Dea-Wook Kim

Introduction and nutritional evaluation of germinated soy germ

Germinated soy germ (GSG) were developed and evaluated for their nutritional value. Separated soy germ was germinated at room temperature for 24h under running water. As germination progressed, the protein and fibre content of GSG increased slightly, while the lipid and carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio decreased; free amino acids including GABA increased considerably while free sugars decreased. Linoleic and linolenic acid were the most abundant unsaturated fatty acids in soy germ, and slight changes were observed in GSG. The tocopherol and isoflavone contents showed a rapid increase of 32.4% and 27.9%, respectively, during germination. The abundance of GABA, isoflavones and tocopherols demonstrates the high nutritional value of GSG and suggests that GSG can be utilised as a reasonable and effective source of healthy foods.

Leaf Proteome Analysis Reveals Prospective Drought and Heat Stress Response Mechanisms in Soybean

Drought and heat are among the major abiotic stresses that affect soybean crops worldwide. During the current investigation, the effect of drought, heat, and drought plus heat stresses was compared in the leaves of two soybean varieties, Surge and Davison, combining 2D-DIGE proteomic data with physiology and biochemical analyses. We demonstrated how 25 differentially expressed photosynthesis-related proteins affect RuBisCO regulation, electron transport, Calvin cycle, and carbon fixation during drought and heat stress. We also observed higher abundance of heat stress-induced EF-Tu protein in Surge. It is possible that EF-Tu might have activated heat tolerance mechanisms in the soybean. Higher level expressions of heat shock-related protein seem to be regulating the heat tolerance mechanisms. This study identifies the differential expression of various abiotic stress-responsive proteins that regulate various molecular processes and signaling cascades. One inevitable outcome from the biochemical and proteomics assays of this study is that increase of ROS levels during drought stress does not show significant changes at the phenotypic level in Davison and this seems to be due to a higher amount of carbonic anhydrase accumulation in the cell which aids the cell to become more resistant to cytotoxic concentrations of H2O2.

Gel-based proteomics approach for detecting low nitrogen-responsive proteins in cultivated rice species

Nitrogen fertilization is essential for increasing rice production to meet the food demands of increasing world’s population. We established an in vivo hydroponic rice seedling culture system to investigate physio-biochemical/molecular responses of various rice japonica and indica cultivars to low nitrogen (N). Three-week-old seedlings grown in Yoshida’s nutrient solution manifested stable and reproducible symptoms, such as reduced shoot growth and length under low N. Out of 12 genetically selected cultivars, 11 cultivars showed varied degrees of growth reduction response to applied N (4 and 40 ppm N for treatment and control, respectively), whereas one cultivar (no. 12) showed similar growth as the control though its leaf width was smaller than control. Leaves of a representative low N-responsive cultivar (BG90-2) were sampled for revealing protein profiles between low and normal (control) N application by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DGE). Forty-one proteins were identified with MALDI-TOF-MS and nESI-LC-MS/MS. Assignment of proteins into major (energy metabolism, photosynthesis and oxidative stress) and minor functional categories, revealed many novel low N-responsive proteins, including those having energy/photosynthesis- and defense/stress- and iron homeostasis-related functions. Results suggest the usefulness of proteomics in identifying novel N-responsive proteins and may provide potential markers for rice response to low N.

Rice Proteomic Analysis: Sample Preparation for Protein Identification

Rice is one of the most important food and cereal crop plants in the world. Rice proteomics began in the 1990s. Since then, considerable progress has been made in establishing protocols from isolation of rice proteins from different tissues, organs, and organelles, to separation of complex proteins and to their identification by mass spectrometry. Since the year 2000, global proteomics studies have been performed during growth and development under numerous biotic and abiotic environmental conditions. Two-dimensional (2-D) gel-based proteomics platform coupled with mass spectrometry has been retained as the workhorse for proteomics of a variety of rice samples. In this chapter, we describe in detail the different protocols used for isolation of rice proteins, their separation, detection, and identification using gel-based proteomics and mass spectrometry approaches.

