• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제13권6호
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• pp.1021-1026
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• 2003

Numerous secreted and cell-associated virulence factors have been proposed to account for the fulminating and destructive nature of Vibrio vulnificus infections. Among the putative virulence factors are an elastase, elastolytic protease, and a cytolytic hemolysin. Effects of the elastase on the hemolysin were assessed by evaluating changes of hemolytic activities either in the presence or absence of the protease. Although hemolytic activity in the culture supernatant was lowered by the purified elastase added in vitro, the cellular level of hemolytic activity was unaffected by the mutation of vvpE encoding the elastase. Growth kinetic studies revealed that hemolysin reached its maximum level in the exponential phase of growth, and the elastase appeared at the onset of the stationary phase. These results have provided insight into the regulation of virulence factors: temporally coordinate regulation of virulence factors is essential for the overall success of the pathogen during pathogenesis.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.220-227
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• 2014

The GacS/GacA system in the root colonizer Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 is a key regulator of many traits relevant to the biocontrol function of this bacterium. Proteomic analysis revealed 12 proteins were down-regulated in a gacS mutant of P. chlororaphis O6. These GacS-regulated proteins functioned in combating oxidative stress, cell signaling, biosynthesis of secondary metabolism, and secretion. The extent of regulation was shown by real-time RT-PCR to vary between the genes. Mutants of P. chlororaphis O6 were generated in two GacS-regulated genes, trpE, encoding a protein involved in tryptophan synthesis, and prnA, required for conversion of tryptophan to the antimicrobial compound, pyrrolitrin. Failure of the trpE mutant to induce systemic resistance in tobacco against a foliar pathogen causing soft rot, Pectobacterium carotovorum SCCI, correlated with reduced colonization of root surfaces implying an inadequate supply of tryptophan to support growth. Although colonization was not affected by mutation in the prnA gene, induction of systemic resistance was reduced, suggesting that pyrrolnitrin was an activator of plant resistance as well as an antifungal agent. Study of mutants in the other GacS-regulated proteins will indicate further the features required for biocontrol-activity in this rhizobacterium.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.955-960
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• 2005

메트로니다졸은 인체 위장질환의 원인균인 헬리코박터 파일로리를 박별하기위해 처방하는 주요 약제이다 그러나 인체로부터 분리한 헬리코박터 파일로리 균주는 메트로니다졸에 내성을 가지는 경우가 일반적이며, 이러한 내성원인은 이 균주의 염색체 상에 존재하는 두 종류의 nitroreductase 유전자인 rdxA와frxA 유전자가 비활성화됨에 따라 유발된다. 본 연구에서는 헬리코박터 파일로리 균에서 rdxA 유전자에 변이를 도입하여 메트로니다졸에 내성을 가지는 균주를 구축하여, 메트로니다졸 내성이 균주에 미치는 생물학적 영향을 관찰하고자 하였다. In vitro상에서 메트로니다졸 내성균주는 대조균과 비교하여 exponential phase에서는 거의 차이 없이 증식하였으나 stationary phase에서는 빠르게 생육활성을 잃는 것을 관찰할 수 있었다. 또한 생쥐를 이용한 동물 실험에서 메트로니다졸 내성균주는 생쥐의 위장 내에서 서식하는 능력을 상실함을 알 수 있었다. 그러나 이러한 생육 활성을 회복시켜주는 compensate템 mutation을 가진 균주를 쉽게 얻을 수 있었으며 이 균주는 생쥐에 감염시키면 위장 내에서 서식하는 능력을 회복함을 알 수 있었다.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제36권5호
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• pp.440-449
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the genetic and pathogenic characteristics of Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum in roses in Korea, and to examine the similarities and differences between Korean isolates and the first-reported European strains. Between 2017 and 2019, seventeen isolates from rose plants were identified as R. pseudosolanacearum using Ralstonia-specific primers. All 17 isolates were identified as race 1 using race-specific primers, and were confirmed as biovar 3 due to their ability to utilize carbon sources. Multiplex PCR using phylotype discriminating specific primers identified the 17 isolates as phylotype I. Sequevar comparison with reference sequevars using the sequences of the egl, mutS, and fliC genes, and only the egl gene, revealed that the strains evaluated in this study corresponded to sequevar I-33. The pathogenicity in roses differed depending on the rose cultivars. The different methods used for the genetic characterization of R. pseudosolanacearum indicate that the 17 rose bacterial wilt isolates had the same genetic characteristics. The lack of genetic variation in these isolates indicates their recent introduction from other countries (likely European countries). Therefore, appropriate quarantine and control measures should be taken in order to avoid further increases in the pathogenicity and/or secondary host range of R. pseudosolanacearum through genetic mutation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.1197-1206
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• 2005

