• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.447-452
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• 2006

To determine the functions of specific cell wall polysaccharides, polysaccharides of three mutants, mur3-1, mur3-2, and mur3-3, obtained from Arabidopsis wild type, underwent structural characterization. Upon sequential separation of pectins (RG-I and RG-II) and cross-linking glycans (xyloglucan, XG), only XG was affected by the mud mutation. Wild-type XG contained a considerable amount of fucose, whereas the fucose level in mur3 XGs was less than 20% that of wild type. Further analysis of XGs by matrix-assisted laser-induced/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry indicated that mud lines considerably or completely lost the fucosylated XG oligosaccharides such as XXFG and XLFG and the double-galactosylated oligosaccharide XLLG $^1H$-NMR spectroscopic analyses of the XG oligosaccharides from mur3-3 plant revealed the absence of fucose and a galactose level in the galactosylated side chain that was reduced by 40% compared to that of Arabidopsis wild-type plant. In contrast, 85% less fucose and a slight loss of galactose were observed in the mur3-1 and mur3-2 lines which show normal growth habit. Of the three Arabidopsis mur3 lines studied here, mur3-3 is disrupted by a T-DNA insertion in the exon of MUR3 which encodes XG-specific galactosyltransferase, and exhibits slight dwarfism. These results indicated that the T-DNA insertion at the MUR3 locus did not induce the complete loss of galactose in XG, and that galactose, rather than fucose, in the XG side chains made a major contribution to overall wall strength.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.465-475
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• 2023

In this study, we demonstrated a silica nanofibrous membrane based on the electrospinning process and evaluated its DNA isolation and purification performance in PCR pretreatment. Generally, silica membranes made of non-woven fabric are used for PCR pretreatment, but this study aimed to improve the efficiency of the pretreatment process by developing a nanofiber-type silica membrane with high specific surface area and porosity. In order to manufacture a nanofiber-shaped silica film while maintaining the original physical properties of silica, nanofiber membranes produced by adding various concentrations of PEO (5 wt%, 8 wt%, and 10 wt%) to silica prepared by the sol-gel method were compared. In terms of nanofiber membrane production, the higher the PEO concentration, the more effective it was in producing nanofiber membranes. The produced silica nanofiber membrane was inserted to a pretreatment device used in commercial PCR equipment, and the pretreatment performance was compared and verified using Salmonella bacteria. When Salmonella was used, samples containing 5 wt% PEO showed superior PCR efficiency compared to samples containing 8 wt% and 10 wt% PEO. These results show that adding 5 wt% of PEO can effectively improve DNA purification and separation by producing a nanofiber-shaped silica film while maintaining the physical properties of silica. We expect that this study will contribute to the development of effective PCR pretreatment technology essential for various molecular biology applications.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.94-103
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• 2023

Cyanobacterial resting cells, such as akinetes, are important seed cells for cyanobacteria's early development and bloom. Due to their importance, various methods have been attempted to isolate resting cells present in the sediment. Ludox is a solution mainly used for cell separation in marine sediments, but finding an accurate method for use in freshwater is difficult. This study compared the two most commonly used Ludox methods (direct sediment treatment and sediment distilled water suspension treatment). Furthermore, we proposed a highly efficient method for isolating cyanobacterial resting cells and eDNA amplification from freshwater sediments. Most of the resting cells found in the sediment were akinete to the Nostocale and were similar to those of Dolichospermum, Cylindrospermum, and Aphanizomenon. Twenty times more akinetes were found in the conical tube column using the sediment that had no treatment than in the sample treated by suspending the sediment in distilled water. Akinete separated through Ludox were mainly spread over the upper and lower layers in the column rather than concentrated at a specific depth in the column layer. The mibC, Geo, and 16S rDNA genes were successfully amplified using the sediment directly in the sample. However, the amplification products of all genes were not found in the sample in which the sediment was suspended in distilled water. Therefore, 5 g to 10 g of sediment is used without pretreatment when isolating cyanobacterial resting cells from freshwater sediment. Cell isolation and gene amplification efficiency are high when four times the volume of Ludox is added. The Ludox treatment method presented in this study isolates cyanobacterial resting cells in freshwater sediment, and the same efficiency may not appear in other biotas. Therefore, to apply Ludox to the separation of other biotas, it is necessary to conduct a pre-experiment to determine the sediment pretreatment method and the water layer where the target organism exists.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.600-606
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• 2006

