• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.444-447
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• 2007

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful technique in molecular biology and is widely used in various fields. By amplifying DNA fragments, PCR has facilitated gene cloning procedures, as well as molecular genotyping. However, the extraction of DNA from samples often acts as a limiting step of these reactions. In particular, the extraction of PCR-compatible genomic DNA from higher plants requires complicated processes and tedious work because plant cells have rigid cell walls and contain various endogenous PCR inhibitors, including polyphenolic compounds. We recently developed a novel solution, referred to as AnyDirect, which can amplify target DNA fragments directly from whole blood without the need for DNA extraction. Here, we developed a simple lysis system that could produce an appropriate template for direct PCR with AnyDirect PCR buffer, making possible the direct amplification of DNA fragments from plant leaves. Thus, our experimental procedure provides a simple, convenient, non-hazardous, inexpensive, and rapid process for the amplification of DNA from plant tissue.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.729-733
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• 2006

Cryptosporidium is a waterborne pathogenic parasite which causes diarrhea. Immunomagnetic separation-immunofluorescent assay (IMS-IFA) has been a widely adopted for Cryptosporidium detection as standard method. However, this method does not provide information about viability or infectivity of Cryptosporidium. Therefore, many researchers have studied viability or infectivity analyses of Cryptosporidium with various methods such as vital staining, in vitro excystation, RT-PCR, cell culture, and mouse infection assay. In this study, two direct RT-PCR methods, cell culture RT-PCR and cell culture IFA were compared for sensitivity and other characteristics. The results showed that direct RT-PCR method with HSP70 genes had the highest sensitivity with detection up to 1 viable cell of Cryptosporidium. The infectious Cryptosporidium were detected up to 10 to 25 cells by cell culture methods in combination with RT-PCR and IFA. The infectious Cryptosporidium were apt to be quantified by cell culture IFA.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1616-1621
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• 2007

We have established a SYBR Green-based realtime PCR method using AnyDirect solution, which enhances PCR from whole blood, for direct amplification of the virA gene of Shigella flexneri and the invA gene of Salmonella typhimurium from human feces without prior DNA purification. When we compared the efficiency of conventional or realtime PCR amplification of the virA and invA genes from the supernatant of boiled feces supplemented with S. flexneri and S. typhimurium in the presence or absence of AnyDirect solution, amplification products were detected only in reactions to which AnyDirect solution had been added. The detection limit of real-time PCR was $1{\times}10^4\;CFU/g$ feces for S. flexneri and $2{\times}10^4\;CFU/g$ feces for S. typhimurium; this sensitivity level was comparable to other studies. Our real-time PCR assay with AnyDirect solution is simple, rapid, sensitive, and specific, and allows simultaneous detection of S. flexneri and S. typhimurium directly from fecal samples without prior DNA purification.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.253-261
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• 2014

Porcine circovirus disease (PCVD) is a major problem of swine industry worldwide, and diagnosis of PCV2, causal agent of PCVD, has been doing in clinical laboratories of pig disease by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. But the PCR analyses have a serious problem of misdiagnosis by contamination of DNA, in particular, from carryover contamination with previously amplified DNA or extracted DNA from field samples. In this study, an uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG)-based direct PCR (udPCR) without DNA extraction process and DNA carryover contamination was developed and evaluated on PCV2 culture and field pig samples. The sensitivity of the udPCR combined with dPCR and uPCR was same or better than that of the commercial PCR (cPCR) kit (Median diagnostics, Korea) on PCV2-positive serum, lymph node and lung samples of the pigs. In addition, the udPCR method confirmed to have a preventing ability of mis-amplification by contamination of pre-amplified PCV2 DNA from previous udPCR. In clinical application, 170 pig samples (86 tissues and 84 serum) were analysed by cPCR kit and resulted in 37% (63/170) of positive reaction, while the udPCR was able to detect the PCV2 DNA in 45.3% (77/170) with higher sensitivity than cPCR. In conclusion, the udPCR developed in the study is a time, labor and cost saving method for the detection of PCV2 and providing a preventing effect for DNA carryover contamination that can occurred in PCR process. Therefore, the udPCR assay could be an useful alternative method for the diagnosis of PCV2 in the swine disease diagnostic laboratories.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.55-58
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• 2009

Generally, the direct sequencing through PCR is faster, easier, cheaper, and more practical than clone sequencing. Frequently, standard PCR amplification is usually interpreted by mispriming internal or external regions of the target template. Normally, DNA fragments were eluted from the gel using Gel extraction kit and subjected to direct sequencing or cloning sequencing. Cloning sequencing has often troublesome and needs more time to analyze for many samples. Since touchdown (TD) PCR can generate sufficient and highly specific amplification, it reduces unwanted amplicon generation. Accordingly, TD PCR is a good method for direct sequencing due to amplifying wanted fragment. In plants the 5S-rRNA gene is separated by simple spacers. The 5S-rRNA gene sequence is very well-conserved between plant species while the spacer is species-specific. Therefore, the sequence has been used for phylogenetic studies and species identification. But frequent occurrences of spurious bands caused by complex genomes are encountered in the product spectrum of standard PCR amplification. In conclusion, the TD PCR method can be applied easily to amplify main 5S-rRNA and direct sequencing of panax ginseng cultivars.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.397-407
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• 2010

