• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2011

Expression analysis of development-related genes was conducted using differential screening of 6-month-old [18M(-), 6M-18M] specific and 18-month-old [6M(-), 18M-6M] specific subtracted cDNA libraries constructed by subtractive hybridization using skeletal muscle of 6- and 18-month-old dark-banded rockfish Sebastes inermis. A total 202 cDNA clones displaying different expression levels in each stage were obtained; among them, 32 clones showing up-regulation were finally selected for further expression analysis. We sequenced the clones and analyzed individual sequences. Genes expressed specifically in 6-month-old skeletal muscle were identified as myosin, adenylate kinase, calsequestrin, dystrobrevin beta, and diphosphate kinase-Z1. Genes showing strong expression in 18-month-old rockfish were identified as desmin, TGFBR2 (transforming growth factor-beta receptor), muscle-type creatine kinase, and cathepsin D. Expression of these genes was checked further in 6-18-30-42 month-old dark-banded rock fish. Rapid reduction of expression was observed in dystrobrevin beta and diphosphate kinase. However, expression of creatine kinase (muscle type) and cathepsin D increased as dark-banded rockfish grew, and remained even after 18 months. The results reported here demonstrate that genes related to muscles contract are expressed at an early stage of development, and genes controlling energy in muscles are predominantly expressed at a late developmental stage.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3057-3063
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• 2014

Background: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been intensively studied. The gold standard for ALK detection is FISH, but this is not routinely conducted in clinical practice, so that the IHC method has a role. The aim of this study was to identify the incidence of ALK rearrangement and risk or prognostic factors for ALK positivity using both of IHC and FISH methods. Materials and Methods: From January 2008 to December 2012, 267 completely resected NSCLC patients in Chiang Mai University Hospital were enrolled in this study. Clinical and pathological variables and outcomes of treatment were retrospectively reviewed. IHC and FISH were used to evaluate ALK rearrangement. Sensitivity and specificity of IHC were analyzed. Multivariable analysis was used to identify clinico-pathological correlations with positive results of IHC and clinical outcomes. Results: Twenty-two (8.2%) of 267 specimens were IHC-positive for ALK with intense cytoplasmic staining, whereas only 10 (3.8%) were FISH-positive. Sensitivity, specificity and the positive likelihood ratio with IHC were 80.0%, 94.9%, and 15.8 respectively. Age less than 55 years (RR 4.4, 95%CI 1.78-10.73, p value=0.001) and presence of visceral pleural invasion (VPI) (RR 2.9, 95%CI 1.21-6.78, p value =0.017) were identified as risk factors for ALK rearrangement with FISH. There were no statistically significant differences in other clinical and pathological variables. ALK rearrangement was not a prognostic factor for tumor recurrence or overall survival. Conclusions: The incidences of ALK positivity in completely resected NSCLCs in northern Thailand were 8.2% by IHC and 3.8% by FISH. IHC with mouse monoclonal, Ventana D5F3 antibody can be used as a screening tool before FISH method because of high specificity and high positive likelihood ratio. Age less than 55 years and VPI are risk factors for ALK positivity.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.188-195
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• 2013

This study was carried out for the downy mildew resistant test between 2010 and 2012. A set of 22 accessions belonging to 2 wild species and 20 varieties of the genus Cucumis, originating mainly from the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) Gene Centre, was evaluated for resistance to Pseudoperonospora cubensis, causal agent of cucumber downy mildew. The youngest fully expanded true leaves were found suitable for in vitro screening. Both leaf discs and full leaves could be kept fresh longer when applying 0.2 ${\mu}g/ml$ of gibberellin acid (GA). The incubation temperature of $20^{\circ}C$ was found to be the most suitable temperature for symptom development comparing with 15 and $25^{\circ}C$. Symptom development was faster when contact diseased leaf discs (2 weeks after inoculation) on to fresh leaf samples comparing with using conidia suspension ($10^5$ spores/ml). The numbers of spots in 'C-19' were lower than other varieties. 'C-19' variety was also showed the highest level of downy mildew resistant at $20^{\circ}C$ chamber in 6 days after inoculating with pathogen and displayed 0.90 (under 10%) of the infected rate. However, other varieties displayed susceptible in the pathogen sprayed plots. 'C-19' was the most resistant variety and no lesion was observed. Based on all data, 'C-19' can be a useful variety for the prevention of downy mildew.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.687-700
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• 2014

