• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.322-331
• /
• 1992

In order to understand the transfer and behavior of R gene in water environments. the Kmr gene in the genetically modified microorganisms(GMMs) w,is studied by conjugation. The plasmid variously rearranged in the conjugants were comparatively analyzied by agarosc gel electrophoresis and the specific Km' genes in the gel were tletected with DNA probe. The Kmr genes of the GMM strains(DKC600 and DKC601) were transferred at higher rate than those of natural isola~e(DKI)b, ut the ratc was a little diflurent depending upon the recipient strains. Rearrangement of the plasmids appeared morc drastic in GMM strains than in IIKI as donor. The transfer frequencies of the Km' genes in LR broth were remarkably higher than in the water of AW and FW without regards to the strains. In LA breth. the frequencies of Kmr genes were higher at 25'C-30$^{\circ}$C than at 10$^{\circ}$C and at pH - 7 than pH 9, but temperature and pH of the FW did n,,t affect to the frequency. And the conjugants from GMM strains in FW did not showed any plasmids. except tor 43 kb plasmiil. As results of Southern analysis of the plasmid, variously rearranged in eonjugant cells obtained in LB broth, the Kmr genes were detected at the same position of Km' plasrnids of the donor cell(DK1 and GMM strains). But Km' plasmid disappeared in the conjugants obtained in F'W and their chronlosomes showed strong signal of hybridization. The Kmr plasmid of DKl in the conjugants obtained in FW water was transferred and maintained its size, but the Kmr plasinids of the GMM strains were all integrated into chromosome. Therefore, the Kmr plasmids of DKI anit GMM strains in LH were intactly transferred and other plasmitls were variously rearranged. but Km' gene of DKC600 in FW water was integrated into the chromosorn: without regards to the temperature and pH of the water.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.197-203
• /
• 2005

Purpose : Changes in metalloproteinases(MMP) activity have been demonstrated in several disease states, including rheumatoid arthritis and tumor metastasis. More importantly, increased myocardial MMP activity has been reported to occur in both clinical and experimental forms of dilated cardiomyopathy. There was no report about MMP in adriamycin(ADR)-induced cardiomyopathy. The purpose of this study was to investigate gene expression of MMP and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases(TIMP) in ADR-induced cardiomyopathy and clarify the relationship between MMP and cytokines. Methods : Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups. The first group was control. The second group was given intraperitoneal injections of ADR(5 mg/kg) twice a week over two weeks. Serum concentrations of MMP, TIMP, interleukin(IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-${\alpha}$ were measured. RNA extraction was performed from frozen rat hearts. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was employed. cDNA Microarray analysis was performed by using a set of 5,184 sequence-verified rat cDNA clones. Results : Serum MMP and TIMP levels were not significantly different between the two groups. IL-6 was $36.8{\pm}2.8pg/mL$ and TNF-${\alpha}$ $2.2{\pm}2.7pg/mL$ in the ADR group. They were significantly higher than in the control group. Serum MMP correlated significantly with TNF-${\alpha}$(r=0.41, P<0.05). There was no gene expression of MMP, IL-6 or TNF-${\alpha}$ in the hearts of both groups. Gene expression of TIMP was significantly depressed in the hearts of the ADR group. Conclusion : These results suggested a potential role for TNF-${\alpha}$ in the regulation of extracellular matrix remodeling in ADR induced cardiomyopathy. Rapid screening of multiple decreased gene expression by DNA chip may be a useful diagnostic test to detect early cardiac injury before developing ADR induced cardiomyopathy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
• /
• 1995.06b
• /
• pp.77-96
• /
• 1995

