• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.315-320
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• 1996

The effects of 2-arnino-3-methyIimidazo[4,5-fq]u inoline (IQ), 2-amino-6dimethyl-dipyrido[l,2-a;3',2'-d] imidazole (Glu-P-1) and aflatoxin B1 (AFBI) on the mitotic recombinations and somatic chromosome mutations were investigated using the transgenic Drosophila bearing a chimeric gene consisting of a promoter region of Drosophila actin 5C gene and rat DNA polymerase $. For investigating mitotic recombinations and the somatic chromosome mutations, the heterozygous (mwhl+) strain possessing or lacking transgene pol P was used. The spontaneous frequency of small mwh spots, due to deletion or nondisjunction etc., in the non-transgenic w strain and the transgenic plpol $1-130 strain was 0.351 and 0.606, respectively. The spontaneous frequency (0.063) of large mwh spots, arising mostly from somatic recombination between the centromere and the locus mwh, in the transgenic plpol $1-130 strain, was about three times higher than that (0.021) of the non-transgenic w strain. The mutant clone frequencies of two types induced by two heterocyclic mines (IQ and Glu-P-1) and AFBl in the transformant pbol PI-130 were two or three times higher than those in the host strain w. These mean that rat DNA polymerase P participates at least in the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombination processes. And the present results suggest that the transgenic Drosophl!~ used in this study can be used as a hypersensitive, in vivo short-term assaying system for various environmental mutagens.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.323-328
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• 2015

The study of microbial diversity and richness in soil samples from a volcanic island named Ulleungdo, located east of South Korea. The soil bacterial communities on the Ulleungdo were analyzed using pyrosequencing method based on 16S rRNA gene. There were 1,613 operational taxonomic units (OUT) form soil sample. From results of a BLASTN search against the EzTaxon-e database, the validated reads (obtained after sequence preprocessing) were almost all classified at the phylum level. Proteobacteria was the most dominant phylum with 48.28%, followed by acidobacteria (26.30%), actionbacteria (6.89%), Chloroflexi (4.58), Planctomycetes (4.56%), Nitrospirae (1.83%), Bacteroidetes (1.51%), Verrucomicrobia (1.48%), and Gemmatimonadetes (1.11%). α-proteobacteria was the most dominant class with 36.07% followed by Acidobacteria_c (10.65%), Solibacteres (10.64%), δ-proteobacteria (4.42%), γ-proteobacteria (4.29%), Planctomycetacia (4.16%), Actinobacteria_c (4.00%), Betaproteobacteria (3.50%), EU686603_c (2.97%), Ktedonobacteria (2.91%), Acidimicrobiia (1.32%), Verrucomicrobiae (1.27%), Gemmatimonadetes_c (1.11%), Sphingobacteria (1.09%), and GU444092_c (1.06%). Bradyrhizobiaceae was the most dominant family with 22.83% followed by Acidobacteriaceae (10.62%), EU445199_f (5.72%), Planctomycetaceae (4.03%), Solibacteraceae (3.63%), FM209092_f (3.58%), Steroidobacter_f (2.81%), EU686603_f (2.73%), Hyphomicrobiaceae (2.33%), Ktedonobacteraceae (1.75%), AF498716_f (1.46%), Rhizomicrobium_f (1.03%), and Mycobacteriaceae (1.01%). Differences in the diversity of bacterial communities have more to do with geography than the impact on environmental factors and also the type of vegetation seems to affect the diversity of bacterial communities.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1295-1303
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• 2013

According to facts revealed up until the present, there are a total of 68 known phyla on earth, including 55 phyla of bacteria and 13 phyla of archaea. The human large intestine has 9 phyla of microorganisms, which is a relatively lower diversity compared to the general environments of soil or sea. The diversity of intestinal microorganisms is affected by the characteristics of the host (genetic background, sex, age, immune system, and gut motility), the diet (non-digestible carbohydrates, fat, prebiotics, probiotics), and the intake of antibiotics, which in turn have an effect on energy storage processes, gene expressions, and even metabolic diseases like obesity. Probiotics are referred to as living microorganisms that improve the intestinal microbiota and contribute to the health of the host; in addition, probiotics usually comprise lactic acid bacteria. Recently, bacteriotherapy using probiotics has been utilized to treat sicknesses like diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome. Prebiotics are a food ingredient which can selectively adjust intestinal microorganisms and which comprise inulin, fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, and lactulose. In recent days, attention has been paid to the use of dietary cellulose in the large intestine and the production of short chain fatty acids (short-chain fatty acids) in relation to obesity and anticancer. More research into microorganisms in the large intestine is necessary to identify specific microorganism species, which are adjusted by diverse non-digestible carbohydrates, prebiotics, and probiotics in the large intestine and to understand the connection between sicknesses and metabolites like short chain fatty acids produced by these microorganism species.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1097-1104
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• 2016

