• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.211-214
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• 2014

Epidemiological situation of taeniasis in Mongolia was assessed based on mitochondrial DNA identification of the parasite species. Multiplex PCR was used on a total of 194 proglottid specimens of Taenia species and copro-PCR and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays were utilized for detection of copro-DNA of 37 fecal samples from taeniasis patients submitted to the Mongolian National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) from 2002 to 2012. In addition, 4 out of 44 calcified cysts in beef kept in formalin since 2003 were evaluated for histopathological confirmation of cattle cysticercosis. All proglottid specimens and stool samples were confirmed to be Taenia saginata by multiplex PCR and by copro-PCR and LAMP, respectively. Cysts collected from cattle were morphologically confirmed to be metacestodes of Taenia species. T. saginata taeniasis was identified from almost all ages from a 2-year-old boy up to a 88-year-old woman and most prominently in 15-29 age group (37%, 74/198) followed by 30-44 age group (34.8%, 69/198 ) from 15 of Mongolia's 21 provinces, while cattle cysticerci were found from 12 provinces. The highest proportion of taeniasis patients was in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.338-343
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• 2018

Transcription termination factor-1 (TTF-I) is an RNA polymerase 1-mediated transcription terminator and consisting of a C-terminal DNA-binding domain, central domain, and N-terminal regulatory domain. This protein binds to a so-called 'Sal box' composed of an 11-base pair motif. The interaction of TTF-I with the 'Sal box' is important for many cellular events, including efficient termination of RNA polymerase-1 activity involved in pre-rRNA synthesis and formation of a chromatin loop. To further understand the role of TTF-I in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-I virus production, we generated various TTF-I mutant forms. Through a series of studies of the over-expression of TTF-I and its derivatives along with co-transfection with either proviral DNA or HIV-I long terminal repeat (LTR)-driven reporter vectors, we determined that wild-type TTF-I downregulates HIV-I LTR activity and virus production, while the TTF-I Myb-like domain alone upregulated virus production, suggesting that wild-type TTF-I inhibits virus production and trans-activation of the LTR sequence; the Myb-like domain of TTF-I increased virus production and trans-activated LTR activity.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.457-466
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• 2015

Taoyuan pig is a native Taiwan breed. According to the historical record, the breed was first introduced to Taiwan from Guangdong province, Southern China, around 1877. The breed played an important role in Taiwan's early swine industry. It was classified as an indigenous breed in 1986. After 1987, a conserved population of Taoyuan pig was collected and reared in isolation. In this study, mitochondrial DNA sequences and 18 microsatellite markers were used to investigate maternal lineage and genetic diversity within the Taoyuan pig population. Population differentiation among Taoyuan, Asian type, and European type pig breeds was also evaluated using differentiation indices. Only one D-loop haplotype of the Taoyuan pig was found. It clustered with Lower Changjiang River Basin and Central China Type pig breeds. Based on the polymorphism of microsatellite markers, a positive fixation index value ($F_{IS}$) indicates that the conserved Taoyuan population suffers from inbreeding. In addition, high $F_{ST}$ values (>0.2105) were obtained, revealing high differentiation among these breeds. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling showed a clear geometric structure among 7 breeds. Together these results indicate that maternally Taoyuan pig originated in the Lower Changjiang River Basin and Central China; however, since being introduced to Taiwan differentiation has occurred. In addition, Taoyuan pig has lost genetic diversity in both its mitochondrial and nuclear genomes.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.157-163
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• 2002

To identify RNA motifs interacting with $tRNA^{Val}$, a SELEX(Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment) was applied. Random DNA library which contains a region of ran-domized 48-mer oligonucleotide flanked by conserved sequ ence primers was transcribed into RNA pool using T7 RNA polymerase and RNA aptamers were selected with $tRNA^{Val}$ -immobilized affinity column through 14 rounds of SELEX. Some of the resulting aptamers contained a consensus sequence similar to the sequence in the loop regions of three rRNAs; C43GAAC47 sequence of 5S rRNA, G1491AAGU1495, G1379UUCC1383 sequence of 16S rRNA and C1064UUAG1068, G2110UGUA2114, C2480GACGG2485, A2600CAGU2604 sequence of 23S rRNA. These results suggest that $tRNA^{Val}$ can interact with 5S rRNA, 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA with variety in ribosome.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2016.05a
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• pp.27-27
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• 2016

The ascomycete fungus Fusarium graminearum is the most common pathogen of Fusarium head blight (FHB), a devastating disease for major cereal crops worldwide. FHB causes significant crop losses by reducing grain yield and quality as well as contaminating cereals with trichothecenes and zearalenone (ZEA) that pose a serious threat to animal health and food safety. ZEA is a causative agent of hyperestrogenic syndrome in mammals and can result in reproductive disorders in farm animals. In F. graminearum, the ZEA biosynthetic cluster is composed of four genes, PKS4, PKS13, ZEB1, and ZEB2, which encode a reducing polyketide synthase, a nonreducing polyketide synthase, an isoamyl alcohol oxidase, and a transcription factor, respectively. Although it is known that ZEB2 primarily acts as a regulator of ZEA biosynthetic cluster genes, the mechanism underlying this regulation remains undetermined. In this study, two isoforms (ZEB2L and ZEB2S) from the ZEB2 gene in F. graminearum were characterized. It was revealed that ZEB2L contains a basic leucine zipper (bZIP) DNA-binding domain at the N-terminus, whereas ZEB2S is an N-terminally truncated form of ZEB2L that lacks the bZIP domain. Interestingly, ZEA triggered the induction of both ZEB2L and ZEB2S transcription. In ZEA producing condition, the expression of ZEB2S transcripts via alternative promoter usage was directly or indirectly initiated by ZEA. Physical interaction between ZEB2L and ZEB2L as well as between ZEB2L and ZEB2S was observed in the nucleus. The ZEB2S-ZEB2S interaction was detected in both the cytosol and the nucleus. ZEB2L-ZEB2L oligomers activated ZEA biosynthetic cluster genes, including ZEB2L. ZEB2S inhibited ZEB2L transcription by forming ZEB2L-ZEB2S heterodimers, which reduced the DNA-binding activity of ZEB2L. This study provides insight into the autoregulation of ZEB2 expression by alternative promoter usage and a feedback loop during ZEA production.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.145-153
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• 2015

