• ALGAE
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.303-313
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• 2012

Cyanobacteria are well known for their production of a multitude of highly toxic and / or allelopathic compounds. Among the photosynthetic microorganisms, cyanobacteria, belonging to the genus Nostoc are regarded as good candidate for producing biologically active secondary metabolites which are highly toxic to humans and other animals. Since so many reports have been published on the poisoning of different animals from drinking water contaminated with cyanobacteria toxins, it might be assumed that bioactive compounds are found only in aquatic species causes toxicity. However, the discovery of several dead dogs, mice, ducks, and fish around paddy fields, prompted us to study the toxic compounds in a strain of Nostoc which is most abundant in the paddy fields of Iran, using polymerase chain reaction and liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector and mass spectrophotometer. Results of molecular analysis demonstrated that the ASN_M strain contains the nosF gene. Also, the result of ion chromatograms and $MS^2$ fragmentation patterns showed that while there were three different peptidic compound classes (anabaenopeptin, cryptophycin, and nostocyclopeptides), there were no signs of the presence of anatoxin-a, homoanatoxin-a, hassallidin or microcystins. Moreover, a remarkable antifungal activity was identified in the methanolic extracts. Based on the results, this study suggests that three diverse groups of potentially bioactive compounds might account for the death of these animals. This case is the first documented incident of toxicity from aquatic cyanobacteria related intoxication in dogs, mice, and aquatic organisms in Iran.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.771-780
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• 2014

A putative lipolytic enzyme gene, named as est9x, was obtained from a marine microbial metagenome of the South China Sea. Sequence analysis showed that Est9X shares lower than 27% sequence identities with the characterized lipolytic enzymes, but possesses a catalytic triad highly conserved in lipolytic enzymes of the ${\alpha}/{\beta}$ hydrolase superfamily. By phylogenetic tree construction, Est9X was grouped into a new lipase/esterase family. To understand Est9X protein in depth, it was recombinantly expressed, purified, and biochemically characterized. Within potential hydrolytic activities, only lipase/esterase activity was detected for Est9X, confirming its identity as a lipolytic enzyme. When using p-nitrophenol esters with varying lengths of fatty acid as substrates, Est9X exhibited the highest activity to the C2 substrate, indicating it is an esterase. The optimal activity of Est9X occurred at a temperature of $65^{\cric}C$, and Est9X was pretty stable below the optimum temperature. Distinguished from other salt-tolerant esterases, Est9X's activity was tolerant to and even promoted by as high as 4 M NaCl. Our results imply that Est9X is a unique esterase and could be a potential candidate for industrial application under extreme conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1846-1849
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• 2018

Recent human gut microbiome studies have supported that the genus Bifidobacterium is one of the most beneficial bacteria for human intestinal health. To develop a new probiotic strain for functional food applications, fourteen fecal samples were collected from healthy Koreans and the strain BCBR-583 was newly selected and isolated from a 25-year-old Korean woman's fecal sample using the selective medium for Bifidobacterium. Subsequent fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase (F6PPK) test and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of the strain BCBR-583 confirmed that it belongs to B. longum subsp. longum. The stress resistance tests showed that it has oxygen and heat tolerance activities (5- and 3.9-fold increase for 24 h at 60 and 120 rpm, respectively; $78.61{\pm}6.67%$ survival rate at $45^{\circ}C$ for 24 h). In addition, gut environment adaptation tests revealed that this strain may be well-adapted in the gut habitat, with gastric acid/bile salt resistance ($85.79{\pm}1.53%$, survival rate under 6 h treatments of gastric acid and bile salt) and mucin adhesion ($73.72{\pm}7.36%$). Furthermore, additional tests including cholesterol lowering assay showed that it can reduce $86.31{\pm}1.85%$ of cholesterol. Based on these results, B. longum BCBR-583 has various stress resistance for survival during food processing and environmental adaptation activities for dominant survival in the gut, suggesting that it could be a good candidate for fermented food applications as a new probiotic strain.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7443-7447
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• 2014

