• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2007

This study was focused on discriminating the molecular sexes of red deer and elk by duplex polymerase chain reaction(PCR) using two primer sets. Sex differentiation of mammals is primarily dependent on the presence or absence of sex determining region Y(SRY) gene encoded on Y chromosome which plays a key role for male development. Zinc finger X-Y(ZFX-ZFY) gene, one of X-Y homology gene group was found on X- and Y- chromosomes, respectively. At first, the nucleotide sequences were characterized for the intron 9 flanking region of ZFX-ZFY genes. The intron 9 of ZFX and ZFY is 529-bp and 665-bp in length, respectively. A transposable element sequence similar to bovine SINE element Bov-tA was detected only in ZFY gene of Cervidae. Sexing analysis was conducted by duplex PCR assay for amplification of SRY and ZFX-ZFY genes. Two differentially amplified patterns were found: one for females has a common band amplified only from ZFX as a template, and another for males had three bands(a common ZFX and two male-specific ZFY and SRY). On the separate tests using each gene, the results was identical to those from duplex PCR assay. Moreover, the results from PCR assays provide also identical information to phenotypic investigation of individuals of red deer, elk as well as their hybridized progenies collected from two isolated farms. These results suggest that it may be a rapid and precise method for determining the sexes by duplex PCR amplification using Y-chromosome specific SRY and X- and Y- homologous ZFX-ZFY genes showing sexual dimorphism in red deer and elk without any other controls.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.490-496
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• 2002

In order to detect the DNA heteropolymorphism of chum salmon, selected essential genes were examined in different regional chum salmons, i.e., Korean, Japanese and American by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and real time PCR methods. From the promoter regions and introns of growth hormone, mtDNA NDI region, D-loop region, IGF-I, histone H3 and MCH2 several representative primer pairs were obtained and employed for the DGGE with the PCR products from the genomic DNAs of the different regional chum salmons. mtDNA NDI, D-loop region and IGE-I genes showed marked heteropolymorphism between Korean and American chum salmons. Intron C of growth hormone also showed a heteropolymorphism between Korean and Japanese chum salmons. Whereas heteropolnnorphism of histone liH and MCH2 genes was detected among in Korean, Japanese and Asnerican chum salmons in the examined region. The real time PCR disclosed the characteristic incremental production of target DNAs dependent on the heteropolymorphic conditions of genomic DNAa of chum salmons, thus the different regional chum salmons could be grouped by the variable incremental curies. Although the DGGE and real time PCR did not produce the identical results in this study, we suggest that the DGGE and real time PCR could be used for the primary screening of the DNA heteropolymorphism of different animal genome.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.952-960
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• 2006

As a unicellular green alga that possesses many of the metabolic pathways present in higher plants, Chlorelia offers many advantages for expression of heterologous proteins. Since strong and constitutive promoters are necessary for efficient expression in heterologous expression systems, the development of such promoters for use in the Chlorella system was the aim of this study. Proteins encoded by the early genes of algal viruses are expressed before viral replication, probably by the host transcriptional machinery, and the promoters of these genes might be useful for heterologous expression in Chlorella. In this study, putative promoter regions of DNA polymerase, ATP-dependent DNA ligase, and chitinase genes were amplified from eight Korean Chlorella virus isolates by using primer sets designed based on the sequence of the genome of PBCV-1, the prototype of the Phycodnaviridae. These putative promoter regions were found to contain several cis-acting elements for transcription factors, including the TATA, CAAT, NTBBF1, GATA, and CCAAT boxes. The amplified promoter regions were placed into Chlorella transformation vectors containing a green fluorescence protein (GFP) reporter gene and the Sh ble gene for phleomycin resistance. C. vulgaris protoplasts were transformed and then selected with phleomycin. The GFP fluorescence intensities of cells transformed with chitinase, DNA polymerase, and DNA ligase gene promoter-GFP fusion constructs were 101.5, 100.8, and 95.8%, respectively, of that of CaMV 35S-GFP-transformed Chlorella cells. These results demonstrate that these viral promoters are active in transformed Chlorella.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.2 s.69
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• pp.192-196
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• 2005