In this study, we developed a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with hydroxynaphtol blue dye (HNB) for rapid and direct visual detection of porcine circovirus 2 DNA with high sensitivity and specificity. The LAMP was completed in 40 min at $63^{\circ}C$, and the results of the LAMP can be confirmed by naked eye without any detection process. The sensitivity of the LAMP was 10-fold higher than that of the commercial PCR (cPCR) and real time PCR (rPCR) previously reported. In clinical application, the PCV2 detection rate of the LAMP was the same on porcine tissue samples (75.0%, 36/48) between porcine blood samples (75.0%, 39/52). The PCV2 detection rate (75.0%) of LAMP was higher than those of the cPCR and rPCR (67.3%, 35/52) in blood samples. In conclusion, the LAMP developed in the study could be an useful alternative method for the detection of PCV2 in the swine disease diagnostic laboratories.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.866-871
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• 2007

Testis-specific protein (TSPY) is a Y-specific gene, with up to 200 copy numbers in bulls. In order to make bovine embryo sexing under farm condition more feasible, the possibility of using a non-electrophoretic method to detect the TSPY gene for sexing bovine early embryos was examined. Primers were designed to amplify a portion of the TSPY gene and a common gene as an internal control primer. PCR optimization was carried out using a DNA template from bovine whole blood. Furthermore, embryo samples were diagnosed by this method and the sexing results were contrasted with those of the Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) method. The results showed that TSPY was as reliable a sexing method as LAMP. Forty-three morula and blastocyst embryos collected from superovulated donor dairy cattle were sexed by this method, and twenty-one embryos judged to be female embryos were transferred non-surgically to recipients 6 to 8 days after natural estrus. Out of 21 recipients, 9 were pregnant (42.86%) and all delivered female calves. The results showed that the sex predicted by this protocol was 100% accurate. In conclusion, the TSPY gene was a good male specific marker and indicated that a non-electrophoretic method was feasible and accurate to detect the TSPY gene for sexing preimplantation bovine embryos.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.64-70
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• 2018

Human Tid1, belonging to the family of the Hsp40/DnaJ, functions as a co-chaperone of cytosolic and mitochondrial Hsp70 proteins. In addition, the conserved J-domain and G/F-rich region of Tid1 has been suggested to interact with the p53 tumor suppressor protein, to translocate it to the mitochondria. Here, backbone NMR assignments were achieved for the putative p53-binding domain of Tid1. The obtained chemical shift information identified five ${\alpha}$-helices including four helices characteristic of J-domain, which are connected to a short ${\alpha}$-helix in the G/F-rich region via a flexible loop region. We expect that this structural information would contribute to our progressing studies to elucidate atomic structure and molecular interaction of the domain with p53.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 1998

A gene coding for ${\beta}$-xylosidase from thermophilic xylanolytic Bacillus sp. KK-1 was cloned into Escherichia coli using plasmid pBR322. Recombinant plasmid DNAs were isloated from E. coli clones which were capable of hydrolyzing 4-methylumbelliferyl-${\beta}$-D xylopyranoside. Restriction analysis showed the DNAs to share a common insert DNA. Xylo-oligosaccharides, including xylotriose, xylotetraose, xylopentaose, and xylobiose were hydrolyzed to form xylose as an end product by cell-free extracts of the E. coli clones, confirming that the cloned gene from strain KK-1 is ${\beta}$-xylosidase gene. The ${\beta}$-xylosidase gene of strain KK-1 designated as xylB was completely sequenced. The xylB gene consisted of an open reading frame of 1,602 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 533 amino acid residues, and a TGA stop codon. The 3' flanking region contained one stem-loop structure which may be involved in transcriptional termination. The deduced amino acid sequence of the KK-1 ${\beta}$-xylosidase was highly homologous to the ${\beta}$-xylosidases of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus, but it showed no similarity to a thermostable ${\beta}$-xylosidase from Bacillus stearothermophilus.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.342-355
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• 2021

The microphthalmia-associated transcription factor family (MiT family) proteins are evolutionarily conserved transcription factors that perform many essential biological functions. In mammals, the MiT family consists of MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor or melanocyte-inducing transcription factor), TFEB (transcription factor EB), TFE3 (transcription factor E3), and TFEC (transcription factor EC). These transcriptional factors belong to the basic helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper (bHLH-LZ) transcription factor family and bind the E-box DNA motifs in the promoter regions of target genes to enhance transcription. The best studied functions of MiT proteins include lysosome biogenesis and autophagy induction. In addition, they modulate cellular metabolism, mitochondria dynamics, and various stress responses. The control of nuclear localization via phosphorylation and dephosphorylation serves as the primary regulatory mechanism for MiT family proteins, and several kinases and phosphatases have been identified to directly determine the transcriptional activities of MiT proteins. In different immune cell types, each MiT family member is shown to play distinct or redundant roles and we expect that there is far more to learn about their functions and regulatory mechanisms in host defense and inflammatory responses.