• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2015

A universal DNA barcoding for agricultural noxious weeds is a powerful technique for species identification without morphological knowledge, by using short sections of DNA from a specific region of the genome. Two standard barcode markers, chloroplast rbcL and matK, and a supplementary nuclear ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region were used to examine the effectiveness of the markers for Pooideae barcoding using 163 individuals of 29 taxa across 16 genera of Korean Pooideae. The rbcL and ITS revealed a good level of amplification and sequencing success while matK did not. Barcode gaps were 78.6% for rbcL, 96.2% for matK, and 91.7% for ITS, respectively. Resolving powers were 89.3% for rbcL, 92.3% for matK, and 79.1% for ITS. The matK obtained the best both barcode gap and resolving power. However, it should be considered not to employ matK for Pooideae barcode because of low rate of PCR amplification and sequencing success. As a single DNA marker, rbcL and ITS were reasonable for Pooideae barcode. Barcode gap and resolving power were increased when ITS was incorporated into the rbcL. The barcode sequences were deposited to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database for public use.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.267-273
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• 1993

We screened promoters inducible by superoxide radical from Escherichia coli. For this. we constructed random promoter library from E. coli MG 1655 using a promoter-probing plasmid. pJAC4. Six hundred and sixty clones in this library were classified based on their promoter strength by ampicillin gradient plate assay. Three hundred and eighty three clones with relatively weak to medium promoter strength were selected and then screened for their inducibility by superoxide radical on ampicillin gradient plate containing paraquat. Three clones (clones 5. 15 and 34) were detected to be induced by paraquat treatment and the level of induction were between 1.4 and 4 folds. Comparison of nucleotide sequences of the cloned promoter fragment with registered sequences in GENBANK and EMBL databases suggests that the cloned DNA fragments have not been yet characterized in E. coli. Transcription start sites in these clones were determined by rrimer extension and S I nuclease protection analysis. S 1 analysis of clones 5 and IS indicated that the mRNA levels were increased by paraquat treatment. Especially. clone 5 \vas found to have two transcription start sites. the upstream start site of which was selectively used by paraquat treatment. Searching for promoter clements. we found that only the downstream promoter of clone 5 has -10 and - 35 promoter elements recognized by RNA polymerase ($E\sigma^{70}$) and the others have no conserved promoter elements. This suggests that these superoxideinducible promoters may require transcription initiation protein(s) other than $E\sigma^{70}$.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2001

In order to investigate the pathogenicity and development of differential identification technique in the Yersinia species and other entericbacteria, we isolated 5 strains of Y.pseudotuberculosis from spring water sites in Seoul. The biochemical characteristics of isolated strains revealed that indole, VP($25^{\circ}C$, $37^{\circ}C$), $H_2S$, phenylalanine, lysine, arginine, ornithine, gas from glucose, lactose, sucrose, sorbitol, oxidase and motility($37^{\circ}C$) were all negative and urease, glucose, mannitol, salicin, catalase and motility($25^{\circ}C$) were all positive. To detect the causative agent of pseudotuberculosis(Y.pseudotuberculosis), we carried out a study using a PCR with inv primers complementary to the pathogenic region and found that all strains were positive, this revealed that strains from spring waters were pathogenic. Also 16S rDNA for total 5 strains of Y. pseudotuberculosis were amplified and a stretch of approximately 1,450 nucleotides were sequenced and analyzed. The 16S rDNA nucleotide sequence homologies among Yersinia species ranged 97.5% to 100% and between Y.pseudotuberculosis and other entericbacteria they ranged 93.0% to 95.1%. The Phylogenetic tree generated from the sequence analysis of the 16S rDNA gene showed 3 coherent clusters that could be separated into Y.pseudotuberculsis strains, some Yersinia species strains and other entericbacteria strains.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.45-57
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• 2009

