• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Re-epithelialization has an important role in skin wound healing. Astaxanthin (ASX), a carotenoid found in crustaceans including shrimp, crab, and salmon, has been widely used for skin protection. Therefore, we investigated the effects of ASX on proliferation and migration of human skin keratinocyte cells and explored the mechanism associated with that migration. MATERIAL/METHOD: HaCaT keratinocyte cells were exposed to $0.25-1{\mu}g/mL$ of ASX. Proliferation of keratinocytes was analyzed by using MTT assays and flow cytometry. Keratinocyte migration was determined by using a scratch wound-healing assay. A mechanism for regulation of migration was explored via immunocytochemistry and western blot analysis. RESULTS: Our results suggest that ASX produces no significant toxicity in human keratinocyte cells. Cell-cycle analysis on ASX-treated keratinocytes demonstrated a significant increase in keratinocyte cell proliferation at the S phase. In addition, ASX increased keratinocyte motility across the wound space in a time-dependent manner. The mechanism by which ASX increased keratinocyte migration was associated with induction of filopodia and formation of lamellipodia, as well as with increased Cdc42 and Rac1 activation and decreased RhoA activation. CONCLUSIONS: ASX stimulates the migration of keratinocytes through Cdc42, Rac1 activation and RhoA inhibition. ASX has a positive role in the re-epithelialization of wounds. Our results may encourage further in vivo and clinical study into the development of ASX as a potential agent for wound repair.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.847-851
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• 2004

The contents of fucoxanthin in Undaria pinnatifida blade, stem and sporophyll were 87.6 mg/100 g, 62.4 mg/100 g and 127.7 mg/100 g, respectively. The fucoxanthin was analysed by using solvent fractionation, silica gel adsorption chromatography and HPLC techniques. Absorption spectrum of carotenoids extracted from Undaria pinnatifida was similar to the fucoxanthin carotenoids in sea mustard. The cleavage products formed by autoxidation of fucoxanthin were evaluated in order to elucidate possible oxidation products of fucoxanthin in liposomal suspension. Fucoxanthin solubilized at 50 $\mu$M in liposomal suspension formed five oxidized products. These results suggest that fucoxanthin might be cleaved to a series of cleavage products under the oxidative condition in liposomal suspension.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2011

We investigated the physiological responses by acute and chronic gamma-irradiation in rice. The rice, Oryza sativa L. cv Dongan, plants were irradiated with 100 and 400 Gy of gamma-rays for acute and chronic irradiation, and their morphological, chlorophyll content, MDA, proline and activities of antioxidant enzymes were examined. The plant height of chronic irradiation samples were decrease with increase of a does than the control, but the number of tiller and dry weight of shoot were increased 100 Gy. Carotenoid and chrolorphyll content were decreased of all irradiated plants than non-irradiated plants. But, MDA and proline content were increased in 400 Gy both acute and chronic gamma irradiation. And the activities of antioxidant enzymes were different as gamma-irradiation patterns.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.442-450
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• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Psy-2A-CrtI (PAC), a genetically modified (GM) rice with enhanced ${\beta}$-carotene, on the soil microbial community. The soil used to cultivate GM rice and its wild-type, Nakdong, was analyzed for population density, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and pyrosequencing. It was found that the bacterial, fungal and actinomycetes population densities of the PAC soils were within the range of those of the non-GM rice cultivar, Nakdong. The DGGE banding patterns of the GM and non-GM soils were also similar, suggesting that the bacterial community structures were stable within a given month and were unaffected by the presence of a GM plant. The pyrosequencing result showed a temporal difference in microorganism taxon and distribution ratio, but no significant difference between GM and non-GM was found. The persistence of the transgene DNA in the plant and surrounding soil were investigated for different time periods. There were differences in the persistence within the plant depending on the gene, but they could not be detected after 5 weeks. Also the transgenes were not detected in the surrounding soil. These results indicate that soil microbial communities are unaffected by the cultivation of a PAC rice within the experimental time frame.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.360-367
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• 2011

