• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.52-62
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• 2010

This study was carried out in the Tropical Plant Resources Research Center of Korea National Arboretum to determine the optimum edaphic environment for the growth of tropical and subtropical plants. The physicochemical properties of artificial substrates and the growth characteristics of tropical and subtropical plants were investigated. Subtropical plants exhibited a high growth rate when cultivated in a substrate of Dry Zone that had physical properties similar to those of arid native soil. Mediterranean plants showed a low growth rate when grown in a substrate of Subtropical Zone that required changes in acidity. The substrate of Tropical Zone had high organic matter and mineral contents and therefore had good physical properties:this substrate has a good environment for the stimulation of the growth of tropical plants. Our results indicate that the chemical properties such as pH and mineral contents of most artificial substrates need to be more urgently improved than their physical properties in order to ensure better growth of tropical and subtropical plants. Initial management strategies for the construction of new tropical greenhouses were formulated, and data from monitoring studies will be continuously gathered and incorporated in the manual to keep it updated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2012

This study was performed in the Tropical Plant Resources Research Center of Korea National Arboretum to assess the effects of natural enemy attack on aphid population feeding on tropical plants. We measured the density of leaf-feeding aphids, Myzus persicae and Aphis gossypii, cohabiting with 5 types of tropical plants at intervals of approximately 2 weeks after introducing their natural enemy, Aphidius colemani. The density of aphids cohabiting with 4 types of tropical plants-Sanchezia parvibracteata, Hibiscus rosa-chinensis, Ficus kurzii, and Aloysia triphylla-started decreasing after 2 weeks of observation and was completely in control after 4 weeks of observation; however, the density of aphids cohabiting with the tropical plant, Hamelia patens, increased during 22 weeks of observation but decreased after the $23^{rd}$ week of observation. We suggest that a banker plant is necessary for the maintenance of A. colemani in tropical greenhouses, and monitoring studies on H. patens, which was weakest against the aphids, should be performed. Our results indicate that biological pest management strategies using their natural enemies were formulated for the construction of new tropical greenhouses.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1677-1684
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• 2018

Objective: To find biological functions such as antibacterial and antioxidant activities in several tropical plants and to investigate the possibility of antibiotic substitute agents to prevent and treat diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria. Methods: Plants such as Poncirus trifoliata fruit (Makrut), Zingiber officinale Rosc (Khing), Areca catechu L. (Mak), Solanum melongena L. I (Makkhuayao), and Solanum melongena L. II (Makhurapro) were extracted by methanol, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and water. The free radical scavenging activities were measured using 2-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl photometric assay. Antibacterial activities with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were observed by agar diffusion assay against pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli, Burkholderia sp., Haemopilus somnus, Haemopilus parasuis, Clostridium perfringens, and Pantoea agglomerans. Results: Poncirus trifoliata fruit methanol extract showed antibacterial activities against gram-negative and gram-positive pathogens. Additionally, this showed the strongest antibacterial activity against Burkholderia sp. and Haemopilus somnus with MIC $131{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Areca catechu L. water extract showed antibacterial activities against Burkholderia sp., Haemopilus somnus, and Haemopilus parasuis. The MIC value for Haemopilus parasuis was $105{\mu}g/mL$ in this. Antioxidant activity of Zingiber officinale Rosc n-hexane extract showed 2.23 mg/mL effective concentration 50% ($EC_{50}$) value was the highest activity among tropical plants extracts. Total polyphenol content in Zingiber officinale Rosc methanol extract was $48.4{\mu}g/mL$ and flavonoid content was $22.1{\mu}g/mL$ showed the highest values among tested plants extracts. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggest that tropical plants used in this study may have a potential benefit as an alternative antibiotics agent through their antibacterial and antioxidant activities.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.247-262
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• 2015

The few lignin biomarker studies conducted in tropical environments are hampered by having to use references signatures established for plants and soils characteristic of the temperate zone. This study presents a lignin biomarker analysis (vanillyls (V), p-hydroxyls (P), syringyls (S), cinnamyls (C)) of the dominant plant species and soil horizons as well as an analysis of the interrelated terrigenous organic matter (TOM) dynamics between vegetation and soil of the $Tapaj{\acute{o}}s$ river region, an active colonization front in the Brazilian Amazon. We collected and analyzed samples from 17 fresh dominant plant species and 48 soil cores at three depths (0-5 cm, 20-25 cm, 50-55 cm) from primary rainforest, fallow forest, subsistence agriculture fields and pastures. Lignin signatures in tropical plants clearly distinguish from temperate ones with high ratios of Acid/aldehyde of vanillyls ((Ad/Al)v) and P/V+S. Contrary to temperate environments, similarly high ratios in tropical soils are not related to TOM degradation along with pedogenesis but to direct influence of plants growing on them. Lignin signatures of both plants and soils of primary rainforest and fallow forest clearly distinguish from those of non-forested areas, i.e., agriculture fields and pastures. Attalea speciosa Palm trees, an invasive species in all perturbed landscapes of the Amazon, exhibit lignin signatures clearly distinct from other dominant plant species. The study of lignin signatures in tropical areas thus represents a powerful tool to evaluate the impact of primary rainforest clearing on TOM dynamics in tropical areas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.104-107
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• 1998

