• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2002

A hypothetical 21.0 kDa protein (ORF O197) from Escherichia coli K-12 was cloned, purified, and characterized. The protein sequence of ORF O197(termed EcO197) shares a 33.5% identity with that of a novel NTPase from Methanococcus jannaschii. The EcO197 protein was purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography, protease digestion, and gel filtration column. It hydrolyzed nucleoside triphosphates with an O6 atom-containing purine base to nucleoside monophosphate and pyrophosphate. The EcO197 protein had a strong preference for deoxyinosine triphosphate (dITP) and xanthosine triphosphate (XTP), while it had little activity in the standard nucleoside triphosphates (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP). These aberrant nucleotides can be produced by oxidative deamination from purine nucleotides in cells; they are potentially mutagenic. The mutation protection mechanisms are caused by the incorporation into DNA of unwelcome nucleotides that are formed spontaneously. The EcO197 protein may function to eliminate specifically damaged purine nucleotide that contains the 6-keto group. This protein appears to be the first eubacterial dITP-and XTP-hydrolyzing enzyme that has been identified.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.578-585
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• 2006

The cDNA of a firefly luciferase from lantern mRNA of Lampyroidea maculata has been cloned, sequenced and functionally expressed. The cDNA has an open reading frame of 1647 bp and codes for a 548-residue-long polypeptide. Noteworthy, sequence comparison as well as homology modeling showed the highest degree of similarity with H. unmunsana and L. mingrelica luciferases, suggesting a close phylogenetic relationship despite the geographical distance separation. The deduced amino acid sequence of the luciferase gene of firefly L. maculata showed 93% identity to H. unmunsana. Superposition of the three-dimensional model of L. maculata luciferase (generated by homology modeling) and three dimensional structure of Photinus pyralis luciferase revealed that the spatial arrangements of Luciferin and ATP-binding residues are very similar. Putative signature of AMP-binding domain among the various firefly species and Lampyroidea maculata was compared and a striking similarity was found. Different motifs and sites have been identified in Lampyroidea maculata by sequence analysis. Expression and purification of luciferase from Lampyroidea maculata was carried out using Ni-NTA Sepharose. Bioluminescence emission spectrum was similar to Photinus pyralis luciferase.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.3 s.174
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• pp.761-768
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• 2000

In order to investigate how the fatigue damage effects on the critical properties of superconductor, a fatigue test at room temperature and an Ic measurement test at 4.2K were carried out in this study, respectively, using a 9 strand Cu-Ni/NbTi/Cu composite cable. Through the fatigue test of a 9 strand Cu-NUNbTi/Cu composite cable, a conventional S-N curve was plotted even though there was a possibility of fretting among strands. It was found that the maximum stress corresponding to the inflection point on the S-N curve obtained was nearly the same value as the yielding strength of cable obtained from the static tensile test. However, the effect of cabling in multi-strands superconducting cable on the fatigue strength was not noticeable. The critical current(Ic) measurement was carried out at 4.2K in a NbTi strand out of the fatigued cable. It showed a degradation of lc at high stress amplitude regions over 380NTa, and the degradation became significant as the applied stress amplitude increased.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.544-549
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• 2014

Lily symptomless virus (LSV), Lily mottle virus (LMoV), and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) are the most prevalent viruses infecting lilies in Korea. Leaf and bulb samples showing characteristic symptoms of virus infection were collected in 2012, and 80 field samples were analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The infection frequencies were 79% for LMoV, 5% for LSV, and 3% for CMV. The LMoV coat protein gene was amplified and cloned into the pET21d(+) expression vector to develop serological diagnostic tools to detect LMoV. The resulting carboxy-terminal His-tagged coat proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) by induction with IPTG. The recombinant proteins were purified using Ni-NTA agarose beads and used as an antigen to produce polyclonal antibodies in laying hens. The resulting egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) specifically recognized LMoV from infected plant tissues in immunoblotting assays and had comparable sensitivity to that of a mammalian antibody. In addition, method of immunocapture RT-PCR using this IgY was developed for sensitive, efficient, and rapid detection of LMoV. Based on these results, large-scale bulb tests and detection of LMoV in epidemiological studies can be performed routinely using this IgY. This is the first report of production of a polyclonal IgY against a plant virus and its use for diagnosis.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.14-24
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• 2018

In soil washing, there are many variables including types of reagent and contaminant, washing time, soil-liquid ratio, washing cycles, washing agent concentrations, and etc. To identify the most influencing factors on soil washing process, regression analysis was performed for eight single variables and five combined variables. A quantitative model that employs W/H (molar ratio of washing agent to heavy metal) as a major variable was established based on the regression. The validity of the model was demonstrated by conducting lab experiments with Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and As-contaminated soils, and various washing reagents including acetic acid, citric acid, malic acid, oxalic acid, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitriloacetic acid (NTA). The washing efficiencies were compared with the EDTA washing data reported in the literature. The correlation between W/H and removal efficiency was analyzed after dividing data into two groups according to the heavy metal mobility.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.597-602
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• 2004

