• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.174-185
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• 2010

Full-length cDNAs are essential for the correct annotation of genomic sequences and for the functional analysis of genes and their products. To elucidate the functions of a large population of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) genes and to search efficiently for agriculturally useful genes, we have been taking advantage of the full-length cDNA Over-eXpresser (FOX) gene hunting system. With oligo dT column it purify the each mRNA from the flower organs, leaf and stem tissue. And about 120,000 cDNAs from the library were transformed into $\lambda$-pFLCIII-F vector. Of which 115,000 cDNAs from the library were transformed into T-DNA binary vector, pBigs for transformation study. We used normalized full-length cDNA and introduced each cDNA into Arabidopsis by in planta transformation. Full-length Chinese cabbage cDNAs were expressed independently under the CaMV 35S promoter in Arabidopsis. Selfed seeds were harvested from transgenic Arabidopsis. We had selected 2,500 transgenic plants by hygromycin antibiotic tolerant test, and obtained a number of transgenic mutants. Each transgenic Arabidopsis was investigated in morphological changes, fertility and leaf colour. As a result, 285 possible morphological mutants were identified. Introduced cDNA was isolated by PCR amplification of the genomic DNA from the transgenic mutants. Sequencing result and BLAST analysis showed that most of the introduced cDNA were complete cDNAs and functional genes. Also, we examined the effect of Bromelain on enhancing resistance to soft rot in transgenic Chinese cabbage 'Osome'. The bromelain gene identified from FOX hunting system was transformed into Chinese cabbage using Agrobacterium methods. Transformants were screened by PCR, then RT-PCR and real time PCR were performed to analyze gene expression of cysteine protease in the T1 and T2 generations. The anti-bacterial activity of bromelain was tested in Chinese cabbages infected with soft rot bacteria. The results showed that the over-expressed bromelain gene from pineapple conferred enhanced resistance to soft rot in Chinese cabbage.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.251-258
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• 2002

A potyvirus was isolated from cultivated Iris plants showing leaf streak mosaic symptom. Reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) product of 1 kb long which encoded partial nuclear inclusion B and N-terminal region of viral coat protein (CP) genes for potyviruses was successfully amplified with a set of potyvirus-specific degenerate primers with viral RNA samples from the infected leaves: The RT-PCR product was cloned into the plasmid vector and its nucleotide sequences were determined. The nucleotide sequence of a CDNA clone revealed that the virus was an isolate of Ornithogalum moseic virus (OrMV) based on BLAST search analysis and was denoted as OrMV Korean isolate (OrMV-Ky). To further characterize the CP gene of the virus, a pair of OrMV-specific primers was designed and used for amplification of the entire CP gene of OrMV-Kr, The virus was easily and reliably detected from virus-infected Iris leaves by using the RT-PCR with the set of virus-specific primers. The RT-PCR product of the CP gene of the virus was cloned and its sequences were determined from selected recombinant CDNA clones. Sequence analysis revealed that the CP of OrMV-Kr consisted of 762 nucleotides, which encoded 253 amino acid residues. The CP of OrMV-Ky has 94.1-98.0% amino acid sequence identities (20 amino acid alterations) with that of other three isolates of OrMV, Two NT rich potential N-glycosylation motif sequences, NCTS and NWTM, and a DAC triple box responsible for aphid transmission were conserved in CPs of all the strains of OrMV. The virus has 58.5-86.2% amino acid sequence identities with that of other 16 potyviruses, indicating OrMV to be a distinct species of the genus. OrMV-Ky was the most related with Pterostylia virus Yin the phylogenetic tree analysis of CP at the amino acid level. This is the first report on the occurrence of OrMV in Iris plants in Korea. Data in this study indicate that OrMV is found in cultivated Iris plants, and may have mixed infection of OrMV and Iris severe mosaic virus in Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1269-1275
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• 2014

