of height growth of each plus tree progenies by age was greatly changed under age 3 and it was affected more in poor site than good site. 2. The heritabilities of height growth were estimated to be 7.2% at age 3, negative sign at age 4, 9.4% at age 5, 13.0% at age 6, 8.1% at age 7 and abrupt increase of 63.8% at age 8. The heritabilities were generally increased with increase of age. 3. The heritabilities of root collar diameter and branch diameter (average of the three biggest branches) was 3.2% and 11.8% at age 8 respectively. 4. The genetic gain was largest at age 8 and it was 46.6% when a selection intensity, 1/500 was taken. It, therefore, seems to be reasonable that selection should not be made under age 7.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.218-228
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• 2010

Components of dental resin-based restorative materials are reported to leach from the filling materials even after polymerization. Hydroquinone (HQ) is one of the major monomers used in the dental resin and is known as a carcinogen. Thus, carcinogenic risk of HQ leaching from the dental resin becomes a public health concern. The present study attempted to examine the carcinogenic potentials of HQ on the human epithelial cell, which is the target cell origin of the most of oral cancers. Cytotoxicity of HQ was observed above 50${\mu}M$ as measured by LDH assay, indicating a relatively low toxicity of this substance in human epithelial cells. The parameters of neoplastic cellular transformation such as cell saturation density, soft agar colony formation and cell aggregation were analyzed to examine the carcinogenic potential of HQ. The study showed that 2-week exposure of HQ showed the tendency of increase in the saturation density and the significant enhancement of soft agar colony formation at the highest dose, 50 ${\mu}M$ only. It is suggested that HQ has a weak potential of carcinogenicity. When cells were treated with HQ and TPA, a well-known tumor promoter, the parameters of neoplastic cellular transformation was significantly increased. This result indicates that the potential risk of carcinogenicity from HQ is largely dependent upon the presence of promoter. Exposure of 50 ${\mu}M$ HQ increased the time-dependent apoptosis as measured by the ELISA kit. This concentration coincides with a dose of neoplastic transformation, indicating a possible link between apoptosis and HQ-induced cellular transformation. Hydroquinone generated Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which was evidenced by the treatment of antioxidants such as trolox and N-acetyl cysteine and the GSH depleting agent, BSO. Antioxidants blocked the generation of ROS and the GSH depleting agent, BSO dramatically increased the ROS production. Since HQ is known to increase ROS production thru activation of transcriptional factor such as c-Myb and Pim-1, it is speculated that ROS generation by HQ plays a role in the activation of oncogene, which may lead to neoplastic transformation. In addition, ROS is involved in the alteration of signal transduction, which regulates the apoptosis in many cellular systems. Thus, ROS-mediated apoptosis may be involved in the HQ-induced carcinogenic processes. Protein kinase C (PKC) is known to play pivotal roles in neoplastic transformation of cells and its high expression is often found in a variety of types of tumors including oral cancer. PKC translocation of PKC-${\alpha}$ was observed following HQ exposure. Altered signaling system may also play a role in the transformation process. Taken together, HQ leached from the dental resin does not pose a significant threat as a cancer causing agent, but its carcinogenic potential can be significantly elevated in the presence of promoter. The mechanism of HQ-induced carcinogenesis involved ROS generation, apoptosis and altered signaling pathway. The present study will provide a valuable data to estimate the potential risk of HQ as a carcinogen and understand mechanism of HQ-induced carcinogenesis in human epithelial cells.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.636-644
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• 1999

Background : Tumor necrosis factor(TNF) has been considered as an important candidate for cancer gene therapy based on its potent anti-tumor activity. The mechanisms of TNF cytotoxicity are not clearly understood and some has reported that reactive oxygen species(ROS) might be associated with them, but there is controversy about antioxidant effect on TNF cytotoxicity. This study was designed to compare the TNF cytotoxicity after antioxidant pretreatment with that of control to evaluate the role of ROS in the mechanism of TNF cytotoxicity. Method : We compared the TNF cytotoxicies to WEHI164(murine fibrosarcoma cell line) and ME180(human cervix cancer cell line) after antioxidant pretreatment with those of control by MIT(dimethylthiazolyl-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Results : In the control group, the TNF cytotoxicities were $92.2{\pm}2.8%$(WEHI164) and $59.9{\pm}7.0%$(MEl80). In the TMTU(tetramethyl thiourea) pretreatment group, those were $91.4{\pm}3.7%$ and $74.6{\pm}7.0%$. In the PMZ(promethazine) pretreatment group, those were $90.2{\pm}2.5%$ and $62.5{\pm}5.7%$. In the BHT(butylated hydroxytoluene) pretreatment group, those were $93.2{\pm}1.3%$ and $66.3{\pm}6.1%$. So there was no reduction in TNF cytotoxicity after antioxidants pretreatment. Conclusion : The ROS may not have major role in the mechanisms of TNF cytotoxicity.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.882-888
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• 2006

