• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2007

The cellulase gene of Bacillus licheniformis K11 which has plant growth-promoting activity by auxin and antagonistic ability by siderophore was cloned in pUC18 using PCR employing heterologous primers. The 1.6kb PCR fragment contained the full sequence of the cellulase gene, denoted celW which has been reported to encode a 499 amino acid protein. Similarity search in protein data base revealed that the cellulase from B. licheniformis K11 was more than 97% identical in amino acid sequence to those of various Bacillus spp. The cellulase protein from B. licheniformis K11, overproduced in E. coli DH5${\alpha}$ by the lac promoter on the vector, had apparent molecular weight of 55 kDa upon CMC-SDS-PAGE analysis. The protein not only had enzymatic activity toward carboxymethyl-cellulose (CMC), but also was able to degrade insoluble cellulose, such as Avicel and filter paper (Whatman$^{\circledR}$ No. 1). In addition, the cellulase could degrade a fungal cell wall of Phytophthora capsici. Consequently B. licheniformis K11 was able to suppress the peperblight causing P. capsici by its cellulase. Biochemical analysis showed that the enzyme had a maximum activity at 60$^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.0. Also, the enzyme activity was activated by Co$^{2+}$ of Mn$^{2+}$ but inhibited by Fe$^{3+}$ or Hg$^{2+}$. Moreover, enzyme activity was not inhibited by SDS or sodium azide.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 2004

Cytochrome P450 aromatase is the enzyme responsible for biosynthesis of female sex hormone(estrogen) and 19-nortestosterone(nandrolone), a unique steroid hormone endogenously synthesized in the pig. By use of RT-PCR coupled with DHPLC technique (WAVE analysis), expression pattern of isoforms of porcine cytochrome P450 aromatase gene was investigated. Relatively higher expression of aromatase mRNA was observed in testis than in ovary and this result accounted for the previous findings of higher blood estrogen level in male compared with female in this species. The result from the DHPLC demonstrated that PCR amplified DNA fragments of ovary and testis tissues. using unique PCR primers for all three types of aromatase genes, were different from those of type II and ill genes. Further nucleotide sequence analyses of the plasmid clones containing the PCR products revealed that nucleotide sequences of all clones were identical to type I aromatase gene(ovary type). Thus, the result from the present study indicates that the ovary and testis express the same type of aromatase gene. Therefore, the efficacy of DHPLC techniques used for this study helped us to analyze tissue-specific expression of isoform of genes containing the nucleotide sequences with high homology.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.247-253
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• 2003

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae causes a highly contagious pleuropneumoniae in swine. The bacterium produces several virulence factors such as exotoxin, LPS, capsular polysaccharide, etc. Among them, the exotoxin, called Apx, has been focused as the major virulence factor, and the toxin consists of 4 gene cluster. apx CABD. apxA is the structural gene of toxin and has four different types, I, II, III, and IV. As the first step of development of a new subunit vaccine, the three different types of apxA gene were amplified from A. pleuropneumoniae isolated from Korea by PCR with primer designed based on the N- and C-terminal of the toxin. The sizes of apxIA, IIA and IIIA were 3,073, 2,971 and 3,159bps, respectively. The comparison of whole DNA sequences of apxIA, IIA and IIIA genes with those of the reference strain demonstrated 98%, 99% and 98% homology, respectively. In addition, the phylogenetic analysis was performed based on the amino acid sequences compared with 12 different RTX toxin family using the neighbor-joining method. ApxA proteins of Korean isolates were identical with reference strains in this study. All ApxA proteins were expressed in E. coli with pQE expression vector and identified using Western blot with polyclonal antibodies against culture supernatants of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 2 or 5. The sizes of each expressed ApxA protein were about 120, 110, 125 kDa (M.W.), respectively. The results obtained in this study could be used for the future study to develop a new vaccine to porcine pleuropneumoniae.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.37 no.sup2
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• pp.339-351
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• 2007

