• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.269-277
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• 2016

Erm proteins methylate the specific adenine residue ($A_{2058}$, E. coli numbering) on 23S rRNA to confer the $MLS_B$ (macrolidelincosamide-streptogramin B) antibiotic resistance on a variety of microorganisms ranging from antibiotic producers to pathogens. When phylogenetic tree is constructed, two main clusters come out forming each cluster of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Two representative Erm proteins from each cluster were selected and their in vitro methylation activities were compared. ErmS and ErmE from Actinobacteria cluster exhibited much higher activities than ErmB and ErmC' from Firmicutes: 9 fold difference when ErmC' and ErmE were compared and 13 fold between ErmS and ErmB. Most of the difference was observed and presumed to be caused by N-terminal and C-terminal extra region from ErmS and ErmE, respectively because NT59TE in which N-terminal end 59 amino acids was truncated from wild type ErmS exhibited only 22.5% of wild type ErmS activity. Meanwhile, even NT59TE showed three and 2.2 times more activity when it was compared to ErmB and C, respectively, suggesting core region from antibiotic producers contains extra structure enabling higher activity. This is suggested to be possible through the extra region of 197RWS199 (from both ErmS and ErmE), 261GVGGSLY267 (from ErmS), and 261GVGGNIQ267 (from ErmE) and 291SVV293 (from ErmS) and 291GAV293 (from ErmE) by multiple sequence alignment.

• 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 Taxonomy
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.197-222
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• 2008

A recently published Korean Flora, "The genera of vascular plants of Korea (GFK)", includes the descriptions and keys for 217 families, 1,044 genera, and 3,209 species of Korean vascular plants. We reclassified these taxa according to the recent APG classification system, which resulted in 64 orders, 204 families, 1,044 genera and 3,209 species. Twenty-two families from the GFK were abandoned because of changes to the familial delimitations in the APG system. In contrast, the number of families in the Liliaceous group was increased. The Liliaceae in the GFK included 31 genera and 109 species. These taxa are now assigned to 10 families in four different orders including Liliales, Asparagales, Alismatales, and Dioscoreales because of the drastic changes to the monocot classification system in the past 20 years. In addition, the family name of the Aucubaceae was changed to Garryaceae. As a result, the number of families in the GFK has been reduced to 204. The results were summarized in four tables and two figures at the levels of unofficial higher taxonomic hierarchies, orders, families and genera. This new information can provide a guidelines for selecting the phylogenetic analysis unit for the Korean tree of life (KTOL) project. Futhermore, the updated classification system also provides an important summarization for the systematic community for placing the Korean flora in a modern phylogenetic context.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.188-199
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• 2018

Genomic epidemiology exploits various basic microbial research areas. High-throughput sequencing technologies dramatically have been expanding the number of microbial genome sequences available. Abundant genomic data provide an opportunity to perform strain typing more effectively, helping identify microbial species and strains at a higher resolution than ever before. Genomic epidemiology needs to find antimicrobial resistance genes in addition to standard genome annotations. Strain typing and antimicrobial resistance gene finding are static aspects of genomic epidemiology. Finding which hosts infected which other hosts requires the inference of transient transmission routes among infected hosts. The strain typing, antimicrobial resistance gene finding, and transmission tree inference would allow for better surveillance of microbial infectious diseases, which is one of the ultimate goals of genomic epidemiology. Among several high-throughput sequencing technologies, genomic epidemiology will benefit from the more portability and shorter sequencing time of the Oxford Nanopore Technologies's MinION, the third-generation sequencing technology. Here, this study reviewed computational methods for quantifying antimicrobial resistance genes and inferring disease transmission trees. In addition, the MinION's applications to genomic epidemiology were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.12-26
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• 2002

The phylogenetic relationships for 33 strains belonging to the genera Azorhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Rhizobium and Sinorhizobium were conducted by the sequence analyses of the ITS regions. The sequence homologies of these strains showed the high variations(28.0 - 94.9%). According to the phylogenetic analysis of ITS regions. 37 ITS clones from 33 strains of 32 species were classified into four groups. Group I included all strains of the genus Sinorhizobium as core members and R. giardinii as a peripheral member. The genus Rhizobium strains were clustered into group II which was very heterogeneous and the tree toplogy of this group were very unstable. Among the members of group II. the taxonomic position of R. radiobacter and R. rubi was not clearly identified on the basis of ITS I regions. R. undicola and R. vitis were remotely related with other Rhizobium strains including R. leguminosarum, R. galegae, R. gallicum, R. mongolense, R. tropici, R. hainanense, R. rhizogense and R. huautlense of group II were supposed to be loosely related to R. leguminosarum. While the stains of the genera Bradyrhizobium constituted group III with Azorhizobium caulindans, the strains of the genus Mesorhizobium formed group IV on the relatively high sequence homology level.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.387-394
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• 2007

