• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.250-256
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• 2005

Background : Fluoroquinolone drugs are an important anti-tuberculous agent for the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. However, many drugs belonging to the fluoroquinolones have different cross resistance to each other. Methods : Sixty-three ofloxacin (OFX) resistant and 10 pan-susceptible M. tuberculosis isolates were selected, and compared for their cross resistance using a proportion method on Lowenstein-Jensen media, containing ofloxacin (OFX), ciprofloxacin (CIP), levofloxacin (LVX), moxifloxacin (MXF), gatifloxacin (GAT) and sparfloxacin (SPX), at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to $3{\mu}g/ml$. DNA extracted from the isolates was directly sequenced after amplifying from the gyrA and gyrB genes. Results : The 63 OFX resistant M. tuberculosis isolates showed complete cross resistance to CIP, but only 90.5, 44.4, 36.5 and 46.0% to LVX, MXF, GAT, and to SPX, respectively. Fifty-one of the isolates (81.0%) had point mutations in codons 88, 90, 91 and 94 in gyrA, which are known to be correlated with OFX resistance. The Gly88Ala, Ala90Valand Asp94Ala mutations in gyrA showed a tendency to be susceptible to MXF, GAT and SPX. Only 4 isolates had mutations in the gyrB gene, which did not affect the OFX resistance. Conclusion : About 60% of the OFX resistant M. tuberculosis isolates were susceptible to GAT, SPX and MXF. These fluoroquinolones may be useful in the treatment of TB patients showing OFX resistance.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.257-265
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• 2005

Background : Rifabutin (ansamycin) is a spiro-piperidyl rifamycin, which is highly active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It has been found that some clinical isolates of tubercle bacilli that are resistant to rifampicin are susceptible to rifabutin, with some patients with multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis having shown favorable clinical and bacteriological responses to the rifabutin. This study was conducted to find the proportion of rifabutin-susceptible strains among rifampicin-resistant isolates from Korean MDR-TB patients, and investigate the presence of specific rpoB mutations, which may confer resistance to rifampicin, but not to rifabutin. Methods : 201 rifampicin-resistant and 50 pan-susceptible M. tuberculosis isolates were randomly selected for this study. The isolates were retested at rifampicin and rifabutin concentrations of 0, 20, 40 and $80{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. The isolates that grew at and/or over a rifabutin concentration of $20{\mu}g/ml$ were judged rifabutin-resistant. The rpoB gene was extracted from the isolates, and then amplified for direct sequencing to investigate specific rpoB mutations that conferred rifabutin- susceptibility but rifampicin-resistance. Results : Out of the 201 rifampicin-resistant M. tuberculosis, 41 strains (20.4%) were susceptible to rifabutin using the absolute concentration method on Lowenstein-Jensen media. The rpoB mutation types that showed susceptibility to rifabutin were Leu511Pro, Ser512Arg, Gln513Glu, Asp516Ala, Asp516Gly, Asp516Val, Asp516Tyr, Ser522Leu, His526Asn, His526Leu, His526Cys, Arg529Pro and Leu533Pro. A reverse hybridization technique was able to detect 92.5% of the rifabutin-susceptible isolates, with a specificity of 96.1% among 195 M. tuberculosis isolates with the rpoB mutation. Conclusions : Around 20% of the rifampicin-resistant isolates in Korea showed susceptibility to rifabutin, which was associated with some specific mutations of rpoB. Rifabutin could be used for the treatment of MDR-TB patients, especially when drug susceptibility testing reveals susceptibility to rifabutin.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2008

Purpose : Large exon deletions in the DMD gene are found in about 60% of DMD/BMD patients. Multiplex PCR has been employed to detect the deletion mutation, which frequently generates noise PCR products due to the presence of multiple primers in a single reaction as well as the stringency of PCR conditions. This often leads to a false-negative or false-positive result. To address this problematic issue, we introduced the dual primer oligonucleotide (DPO) system. DPO contains two separate priming regions joined by a polydeoxyinosine linker that results in high PCR specificity even under suboptimal PCR conditions. Methods : We tested 50 healthy male controls, 50 patients with deletion mutation as deletion-positive patient controls, and 20 patients with no deletions as deletion-negative patient controls using DPO-multiplex PCR. Both the presence and extent of deletion were verified by simplex PCR spanning the promoter region (PM) and 18 exons including exons 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 43-48, 50-52, and 60 in all 120 controls. Results : DPO-multiplex PCR showed 100% sensitivity and specificity for the detection a deletion. However, it showed 97.1% sensitivity and 100% specificity for determining the extent of deletions. Conclusion : The DPO-multiplex PCR method is a useful molecular test to detect large deletions of DMD for the diagnosis of patients with DMD/BMD because it is easy to perform, fast, and cost-effective and has excellent sensitivity and specificity.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.191-195
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• 2011

