• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.921-924
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• 2005

It is known that metallothionein (MT) plays a role in the scavenging of free radicals, which is produced under various stress conditions. MT may function as an antioxidant that protects against oxidative damage of DNA, protein, and lipid induced by superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, and peroxynitrite. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that MT also protects from RNA damage induced by peroxynitrite, an important reactive nitrogen species that causes a diversity of pathological processes. A cell-free system was used. RNA damage was detected by the mobility of $tRNA^{Phe}$ in electrophoresis. Cleavages on tRNA were not induced by 3-morpholinosydnomine, which produces peroxynitrite directly. MT induced tRNA damage which was site specific.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.393-397
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• 1999

Length variations in human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) offer useful markers in the study of female aspects of human population history. One such length variation is a 9-bp deletion in the small noncoding segment located between the COII and Iysine tRNA genes (COII/tRNA/$^{Lys}$ intergenic region) which usually contain two tandemly arranged copies of a 9-bp sequence (ccccctcta) in human mtDNA. The mtDNA 9-bp deletion and polymorphic variants of expanded 9-bp repeat motif in the intergenic COII/tRNA$^{Lys}$ region have been found at varying frequencies among different human ethnic groups. We have examined the length variation of the mtDNA COII/tRNA$^{Lys}$ intergenic region from a total of 813 individuals in east Asian populations. The occurrence of the 9-bp deletion was found to be relatively homogeneous in northeast Asian populations (Chinese, 14.2%; Japanese, 14.3%: Koreans, 15.5%), with the exception of Mongolians (5.1%). In contrast, Indonesians (25.0%) and Vietnamese (23.2%) of the southeast Asian populations appeared to have relatively high frequencies of the 9-bp deletion. We identified the existence of a new expanded 9-bp repeat motif which likely resulted from a slipped mispairing insertion of six more cytosines in the intergenic COII$^{Lys}$ region. It was present at low frequencies in the Korean (2/349) and Japanese populations (2/147). Based on the results of this study, the Korean population may reflect a close genetic affinity with the Japanese and Chinese populations than the others surveyed east Asian populations.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.917-924
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• 2004

Using PCR-RFLP haplotyping for the mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA) fragment containing the NADH dehydrogenase 2 gene(ND2) and three tRNA genes(tRNA-Met, tRNA-Trp and tRNA-Ala), we characterized the genetic diversity of five pig breeds including Jeju native pigs. mtDNA polymorphisms showing distinct cleavage patterns were found in the pig breeds. Two digestion patterns were detected when HaeIII- and Hinfl-RFLP, and four in the Tsp5091-RFLP analyses. Combining the three restriction enzyme digestion patterns found in five different pig breeds, four mtDNA haplotypes were observed and the haplotype frequencies were significantly different by the pig breeds. A monomorphic haplotype, mtWB, was observed in both Korean wild boars and Large White pigs. Both Duroc and Landrace pigs contained two haplotypes suggesting their multiple maternal lineages. Jeju native pig has two haplotypes(mtJN and mtJD). Of these, mtJN is identified as a Jeju native pig specific haplotype. This study suggested that more than two progenitor populations have been taken part in the domestication process of the Jeju native pig population, and/or probably subsequent crossing with other pig breeds from near east Asia. Unlike with our prediction, there was no direct evidence under molecular levels on the maternal introgression of Korean wild boar in the domestication of Jeju native pigs. In conclusion, specificity of mtDNA haplotypes related to pig breeds win be useful for identifying the maternal lineage as wen as constructing the genealogical pedigree in pigs.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 1998

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of a DNA has been a useful tool for analyzing genetic variation. This research was performed to establish an RFLP analytic method on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hiibner). To do this, total size of the mtDNA was measured and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers were selected. Its mitochondrial genome size was ca. 16kb. From a serial PCR test of 29 primers refered to the compilation of Simon et al. (1994), 22 primers were selected to amplify its mtDNA fragments. These primers resulted in short (300-700 bp) or long (1000-2000 bp) DNA products which represented a total or partial sequence of each of CO-I, CO-11, Cyt-B, ND-1, 12s rRNA, 16s rRNA, and some tRNAs. PCR-RFLP was performed in some variable mtDNA regions with 8 kinds of 4bp recognizing restriction enzymes. Different populations from Andong, Kyungsan, and Sunchun did not show any restriction site polymorphisms but had some length variation in certain regions of mtDNA.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2000

The genetic variations among six species of Rana from Korea (R. nigro-maculata, R. piancyi, R. dybowskii, R. sp, R. rugosa type A, B and R. amurensis) were investigated using 499 bases of mitochondrial DNA sequences for ND2 (NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2) gene and $tRNA^{Trp}$ gene. Partial sequences of ND2 gene (427 bp) and full sequences of $tRNA^{Trp}$ gene (73 bp) were identified. The level of sequence divergences ranged from 0.2 to 5.2% within species and 4.9-28.0% among 6 species of the genus Rana. The $tRNA^{Trp}$ gene of the genus Rana was composed of 77 nucleotides which showed a two dimensional "cloverleaf" structure. The secondary structure of $tRNA^{Trp}$ was not found compensatory changes which could potentially confound phylogenetic inference. In the neighborjoining tree, brown frogs were clustered first with the level of sequence divergence of 13.20% between R. amurensis and R. dybowskii, and 9% between R. dybowskii and R. sp. supported by 99% bootstrap iterations, respectively. R. nigromaculata and R. plancyi were clustered into another group with 5.1% divergence supported by 100% bootstrap iteration. R. rugosa A 8nd B types were grouped by 4.9% divergence and clustered into the last group with other two groups with 100% bootstrap iterations.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2015

