Young Ho Yoon is Senior Researcher on National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA) in South Korea. He has been devoted the study of development of buckwheat variety and post-harvesting of miscellaneous grain crop such as sorghum, millet and buckwheat. He has contributed a wealth of information concerning functionality through his research of Tatary (bitter) buckwheat. Recently, he has interested in the stable production of upland farming and the promotion of agricultural mechanization. He is acting in assistant administrator position of ‘mechanization in upland farming and value added agriculture’ project at RDA.

Grain sorghum(Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) has been widely consumed as a traditional foods such as steamed kernels with rice and beverages in korea. In this study, effects of separation of seeds by size and grain moisture content on milling recovery and quality were investigated. Previous study reported that dehulling and milling of sorghum seeds after seed size screening affects milling recovery ratio and quality. The first experiment of this study focused on difference of ratio of the milled grains, intact grains(true whole grain after milling) and whiteness among 4 sorghum cultivars after grain sorghum were milled by polishing machine for the same amount of time (2 minutes and 30 seconds). Greater size of seeds had greater ratio of the milled grains and whole intact grains, whereas sorghum grains with no size screening of grain and smaller sizes than 3.5 mm had the smallest ratio of the milled grains and intact grains. When seeds with greater sizes than 4.0 mm were milled, the ratio of intact grains was ranged between 77.4 and 85.0 depending on cultivars. This result was 4.5% greater than ones from no size screening of grain. The whiteness of seeds that were milled under the same conditions had the greater values from seed sizes greater than 4 mm than ones from no screening throughout the all cultivars. This experiment resulted in that smaller seeds needed a longer milling time in order to achieve the same whiteness level as bigger seeds. The other experiment in this study investigated effects of the moisture content in grain sorghum by hot air drying on milling recovery rate and quality. Previous study reported that seeds were milled after drying for a certain time since moisture content in grain were ranged between 14.3 and 27.6% on 45 days after heading by cultivar. In result, as seeds had smaller than 16% of moisture content, they tended to have greater whiteness levels, but smaller milled head grain recovery rates. The future research will focus on method for drying and optimal moisture content in grain sorghum to prevent seed decay and higher milling recovery and quality.

Dr Anna Kot has her expertise in environmental microbiology. Primary she has focused her study on waste management, especially organic waste from food industry and its impact on soil microbial activity, functional and genetic diversity. Her study proving that utilization of that kind of waste can be safe for the environment and beneficial for agriculture and land reclamation. Recently she has expanded her interest of plant pathology. As a member of research team supervised by Dr Adam Kuzdraliński, she takes part in designing assay based on molecular biology for detection of the most common wheat pathogens. Results can let to a better diagnosis of fungal diseases and optimal fungicides application

The species Puccinia triticina (Pt) and Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) are devastating cereal pathogens that cause brown/leaf and yellow/stripe rust diseases, respectively. Both fungi are an obligate parasites capable of producing infectious urediniospores as long as infected leaf tissue remains alive. They are responsible for significant yield losses of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) that may have ranged from 10% to 70% depending on susceptibility of the cultivar, initial infection rate, development and duration of disease. The early detection of fungal pathogens can lead to preventive measures and minimize economic losses through i.e. fungicidal control. The molecular methods are the most reliable for monitoring of disease development and early pathogens detection (Fig 1). Multiplex PCR has the potential to target and differentiate more than one species at the same time. In the present study, we develop a conventional PCR assays for the simultaneous species-specific detection of Pt and Pst. The Multiplex PCR assay targets the second largest subunits of the RNA polymerase II (rpb2) for Pt and beta-tubulin 1 (tub1) genes for Pst. The specificities of the PCR primers were verified using naturally infected plant materials with visual symptoms of rust diseases and diseases caused by other whet pathogens (Blumeria graminis, Drechslera tritici-repentis and Septoria tritici). The primer sets LidPs9/10 and LidPr1/2 produced a single DNA fragments of lengths 240 and 144 bp, respectively. No cross-reactions were observed with tested fungal pathogens and healthy plant tissues. The detection limit of singular primer sets was reached at 1 pg for Pt and 50 pg for Pts. The assay shows 100% effectiveness in rust fungi detection that make them promising tools for determining the proper schedule for plant protection.

Jinwoo has completed the master’s degree from Pusan National University. He is an active member of National Institute of Crop Science (NICS). Currently, he is working as a researcher in Crop Production Technology Research Division of NICS and studying laborsaving cultivation of soybean and peanut. He joined the Institute in 2012 and currently looking for his scientific carrier. He is interested in ripening and senescence physiology. He is always eager to participate in the National and International conference and looking forward to meeting scientific personnel

