• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.65-70
• /
• 1998

Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) plays a central role in the intracellular degradation of neutral lipids derived from plasma lipoproteins. In this study, we investigated the missense mutation within exon 2 of human LAL gene changing of codon -6 of prepeptide from threonine to proline. The Thr-6Pro mutation was detected by the HaeIII restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). We analyzed the mutation in subjects with 221 unrelated randomly selected control samples and 86 patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in Korea. We observed that mutation is present with high frequency in Korea compared to other populations studied previously. The frequency of PP homozygote in the FH group was observed considerably higher than that of control. However, there was no significant difference of genotype frequency between two groups. These results, together with the fact that plasma lipids and lipoproteins levels between genotypes showed no statistical difference, suggest that the Thr-6Pro mutation in the LAL gene may have no association with the increased risk of FH development.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.137-144
• /
• 2001

In order to investigate the diversity of bacterial community in the mud flat of Sunchon Bay, Chunnam province, diversity of amplified 16S rDNA was examined. Total DNA was extracted from sediment soils and 16S rDNAs were amplified using PCR primers based on the universally conserved sequences in bacteria. Clonal libraries were constructed and 111 clones were examined by amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) using HaeIII. Clones were clustered based on restriction patterns using computer program, GelCompar II. One hundred different RFLP types were detected from 111 clones. The 20 clones were selected and sequenced according to dendrograms derived from ARDRA, to cover most of the bacterial diversity in the clone libraries. None of the clones were identical to any representatives in the Ribosomal Database Project small subunit RNA databases and GenBank. All sequences showed between 77 and 96.8% similarity to the known 16s rRNA sequence from cultured organisms. The 20 clones sequenced fell into seven major lineages of the domain Bacteria: alpha-, delta-, gamma-Proteobacteria, low G+C Gram positive bacteria, high G+C Gram positive bacteria, Sphingobacteria (Cytophaga) and Cyanobacteria (chloroplast). Among the clones, the Proteobacteria were dominant.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.88-95
• /
• 2006

Analysis of molecular nature of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) could be powerful marker for anthropological studies of modern populations. While population genetic studies on mtDNA have been reported for several ethnic groups, no such study has been documented for the Korean population. We surveyed mtDNA polymorphisms in the HVS I of noncoding D-loop region and its upstream region from 430 unrelated healthy Korean population by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and direct sequencing analysis. PCR product with 2,790 bp spanning the specific mtDNA region (mt13715-16504) was subjected to RFLP analysis using 6 restriction enzyme (Hinf I, Hae III, Alu I, Dde I, Mbo I, Rsa I). On the PAUP analysis of PCR-RFLP results, 38 mtDNA haplotypes (Hap 1-38) were detected in the Korean populations, which were classified into 11 haplogroups (Grp 1-11) of related haplotypes encompassing all 38 haplotypes. In comparison of sequencing data with Anderson's reference sequence, the transition type was more prevalent than the transversion type. Insertions or deletions were not found. In addition, three of the polymorphic sites (A16240C, A16351G, G16384A) in HVS-I region are determined newly. The polymorphic sites were distributed randomly in the region, though the frequency at each site was variable. Thus, this research might be required for the genealogical study of Orientals.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.193-204
• /
• 2020

Sixteen acetic acid bacteria (AAB) were isolated from blueberries and citric fruits of the Salto Grande region (Concordia, Entre Rios, Argentina) using enrichment techniques and plate isolation. Enrichment broths containing ethanol and acetic acid enabled maximum AAB recovery, since these components promote their growth. Biochemical tests allowed classification of the bacteria at genus level. PCR-RFLP of the 16S rRNA and PCR-RFLP of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer allowed further classification at the species level; this required treatment of the amplified products of 16S and 16S-23S ITS ribosomal genes with the following restriction enzymes: AluI, RsaI, HaeIII, MspI, TaqI, CfoI, and Tru9I. C7, C8, A80, A160, and A180 isolates were identified as Gluconobacter frateurii; C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, A70, and A210 isolates as Acetobacter pasteurianus; A50 and A140 isolates as Acetobacter tropicalis; and C9 isolate as Acetobacter syzygii. The bacteria identified by 16S rRNA PCR-RFLP were validated by 16S-23S PCR-RFLP; however, the C1 isolate showed different restriction patterns during identification and validation. Partial sequencing of the 16S gene resolved the discrepancy.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.888-891
• /
• 2008