Rice blast (Magnaporthe oryza B.) is one of the most important diseases in rice that causing great yield losses every year around the world. It is important to screen valuable genetic resources for improving blast resistance. This study was conducted to identify the blast resistance in 279 Korean rice landraces using blast nursery tests and isolate inoculum screening. The results showed that 11 landrace accessions found to be resistant to rice blast in blast nursery and inoculation screening tests and the degree of lesions in most accessions showed that they were susceptible to reactions. In order to find the distribution of blast resistant genes, a molecular survey was conducted to identify the presence of major blast resistance (R) gene in 279 Korean landraces. The results revealed that their frequency distribution was Pik-m (36.2%), Piz (25.4%), Pit (13.6%), and Pik (10%). Besides, the frequency distribution of Piz-t, Pii, Pik-m/Pik-p, Pi-39(t), Pib, Pi-d(t)2, Pita/Pita-2 and Pi-ta genes were identified as less than 10%. The results did not consist with the reactions against blast diseases between genotypes and phenotypic part of the nursery tests and isolate inoculation. For concluding these results, we used genome-wide SSR markers that have closely been located with resistance genes. The PCoA analysis showed that the landrace accessions formed largely two distinct groups according to their degree of blast resistance. By comparing genetic diversities using polymorphic information contents (PIC) value among the resistant, total and susceptible landraces, we found that PIC values decreased in four SSR markers and increased in six markers in the resistant accessions, which showed contrary to total and susceptible groups. These regions might be linked to resistance alleles. In this study, we evaluated the degree of blast resistance and the information about the distribution of rice blast resistant genes in Korean rice landraces. This study might be the basis for association analysis of blast resistance in rice.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2011

Background: Although the gold standard method for research trials on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations has been direct sequencing, this approach has the limitations of low sensitivity and of being time-consuming. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-mediated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) clamping is known to be a more sensitive detection tool. The aim of this study was to compare the detection rate of $EGFR$ mutation and EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) responsiveness according to $EGFR$ mutation status using both methodologies. Methods: Clinical specimens from 112 NSCLC patients were analyzed for $EGFR$ mutations in exons 18, 19, 20, and 21. All clinical data and tumor specimens were obtained from 3 university hospitals in Korea. After genomic DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded tissue specimens, both PNA-mediated PCR clamping and direct-sequencing were performed. The results and clinical response to $EGFR$-TKIs were compared. Results: Sequencing revealed a total of 35 (22.9%) mutations: 8 missense mutations in exon 21 and 26 deletion mutations in exon 19. PNA-mediated PCR clamping showed the presence of genomic alterations in 45 (28.3%) samples, including the 32 identified by sequencing plus 13 additional samples (6 in exon 19 and 7 in exon 21). Conclusion: PNA-mediated PCR clamping is simple and rapid, as well as a more sensitive method for screening of genomic alterations in $EGFR$ gene compared to direct sequencing. This data suggests that PNA-mediated PCR clamping should be implemented as a useful screening tool for detection of $EGFR$ mutations in clinical setting.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2022

Purpose: Detection of abnormal metabolites in plasma amino acid (PAA) and urine organic acid (UOA) analyses has been used to diagnose clinical mitochondrial diseases, such as Leigh syndrome. In this study, the diagnostic values and effectiveness of PAA and UOA analyses were reviewed. Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with Leigh syndrome who were diagnosed between 2003 and 2018 in a single tertiary care center. Through a whole mitochondrial sequencing and nuclear DNA associated mitochondrial gene panel analysis, 19 patients were found to be positive for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutation-associated Leigh syndrome, and 57 patients were negative. Their PAA and UOA analyses results were then compared. Results: In the comparison of the PAA and UOA analyses results between the two groups, no abnormal metabolites showed obvious differences between the mtDNA mutation-positive Leigh syndrome and mtDNA mutation-negative Leigh syndrome groups. Conclusion: PAA and UOA analyses are inappropriate test methods for diagnosing Leigh syndrome or screening of mtDNA mutation-associated Leigh syndrome. However, UOA analysis might still be a suitable screening test for Leigh syndrome.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.552-558
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• 2023

