‘Keunpum’ is a mid-late maturing, high yielding, giant embryo rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivar which is adapted to central plains and was developed to be used as (germinated) brown rice. It is resistant to multiple diseases with a good grain quality. This cultivar was derived by crossing a giant embryo rice variety ‘Keunnun’ and a mid-late maturing, multi-disease resistant rice cultivar ‘Samkwang’-it has good palatability of cooked rice. The growth period of this cultivar is approximately 117 d from seeding to heading, with a culm length of 88 ㎝, panicle length of 20 ㎝, 13 panicles per hill, 136 spikelets per panicle, and 1,000-grain weight of 19.1 g brown rice. This variety has low tolerance to cold stress and premature germination similar to ‘Keunnun’ but exhibits high resistance to lodging. In addition, ‘Keunpum’ is resistant to bacterial blight (race K1, K2, K3), rice stripe virus, and is moderately resistant to leaf and neck blast. Its average milled rice yield for three years reached 5.34 MT/ha, which is 10% higher than that of ‘Keunnun’. In the brown and germinated brown rice of this cultivar, the total dietary fiber content are 6.45% and 6.71%, and the GABA (γ-amino butyric acid) content are 6.61 and 39.47 mg/100 g, respectively. In addition, the total contents of polyphenol, flavonoid, and tannin were higher in ‘Keunpum’ brown rice than in ‘Keunnun’. The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities were 75.23, 116.08 mg TE/100g, respectively. These functional components and antioxidant activities play an important role in inhibiting diseases and the aging process of the human body. Therefore, it is expected to be used as a basic data in the manufacture of secondary processed products using germinated brown rice (Grant No. 7684).

The regeneration rate of plantlets cultivated via tissue culture is an important factor for wheat transformation. Similar to other monocotyledons, the most efficient tissue culture materials for wheat are immature embryos. However, stable year-round production of immature embryos is not possible in the field where various stress factors co-exist. In this study, we investigated the generation and subsequent plantlet incident rates of callus induced from immature embryos obtained from different sowing times in 2020 and compared these among wheat cultivars. We found that the rates of regeneration and plantlet incidence obtained using immature embryos of the Ariheuk cultivar were higher than those of other domestic cultivars, and that the tissue culture efficiency was similar to that of Bobwhite, which has been established as a cultivar with excellent transformation efficiency. Furthermore, the Baekkang cultivar showed high tissue culture efficiency only when sown from early to mid-March, whereas Keumkang showed higher tissue cultivation efficiency only by sowing in mid- and late February. Among the five cultivars assessed in this study, Jopum showed the lowest tissue culture efficiency. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will contribute to enhancing the transformation efficiency of domestic wheat varieties.

Maize is the most important grain crop in the world. Genetic engineering technology has been used to enhance its various agronomical traits. The transformation of maize is a crucial step in the application of gene technologies to improve maize. The choice of genotype and explant material influences the transformation efficiency and the production of stable transgenic plants. Immature embryos of Hi IIA were infected with Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 including superbinary vectors (bar and GUS or GFP genes). The transformation efficiency was based on transgenic calli induction from immature embryos on the selection medium with 3 mg/L bialaphos. The transformation efficiency varied from 1.01 to 2.74%. The integration and expression of bar, GUS, and GFP genes were confirmed in T₀ and T₁ generations of transgenic plants using genomic PCR and the bar strip test. In addition, herbicide resistance in T₁ transgenic plants was observed when leaves and whole plants were treated with Basta. These results suggest that the successful Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Hi IIA will improve further opportunities for functional genomic and genome editing studies in maize.

A new mandarin hybrid cultivar ‘Shinyegam’ was developed from a cross between ‘Kiyomi’ (Citrus unshiu × C. sinensis) and ‘Wilking’ (Citrus reticulata) at the Citrus Research Institute of the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science in 2012. The ‘Jegam na No. 33’, a first selection seedling from the fruits obtained in 2008 was finally named ‘Shinyegam’ after field evaluation trials at five locations in Jeju island, Korea from 2010 to 2012. The tree vigor was intermediate and the tree was spreading in nature, similar to that of the ‘Kiyomi’ cultivar. The fruits produced were compressed to oblate and globose in shape, were a deep orange in color, and moderately weighed at 130 g. ‘Shinyegam’ produces fruit that mature in late December, and has few seeds, which are mono-embryonic. The average seed number of a fruit varied depending on the pollinator citrus tree. Cultivation of ‘Shinyegam’ along with the other cultivars possessing high pollen fertility resulted in seed numbers that was more than 20, while in the absence of a pollinator species the seed number was around 5. The fruit contained soluble solids at 11 to 12 ° Bx and the acidity was approximately 1% at maturity. The rind thickness of approximately 2.5 mm ensures easy peeling. The flesh is very tender and juicy, with a pleasant, aromatic flavor similar to that of ‘Wilking’ but is comparatively weak. ‘Shinyegam’ is moderately resistant to the citrus scab disease and melanose, but susceptible to citrus canker. Owing to the high quality of fruit, good aroma, and cold hardness characteristics, this cultivar is expected to satisfy consumer acceptability in terms of the diversity of the cultivar in open-field cultivation.