With the development of next generation sequencing (NGS), large numbers of transcriptional molecules have been discovered. Most transcripts are non -coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Among them, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) with more than 200 nucleotides represent functional RNA molecule that will not be translated into protein. In plants, lncRNAs are transcribed by RNA polymerase II (Pol II) or Pol III, Pol VI and Pol V. After transcription of these lncRNAs, more RNA processing mechanisms such as splicing and polyadenylation occurs. The expression of plant lncRNAs is very low and is tissue specific. However, these lncRNAs are strongly induced by specific external stimuli. Because different external stimuli including environmental stresses induce a large number of plant lncRNAs, these lncRNAs have been gradually considered as new regulatory factors of various biological and development processes such as epigenetic repression, chromatin modification, target mimicry, photomorphogenesis, protein relocalization, environmental stress response, pathogen infection in plants. Moreover, some lncRNAs act as precursor of short RNAs. Although a large number of lncRNAs have been predicted and identified in plants, our current understanding of the biological function of these lncRNAs is still limited and their detailed regulatory mechanisms should be elucidated continuously. Here, we reviewed the biogenesis and regulation mechanisms of lncRNAs and summarized the molecular functions unraveled in plants.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2016

Compared to planktonic bacterial populations, biofilms have distinct bacterial community structures and play important ecological roles in various aquatic environments. Despite their ecological importance in nature, bacterial community structure and its succession during biofilm development in the Antarctic marine environment have not been elucidated. In this study, the succession of bacterial community, particularly during the early stage of biofilm development, in the Antarctic marine environment was investigated by pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Overall bacterial distribution in biofilms differed considerably from surrounding seawater. Relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes which accounted for 78.9-88.3% of bacterial community changed drastically during biofilm succession. Gammaproteobacteria became more abundant with proceeding succession (75.7% on day 4) and decreased to 46.1% on day 7. The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes showed opposite trend to Gammaproteobacteria, decreasing from the early days to the intermediate days and becoming more abundant in the later days. There were striking differences in the composition of major OTUs (${\geq}1%$) among samples during the early stages of biofilm formation. Gammaproteobacterial species increased until day 4, while members of Bacteroidetes, the most dominant group on day 1, decreased until day 4 and then increased again. Interestingly, Pseudoalteromonas prydzensis was predominant, accounting for up to 67.4% of the biofilm bacterial community and indicating its important roles in the biofilm development.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.752-756
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• 2006

The independent anoxic reactor was introduced in biological aerated filters as the regulation of water quality requirement, especially total nitrogen, had been strengthened. The process studied in this work was upflow $Biobead^{(R)}$ process which was used commercial invented for removal of organic materials and nitrification. For the purpose of evaluating the independent anoxic reactor, PCR-DGGE, of the molecular biological methods, was performed. Two types of nitrite reductase genes were selected. One is nirS represented cytocrome $cd_1$ nitrite reductase gene and the other is nirK represented Cu-containing nitrite reductase gene. Denitrifier community in the independent anoxic reactor was analyzed with PCR-DGGE using these two denitrifying functional genes. As the result of the PCR, only nirS gene was detected between nirS and nirK. With the result of the DGGE, specific bands became strong, as the operating days were longer, nitrate loading rate was increased. otherwise those of the initial activated sludge showed various bands. In the consequence of the sequence of DGGE bands, various denitrifiers were sequenced in the initial activated sludge, while specific denitrifiers like alcaligenes faecalis were predominant in the anoxic reactor. Consequently, introduction of the independent anoxic reactor made it possible to achieve 96% denitrification efficiency, and was proper for the modification of BAF process.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.198-205
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• 2004