TALEN is a newly developed gene engineering method to knock out specific genes. It contains a DNA binding domain and a Fok1 nuclease domain in the TALEN plasmid. Therefore, the engineered TALEN construct can bind to any region of genomic DNA and cut the target nucleotide, thereby inducing mutation. In this study, we constructed two TALEN constructs targeted to a protein initiation codon (DBEX2) or the 25th upstream region (DBPR25) to enable mRNA synthesis of SETDB1 HMTase. We performed the TALEN cloning in two steps. The first step was from module vectors to pFUS array vectors. We confirmed successful cloning with a colony PCR experiment and Esp31 restriction enzyme digestion, which resulted in a smear band and a 1 Kb insert band, respectively The second step of the cloning was from a pFUS array vector to a mammalian TALEN expression vector. The engineered TALEN construct was sequenced with specific primers in an expression vector. As expected, a specific array from the module vectors was shown in the sequencing analysis. The specific module sequences were regularly arrayed in every 100 bp, and SETDB1 expression totally disappeared in the TALEN-DBEX2 transfection. PCR amplification targeting of DBEX2 was performed, and the PCR product was digested with a T7E1 restriction enzyme. The expression of SETDB1 was down-regulated in the TALEN-DBPR25 transfection. Morphological changes were also observed in the two TALEN constructs with transfected HeLa cells. These results suggest that the engineered TALEN constructs in two strategic approaches are very useful to knock-out of the SETDB1 gene and to study gene function.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2006

Purpose: Efficacy of the new rotavirus vaccines ($Rotarix^{(R)}$, $RotaTeq^{(R)}$) recently developed can be affected by the rotavirus genotypes prevalent in communities. We performed this study to identify the recent distribution of rotavirus genotypes prevalent in Jeju. Methods: Genotyping of human rotaviruses was performed using 81 samples collected from 154 inpatients and outpatients with rotavirus gastroenteritis at Cheju National University Hospital between July 2005 and June 2006. All six (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9) G serotypes were identified by amplification of segments of the gene for VP7 using the reverse transcription-polymerase reaction (RT-PCR). Results: The results of RT-PCR for 81 samples were all positive. G typing of the VP7 protein showed that G1 was the most dominant circulating genotype (65.5%) followed by G2 (14.8%), G3 (13.6%), G8 (1.2%), G9 (1.2%), G4 (0%), and a combination of G1/G3 (3.7%). Conclusion: This distribution of rotavirus VP7 genotypes in Jeju is different from that in other domestic areas; the most dominant circulating genotype was G1.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.101-105
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• 2008

Enterobacter sakazakii is implicated in severe forms of neonatal infections such as meningitis and sepsis. This organism has been isolated from a wide range of foods, including cheese, vegetables, grains, herbs, and spices, but its primary environment is still unknown. Generally, dried infant milk formula has been epidemiologically identified as the source of E. sakazakii. Sunsik (a powdered mixture of roasted grains and other foodstuffs) is widely consumed in Korea as a side dish or energy supplement. Sunsik is consumed without heat treatment; thus, lacking an additional opportunity to inactivate foodborne pathogens. Therefore, its microbiological safety should be guaranteed. In this study, the prevalence of E. sakazakii was monitored in 23 different sunsik component flours, using FDA recommended methods; but E. sakazakii medium (Neogen) and Chromogenic E. sakazakii medium (Oxoid) were used as the selective media. In total, presumptive E. sakazakii strains were isolated from 8 different sunsik powders. Subsequently, an API 20E test was conducted, and 15 strains from 5 different sunsik flours (sea tangle, brown rice, non-glutinous rice, cheonggukjang, dried anchovy) were confirmed as E. sakazakii. Fifteen strains were again confirmed by PCR amplification, using three different primer sets (tDNA sequence, ITS sequence, 16S rRNA sequence), and compared to ATCC strains (12868, 29004, 29544, 51329). They were once again confirmed by their enzyme production profiles using an API ZYM kit. Finally, RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA)-genotyping was carried out as a monitoring tool to determine the contamination route of E. sakazakii during processing.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 1998

