• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.130-130
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• 2017

Sorghum bicolor is considered as copper-tolerant species. The present study was conducted to understand the copper tolerance mechanism in Sorghum seedling roots. Morphological and effects of Cu on other interacting ions were observed prominently in the roots when the plants were subjected to different concentrations (0, 50, and $100{\mu}M$) of $CuSO_4$. However, the morphological characteristics were reduced by Cu stress, and the most significant growth inhibition was observed in plants treated with the highest concentration of $Cu^{2+}$ ions ($100{\mu}M$). In the proteome analysis, high-throughput two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis coupled with MALDI-TOF-TOF mass spectrometry was performed to explore the molecular responses of Cu-induced sorghum seedling roots. In two-dimensional silver-stained gels, a total of 422 differentially expressed proteins (${\geq}1.5-fold$) were identified using Progenesis SameSpot software. A total of 21 protein spots (${\geq}1.5-fold$) from Cu-induced sorghum roots were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Of the 21 differentially expressed protein spots from Cu-induced sorghum roots, a total of 10 proteins were up-regulated, and 11 proteins were down-regulated. The abundance of the most identified protein species from the roots that function in stress response and metabolism was significantly enhanced, while protein species involved in transcription and regulation were severely reduced. The results obtained from the present study may provide insights into the tolerance mechanism of seedling roots in Sorghum.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2020

The biological activities of Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) root extracts have been studied intensively, whereas there are limited number of studies on PG seed extract (PGSE). PGSE was prepared by ethanol extraction, and its antidiabetic effect was evaluated in mice with type 2 diabetes (C57BLKS/J-db/db). Results indicated that the administration of high-dose PGSE (600 mg/kg, wb) significantly stabilized the blood glucose levels, as evidenced by the results of the oral glucose tolerance test. Mice treated with high-dose PGSE exhibited significantly lower serum hemoglobin A1c, insulin, and leptin levels after eight weeks of feeding trial (p<0.05). High-dose PGSE administration significantly improved glucose uptake in the femoral muscle of db/db mice by activating both IRS-1/PI3K/AKT/AS160 and AMPK phosphorylation pathways. GLUT4 translocation from the cytosol to the plasma membrane increased 1.7-fold in the PGSE high-dose group. These results suggest that PGSE has potential for development as an antidiabetic agent.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.275-288
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• 1995

The inhibitory effect of cell wall extracts of streptococci, have been investigated to know host-parasite relationship or pathogenesis of abscess formation. Streptococci isolated from the infected root canals were sonicated to get cell wall extracts which have been known as one of the factors of pyogenesis. Lymphocytes separated by density gradient were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin and exposed to cell wall extracts of Streptococcus sanguis, S. mitis, S. uberis, S. mutans (ATCC 10449), and S. faecalis (ATCC 19433). [$^3H$]-thymidine uptake of lymphocytes was analyzed with scintillation counter and lactate dehyrogenase (LD) activity was measured with autochemistry analyzer. S. faeealis had the strongest inhibitory effect. beginning at $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ concentration of sonic extracts. S. sanguis and S. mitis had inhibitory effect at $300\;{\mu}g/ml$, while S. uberis and S. mutans showed no inhibitory, effect on DNA syntheis even at $300\;{\mu}g/ml$. Each streptococci showed different inhibitory effect on the DNA synthesis of lymphocytes, which finding indicated wide spectrum of susceptibility of lymphocytes according to streptococcus spp. There were no significant difference of LD activities between control and each streptococcal extracts. Streptococcal sonic extracts did not affect the morphological findings or number of colonies activated lymphocytes. These finding suggested the inhibitory effect of sonic extract of streptococci to lymphocytes could be detected by DNA synthesis inhibition, not by cellular membrane damage.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.50-58
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• 2018

