• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2001

A bactriocin produced by Lactrococcus sp. HY449 was purified by sequential purfication steps such as n-propanol-acetone precipitation ion -exchange chromatography using CM-Sequential CL6B. gel filtration chromatography using Sephacry HR100 and reverse-phase chromatography using pro RPC HR 5/10. Reverse-phase chromatography the final step of the purfication yielded a single symmetrical peak of bacteriocin activity The purification resulted in final yield of 3.25% and 413.35 fold increase of the specific activity of bacteriocin. The active fraction from reverse-phase chromatography was used for N-terminal amino acid analysis . The purified bacteriocin contained isoleucine, leucine, methionine, and glycine at but N-terminal end no aromatic amino acids. Calculation of the number of amino acid residues in the bacteriocin revealed that it is consisted of 32 residues assuming the molecular weight of bacteriocin to be about 3.6kDa. Edman degrandation elucidated amino acid residues of the first four of the N-terminus to be $NH_2$-Ile-Leu-Pro-GIn.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.443-448
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• 2008

Multidomain proteins for the biochemical analysis of the scouring efficiency of cotton fabrics were constructed by the fusion of a reporter moiety in the N-terminal and the cellulose binding domain (CBD) in the C-terminal. Based on the specific binding of the CBD of Cellulomonas fimi exoglucanase (Cex) to crystalline cellulose (Avicel), the reporter protein is guided to the cellulose fibers that are increasingly exposed as the scouring process proceeds. Among the tested reporter proteins, a thermostable ${\beta}$-glycosidase (BglA) from Thermus caldophilus was found to be most appropriate, showing a higher applicability and stability than GFP, DsRed2, or a tetrameric ${\beta}$-glycosidase (GUS) from Escherichia coli, which were precipitated more seriously during the expression and purification steps. When cotton fabrics with different scouring levels were treated with the BglA-CBD and incubated with X-Gal as the chromogenic substrate, an indigo color became visible within 2 h, and the color depth changed according to the conditions and extent of the scouring.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2009

Sequencing analysis of a 5-kb DNA fragment from Streptomyces venezuelae ATCC 15439 revealed the presence of one 3.1-kb open reading frame(ORF), designated as afsR-sv. The deduced product of afsR-sv(1,056 aa) was found to have high homology with the global regulatory protein AfsR. Homology-based analysis showed that aftR-sv represents a transcriptional activator belonging to the Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory protein(SARP) family that includes an N-terminal SARP domain containing a bacterial transcriptional activation domain(BTAD), an NB-ARC domain, and a C-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat domain. Gene expression analysis by reverse transcriptase PCR(RT-PCR) demonstrated the activation of transcription of genes belonging to pikromycin production, when aftR-sv was overexpressed in S. venezuelae. Heterologous expression of the aftR-sv in different Streptomyces strains resulted in increased production of the respective antibiotics, suggesting that afsR-sv is a positive regulator of antibiotics biosynthesis.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.23.1-23.5
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• 2018

Virus taxonomy was initially determined by clinical experiments based on phenotype. However, with the development of sequence analysis methods, genotype-based classification was also applied. With the development of genome sequence analysis technology, there is an increasing demand for virus taxonomy to be extended from in vivo and in vitro to in silico. In this study, we verified the consistency of the current International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses taxonomy using an in silico approach, aiming to identify the specific sequence for each virus. We applied this approach to norovirus in Caliciviridae, which causes 90% of gastroenteritis cases worldwide. First, based on the dogma "protein structure determines its function," we hypothesized that the specific sequence can be identified by the specific structure. Firstly, we extracted the coding region (CDS). Secondly, the CDS protein sequences of each genus were annotated by the conserved domain database (CDD) search. Finally, the conserved domains of each genus in Caliciviridae are classified by RPS-BLAST with CDD. The analysis result is that Caliciviridae has sequences including RNA helicase in common. In case of Norovirus, Calicivirus coat protein C terminal and viral polyprotein N-terminal appears as a specific domain in Caliciviridae. It does not include in the other genera in Caliciviridae. If this method is utilized to detect specific conserved domains, it can be used as classification keywords based on protein functional structure. After determining the specific protein domains, the specific protein domain sequences would be converted to gene sequences. This sequences would be re-used one of viral bio-marks.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1176-1183
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• 2009

Lactobacillus crispatus (L. crispatus) ZJ001 is highly adhesive to epithelial cells and expresses S-layer proteins. In this study, S-S-layer layer genes were sequenced and expressed in E. coli to characterize the function of proteins with this particular strain. L. crispatus ZJ001 harbored two S-layer genes slpA and slpB, and only slpA gene was expressed in the bacterium, as revealed by RT-PCR and immunoassays. The mature SlpA showed 47% amino acid sequence identity to SlpB. The SlpA and SlpB of L. crispatus ZJ001 were highly homologous at the C-terminal region to other Lactobacillus S-layer proteins, but were substantially variable at N-terminal and middle regions. Electron microscopic analysis indicated that His-slpA expressed in E. coli was able to form a sheet-like structure similar to the natural S-layer, but His-slpB formed as disc-like structures. In the cell binding experiments, HeLa cells were able to bind to both recombinant His-slpA and His-slpB proteins to the extent similar to the natural S-layer. The cell binding domains remain mostly in the N-terminal regions in SlpA and SlpB, as shown by high binding of truncated peptides SlpA2-228 and SlpB2-249. Our results indicated that SlpA was active and high binding to HeLa cells, and that the slpA gene could be targeted to display foreign proteins on the bacterial surface of ZJ001 as a potential mucosal vaccine vector.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.407-409
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• 2000