The SNF2/SW12 family comprises proteins from a variety of species with in vivo functions, such as transcriptional regulation, maintenance of chromosome stability during mitosis, and various types of DNA repair. This study was shown the characterization of hrp2+ gene which was isolated by PCR amplification using the conserved domain of SNF2 motifs. Sequence analysis of hrp2+ gene showed striking evolutionary conservation among the SNF2 family of proteins. The transcript of hrp2+ gene was found to be a 4.7 kb as identified by Northern hybridization. To investigate the inducibility of hrp2+ gene, transcript levels were examined after treating the cells to various DNA damaging agents. The transcripts of hrp2+ were induced by UV-irradiation. But the transcripts were not induced by treatment of $ 0.25\%$ Methylmethane sulfonate (MMS). These results implied that the effects of damaging agents are complex and different regulatory pathways exist for the induction of this gene. Hrp2 protein was purified near homogeneity by combination of affinity chromatography. We tested the purified Hrp2 protein for the helicase activity in an oligonucleotide release assay. However we were unable to detect any helicase activity associated with the Hrp2 protein, indicating that the helicase motifs in Hrp2 are merely indicators of a broader DNA-dependent ATPase activity.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2007

Insertion sequence IS1112 is a repetitive element with a relatively high number of copies in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), the causal agent of bacterial blight of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Three new loci of IS1112 were identified in seven Chinese strains of Xoo using a single oligonucleotide primer J3; 5'-GCTCA GGTCAGGTGGCCTGG-3' by insertion-sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (IS-PCR). Among the three new loci of IS1112, two were located in the open-reading frame region of genes fhuA and cirA, which encode TonB-dependent receptors, and the third in ISXo2, another type of insertion sequence in Xoo genome. Three variants of IS1112 were identified in those three loci based on their sequence similarities: two were identical to IS1112a and IS1112b, reported in strain PXO86 from the Philippines, while the third was a new member of IS1112, defined as IS1112d. Inserting IS1112 in gene fhuA caused three bases, GGT, to be duplicated at the target site, but inserting it in gene cirA did not cause any duplication in the target site. The diversity of IS1112 sequence and insertion loci in Xoo genome and their potential effects are discussed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1380-1389
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• 2015

Prx1, an AhpF-dependent 2-Cys peroxiredoxin (Prx), was previously identified in Vibrio vulnificus, a facultative aerobic pathogen. In the present study, transcription of the V. vulnificus prx1ahpF genes, which are adjacently located on the chromosome, was evaluated by analyzing the promoter and intergenic region of the two genes. Northern blot analyses revealed that transcription of prx1ahpF results in two transcripts, the prx1 and prx1ahpF transcripts. Primer extension analysis and a point mutational analysis of the promoter region showed that the two transcripts are generated from a single promoter. In addition, the 3' end of the prx1 transcript at the prx1ahpF intergenic region was determined by a 3'RACE assay. These results suggested that the prx1ahpF genes are transcribed as an operon, and the prx1 transcript was produced by transcriptional termination in the intergenic region. RNA secondary structure prediction of the prx1ahpF intergenic region singled out a stem-loop structure without poly(U) tract, and a deletion analysis of the intergenic region showed that the atypical stem-loop structure acts as the transcriptional attenuator to result in the prx1 and prx1ahpF transcripts. The combined results demonstrate that the differential expression of prx1 and ahpF is accomplished by the cis-acting transcriptional attenuator located between the two genes and thereby leads to the production of a high level of Prx1 and a low level of AhpF.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.304-315
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• 2007