To obtain basic informations for the improvement of seed potato production in Korea, some etiological properties of potato virus Y(PVY) distributed in the major seed potato production area(Daekwanryeong) were characterized, and the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the coat protein gene of the PVY strains isolated were analyzed. PVY strains in Daekwonryeong, an alpine area, were identified to be two strains, PVYo and PVYN by symptoms of indicator plants, and their distribution in potato fields was similar. Major symptom on potato varieties by PVY was grouped as either mosaic alone or mosaic accompanied with veinal necrosis in the lower leaves. The symptom occurrence of the two symptoms was similar with Irish Cobbler, but Superior showed a higher rate of mosaic symptom than the other. The PVY strain which was isolated from potato cv. Superior showing typical mosaic symptoms produced symptoms of PVY-O on the indicator plants of Chenopodium amaranticolor, Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi nc and Physalis floridana, but no symptom o Capsicum annum cv. Ace. Moreover, results from the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies showed that the isolated PVY reacts strongly with PYV-O antibodies but does not react specifically with PVY-T antibodies. The purified virus particles were flexious with a size of 730$\times$11nm. On the basis of the above characteristics, the strain was identified to be a PVY-O and named as of PVY-K strain. The flight of vector aphids was observed in late May, however, the first occurrence of infected plants was in mid June with the bait plants surrounded with PVY-infected potato plants and early July with the bait plants surrounded with PVY-free potato plants. PVY infection rates by counting symptoms on bait plants (White Burley) were 1.1% with the field surrounded with PVY-free potato plants and 13.7% the fields surrounded with PVY-infected potato plants, showing the effect of infection pressure. The propagated PVY-K strain on tobacco(N. sylvestris) was purified, and the RNA of the virus was extracted by the method of phenol extraction. The size of PVY-K RNA was measured to be 9, 500 nucleotides on agarose gel electrophoresis. The double-stranded cDNAs of PVY-K coat protein(CP) gene derived by the method of polymerase chain reaction were transformed into the competent cells of E. coli JM 109, and 2 clones(pYK6 and pYK17) among 11 clones were confirmed to contain the full-length cDNA. Purified plasmids from pYK17 were cut with Sph I and Xba I were deleted with exonuclease III and were used for sequencing analysis. The PVY-K CP gene was comprised of 801 nucleotides when counted from the clevage site of CAG(Gln)-GCA(Ala) to the stop codon of TGA and encoded 267 amino acids. The molecular weight of the encoded polypeptides was calculated to be 34, 630 daltons. The base composition of the CP gene was 33.3% of adenine, 25.2% of guanine, 20.1% of cytosine and 21.4% of uracil. The polypeptide encoded by PVY-K CP gene was comprised of 22 alanines, 20 threonines, 19 glutamic acids and 18 glycines in order. The homology of nucleotide sequence of PVY-K CP gene with those of PVY-O(Japan), PVY-T(Japan), PVY-TH(Japan), PVYN(the Netherlands), and PVYN(France) was represented as 97.3%, 88.9%, 89.3%, 89.6% and 98.5%, respectively. The amino acid sequence homology of the polypeptide encoded by PVY-K CP gene with those encoded by viruses was represented as 97.4%, 92.5%, 92.9%, 92.9%, and 98.5%, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.96-105
• /
• 2005

For screening of autoregulator receptor gene from Streptomyces longwoodensis, PCR was performed with primers of receptor gene designed on the basis of amino acid sequences of autoregulator receptor proteins with known function. PCR products were subcloned into the BamHIsite of pUC19 and transformed into the E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$. The isolated plasmid from transformant contained the fragment of 100 bp, which was detected on $2\%$ gel after BamHI treatment. The insert, 100 bp PCR product, was confirmed as the expected internal segment of gene encoding autoregulator receptor protein by sequencing. Southern and colony hybridizations with the 100 bp fragment as a probe allowed to select a genomic clone of S. longwoodensis, pSLT harboring a 4.4 kb SphI fragment. Nucleotide sequencing analyses revealed a 651 bp open reading frame(ORF) were isolated protein showing moderate homology ($35{\sim}46\%$) with the ${\Gamma}$-butyrolactone autoregulator receptors from Streptomyces sp., and this ORF was named sltR The sltR/pET-17b plasmid was constructed to overexpress the recombinant SltR protein (rSltR) in E. coli BL21 (DE3)/pLysS, and the rSltR protein was purified to homogeneity by DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography, and DEAE-5PW chromatography (HPLC). The molecular mass of the purified rSltR protein was 55 kDa by HPLC gel-filtration chromatography and 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE, indicating that the rSltR protein is present as a dimer. A binding assay with tritium-labeled autoregulators revealed that the rSltR has clear binding activity with a A-factor type autoregulator as the most effective ligand.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.637-650
• /
• 2006

