• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.82-93
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• 2004

Phylogenetic relationships among species in Araliaceae were analyzed using PCR-RAPD and sequence of ITS region of nuclear ribosomal DNA based on samples collected in Korea. RAPD analysis showed various polymorphic bands which were able to differentiate species and genus, and specific bands showing variations among individuals within species. Cluster analysis using gel images revealed high molecular variability within species of Aralia eleta. No significant variation was found among cultivated species of Panax ginseng, but they showed high genetic differences with wild type of the species. In ITS analysis, specific sequences for each genus and species were observed and these were allowed to differentiate species and genus. Phylogenetic analysis using ITS sequences showed that Acanthopanax and Kalopanax had a close relationship, and Aralia and Panax are monophyletic, but genus Hedera is different species from other species in family Araliaceae in this study. The results showing close relationship between genera Aralia and Panax were also observed in RAPD analysis. Contrary to the results of RAPD analysis of Panax ginseng, sequence analysis of ITS showed no significant difference between wild mountain ginseng and cultivated species of P. ginseng. Also, both RAPD and ITS analysis of P. ginseng showed no significant genetic variability among cultivation sites. Results indicate that P. ginseng cultivating in Korea is monophyletic. The molecular analysis used in this study agreed on classification using morphological feature. These results suggest that molecular techniques used in this study could be useful for phylogenetic analysis of Araliaceae.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.119-129
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• 2011

Phylogenetic studies were conducted to evaluate the taxonomic relationships among 27 taxa, including 2 outgroups of Korean Campanulaceae, using PCR-RFLP analysis and ITS sequences. In the PCR-RFLP analysis, 15 restriction endonucleases produced 244 restriction sites and size variations from the chloroplast DNA, and 59 restriction sites (24%) showed polymorphism. The length of the ITS regions ranged from 588 bp to 797 bp. The sequence divergence including the outgroups is 0-39.36%. Phylogenetic analyses based on PCR-RFLP and ITS data suggest that Campanulaceae is monophyletic; Codonopsis and Platycodon forms an independent clade; the Peracarpa and Asyneuma clade is a sister to the Adenophora-Hanabusaya clade; Campanula is monophyletic; and Wahlenbergia basally branches within the ITS tree, whereas they are placed between Campanula and the Codonopsis-Platycodon clade in the PCR-RFLP tree; Hanabusaya is placed within the Adenophora clade; and Adenophora is paraphyletic and shows discordance to the infrageneric classifications based on morphological data. The present results show two data sets, largely congruent at the generic level, but their phylogenetic positions, in particular the Wahlenbergia and Hanabusaya and the infrageneric classifications in Adenophora, show some incongruence.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.127-133
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• 2010

The purpose of this work was to investigate the antibacterial activity derived from a lactic acid bacterium, Lactococcus lactis HK-9, isolated from the feces of a 2-day newborn infant. We characterized the physiological and biochemical properties of this strain. Both the BIOLOG system and phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA sequencing were utilized for identification, and the strain was assigned to the Lactococcus lactis species, designated as L. lactis HK-9, and registered in GenBank as [GU936712]. We monitored growth rate, production of lactic acid and acetic acid as metabolites, and pH during growth. The maximum concentrations of lactic acid and acetic acid reached 495.6 mM and 104.3 mM, respectively, and the initial pH of the cultures decreased from 7.0 to 4.1 after incubating for 60 h. HPLC was used to confirm the production of lactic acid and acetic acid. Significant antibacterial activity of the concentrated supernatant was demonstrated against Gram-positive (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria monocytogenes, MRSA) and Gram-negative (e.g., Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella sonnei) bacteria by the plate diffusion method. The antibacterial activity was sensitive to protease, and the molecular weight of the presumed bacteriocin molecule was estimated to be about 4 kDa by tricine-SDS-PAGE.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.189-196
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• 2015

Bacterial diversity was studied in the rhizosphere of Suaeda japonica Makino, which is native to Suncheon Bay in South Korea. Soil samples from several sites were diluted serially, and pure isolation was performed by subculture using marine agar and tryptic soy agar media. Genomic DNA was extracted from 29 pure, isolated bacterial strains, after which their 16S rDNA sequences were amplified and analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to confirm their genetic relationship. The 29 bacterial strains were classified into five groups: phylum Firmicutes (44.8%), Gamma proteobacteria group (27.6%), Alpha proteobacteria group (10.3%), phylum Bacteriodetes (10.3%), and phylum Actinobacteria (6.8%). The most widely distributed genera were Bacillus (phylum Firmicutes), and Marinobacterium, Halomonas, and Vibrio (Gamma proteobacteria group). To confirm the bacterial diversity in rhizospheres of S. japonica, the diversity index was used at the genus level. The results show that bacterial diversity differed at each of the sampling sites. These 29 bacterial strains are thought to play a major role in material cycling at Suncheon Bay, in overcoming the sea/mud flat-specific environmental stress. Furthermore, some strains are assumed to be involved in a positive interaction with the halophyte S. japonica, as rhizospheric flora, with induction of growth promotion and plant defense mechanism.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.406-414
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• 2013

The influence of a gradual increase in salinity on the diversity of aquatic bacterial in rivers was demonstrated. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to analyze the bacterial community shift downstream in the Hyeongsan River until it joins the open ocean. Four water samples were taken from the river showing the salinity gradients of 0.02%, 1.48%, 2.63%, and 3.62%. The samples were collected from four arbitrary stations in 2.91 km intervals on average, and a DGGE analysis was performed. Based on the results of this analysis, phylogenetic similarity identification, tree analysis, and a comparison of each station were performed. The results strongly suggested that the response of the bacterial community response was concomitant to gradual changes in salinity, which implies that salt concentration is a major factor in shifting the microbiota in aquatic habitats. The results also imply a huge diversity in a relatively small area upstream from the river mouth, compared to that in open oceans or coastal regions. Therefore, areas downstream towards a river mouth or delta are could be good starting points in the search for new bacterial species and strains ("biotypes").