Levulinic acid (LA) is a valuable chemical used in fuel additives, fragrances, and polymers. In this study, we proposed possible biosynthetic pathways for LA production from lignin and poly(ethylene terephthalate). We also created a genetically encoded biosensor responsive to LA, which can be used for screening and evolving the LA biosynthesis pathway genes, by employing an LvaR transcriptional regulator of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 to express a fluorescent reporter gene. The LvaR regulator senses LA as a cognate ligand. The LA biosensor was first examined in an Escherichia coli strain and was found to be non-functional. When the host of the LA biosensor was switched from E. coli to P. putida KT2440, the LA biosensor showed a linear correlation between fluorescence intensity and LA concentration in the range of 0.156-10 mM LA. In addition, we determined that 0.156 mM LA was the limit of LA detection in P. putida KT2440 harboring an LA-responsive biosensor. The maximal fluorescence increase was 12.3-fold in the presence of 10 mM LA compared to that in the absence of LA. The individual cell responses to LA concentrations reflected the population-averaged responses, which enabled high-throughput screening of enzymes and metabolic pathways involved in LA biosynthesis and sustainable production of LA in engineered microbes.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.250-258
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• 2023

Freshwater jellyfish, a type of jellyfish exclusively found in freshwater, has a limited number of species but is found globally. However, their ecology and causes of occurrence are largely unknown. Therefore, understanding the distribution of polyps, which produce the larvae of freshwater jellyfish, can provide important data for comprehending their ecology. This study aims to explore the COI gene of freshwater jellyfish using environmental DNA from the microbial film in the Miho River system. Among the 12 survey points in the Miho River watershed, genetic material of freshwater jellyfish was detected in 8 points, mainly located upstream near reservoirs. These genetic materials were identified as genes of the well-known freshwater jellyfish species, Craspedacusta sowerbii. Notably, the C. sowerbii genes found in the Miho River watershed survey points were closely related to a species previously discovered in Italy. Consequently, utilizing environmental DNA to explore the genetic traces of freshwater jellyfish enables rapid screening of areas with a high likelihood of freshwater jellyfish occurrence. This approach is deemed to provide crucial information for understanding the distribution and ecology of freshwater jellyfish in Korea.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.195-205
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• 2016

This study was performed to select single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to the body burden of heavy metals in Koreans, to provide Korean allele frequencies of selected SNPs, and to assess the difference in allele frequencies with other ethnicities. The candidate-gene approach method and genome-wide association screening were used to select SNPs related to the body burden of heavy metals. Genotyping analysis of the final 192 SNPs selected was performed on 1,483 subjects using the VeraCode Goldengate assay. Allele frequencies differences and genetic differentiations between the Korean population and Chinese (CHB), Japanese (JPT), Caucasian (CEU), and African (YIR) populations were tested by Fisher's exact test and fixation index ($F_{ST}$), respectively. The Korean population was genetically similar to the CHB and JPT populations ($F_{ST}$ < 0.05, for all SNPs in both populations). However, a significant difference in the allele frequencies between the Korean and CEU and YIR populations were observed in 99 SNPs (60.7%) and 120 SNPs (73.6%), respectively. Ten (6.1%) and 26 (16.0%) SNPs had genetic differentiation ($F_{ST}$ > 0.05) among the Korean-CEU and Korean-YIR comparisons, respectively. The SNP with the largest $F_{ST}$ value between the Korean and African populations was cystathionine-${\beta}$-synthase rs234709 ($F_{ST}$: KOR-YIR, 0.309; KOR-CEU, 0.064). Our study suggests that interethnic differences exist in SNPs associated with heavy metals of Koreans, and it should be considered in future studies that address ethnic differences in heavy-metal concentrations in the body and genetic susceptibility to the body burden of heavy metals.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.621-627
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• 2012

Assessment was made of the effects of Aralia cordata Thunb (DH) on the cell proliferation, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA gene expression and nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. For the screening of anti-inflammatory activities, ethanolic extracts of 55 species of traditional herbal medicines were examined for inhibitory effects, and it was confirmed that DH possessed inhibitory effects on NO production. As a result, DH significantly decreased the production of NO and iNOS gene expression at a concentration of $250{\mu}g/mL$. The chloroformsoluble fractionates have the strongest No synthesis inhibitory effect. It is presumed that the inhibition of NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells by DH components occurred via the modulation of iNOS and DH, and that the active compound from DH may be useful for therapeutic management of inflammatory-associate diseases.