Purpose : The F9 gene is known to be the causative gene for hemophilia B, but unfortunately the detection rate for restriction fragment length polymorphism-based linkage analysis is only 55.6%. Direct DNA sequencing can detect 98% of mutations, but this alternative procedure is very costly. Here, we conducted multiplex polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) and conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE) to perform a screened DNA sequencing for the F9 gene, and we compared the results with direct sequencing in terms of accuracy, cost, simplicity, and time consumption. Methods : A total of 27 unrelated hemophilia B patients were enrolled. Direct DNA sequencing was performed for 27 patients by a separate institute, and multiplex PCR-CSGE screened sequencing was done in our laboratory. Results of the direct DNA sequencing were used as a reference, to which the results of the multiplex PCR-CSGE screened sequencing were compared. For the patients whose mutation was not detected by the 2 methods, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) was conducted. Results : With direct sequencing, the mutations could be identified from 26 patients (96.3%), whereas for multiplex PCRCSGE screened sequencing, the mutations could be detected in 23 (85.2%). One patient's mutation was identified by MLPA. A total of 21 different mutations were found among the 27 patients. Conclusion : Multiplex PCR-CSGE screened DNA sequencing detected 88.9% of mutations and reduced costs by 55.7% compared with direct DNA sequencing. However, it was more labor-intensive and time-consuming.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.155-162
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• 2019

Analysis techniques using DNA profiling are widely used in various fields including forensic science and new technologies such as the Direct PCR amplification method are being developed continuously in order to acquire the DNA profiles efficiently. However, it has a limits such as non-specific amplification according to the quality of crime scene evidence samples. Especially, split peaks caused by excessive DNA samples are one of the important factors that could cause the debate to allow researchers to interpret the DNA profile results. In this study, we confirmed the occurrence rate of split peaks in each STR (short tandem repeats) locus of the $GlobalFiler^{TM}$ kit and investigated the possibility of improving the split peaks using several PCR additives such as DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide), $MgCl_2$, Betaine and Tween-20. As a result, we could make three groups according to the occurrence rate of split peaks in Direct PCR and it was confirmed that the ratio of split peaks could be reduced by DMSO (87.4 %), $MgCl_2$ (84.5 %) and Betaine (86.1 %), respectively. These results indicate that PCR additives such as DMSO, $MgCl_2$ and Betaine can be improve the split peaks in Direct PCR and thereby facilitate subsequently a successful DNA profile results.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.795-807
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• 2022

The development and commercialization of industrial genetically modified (GM) organisms is actively progressing worldwide, highlighting an increased need for improved safety management protocols. We sought to establish an environmental monitoring method, using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and propidium monoazide (PMA) treatment to develop a quantitative detection protocol for living GM microorganisms. We developed a duplex TaqMan quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay to simultaneously detect the selectable antibiotic gene, ampicillin (AmpR), and the single-copy Escherichia coli taxon-specific gene, D-1-deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate synthase (dxs), using a direct cell suspension culture. We identified viable engineered E. coli cells by performing qPCR on PMA-treated cells. The theoretical cell density (true copy numbers) calculated from mean quantification cycle (Cq) values of PMA-qPCR showed a bias of 7.71% from the colony-forming unit (CFU), which was within ±25% of the acceptance criteria of the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL). PMA-qPCR to detect AmpR and dxs was highly sensitive and was able to detect target genes from a 10,000-fold (10^-4) diluted cell suspension, with a limit of detection at 95% confidence (LOD_95%) of 134 viable E. coli cells. Compared to DNA-based qPCR methods, the cell suspension direct PMA-qPCR analysis provides reliable results and is a quick and accurate method to monitor living GM E. coli cells that can potentially be released into the environment.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.455-467
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• 2021

Macrofungi are valuable resources as novel drug candidates, new biomaterials, and edible materials. Recently, genetic approaches pertaining to macrofungi have been continuously growing for their identification, molecular breeding, and genetic engineering. However, purification and amplification of fungal DNA is challenging because of the rigid cell wall and presence of PCR inhibitory metabolites. Here, we established a direct PCR method to provide a rapid and efficient method for PCR-grade macrofungal DNA preparation applicable to both conventional PCR and real-time PCR. We first optimized the procedure of lysis and PCR using the mycelia of Lentinula edodes, one of the most widely consumed macrofungal species. Lysates prepared by neutralizing with (NH₄)₂SO₄ after heating the mycelia in a mixture of TE buffer and KOH at 65℃ for 10 min showed successful amplification in both conventional and real-time PCR. Moreover, the addition of bovine serum albumin to the PCR mixture enhanced the amplification in conventional PCR. Using this method, we successfully amplified not only internal transcribed spacer fragments but also low-copy genes ranging in length from 500 to 3,000 bp. Next, we applied this method to 62 different species (54 genera) of macrofungi, including edible mushrooms, such as Pleurotus ostreatus, and medicinal mushrooms such as Cordyceps militaris. It was found that our method is widely applicable to both ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. We expect that our method will contribute to accelerating PCR-based approaches, such as molecular identification, DNA marker typing, gene cloning, and transformant screening, in macrofungal studies.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2003

We have developed a direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and electrophoresis method for the diagnosis of bovine theileriosis from whole blood DNA analysis without DNA extraction. The technique empolyed a FoLT (formamide, low temp.) technique and was utilized in the diagnosis of bovine theileriosis. Formamide solubilize the blood cells, and the lowered incubation temperatures reduced protein coagulation. 100-200 nL of whole blood and PCR reagents were introduced directly into a PCR tube. After the amplification, the PCR product (816-bp DNA) was introduced into the electrophoresis system. The results of this analysis were consist with those obtained using purified DNA.