Twenty-three fungal strains were isolated from meju that had originated from the Sunchang province, the famous location for making fermented soybean foods in Korea. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA (ITS-RFLP) was applied to differentiate the isolated fungal strains. First, the ITS region by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers was amplified and then cleaved the products with different restriction enzymes. Cleavage of the amplified fragments with the restriction enzymes AluI, HaeIII, HhaI, and TaqI revealed extensive polymorphisms. The ITS-RFLP results highly correlated with ITS sequence analysis. All of the 23 fungal strains were classified into 5 groups by ITS-RFLP analysis. Aspergillus oryzae was the major fungal strain isolated from Sunchang meju (12 out of 23), while Aspergillus fumigatus was the next most frequently isolated strain (7 out of 23). In contrast, it was found that Fusarium asiaticum, Aspergillus sydowii, and Arthrinium sp. were the minor fungal strains in meju.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.72-79
• /
• 2001

The effect of phenol on the change of bacterial community in the effluent water from a wastewater treatment plant was analyzed by PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The fragments of 16S rDNA were amplified by PCR with bacterial primers, where one of the primers was biotinylated at the 5'-end. After digestion with restriction enzymes, HaeIII and AluI, the biotinylated terminal restriction tragments (T-RFs) of the digested products were selectively isolated by using streptavidin paramagnetic particles. The single-stranded DNA of T-RFs was separated by electrophoresis on a polyacrylamide gel and detected by silver staining technique. When 10 standard strains were analyzed by our method, each strain had a unique T-RF which corresponded to the calculated size from the known sequences of RDP database. The T-RFLP fingerprint generated from the effluent water was very complex, and the predominant T-RFs corresponded to members of the genus Acinetobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas. In addition, the perturbation of bacterial community was observed when phenol was added to the sample at the final concentration of 250 $l^{-1}$. The number of T-RFs increased and the major bacterial population could be assigned to the genus Acinetobacter, Comamonas, Cytophaga and Pseudomonas. A intense band assigned to the putative genera of Acinetobacter and Cytophaga was eluted, amplified, and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the T-RF showed close relationship with the sequence of Acinetobacter junii.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.103-110
• /
• 2006

T-RFLP analysis and clone sequencing analysis based on bacterial 16S rDNA were conducted to assess bacterial community structure and diversity in Zoysia japonica soil treated with liquid fertilizer containing amino acids(LFcAA) after spray with herbicide. The results of T-RFLP (terminal restriction fragment length poly-morphism) analysis using restriction enzyme Hae III showed that the T-RFs of various size appeared evenly in the 32 clones of KD3 and 38 clones of KD4 respectively that had been treated with liquid fertilizer containing amino acid(LFcAA) compared to 23 clones of KD2 hat had not been treated with LFcAA. The microbial com- munity structure in KD2 appeared less diverse than those in KD3 and KD4. Analysis of partial sequences for 110 clones from KDI (control), KD2 (non-treated), KD3 (LFcAA 1X), KD4 (LFcAA 2X), respectively, revealed that most bacteria were related with uncultured bacteria in a 16S rDNA sequence similarity range of 91-99% through blast search. Otherwise, the other clones were members of proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Act-inobacteria, Sphingobacteria and Planctomyces groups. Especially in KD4, members of Alpha Proteobacteria, Rhizobiales, Sphigomonadales, Caulobacterales, Gamma Proteobacteria, the genus Pseudomonas, Betapro-teobacteria, Nitrosomonadales and genus Nitrosospira appeared to be dominant. In addition, Acidobacteria group, Actinobacteria group, Planctomycetacia and Sphingobacteria were also shown. The microbial com-munity structure in Z. japonica soil sprayed with herbicide was affected by LFcAA.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.139-144
• /
• 2003