Purpose: Mitochondrial diseases are clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders, which make their exact diagnosis and classification difficult. The purpose of this study was to identify pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in 2 Korean families with myoclonic epilepsy with ragged-red fibers (MERRF) and Leigh syndrome, respectively. Materials and Methods: Whole mtDNAs were sequenced by the method of mtDNA-targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS). Results: Two causative mtDNA mutations were identified from the NGS data. An m.8344A>G mutation in the tRNA-Lys gene (MT-TK) was detected in a MERRF patient (family ID: MT132), and an m.9176T>C (p.Leu217Pro) mutation in the mitochondrial ATP6 gene (MT-ATP6) was detected in a Leigh syndrome patient (family ID: MT130). Both mutations, which have been reported several times before in affected individuals, were not found in the control samples. Conclusion: This study suggests that mtDNA-targeted NGS will be helpful for the molecular diagnosis of genetically heterogeneous mitochondrial diseases with complex phenotypes.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.278-281
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• 2012

Comparative sequence analyses were conducted on complete mtDNA sequences from four small mammal species in Korea and revealed the presence of 30 well conserved sequences in various regions of the complete mtDNA sequences. The conserved sequences were found in 9 regions in protein coding genes, 10 regions in tRNA genes, 10 in rRNA genes, one region in replication origin and 2 regions in D loop. They could be used to design primers for amplifying complete mtDNA sequences of small mammals.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.259-267
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• 1998

A deletion of one out of the two copies of 9-bp repeat sequence (CCCCCTCTA), between the cytochrome oxidase II and Iysine tranfer RNA (COII/$tRNA^{Lys}$) genes in human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been used as a polymorphic anthropological marker for people of east Asian origin, and to lesser extent, Pacific and African populations. We searched for the 9-bp deletion of the intergenic COII/$tRNA^{Lys}$ Lys region in two Korean populations (175 from Seoul and 38 from Cheju) and examine the distibution of this deletion in world populations. The 9-bp deletion was detected directly by electrophoresis of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified nucleotide(nt) 8211-8310 mtDNA fragment. The frequencies of the 9-bp deletion were significantly different between the Seoul (16%) and Cheju (8%) populations. Examination of data from the world populations suggests a geographic gradient. The frequency reaches its highest values in some Pacific island populations and decreases along the southeast Asia-Siberia transect. In spite of this geographic gradient, Mongoloid populations including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Mongolian populations were relatively homo-geneous with regard to the 9-bp deletion type of the intergenic COII/$tRNA^{Lys}$ region. These results indicate Koreans are genetically related to northeast Asian populations, and have a maternal mongoloid ancestry. Therefore, the 9-bp deletion of the intergenic COII/$tRNA^{Lys}$ region will provide significant information to elucidate the historical patterns of migration of the Mongoloids.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2001

This paper reports a few characteristics of seven insect mitochondrial genomes sequenced completely (Bombyx mori, Drosophila melanogaster, D. yakuba, Apis mellifera, Anopheles gambiae, A. quadrimaculatus, and Locusta migratoria). Comparative analysis of complete mt genome sequences from several species revealed a number of interesting features (base composition, gene content, A+T-rich region, and gene arrangement, etc) of insect mitochondrial genome. The properties revealed by our work shed new light on the organization and evolution of the insect mitochondrial genome and more importantly open up the way to clearly aimed experimental studies for understanding critical roles of the regulatory mechanisms (transcription and translation) in mitochondrial gene expression.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.937-946
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• 2004

Duroc is widely used to improve the meat quality and productivity. To elucidate the phylogenetic relation and the sequence specificity for the maternal property, the complete sequence of mitochondrial genome was determined and the population diversity of Duroc was investigated in this study. The length of mtDNA tested is 16,584-bp. There are several insertion/deletion mutations in the control region and coding regions for tRNA and rRNA, respectively, but not in peptide-coding regions. Four peptide-coding genes(COⅡ, COⅢ, ND3 and ND4) showed incomplete termination codon sequences such as T--, and two(ND2 and ND4L) did alternative initiation codons(AIC), respectively. Especially, the initiation codon sequences of ND2 gene were polymorphic in this population. Polymorphisms were detected in 11-bp duplication motif within control region as well as ND2 and CYTB. Variation patterns observed from the tests on three mtDNA regions were linked completely and then two haplotypes obtained from combining the data dividing this population. Duroc mtDNA is observed at the European pig cluster in the phylogenetic tree, however, the results from the population analyses supported previous opinions. This study suggests that the breed Duroc was mainly originated from the European pig lineage, and Asian lineage was also used to form the pig breed Duroc as maternal progenitors.