Nunkeunheugchal (registration No. 01-0001-2014-4), a black waxy giant embryo rice cultivar, was developed by the rice breeding team of National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA in 2012. This cultivar was derived from the cross between ge^t and Josaengheugchal in 2004/2005 winter season, and selected by a promising line, YR25277-B-B-314-2, was selected and designated as the line of Milyang263 in 2009. The local adaptability test of Milyang263 was carried out at four locations from 2010 to 2012 and it was named as Nunkeunheugchal. This variety is a early maturity cultivar. It has 65 cm in culm length and 72 spikelets per panicle, and 1,000 grain-weight of brown rice is 17.8 g which is less than that of Josaengheugchal. This variety is resistant to leaf blast, but susceptible to bacterial blight, neck blast, virus disease and insect pest. The yield potential of Nunkeunheugchal was about 3.54 MT/ha as brown rice at ordinary fertilizer level in local adaptability test for three years. Nunkeunheugchal possesses benefits to rice consumers because of high amounts of GABA, anthocyanin, calcium and iron. This variety would be adaptable to the paddy field of middle and southern plain region of Korea.

We tried to develop the protocol for embryogenesis and plant regeneration from anther culture of carrot (Daucus carota L.) genotype ‘S&P2342’. Anthers were cultured on MS medium with B5 vitamins containing different combinations of 2,4-D and NAA for 18 weeks in the dark. The best induction of callus and embryo was obtained in the medium containing 0.1 mg/L 2,4-D and 0.1 mg/L NAA, on which 22.0% callus and 2.0% embryo were induced. When primary embryos induced directly from anther culture were transferred to the regeneration medium, secondary embryos were initiated from primary embryos after 4 weeks of culture and 62.5% converted into plantlets after 8 weeks of culture. The plantlets with true leaves were obtained after 12 weeks of culture. When the calli derived from anther culture were transferred to the regeneration medium, 38.8% of the calli produced primary embryos and plantlets after 8 weeks of culture. The plantlets with 2 or more leaves cultured on the regeneration under the different light intensity for the growth of in vitro plantlets. The plantlets cultured at 100 μmol·m^-2·s^-1 showed the highest growth rate. For the acclimatization, the in vitro plantlets with 4 or more leaves cultivated under the different light intensity and temperature, respectively. The survival rate and growth of plantlets was best at 15℃ and 100 μmol·m^-2·s^-1, respectively. The plants were successfully acclimatized and had a normal phenotype. The anther culture system could be used to prepare the doubled haploid lines as an appropriate breeding material for F₁ hybrid breeding program.

Doubled haploid (DH) system is an effective tool in improving breeding efficiency and has been widely applied in wheat breeding programs. Wheat x maize hybridization is used for the production of wheat DH because of its efficiency and ease of application. We carried out an experiment to investigate genotype effect of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays) on efficiency of wheat haploid production. In various wheat x maize crosses, ten wheat and seven maize genotypes were tested. Haploid embryos were rescued and cultured for plant regeneration. Average seed set, embryo formation and haploid regeneration of five wheat varieties in crosses with a pollinator cv. Gangdaok were about 75%, 19% and 8.4%, respectively. Their haploid regeneration ranged from 3.7~9.8% and cv. Jokyoung showed highest regeneration. Average seed set, embryo formation and haploid regeneration of seven maize genotypes in crosses with a parent cv. Jokyoung were about 78%, 18% and 9.6%, respectively. Their haploid regeneration ranged from 7.6~12.9% and cv. Kwangpyeongok showed highest regeneration followed by cvs. Gangdaok and Gangilok. Analysis of variance for seed set and embryo formation showed highly significant effects of wheat parents and maize pollinators, whereas their interaction effect was only significant for seed set. The effect of maize genotypes on these traits was greater than that of wheat genotypes. Consequently, cvs. Kwangpyeongok, Gangdaok and Gangilok were found to be better pollen donors among the genotypes tested in wheat x maize hybridization for wheat hybrid production.