• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.183-193
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• 2015

Several transgenic marine medaka Oryzias dancena strains harboring a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter construct regulated by an endogenous ${\beta}$-actin promoter were established and their expression characteristics in relation to transgene copy numbers were examined in 21 transgene genotypes. Most of the transgenic strains displayed transgene insertion patterns typical of microinjection-mediated introduction of foreign DNA into fish embryos, characterized by the random integration of multiple transgene copies (ranging from 1 - 282 copies per cell), often accompanied by the formation of concatemer(s), as assessed by genomic Southern blot hybridization analysis and qPCR. Transgenic strains showed ubiquitous and continued temporal and spatial expression patterns of the transgenic GFP during most of their life cycle, from the embryonic stage to adulthood, enabling assessment of the expression pattern of the endogenous ${\beta}$-actin gene. However, a comparative evaluation of transgene copy numbers and expression levels showed that copy number-dependent expression, the stability of the ubiquitous distribution and expression efficiency per transgene copy varied among the transgenic strains. Fluorescence expression levels were positively correlated with absolute transgene copy numbers, whereas the expression efficiency per transgene copy was inversely related to the number of transgene integrant copies. Data from this study will guide the selection of potentially desirable transgenic strains with ubiquitous expression of a fluorescent transgene, not only in this marine medaka species but also in other related model fish species.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.296-302
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• 2019

In this study, the effects of ammonium concentration ($117.5-1155.0mg-N{\cdot}l^{-1}$), nitrite concentration ($0-50.0mg-N{\cdot}l^{-1}$), and temperature ($15-35^{\circ}C$) on nitrification performance and its functional genes (amoA-arc, amoA-bac, hao) in an enriched consortium inoculated with humic acid were determined. Notably, the maximum nitrification rate value was observed at $315mg-N{\cdot}l^{-1}$ of ammonium, but the highest functional gene copy numbers were obtained at $630mg-N{\cdot}l^{-1}$ of ammonium. No inhibition of the nitrification rate and functional gene copy numbers was observed via the added nitrites. The optimum temperature for maximum nitrification performance was observed to be $30^{\circ}C$. The amoA-bac copy numbers were also greater than those of amoA-arc under all test conditions. Notably, amoA-arc copy numbers and nitrification efficiency showed a positive relationship in network analysis. These results indicate that ammonium-oxidizing archaea and bacteria play important roles in the nitrification process.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1552-1559
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• 2011

Real time PCR was used in this study to determine the effect of triticale dried distillers grains with solubles (TDDGS) as a replacement for grain or barley silage in finishing diets on the presence of six classical ruminal bacterial species (Succinivibrio dextrinosolvens, Selenomonas ruminantium, Streptococcus bovis, Megasphaera elsdenii, Prevotella ruminicola and Fibrobacter succinogenes) within the rumen contents of feedlot cattle. This study was divided into a step-wise adaptation experiment (112 days) that examined the effects of adaptation to diets containing increasing levels of TDDGS up to 30% (n = 4), a short-term experiment comparing animals (n = 16) fed control, 20%, 25% or 30% TDDGS diets over 28 days, and a rapid transition experiment (56 days) where animals (n = 4) were rapidly switched from a diet containing 30% TDDGS to a barley-based diet with no TDDGS. It was found that feeding TDDGS as replacement for barley grain (control vs. 20% TDDGS) decreased 16S rRNA copy numbers of starch-fermenting S. ruminantium and S. bovis (p<0.001 and p = 0.04, respectively), but did not alter 16S rRNA copy numbers of the other rumen bacteria. Furthermore, feeding TDDGS as a replacement barley silage (20% vs. 25% and 30% TDDGS) increased 16S rRNA copy numbers of S. ruminantium, M. elsdenii and F. succinogenes (p<0.001; p = 0.03 and p<0.001, respectively), but decreased (p<0.001) the 16S rRNA copy number of P. ruminicola. Upon removal of 30% TDDGS and return to the control diet, 16S rRNA copy numbers of S. ruminantium, M. elsdenii and F. succinogenes decreased (p = 0.01; p = 0.03 and p = 0.01, respectively), but S. dextrinosolvens and S. bovis increased (p = 0.04 and p = 0.009, respectively). The results suggest that replacement of TDDGS for grain reduces 16S rRNA copy numbers of starch-fermenting bacteria, whereas substitution for barley silage increases 16S rRNA copy numbers of bacteria involved in fibre digestion and the metabolism of lactic acid. This outcome supports the contention that the fibre in TDDGS is highly fermentable.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1057-1065
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• 2021

