• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.196-206
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• 2018

Dramatic increase in global population accompanied by rapid industrialization in developing countries has led to serious environmental, food, energy, and health problems. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has estimated world population will increase to 9.7 billion by 2050 and require approximately 1.7 times more food, and more than 3.5 times energy than that of today. Particularly, sweetpotato is easy to cultivate in unfavorable conditions such as heat, drought, high salt, and marginal lands. In this respect, sweetpotato is an industrially valuable starch crop. To replace crops associated with these food and energy problems, it is necessary to develop new crops with improved nutrients and productivity, that can be grown on marginal lands, including desertification areas using plant biotechnology. For this purpose, exploring useful genes and developing genetically modified crops are essential strategies. Currently, sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] have been re-evaluated as the best health food and industrial crop that produces starch and low molecular weight antioxidants, such as vitamin A, vitamin E, anthocyanins and carotenoids. This review will focus on the current status of research on sweetpotato biotechnology on omics including genome sequencing, transcriptome, proteomics and molecular breeding. In addition, prospects on molecular breeding of sweetpotato on marginal lands for sustainable development were described.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.262-270
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• 2012

This research was performed to find out the root characteristics of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas LAM.) cultivars according to the cultivation regions. Total 10 sweetpotato culivars, 6 yellow, 2 purple and 2 orange, were used for experiment. Samples were cultivated in Muan, Iksan, Nonsan, Boryeong and Hamyang. Precipitation and average temperature during the growth period of sweetpotato cultivation were 882~1,682 mm and 16.7~$28.2^{\circ}C$, respectively. Accumulated temperature was 3,122~$3,282^{\circ}C$. Soil texture was found of sandy loam in Muan, Iksan and Boryeong, sandy clay loam in Nonsan, and loam in Hamyang. The yield of root, dry matter content, starch value and soluble solids contents were high in Muan. The length/width ratio was high in Hamyang. The color values of sweetpotatoes were high in Nonsan. The protein content of sweetpotato powder was high in the Iksan, crude fat content and ash content were high in the Hamyang. The results of this study, we could see that root characteristics of sweetpotato in the same cultivars appeared differently depending on the cultivated regions.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2008

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), a main enzyme in the glycolytic pathway, is involved in cellular energy production and regarded as a housekeeping gene. Previously, cytosolic GAPDH was selected as the most significantly abundant gene in EST library of sweetpotato suspension cells. In this study, a full-length of cDNA clone (IbGAPDH) encoding GAPDH was isolated from suspension-cultured cells of sweetpotato (Ipomoea babatas), and its expression was investigated with a view to understanding the physiological function of GAPDH in relation to environmental stresses. IbGAPDH encoded a 36.9 kDa polypeptide consisting of 337 amino acids. When the deduced amino acid of IbGAPDH was compared with other higher plants, IbGAPDH showed high homology with cytosolic GAPDH. The mRNA level of IbGAPDH significantly increased under environmental stresses, such as $H_2O_2$, MV and cold treatments. Among them, the transcript level of IbGAPDH gene was the highest under cold stress. Further investigation of the transcription level under $10^{\circ}C$ or $15^{\circ}C$ was performed with different tissues of sweetpotato. The transcription of IbGAPDH was increased by cold stress with tissue-specificity, moreover, showed different patterns according to temperature.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 2009

We report here a first evaluation of chilling-responsive gene regulation in the sweetpotato. The growth of sweetpotato plants was severely retarded at $12^{\circ}C$; the lengths of the leaf, petiole, and root were markedly reduced and microscopic observation revealed that the elongation growth of the epidermal cells in each of these organs was significantly reduced. We examined the transcriptional regulation of three sweetpotato expansin genes (IbEXP1, IbEXP2 and IbEXPL1) in response to various chilling temperatures (12, 16, 22, and $28^{\circ}C$). In the leaf and petiole, the highest transcript levels were those of IbEXP1 at $28^{\circ}C$, whereas IbEXPL1 transcript levels were highest in the root. IbEXP1 mRNA levels in the $12^{\circ}C-treated$ petiole showed a fluctuating pattern (transient decrease-recovery-stable decrease) for 48 h. In the leaf and petiole, IbEXP1 and IbEXPL1 exhibited a similar response to chilling in that their mRNA levels decreased at $22^{\circ}C$, increased at $16^{\circ}C$, and decreased dramatically at $12^{\circ}C$. In contrast, mRNA levels of IbEXP2 in the leaf fell gradually as the temperature fell from 28 to $12^{\circ}C$, while they remained unaltered in the petiole. In the root, mRNA levels of IbEXPL1 and IbEXP1 reached maximum levels at $16^{\circ}C$, and decreased significantly at $12^{\circ}C$. These data demonstrated that expression of these three expansin genes was ultimately down-regulated at $12^{\circ}C$; however, transcriptional regulation of each expansin gene exhibited its own distinctive pattern in response to various chilling temperatures.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.407-416
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• 2019

A common post-harvest disease of sweetpotato tuber is root rot caused by Fusarium solani in Korea as well as the other countries. Storage root rot disease was monitored earlier on sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) in storehouses of different locations in Korea. In the present study, an isolate SPL16124 was choosen and collected from Sweetpotato Research Lab., Bioenergy Crop Research Institute, NICS, Muan, Korea, and confirmed the identification as Fusarium solani by conidial and molecular phylogenetic analysis (internal transcribed spacer ITS and translation elongation factor EF 1-α gene sequences). The isolate was cultured on potato dextrose agar, and conidiation was induced. The fungus was screened for Fusarium root rot on tuber of 14 different varieties. Among the tested variety, Yenjami, Singeonmi, Daeyumi, and Sinjami showed resistant to root rot disease. Additionally, the pathogen was tested for pathogenicity on stalks of these varieties. No symptom was observed on the stalk, and it was confirmed that the disease is tissue specific.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.197-201
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• 2009

