• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.54 no.4
• /
• pp.393-400
• /
• 2015

An insect parasitic mite was found on a larva from Japanese apricot seed. The mite was identified as Pyemotes moseri Yu et Liang (Acarina: Pyemotidae) new to Korea. The host larva was identified as Eurytoma maslovskii using mitochondrial DNA sequencing analysis. We conducted preliminary study on its reproduction and parasitization capacity in laboratory condition. A mated female mite reared on Eurytoma maslovskii larva. We counted and sexed newborn progenies and then eliminated them during periodical observations. To test parasitization capacity, a PCR tube containing mass reared P. moseri and Japanese apricot seeds (assumed bear larva of E. maslovskii) placed in a stainless bath filled with potting soil. One month later, we surveyed the seeds whether the E. maslovskii larva parasitized by mite or not. We repeated this experiment three times with five replications each. Average life span (days from parasitization to the end of reproduction) of gravid females was 24.4 days (n=8). A gravid female reproduced 104.0 female progenies (n=8). Although there were more than seven Japanese apricot seeds per bath containing larva or pupa, we found parasitization only in two seeds.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.139-145
• /
• 2017

The spontaneous color mutant, albino individuals of genus Misgurnus, are rarely discovered in Korea and there are difficult to identify morphological species due to lack melanin pigmentation. In this study, we developed a genetic identification method for the species of albino Misgurnus individuals based on phylogenetic analysis by using recombination activating gene 1 (rag1) and cytochrome b (cytb) region of mitochondrial DNA. As a result of molecular phylogenetic analysis, three clades were identified as Misgurnus mizolepis, M. anguillicaudatus and M. mohoity. The homology of the cytb sequences of M. mohoity was best match to that of M. mohoity sequences in GenBank database. As a result of species identification of 25 albino Misgurnus individuals based on the phylogenetic tree, the red-eye type was identified as 16 M. anguillicaudatus and one M. mizolepis. The remaining three individuals were identified as one M. mizolepis ♀${\times}$M. anguillicaudatus ♂, and two M. mohoity ♀${\times}$M. anguillicaudatus ♂, respectively. In addition, the five black-eye type individuals were identified as one M. anguillicaudatus, three M. mizolepis and one M. mohoity. Therefore, this genetic identification method will be an useful techniques for species or hybrid identification in genus Misgurnus.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.16 no.7 s.80
• /
• pp.1158-1163
• /
• 2006

Bisphenol A (BPA), 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane, has been widely used as a monomer for production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, and final products of BPA include adhesives, protective coatings, paints, optical lens, building materials, compact disks and other electrical parts. Since BPA is a toxic chemical to elicit acute cell cytotoxicity and chronic endocrine disrupting activity, the degradation of BPA has been focused during last decades. To overcome the problem of photo-, and chemical-degradation of BPA, in this study, a bacterium that is able to biodegrade BPA, was isolated. The bacterium, isolated froln the soil of plastic factory, was identified as Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (strain BP-2) based on physiological and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis. A. calcoaceticus BP-2 was able to grow in the presence of $1140{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$ BPA. Biodegradation experiments showed that BP-2 mineralized BPA via 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 4-hydroxyacetophenone, and average degradation rate was $53.3{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;day^{-1}$ under optimal conditions (pH 7 and $30^{\circ}C$). In high density resting cell $(3.5g-dcw.1^{-1})$ experiments, the maximal degradation rate was increased to $89.7{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. Our results suggest that BP-2 has high potential as a catalyst for practical BPA bioremediation.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.397-403
• /
• 2009

For the research of the natural antioxidant from marine sources, an antioxidant-producing marine actinomycetes was isolated from sea water in Jeju coastal area. The strain was identified based on 16S rDNA sequencing, the morphology by a method of scanning electron microscopy, physiological and biochemical characteristics and cellular fatty acid analysis. The isolated strain ACT-1 cell size was $0.5\sim1.0{\mu}m$ and gram positive, aerobic, nonmotile, substrate mycelium are red and gray aerial mycelium. 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that were Gram-positive bacteria grouped on Streptomyces genus. Results of cellular fatty acid analysis showed that major cellular fatty acids were $C_{15:0}$ anteiso (39.33%), $C_{16:1}$ cis 9 (11.96%), $C_{16:0}$ (13.08%) and $C_{17:0}$ anteiso (10.99%). Finally, strain was identified Streptomyces sp. ACT-1. The antioxidant activity of methanol extract from Streptomyces sp. ACT-1 was evaluated by measuring DPPH, hydroxyl, and alkyl radical scavenging activity using an electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer. DPPH radical scavenging activity of SBME-1 (Streptomyces broth methanol extract) was 67% at $1,000{\mu}g$/ml. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of SBME-1 was 84% at $500{\mu}g$/ml. Alkyl radical scavenging activity of SBME-1 was 71% at $1,000{\mu}g$/ml.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.311-316
• /
• 2008