Purpose : Bacteremia is one of the major concerns in the treatment of pediatric cancer patients. This study was to determine the etiologic agents and the pattern of antibiotic susceptibilities in a single tertiary medical center. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the cases of bacteremia in pediatric cancer patients from 1998 to 2005 in Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center. Results : There were 62 cases of bacteremia from 44 patients. Gram-positive organisms(48.3%) were more common than gram-negative organisms(38.7%) or fungi(13%). Among gram-positive organisms, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common etiologic agent(63.3%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus(16.7%), ${\alpha}$-hemolytic Streptococcus(16.7%), and Streptococcus mitis(3.3%). Among gram-negative organisms, Alcaligenes xylosoxidans was the most common agent(41.7%) and the other organisms were Klebsiella pneumoniae(20.8%), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia(12.5%), Acinetobacter baumanii(8.2%), etc. In febrile neutropenic patients, however, K. pneumoniae was the most common cause of gram-negative bacteremia. All of the isolated K. pneumoniae in our center produced extended-spectrum beta-lactamase and were related with high mortality. S. aureus, S. epidermidis, and Streptococcus species were all susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Most staphylococci were resistant to penicillin and oxacillin. Most of the gram-negative organisms were susceptible to imipenem. Conclusion : Gram-positive organisms were more commonly isolated than gram-negative organisms in pediatric cancer patients like other studies. We could obtained valuable information on the choice of proper antibiotics in our institution. Further studies will be needed to explain the prevalence of A. xylosoxidans in our center.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.877-885
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• 2020

Lentinuls edodes has been used for traditional food and medicine around Asia, and a variety of biological effects have been reported. In this study, L. edodes water extract (LWE) was investigated for its anti-photodamage effect in HaCaT keratinocytes. To perform the necessary assays, L. edodes was extracted with distilled water for 8 hr at 40℃ in an extract tank. Anti-photodamage activity was assessed using a scratch wound healing assay, cell proliferation, and a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging test and by measuring the mRNA and protein expression levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and type I procollagen. MMPs and collagen expression are major markers of UV-induced photodamage in skin. Prior to photodamage analysis, the total polyphenol and β-glucan contents of the LWE were evaluated and found to be 4.64 mg GAE/g DW and 165.96 mg/g, respectively. Treatment with LWE induced cell migration and cell proliferation in UV-irradiated HaCaT cells, and LWE effectively scavenged the ROS induced by H₂O₂ and UVB irradiation in HaCaT cells. UVB irradiation induced ROS generation and led to increased production of MMP-1 and MMP-9 and to decreased collagen production in human keratinocytes. Treatment with LWE upregulated the expression levels of MMP-1, MMP-9, and type I procollagen in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells. This study suggests that LWE could be used to develop cosmetic materials with anti-photodamage effects.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.521-528
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• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate changes in the proximate composition, antioxidant activities, and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity of Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) cladodes cultivated in Jeju (JJ1, JJ2, JJ3) and Jeonnam (JN1, JN2). The difference in the proximate composition (crude protein, lipid and ash content) of OFI between the two regions was not significant. Ca, Mg and Na were the major mineral components of OFI. The ascorbic acid content of OFI ranged from 57.87 to 143.72 mg/100 g. A 70% ethanol extract was used to investigate the antioxidant content and activity as well as the ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of OFI were 38.69~55.29 and 3.33~4.03 mg/g, respectively. The antioxidant activities based on the DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging assays were 45.19~61.52% and 39.15~51.96%, respectively, at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. The inhibitory activity of OFI extracts against rat intestinal ${\alpha}$-glucosidase was 29.72~45.73% at 1 mg/mL concentration, and JN1 showed the highest ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity. This information could be very useful for authentication of Opuntia species with the highest potential as sources of nutritional and therapeutic elements.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.45 no.3 s.144
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• pp.293-299
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• 2006