Unraveling Key Metabolomic Alterations in Wheat Embryos Derived from Freshly Harvested and Water-Imbibed Seeds of Two Wheat Cultivars with Contrasting Dormancy Status

Untimely rains in wheat fields during harvest season can cause pre-harvest sprouting (PHS), which deteriorates the yield and quality of wheat crop. Metabolic homeostasis of the embryo plays a role in seed dormancy, determining the status of the maturing grains either as dormant (PHS-tolerant) or non-dormant (PHS-susceptible). Very little is known for direct measurements of global metabolites in embryonic tissues of dormant and non-dormant wheat seeds. In this study, physiologically matured and freshly harvested wheat seeds of PHS-tolerant (cv. Sukang, dormant) and PHS-susceptible (cv. Baegjoong, non-dormant) cultivars were water-imbibed, and the isolated embryos were subjected to high-throughput, global non-targeted metabolomic profiling. A careful comparison of identified metabolites between Sukang and Baegjoong embryos at 0 and 48 h after imbibition revealed that several key metabolic pathways [such as: lipids, fatty acids, oxalate, hormones, the raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFOs), and amino acids] and phytochemicals were differentially regulated between dormant and non-dormant varieties. Most of the membrane lipids were highly reduced in Baegjoong compared to Sukang, which indicates that the cell membrane instability in response to imbibition could also be a key factor in non-dormant wheat varieties for their untimely germination. This study revealed that several key marker metabolites (e.g., RFOs: glucose, fructose, maltose, and verbascose), were highly expressed in Baegjoong after imbibition. Furthermore, the data showed that the key secondary metabolites and phytochemicals (vitexin, chrysoeriol, ferulate, salidroside and gentisic acid), with known antioxidant properties, were comparatively low at basal levels in PHS-susceptible, non-dormant cultivar, Baegjoong. In conclusion, the results of this investigation revealed that after imbibition the metabolic homeostasis of dormant wheat is significantly less affected compared to non-dormant wheat. The inferences from this study combined with proteomic and transcriptomic studies will advance the molecular understanding of the pathways and enzyme regulations during PHS.

Effect of Flammulina velutipes on spent-hen breast meat tenderization

An experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of powdered vegetable dip sauces to improve the tenderness of spent-hen breast meat. Our overall purpose was to find lower-priced materials for the tenderization of spent-hen breast meat. The spent-hen breast meat was dipped into vegetable powder for 24 h at 4°C, and then the samples were analyzed. In the results for vegetable-powder treated samples, those treated with papain and pineapple had higher (P ≤ 0.05) myofibrillar fragmentation indices compared with those of the other samples. The kiwi-, pineapple-, and Flammulina velutipes-powder (winter mushroom) treated samples had new peptides of about 32 kDa and degradation to 30 kDa. Also, the Flammulina velutipes-powder treated samples showed new peptides of 15 kDa. These data imply that Flammulina velutipes is superior for common use than papain or pineapple for the tenderization of spent-hen meat.

Effect of Seeding Dates on Yield and Quality of Various Oat Cultivars for Year-Around Forage Production

Most oats are used for livestock feed in the world. This experiment was conducted at Iksan city of Korea from 2007 to 2008. The objective of this study was to select eminent oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivars with high-yielding and a quality for forage adaptable in each planting seasons. Experimental design was split-plot design with three replications. A split plot design was used with seeding date on the main plots and other treatments fully randomized in sub-plots. A factorial arrangement of treatments included three different ecotypes cultivars, winter type (Sanmhan, Donghan and Chohan), summer type (High-speed, Darkhorse, and Swan), and naked oats near to spring type (Daeyang, Choyang, and Sunyang) and twelve seeding dates (twice a month from March to November). Plant height, dry matter yield, and percent TDN was significantly affected by seeding dates, cultivars, and the interaction of cultivars seeding dates. There was a decrease in plant height, dry matter yield, and percent total digestible nutrients (TDN) as seeding was delayed from early March to late June and it also from early September to early November. The winter type oat cultivars such as Samhan, Donghan, and Chohan adapted to fall seeding and early summer harvest, while summer type cultivars such as High-speed, Darkhorse, and Swan showed high productivity either to summer seeding and mid-fall harvest or to spring seeding and early summer harvest. Naked type cultivars, Choyang and Daeyang, showed high forage yield by spring and summer seeding except for fall seeding because of cold damage. Summer type oat cultivars such as High-speed, Darkhorse, and Swan can supplement high forage production in spring. TDN yield showd the most at seeding in October 10 (780 kg ), followed at seeding in March 23 (627 kg ).