Fusarium graminearum causes a serious scab disease of small grains in Korea. The nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus, Fusarium graminearum virus-DK21 (FgV-DK21), from F. graminearum strain DK21, which is associated with hypovirulence in F. graminearum, was determined and compared to the genome sequences of other mycoviruses, including Cryponectria hypoviruses. The FgV-DK21 dsRNA consists of 6,624 nucleotides, excluding the 3'-terminal poly(A) tail. The viral genome has 53- and 46-nucleotide 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs), respectively, and five putative open reading frames. A phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of ORF1, which encodes a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and those of other mycoviruses revealed that this organism forms a distinct virus clade with other hypoviruses, and is more distantly related to other mycoviruses (3.8 to 24.0% identity). However, pairwise sequence comparisons of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of ORFs 2 through 5 revealed no close relationships to other protein sequences currently available in GenBank. Analyses of RNA accumulation by Northern blot and primer extension indicated that these putative gene products are expressed from at least two different subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs), in contrast to the cases in other hypoviruses. This study suggests the existence of a new, as yet unassigned, genus of mycoviruses that exhibits a potex-like genome organization and sgRNA accumulation.

• Journal of Apiculture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2019

BQCV multi-point PCR was developed as a rapid multiplex detection method for BQCV, one of the viral pathogens of honeybees. It could detect BQCV specific genes qualitative as well as quantitative detection based on ultra-rapid PCR. Three primer pairs (RNA dependent RNA polymerase, capsid protein, 3C like protease) were specifically designed for accurate the detection and were optimized for minimizing the detection time and increasing the sensitivity. Our advanced diagnostic system have the accuracy by lowering the concern about the variation in the BQCV detection site. In addition, it should be an opportunity to identify mutations that are mixed with other viruses.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.156-164
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• 2013

Actinomycetes produce diverse secondary metabolites which have the primary importance in medicine, agriculture and food production, and key to this is their ability to interact with other organisms in natural habitats. In this study, we have investigated the taxonomical and functional diversity of actinomycetes in fecal sample of rhinoceros beetle larvae (Allomyrina dichotoma L.) by using culture-dependent and -independent approaches. For the culture-independent approach, the community DNA was extracted from the sample and 16S rRNA genes of actinomycetes were amplified using actinomycetes-specific PCR primers. Thirty-seven clones were classified into 15 genera and 24 species of actinomycetes. For the culture-dependent approach, 53 strains were isolated from larval feces, of which 27 isolates were selected based on morphological characteristics. The isolates were classified into 4 genera and 14 species, and 24 isolates (89%) were identified as the genus Streptomyces. Many of the representative isolates had antimicrobial activities against plant pathogenic fungi and Gram-positive bacteria. In addition, most of the isolates (78%) showed biochemical properties to hydrolyze cellulose and casein. The results demonstrated that diverse and valuable actinomycetes could be isolated from insect fecal samples, indicating that insect guts can be rich sources for novel bioactive compounds.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.217-226
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• 2014

Root-knot symptoms were found on a commercial tomato cultivar carrying Mi, a resistance gene to root-knot nematodes including Meloidogyne incognita, M. arenaria, and M. javanica in 2012 at Buyeo, Chungnam Province in Korea. The isolate was identified as M. incognita based on molecular analyses using two species-specific primer sets. Pathogenicity of the isolate on one susceptible and three resistant tomato cultivars to the root-knot nematodes was tested. The nematode isolate showed strong pathogenicity on all the tested cultivars at all tested incubation temperatures. In addition, resistance degree of 33 commercial tomato cultivars, 8 susceptible and 25 resistant cultivars to root-knot nematodes, was also tested. Plants were determined as resistant when they suppressed the nematode reproduction. All the cultivars demonstrated strong susceptibility to the nematode regardless of resistance of the tomato cultivars. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the occurrence of Mi infecting M. incognita isolate in Korea. On the other hand, to construct an efficient screening method for selecting resistant breeding source to the nematode isolate, root-knot development of M. incognita on four tomato cultivars according to several conditions such as inoculum concentration, plant growth stage, and incubation period after transplant was investigated. Reproduction of the nematode on all the tested cultivars according to inoculum concentration increased in a dose-dependent manner. Except for inoculum concentration, there was no significant difference in reproduction level of the cultivars according to the other tested conditions. On the basis of the results, we suggest an efficient screening method for new resistant tomato to the nematode isolate.