The food self-support rate on the basis of cereals in Korea is approximately 27%, which will threaten the national food security. The dramatic increase in population accompanied by rapid industrialization in developing countries has caused imbalances in the supply of food and energy. To cope with these global crises over food and energy supplies as well as environmental problems, it is urgently required to develop new environmentally friendly industrial crop varieties to be grown on marginal lands including desertification areas for sustainable development. Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) ranks seventh in annual production among food crops in the world. Its wide adaptability on marginal lands and rich nutritional content provide a high potential for preventing malnutrition and enhancing food security in the developing countries. In addition, sweetpotato can be developed as a bioreactor to produce valuable industrial materials including bio-ethanol, functional feed and antioxidants by molecular breeding. In this respect, we focus on the molecular breeding of sweetpotato with multi-function on marginal lands. The strategies for development of environmentally friendly industrial sweetpotato will be introduced and discussed.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.207-213
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• 2009

Starch serves not only as an energy source for plants, animals, and humans but also as an environmentally friendly alternative for fossil fuels. Progress in understanding of starch biosynthesis, and the isolation of many genes involved in this process have enabled the genetic modification of crops in a rational manner to produce novel starches with improved functionality. Starch is composed of two glucose polymers, amylose and amylopectin. The amylose and amylopectin ratio in starch affects its physical and physicochemical properties. Alteration in starch structure can be achieved by modifying genes encoding the enzymes responsible for starch biosynthesis and starch hydrolysis. Here, we describe recent findings concerning the starch modification in sweetpotato. Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] ranks seventh in annual production among food crops in the world as an important starch source. To develop transgenic sweetpotato plants with modifying starch composition, we constructed transformation vectors overexpressing granule bound starch synthase I and inhibiting amylopectin synthesis genes such as starch branching enzyme and isoamylase under the control of 35S promoter, respectively. Transformation of sweetpotato (cv. Yulmi) is in progress.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.214-218
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• 2009

Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] leaves are excellent source of low molecular weight antioxidants such as polyphenols, anthocyanins and carotenoids compared to other leafy vegetables. Endogenous antioxidants in sweetpotato help our bodies to prevent ageing, heart diseases and cancer. In this study, to develop the proper cultivars for the functional feed materials, we investigated the contents of anthocyanin, $\beta$-carotene, and polyphenols as well as DPPH radical scavenging activity in leaves of 14 different cultivars at the time of the harvest. They showed a diverse antioxidation activity. In DPPH radical scavenging activity, cultivars of Nanjing 9, Yulmi and Shinzami showed higher activity, whereas cv. Huiza 6 showed the lowest. Cultivars of Shinzami and Shinhwangmi had the highest anthocyanin (3.5 mg/g fr wt) and polyphenol (15.8 mg/g fr wt) content, respectively. Interestingly, there was a high correlation between cultivars with colorful pigments in storage roots and antioxidants activity in leaves. These results suggest that sweetpotato leaves with high antioxidant activity at harvest would be suitable for functional feed materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.192-192
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• 2022

Sweetpotato is rich in starch, which is converted to sugar during storage due to enzymatic hydrolysis. The sugar content of sweetpotato is a component related to taste and storability. In this study, the sugar content (fructose, glucose, maltose, sucrose and total sugar content) of 94 genotypes was evaluated and the GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Study) was conducted to search for candidate genes for sugar content. The fructose and glucose content were 0.2 ~ 8.8 and 0.2 ~ 9.4 g/100g, respectively. The maltose, sucrose and total sugar content were 0.2 ~ 9.1,3.2 - 30.0 and 7.9 ~ 40.2 g/100g, respectively. The fructose and glucose showed a positive correlation (0.98). The 94 genotypes were genotyped with genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and aligned against the reference genome sequences of sweetpotato. The GBS libraries from 94 genotypes were sequenced on an Illumina HiSeqXten system, and 1,339,892 SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) were generated. Filtering for < 60% missing rate and > 0.05 minor allele frequency resulted in a total of 44,255 SNPs used in GWAS. The GAPIT (Genome Association and Prediction Integrated Tool) was used to conduct based on the mean of sugar content with a Bonferroni-corrected chromosome-wide significance threshold with a -logio(P) of 5.95. The significant SNPs were obtained with fructose (seven), glucose (six), maltose (four) and sucrose (nine). There were several genes related to sugar content around the significant SNPs such as sugar transport protein 8-like, probable galactose-1 -phosphate uridyltransferase-like and beta-amylase. These results will contribute to understanding of sugar content and conversion in sweetpotato.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2008

Studies with the transmission electron microscope were used to detect and attempt to identify viruses infecting sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) and other Ipomoea species. Flexuous-rods, short curved-rods, and spherical virus-like particles were observed in cells of symptomatic plants. Also, various cytopathic changes such as crystals, vesicles, fibril structures, and cylindrical inclusions were observed. The present study showed that some of these cytopathic changes were associated with some viral groups, which might be helpful in diagnosis.