Outer envelope membrane proteins of chloroplasts encoded by the nuclear genome are transported without the N-terminal transit peptide. Here, we investigated the targeting mechanism of AtOEP7, an Arabidopsis homolog of small outer envelope membrane proteins in vivo. AtOEP7 was expressed transiently in protoplasts or stably in transgenic plants as fusion proteins with GFP. In both cases AtOEP7:GFP was targeted to the outer envelope membrane when assayed under a fluorescent microscope or by Western blot analysis. Except the transmembrane domain, deletions of the N- or C-terminal regions of AtOEP7 did not affect targeting although a region closed to the C-terminal side of the transmembrane domain affected the targeting efficiency. Targeting experiments with various hybrid transmembrane mutants revealed that the amino acid sequence of the transmembrane domain determines the targeting specificity The targeting mechanism was further studied using a fusion protein, AtOEP7：NLS：GFP, that had a nuclear localization signal. AtOEP7：NLS：GFP was efficiently targeted to the chloroplast envelope despite the presence of the nuclear localization signal. Taken together, these results suggest that the transmembrane domain of AtOEP7 functions as the sole determinant of targeting specificity and that AtOEP7 may be associated with a cytosolic component during translocation to the chloroplast envelope membrane.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1306-1318
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• 2009

The filamentous ascomycete Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is well known for its ability to produce a large variety of hydrolytic enzymes. Two $\alpha$-amylases ScAmy54 and ScAmy43 predicted to play an important role in starch degradation were showed to produce specific oligosaccharides essentially maltotriose that have a considerable commercial interest. Primary structure of the two enzymes was established by N-terminal sequencing, MALDI-TOF masse spectrometry and cDNA cloning. The two proteins have the same N-terminal catalytic domain and ScAmy43 derived from ScAmy54 by truncation of 96 amino acids at the carboxyl-terminal region. Data of genomic analysis suggested that the two enzymes originated from the same $\alpha$-amylase gene and that truncation of ScAmy54 to ScAmy43 occurred probably during S. sclerotiorum cultivation. The structural gene of Scamy54 consisted of 9 exons and 8 introns, containing a single 1,500-bp open reading frame encoding 499 amino acids including a signal peptide of 21 residues. ScAmy54 exhibited high amino acid homology with other liquefying fungal $\alpha$-amylases essentially in the four conserved regions and in the putative catalytic triad. A 3D structure model of ScAmy54 and ScAmy43 was built using the 3-D structure of 2guy from A. niger as template. ScAmy54 is composed by three domains A, B, and C, including the well-known $(\beta/\alpha)_8$ barrel motif in domain A, have a typical structure of $\alpha$-amylase family, whereas ScAmy43 contained only tow domains A and B is the first fungal $\alpha$-amylase described until now with the smallest catalytic domain.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare differences in spiritual needs (SNs) and factors influencing SNs between patients with progressive terminal kidney disease and their family caregivers. Methods: An explorative comparative survey was used to identify the SNs of patients (N=102) with progressive terminal kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis and their family caregivers (N=88) at a general hospital located in Seoul, South Korea. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, the independent t-test, one way analysis of variance, the Scheffe test, and multiple regression with dummy variables. Results: The SNs among family caregivers were higher than in the patient group. SNs were higher among those who were religious in both groups. Loving others was the highest-ranked subdimension in the patient group, followed in descending order by maintaining positive perspective, finding meaning, Reevaluating beliefs and life, asking "why?", receiving love and spiritual support, preparing for death, and relating to God. In the family group, the corresponding order was maintaining positive perspective, loving others, finding meaning, receiving love and spiritual support, preparing for death, relating to God, and asking "why?". The factors that had a negative influence on the level of SNs were not being religious in the patient group and having only a middle school level of education in the family group. Conclusion: The results of this study may serve as evidence that spiritual care for non-cancer patients' family caregivers should be considered as an important part of hospice and palliative care.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1522-1528
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• 2009

A marine bacterium was isolated from brown seaweeds for its ability to degrade alginate. Analysis of 16S ribosomal DNA sequence revealed that the strain belongs to Streptomyces like strain ALG-5 which was reported previously. New alginate lyase gene of Streptomyces sp. M3 was cloned by using PCR with the specific primers designed from homologous nucleotide sequences. The consensus sequences of N-terminal YXRSELREM and C-terminal YFKAGXYXQ were conserved in the M3 alginate lyase amino acid sequences. The homology model for the M3 alginate lyase showed a characteristic structure of $\beta$-jelly roll fold main domain like alyPG from Corynebacterium sp. ALY-1. The homogenate of the recombinant E. coli with the alginate lyase gene showed more degrading activity for polyguluronate block than polymannuronate block. The results from the multiple alignments and the homology modeling elucidated in the M3 alginate lyase can be classified into family PL-7.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.12-21
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• 2005

Objectives: In the present study, we investigated whether an aqueous extract of Armeniacae semen induces apoptotic neuronal cell death upon mouse N2a neuroblastoma cells. Methods: 1. Cell viability was determined by using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTI) assay. 2. For in situ detection of apoptotic cells, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining. 3. The fraction of cells was revealed by flow cytometric analysis used that. 4. For detection of apoptotic DNA cleavage, DNA fragmentation assay was performed. 5. For detection of bax and bcl-2, Western blot analysis was performed. 6. Caspase enzyme activity was measured using caspase-3 assay. Results: From the present results, N2a neuroblastoma cells treated with Armeniacae semen extract exhibited several characteristics of apoptosis. A treatment of Armeniacae semen extract was shown to increase the expression of Bax, a proapoptotic protein, and the treatment decreased the expression of Blc2, an anti-apoptotic protein. In addition, Armeniacae semen extract increased the caspase-3 enzyme activity. Conclusions: The present results show that Armeniacae semen extract induces apoptotic cell death in mouse N2a neuroblastoma cells.