Cytochrome P4501B1(CYP1B1) is known to be inducible by xenobiotic compounds such as policyclic aromatic hydrocarbon(PAH) and dioxins such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin(TCDD). And these induction of CYP1B1 is also regulated by many categories of chemicals. In order to investigate the effects of several chemicals on CYP1B1 gene expression in Hepa-I and MCF-7 cells, 5' flanking DNA of human CYP1B1 was cloned into pGL3 basic vector containing luciferase gene, and then transfected into these cells. After treatment of chemicals, the luciferase activity was measured. CYP1B1 enzyme metabolize PAHs and estradiol. CYP1B1 metabolize estradiol to 4-hydrozyestradiol that is considered as carcinogenic metabolite. Recent industrialized industrialized society, human has been widely been exposed to widespread environmental contaminants such as PAHs(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) that are originated from the imcomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. PAHs are known to be ligands of the AhR(aryl hydrocarbon receptor). Induction of cytochrome P4501B1(CYP1B1) in cell culture is widely used as a biomarker for PAHs. Therefore we have studied the effect of PAHs in the human breast cancer cells MCF-7 to evaluate bioactivity of PAHs. We have used the United State of America EPA selected 13 different PAHs, PAHs mixtures and extracts from environmental samples to evaluate the bioassay system. We examined effects of PAHs on the CYP1B1-luciferase reporter gene and CYP1B1 mRNA level. Benzo(k)fluoranthene and dibenzo(a, h)anthracene showed strong response to CYP1B1 promoter activity stimulation, and also CYP1B1 mRNAs increase in MCF-7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. RT-PCR analysis indicated that PAHs significantly up-regulate the level of CYP1B1 mRNA. Some flavonoids such as genistein, daidzein, chrysin, naringenin and morin were also investigeted. These flavonoids decreased B(k)F infuced luciferase activity at low concentration. But, these flavonoids exhibited stimulatory effect at high concentration.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.470-478
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• 2011

Aster altaicus var. uchiyamae is on the list of endangered species in Korea. Using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers, we investigated the genetic diversity within and among four populations (Guram, Dori Island, Samhap, and Danyang) of A. altaicus var. uchiyamae. We also present the collecting strategies that most efficiently capture the genetic diversity of A. altaicus var. uchiyamae. Four AFLP primer combinations produced a total of 936 bands, of which 934 (99.8%) were polymorphic. A high level of genetic diversity (PPB = 45.3%, h = 0.104, I = 0.168, hs = 0.108) was recognized within the populations of A. altaicus var. uchiyamae. A low degree of genetic differentiation ($G_{ST}$ = 0.075, ${\theta}^B$ = 0.079) was detected among the populations. In addition, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation was greater within populations (91%) than among populations (9%). These results indicate that the high rate of gene flow has played an important role in forming the present populations of A. altaicus var. uchiyamae. According to maximization strategy, 17, 16, and 11 individuals captured all of the genetic variation in Dori Island, Samhap, and Guram population, respectively. The determination the minimum population size of A. altaicus var. uchiyamae in terms of the genetic information is critical and thereby gain reliable decision support for ex situ conservation of the endangered species, A. altaicus var. uchiyamae.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.125-132
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• 2006

Previous studies showed that epigallocatechin gallate(EGCG) have substantial effects of suppressing the N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine(MNNG)-initiated cell transformation process on the bases of foci formation frequency and loss of anchorage dependency. In this study we tried to clarify the molecular mechanism of suppressing the cell transformation process. Mouse cell line balb/c 3T3 A31-1-1 was exposed 2 days to MNNG followed by 15 days 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate(TPA) treatment for our transformation process. EGCG was added after the time point of 24 hours exposure to TPA and incubated for 19 days. 2029 genes were selected in our transformation process that showed fold change value of 1.5 or more in the microarray gene expression analysis covering the mouse full genome. These genes were found to be involved mainly in the cell cycle pathway, focal adhesion, adherens junction, TGE-$\beta$ signaling, apoptosis, lysine degradation, insulin signaling, ECM-receptor interaction. Among the genes, we focused on the 631 genes(FC>0.5) reciprocally affected by EGCG treatment. Our study suggest that EGCG down-regulate the gene expressions of up stream signaling factors such as nemo like kinase with MAPK activity and PI3-Kinase, Ras GTPase and down stream factors such as cyclin D1, D2, H, T2, cdk6.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2011

The present study was conducted to determine the optimum in vitro culture condition for callus induction and plant regeneration from mature seeds of bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon cv. Common). It was revealed that mature seeds cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2 mg/L 2,4-D, 0.5 g/L proline, 0.5 g/L casamino acid and 3 g/L Gelrite under light condition produced the highest percentage of callus formation (39.2%). The most suitable medium for plant regeneration from dehydrated calli was MS agar medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L 2,4-D, 2 mg/L BA, 0.5 g/L proline, 0.5 g/L casamino acid 3 g/L Gelrite which induced the highest percentage of calli forming shoots (57.7%). The frequency of callus induction and plant regeneration were the highest on sucrose, followed by maltose. The shoots were rooted at the highest rate (100%) when transferred onto 1/2 MS medium. Regenerated plants were morphologically uniform with normal growth pattern.