Despite geographic barriers such as oceans, many freshwater algal species inhabit different continents of the world. A unicellular freshwater alga, Mallomonas caudeata, commonly occurring in Asia, Europe, and America of the northern Hemisphere, is closely related to human life such as monitoring blooms and defecting changes in climates. In order to demonstrate its occurrence in Korea and to infer its phylogeny, we sequenced nuclear SSU and plastid rbcL genes from isolates collected in six different reservoirs. We have also investigated transmission electron microscopy of the Korean isolates. SSU sequences of the species from Korea and USA were almost identical, having pair-wise divergences of 0.06% in SSU and 0.45% in rbcL. Both gene trees revealed that the species was clearly separated from other species of the genus, while the genus was not monophyletic. Rhizoplasts are composed of microfibrils organised in striated rootlets attached to the multilayered plate of basal bodies and arranged on the surface of the nucleus at their distal ends. The rhizoplast constitutes a basal body-nucleus connector similar to that of typical Synurophyceas. The results that Mallomonas was not supported by both SSU and rbeL data sets require a further study with additional taxon sampling.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.7-23
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• 2005

Molecular phylogenetic studies were conducted to evaluate interspecific relationships in 40 populations of Viola including 35 Korean taxa, four Japanese populations and one outgroup using nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences. The phylogenetic analyses were conducted using parsimony and neighbor-joining methods. Subsection Trigonocarpae of section Nomimium appeared as the most basal clade within the Korean Viola. Section Dischidium and Chamaemelanium was monophyletidbootstrap 100%) and placed between subsect. Trigonocarpae and three other subsections of sect. Nomimium. Sect. Nomimium was paraphyletic. Although each subsectional grouping was in accordance with previous infrageneric classification based on morphological characters, yet discordance remained at the series level. Two evolutionary trends observed in the ITS tree were as follows. First, subsect. Trigonocarpae(x=10) was derived from the outgroup(x=6); Second, subsects. Bilobatae and Vaginatae(x=10 or 12), and subsect. Patellares(x=12) of sect. Nomimium were originated from sects. Dischidium and Chamaemelanium(x=6). Viola albida complex including three very closely related taxa was recognized as independent group within subsect. Patellares in parsimony tree. This result suggested that they should be treated as a taxa in series Pinnatae. Phylogenetic position of a putative hybrid species, Viola woosanensis was not supported with previous morphological hypothesis.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2019

An outbreak of new disease with leaf and stem blight symptom occurred at bracken-growing fields in Namhae-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea during the last 4 years. This new disease caused significant yield losses on bracken production in this area. We have collected diseased leaves and stems showing the blight symptom in May, July, and October 2018 to investigate causal pathogens. A total of 92 fungal isolates were obtained from the diseased samples and their pathogenicity was tested on healthy bracken leaves. From the total isolates, 22 isolates were able to produce the leaf blight symptom similar to the original one found in the fields. To identify two fungal pathogens which showed higher virulence levels compared to other pathogenic isolates, we constructed phylogenetic trees using the nucleotide sequences of genes for ribosomal RNA, RNA polymerase beta subunit, beta tubulin, and internal transcribed region. Most phylogenetic trees constructed indicate that both isolates, which are identical to each other, reside in a clade of the genus Didymella and possibly similar to D. rumicicola or D. acetosellae. Nevertheless, the exact identification of these pathogens at the species level needs further investigations. This is the first report of a blight disease on bracken by Didymella sp.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.236-248
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• 2019

We investigated occurrence and molecular phylogeny of the toxic epiphytic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis at seven sampling sites in the coastal waters off Jeju Island of Korea in April, 2017. During the sampling period, surface water temperature ranged from 15.7 to $18.3^{\circ}C$ and salinity was relatively constant, ranging from 33.4 to 34.9. Of a total of 13 macroalgal species collected from all sampling sites, Ostreopsis cells were observed from 8 macroalgal species and the highest cell abundance ($157.5cells\;g^{-1}$) was recorded on the red alga Grateloupia filicina at St. 6. LSU rDNA D8/D10 sequences of all Korean Ostreopsis strains isolated from the 4 sampling sites were 100% identical. Molecular phylogentic analyses (BI and ML) inferred from LSU rDNA alignment showed that the Korean Ostreopsis strains placed into the previously described the Ostreopsis sp. 1 clade, which contained strains isolated from the temperate coastal waters of Japan. The Korean Ostreopsis sp. 1 strain grew in a wide range of temperature ($10-30^{\circ}C$) and salinity (25-30), with its maximum growth rate of $0.49d^{-1}$ at $25^{\circ}C$ and salinity of 30, indicating that they can be tolerated in temperate areas.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2021

Solanum demissum is one of the wild Solanum species originating from Mexico. It has wildly been used for potato breeding due to its resistance to Phytophthora infestans. S. demissum has an EBN value of four, which is same as that of S. tuberosum, so that it is directly crossable for breeding purposes with the cultivated tetraploid potato (S. tuberosum). In this study, the chloroplast genome sequence of S. demissum obtained by next-generation sequencing technology was described and compared with those of seven other Solanum species to develop S. demissum-specific markers. Thetotal sequence length of the chloroplast genome is 155,558 bp, and its structural organization is similar to those of other Solanum species. Phylogenetic analysis with ten other Solanaceae species revealed that S. demissum is most closely grouped with S. hougasii and S. stoloniferum followed by S. berthaultii and S. tuberosum. Additional comparison of the chloroplast genome sequence with those of seven other Solanum species revealed two InDels specific to S. demissum. Based on these InDels, two PCR-based markers for discriminating S. demissum from other Solanum species were developed. The results obtained in this study will provide an opportunity to investigate more detailed evolutionary and breeding aspects in Solanum species.