N-terminal His-tagged recombinant $\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferase from Neisseria meningitidis was expressed and purified to homogeneity by column chromatography using Ni-NTA resin. Mutations were introduced to investigate the roles of, Ser68, His69, Glu88, Asp90, and Tyr156, which are components of a highly conserved region in recombinant $\beta$-1,4 galactosyltransferase. Also, the functions of three other cysteine residues, Cys65, Cys139, and Cys205, were investigated using site-directed mutagenesis to determine the location of the disulfide bond and the role of the sulfhydryl groups. Purified mutant galactosyltransferases, His69Phe, Glu88Gln and Asp90Asn completely shut down wild-type galactosyltransferase activity (1-3%). Also, Ser68Ala showed much lower activity than wild-type galactosyltransferase (19%). However, only the substitution of Tyr156Phe resulted in a slight reduction in galactosyltransferase activity (90%). The enzyme was found to remain active when the cysteine residues at positions 139 and 205 were replaced separately with serine. However, enzyme reactivity was found to be markedly reduced when Cys65 was replaced with serine (27%). These results indicate that conserved amino acids such as Cys65, Ser68, His69, Glu88, and Asp90 may be involved in the binding of substrates or in the catalysis of the galactosyltransferase reaction.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.685-690
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• 2007

The deoxysugar biosynthetic gene cluster of Sch 47554/Sch 47555 was cloned from Streptomyces sp. SCC-2136. One of the ORFs, schS6, appeared to encode glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyltransferase, which converts dTTP and glucose-1-phosphate to TDP-D-glucose and pyrophosphate. The dTDP-D-glucose is a key metabolite in prokaryotics as a precursor for a large number of modified deoxysugars, and these deoxysugars are a maj or part of various antibiotics, ranging from glycosides to macrolides. SchS6 was expressed in E. coli vector pSCHS6 and the expressed protein was purified to apparent homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation and Ni-NTA affinity column chromatography. The specific activity of the purified enzyme increased 4.7-fold with 17.5% recovery. It migrated as a single band on SDS-PAGE with an apparent molecular mass of 56kDa. The purified protein showed glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyltransferase activity, catalyzing a reversible bimolecular group transfer reaction. In the forward reaction, the highest activity was obtained with combination of dTTP and ${\alpha}-D-glucose-1-phosphate$, and only 12% of that activity was obtained with the substrates $UTP/{\alpha}-D-glucose-1-phosphate$. In the opposite direction, the purified protein was highly specific for dTDP-D-glucose and pyrophosphate.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2014

The human cytochrome P450 2J2 catalyzes an epoxygenase reaction to oxidize various fatty acids including arachidonic acid. In this study, three recombinant enzyme constructs of P450 2J2 were heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and their P450 proteins were successfully purified using a $Ni^{2+}$-NTA affinity column. Deletion of 34 amino acid residues in N-terminus of P450 2J2 enzyme (2J2-D) produced the soluble enzyme located in the cytosolic fraction. The enzymatic analysis of this truncated protein indicated the typical spectral characteristics and functional properties of P450 2J2 enzyme. P450 2J2-D enzymes from soluble fraction catalyzed the oxidation reaction of terfenadine to the hydroxylated product. However, P450 2J2-D enzymes from membrane fraction did not support the P450 oxidation reaction although it displayed the characteristic CO-binding spectrum of P450. Our finding of these features in the N-terminal modified P450 2J2 enzyme could help understand the biological functions and the metabolic roles of P450 2J2 enzyme and make the crystallographic analysis of the P450 2J2 structure feasible for future studies.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.403-411
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• 2005

The relationship between plasmid (~9.5 kb) and pediocin PA-1 in P. acidilactici K10 was confirmed by plasmid curing. The pediocin operon of P. acidilactici K10 was amplified by PCR (polymerase chain reaction), and the nucleotide sequence was analyzed. The sequence of the pediocin operon of P. acidilactici K10 was similar to those of P. acidilactici strains producing pediocin PA-1/ AcH. For the expression of pediocin PA-1 in E. coli, a pQEPED (pQE-30 Xa::mature pedA) was constructed. His-tagged recombinant pediocin PA-1 (-6.5 kDa) was translated by cell-free in vitro transcription and translation using pQEPED as a DNA template. Theresult of slot blotting assay showed that transcription of recombinant pedA in E. coli M15 was induced by the addition of isopropyl-$\beta$-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) at the final concentration of 1 mM. Although the recombinant pediocin PA-1 inhibited the growth of E. coli, it was expressed in the host strain and purified by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) metal-affinity chromatography under denaturing condition. This is the first report for the production and one-step purification of biologically active recombinant pediocin PA-1 in E. coli.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.354-361
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• 2005

Vibrio fluvialis, an enteropathogenic bacterium, produces a phospholipase which is thought to be an important factor in the pathogenesis of disease. In this study, the phospholipase gene (vfp) was identified from V fluvialis (KCTC 2473) and its sequence was determined. The entire open reading frame was composed of 1,689 nuc1eotides and 563 amino acids. The phospholipase gene (vfp) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as a his-tag fused protein. This recombinant protein (rVFP58) was solubilized with 6 M urea and purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The action mode of rVFP58 was determined by TLC and GC-MS, and it showed phospholipase B activity, which had both phospholipase A and lysophospholipase activities. The rVFP58 showed a maximum activity at pH around 9- 10 and temperature of about 40OC, and it was stable under alkaline condition over pH 9. The cytotoxicity of rVFP58 was evaluated, using a fish cell line, CHSE-2l4, and was found to cause significant cell death after 14 h of exposure to 250 $\mu$g of the protein.