• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1527-1536
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• 2022

Escherichia coli can use allantoin as its sole nitrogen source under anaerobic conditions. The ureidoglycolate produced by double release of ammonia from allantoin can flow into either the glyoxylate shunt or further catabolic transcarbamoylation. Although the former pathway is well studied, the genes of the latter (catabolic) pathway are not known. In the catabolic pathway, ureidoglycolate is finally converted to carbamoyl phosphate (CP) and oxamate, and then CP is dephosphorylated to carbamate by a catabolic carbamate kinase (CK), whereby ATP is formed. We identified the ybcF gene in a gene cluster containing fdrA-ylbE-ylbF-ybcF that is located downstream of the allDCE-operon. Reverse transcription PCR of total mRNA confirmed that the genes fdrA, ylbE, ylbF, and ybcF are co-transcribed. Deletion of ybcF caused only a slight increase in metabolic flow into the glyoxylate pathway, probably because CP was used to de novo synthesize pyrimidine and arginine. The activity of the catabolic CK was analyzed using purified YbcF protein. The V_max is 1.82 U/mg YbcF for CP and 1.94 U/mg YbcF for ADP, and the K_M value is 0.47 mM for CP and 0.43 mM for ADP. With these results, it was experimentally revealed that the ybcF gene of E. coli encodes catabolic CK, which completes anaerobic allantoin degradation through substrate-level phosphorylation. Therefore, we suggest renaming the ybcF gene as allK.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.840-850
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• 2023

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the polymorphisms of the dopa decarboxylase (DDC) gene and association analysis with lamb quality and expression quantification of the DDC gene in phenotypically divergent Indonesian sheep. Methods: The totals of 189 rams with an average body weight of 24.12 kg at 10 to 12 months were used to identify DDC gene polymorphism using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Among 189 rams, several rams representing various sheep genotypes were used for an association study between genotypes and phenotypic traits with proc general linear model (GLM) analysis. In addition, the gene expression analysis of the DDC mRNA in the phenotypically divergent sheep population was analyzed using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. Results: The DDC gene (g. 5377439 G>A) showed polymorphisms that indicated three genotypes: AA, AG, and GG. The DDC gene polymorphism was significantly associated (p≤0.05) with carcass characteristics including carcass percentage, carcass length, hot and cold carcass; physical properties of lamb quality including pH value; retail cut carcass; fatty acid composition such as fat content, pentadecanoic acid (C15:0), tricosylic acid (C23:0), lignoceric acid (C24:0), oleic acid (C18:1n9c), elaidic acid (C18:1n9t), nervonic acid (C24:1), linoleic acid (C18:2n6c), arachidonic acid (C20:4n6), cervonic acid (C22:6n3); and mineral content including potassium (K). The GG genotype of the DDC gene had the best association with lamb quality traits. The DDC gene expression analysis mRNA showed no significant difference (p≥0.05) between lamb quality traits. Conclusion: The DDC gene could be used as a potential candidate gene to improve lamb quality.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.149-154
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• 2007

In the present study, we performed the PCR assay using TOX2P/TOX2M primer targeting a specific region within mcyB gene to identify potential microcystin-producing cyanobacteria. TOX2P/TOX2M primer set was effective in amplifying mcy gene in the field samples containing Microcystis spp. of 1,000 cells per mL. Moreover, the results from the PCR assay agreed with those of the ELISA analysis. Consequently, this study demonstrated that TOX2P/TOX2M primer set can be used as a genetic probe for the early detection of cyanobacterial toxigenicity in Korean water bodies.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2002

Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) phosphorylates the second messenger diacylglycerol (DAG) to phosphatidic acid and it may play a role in signal transduction in Escherichia coli as well as in eukaryotic cells. In addition, DGK is important for microorganisms to adapt to several physiological stimuli. In Bacillus subtilis, the effect of stress on dgk transcription was examined by northern hybridization. The high level of dgk transcription was induced against high osmolarity, low pH value and low temperature. Transcriptional analysis revealed that the dgk gene and dgk upstream locus (ORF2, ORF3 and ORF4) were transcribed as a polycistronic mRNA to form an approximately 2.5 kb transcript.

• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.459-464
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• 2002

Fusogenic liposomes that incorporate Sendai virus envelope proteins, so-called Sendai virosomes, have been developed for in vitro and in vivo genetic modification of animal cells. In this study, several different virosomes of varying lipid compositions were formulated and their in vitro gene-transfer efficiencies compared. The virosomes were prepared by quantitative reconstitution of the Sendai envelope, fusion (F) and hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) proteins into liposomal vesicles. Virosomes that contained luciferase reporter genes were tested in 293 transformed human kidney cells. F/HN-virosomes that were prepared with an artificial Sendai viral envelope (ASVE-virosomes) or phosphatidylserine (PS-virosomes) exhibited an 8- or 6-fold higher gene-transfer efficiency than cationic liposomes that were made with 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP). F/HN-virosomes that were prepared with phosphatidic acid (PA-virosomes) instead of PS were less efficient in gene transfer than either ASVE- or PS-virosomes. In addition, the genetransfer capability of ASVE- and PS-virosomes was maximal at a $Ca^{2+}$ concentration of 510 mM. These results suggest that the incorporated lipid components significantly affect the in vitro gene transfer that is mediated by Sendai F/HN-virosomes.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2013

For the treatment of osteoarthritis, pulsed electromagnetic field stimulus has been suggested as a useful therapeutic method in rehabilitative medicine. Most studies have been performed under low-frequency and low-energy to find out biological properties for stimulating chondrocyte with pulsed magnetic field. In this study, the effect of strong pulse magnetic field on the human chondrosarcoma cells (SW-1353) has been investigated by means of cell counting, morphologies, and gene expression of cartilage extracellular matrix genes. The SW-1353 cells were exposed under the field intensities of 270, 100, 55, 36, and 26 mTesla during 6 hours a day in 5 consecutive days. The pulse magnetic field with an LRC oscillating signal has the pulse width of 0.126 msec and stimulation period of 1 sec. For the 270 and 100 mTesla stimulation, the cell proliferation significantly increased in 21-24% as compared with the non-stimulated cells. Gene expression of cartilage extracellular matrix genes (ACAN, COMP and COL2A1) was assayed by quantitative real time-PCR method. The ACAN gene expression showed a significant brightness, which means the increase on gene expression, compared with the non-stimulated cells. Our results suggest that the strong pulse magnetic field stimulation can be utilized to accelerate cell proliferation and gene expression on human chondrosarcoma cells.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.45.1-45.11
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• 2023

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common type of chronic liver disease, with severity levels ranging from nonalcoholic fatty liver to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The extent of liver fibrosis indicates the severity of NASH and the risk of liver cancer. However, the mechanism underlying NASH development, which is important for early screening and intervention, remains unclear. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) is a useful method for identifying hub genes and screening specific targets for diseases. In this study, we utilized an mRNA dataset of the liver tissues of patients with NASH and conducted WGCNA for various stages of liver fibrosis. Subsequently, we employed two additional mRNA datasets for validation purposes. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to analyze gene function enrichment. Through WGCNA and subsequent analyses, complemented by validation using two additional datasets, we identified five genes (BICC1, C7, EFEMP1, LUM, and STMN2) as hub genes. GSEA analysis indicated that gene sets associated with liver metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis were uniformly downregulated. BICC1, C7, EFEMP1, LUM, and STMN2 were identified as hub genes of NASH, and were all related to liver metabolism, NAFLD, NASH, and related diseases. These hub genes might serve as potential targets for the early screening and treatment of NASH.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.76-82
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• 2002

In human U-937 cell exposed to ${\gamma}$-irradiation and $H_2O$$_2$, the level of mRNA efrpression in ceruloplasmin gene was measured by using comparative RT.PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction). At the normal growth condition, the level of ceruloplasmin transcript was estimated as 8.2% and 0.0068% of hprt (hypoxantine phosphoribosyl transferase) transcript and of $\beta$-actin transcript, respectively. In U-937 cells exposed to a dose of 100 rad ${\gamma}$-irradiation, the level of ceruloplasmin transcript was increased about 2.7 and 1.6 fold compared to un-treated cell by using compensation with the levels of hprt and $\beta$-actin transcript. By contrast, the expression of ceruloplasmin gene in U-937 cells exposed to $H_2O$$_2$(50 $\mu$M, 24 h), was shown no significant difference compared to un-treated cell. These results indicated that the expression system of ceruloplasmin gene may react only some specific oxygen species, such as reactive oxygen species induced by ${\gamma}$-irradiation.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 1992

To improve the nutritional quality of plant proteins, a synthetic gene, called HEAAE (high essential amino acid encoding)-DNA, was introduced and expressed in tobacco plants. The synthetic gene, which is 292 basepair-long, codes for a protein composed of about 80% essential amino acids. To improve its expression level in plants, Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (CaMV) 355 and CaMV duplicate 35S promoters which are known as strong promoters were used with Nopaline Synthase promoter as a control. Transformed and regenerated tobacco plants were subject to analysis for introduction and expression of this gene. Integration of the gene into the plant genome and its expression into mRNAs and its proteins have been demonstrated using Southern, northern blot analysis and amino acid analysis. The differences of expression levels among CaMV duplicate 35S, CaMV 35S and Nopaline Synthase promoters are significant in term of mRNAs, but not in terms of proteins.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.187-191
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• 2000

Sulmonella gyhi is one of important causes of human enteric infections. S @phi I