• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.104-110
• /
• 2004

To determine evolution and genotype of new chromosomal AmpC $\beta$-lactamases among clinical isolates of Enterobacter species, we performed antibiotic susceptibility testing, pI determination, sequencing, and phy-logenetic analysis using developed expression/secretion vector. Six isolates have shown to produce AmpC $\beta$-lactamases. Six genes of AmpC $\beta$-lactamases that are responsible for the resistance to cephamycins (cefoxitin and cefotetan), amoxicillin, cephalothin, and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid were cloned and characterized in pMSG12119. Insert fragment containing the ampC genes was sequenced and found to have an open reading frame coding for 381-amino-acid $\beta$-lactamase. The nucleotide sequence of four ampC genes ($bla_EcloK992004.l$, $bla_EcloK995120.1$, $bla_EcloK99230$, and $bla_EareK9911729$) shared considerable homology with that of chromosomal ampC gene ($bla_EcloMHN1$) of E. cloacae MHN1 (more than 99.6% identity). The sequences of two ampC genes ($bla_EcloK9973$ and $bla_EcloK9914325$) showed close similarity to the chromosomal ampC gene ($bla_EcloQ908R$) of E. clo-acae 908R (99.7% identity). The results from phylogenetic analysis suggested that six ampC genes could be originated from $bla_EcloMHN1$ / or $bla_EcloQ908R$ / MIC patterns and exact pI values of six transformants indicated that the developed expression/secretion vector (pMSG1219) was suitable for the characterization of foreign genes in E. coli strain.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.97-103
• /
• 2011

Two Gram positive bacterial strains, designated strain GC-1 and GC-4, were isolated from coastal seawater near Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea. The two strains were identified as members of the genus Bacillus, based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and data for physiological characteristics analyses. A subtle difference in physiological and genotypical characteristics has led us to designate the strains GC-1 and GC-4. The strain GC-1 showed a 99.91% similarity in 16S rRNA gene sequencing with B. tequiliensis and B. subtilis subsp. inaquosorum and the strain GC-4 showed a 100% similarity in 16S rRNA gene sequencing with those of B. altitudinis, B. stratosphericus, and B. aerophilus. However, both strains exhibited different physiological and genotypical characteristics in many aspects from those of their phylogenetically closest neighbors listed above, which implies that genus Bacillus has diversified into various species during its evolutionary process.

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

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.83 no.1
• /
• pp.20-24
• /
• 1994

In woody species with a long life span, the studies on inheritance of any trait may be very time consuming and laborious. Chloroplast DNA(cpDNA) has been a valuable tool in such studies since it has several unique features such as limited genome size and cytoplasmic inheritance. In the present study, cpDNAs from five different species of Populus(P. alba, P. glandulosa, P. alba${\times}$P. glandulosa, P. davidiana, and P. nigra), and Nicotiana tabacum were compared with regard to restriction fragment length polymophism. The results showed that cpDNAs among the species were very conserved, although some polymorphisms were observed when the DNAs were digested with restriction enzyme EcoRI or KphI. The other enzymes (Bgl II, and PstI) tested produced identical restriction fragmentation pattern among the species. However, cpDNAs from all the five Populus species showed different restriction fragmentation pattern from that of tobacco with the four restriction enzymes tested. Southern hybridization with tobacco rbcL gene fragment as a probe also produced identical pattern among Populus species. The results indicate that cpDNAs in the genus are very well conserved during evolution.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.286-294
• /
• 2020

The Chironomus(Diptera: Chironomidae) is a freshwater benthic invertebrate that is an important indicator organism used for environmental pollution and water quality monitoring. In this study, we performed morphological classification and genetic species identification using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene on mitochondrial DNA for an accurate species classification of Chironomus larvae found in tap water purification plants in Incheon, Korea. Twenty larvae in six water purification plants consist of four species, including twelve Chironomus kiiensis, six Chironomus flaviplumus, one Chironomus dorsalis, and one Polypedilum yongsanensis (not included Genus Chironomus). Morphological characteristics of each larvae were identified based on the head capsule, the mentum, the mandible, the antenna, and the claw. Based on the COI sequences of 21 individuals of 17 Chironomus species registered in NCBI Genbank, phylogenetic analysis indicated that the 20 individuals investigated in this study consist of the same clade with corresponding species of the high homology (99~100%) including C. kiiensis, C. flaviplumus, C. dorsalis, and P. yongsanensis. These results will be used as main classification indicator for monitoring freshwater ecosystems by providing integrated morphological and genetic information for the species identification of Korean Chironomus.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.25 no.7
• /
• pp.839-848
• /
• 2015

A molecular marker is a molecule contained within a sample taken from an organism or other matter. The development of molecular techniques for genetic analysis has led to a great contribution to our knowledge of plant genetics and our understanding of the structure and behavior of various genomes in plants. Recently, functional molecular markers have been developed to detect the presence of major genes from the analysis of pedigreed data in absence of molecular information. DNA markers have developed into many systems based on different polymorphism-detecting techniques or methods such as RFLP, AFLP, RAPD, SSR, SNP, etc. A new class of very useful DNA markers called genic molecular markers utilizing the ever-increasing archives of gene sequence information being accumulated under the EST sequencing projects on a large number of plant species. Functional markers are derived from polymorphic sequences, and are more likely to be involved in phenotypic trait variation. Based on this conceptual framework, the marker systems discussed below are all (gene)-targeted markers, which have the potential to become functional. These markers being part of the cDNA/EST-sequences, are expected to represent the functional component of the genome i.e., gene(s), in contrast to all other random DNA based markers that are developed/generated from the anonymous genomic DNA sequences/domains irrespective of their genic content/information. Especially I sited Poczai et al’ reviews, advances in plant gene-targeted and functional markers. Their reviews may be some useful information to study molecular markers in plants.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.30-41
• /
• 2017