Background: In terms of the Level 3 probabilistic safety assessment (Level 3 PSA), ingestion of food that had been exposed to radioactive materials is important to assess the intermediate- and long-term radiological dose. Because the ingestion dose is considerably dependent upon the agricultural and dietary characteristics of each country, the reliability of the assessment results may become diminished if the characteristics of a foreign country are considered. Thus, this study intends to evaluate and analyze the ingestion dose of Korean during a severe accident by completely considering the available agricultural and dietary characteristics in Korea. Materials and Methods: This study uses COMIDA2, which is a program based on dynamic food chain model. It sets the parameters that are appropriate to Korean characteristics so that we can evaluate the inherent ingestion dose of Korean. The results were analyzed by considering the accident date and food category with regard to the $^{137}Cs$. Results and Discussion: The dose and contribution of the food category depicted distinctive differences based on the accident date. Particularly, the ingestion dose during the first and second years depicted a considerable difference by the accident date. However, after the third year, the effect of foliar absorption was negligible and exhibited a similar tendency along with the order of root uptake rate based on the food category. Conclusion: In this study, the agricultural and dietary characteristics of Korea were analyzed and evaluated the ingestion dose of Korean during a severe accident using COMIDA2. By considering the inherent characteristics of Korean, it can be determined that the results of this study will significantly contribute to the reliability of the Level 3 PSA.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.172-178
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• 2014

Soil properties and heavy metal (HM) concentrations in the field soils where balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorum, BF) were cultivated, were investigated together with HM (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) accumulation by the BF roots. Basically, in most soils examined (51-97% among 65 samples), the chemical properties including soil pH, organic matter, available-P, and exchangeable cation contents appeared to be lower than the optimal ranges for balloon flower cultivation. There were no samples exceeding the standard limits for HM in soils. Instead, the total HM concentration levels in soils appeared to be maintained at around background levels for general soil in Korea. This implied that elevated HM accumulation in the soils caused by any possible input sources was unlikely. Even though the BF cultivated soils were not contaminated by HM, it was appeared that substantial amount of Cd was accumulated in BF roots with 1.5% and 35% roots samples exceeding the standard limits legislated for BF root ($0.81mg\;kg^{-1}DW$) and herbal plants ($0.3mg\;kg^{-1}DW$), respectively. This implied that the soil HM standard limits based on the total concentration does not reflect well the metal accumulation by plants and also it is likely that the Cd standard limits for BF and herbal plants is too restrict.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2005

A dynamic compartment model was developed to appraise the level of the contamination of agricultural plants by accidentally released tritium from nuclear facility. The model consists of a set of inter-connected compartments representing atmosphere, soil and plant. In the model three categories of plant are considered: leafy vegetables, grain plants and tuber plants, of which each is modeled separately to account for the different transport pathways of tritium. The predictive accuracy of the model was tested through the analysis of the tritium exposure experiments for rice-plants. The predicted TFWT(tissue free water tritium) concentration of the rice ear at harvest was greatly affected by the absolute humidity of air, the ratio of root uptake, and the rate of rainfall, while its OBT(organically bound tritium) concentration the stowing period of the ear, the absolute humidity of air and the content of hydrogen in the organic phase. There was a good agreement between the model prediction and the experimental results lot the OBT concentration of the ear.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.582-587
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• 2015

This study was conducted to compare the plant growth and fruit quality of blueberries grown in different soil textures of Korea, in order to utilize the results for stable production and soil improvement. Rabbiteye blueberry cultivars 'Tifblue' and 'Baldwin' were planted and grown for three years from 2013 in wagner pot (1 $2000a^{-1}$) in a greenhouse of Namhae Sub-station, Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science. The plants were grown in four soil textures, sand, sandy loam, loam and silt loam, and nutrient uptake and growth characteristics of plants were investigated. Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus contents of two cultivars grown in different soil textures ranged between 8.6 to $10.5gkg^{-1}$, which was lower than appropriate level for rabbiteye blueberry. However, the contents of potassium, calcium and magnesium in leaves were appropriate levels as $2.29{\sim}3.62gkg^{-1}$, $4.46{\sim}5.46gkg^{-1}$ and $1.45{\sim}2.12gkg^{-1}$, respectively. Nitrogen and phosphate contents in leaves were higher in the two cultivars grown in silt loam soil. There was no significant difference in plant volume and root dry weight among four soil textures in two cultivars. However, dry weight of leaves and branches were highest in loam soil. Fruit production was highest in loam and silt loam soil in two cultivars, showing negative correlation with the amount of sand in soil. However, sugar and acidity showed no correlation with sand content in soil. These results show the limit to the blueberry growth in soil that has no nutrient holding capacity; however, most of Korean soils that have good nutrient holding capacity can produce competitive fruits if the drainage is improved.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.111 no.1
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• pp.108-114
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• 2022