Vibrio vulnificus is an opportunistic pathogen that causes a septicemia and expresses numerous virulence factors, in which luxS and smcR are genes encoding for components responsible for quorum-sensing regulation. In the present study, null mutants were constructed with lesions in each or both of these two genes from the V. vulnificus Vv$\Delta$Z strain, which is a lacZ$^{-}$ and chloramphenicol/streptomycin-resistant derivative of the wild-type ATCC29307 strain, and their phenotypes related to virulence were compared with those of the parental cells. $LD_{50}$ and histopathological findings of luxS-, smcR-, or luxS- smcR- deficient mutant were not different from those of the parent strain, a lacZ-deficient streptomycin-resistant strain in mice. However, time of death in mice was delayed, and numbers of bacteria survived in bloodstream after intraperitoneal injection in mice were decreased by mutation, especially luxS and smcR double mutant (VvSR$\Delta$ZSR). These phenomena were supported by increased serum sensitivity and delayed bacterial proliferation in both murine blood and iron-restricted medium. These results suggest that the luxS and luxR homologous genes in V. vulnificus could playa role in bacterial survival in host by enhancing proliferation and adjusting to changed environment.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.105-115
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• 2015

Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) is critical for the triggering of innate immune response by recognizing the conserved molecular patterns of single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) viruses and mediated antigenic adaptive immunity. To understand how TLR7 distinguish pathogen-derived molecular patterns from the host self, it is essential to be able to identify TLR7 receptor interaction interfaces, such as active sites or R848-agonist binding sites. The functional interfaces of TLR7 can serve as targets for structure-based drug design in studying the TLR7 receptor's structure-function relationship. In contrast to mammalian TLR7, chicken TLR7 (chTLR7) is unknown for its important biological function. Therefore, it has been targeted to mediate contrasting evolutionary patterns of positive selection into non-synonymous SNPs across eleven species using TLR7 conservation patterns (evolutionary conserved and class-specific trace residues), where protein sequence differences to the TLR7 receptors of interest record mutation that have passed positive section across the species. In this study, we characterized the Lys609 residue on chTLR7-ECD homodimer interfaces to reflect the current tendency of evolving positive selection to be transfer into a stabilization direction of the R848-agonist/chTLR7-ECDs complex under the phylogenetically variable position across species and we suggest a potential indicator for contrasting evolutionary patterns of both the species TLR-ECDs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.35-42
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• 2008

Vibrio vulnificus produces siderophores, low-molecular-weight iron-chelating compounds, to obtain iron under conditions of iron deprivation. To identify genes associated with the biosynthesis of siderophore in V. vulnificus MO6-24/O, we screened clones with mini-Tn5 random insertions for those showing decreased production of siderophore. Among 6,000 clones screened, nine such clones were selected. These clones contain the transposon inserted in VV2_0830 (GenBank accession number) that is a homolog of a nonribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS). There is an another NRPS module, VV2_0831, 49-bp upstream to VV2_0830. We named these two genes vvs (Vibrio vulnificus siderophore synthase) A and B, respectively. Mutation of either vvsA or vvsB showed a decreased production of siderophore. The expression of an NRPS-lux fusion was negatively modulated by the presence of iron, and the regulation was dependent on Fur (ferric uptake regulator). However, the expression of the NRPS genes was still not fully derepressed in the iron-rich condition, even in furnull mutant cells, suggesting that some other unknown factors are involved in the regulation of the genes. We also demonstrated that the NRPS genes are important for virulence of the pathogen in a mice model.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제60권6호
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• pp.167-174
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• 2017