In this study, biological PCE degradation by using a BTEX degrading bacterium, named BJ10, under aerobic conditions in the presence of toluene was examined. According to morphological, physiological characteristics, 16S rDNA sequencing and fatty acid analysis, BJ10 was classified as Pseudomonas putida. As a result of biological PCE degradation at low PCE concentrations (5 mg/L), PCE removal efficiency by P. putida BJ10 was 52.8% for 10 days, and PCE removal rate was 5.9 nmol/hr (toluene concentration 50 mg/L, initial cell density 1.0 g (wet weight)/L, temperature 30, pH 7 and DO $3.0{\sim}4.2\;mg/L$. At high PCE concentration (100 mg/L), PCE removal efficiency by P. putida BJ10 was 20.3% for 10 days, and PCE removal rate was 46.0 nmol/hr under the same conditions. The effects of various toluene concentration (5, 25, 50, 100, 200 mg/L) on PCE degradation were examined under the same incubation conditions. The highest PCE removal efficiency of PCE was 57.0% in the initial PCE concentration of 10 mg/L in the presence of 200 mg/L toluene for 10 days. Furthermore, the additional injection of 5.5 mg/L PCE (total 7.6 mg/L) made 63.0% degradation for 8 days in the presence of 50 mg/L toluene under the same conditions. Its removal rate was 13.5 nmol/hr, which was better than the initial removal rate (8.1 nmol/hr).

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.63 no.1
• /
• pp.52-58
• /
• 2007

Background: Photodynamic therapy is a viable option for lung cancer treatment, and many studies have shown that it is capable of inducing cell death in lung cancer cells. However, the precise mechanism of this cell death has not been fully elucidated. To investigate the early changes in cancer cell transcription, we treated A549 cells with the photosensitizer DH-I-180-3 and then we illuminated the cells. Methods: We investigated the gene expression profiles of the the A549 lung cancer cell line, using a DEG kit, following photodynamic therapy and we evaluated the cell viability by performing flow cytometry. We identified the genes that were significantly changed following photodynamic therapy by performing DNA sequencing. Results: The FACS data showed that the cell death of the lung cancer cells was mainly caused by necrosis. We found nine genes that were significantly changed and we identified eight of these genes. We evaluated the expression of two genes, 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase and ribosomal protein S29. The expressed level of carbonic anhydrase XII, clusterin, MRP3s1 protein, complement 3, membrane cofactor protein and integrin beta 1 were decreased. Conclusion: Many of the gene products are membrane-associated proteins. The main mechanism of photodynamic therapy with using the photosensitizing agent DH-I-180-3 appears to be necrosis and this may be associated with the altered production of membrane proteins.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.8-14
• /
• 2002

Pseudomonas sp. S-47 is capable of degrading 4-chlorobenzoate to produce 5-chloro-2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde (5C-2HMS) by the enzymes encoding by xylXYZLTE cluster. In this study, the resulting 5C-2HMS was confirmed to be transformed to 5-chloro-2-hydroxymuconic acid (5C-2HMA) by 5C-2HMS dehydrogenase. The xylG gene encoding 5C-2HMS dehydrogenase was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of strain S-47. The nucleotide sequence of xylG showed to be composed of 1,600 base pairs with ATG initiation and TGA termination codons. A deduced amino acid sequence of the 5C-2HMS dehydrogenase (XylG) exhibited 98％, 93％, and 89％ identity with those of the dehydrogenases from P. putida mt-2, P. putida G7, and Pseudomonas sp. CF600, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.12-27
• /
• 2004