This experiment was attempted to investigate a cause of the scion death in green pepper grafting system. A tobamovirus particle examined in the rootstock of the sample but not in the scion showing necrosis. The virus isolated from the rootstock was identified as Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), pepper tobamovirus pathotype P1.2. (PMMoV-2), by nucleotide sequence analysis and host plant reaction. The virus isolate infected systematically in 6 commercial rootstock varieties using for green pepper grafting seedling production. Green pepper varieties 'Long green mart' and 'Daechan' represented resistance to the virus showing local lesions only on the inoculated leaves and 'Manitda' was systematically infected. In the experiment with grafting 'Long green mart' or 'Daechan' onto the those rootstocks, the upper leaves of the scions first showed vein necrosis and wilt symptoms 7 days after inoculation with PMMoV-2 on the cotyledon of the rootstock, following to the scion stem necrosis and then only the scion death. The virus was detected in the rootstock but not in the scion. However, 'Manitda' of susceptible variety in the grafting system showed mottle symptom on the leaves of the scion but not necrosis on the plant. PMMoV-3 isolate, pepper tobamovirus pathotype P1.2.3, did not cause the scion death in the grafting system. All of the varieties were susceptible to PMMoV-3. These results suggest that the scion death is caused by infecting with pepper tobamovirus pathotype P1.2. in the green pepper grafting system combined with the susceptible rootstock and the resistance scion to the virus pathotype.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.517-528
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• 2007

Domestic or international existing researches regarding rail damage factors are focused on laying, vehicle conditions, driving speed and driving habits and overlook characteristics of track structure (elasticity, maintenance etc). Also in ballast track, as there is no special lateral spring stiffness of track also called as ballast lateral resistance in concrete track, generally, existing study shows concrete track has 2 time shorter life cycle for rail replacement than ballast track due to abrasion. As a result of domestic concrete track design and operation performance review, concrete track elasticity is lower than track elasticity of ballast track resulting higher damage on rail and tracks. Generally, concrete track has advantage in track elasticity adjustment than ballast track and in case of Europe, in concrete track design, it is recommended to have same or higher performance range of vertical elastic stiffness of ballast track but domestically or internationally review on lateral spring stiffness of track is very minimal. Therefore, through analysis of service line track on site measurement and analysis on performance of maintenance, in this research, dynamic characteristic behaviors of commonly used ballast and concrete track are studied to infer elasticity of service line track and experimentally prove effects of track lateral spring stiffness that influence curved rail damage as well as correlation between track elasticity by track system and rail damage to propose importance of appropriate elastic stiffness level for concrete and ballast track.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.24-33
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• 2016

Mucopolysaccharidosis type VI (MPS VI) is a rare disease caused by the mutation of ARSB with prevalence range from 1/5,000 in northeast Brazil to 1/2,057,529 births in Czech Republic. In Asia, there is only one published figure in Taiwan of about 1/833,000 births. The exact prevalence in the Korean population is unknown, but we estimated the incidence of MPS VI is about 0.03/100,000 live births. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with recombinant human Arylsulfatase B (rhASB) is a modality for the treatment of MPS VI that reduces the excretion of urine glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and improves joint motion, pulmonary function, and endurance. We presented the clinical features, molecular analysis and outcome of ERT in three Korean MPS VI patients. All patients had the typical characteristic clinical features of MPS IV. Short stature, dysostosis multiplex, corneal opacity and valvular heart disease were found at first presentation, while restrictive lung disease and carpal tunnel syndrome developed later in all patients. Molecular analysis demonstrated novel missense and nonsense mutation in the patients, including p.Ile 67Ser, p.Gly328Arg, $p.Arg191^*$, p.Asp352Asn, and p.Gly17Asp. After ERT, urine GAG was decreased in all patients. Skeletal involvement, corneal opacity, heart valve abnormalities and pulmonary function were not improved with ERT, but it had a better outcome on regarding joint motion and endurance. One patient underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) prior to ERT, but their clinical response was not improved much after BMT. This study demonstrates clinical phenotypes and molecular analysis of the severe form of MPS VI in Korean patients.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.843-859
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• 2017

The JK-1 isolate which was the best producer of indole-3-acetic acid and carotenoid among the 388 strains isolated from 28 wetlands in Jeju, was identified to be Rhodopseudomonas palustirs belongs to a typical group of non sulfur purple bacteria based on 16S sRNA sequencing. This study investigated the effect of different cultural conditions of pH, temperature, agitation, light and aeration on growth, IAA and carotenoid production of photosynthetic bacterium JK-1 for optimization of IAA and carotenoid production. It was found that growth, IAA, carotenoid, and bacteriochlorophyll production with light (3,000~3,500 Lux) and agitation (100 rpm) showed better results than those with dark/static or dark/agitation (100 rpm) in anaerobic conditions. The optimal pH, temperature and agitation speed for cell growth were 7, $30^{\circ}C$, 150 rpm, for IAA production were 9, $30^{\circ}C$, 150rpm and for carotenoid production were 6, $25^{\circ}C$, 50 rpm, cultured for 72 h under anaerobic light, respectively. The growth and IAA production were high in aerobic culture compared with anaerocic culture, whereas carotenoid and bacteriochlorophyll content were decreased extremely in aerobic condition (0.5~1 vvm). Subsequently, the optimal culture conditions for JK-1 were selected with pH 7, $30^{\circ}C$ and 100 rpm under anaerobic light and the effect on plant growth was tested by pot assay. Inoculation of JK-1 with 3% (v/v) level caused increase in shoot and root dry weigh that varied from 20%~58% to 40%~28% in young radish in camparison to uninoculated treatment at 50 days of growth. The study suggests that the JK-1 isolate may serve as efficient biofertilizer inoculants to promote plant growth.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.284-292
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• 2012