Since water borne infection causes acute diseases and results in spread of diseases by secondary infection, the prevention is very important. Therefore, it is necessary to have a method that is rapid and effective to monitor pathogenic bacteria in drinking water. In this study, we employed a systematic method, Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis, to develop an effective monitoring system for possible bacterial contaminants in drinking water. For this purpose, PCR primers were derived from 992 bp region of the 16s rRNA gene that is highly conserved through the different species of prokaryotes. To test whether the PCR primers designed are indeed useful for detecting all the possible microbial contaminants in the water, the primers were used to amplify 16s rRNA regions of different microbial water-borne pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella, Yersinia, Listeria, and Staphylococcus. As expected, all of tested microorganisms amplified expected size of PCR products indicating designed PCR primers for 16s rRNA indeed can be useful to amplify all different microbial water-borne pathogens in the water. Furthermore, to test whether these 16s rRNA based PCR primers can detect bacterial populations present in the water, water samples taken from diverse sources, such as river, tap, and sewage, were used for amplification. PCR products were for then subjected for cloning into a T-vector to generate a library containing 16s rRNA sequences from various bacteria. With cloned PCR products, RFLP analysis was done using PCR products digested with restriction enzyme such as Hae III to obtain species-specific RFLP profiles. After PCR-RFLP, the bacterial clones which showed the same RFLP profiles were regarded as the same ones, and the clones which showed distinctive RFLP profiles were subsequently subjected for sequence analysis for species identification. By this PCR-RFLP analysis, we were able to reveal diverse populations of bacteria living in water. In brief, in unsterilized natural river water, over 60 different species of bacteria were found. On the other hand, no PCR products were detected in drinking tap-water. The results from this study clearly indicate that the PCR-RFLP-sequence analysis can be a useful method for monitoring diverse, perhaps pathogenic bacteria contaminated in water in a rapid fashion.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.307-312
• /
• 2004

Diversity of the bacterial communities and the relation between community structure and components of waste­water were analyzed by 16S rRNA-based molecular techniques. Clone libraries of the 16S rDNAs from the sludges were constructed by PCR and cloning. The 1,151 clones from a sludge sample of sewage treatment plant were clustered into 699 RFLP phylotypes and the 1,228 clones from the wastewater disposal plant of chemical industry were clustered into 300 RFLP phylotypes. Shannon-Weiner diversity indices of two sampling sites were 8.7 and 6.1, indicating that the bacterial community structure of sewage treatment plant was more diverse than that of wastewater disposal plant of chemical industry. Forty clones belonging to predominant RFLP types were selected and sequenced. Seventy percent (28 clones) of the sequenced clones were related to the uncultured bacteria in public databases. The ${\beta}-Proteobacteria$ dominated in the bacterial communities of investigated two sludge samples. 16S rDNA sequences of the sewage treatment plant were similar to those of other activated sludges, while the bacterial community in wastewater disposal plant of chemical industry rep­resented the strains identified from high-temperature, anaerobic, hydrocarbon-rich, and sulfur-rich environ­ments. This result suggested that bacterial communities depended upon the components of wastewater.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.25-31
• /
• 2002

We describe a riboprinting scheme for identification of unknown Acanthamoeba isolates at the species level. It involved the use of PCR-RFLP of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (riboprint) of 24 reference strains by 4 kinds of restriction enzymes. Seven strains in morphological group I and III were identified at species level with their unique sizes of PCR product and riboprint type by Rsa 1. Unique RFCP of 17 strains in group II by Dde I. Taq I and Hae III were classified into: (1) four taxa that were identifiable at the species level. (2) a subgroup of 4 taxa and a pair of 2 taxi that were identical with each other. and (3) a species complex of 7 taxa assigned to A. castellanii complex that were closely related. These results were consistent with those obtained by 18s rDNA sequence analysis. This approach provides an alternative to the rDNA sequencing for rapid identification of a new clinical isolate or a large number of environmental isolates of Acanthamoeba.