Spore forming actinobacteria (sporoactinobacteria) isolated from soils with an acidic pH in Pinus thunbergii forests and coal mine waste were subjected to taxonomic characterization. For the isolation of acidophilic actinobacteria, acidified starch casein agar (pH adjusted to 4-5) was used. The numbers of actinobacteria growing in acidic media were between $3.2{\times}10^4$ and $8.0{\times}10^6$ CFU/g soil. Forty three acidophilic actinobacterial strains were isolated and their 16S rDNA sequences were determined. The isolates were divided into eight distinctive phylogenetic clusters within the variation encompassed by the family Streptomycetaceae. Four clusters among them were assigned to the genus Streptacidiphilus, whereas the remaining four were assigned to Streptomyces. The clusters belonging to either Streptomyces or Streptacidiphilus did not form a monophyletic clade. The growth pH profiles indicated that the representative isolates grew best between pH 5 and 6. It is evident from this study that acidity has played a critical role in the differentiation of the family Streptomycetaceae, and also that different mechanisms might have resulted in the evolution of two groups, Streptacidiphilus (strict acidophiles) and neutrotolerant acidophilic Streptomyces. The effect of geographic separation was clearly seen among the Streptacidiphilus isolates, which may be a key factor in speciation of the genus.

• BMB Reports
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.359-362
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• 1995

The highly polymorphic variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) loci in the human genome are informative markers for the genetic characterization of individuals in the paternity test and forensic science as well as for the study of human disease. In this study, VNTR loci D1S80 and D2S123 have been amplified by PCR and the amplified length polymorphic alleles were detected with a discontinuous vertical PAGE system and silver staining. For explicit DNA typing, PCR optimization, in which amplification efficiencies are similar over a wide range of allele sizes, non-specific amplifications are minimal, and new longer alleles have high amplification efficiency, has been performed by changing the PCR reaction buffer composition and thermal cycling conditions. It turned out that adding an appropriate amount of Tween 20 and NP40 to the PCR reaction buffer and raising the annealing temperature to $68^{\circ}C$ in thermal cycling made it possible for optimal VNTR loci amplification. A modified PAGE system for VNTR separation was established. Under these conditions, new longer alleles in the 01580 locus were discovered and 025123 pattern changes in colorectal tumors were observed. These technical tips are valuable for detecting various amplified fragment length polymorphisms.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.153-158
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• 2008

A microchip-based capillary gel electrophoresis (MCGE) technique was developed for the ultra-fast detection and differentiation of Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum (Candidatus M. haemominutum, California strain) and Mycoplasma haemofelis (M. haemofelis, Ohio strain) in Korean feral cats through the application of programmed field strength gradients (PFSG) in a conventional glass double-T microchip. The effects of the poly (ethyleneoxide) (PEO) concentration and electric field strength on the separation of DNA fragments were investigated. The PCR-amplified products of Candidatus M. haemominutum (202-bp) and M. haemofelis (273-bp) were analyzed by MCGE within 75 s under a constant applied electric field of 117.6 V/cm and a sieving matrix of 0.3% PEO (Mr 8 000 000). When the PFSG was applied, MCGE analysis generated results 6.8-times faster without any loss of resolution or reproducibility. The MCGE-PFSG technique was also applied to eleven samples selected randomly from 33 positive samples. The samples were detected and differentiated within 11 s. The analysis time of the MCGE-PFSG technique was approximately 980-times faster than that using conventional slab gel electrophoresis.

• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.89-101
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• 2015

Ecklonia cava Kjellman is a common kelp found in shallow subtidal in warm-temperate waters in the northwest Pacific Ocean. This species has shown substantial morphological variation along with subsistence in different locations and local environments. We quantified the magnitude of morphological variation of E. cava from six populations along ~700 km of coastline from Jeju Island to Dokdo in Korea. In addition, we examined genetic distance among the populations using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Most morphological characteristics investigated were significantly different among locations. Multivariate analyses indicated two phenetically distinct groups (nearshore, sheltered vs. offshore, exposed), indicating wave exposure with turbidity are presumably major factors for the separation. With RAPD data, results of Nei's diversity (H) and AMOVA showed considerable variations in within- and between-populations. Pairwise ${\Phi}_{ST}$ and $N_m$ values indicated moderate gene flow between the six locations. Results of Nei's analysis revealed three genetically distinct groups, not consistent with the morphological groupings, indicating that a time gap may exist between morphological and genetic variations. This study also suggests dispersal distance of this kelp may be longer than what is commonly thought and genetic similarity in the populations was largely reflected by the direction of ocean current rather than just geographical distance.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 1997

A screening was performed to isolate the cellulose-producing microorganisms from vinegar in Korea. The isolated strain was identified as Acetobacter sp. with respect to physiological and biochemical characteristics and designated as Acetobacter CBI-2. Cellulose production of Acetobacter CBI-2 was equal with the well known cellulose-producing bacteria, A. xylinum. The result of separation on thin layer chromatography(TLC) was consistent with the degradation product of native cellulose. The presence of genes required for the cellulose biosynthesis in Acetobacter CBI-2 was confirmed by Southern hybridization.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.355-363
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• 1993

The two deoxyribonucleotides, 5'-d(GAATTCCGGCCA) and 5'-d(CGAGCTGTC), were synthesized on disks of Whatmann chromatography paper (3MM) by the phosphite-triester method. The average yield of the dodecamer and the nonamer that was measured by trityl analysis is 76.1${\%}$ and 86.5${\%}$ respectively. Separation of the synthesized oligodeoxyribonucleotides were purified by HPLC. The two oligodeoxymers'bases were quantified by HPLC with snake venom phosphodiesterase and bacterial alkaline phosphatase. The numbers of bases were equal to the designed ones. The advantage of using a paper disk as a support allows us to synthesize many different oligodeoxyribenucleotides during one synthesis. This method is the most convenient synthetic technique to synthesize oligodeoxyribonucleotides easily and inexpensively in a relatively short time.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.12-30
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• 2022

Many studies on plant extracts have been reported for the treatment of candidiasis caused by Candida albicans, a representative fungal infection. This study demonstrates the synergistic antifungal activity of the combination of Phellodendri Cortex and Magnoliae Cortex, previously reported to have antifungal efficacy. Considering the antifungal efficacy and the separation of the active constituents, berberine and magnolol, hot water extraction and carbon dioxide supercritical extraction were selected for Phellodendri Cortex and Magnoliae Cortex, respectively. A combination of 0.55 g/L hot water extract of Phellodendri Cortex and 0.59 g/L carbon dioxide supercritical extract of Magnoliae Cortex showed synergistic antifungal activity. The synergistic antifungal activity of 160 μM berberine and 100 μM magnolol, which are representative antifungal compounds of Phellodendri Cortex and Magnoliae Cortex, respectively, contributes to the synergistic antifungal effect of their extracts. The additive decrease in cellular ergosterol level and the increased antifungal efficacy by extracellular ergosterol suggest that disruption of the biological function of ergosterol in the cell membrane is not responsible for the synergistic antifungal activity of berberine and magnolol. Synergistic cellular release of chromosomal DNA upon mixing berberine and magnolol indicates that disruption of the cellular structure is responsible for the synergistic antifungal effect of berberine and magnolol.