To date, chemical control remains the most common way to reduce beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua) populations. However, this insect has become more tolerant or resistant to many chemical insecticides and the insect larvae usually hide inside hollow, tube-like leaves of host plant so they were difficult to kill by spraying insecticides. The use of viral and bacterial insecticide to solve these problems has not been successful because of their novel feeding habit. To overcome these problems, in this study, the biological characteristics and virulence of an entomopathogenic fungus isolated from the cadaver of larvae beet armyworm were investigated. Isolated entomopathogenic fungus was identified as Nomeraea rileyi (Farlow) Samson by morphological examinations and genetic identification using sequences of the ITS, ${\beta}$-tubulin gene and EF1-${\alpha}$ regions. This fungus was named as N. rileyi SDSe. Virulence tests against 3rd larvae of beet armyworm were conducted with various conidial suspensions from $1{\times}10^4$ to $10^8$ conidia/ml of N. rileyi SDSe in laboratory conditions. Mortality rate of beet armyworm showed from 20 to 54% and the virulence increased with increasing conidial concentrations. Although N. rileyi SDSe showed low mortality rate against beet armyworm, it is expected that N. rileyi SDSe will be used effectively in the integrated pest management programs against the beet armyworm.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.201-209
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• 2014

This study was carried out in order to develop a biological control of anthracnose of red pepper caused by fungal pathogens. In particular, this study focuses on the Colletotrichum species, which includes important fungal pathogens causing a great deal of damage to red pepper. Antagonistic bacteria were isolated from the soil of pepper fields, which were then tested for biocontrol activity against the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides anthracnose pathogen of pepper. Based on the 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the isolated bacterial strain CS-52 was identical to Bacillus sp. The culture broth of Bacillus sp. CS-52 had antifungal activity toward the hyphae and spores of C. gloeosporioides. Moreover, the substances with antifungal activity were optimized when Bacillus sp. CS-52 was grown aerobically in a medium composed of 0.5% glucose, 0.7% $K_2HPO_4$, 0.2% $KH_2PO_4$, 0.3% $NH_4NO_3$, 0.01% $MnSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, and 0.15% yeast extract at $30^{\circ}C$. The inhibition of spore formation resulting from cellulase, siderophores, and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), were produced at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h, respectively. Bacillus sp. CS-52 also exhibited its potent fungicidal activity against anthracnose in an in vivo test, at a level of 70% when compared to chemical fungicides. These results identified substances with antifungal activity produced by Bacillus sp. CS-52 for the biological control of major plant pathogens in red pepper. Further studies will investigate the synergistic effect promoting better growth and antifungal activity by the formulation of substances with antifungal activity.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.204-210
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• 2011

The presence of the tick-borne pathogens Ehrlichia and Borrelia in German Shepherd dogs in Korea was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 291 dogs were randomly selected from five Korean provinces from October 2005 through September 2006. The seroprevalence of antibodies to canine Ehrlichia and Borrelia agents detected by ELISA (Snap$^{(R)}$ 3Dx$^{(R)}$ Test, IDEXX Laboratories) was 7.56% (22 dogs) and 1.72% (5 dogs) respectively, throughout the country. Positive antibodies against both pathogens were detected in two dogs (0.69%). The provincial distribution of seroprevalence against Ehrlichia was 1.28% (1 of 78) in Gyeonggi-do, 12.64% (11 of 87) in Gangwon-do, 9.76% (4 of 41) in Chungcheong-do, 8.93% (5 of 56) in Gyeongsang-do, and 3.45% (1 of 29) in Jeolla-do. According to PCR analysis, Ehrlichia chaffeensis target DNA was amplified in 3.09% (9 of 291 dogs) of blood samples, 2.41% (7 of 291) from Gangwon-do and 0.69% (2 of 291) from Chungcheong-do. The oligonucleotide sequences (SNU-EC3 and SNU-EC5) from the PCR fragment examined in Korea were closely related to E. chaffeensis isolated from the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis, in China and the state of Arkansas in the US. Based on these results, the presence of E. chaffeensis infection was identified in German Shepherds being bred in Korea. These results bring to light the importance of paying close attention to tick-borne infections such as Lyme disease during clinical diagnosis. This infectious disease should be included as a differential diagnosis for patients who participate in outdoor activity from spring to fall or who have thrombocytopenia or leucopenia.