Alterations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy numbers have been reported in patients with stomach cancer and suggested to play a role in gastric carcinogenesis or gastric cancer progression. However, changes in the levels of mitochondrial proteins or mtDNA-encoded oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) proteins in gastric cancer remain unclear. In this study, we investigated mtDNA contents, mitochondrial protein levels, and mtDNA-encoded OXPHOS protein levels in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. We correlated mtDNA copy numbers with clinicopathologic features of the gastric cancer samples used in this study and used quantitative PCR to analyze the mtDNA copy numbers of the gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Western blot analysis was used for assessing the amounts of mitochondrial proteins and mtDNA-encoded OXPHOS proteins. Among the 27 gastric cancer samples, 22 showed a reduction in mtDNA copy numbers. The mtDNA content was increased in the other five samples relative to that in normal matched gastric tissues. Mitochondrial protein and OXPHOS protein levels were reduced in some gastric cancer tissues. However, mitochondrial protein and OXPHOS protein levels in gastric cancer cell lines were not always in line with their mtDNA contents. The mtDNA copy numbers were reduced in five gastric cancer cell lines tested in this study. In summary, this study reports a common reduction in mtDNA contents in gastric carcinoma tissues and cell lines, pointing to the possible involvement of mtDNA content alterations in tumorigenesis of the stomach.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2014

Methane oxidation and the production potentials of ground soil (soil A) and garden soil (soil B, C, & D) in an urban school were evaluated, and the methanotrophic and methanogen communities in the soil samples were quantified using quantitative realtime PCR. The methanotrophic community in the raw soil A sample possessed a $6.1{\times}10^3$ gene copy number/g dry weight soil, whereas those in the raw soils B~D samples were $1.6-1.9{\times}10^5$ gene copy numbers/g dry weight soil. Serum bottles added with the soil samples were enriched with methane gas, and then evaluated for their methane oxidation potential. The soil A sample had a longer induction phase for methane oxidation than the other soils. However, soil A showed a similar methane oxidation potential with soils B~D after the induction phase. The methanotrophic community in the enriched soil A sample was increased by up to $2.3{\times}10^7$ gene copy numbers/g dry weight soil, which had no significantly difference compared with those in soils B~D ($1.2-2.8{\times}10^8$ gene copy numbers/g dry weight soil). Methane production showed a similar tendency to methane oxidation. The methanogens community in raw soil A ($1.7{\times}10^5$ gene copy number/g dry weight soil) was much less than those in raw soils B~D ($1.3-3.4{\times}10^7$ gene copy numbers/g dry weight soil). However, after methane gas was produced by adding starch to the soils, soil samples A~D showed $10^7$ gene copy numbers/g dry weight soil in methanogens communities. The results indicate that methanotrophic and methanogenic bacteria have coexisted in this urban school's soils. Moreover, under appropriate conditions for methane oxidation and production, methanotrophic bacteria and methanogens are increased and they have the potential for methane oxidation and production.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.76-80
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• 2010

Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been thought to have a substantial genetic background, major contributing genes have yet to be identified or successfully replicated. Immunological dysfunction has been suggested to be associated with ASD, and T cell-mediated immunity was considered important for the development of ASD. In this study, we analyzed 163 ASD subjects and 97 normal controls by genomic quantitative PCR to evaluate the association between the copy number variation of the 7q34 locus, harboring the TCRB gene, and ASDs. As a result, there was no significant difference of the frequency distribution of TCRB copy numbers between ASD cases and normal controls. TCRB gene copy numbers ranged from 0 to 5 copies, and the frequency distribution of each copy number was similar between the two groups. The proportion of the individuals with <2 copies of TCRB was 52.8% (86/163) in ASD cases and 57.1% (52/91) in the control group (p=0.44). The proportion of individuals with >2 copies of TCRB was 11.7% (19/163) in ASD cases and 12.1% (11/91) in the control group (p=0.68). After the effects of sex were adjusted by logistic regression, ORs for individuals with <2 copies or >2 copies showed no significant difference compared with the diploid copy number as reference (n=2). Although we could not see the positive association, our results will be valuable information for mining ASD-associated genes and for exploring the role of T cell immunity further in the pathogenesis of ASD.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2015

As expected, the expression of denitrifying genes in a Typha wetland (relatively stagnant compared to other ponds), showing higher nitrogen removal efficiency in summer, was affected by temperature. The abundance and gene transcripts of nitrate reductase (narG), nitrite reductase (nirS), nitric oxide reductase (norB), and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes in seasonal sediment samples taken from the Acorus and Typha ponds of free surface flow constructed wetlands were investigated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (Q-RT-PCR). Denitrifying gene copy numbers ($10^5-10^8$ genes $g^{-1}$ sediment) were found to be higher than transcript numbers-($10^3-10^7$ transcripts $g^{-1}$ sediment) of the Acorus and Typha ponds, in both seasons. Transcript numbers of the four functional genes were significantly higher for Typha sediments, in the warm than in the cold season, potentially indicating greater bacterial activity, during the relatively warm season than the cold season. In contrast, copy numbers and expression of denitrifying genes of Acorus did not provide a strong correlation between the different seasons.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.273-285
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• 2008