A survey was conducted to find out the major plant parasitic nematode in Chrysanthemum morifolium fields in Korea from May to June in 2005. A genus of Pratylenchus was determined as the most important plant parasitic nematode based on analysis of total 50 samples from 8 cities of chrysanthemum field. Pratylenchus showed 86% occurrence rate and average numbered 1,095 per 200cc soils and 1g root. Five Pratylenchus isolates, 'Muan', 'Masan', 'Tean', 'Gumi', 'Jeongup', were selected for the molecular identification of the species of Pratylenchus, and ITS and D3-28S ribosomal DNA were amplified by PCR. For the ITS, only 'Muan' isolate was differentiated by total 1 kb PCR amplification, which was 200 bp larger than all the other isolates. There was no size variation in amplified D3-28S rDNA and all isolate represented approximately 320 bp of PCR product. Sequence data of D3-28S rDNA were analysed by MegAlign program in DNASTAR software and phylogenetic tree was constructed. Sequence homology was 100% between 'Gumi' isolate and 'Tean' isolate and 'Jeongup' isolate was also close to these isolates by 99.7% sequence homology. 'Gumi', 'Tean' group and 'Jeongup' isolate were determined to be closely related to Pratylenchus vulnus by 96.7% and 96.3% similarity in respectively. D3 sequence of 'Masan' isolate was 100% identical to P. penetrans, and 'Muan' isolate showed 99.7% similarity to P. brachyurus. This result was congruent with the branch divergence pattern shown in phylogenetic tree.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.8-9
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• 2017

Soybean yield has been low and unstable in Japan and other areas in East Asia, despite long history of cultivation. This is contrasting with consistent increase of yield in North and South America. This presentation tries to describe perspective of breaking stagnation of soybean yield in East Asia, considering the factors of the different yields between regions. Large amount of rainfall with occasional dry-spell in the summer is a nature of monsoon climate and as frequently stated excess water is the factor of low and unstable soybean yield. For example, there exists a great deal of field-to-field variation in yield of 'Tanbaguro' soybean, which is reputed for high market value and thus cultivated intensively and this results in low average yield. According to our field survey, a major portion of yield variation occurs in early growth period. Soybean production on drained paddy fields is also vulnerable to drought stress after flowering. An analysis at the above study site demonstrated a substantial field-to-field variation of canopy transpiration activity in the mid-summer, but the variation of pod-set was not as large as that of early growth. As frequently mentioned by the contest winners of good practice farming, avoidance of excess water problem in the early growth period is of greatest importance. A series of technological development took place in Japan in crop management for stable crop establishment and growth, that includes seed-bed preparation with ridge and/or chisel ploughing, adjustment of seed moisture content, seed treatment with mancozeb+metalaxyl and the water table control system, FOEAS. A unique success is seen in the tidal swamp area in South Sumatra with the Saturated Soil Culture (SSC), which is for managing acidity problem of pyrite soils. In 2016, an average yield of $2.4tha^{-1}$ was recorded for a 450 ha area with SSC (Ghulamahdi 2017, personal communication). This is a sort of raised bed culture and thus the moisture condition is kept markedly stable during growth period. For genetic control, too, many attempts are on-going for better emergence and plant growth after emergence under excess water. There seems to exist two aspects of excess water resistance, one related to phytophthora resistance and the other with better growth under excess water. The improvement for the latter is particularly challenging and genomic approach is expected to be effectively utilized. The crop model simulation would estimate/evaluate the impact of environmental and genetic factors. But comprehensive crop models for soybean are mainly for cultivations on upland fields and crop response to excess water is not fully accounted for. A soybean model for production on drained paddy fields under monsoon climate is demanded to coordinate technological development under changing climate. We recently recognized that the yield potential of recent US cultivars is greater than that of Japanese cultivars and this also may be responsible for different yield trends. Cultivar comparisons proved that higher yields are associated with greater biomass production specifically during early seed filling, in which high and well sustained activity of leaf gas exchange is related. In fact, the leaf stomatal conductance is considered to have been improved during last a couple of decades in the USA through selections for high yield in several crop species. It is suspected that priority to product quality of soybean as food crop, especially large seed size in Japan, did not allow efficient improvement of productivity. We also recently found a substantial variation of yielding performance under an environment of Indonesia among divergent cultivars from tropical and temperate regions through in a part biomass productivity. Gas exchange activity again seems to be involved. Unlike in North America where transpiration adjustment is considered necessary to avoid terminal drought, under the monsoon climate with wet summer plants with higher activity of gas exchange than current level might be advantageous. In order to explore higher or better-adjusted canopy function, the methodological development is demanded for canopy-level evaluation of transpiration activity. The stagnation of soybean yield would be broken through controlling variable water environment and breeding efforts to improve the quality-oriented cultivars for stable and high yield.