• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.275-281
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• 2017

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are fossil viruses that began to be assimilated into the human genome some 30~40 million years ago, and now constitute nearly 8% of the human genome. These ancient retroviruses have since accumulated mutations that have rendered them defective; thus, they have been termed junk DNA. However, recent research indicates that not all HERVs remain silent passengers. Although they have not been shown to be causative of any human disease, endogenous retroviral sequences may become expressed under select pathological circumstances such as neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS), schizophrenia, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS); viral infections, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpesvirus; and multiple types of cancers. This review focused on the possible interactions of HERVs and neurological diseases.

• ALGAE
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.303-315
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• 2016

Compsopogon specimens collected in China were examined based on morphology and DNA sequences. Five molecular markers from different genome compartments including rbcL, COI, 18S rDNA, psbA, and UPA were identified and used to construct a phylogenetic relationship. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that two different morphological types from China clustered into an independent clade with Compsopogon specimens when compared to other global samples. The Compsopogon clade exhibited robust support values, revealing the affiliation of the samples to Compsopogon caeruleus. Although the samples were distributed in a close geographical area, unexpected sequence divergences between the Chinese samples implied that they were introduced by different dispersal events and from varied origins. It was speculated that Compsopogon originated in North America, a portion of the Laurentia landmass situated in the Rodinia supercontinent at approximately 573.89-1,701.50 million years ago during the Proterozoic era.Although Compsopogonhad evolved for a rather long time, genetic conservation had limited its variability and rate of evolution, resulting in the current monospecific global distribution. Additional global specimens and sequence information were required to increase our understanding of the evolutionary history of this ancient red algal lineage.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2020

Ginseng is popularly known to be the king of ancient medicines and is used widely in most of the traditional medicinal compositions due to its various pharmaceutical properties. Numerous studies are being focused on this plant's curative effects to discover their potential health benefits in most human diseases, including cancer- the most life-threatening disease worldwide. Modern pharmacological research has focused mainly on ginsenosides, the major bioactive compounds of ginseng, because of their multiple therapeutic applications. Various issues on ginseng plant development, physiological processes, and agricultural issues have also been studied widely through state-of-the-art, high-throughput sequencing technologies. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the number of publications on ginseng has rapidly increased, with a recent count of more than 6,000 articles and reviews focusing notably on ginseng. Owing to the implementation of various technologies and continuous efforts, the ginseng plant genomes have been decoded effectively in recent years. Therefore, this review focuses mainly on the cellular biomolecular sequences in ginseng plants from the perspective of the central molecular dogma, with an emphasis on genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes, together with a few other related studies.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.142-154
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• 2016

Worldwide production of mushrooms has been increasing by 10-20% every year. Recently, Pleurotus eryngii and P. nebrodensis have become popular mushroom species for cultivation. In particular, China exceeded 8.7 million tons in 2002, which accounted for 71.5% of total world output. A similar trend was also observed in Korea. Two kinds of mushrooms-Gumji (金芝; Ganoderma) and Seoji-are described in the ancient book 'Samguksagi' (History of the three kingdoms; B.C 57~A.D 668; written by Bu Sik Kim in 1145) during the Korea-dynasty. Many kinds of mushrooms are also described in more than 17 ancient books during the Chosun-dynasty (1392~1910) in Korea. Approximately 200 commercial strains of 38 species of mushrooms were developed and distributed to cultivators. The somatic hybrid variety of oyster mushroom, 'Wonhyeong-neutari,' was developed by protoplast fusion, and distributed to growers in 1989. Further, the production of mushrooms as food was 199,829 metric tons, valued at 850 billion Korean Won (one trillion won if mushroom factory products are included) in 2015. In Korea, the major cultivated species are P. ostreatus, P. eryngii, Flammulina velutipes, Lentinula edodes, Agaricus bisporus, and Ganoderma lucidum, which account for 90% of the total production. Since mushroom export was initiated in 1960, the export and import of mushrooms have increased in Korea. Technology was developed for liquid spawn production, and automatic cultivation systems led to the reduction of production cost, resulting in the increase in mushroom export. However, some species were imported owing to high production costs for effective cultivation methods. In academia, RDA scientists have conducted mushroom genome projects since 1997. One of the main outcomes is the whole genome sequencing of Flammulina velutipes for molecular breeding. With regard to medicinal mushrooms, we have been conducting genome research on Cordyceps and its related species for developing functional foods. There are various kinds of beneficial substances in mushrooms; mushroom products, including pharmaceuticals, tonics, healthy beverages, functional biotransformants, and processed foods have also became available on the market. In addition, compost and feed can likewise be made from mushroom substrates after harvest.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.481-485
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• 2015