The molecular genetic characterization of Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV) Yangsan strain (ADVYS), a Korean isolate, was investigated by analyzing the electrophoresis patterns and the physical maps of the viral DNA digested with various endonucleases. To establish DNA library for ADV-YS, twelve major BamHI restricted segments were cloned. Each location of the segments in the ADV genome was determined by sequence comparison with the sequences reported in Genbank and those sequences of the both termini of the segments. Physical maps were constructed based on the electrophoresis patterns of the digested viral DNA by restriction endonuclease and the results of Southern blot analyses with various DIG labeled probes originated from those of enzyme restricted segments of virulent (Shope) and avirulent (Bartha) strain. Comparing ADV-YS with a standard strain of Kaplan in the maps of restriction enzymes, following major respects were identified: (i) disappearance of BamHI restriction site between the first and second BamHI segments, (ii) creation of the BamHI restriction site in the fifth segment, and (iii) generation of the BglII site in the unique short (US) region. The genome of ADV-YS also contains a type 2 herpesvirus DNA molecule (in which the US region only inverts itself relative to the unique longregion) like all other ADV strains except Norden strain(type3), analyzed up to date. The size of the ADV genome estimated from the sizes of the restriction enzyme fragments, was approximately 145.3 kb (BamHI) or 145.4 kb (BglII). BamHI enzyme cleavage patterns were compared among the five Korean ADV isolates: Yangsan, Yongin, Dangjin, Jincheon and Iksan strains. Difference either in the number or in the size of the DNA fragments, suspected regions of termini of IR and TR, could be detected among all five strains.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.243-248
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• 2015

Cirsium chanroenicum, Cirsium nipponicum, and Cirsium schantarense plants were collected from Changwon, Ulleungdo, and Dooryoon Mountain, respectively. Cirsium japonicum plants were also collected from various locations in Korea. Genomic DNA was prepared from the collected plants and used for amplification of the 18S rDNA, ITS1, 5.8S rDNA, ITS2, and part of 28S rDNA. The ITS1 and ITS2 sequences of the PCR products and from other Cirsium plants reported previously were aligned and compared. Cirsium chanroenicum, Cirsium nipponicum, and Cirsium setidens formed distinct branches on the neighbor-joining tree. Cirsium japonicum and Cirsium pendulum appeared to be close to one another, but Cirsium pendulum plants were clearly clustered in an independent clade. Cirsium shantarense was clustered with the other Cirsium japonicum plants. The most important characteristic that distinguished these two species was the direction of the flowers. All Cirsium japonicum flowers point upward, but Cirsium shantarense flowers point downward. Other than this feature, these two species are almost indistinguishable morphologically. Cirsium chanroenicum is indistinguishable morphologically from Cirsium setidens, but it still formed a distinct group on the neighbor-joining tree based on ITS sequences, suggesting that this species is worth considering as an independent species. Silymarin production of the collected plants was analyzed and appeared to be quite high, indicating that the ability to synthesize silymarin is common to all Cirsium plants analyzed so far.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.375-382
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• 2005

The American bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana was imported from Japan for farming for the human consumption in 1970's and introduced populations were a great threat to native habitats in the pond and lake ecosystem. However, it is thought that the population of bullfrog has rapidly declined for past years in Korea. In this study, we investigated the intra-genetic diversity of R. catesbeiana habitated in Korea. The nucleotide sequences of 1,215bp mitochondrial ND1/tRNA region in bullfrogs sampled from 5 sites in Jeollanamdo were analyzed and compared to the original sequence of R. catesbeiara reported in Genbank. The nucleotide similarity between Korean and North American bullfrog was ranged from 98.7% to 100% based on kimura-2-parameter distance. In addition, bullfrogs analyzed in this study were clustered into two groups with one including Jangheung and the other including Gwangju populations in the neighbor-joining tree. North American R. catesbeiana was grouped in Jangheung cluster, indicating that there is the very low genetic difference between Korean and North American populations. The maximum parsimony tree in which North American R. catesbeiana was set as an outgroup suggests that Jangheung group represents the introduced population to Korea. Taken together, the results indicate that the population of R. catesbeiana in Korea has not segregated geographically yet, after the introduction.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.35-51
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to prove the analgesic effects of apitoxin and its mechanism via jaw-opening reflex(JOR) and measuring expression of mRNA in Phospholipase and Tryptophan hydroxylase(TPH) using RT-PCR. The experiments were carried out on Sprague-Dawley rats(300-400g) and mastocytoma(P-185 HTR) for JOR and RT-PCR, respectively. Rats anesthetized with thiopental sodium (80mg/kg) were used in the Tooth Pulp stimulation induced JOR. The amplitude of a digastric electromyogram (dEMG) was recorded during the stimulation at an intensity of 1.5 times the threshold for JOR. Apitoxin used in this experiment was diluted with normal saline by 1:1000. Apitoxin was injected intravenously into the test group while normal saline to the control group. However, it was injected directly into the cell of mastocytoma. We referred to base sequence registered in Genbank in designing primers for RT-PCR. The results were as follows; (1)Compared with control group, analgesic effect started to show right after Sprague-Dawely rats were treated with apitoxin($71.50{\pm}8.08$) and lasted for 50 minutes. (2)As a result of the experiment of RT-PCR, we witnessed significant changes in the degree of expression of phospholipase or rate-limiting enzyme of biosynthesis of prostaglandins with $10{\mu}g/ml$ apitoxin.($31.74{\pm}18.98%$, P<0.05) (3)As a result of the experiment of RT-PCR, we witnessed significant changes in the degree of expression of TPH or rate-limiting enzyme in biosynthesis of serotonin with $10{\mu}g/ml$ apitoxin.($131.37{\pm}16.87%$, P<0.05). These results suggest that $10{\mu}g/ml$ apitoxin have the most analgesic effects. This study showed that apitoxin has analgesic effects and held good for 50 minutes. The injection of apitoxin has brought out changes in the degree of expression of phospholipase and TPH. These results strongly suggest that analgesic mechanism by apitoxin is closely related to prostaglandins and serotonin.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1529-1535
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• 2018