In bamboo, the nutrient status of tissues and associated soil is an important indicator of nutrient uptake by various bamboo species. In this study, the nutrient concentrations of leaves, roots, and mineral soil at 0-10 cm depths were examined in three bamboo stands [Phyllostachys bambusoides S ieb. et Zucc, Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis Stapf ex. Rendle, and Phyllostachys pubescens (Mazel) Ohwi] at a broad regional scale in southern Korea. In the three bamboo species, species-specific differences were observed in the carbon (C) and calcium (Ca) concentrations of leaves and in the nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) concentrations of roots. Ca concentrations in leaves were significantly higher in P. bambusoides (11.94 g Ca kg^-1) than in P. pubescens (7.83 g Ca kg^-1), whereas potassium (K) concentrations were lowest in P. bambusoides among the three bamboo species. N concentrations in the roots were significantly lower in P. pubescens (5.23 g N kg^-1) than in P. nigra var. henonis (7.72 g N kg^-1). In contrast to bamboo tissues, soil nutrients, such as total N, organic C, exchangeable Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺, did not differ significantly among the bamboo species. These results suggest that species-specific practices will be required for nutrient management of bamboo stands because nutrient concentrations vary considerably in the tissues of the three studied species.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.324-329
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• 2020

Reed (Phragmites spp.) is a rhizomatous plant of the Poaceae family and is known as high tolerant plant to heavy metal contaminants. This plant is widely recognized as a Cd root-accumulator, but improved heavy metal tolerance and uptake capacity are still required for phytoremediation efficiency. To enhance capacity of hyperaccumulator plants, ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) as chemical mutagen has been introduced and applied to remediation approaches. This study aimed to select EMS-mutagenized reeds representing high Cd resistance and large biomass and to investigate their ability of Cd accumulation. After 6 months cultivation of M₂ mutant reeds under Cd stress conditions (up to 1,500 µM), we discovered seven mutant individuals that showed good performances like survivorship, vitality, and high accumulation of Cd, particularly in their roots. Compared to wild type (WT) reeds as control, on average, dry weight of mutant type (MT) reeds was larger by 2 and 1.5 times in roots and shoots, respectively. In addition, these mutant plants accumulated 6 times more Cd, mostly in the roots. In particular, MT8 reeds showed the greatest ability to accumulate Cd. These results suggest that EMS mutagenesis could generate hyperaccumulator plants with enhanced Cd tolerance and biomass, thereby contributing to improvement of phytoremediation efficiency in Cd-contaminated soil or wastewater. Further studies should focus on identifying Cd tolerance mechanisms of such EMS-mutagenized plants, developing techniques for its biomass production, and investigating the practical potential of the EMS mutants for phytoremediation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.168-176
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• 2023

Silicon (Si) has the potential to improve plant growth and stress tolerance. The study aimed to explore Si-involving plant responses and molecular characterization of different Si-responsive genes in alfalfa. In this study, the exogenous supplementation of Si enhanced plant growth, and biomass yield. Si-acquisition in alfalfa root and shoot was higher in Si-supplemented compared to silicon deficient (-Si) plants, implying Si-acquisition has beneficial on alfalfa plants. As a consequence, the quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) was significantly increased in silicon-sufficient (+Si) plants. The quantitative gene expression analysis exhibited a significant upregulation of the Lsi1, Lsi2, Lsi3, NIP5;1, and NIP6;1 genes in alfalfa roots, while BOR1, BOR4, NIP2, and NIP3 showed no significant variation in their expression. The MEME results further noticed the association of four motifs related to the major intrinsic protein (MIP). The interaction analysis revealed that NIP5;1 and Lsi1 showed a shared gene network with NIP2, BOR1, and BOR4, and Lsi2, Lsi3 and NIP3-1, respectively. These results suggest that members of the major intrinsic proteins (MIPs) family especially Lsi1, Lsi2, Lsi3, NIP5;1, and NIP6;1 genes helped to pass water and other neutral solutes through the cell membrane and those played significant roles in Si uptake and transport in plants. Together, these insights might be useful for alfalfa breeding and genome editing approaches for alfalfa improvement.