Genomic DNA isolated from two crucian carp species obtained from Yesan (Carassius auratus) and Dangjin (Carassius cuvieri) in Korea were amplified at several times by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The amplified products were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) with oligonucleotides decamer primer and stained with ethidium bromide. The seven arbitrarily selected primers OPC-11, OPC-14, OPC-18, OPD- 02, OPD-11, OPD-15 and OPD-20 generated the shared loci by each species, the polymorphic and specific loci. The seven primers generated the total 458 loci that can be scored from the crucian carp obtained in C. auratus species. 358 fragments were generated from the species obtained in C. cuvieri species. The size of DNA fragments varies from 150 to 1,600bp. The complexity of the banding patterns varies dramatically between the primers and two locations. In this study, 458 loci were identified in the crucian carp species from Yesan and 358 in the crucian carp species from Dangjin: 84 polymorphic loci (18.3%) in the C. auratus species and 48 (13.4%) in the C. cuvieri species. 154 shared loci by each species, the average 22 per primer, were observed in the C. auratus species and 187 loci, the average 26.7 per primer, in the Dangjin species. Based on the average bandsharing (BS) values of all samples, the similarity matrix ranged from 0.434 to 0.868 in the C. auratus species and from 0.449 to 0.924 in the C. cuvieri species. The average BS value was 0.641±0.013 within the C. auratus species and 0.684±0.013 within the C. cuvieri species. The average BS value between two crucian carp species 0.484 ± 0.007, ranged from 0.307 to 0.682. The BS value between the individual No. 09 and No. 16 was 0.682, which was the highest between two crucian carp species. Compared separately, the BS value of individuals within the C. cuvieri species was higher than the C. auratus species. The dendrogram obtained by the seven primers, indicates three genetic clusters: cluster 1 (AURATUS No. 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10 and 11), cluster 2 (CUVIERI No. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21) and cluster 3 (CUVIERI no. 22). The shortest genetic distance displaying significant molecular difference was between the individual AURATUS No. 09 and AURATUS No. 08 from Yesan (genetic distance=0.064). The longest genetic distance displaying significant molecular differences was between the individual CUVIERI No. 17 and AURATUS No. 11 between two crucian carp species (0.477). RAPD-PCR analysis has revealed the significant genetic distance between two crucian carp species pairs.(Key words: Carassius auratus, Carassius cuvieri, Crucian Carp, DNA Polymorphism, Genetic Distance)

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.349-354
• /
• 2004

Stress-susceptible pigs have been known as the porcine stress syndrome (PSS), swine PSS, also known as malignant hyperthermia (MH), is characterized as sudden death and production of poor meat quality such as PSE (pale, soft and exudative) meat after slaughtering. PSS and PSE meat cause major economic losses in the pig industry. A point mutation in the gene coding for the ryanodine receptor (RYR1) in porcine skeletal muscle, also known calcium (Ca$^{2+}$) release channel, has been associated with swine PSS and halothane sensitivity. We used the PCR-RFLP(restriction fragment length polymorphism) and PCR-SSCP (single strand conformation polymorphism) methods to detect the PSS gene mutation (C1843T) in the RYR1 gene and to estimate genotype frequencies of PSS gene in Korean pig breed populations. In PCR-RFLP and SSCP analyses, three genotypes of homozygous normal (N/M), heterozygous carrier (N/n) and homozygous recessive mutant (n/n) were detected using agarose or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, respectively. The proportions of normal, carrier and PSS pigs were 57.1, 35.7 and 7.1％ for Landrace, 82.5, 15.8 and 1.7％ far L. Yorkshire, 95.2, 4.8 and 0.0％ for Duroc and 72.0, 22.7 and 5.3％ for Crossbreed. Consequently, DNA-based diagnosis for the identification of stress-susceptible pigs of PSS and pigs producing PSE meat is a powerful technique. Especially, PCR-SSCP method may be useful as a rapid, sensitive and inexpensive test for the large-scale screening of PSS genotypes and pigs with PSE meat in the pork industry.y.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.31-39
• /
• 2009

Purpose : This study proposes the keyhole method in order to improve the time resolution of the proton resonance frequency(PRF) MR temperature monitoring technique. The values of Root Mean Square (RMS) error of measured temperature value and Signal-to-Noise Ratio(SNR) obtained from the keyhole and full phase encoded temperature images were compared. Materials and Methods : The PRF method combined with GRE sequence was used to get MR temperature images using a clinical 1.5T MR scanner. It was conducted on the tissue-mimic 2% agarose gel phantom and swine's hock tissue. A MR compatible coaxial slot antenna driven by microwave power generator at 2.45GHz was used to heat the object in the magnetic bore for 5 minutes followed by a sequential acquisition of MR raw data during 10 minutes of cooling period. The acquired raw data were transferred to PC after then the keyhole images were reconstructed by taking the central part of K-space data with 128, 64, 32 and 16 phase encoding lines while the remaining peripheral parts were taken from the 1st reference raw data. The RMS errors were compared with the 256 full encoded self-reference temperature image while the SNR values were compared with the zero filling images. Results : As phase encoding number at the center part on the keyhole temperature images decreased to 128, 64, 32 and 16, the RMS errors of the measured temperature increased to 0.538, 0.712, 0.768 and 0.845$^{\circ}C$, meanwhile SNR values were maintained as the phase encoding number of keyhole part is reduced. Conclusion : This study shows that the keyhole technique is successfully applied to temperature monitoring procedure to increases the temporal resolution by standardizing the matrix size, thus maintained the SNR values. In future, it is expected to implement the MR real time thermal imaging using keyhole method which is able to reduce the scan time with minimal thermal variations.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2012