Thanks to spectacular advances in the techniques for identifying proteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and in methods for large-scale analysis of proteome variations, proteomics is becoming an essential methodology in various fields of plant sciences. Plant proteomics would be most useful when combined with other functional genomics tools and approaches. A combination of microarray and proteomics analysis will indicate whether gene regulation is controlled at the level of transcription or translation and protein accumulation. In this review, we described the catalogues of the rice proteome which were constructed in our program, and functional characterization of some of these proteins was discussed. Mass-spectrometry is a most prevalent technique to identify rapidly a large of proteins in proteome analysis. However, the conventional Western blotting/sequencing technique us still used in many laboratories. As a first step to efficiently construct protein data-file in proteome analysis of major cereals, we have analyzed the N-terminal sequences of 100 rice embryo proteins and 70 wheat spike proteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Edman degradation revealed the N-terminal peptide sequences of only 31 rice proteins and 47 wheat proteins, suggesting that the rest of separated protein spots are N-terminally blocked. To efficiently determine the internal sequence of blocked proteins, we have developed a modified Cleveland peptide mapping method. Using this above method, the internal sequences of all blocked rice proteins (i. e., 69 proteins) were determined. Among these 100 rice proteins, thirty were proteins for which homologous sequence in the rice genome database could be identified. However, the rest of the proteins lacked homologous proteins. This appears to be consistent with the fact that about 30% of total rice cDNA have been deposited in the database. Also, the major proteins involved in the growth and development of rice can be identified using the proteome approach. Some of these proteins, including a calcium-binding protein that fumed out to be calreticulin, gibberellin-binding protein, which is ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activate in rice, and leginsulin-binding protein in soybean have functions in the signal transduction pathway. Proteomics is well suited not only to determine interaction between pairs of proteins, but also to identify multisubunit complexes. Currently, a protein-protein interaction database for plant proteins (http://genome .c .kanazawa-u.ac.jp/Y2H)could be a very useful tool for the plant research community. Recently, we are separated proteins from grain filling and seed maturation in rice to perform ESI-Q-TOF/MS and MALDI-TOF/MS. This experiment shows a possibility to easily and rapidly identify a number of 2-DE separated proteins of rice by ESI-Q-TOF/MS and MALDI-TOF/MS. Therefore, the Information thus obtained from the plant proteome would be helpful in predicting the function of the unknown proteins and would be useful in the plant molecular breeding. Also, information from our study could provide a venue to plant breeder and molecular biologist to design their research strategies precisely.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.307-313
• /
• 2015

Unpolished rice (UR) is considered to be a healthy alternative to white rice when coping with chronic diseases. In the present study, the fermented slurry of unpolished rice (FSUR) was evaluated with respect to its antimicrobial activities and biochemical characteristics, including the quantities of sugar, total soluble sugar, organic acids, free amino acids, pH, and physiological activity. The antimicrobial efficiency of FSUR was assessed using the paper disc-agar diffusion method. FSUR exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against six pathogenic bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, and Yersinia enterocolitica) and two fermentation strains (Gluconacetobacter intermedius and Lodderomyces elongisporus). The antimicrobial activity of FSUR was higher than the commercial antibiotics, carbenicillin ($50{\mu}g/ml$) and tetracycline ($50{\mu}g/ml$) against S. aureus, E. coli, L. monocytogenes, P. aeruginosa, S. typhimurium, Y. enterocolitica, and L. elongisporus. Also FSUR had a high antioxidant activity. The microorganisms were isolated from FSUR using tryptic soy broth and yeast extract-peptone-dextrose agar media. The isolated microorganisms were characterized using physiological and biochemical analyses as well as by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenic analysis. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the isolated microorganisms had a high similarity to G. intermedius, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Acetobacter peroxydans.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.7
• /
• pp.1290-1297
• /
• 2008

To investigate the diversities of Accumulibacter phosphatis and its polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase gene (phaC) in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) sludge, an acetate-fed sequencing batch reactor was operated. Analysis of microbial communities using fluorescence in situ hybridization and 16S rRNA gene clone libraries showed that the population of Accumulibacter phosphatis in the EBPR sludge comprised more than 50% of total bacteria, and was clearly divided into two subgroups with about 97.5% sequence identity of the 16S rRNA genes. PAO phaC primers targeting the phaC genes of Accumulibacter phosphatis were designed and applied to retrieve fragments of putative phaC homologs of Accumulibacter phosphatis from EBPR sludge. PAO phaC primers targeting $G_{1PAO},\;G_{2PAO},\;and\;G_{3PAO}$ groups produced PCR amplicons successfully; the resulting sequences of the phaC gene homologs were diverse, and were distantly related to metagenomic phaC sequences of Accumulibacter phosphatis with 75-98% DNA sequence identities. Degenerate NPAO (non-PAO) phaC primers targeting phaC genes of non-Accumulibacter phosphatis bacteria were also designed and applied to the EBPR sludge. Twenty-four phaC homologs retrieved from NPAO phaC primers were different from the phaC gene homologs derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis, which suggests that the PAO phaC primers were specific for the amplification of phaC gene homologs of Accumulibacter phosphatis, and the putative phaC gene homologs by PAO phaC primers were derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis in the EBPR sludge. Among 24 phaC homologs, a phaC homolog (GINPAO-2), which was dominant in the NPAO phaC clone library, showed the strongest signal in slot hybridization and shared approximately 60% nucleotide identity with the $G_{4PAO}$ group of Accumulibacter phosphatis, which suggests that GINPAO-2 might be derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis. In conclusion, analyses of the 16S rRNA and phaC genes showed that Accumulibacter phosphatis might be phylogenetically and metabolically diverse.