Aim: Little is known about the genetic associations with Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) risk in non-Caucasian populations, in which BCC is rare, as in Korea. We here conducted a pilot genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 12 patients and 48 standard controls. Method: A total of 263,511 SNPs were analyzed with the Illumina HumanOmni1 Quad v1.0 DNA Analysis BeadChip for cases and Korean HapMap 570K for controls. Results: SNP-based analyses, based on the allele genetic model with adjustment for sex and age showed suggestive associations with BCC risk for 6 SNPs with a P-value (P < 0.0005). However, these associations were not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction: rs1040503, rs2216491, rs13407683, rs4751072, rs9891263, and rs1368474. In addition, results from gene-based analyses showed suggestive associations with BCC risk for 33 candidate genes with a P-value (P <0.0005). Consistent with previous GWAS and replication studies in Caucasian populations, PADI6, RHOU and SLC45A2 were identified as having null associations with BCC (P > 0.05), likely due to the smaller sample size. Conclusions: Although this was a small-scale negative study, to our knowledge, we have conducted the first GWAS for BCC risk in an Asian population. Further large studies in non-Caucasian populations are required to achieve statistical significance and confirm these findings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10621-10625
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• 2015

Background: Increasing evidence has indicated that high Forkhead box protein C2 (FOXC2) level is closely associated with the development, progression, and poor prognosis of a variety of tumors. However, the relationship between FOXC2 and the progression of human gliomas remains to be clarified. The aim of present study was to assess FOXC2 expression and to explore its contribution in human gliomas. Materials and Methods: Realtime quantitative PCR was performed to examine FOXC2 expression in 85 pairs of fresh frozen glioma tissues and corresponding non-neoplastic brain tissues. Associations of FOXC2 expression with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of glioma patients were statistically analyzed. Results: The relative mRNA expression of FOXC2 was significantly higher in glioma tissues than the corresponding non-neoplastic brain tissues (p<0.001). In addition, high FOXC2 expression was significantly associated with advanced pathological grade (P=0.005) and the low Karnofsky performance score (KPS) (p=0.003), correlating with poor survival (p<0.001). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high FOXC2 expression was an independent predictor of overall survival (p=0.006). Conclusions: FOXC2 may act as an oncogenic gene and represent a potential regulator of aggressive development and a candidate prognostic marker in human gliomas.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.359-367
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• 2009

Paramyosin is a myofibrillar protein present in helminth parasites and plays multifunctional roles in host-parasite interactions. In this study, we identified the gene encoding paramyosin of Clonorchis sinensis (CsPmy) and characterized biochemical and immunological properties of its recombinant protein. CsPmy showed a high level of sequence identity with paramyosin from other helminth parasites. Recombinant CsPmy (rCsPmy) expressed in bacteria had an approximate molecular weight of 100 kDa and bound both human collagen and complement 9. The protein was constitutively expressed in various developmental stages of the parasite. Imunofluorescence analysis revealed that CsPmy was mainly localized in the tegument, subtegumental muscles, and the muscle layer surrounding the intestine of the parasite. The rCsPmy showed high levels of positive reactions (74.6%, 56/75) against sera from patients with clonorchiasis. Immunization of experimental rats with rCsPmy evoked high levels of IgG production. These results collectively suggest that CsPmy is a multifunctional protein that not only contributes to the muscle layer structure but also to non-muscular functions in host-parasite interactions. Successful induction of host IgG production also suggests that CsPmy can be applied as a diagnostic antigen and/or vaccine candidate for clonorchiasis.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2013

A chitinolytic bacterial strain having strong antifungal activity was isolated and identified as Burkholderia cepacia MPC-7 based on 16S rRNA gene analysis. MPC-7 solubilized insoluble phosphorous in hydroxyapatite agar media. It produced gluconic acid and 2-keto-gluconic acid related to the decrease in pH of broth culture. The antagonist produced benzoic acid (BA) and phenylacetic acid (PA). The authentic compounds, BA and PA, showed a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against yeast, several bacterial and fungal pathogens in vitro. To demonstrate the biocontrol efficiency of MPC-7 on late blight disease caused by Phyto-phthora capsici, pepper plants in pot trials were treated with modified medium only (M), M plus zoospore inoculation (MP), MPC-7 cultured broth (B) and B plus zoospore inoculation (BP). With the sudden increase in root mortality, plants in MP wilted as early as five days after pathogen inoculation. However, plant in BP did not show any symptom of wilting until five days. Root mortality in BP was markedly reduced for as much as 50%. Plants in B had higher dry weight, P concentration in root, and larger leaf area compared to those in M and MP. These results suggested that B. cepacia MPC-7 should be considered as a candidate for the biological fertilizer as well as antimicrobial agent for pepper plants.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1307-1314
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• 2010