This study's aim was to isolate microorganisms producing agarase with a high activity, with possible applications in improving the performance of the pretreatment processes for bioethanol production. Marine algaes were collected from the south coast of Korea, from which three kinds of microorganisms were isolated. After a 4-day culture of these strains at $25^{\circ}C$, crude enzymes were obtained from culture supernatant or cell-free extract by ammonium sulfate precipitation and membrane dialysis. Agarase activity was observed in these crude enzymes. Notably higher specific activity was observed in the crude enzyme obtained from the culture supernatant rather than that from the cell-free extract. This indicates that a secreted enzyme has a much greater activity than a cellular enzyme. Crude enzymes from the GNUM08122 strain were inferred to have ${\alpha}$-agarase activity because release of p-nitrophenol was observed, possibly due to the cleavage of p-nitrophenyl-${\alpha}$-D-galactopyranoside. The 16S rRNA sequence of GNUM08122 showed a close relationship to Pseudoalteromonas issachenkonii KMM 3549 (99.8%) and Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis IMA 14160 (99.7%), which led us to assign it to the genus Pseudoalteromonas. Biochemical and physiological study revealed that this strain can grow well at $40^{\circ}C$ under a wide range of pH (pH 4~8) in high-salt conditions (10% NaCl).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.66-72
• /
• 2009

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness among adults in the western countries. Hyperglycemia is a condition, that induces apoptotic cell death in a variety of cell types in diabetes, but the mechanism remains unclear. The aim of the study is to understand the effects of high Glucose on Human Retinal Endothelial Cells. Retinal endothelial cells were cultured in Iscove's Modified Dulbecco's Medium (IMDM) containing 5, 25 and 50 mM Glucose, incubated for 24, 36 and 48 hours in humidified 5 % CO$_2$ incubator at 37$^{\circ}C$. Human Retinal Endothelial Cell Line (HREC) were characterized for morphology with different treatment by phase contrast microscopic analysis. Number of dead and viable cells was counted by trypan blue exclusion and supported by MTT assay. The intracellular Hydrogen peroxide (H$_2$O$_2$), a Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation in high glucose conditions was assessed by FOX II assay and apoptosis by caspase-3 assay. The high glucose treated cells undergoing DNA fragmentation was witnessed by Agarose gel electrophoresis. We found that the cells incubated with 25 and 50 mM glucose containing medium for 48 hours altered the morphology of the cell, induced apoptosis and DNA fragmentation. The dead cell number were high in 25 and 50 mM when compared to the cells incubated with 5 mM glucose for 24, 36, and 48 hours. Also, the H$_2$O$_2$ levels and the activity of caspase-3 were increased in high glucose treated cells. Conclusions/interpretation: Our results demonstrated that elevated glucose induces apoptosis in cultured HREC. The hyperglycemia-induced increase in apoptosis may be dependent on caspase activation. The association between ROS generation and caspase-3 activation on high glucose treated cells is yet to be investigated.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.186-191
• /
• 2006

In the present study, an attempt has been made to produce hybrid yeast strains of different useful and dominant characteristics. The hybrid yeast strains were produced by electrofusion and their genetic analysis were performed by RAPD-PCR (random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction). The protoplast of Saccharomyces cerevisiae KCTC 7904 and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii KCTC 7966 were obtained above 92% when treated with lyticase at $30^{\circ}C$ for $60{\sim}90$ min after the pretreatment of $1{\sim}2%$ 2-mercaptoethanol at $30^{\circ}C$ for $15{\sim}20$ min. The fusant was produced from paired protoplast stage under the electric pulse at high frequency conditions (1.5 MHz/50 pV, 615 $V/256\;{\mu}sec$) within glass-platinum made electrofusion chamber. Changes in RAPD patterns in mother cells and hybrid cells proved that the fusant contains two types of yeast gene originated from its parent. Furthermore, fermentation characters exhibits by the fusant cell confirmed its genetic changes. These results suggest that genetically stable hybrid yeast strains of economic importance can be produced by electrofusion technique and these electrofused yeast cells have an enormous impact in biotechnology and biomedicine.