In this paper we propose an engineering bill of materials (E-BOM) copy method that can be utilized to manage the product information for each equipment during building a product lifecycle management (PLM) system in the order-specific semiconductor equipment manufacturer. The previous works studied on an E-BOM creation and management method for the mass manufacturing and production. The method is difficult to apply to an environment in which many engineering changes occur and the different specification to each equipment is required such as semiconductor equipments and facilities adopting built-to-order instead of built for inventory. Moreover the method is known to be the major drawback to deteriorate the design efficiency. Our E-BOM copy method enables users efficiently to manage the specification of a product and shortens the product development cycle. To implement the E-BOM copy method in the PLM environment, we developed the E-BOM copy system that automatically generates new parts and their numbers according to the numbering rule while copying the E-BOM from existing semiconductor equipments and then can apply the parts for reuse to new semiconductor equipments. This system can duplicate not only 3D CAD data but also technical documents.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6101-6104
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• 2012

Background: Breast cancer accounts about one million from total annual ten million new diagnosed cases of neoplasia worldwide and is the main cause of death due to cancer in women. Tamoxifen is the most popular selective estrogen receptor modulator used in anti estrogen treatments. Tamoxifen must be converted into its metabolite endoxifen for biologic effects; this conversion process is catalysed by highly polymorphic cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6). This study surveyed copy number variation of the CYP2D6 gene and its possible correlation with Tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer patients. Methods: This case control study was performed on samples taken from 79 patients with breast cancer who used tamoxifen in Yazd and Tehran Cities, Iran. Real time reactions were conducted for 10 healthy samples using the comparative $C_t$ (Cycles threshold) method, each pair of genes being compared and samples with ratios around 1 were taken as control samples. Proliferation reactions were done by Real-Time PCR ABI Prism 7500. All registered data were transformed into SPSS 15 program and analyzed. Results: Efficiency of PCR for both CYP2D6 and ALB genes was 100%. From all 23 drug resistant patients 21.7% had one copy, 47.8% two copies and 30.4% had three copies. Also from all 56 drug sensitive patients, 26.8% had one copy, 51.8% two copies and 21.4% had three copies. The percentage of patients with one and two copies was similar between two groups but patients with three copies were more likely to belong to the drug resistant group more. Odd ratios for one and two copies were 0.759 and 0.853 respectively, indicating possible protective effects while that for three copies was 1.604. Conclusions: Based on our study there is no significant link between CYP2D6 gene copy numbers and tamoxifen resistance in women with breast cancer. But more studies considering other influencing factors appear warranted.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.767-778
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• 2023

The aim of the research is to identify that porcine oocytes can function as recipients for interspecies cloning and have the ability to develop to blastocysts. Furthermore each mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in interspecises cloned embryos was analyzed. For the study, mouse-porcine and porcine-porcine cloned embryos were produced with mouse fetal fibroblasts (MFF) and porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFF), respectively, introduced as donor cells into enucleated porcine oocytes. The developmental rate and cell numbers of blastocysts between intraspecies porcine-porcine and interspecies mouse-porcine cloned embryos were compared and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for the estimate of mouse and porcine mtDNA copy number in mouse-porcine cloned embryos at different stages.There was no significant difference in the developmental rate or total blastocyst number between mouse-porcine cloned embryos and porcine-porcine cloned embryos (11.1 ± 0.9%, 25 ± 3.5 vs. 10.1 ± 1.2%, 24 ± 6.3). In mouse-porcine reconstructed embryos, the copy numbers of mouse somatic cell-derived mtDNA decreased between the 1-cell and blastocyst stages, whereas the copy number of porcine oocyte-derived mtDNA significantly increased during this period, as assessed by real-time PCR analysis. In our real-time PCR analysis, we improved the standard curve construction-based method to analyze the level of mtDNA between mouse donor cells and porcine oocytes using the copy number of mouse beta-actin DNA as a standard. Our findings suggest that mouse-porcine cloned embryos have the ability to develop to blastocysts in vitro and exhibit mitochondrial heteroplasmy from the 1-cell to blastocyst stages and the mouse-derived mitochondria can be gradually replaced with those of the porcine oocyte in the early developmental stages of mouse-porcine cloned embryos.