Cytolethal distending toxin(CDT)은 세포 주기 중 G2에서 M 기로의 전환을 막아 세포의 증식을 억제할 수 있는 세균 단백 독소의 일종이다. 구강 미생물 중 유일하게 Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (A. actinomycetemcomitans)만이 이 CDT를 생성 할 수 있는 것으로 알려져 있다. A. actinomycetemcomitans는 localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP)의 원인균으로 여겨지며 비 운동성의 그람 음성 구간균이고 $37^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ 하에 성장이 왕성하다. A. actinomycetemcomitans의 CDT는 3개의 인접한 유전자인 cdtA, cdtB, cdtC에 의해 형성 되며 각각의 유전자에 대한 단백질의 기능은 아직 완전히 밝혀지지 않았다. 현재까지 연구에 의하면 cdtA는 CDT의 세포부착과 관련이 있는 것으로 여겨지며 이 유전자의 기능 이상 시 CDT의 독성 효과가 현저히 감소한다고 알려져 있다. 따라서 본 연구는 A. actinomycetemcomitans의 cdtA 유전자를 클로닝, 단백질 발현하여 향후 치주질환의 발병 과정에서 CdtA의 역할을 규명하고 질환의 예방 및 치료법에 도움을 주고자 하였다. A. actinomycetemcomitans Y4균주를 cdtA 유전자 클로닝을 위해 사용하였다. A. actinomycetemcomitans의 genomic DNA는 genomic DNA 추출 kit를 사용하여 분리하고 cdtA에 특이적인 primer를 이용하여 PCR을 통해 cdtA 유전자를 증폭하였다. 증폭된 cdtA 유전자를 T-vector에 클로닝 하였으며, 클로닝 된 cdtA 유전자는 단백질 발현을 위해 pRSET Avector에 서브클로닝 한 후 발현 균주인 BL21(DE3)를 이용하여 발현시켰다. 발현 후 Ni-NTA AP conjugate를 이용한 Western blot을 통해 pRSET-CDTA를 확인하였다.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2007

MyoD, expressed in skeletal muscle lineages of vertebrate embryo, is one of muscle-specific basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors, which plays a key role in the determination and differentiation of all skeletal muscle lineages. In this study, a cDNA of grass carp MyoD was cloned and characterized from total RNA of grass carp embryos by RT-PCR. The full-length cDNA of grass carp MyoD is 1597 bp. The cDNA sequence analysis reveals an open reading frame of 825 bp coding for a protein of 275 amino acids, which includes a bHLH domain composed of basic domain (1-84th amino acids) and HLH domain (98-142th amino acids), without signal peptide. Then the MyoD cDNA of grass carp was cloned to yeast expression vector pPICZ$\alpha$A and transformed into P. pastoris GS115 strain, the recombinant MyoD protein with a molecular weight of about 31KD was obtained after inducing for 2d with 0.5% methanol in pH 8.0 BMGY medium, and the maximum yield was about 250 mg/L in shaking-flask fermentation. The results were expected to benefit for further studies on the crystal structure and physiological function of fish MyoD.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2009

The gene encoding Thermus thermophilus HJ6 DNA polymerase (Tod) was cloned and sequenced. The open reading frame (ORF) of the Tod gene was composed of 2,505 nucleotides and encoded a protein (843 amino acids) with a predicted molecular weight of 93,795 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence of Tod showed 98% and 86% identities to the Thermus thermophilus HB8 DNA pol and Thermus aquaticus DNA pol, respectively, The Tod gene was expressed under the control of the bacteriophage $\lambda$ promoters PR and PL on the expression vector pJLA503 in Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) codon plus. The expressed enzyme was purified by heat treatment, $HiTrap^{TM}$ Q column, and $HiPrep^{TM}$ Sephacryl S-200 HR 26/60 column chromatographies. The optimal temperature and pH for DNA polymerase activity were found to be $75{\sim}80^{\circ}C$ and 9.0, respectively. The optimal concentrations of $Mg^{2+}$ and $Mn^{2+}$ were 2.5 mM and 1 mM, respectively. The enzyme activity was activated by divalent cations, and was inhibited by monovalent cations. The result of the PCR experiment with Tod DNA polymerase indicates that this enzyme might be useful in DNA amplification and PCR-based applications.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2003