This study investigated the effect of diquat dibromide, a crop desiccation agent, spraying on the senescence and abscission of soybean leaves. Green Stem Syndrome (GSS) is a phenomenon that delays the senescence of leaves and stems in soybean (Glycine max L.). Because of GSS, a problem often arises when we harvest soybean with a combine. It tangles like a gum and causes the machine overloading. GSS can be caused by genetic or environmental factors. These effects have a negative impact on the production of soybean pods. When the number of pods, occurrence of GSS increase. To reduce this phenomenon, diquat dibromide is commonly used in many countries including the United States. This agricultural desiccation was registered for rice, barley and potato in South Korea. Daewonkong, a late maturity soybean cultivar, was sown on June 20th in 2016, with inter row spacing of 70 × 40 cm. During R5 reproductive growth stage (beginning seed), 50% of the pods were eliminated to induce GSS in maturity. The treatment concentration was a half(5㎖/ℓ), standard(10㎖/ℓ) and double(20㎖/ℓ) of diquat dibromide 10 days before harvest. The leaves discolored on the 3rd day after spraying and leaf abscission appeared on 5th day. After 10 days, the leaves were almost eliminated. Chemical residues in soybean seed were not detected in case of half and standard but were detected in double. The investigation concludes that diquat dibromide is effective and useful on the senescence and abscission of soybean leaves for mechanical harvest. Further studies on the spraying concentration are required

Ali Akbar Ehsanpour has more than 25 years experience in evaluation of antioxidant systems in plants under in vitro stresses such as nano silver, salt and drought. Now he has focused on nano particle toxicity in plants and he is concerned on toxicity of nano particle for human health.

Under in vitro conditions, we examined the effects ofsilver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and silver (Ag) ions on potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in terms of silver accumulation, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS),oxidative stress responses, and antioxidative defense systems. At all concentrations (except at 2 mg.L-1), the amount of Ag in the shoots and roots of Ag ion-treated plantletswas significantly higher than in plantlets treated with AgNPs. In both treatments, total ROS and superoxide anionswere increased at concentrations greaterthan 2 mg.L-1. Damage caused by oxidative stress, such as ion leakage and cell death, was significantly higher in plantlets treated with AgNPs than those treated with Ag ions. Significant increases in the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and glutathione reductase (GR),werefound in both AgNP-treated, and Ag ion-treated plantlets compared to the control. However, in AgNP-treated plantlets, GR activity was significantly decreased at 20 mg.L-1. A significant reduction in glutathione (GSH), ascorbate (ASA), and the ratios of GSH to oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and ASA to oxidized ascorbate (DHA) were observed in plantlets treated with both AgNPs and Ag ions at concentrations higher than 2 mg.L-1. Moreover, a greater decrease in GSH and ASA contents was seen in plantlets treated with AgNPs compared to those treated with Ag ions. The present study indicates that both AgNPs and Ag ion treatments impose oxidative stress on potato plantlets under in vitro conditions. Furthermore, based on plantlets’ responses to oxidative damage, the observed alteration in the activities of radical scavenging enzymes and the depletion of GSH and ASA, AgNPs seem to have higher toxicity than the equivalent mass of Ag ions.

Yong Hoon Lee worked as a research scientist at Rural Development Administration (RDA) of Republic of Korea. During his stay in RDA, he studied for management of plant disease especially by focusing on biological control. In 2009, he moved into Chonbuk National University and his lab studies on the interaction between plants and pathogen (P. cichorii), interaction between plants and rhizosphere microbiome (PGPR), and interaction between plants and environment (light) by focusing on genomic and physiolocal responses between the factors

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) causes severe yield losses in temperate and tropical rice-growing regions. To reduce the occurrence of BLB, disease resistant rice cultivars are developed by introducing resistant genes. In this study, near-isogenic rice genotypes, IRBB21and IR24, which are resistant and susceptible to BLB, respectively were challenge inoculated with Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) races, K1, K2, and K3 by scissor clip method. IR24 was susceptible to all the inoculated Xoo races (S interaction), but IRBB21was highly resistant to K2 and K3 (R interaction), and moderately resistant to K1 race (MR interaction). The influence on photosynthesis in the various combinations was measured using Chlorophyll Fluorometer. The Fv/Fm was significantly decreased in leaves of S and MR interaction. However, there was no drastic fluctuation in the leaves of R interaction. The effective PSII quantum yield (ΦPSII) value decreased severely in S interaction, but slightly in R interaction at 2 days after inoculation (dai) before symptoms were developed. ΦPSII value in S interaction significantly decreased till 7 dai, while an increase was observed in R interaction. To better understand the difference in response of R and S interactions, we investigated the expression levels of defense-related genes. The expression of OsPR1a, OsPR1b, and OsPR10a significantly increased in S interaction at 2 dai and then downregulated at 5 dai. The expression of the genes in R interaction increased significantly from 2 to 5 dai. Furthermore, we obtained hyperspectral images from the Xoo inoculated rice leaves and analyzed by principal component analysis. The difference in the images between resistant and susceptible variety was observed from 2 dai, which would help us to screen resistant crops in early stage of infection. The underlying proteomic and metabolomic differences need to be further explored.