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2016

The aim of this study was to investigate the UV-resistance of radiation-resistant bacteria isolated from the water of Han River, South Korea. The water sample was irradiated with 3 kGy gamma radiation prior to isolation. Radiation-resistant bacterial strains were isolated by standard serial dilution method on R2A and 1/10 diluted R2A agar. The resulting purely isolated 60 cultures of bacteria were analysed for UV resistance and used in further studies. Based on the comparative analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences, the bacterial isolates were divided into 3 phyla (4 genera): the phylum Deinococcus-Thermus (the genus Deinococcus) was 61.7%, Bacteroidetes (Hymenobacter and Spirosoma) was 23.4%, and Firmicutes (Exiguobacterium) was 15%. The results suggested that twenty-nine isolates are candidates new species belonging to Deinococcus, Hymenobacter, and Spirosoma, or other new genera. Nine bacterial strains were selected among the novel candidates and the UV-resistance analysis was conducted. All the candidate bacterial strains showed high UV resistance, similar to that of D. radiodurans R1.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.373-386
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• 2003

Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA were determined for 14 individuals representing eight taxa from Scopolia s. str. and related genera, Anisodus and Atropanthe. We found that the ITS sequences of Korean endemic species, S. parviflora, are significantly different from its allied species, S. japonica. This is contradictory to traditional taxonomic treatments in which those species are regarded as conspecific. S. parviflora exhibited closer relationship to S. carniolica, which is disjunctly distributed in Europe. In spite of substantially high sequence divergence between S. japonica and S. parvlflora/S. carniolica clade, morphological resemblance is evident among the species. Morphological stasis concept (retardation of morphological differentiation or evolution of similar characters among the disjuncts in a similar ecological habitat) was referred to understand this rather unusual evolutionary feature. S. lutescens, another Korean endemic species, shared almost identical ITS sequences with S. parviflora. Lack of diagnostic character distinguishing the taxa suggests that they are conspecific. Anisodus carniolicoides, which was originally described in Scopolia, was grouped with A. luridus and A. tanguticus. The monophyletic Anisodus formed a sister group relationship with a monotypic genus Atropanthe.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.405-431
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• 2008

Cuticle micromorphology of 22 species of Quercus and outgroup were examined by the SEM. Twenty-two species selected each two or three species in all section of the genus Quercus. The genus Trigonobalanus and Alnus are selected as outgroups. Ten characters of the inner surface and eight characters of the outer surface of the cuticle have been described. Some characters, such as the present of papillae, arrangement of subsidiary cell, shape of anticlinal cell wall are considered important character for infrageneric classification. A parsimony analysis of 18 characters resulted in 72 most parsimonious trees with its lengths of 66 steps. The topology obtained from the analysis showed two major lineages. Subgenus Cyclobalanopsis formed one clade by 75% and subgenus Quercus formed another clade by 57% bootstrap value. Based on the cuticle morphology, the two subgenus delimitation of Camus was supported. However, sect. Erythrobalanus and sect. Cerris formed one group, and sect. Lepidobalanus formed polytomy.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2010

Recognizing a basal group in a taxon is one of the most important factors involved in understanding the evolutionary history of that group of life. Many botanists have suggested a sister to all other angiosperms to understand the origin and rapid diversification of angiosperms based on morphological and fossil evidence. Recent technical advances in molecular biology and the accumulation of molecular phylogenetic data have provided evidence of the extant basal-most angiosperm which is a sister to all other angiosperms. Although it is still arguable, most plant taxonomists agree that Amborella trichopoda Baill., a species (monotypic genus and monotypic family) distributed in New Caledonia, is a sister to all other extant angiosperms based on evidence from the following molecular approaches: 1) classical phylogenetic analyses based on multiple genes (or DNA regions), 2) analyses of a tree network of duplicated gene families, and 3) gene-structural evidence. As an alternative hypothesis with relatively minor evidence, some researchers have also suggested that Amborella and Nymphaeaceae form a clade that is a sister to all other angiosperms. Debate regarding the basal-most angiosperms is still ongoing and is currently one of the hot issues in plant evolutionary biology. We expect that sequencing of the whole genome of Amborella as an evolutionary model plant and subsequent studies based on this genome sequence will provide information regarding the origin and rapid diversification of angiosperms, which is Darwin's so called abominable mystery.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.358-369
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• 2011

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA from genus Chrysosplenium were sequenced to address phylogenetic relationship. ITS including 5.8S sequence varied in length from 647 bp to 653 bp. Among them, 219 sites were variable sites with parsimony-informative. The aligned sequences were analyzed by maximum parsimony (MP) and neighbor-joining (NJ) methods. In the strict consensus trees of parsimony analysis, the monophyly of Chrysosplenium was supported by 100% bootstrap value. The first clade, C. pseudofauriei was at the basal position of the genus, and others formed two clades with high bootstrap support. The second clade included Ser. Pilosa and Ser. Oppositifolia and third clade included Ser. Alternifolia and Ser. Flagellifera. The NJ trees showed essentially the same topology. Finally, DNA sequences of ITS regions were useful phylogenetic marker in this genus. Based on the ITS and ridge seed morphological results, C. sphaerospermum Maxim. and C. valdepilosum (Ohwi) S.H. Kang & J.W. Han were discussed their scientific names and taxonomic positions.