Mammals in Korea have been studied in various fields such as animal science, veterinary medicine, laboratory animal science, ecology, and genetics. As the importance of biodiversity has been emphasized recently, conservation and management of mammals have attracted much public attention. However, in spite of such an increase in scientific research and public interest, it is still difficult to find a report or summary to grasp the trend of mammalian research in Korea. The purpose of this study is to provide the basic data for future plans of the detailed research area and the related policies by grasping the research trends of mammals in Korea. Using text-ming and co-word analysis, we analyzed 392 mammalian research papers published in Korean national journals as of 2015. Our results showed that the number of mammalian research papers published in Korea has gradually increased and that the research target species have also become increasingly diverse. The major research areas identified through text-mining and co-word analysis are (1) evolution/phylogenetics/genetics, (2) environmental science/ecology, (3) embryology/reproductive biology/cell biology, (4) veterinary medicine related to parasites, (5) parasitology related to rodents, (6) bacteriology/virology, (7) anatomy/cell biology/laboratory animal science, (8) veterinary science related to morphology and anatomy, (9) animal science, (10) marine mammalogy, and (11) Chiroptera (bat) research. Environmental science/ecology has been the most active field among the 11 research areas in recent times, and the proportion of research has increased sharply compared to the past. Environmental science/ecology is the core of biodiversity conservation, and as the importance of biodiversity has been emphasized in recent years, researchers' interest in mammal ecology appears to have increased. We expect that the results of this study will be useful for future research plan and related policies on mammals in Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.17 no.6 s.86
• /
• pp.756-761
• /
• 2007

Cenus Malus is a long-lived woody species primarily distributed throughout Asia. Many species of this genus are regarded as agriculturally and ecologically important. The phynetics and genetic diversity among eight species of genus Malus were reconstructed using the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. In a simple measure of intraspecies variability by the percentage of polymorphic bands, the M. micromalus exhibited the lowest variation (34.7%). The M. pumila showed the highest (50.0%). Mean number of alleles per locus (A) ranged from 1.347 to 1.500 with a mean of 1.437. The phenotypic frequency of each band was calculated and used in estimating genetic diversify (H) within species. The mean of H was 0.190 across species, varying from 0.155 to 0.220. In particular, two cultivated species, M. pumila and M. asiatica, had high expected diversity, 0.314 and 0.307, respectively. On a per locus basis, the proportion of total genetic variation due to differences among species ranged from 0.388 to 0.472 with a mean of 0.423, indicating that 42.3% of the total variation was found among species. The phylogenetic tree showed three distinct elates. One includes M. sieversii, M. pumila, and M. asiatica. Another includes three M. baccata taxa. The other includes M. sieboldii, M. floribunsa, and M. micromalus. One variety and one form of M. sieboldii were well separated each other. RAPD markers are useful in germ-plasm classification of genus Malus and evolutionary studies.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.265-274
• /
• 2016

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous genetic modules that are evolutionally conserved in bacteria and archaea. TA systems composed of an intracellular toxin and its antidote (antitoxin) are currently classified into five types. Commonly, activation of toxins under stress conditions inhibits diverse cellular processes and consequently induces cell death or reversible growth inhibition. These effects of toxins play various physiological roles in such as regulation of gene expression, growth control (stress response), programmed cell arrest, persister cells, programmed cell death, phage protection, stabilization of mobile genetic elements or postsegregational killing of plasmid-free cells. Accordingly, bacterial TA systems are commonly considered as stress-responsive genetic modules. However, molecule screening for activation of toxin in TA system is available as development of antimicrobial agents. In addition, cytotoxic effect induced by toxin is used as effective cloning method with antitoxic effect of antitoxin; consequently cells containing cloning vector inserted a target gene can survive and false-positive transformants are removed. Also, TA system is applicable to efficient single protein production in biotechnology industry because toxins that are site-specific ribonuclease inhibit protein synthesis except for target protein. Furthermore, some TA systems that induce apoptosis in eukaryotic cells such as cancer cells or virus-infected cells would have a wide range of applications in eukaryotes, and it will lead to new ways of treating human disease. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on bacterial TA systems and their applications.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.65-89
• /
• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the science concepts and teaching and learning methods presented in the science education-related activities of the Nuri Curriculum teacher guidebooks for ages 3-5. Methods: The research data included 772 activities related to science education in the teachers' guidebook. The analysis of science concepts was based on physical science (force and motion, physical structure, electricity and magnetism, light and shadow, sound properties), chemistry (material properties, material reaction), life science (organizational structure, growth and change, heredity and evolution, animal plant and human relationships), earth science (earth system interaction, earth system structure, and universe), engineering (designed world, engineering design, engineering, technology and society) and ecology (environment preservation). Teaching and learning methods were analyzed according to the types of small and large group activities and of free play activities. Results: Science concepts were mainly presented in the fields of engineering, chemistry, and life science commonly among children aged 3-5, whereas the concepts of physical science were lowly presented in all ages. Science concepts appeared mainly in the daily subjects of 'animal plant and nature', 'life tools', 'environment and life', and 'spring, summer, autumn and winter'. As the teaching and learning method, free paly activities (science area, free outdoor selection activity, math and manipulative activity) were mostly used for the ages of 3 and 4, and small and large group activities (cooking, story sharing, music activity) were for the age of 5. Conclusion/Implications: It is necessary to select the level of science area and concept that can be taught according to the age of children and the timing of the teaching.