The studies for antithrombotic substances from medicinal plants in my laboratory were started from the studies on PAF-antagonistic substances from Korean medicinal plants. The screening studies of PAF-receptor binding antagonistic activity were conducted on the extracts of 300 Korean medicinal plants, 37 tropical medicinal plants, 20 mushrooms, and 30 vegetables. From the results of screening studies, it was possible to select two Korean medicinal plants, i.e. 1) the leaf of Biota orientalis and 2) the seed of Arctium lappa, and two tropical medicinal plants, i.e. 3) the rhizome of Alpinia officinarum and 4) the leaf of Ardisia crispa as the candidates for the activity guided isolation of PAF-antagonistic substances.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.22-33
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• 2006

This paper deals mainly with chemical and biological investigations, recently effected in the authors' laboratory, of Chinese tropical marine plants and invertebrates on three topics: 1) an unusual macrocyclic polydisulfide from the Chinese mangrove Bruguiera gymnorrhiza; 2) polyhydroxylpolyene compounds from marine dinoflagellate Amphidinium sp.; 3) two new series of uncommon steroids from marine in vertebrates.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.404-416
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• 2020

Studies on the preservation and propagation of tropical and subtropical plants are required, but the studies are insufficient in Korea. Since 2013, the Tropical Plant Resources Research Center has been collaborating on field research and publication to preserve plant diversity in Myanmar protected areas and Sagging areas in cooperation with Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Conservation and the Myanmar Forest Research Institute. This study is to provide information on cooperative projects. As a result of the joint research between the Korea National Arboretum and Myanmar, in December 2018, the Korea National Arboretum Tropical Plant Resources Research Center is on display for conservation and education purposes with the 65 Myanmar useful materials and specimens of 326 kinds of plants and specimens that Myanmar Forest Research Institute donated. This donation is the first case of Myanmar's export of plant organisms to a foreign country, and as for the Korea National Arboretum, it is the second official case of introducing a mass plant from foreign governments. The study will also accelerate preservation biodiversity and propagation methods of tropical and subtropical plants as well as research on biodiversity conservation and industrial use.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.93-119
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• 2014

Tropical tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) is a polyphagous silk producing forest silkworm of commercial importance in India. Forest dependent people rear its larvae on different forestry host plants twice or thrice in a year for small household income. Larvae of A. mylitta feeds on many forest tree species, but always show a great degree of selectivity as a function of its behavioural responses to physical structure and chemical features of the host plants. Cocoon crop of A. mylitta is influenced by heterogeneity of tasar food plants and climatic conditions of the habitat. The role of host plants, temperature, humidity, rainfall, photoperiod and climatic variables on the growth and development of insects have clearly been demonstrated. This article entails an in-depth analysis on ecological and nutritional aspects of A. mylitta, which may provide selective information to researcher and forest managers, who are particularly associated with livelihood improvement of the poor people in forested area through location specific forest insect industry.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.651-654
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• 2006

An experiment was conducted to investigate amino acid composition of three tropical legumes (Cooper (Glycine wightii), Tinaroo (Neonotonia wightii) and Siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum)) at two different stages (pre-blooming and blooming stages). Chemical composition and totally 16 amino acids of these plants were analysed for comparison of their composition among species at different growing stages and characterizing the amino acid pattern of these legumes. Crude protein content of the plants ranged from 16% to 27% on a dry matter basis. The total amount of 16 amino acids analyzed in this experiment was highest at 89.7 mg/16 g N in Cooper at pre-blooming and lowest at 80.9 mg/16 g N in Glycine at blooming stage. Total amount of amino acids in each legume species tended to slightly decrease with their maturity but no statistical difference was found. The percentage of aspartic acid, glutamic acid and proline in the total amount of amino acids was dominant at 9% to 13%, and that of methionine was less than 1.6%. In this experiment it was concluded that three tropical legumes were rich in crude protein content and characterized by 16 different amino acids with lower sulfur-containing amino acid as methionine.

• 한국환경농학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.07a
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• pp.174-176
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• 2011