A New High Grain Yielding Forage Rye Cultivar, “Seedgreen”

“Seedgreen” (Secale cereal L.), a new rye cultivar was developed by National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA in 2013. It was developed from an open pollination from within 10 rye varieties or lines including “Chochun” in 1995. The line “SR95POP-S1-140-9-1-3-7-5-3” was selected for its excellent agronomic appearance, and was placed in yield trials for three years from 2008 to 2010. The new cultivar was designated “Homil50” and was placed in regional yield trials at the five locations around Korea from 2011 to 2013, during which time the name “Seedgreen” was given. This cultivar is an erect plant type and of a long size, with a dark-green leaf color, a yellowish-white colored, medium-diameter culm, and a brown-colored, medium-size grain. The heading and maturation dates of Seedgreen were April 22 and June 16, which were 3 days and 2 days earlier than that of “Gogu”, respectively. Seedgreen also showed better winter hardiness and a greater resistance to lodging and wet injury compared to those of the check cultivar. Over three years, the average dry matter yield of Seedgreen was 8.3 ton ha (fresh yield = 39.8 ton ha), which was harvested in late April and was lower than that of the check cultivar Gogu. The seed productivity of Seedgreen was approximately 4 ton ha, which was 16 % more than that of the check. Seedgreen was higher to than Gogu in term of protein content (10.5% and 9.7%, respectively), total digestible nutrients (TDN) (58.3% and 57%, respectively), and TDN yield ha (4.81 ton and 4.77 ton, respectively). This cultivar is recommended as a fall sowing crop in areas where the average daily minimum-mean temperatures are higher than -12°C in January, and as a winter crop for whole-crop forage before the planting of rice or green manure around Korea. (

Production of Colchicine Induced Tetraploids in Rye (Secale cereale L.)

ABSTRACT This experiment was carried out to report some data such as survival rate, tetraploid production efficiency, and agronomic characteristics of offspring from the induced tetraploid by the colchicine treatment in rye. The colchicine was soaked with 0.05%, 12 hours in dark condition and at two growth stages (green seed and 2nd leaf stage) in diploid ryes. Flow cytometry (FC) was proved to be efficient and rapid tool for screening ploidy levels in rye, showing around 40 to 60 in DNA amount (DAP1) corresponding to diploid and 80 to 110 tetraploid. There were 18.5% of survival rate at green seed treatment and 78% at 2nd leaf stage in average of two rye cultivars, Gogu and Jogreen, but in reverse 50.9% and 1.1% in the ratio of tetraploid to total tillers among the plants survived, respectively, resulting in 9.42% of tetraploid production rate in green seed treatment and 0.86% at 2nd leaf stage, respectively. In green seed treatment, there were 33% of survival rate in Gogu, 4% in Jogreen in 1st year, but 56% in Gogu, 21% in Jogreen and 49% in Charmgreen, respectively. The rate of tetraploid to total spikes among survived was 53.7% in Gogu, 32.4% in Jogreen, and 50.9% in average in 1st year, and 64.1% in Gogu, 51.5% in Jogreen, 60% in Charmgreen, and 60.5% in average in 2nd year. In green seed treatment, tetraploid production rate (survival rate ×tetraploid ratio × 100) was 17.7% in Gogu and 1.3% in Jogreen and 9.42% in average in 1st year, and 35.9% in Gogu, 10.8% in Jogreen, 29.4% in Charmgreen, and 25.4% in average of three diploid rye cultivars. By the colchicine treatment with 0.05% for 12 hours in Gogu and Jogreen, 35 tetraploid plants were obtained and they produced 2,673 seeds with 148 spikes. There were 3.3-4.4 in the number of spikes per plant, 15.6-18.3 in grain number per spike, and 37.6 g in Gogu and 46.8 g in Jogreen in the 1,000-grain weight.