The number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is increasing rapidly while the discovery rate of new antibiotics is in decline. A systematic study is therefore necessary to investigate which bacteria are resistant to medically important antibiotics and how high that resistance is. To that end, this study aimed to analyze which bacteria demonstrated resistance to ampicillin, one of the currently most-widely used medical antibiotics. Water samples were collected from the Changwon-Cheon that runs through Changwon City and from the pond in front of the dormitory building at Changwon University. Hundreds of ampicillin-resistant colonies were obtained and 22 morphologically distinct examples were chosen for further study. These bacteria were identified by amplifying their 16S rRNA genes and comparing those sequences with data in GenBank. The bacteria was identified as belonging to 10 families, 12 genera, and 17 species, and all were able to grow in the presence of $50{\mu}g/ml$ ampicillin while seven showed growth at ampicillin concentrations as high as 1.5 mg/ml.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2021

The Chironomidae is a benthic macroinvertebrate commonly found in freshwater ecosystems, along with Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera, which can be used for environmental health assessments. There are approximately 15,000 species of Chironomidae worldwide, but there are limited studies on species identification of domestic Chironomidae larvae. In the present study, we carried out species classification of the Chironomidae larvae that found in Jeju's tap water purification plants using morphological characteristics and genetic identification based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of the mitochondrial DNA. Body shape, mentum, antenna, mandible in the head capsule, and claws were observed in the larvae for morphological classification. Analysis of 17 larvae collected from faucets and fire hydrants of domestic tap water purification plants revealed the presence of two species, including 14 Orthocladius tamarutilus and 3 Paratrichocladius tammaater. These results will aid the use of the criteria information about species classification of the Chironomidae for water quality management in water purification plants and diversity monitoring of freshwater environments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1063-1069
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• 2020

Two crucian carp species (Carassius auratus and C. cuvieri) inhabit Lake Yedang in South Korea, and C. auratus is known to be native to Korea. Classification of these two freshwater fish species is often confused because of their morphological similarity. To distinguish the two species, we conducted phylogenetic and population genetic analyses of C. auratus and C. cuvieri based on their mitochondrial DNA sequences of the cytochrome b gene (CYTB). We also compared our partial CYTB sequence (<1,056 bp) with 10 Chinese, nine Japanese, and two Russian crucian carp fishes. The results of our phylogenetic analysis showed that C. auratus and C. cuvieri were clearly divided into two phylogroups. The nucleotide diversity (π) of C. auratus from Korea, China, and Japan showed a range of 0.146%~0.421%, while the range of π of C. cuvieri from Korea and Japan was lower than those of C. auratus (0.0%~0.054%). Moreover, the comparison of CYTB divergence among crucian carp fishes in China, Japan, and Korea indicated that Korean Carassius fishes were distantly related to those from China and Japan, with two exceptions: the pairwise Fst value between Korean C. auratus and northern Chinese C. auratus was not significantly different. In addition, no significant genetic divergence between Korean and Japanese C. cuvieri was detected. We conclude that, despite the morphological similarities, C. auratus and C. cuvieri should be considered as separate freshwater fish resources in conservation efforts for genetic diversity.