• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.229-232
• /
• 2007

An amperometric immunosensor for the determination of rabbit IgG is proposed. The immunoassay utilizes a screen-printed carbon electrode on which osmium redox polymer is electrodeposited. This immunoassay detects 0.1 ng/ml of rabbit IgG, which is ${\sim}10^2$ fold higher than the most sensitive enzyme amplified amperometric immunoassay. The assay utilizes a screen-printed carbon electrode which was pre-coated by a co-electrodeposited film of an electron conducting redox hydrogel and a rabbit IgG. The rabbit IgG in the electron conducting film conjugates captures, when present, the anti-rabbit IgG. The captured anti-rabbit-IgG is labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) which catalyzes the two-electron reduction of $H_2O_2$ to water. Because the redox hydrogel electrically connects HRP reaction centers to the electrode, completion of the sandwich converts the film from non-electrocatalytic to electro-catalytic for the reduction of $H_2O_2$ to $H_2O$ when the electrode is poised at 200 mV vs. Ag/AgCl.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.833-837
• /
• 2004

DeniLite$^{TM}$ laccase immobilized platinum electrode was used for amperometric detection of hydroquinone (HQ) and homogentisic acid (HGA) by means of substrate recycling. In case of HQ, the obtained sensitivity is 280 nA/ ${\mu}$M with linear range of 0.2-35 ${\mu}$M ($r^2$ = 0.998) and detection limit (S/N = 3) of 50 nM. This high sensitivity can be attributed to chemical amplification due to the cycling of the substrate caused by enzymatic oxidation and following electrochemical regeneration. In case of HGA, the obtained sensitivity is 53 nA/ ${\mu}$M with linear range of 1-50 $[\mu}M\;(r^2$ = 0.999) and detection limit of 0.3 ${\mu}$M. The response times ($t_{90%}$) are about 2 seconds for the two substrates and the long-term stability is 60 days for HQ and around 40-50 days for HGA with retaining 80% of initial activities. The very fast response and the durable long-term stability are the principal advantages of this sensor. pH studies show that optimal pH of the sensor for HQ is 6.0 and that for HGA is 4.5-5.0. This shift of optimal pH towards acidic range for HGA can be attributed to the balance between enzyme activity and accessibility of the substrate to the active site of the enzyme.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.610-616
• /
• 2013

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is an emerging detection technology for the amplification of DNA under isothermal conditions. The aim of this study was to develop a rapid and reliable LAMP technique for the detection of Cronobacter sakazakii in milk powder. In order to enhance the sensitivity and specificity, LAMP primers targeting outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene of C. sakazakii were designed using Explorer V4 software. Thirty seven C. sakazakii strains and 13 pathogenic microorganisms were used for comparative detection of C. sakazakii using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, and LAMP. LAMP developed in this study could specifically detect C. sakazakii strains without cross-reactivity with other foodborne pathogens. LAMP products amplified from ompA gene of C. sakazakii were digested with with HhaI and NruI enzyme. The specificity of LAMP was confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. LAMP could detect C. sakazakii within 1 h without bacterial culture and its detection limit was as low as 1 CFU/mL C. sakazakii in milk. In the comparison of the sensitivity, LAMP showed 10,000- and 100-times higher detection limit than PCR or real-time PCR, respectively. Therefore, this study can conclude that LAMP is a rapid and reliable detection technique for C. sakazakii contaminated in powdered milk.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.331-334
• /
• 2004

In vivo characterization of FadB homologous enzymes including PaaG, YdbU and YgfG for medium-chain-length (MCL) polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthesis was carried out in fadB mutant Escherichia coli. Previously, it was reported that amplification of FadB homologous enzymes such as PaaG and YdbU in fadB mutant E. coli resulted in enhanced biosynthesis of MCL-PHA by greater than two fold compared with control strain. In this study, we constructed paaG fadB double mutant E. coli WB114 and ydbU fadB double mutant E. coli WB115 to investigate the roles of PaaG and YdbU in biosynthesis of MCL-PHA. Inactivation of paaG and ydbU genes in fadB mutant E. coli harboring Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 phaC2 gene reduced the MCL-PHA production to 0.16 and 0.16 PHA g/L, respectively from 2 g/L of sodium decanoate, which are much lower than 0.43 PHA g/L obtained with fadB mutant E. coli WB101 harboring the phaC2 gene. Also, we identified new FadB homologous enzyme YgfG, and examined its roles by overexpression of ygfG and construction of ygfG fadB double mutant E. coli WB113.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.761-768
• /
• 2007

Serratia proteamaculans HY-3 isolated from the digestive tract of a spider produces an extracellular protease named arazyme, with an estimated molecular mass of 51.5 kDa. The purified enzyme was characterized as having high activities at wide pH and temperature ranges. We further characterized biochemical features of the enzymatic reactions under various reaction conditions. The protease efficiently hydrolyzed a broad range of protein substrates including albumin, keratin, and collagen. The dependence of enzymatic activities on the presence of metal ions such as calcium and zinc indicated that the enzyme is a metalloprotease, together with the previous observation that the proteolytic activity of the enzyme was not inhibited by aspartate, cysteine, or serine protease inhibitors, but strongly inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline and EDTA. The araA gene encoding the exoprotease was isolated as a 5.6 kb BamHI fragment after PCR amplification using degenerate primers and subsequent Southern hybridization. The nucleotide sequence revealed that the deduced amino acid sequences shared extensive similarity with those of the serralysin family of metalloproteases from other enteric bacteria. A gene(inh) encoding a putative protease inhibitor was also identified immediately adjacent to the araA structural gene.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.22 no.12
• /
• pp.1636-1643
• /
• 2012