Beta-carotene producing transformants were produced in the background of 'Nagdongbyeo', a Japonica rice cultivar. Introgression of the carotenoid locus in the transformant, PAC4-2 into the elite cultivar 'Ilpumbyeo' was started. To initiate a backcrossing program, we surveyed 220 SSR markers and found that 38% of them were polymorphic between 'Ilpumbyeo' as a recurrent parent and the PAC4-2 as a recipient parent. The selection strategy comprising foreground and background selection was employed. First, foreground selection was practiced in $BC_1$, $BC_2$, and $BC_3$ generations using the transgene specific PCR-based marker in addition to visual scoring of the seed color. Marker-based background selection combined with phenotypic selection was employed from $BC_3F_2$ to $BC_3F_4$ generations. Blast search indicated that the transgene PAC4-2 was located between SSR markers, RM6 and RM482. 240 $BC_3F_3$ and 63 $BC_3F_4$ lines were evaluated for four agronomic traits including days to heading. Most of the lines were similar to Ilpumbyeo in agronomic traits evaluated. The percentage of PAC4-2 genome ranged from 4% to 21% with a mean of 12.5%, which was higher than the expected for an unselected $BC_3$ backcross population. This could be explained by the fact that two genes for beta-carotene and the stripe virus resistance were targeted in this study. We selected 10 representative $BC_3F_5$ lines from 63 $BC_3F_4$ lines based on agronomic traits and carotenoids content. The selection strategy would be appropriate for the introgression of beta-carotene gene in a breeding program.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1124-1136
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• 2019

Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses that cause reduction of plant growth and crop productivity. It has been reported that plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could confer abiotic stress tolerance to plants. In a previous study, we screened bacterial strains capable of enhancing plant health under abiotic stresses and identified these strains based on 16s rRNA sequencing analysis. In this study, we investigated the effects of two selected strains, Bacillus aryabhattai H19-1 and B. mesonae H20-5, on responses of tomato plants against salinity stress. As a result, they alleviated decrease in plant growth and chlorophyll content; only strain H19-1 increased carotenoid content compared to that in untreated plants under salinity stress. Strains H19-1 and H20-5 significantly decreased electrolyte leakage, whereas they increased $Ca^{2+}$ content compared to that in the untreated control. Our results also indicated that H20-5-treated plants accumulated significantly higher levels of proline, abscisic acid (ABA), and antioxidant enzyme activities compared to untreated and H19-1-treated plants during salinity stress. Moreover, strain H20-5 upregulated 9-cisepoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 1 (NCED1) and abscisic acid-response element-binding proteins 1 (AREB1) genes, otherwise strain H19-1 downregulated AREB1 in tomato plants after the salinity challenge. These findings demonstrated that strains H19-1 and H20-5 induced ABA-independent and -dependent salinity tolerance, respectively, in tomato plants, therefore these strains can be used as effective bio-fertilizers for sustainable agriculture.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.389-397
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• 2022

A total of 51 vegetables and fruits, commonly consumed agriculture products in Korea, were analyzed for their α-carotene, β-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin contents as provitamin A. The beta-carotene content (㎍/100 g) was high in a few green leaf vegetables such as coriander (5,924.07), gegeol radish leaf (5.855.72), and curried mallow (5,138.01), while α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin contents were not detected. The β-carotene in 8 kinds of 20 general vegetables was detected in the range of 214.06~1,437.67 ㎍/100 g, while α-carotene was detected at 460.17 ㎍/100 g in only old pumpkin. The β-cryptoxanthin was detected in the range of 106.55~315.49 ㎍/100 g in Japanese elm, watermelon, white cucumber, and lettuce. However, carotenoids were not detected in 10 kinds of agricultural products including oriental melon, potato, etc. In fruits, the beta-carotene contents ranged from 165.72~3,997.39 ㎍/100 g, showing maximum value in apple mango and minimum value in persimmon. The β-cryptoxanthin was detected at 232.22 ㎍/100 g in only passion fruit, while the α-carotene was detected at 77.25 ㎍/100 g in only darae. Thus, based on the analyzed results of carotenoids of agriculture products consumed or cultivated in Korea, and it was found that green leaf vegetables comprise high beta-carotene overall.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.601-609
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• 2021