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is one of the most common forms of community-acquired pneumonia in children and adolescents. Outbreaks of MPP occur in 3- to 7-year cycles worldwide; recent epidemics in Korea occurred in 2006-2007, 2011, and 2015-2016. Although MPP is known to be a mild, self-limiting disease with a good response to macrolides, it can also progress into a severe and fulminant disease. Notably, since 2000, the prevalence of macrolide-resistant MPP has rapidly increased, especially in Asian countries, recently reaching up to 80%-90%. Macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MRMP) harbors a point mutation in domain V of 23S rRNA with substitutions mainly detected at positions 2063 and 2064 of the sequence. The excessive use of macrolides may contribute to these mutations. MRMP can lead to clinically refractory pneumonia, showing no clinical or radiological response to macrolides, and can progress to severe and complicated pneumonia. Refractory MPP is characterized by an excessive immune response against the pathogen as well as direct injury caused by an increasing bacterial load. A change of antibiotics is recommended to reduce the bacterial load. Tetracyclines or quinolones can be alternatives for treating MRMP. Otherwise, corticosteroid or intravenous immunoglobulin can be added to the treatment regimen as immunomodulators to downregulate an excessive host immune reaction and alleviate immune-mediated pulmonary injury. However, the exact starting time point, dose, or duration of immunomodulators has not been established. This review focuses on the mechanism of resistance acquisition and treatment options for MRMP pneumonia.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.105-109
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• 2009

We reported previously that overexpression of a salicylic acid (SA) methyltransferase1 gene from rice (OsBSMT1) or a SA glucosyltransferase1 gene from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtSAGT1) leads to increased susceptibility to Pseudomonas syringae due to reduced SA levels. To further examine their roles in the defense responses, we assayed the transcript levels of AtBSMT1 or AtSAGT1 in plants with altered levels of SA and/or other defense components. These data showed that AtSAGT1 expression is regulated partially by SA, or nonexpressor of pathogenesis related protein1, whereas AtBSMT1 expression was induced in SA-deficient mutant plants. In addition, we produced the transgenic Arabidopsis plants with RNAi-mediated inhibition of AtSAGT1 and isolated a null mutant of AtBSMT1, and then analyzed their phenotypes. A T-DNA insertion mutation in the AtBSMT1 resulted in reduced methyl salicylate (MeSA) levels upon P. syringae infection. However, accumulation of SA and glucosyl SA was similar in both the atbsmt1 and wild-type plants, indicating the presence of another SA methyltransferase or an alternative pathway for MeSA production. The AtSAGT1-RNAi line exhibited no altered phenotypes upon pathogen infection, compared to wild-type plants, suggesting that (an)other SA glucosyltransferase(s) in Arabidopsis plants may be important for the pathogenesis of P. syringae.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제37권6호
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• pp.566-579
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• 2021

Ralstonia syzygii subsp. indonesiensis (Rsi, former name: Ralstonia solanacearum phylotype IV) PW1001, a causal agent of potato wilt disease, induces hypersensitive response (HR) on its non-host eggplant (Solanum melongena cv. Senryo-nigou). The disaccharide trehalose is involved in abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in many organisms. We found that trehalose is required for eliciting HR on eggplant by plant pathogen Rsi PW1001. In R. solanacearum, it is known that the OtsA/OtsB pathway is the dominant trehalose synthesis pathway, and otsA and otsB encode trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) synthase and T6P phosphatase, respectively. We generated otsA and otsB mutant strains and found that these mutant strains reduced the bacterial trehalose concentration and HR induction on eggplant leaves compared to wild-type. Trehalose functions intracellularly in Rsi PW1001 because addition of exogenous trehalose did not affect the HR level and ion leakage. Requirement of trehalose in HR induction is not common in R. solanacearum species complex because mutation of otsA in Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum (former name: Ralstonia solanacearum phylotype I) RS1002 did not affect HR on the leaves of its non-host tobacco and wild eggplant Solanum torvum. Further, we also found that each otsA and otsB mutant had reduced ability to grow in a medium containing NaCl and sucrose, indicating that trehalose also has an important role in osmotic stress tolerance.