Enzymatic pre-bleaching by modification of pulp fibers with xylanases is an attractive approach to reduce the consumption of toxic bleaching chemicals in the paper industry. In this study, an alkaliphilic endoxylanase gene was isolated from metagenomic DNA of a structurally stable thermophilic lignocellulose-degrading microbial consortium using amplification with conserved glycosyl hydrolase family 10 primers and subsequent genome walking. The full-length xylanase showed 78% sequence identity to an endo-${\beta}$-1,4-xylanase of Clostridium phytofermentans and was expressed in a mature form with an N-terminal His6 tag fusion in Escherichia coli. The recombinant xylanase Xyn3F was thermotolerant and alkaliphilic, working optimally at $65-70^{\circ}C$ with an optimal pH at 9-10 and retaining >80% activity at pH 9, $60^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. Xyn3F showed a $V_{max}$ of 2,327 IU/mg and $K_m$ of 3.5 mg/ml on birchwood xylan. Pre-bleaching of industrial eucalyptus pulp with no prior pH adjustment (pH 9) using Xyn3F at 50 IU/g dried pulp led to 4.5-5.1% increase in final pulp brightness and 90.4-102.4% increase in whiteness after a single-step hypochlorite bleaching over the untreated pulp, which allowed at least 20% decrease in hypochlorite consumption to achieve the same final bleaching indices. The alkaliphilic xylanase is promising for application in an environmentally friendly bleaching step of kraft and soda pulps with no requirement for pH adjustment, leading to improved economic feasibility of the process.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.64-75
• /
• 2003

Aptamers are functional nucleic acids that can specially bind to proteins, peptides, amino acids. nucleotides, drugs, vitamins and other organic and inorganic compounds. The aptamers are identified from random DNA or RNA libraries by a SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential amplification) process. As aptamers have the advantage, and potential ability to be released from the limitations of antibodies, they are attractive to a wide range of therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Aptamers, with a high-affinity and specificity, could fulfil molecular the recognition needs of various fields in biotechnology. In this work, we reviewed some aptamer Selection techniques, properties, medical applications of their molecules and their biotechnological applications, such as ELONA (enzyme linked oligonucleotide assay), flow cytometry, biosensors, electrophoresis, chromatography and microarrays.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.32-35
• /
• 2008

The Suminoe oyster, Crassostrea ariakensis, occurs in estuaries where rivers meet seawater. In Korea, it is one of the most popular fisheries resources in the Nam River and Sumjin River. However, the genetic identification of this species has been questioned, because specimens are often mis-identified as other species. To identify the species, we conducted polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS-1) region, followed by digestion with the restriction enzyme HaeIII. Restriction profiles for oysters collected from Korea, Japan, and China (north and south) were determined by comparing the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of the ITS-1 regions. Our study verified that the oysters collected from Korea were C. ariakensis based on the PCR-RFLP patterns. These results emphasize the value of molecular markers for identifying morphologically uncertain species.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
• /
• v.30 no.B
• /
• pp.61-68
• /
• 2010

Three chitinase genes (chiA, chiB, and chiC) were cloned into E. coli by PCR amplification from Serratia marcescens KFRI314. The sizes of cloned chitinase genes were 1692 bp, 1500 bp, and 1443 bp which correspond to 563, 499, and 480 amino acids, respectively. Recombinant chitinases were overexpressed using pHCEIA expression vector and purified to homogenity. The molecular weights of chitinases were about 60kDa, 50 kDa, 52 kDa, respectively. Optimum pHs were around pH 5~6 and optimum temperatures were $45{\sim}50^{\circ}C$ while 90% of enzyme activities were stable up to $50^{\circ}C$. The specific activities of ChiA, ChiB, and ChiC were 233.1, 278.8, $111.3{\mu}mol\;(min)^{-1}\;mg^{-1}$ against colloidal chitin. From experiments using TLC and fluorescent substrate analogues, it was demonstrated that ChiA was endo-chitinase while ChiB and ChiC were chitobiosidase.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.504-510
• /
• 1993

Human insulin gene is consisted of the polymorphic region with the repeating units, the regulatory sequence, the structural gene including the intervening sequence, and 3'-flanking region. The polymerase chain reaction, which amplifies the target DNA between two specific primers, has been performed for the amplification of human insulin gene and simple one-step cloning of it into Escherichia coli. Out of 1727 nuceotides compared, only 4 sites were variable: 5'-regulatory region(G2101$\rightarrow$AGG); IVS I(T2401$\rightarrow$A); Exon II(C2411 deletion); IVS II(A2740 dejection). The variations at the G2101 and T2401 were the same as those found in one American allele. The other two variations were observed only in the specific Korean allele. And, the enzyme digestion patterns among normal, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus were the same. On the other hand, PCR method showed the possibility of the quickaccess for the polymorphic region in terms of the restriction fragment length of polymorphism.