Mansour Shariati has more than 23 years experience in plant physiology and physiology and biotechnology of unicellular green alga Dunaliella.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) have vital roles in plant adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses. These chaperon molecules expressed in almost all kinds of stresses in plants and are well known to be contributed in facilitating protein refolding, preventing protein dysfunctions and eventually reestablishing of cellular homeostasis under severe condition. Genome wide analysis revealed that HSPs are classified into 5 families based on their molecular weights and evolutionary conservation including HSP100 (Clp), HSP90, HSP70 (DnaK), HSP60 (GroEL) and small heat shock proteins (sHSPs). In this study, we used VIGS (virus induced gene silencing) to investigate the role of HSPs during stress in Nicotiana benthamiana. For this aim, we cloned the gene fragments of smHSP, HSP70 and HSP90 from Capparis spinosa L. plant into the tobacco rattle virus vector, pTRV2 to heterologously suppress the corresponding endogenes of N. benthamiana. Silenced plants were exposed to salt stress (100 mM NaCl) for 21 days and Chl a fluorescence induction kinetics was analysed by using the OJIP-test, various parameters like FV/FO (Oxygen evolving complex activity), FV/FM (The maximal PSII photochemistry efficiency), φPO (Maximum quantum yield for primary photochemistry), ψO (Probability that an electron moves further than QA), φEO (Quantum yield for electron transport), DIO/RC (Dissipation per active reaction center), φPO /(1- φPO) (The efficiency of light reaction), ψO /(1- ψO) (The efficiency of biochemical reaction) and PIABS (Performance index). Compare to smHSP and HSP90, silencing of HSP70 was found to have stronger negative effect especially after salinity on some parameters related to the donor site of electron in PSII [Fv/Fo, and φPO /(1- φPO) and, the parameters dependent on the acceptor site of the electron such as φEO, ψO and ψO /( ψO). It was also represented that simultaneous silencing of the HSP70 gene and salinity treatment resulted in a significant decrease PIABS and DIo/RC. So these results reflecting among the HSPs tested in the present study, HSP70 silencing cause severe injuries in photosynthetic machinery especially after salt stress.

Jongsoo Ryu has completed the doctor’s degree from Chungnam National University, Korea. He is an active member of National Institute of Crop Science (NICS). At present, he is working as a researcher in Crop Production Technology Research Division of NICS, Miryang, Korea and studying labor saving cultivation of red bean, sorghum and millet. He joined the Institute in 2007 and heading for new scientific carrier. He is interested in Improvement the cultivation method for enhancing functional materials in grains. He is always eager to participate in the national and international conferences. .He is also looking forward to meeting scientific personnel.

Generally, it is advantageous for machine harvesting using combine that crops have upright type. Upright type adzuki beans are those varieties that were developed for machine harvesting and it has high processing efficiency. And, it is urgent improve of existing cultivation method for high-reliability production in new plant type crops. In the existing research, the planting spacing of the upright type of adzuki beans and the contrast varieties are as follows; Chungju : 70 × 20 cm, Arari : h 70 × 15 cm, and Hongen : 70 × 10 cm. Based on previous studies, here in study, we tried to find the proper sowing time for stable production of upright type red beans and contrast varieties. The sowing time was investigated at 5 levels in 2015, and 6 levels in 2016 (including additional tests). The investigation was based on the growth characteristics and yield components. The results showed that late sowing time had significant negative effects the tested varieties of red bean, relative to stem length, stem thickness, pod no. per plant, seed no. per plant. However, the lodging was decreased and increased during in one hundred seed weight. The sowing time showed a sensitive reaction to the change of weather in the cultivation environment. The highest yield quantity was found in case of sown on June 25 in each variety. Looking at these results, cultivation of adzuki bean at southern region in South Korea is basically based on the optimum sowing time, which can be from 20th June to 30th June as of June 25th for stable production of beans.

Koo Ka Loo obtained her bachelor’s degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology in University Malaya, Malaysia. Her research interests covering transcriptomics and genomics in oil palm. She has experience in oil palm research for 4 years. Currently her work focused on marker assisted breeding in oil palm.

The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is the most efficient oil producing crop in the world. Two exocarp colours of fruits, virescens and nigrescens are found in the crop. The commercial nigrescens fruits are deep violet to black at the apex and pale greenish yellow at the base, without significant colour change throughout fruit development. Hence, ripeness is determined based on the number of loose fruits observed. Virescens fruits that exhibit significant colour change from green to orange on maturity, are proposed to provide better ripeness clarity. The causal gene for exocarp colour in oil palm fruit was reported and the markers are now available for breeding selection. However, the correlation between virescens colour change and oil accumulation in the fruits still remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the correlations between virescens colour change, oil accumulation and loose fruits occurrence in fruit bunches. Five full-sib dura palms were studied, where 28 fruitlets were randomly sampled at 98, 112, 119, 126, 133, 140 and 147 days after anthesis (DAA) from each bunch. Three replicate bunches were collected from each palm. Fruit exocarp colour was recorded in the field and total oil content was isolated using hexane extraction. Overall, the findings indicated the virescens colour change from light green to light yellow-orange ranged from 126 to 143 DAA, and followed by dark orange from 136 to 148 DAA. The first loose fruit varied between individual palms, but was consistent within bunches on a palm. Oil accumulation in oil palm fruits increased exponentially from 112 to 133 DAA and reached plateaued after 140 DAA. These findings indicated virescens colour change coincides with current harvesting practice, but both methods do not harvest at maximum oil.