Aromatic compounds are of major concern among environmental pollutants due to their toxicity and persistence. To monitor aromatic compounds in a real time with a better sensitivity, a new method of SPR (surface plasmon resonance) based on DNA chip (Biacore 3000) was developed here. It is thought that CapR regulatory protein as a complex with phenol, could bind to their corresponding promoter, Po. Biotinylated DNA oligomers for the promoter was synthesized by PCR and coupled onto streptoavidin-linked CM5-chip. CapR regulatory proteins were purified after cloning their genes in pET21a (+) vector and expressing proteins. The interaction was assessed by the system where the regulatory proteins flowed with or without phenol through the cells of DNA chip. CapR regulatory protein even in the presence of phenol had no response to its promoter, Po, suggesting that other factor(s) might be required for the activation of Po promoter. The present work reveals a promising possibility of the SPR-based DNA chip in monitoring specific environmental pollutants in a real time.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.262-267
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• 2001

A cDNA coding alkaline phosphatase (AP) homologue was isolated from a cDNA library of Schizosaccharomyces pombe by colony hybridization. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned cDNA appeared to lack the N-terminal coding region. The genomic DNA encoding alkaline phosphatase homologue was isolated from S. pombe chromosomal DNA using PCR. The amplified DNA fragment was ligated into plasmid pRS315 to generate the recombinant plasmid pSW20. The DNA insert was subcloned as two smaller fragments for nucleotide sequencing. The sequence contains 2,789 by and encodes a protein of 532 amino acids with a molecular mass of 58,666 daltons. The S. pombe cells containing plasmid pSW20 showed much higher AP activity compared with the yeast cells with vector only This indicates that the cloned AP gene apparently encodes AP The predicted amino acid sequence of the S. pombe AP shares homology with those of other known APs.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2000

To analyze molecular traits determining pigmentation between Pharbitis nill violet and white, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism(AFLP) and Differential Display Reverse Transcription(DDRT) experiments were carried out with either genomic DNAs or total RNAs isolated from both plants. Results of AFLP experiment in combination of 8 EcoRⅠ primers with 6 MseⅠ primers showed 41 violet-and 60 white-specific DNA bands. In the subsequent experiment, 22 violet-and 22 white-specific DNA fragments were amplified by PCR with DNAs eluted. The sizes of the fragments range from 200 to 600bp. DDRT using total RNA produced 19 violet-and 17 white-specific cDNA fragments, ranging from 200 to 600bp. The fragments obtained by both AFLP and DDRT had been cloned into pGEM T-easy vector, amplified and subjected to the nucleotide sequence analyses. As a result of Blast sequence analysis, most of them sequenced up to date showed no similarity to any Known gene, while few has similarity to known animal or plant genes. An AFLP clone V6, for example, has a strong sequence similarity to the human transcription factor LZIP-alpha mRNA and a DDRT clone W19 to Solanum tuberosum 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase mRNA.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.187-193
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• 2012

Serine proteases are major insect enzymes involved in the digestion of dietary proteins and in the process of blood meal digestion. In this study, cDNA was constructed using the whole body of Laccotrephes japonensis. The flanking sequences of the 5- and 3- end of this gene were characterized by RACE-PCR. Sequence analysis showed that this gene contained a 963-bp ORF encoding 320 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence showed 62% identity with the Creontiades dilutus serine protease, 58% with the Lygus lineolaris trypsin precursor, and 54% with the Triatoma infestans salivary trypsin. To assess the expression of the L. japonensis serine protease (JGsp), the JGsp gene was cloned into a baculovirus transfer vector, pBac-1, and expressed in Sf9 cells (Spodoptera frugiperda). SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis have shown that the JGsp recombinant protein was a monomer with a molecular weight of about 32 kDa. Recombinant JGsp has shown activity in the protease enzyme assay using gelatin as a substrate.