This study was conducted to isolate and characterize a novel feather-degrading bacterium producing keratinase activity. A strain K9 was isolated from soil at poultry farm and identified as Xanthomonas sp. K9 by phenotypic characters and 16S rRNA gene analysis. The cultural conditions for the keratinase production were 0.3% fructose, 0.1% gelatin, 0.04% $K_2HPO_4$, 0.06% $KH_2PO_4$, 0.05% NaCl and 0.01% $FeSO_4$ with an initial pH 8.0 at $30^{\circ}C$ and 200 rpm. In an optimized medium containing 0.1% chicken feather, production yield of keratinase was approximately 8-fold higher than the yield in basal medium. The strain K9 effectively degraded chicken feather meal (67%) and duck feather (54%), whereas human nail and human hair showed relatively low degradation rates (13-22%). Total free amino acid concentration in the cell-free supernatant was about 25.799 mg/l. Feather hydrolysate produced by the strain K9 stimulated growth of red pepper, indicating Xanthomonas sp. K9 could be not only used to increase the nutritional value of chicken feather but also a potential candidate for the development of natural fertilizer applicable to crop plant soil.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.451-461
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• 2004

In an animals, identification system has been widely used by ear tag with dummy code and blood typing for parernity. Also, genotyping methods were using for useful mean of individual identification for live animals. In the case of genotyping estimation of gene in population of korean native chicken. In this study, we tested for development of genetic markers used it possible to determination of individual identification system. The candidate genetic markers were used already bow 10 of microstalite DNA sequence information in chromosome No. 1 and 14. Result of analysis for genotyping, the number of alleles of those microstatelites DNA was shown minimal 3 to 12 and the heterozygote expression frequency range was shown from 0.617 to 0.862. In our result, effective number of allele for each microsatellites DNA was shown 3~7, and the accuracy of individual identification was shown nearly 100%, when used with 6 genetic marker. This study was about genotyping method for identification used specific genetic marker form microsatellite DNA in the brand marketing of korean native chicken. Our results suggest that genotyping method used specific genetic marker from microsatellite DNA might be very useful for determination of individual identification.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.101-113
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• 2019

Objectives Bogol-tang has clinically been used to protect joint cartilage and to treat osteoarthritis. Our objective was to study the protective effect of Bogol-tang extract (BGT) in functional impairment, behavioral disorders, cartilage loss and pathological changes in a monoiodoacetate (MIA)-induced murine osteoarthritis (OA) model and interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ -treated primary rat chondrocytes. Methods Mouse knee joints were injected with MIA, a chemical that inhibits glycolysis and causes joint inflammation and matrix loss. MIA-OA induced mice orally administered BGT or acetaminophen (AAP) for 18 days by daily. Primary rat chondrocytes were pretreated with BGT or dexamethasone (DEX) and followed by co-incubation with IL-$1{\beta}$ (10 ng/mL). Results In MIA-OA mice model, BGT led to delayed response on hot plate analysis, and suppressed the cartilage loss and damages in joint tissues. BGT suppressed the elevated levels of inflammatory mediators, nitrite and $PGE_2$, the gene expression of matrix degrading enzymes, and extracellular-signal-regulated kinases 1/2 and c-JunN-terminal kinase phosphorylation in IL-$1{\beta}$-treated primary rat chondrocytes. Conclusions Our results suggest that BGT improve the knee joint function and delay the cartilage damages by anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and ant-catabolic effects, which indicate BGT could be a potential candidate for osteoarthritis treatment.