Erythrobacter species are extensively studied marine bacteria that produce various carotenoids. Due to their photoheterotrophic ability, it has been suggested that they play a crucial role in marine ecosystems. It is essential to identify the genome sequence and the genes of the species to predict their role in the marine ecosystem. In this study, we report the complete genome sequence of the marine bacterium Erythrobacter sp. 3-20A1M. The genome size was 3.1 Mbp and its GC content was 64.8%. In total, 2998 genetic features were annotated, of which 2882 were annotated as functional coding genes. Using the genetic information of Erythrobacter sp. 3-20A1M, we performed pan-genome analysis with other Erythrobacter species. This revealed highly conserved secondary metabolite biosynthesis-related COG functions across Erythrobacter species. Through subsequent secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene cluster prediction and KEGG analysis, the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway was proven conserved in all Erythrobacter species, except for the spheroidene and spirilloxanthin pathways, which are only found in photosynthetic Erythrobacter species. The presence of virulence genes, especially the plant-algae cell wall degrading genes, revealed that Erythrobacter sp. 3-20A1M is a potential marine plant-algae scavenger.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.260-267
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• 2023

In this study, we sought to improve lutein and zeaxanthin production in Mychonastes sp. 247 and investigated the effect of environmental factors on lutein and zeaxanthin productivity in Mychonastes sp. The basic medium selection and N:P ratio were adjusted to maximize cell growth in one-stage culture, and lutein and zeaxanthin production conditions were optimized using a central composite design for two-stage culture. The maximum lutein production was observed at a light intensity of 60 μE/m²/s and salinity of 0.49%, and the maximum zeaxanthin production was observed at a light intensity of 532 μE/m²/s and salinity of 0.78%. Lutein and zeaxanthin production in the optimized medium increased by up to 2 and 2.6 folds, respectively, compared to that in the basic medium. Based on these results, we concluded that the optimal conditions for lutein and zeaxanthin production are different and that optimization of light intensity and culture salinity conditions may help increase carotenoid production. This study presents a useful and potential strategy for optimizing microalgal culture conditions to improve the productivity of lutein and zeaxanthin, which has applications in the functional food field.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2023

Light is an important factor that influences the growth and development of flowering plants. The present study investigated the effects of in vitro acclimatization to different light colors (white light (WL; control), blue light (BL; 447 nm), green light (GL; 519 nm), and red light (RL; 667 nm)) on the growth of petunia (Petunia hybrida) and of hardening cultivation of plant transferred form in vitro to a greenhouse under sunlight. Compared to the control, the shoot length and leaf width of Petunia increased by 42% and 11.7%, respectively, after acclimatization to BL and the shoot growth increased by 29.3% after acclimatization to RL. The chlorophyll and carotenoid contents after acclimatization to BL and GL were 16.7% and 11.3% higher, respectively, and 14.4% and 11.9% higher, respectively, than those in the control. During greenhouse cultivation, the shoot length increased by 16.7% and 11.3%, respectively, after acclimatization to BL and RL, respectively, and the leaf length and leaf width increased by 14.4% and 11.9%, respectively, after acclimatization to GL. While dry weight of root of GL and BL was not significant difference in vitro, increased by 59.0% and 22.9% ex vitro than that of WL. Thus, acclimatization to BL increased the shoot growth and leaf chlorophyll contents, and acclimatization to GL and RL enhanced shoot and root growth, in petunia.