Retroviruses genes have been inserted into the human genome for millions of years. These retroviruses are now inactive due to mutations such as deletions or nonsense mutations. After mutation, retroviruses eventually became fixed in the genome in their endogenous forms and existed as traces of ancient viruses. These retroviruses are called endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), with the human form known as human endogenous retrovirus. HERV cannot become a fully active virus, but a number of viral proteins or even virus particles are expressed under various conditions. Compared to endogenous retroviruses, some exogenous retroviruses are still infectious and can threaten human life. Among these, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the most well-known and best-studied. Recent studies have shown some elements of HERV were activated by HIV infection and interact with HIV-derived proteins. In addition, many studies have attempted to use HERV as vaccination against HIV infection. This review will describe the regulation and interaction between HERV and HIV infection and mention the development of vaccines and therapeutic agents against HIV infection by using HERV elements.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.941-948
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• 2021

Objective: In Japan, approximately 50 breeds of indigenous domestic chicken, called Japanese native chickens (JNCs), have been developed. JNCs gradually became established based on three major original groups, "Jidori", "Shoukoku", and "Shamo". Tosa-Jidori is a breed of Jidori, and archival records as well as its morphologically primitive characters suggest an ancient origin. Although Jidori is thought to have been introduced from East Asia, a previous study based on mitochondrial D-loop sequences demonstrated that Tosa-Jidori belongs to haplogroup D, which is abundant in Southeast Asia but rare in other regions, and a Southeast Asian origin for Tosa-Jidori was therefore suggested. The relatively small size of the D-loop region offers limited resolution in comparison with mitogenome phylogeny. This study was conducted to determine the phylogenetic position of the Tosa-Jidori breed based on complete mitochondrial D-loop and mitogenome sequences, and to clarify its evolutionary relationships, possible maternal origin and routes of introduction into Japan. Methods: Maximum likelihood and parsimony trees were based on 133 chickens and consisted of 86 mitogenome sequences as well as 47 D-loop sequences. Results: This is the first report of the complete mitogenome not only for the Tosa-Jidori breed, but also for a member of one of the three major original groups of JNCs. Our phylogenetic analysis based on D-loop and mitogenome sequences suggests that Tosa-Jidori individuals characterized in this study belong to the haplogroup D as well as the sub-haplogroup E1. Conclusion: The sub-haplogroup E1 is relatively common in East Asia, and so although the Southeast Asian origin hypothesis cannot be rejected, East Asia is another possible origin of Tosa-Jidori. This study highlights the complicated origin and breeding history of Tosa-Jidori and other JNC breeds.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2018

Brazzein is the smallest sweet protein and was isolated from the fruit pulp of Pentadiplandra brazzeana Baillon, native to tropical Africa. From ancient times, the indigenous people used this fruit in their diet to add sweetness to their daily food. Brazzein is 500 to 2000 times sweeter than sucrose on a weight basis and 9500 times sweeter on a molar basis. This unique property has led to increasing interest in this protein. However, it is expensive and difficult to produce brazzein other than in its native growing conditions which limits its availability for use as a food additive. In this study, we report high production yields of, brazzein protein in transgenic rice plants. An ORF region encoding brazzein and driven by the $2{\times}CaMV\;35S$ promoter was introduced into rice genome (Oryza sativa Japonica) via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. After transformation, 17 regenerated plant lines were obtained and these transgene-containing plants were confirmed by PCR analysis. In addition, the selected plant lines were analyzed by Taqman PCR and results showed that 9 T0 lines were found to have a single copy out of 17 transgenic plants. Moreover, high and genetically stable expression of brazzein was confirmed by western blot analysis. These results demonstrate that recombinant brazzein was efficiently expressed in transgenic rice plants, and that we have developed a new rice variety with a natural sweetener.