Geographical comparison of genetic diversity in Asian landrace wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis> L.) germplasm based on high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits

Glutenin largely determines wheat bread baking quality. As high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS), related to Glu-1 loci, determines wheat flour elasticity, it correlates strongly with bread-making quality. This study was aimed at clarifying genetic variations in bread-making characteristics between East and West Asian wheat landrace germplasms, by investigating HMW-GS allelic composition of 1068 wheat accessions. Herein, the accession number having reported HMW-GS pattern in previous studies was 855. However, the accession number with newly detected HMW-GS patterns was 114. These new HMW-GS patterns were classified into 4 types based on similarity. Eight Korean accessions with these four types were identified. Concerning landrace germplasm nature, 99 accessions showed heterogeneous patterns caused by seed mixture. The Glu-1 loci allelic variation analysis, revealed that the percentages of Glu-A1c (73.6%), Glu-B1b (60.2%), and Glu-D1a (68.5%) were highest at Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1 loci, respectively. The incidence of preferable alleles for bread baking was high in Chinese accessions. In bread-making quality evaluation using Glu-1 score, 24 among 35 accessions with full score were from China. The polymorphic information content index of each origin based on HMW glutenin subunit combination showed that West Asian and neighboring-regional landraces, excluding Afghanistan ones, were more diverse than East Asian landraces excluding Chinese ones. Cluster analysis based on Glu-1 allelic combination showed that many Korean, Japanese, and Afghan accessions were in the same group. However, many Chinese and other West Asian accessions were in the other group despite geographical distance.     

Determination of Feeder Cell‐Based Cellular Niches Supporting the Colonization and Maintenance of Spermatogonial Stem Cells from Prepubertal Domestic Cat Testes

Recently, isolation and in vitro culture of putative spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in the domestic cat have been conducted. However, the cellular niche conditions that facilitate the establishment and long‐term maintenance of feline SSCs (FSSCs) have not been described. Therefore, we investigated the type of feeder cells used to stimulate colony formation and growth of FSSCs among the various factors in the FSSC niche. Spermatogonial stem cells isolated from feline testes were cultured on mitotically inactivated testicular stromal cells (TSCs) derived from cats, dogs and mice, and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). The formation and growth of colonies derived from SSCs cultured on each type of feeder cell were identified at passage 0, and the morphology, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and expression of SSC‐specific genes in surviving colonies were investigated at passage 4. Among these diverse feeder cells, TSCs from cat showed the greatest colony formation, growth and maintenance of FSSCs, and SSC colonies cultured by passage 4 showed a typical dome‐shaped morphology, AP activity and expression of SSC‐specific genes (NANOG, OCT4, SOX2 and CD9). Accordingly, these results demonstrate that feline TSCs could be used as feeder cells to support the establishment and maintenance of SSCs from domestic cats.     

白菜EST-SSR信息分析与标记的建立

 数量迅速增加的EST为开发新的SSR标记提供了宝贵的资源。本研究对4 584条白菜EST进行了搜索, 共检索出474个SSR, 检出率为10.3% , 包括40种重复基元。其中二核苷酸和三核苷酸重复单元的EST-SSR占主导地位, 二者出现的频率基本相近, 占总SSR的近83%; 其它重复类型所占比例均不足5%。GA和GAA是二、三核苷酸中的优势重复类型, 分别占二、三核苷酸重复类型的71.5%和37.5%。设计了15对EST-SSR引物, 在合适的PCR反应体系下, 以构建EST的白菜自交系A的DNA为模板, 对设计的EST-SSR引物进行筛选, 发现15对EST-SSR引物都能扩增出产物。进一步用这些可扩增的引物对28个白菜品种进行PCR扩增, 发现7对引物显示多态性, 占引物总数的46.7%。此结果表明, 根据EST建立EST-SSR标记是一条简便而又有效的途径。     

Anti‐microbial Susceptibility for east1+Escherichia coli Isolated from Diarrheic Pigs in Korea

The in vitro susceptibilities of 128 isolates of east1⁺Escherichia coli from pre‐weaned and post‐weaned pigs with diarrhoea were tested with nine commonly used anti‐microbial agents by an agar dilution minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) procedure according to National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards guidelines. For the isolates from pre‐weaned and post‐weaned pigs, most of them were susceptible to low concentrations (MIC₉₀) of tetracycline (4 and 2 μg/ml), ceftiofur (2 and 2 μg/ml), and colistin (4 and 2 μg/ml). Marked resistance was found in others.     

Effects of soil moisture content on CO2 triggered soil physicochemical properties in a near-surface environment

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been frequently discussed as a strategy for meeting CO2 emission reduction and its targets. However, some critical issues have...     

Evidence of Long-Range Transport of Pollutants from the Size-Fractionated Ionic Composition of Aerosols in the Jeju Island of Korea

The ionic composition of total suspended particulate (TSP) and fine (PM_2.5) fractions was investigated from an 1,100 site in the middle of Mt. Halla in Jeju Island, Korea from March to November 2006. The sum concentrations of cation and anion species in TSP fraction were 205 ± 170 and 183 ± 164 neq m^?3, respectively, while those for PM_2.5 as 118 ± 129 and 88.5 ± 89.3 neq m^?3, respectively. In TSP, the concentration of the major ions changed in the order of SO₄ ^2? > NH₄ ⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Na⁺ > NO₃ ^? > Mg²⁺ > K⁺ > Cl^?, while its PM_2.5 counterpart as NH₄ ⁺ > SO₄ ^2? > Ca²⁺ > NO₃ ^? > Na⁺ > Mg²⁺ > K⁺ > Cl^?. Inspection of the temporal variabilities of ionic components indicated that most ions peaked in spring or fall months. The back trajectory analysis showed that the atmospheric composition of the major ionic species was affected fairly sensitively by long-range transport from China under the favorable meteorological conditions. In contrast, the lowest ionic concentration levels were seen most abundantly, when air masses passed from South Sea. Hence, the analysis of ionic concentration data suggests that their distributions are controlled by the combined effects of various source processes including the most prominent Chinese origin and the meteorological condition favorable for such transport.     

Epidemiological investigation of equine hindlimb ataxia with Setaria digitata in South Korea

BackgroundSince 2013, the number of requests for diagnosis for horses based on neurological symptoms has increased rapidly in South Korea. The affected horses have commonly exhibited symptoms of acute seasonal hindlimb ataxia. A previous study from 2015–2016 identified Setaria digitata as the causative agent.ObjectivesThis study is an epidemiological investigation to find out risk factors related to the rapid increase in hindlimb ataxia of horses due to aberrant parasites in South Korea.MethodsAn epidemiological investigation was conducted on 155 cohabiting horses in 41 horse ranches where the disease occurred. The surrounding environment was investigated at the disease-causing horse ranches (n = 41) and 20, randomly selected, non-infected ranches.ResultsHindlimb ataxia was confirmed in nine cohabiting horses; this was presumed to be caused by ectopic parasitism. Environments that mosquitoes inhabit, such as paddy fields within 2 km and less than 0.5 km from a river, had the greatest association with disease occurrence.ConclusionsMost horse ranches in South Korea are situated in favorable environments for mosquitoes. Moreover, the number of mosquitoes in the country has increased since 2013 due to climate change. Additional research is required; however, these data show that it is necessary to establish guidelines for the use of anthelmintic agents based on local factors in South Korea and disinfection of the environment to prevent disease outbreaks.