The present study was performed to analyze the expression of LH genes in the rat ovary. Expression of LH subunit genes in the rat ovary was demonstrated by amplification of ovarian RNA by RT-PCR. The ovarian $LH_\beta$ transcripts contained at least two parts of the published cDNA structure, the pituitary exons 1, 2 and 3 and the part of testicular ex on 1 in the major trancripts form in rat testis. Using RIA, significant amount of LH-like molecules were detected in crude ovarian extracts, and the competition curves with increasing amount of tissue extracts were parallel with those of standard peptide, indicating that the ovarian immunoreactive LH-like material is similar to authentic pituitary LH molecule. The administration of PMSG to immature rats resulted in a sharp decrease of the ovarian LH contents after 24 h post-injection. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that genes for LH subunits are expressed in the rat ovary, and suggest that LH can playa central role in regulation of female reproduction with both endocrine (by pituitary LH) and auto- and/or para-crine (by ovarian LH) manner.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.114-123
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• 2005

Nitropyrene, the predominant nitropolycyclic hydrocarbon found in diesel exhaust, is a mutagenic and tumorigenic environmental pollutant that requires metabolic activation via nitroreduction and ring oxidation. In order to determine the role of ring oxidation in the mutagenicity of 1-nitropyrene, its oxidative metabolites, 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide and 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide, were synthesized and their mutation spectra were determined in the coding region of hprt gene of CHO cells by a PCR amplification of reverse-transcribed hprt mRNA, followed by a DNA sequence analysis. A comparison of the two metabolites for mutation frequencies showed that 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide was 2-times higher than 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide. The mutation spectrum for 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide was base substitutions (33/49), one base deletions (11/49) and exon deletions (5/49). In the case of 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide, base substitutions (27/50), one base deletions (15/50), and exon deletions (8/50) were observed. Base substitutions were distributed randomly throughout the hprt gene. The majority of the base substitutions in mutant from 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide treated cells were $A{\rightarrow}G$ transition (15/33) and $G{\rightarrow}A$ transition (8/33). The predominant base substitution, $A{\rightarrow}G$ transition (11/27) and $G{\rightarrow}A$ transition (8/27), were also observed in mutant from 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide treated cells. The mutation at the site of adenine and guanine was consistent with the previous results, where the sites of DNA adduct formed by these compounds were predominant at the sites of purines. A comparison of the mutational patterns between 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide and 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide showed that there were no significant differences in the overall mutational spectrum. These results indicate that each oxidative metabolite exhibits an equal contribution to the mutagenicity of 1-nitropyrene, and ring oxidation of 1-nitropyrene is an important metabolic pathway to the formation of significant lethal DNA lesions.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2002

In this study, the bacterial communities distributed in sea water of the whitening areas of Gangjeong and Seongsan, Jeju-do have been analysed using the PCR amplification of 16S rRNA to obtain fundamental data and information on relationship of the whitening phenomenon and microbial ecosystem. In Gangjeong, diverse bacteria such as Alcanivorax, Paracoccus, Damselae, Pseudomonas, Rhodowlum, Silicibacter, Suiftobacter, and Roseobacter have been found, and Alcanivorax was the most abundant clone. The most abundant clone from Seongsan was Pseudomonas, of which Pseudomonas tolaasii and Pseudomonas mandeli were most abundantly occurred in the frequency of approx44% and 24%, respectively. Approx4% of the bacterial clones closest to Verrucomicrobiales and other unidentified clones were also fecund in Seongsan, suggesting there is a great discrepancy between bacterial communities from the whitening areas of Seongsan and Gangjeong. The mean temperature, chlorine concentration, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) of the sea water of Gangieong and Seongsan in August of 2001 (sampling period) was $27^{\circ}C$~$27.5^{\circ}C$, 30.24~30.60%, pH 8.23~8.36,7 .20~7.28 mg/ι, suggesting other environmental factors except far the factors mentioned above might result in difference of bacterial communities distributed in both areas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.273-273
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• 2013

Recently, Point-of-care (POC) testing microdevices enable to do the patient monitoring, drug screening, pathogen detection in the outside of hospital. Immunochromatographic strip (ICS) is one of the diagnostic technologies which are widely applied to POC detection. Relatively low cost, simplicity to use, easy interpretations of the diagnostic results and high stability under any circumstances are representative advantages of POC diagnosis. It would provide colorimetric results more conveniently, if the genetic analysis microsystem incorporates the ICS as a detector part. In this work, we develop a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) microfluidic device integrated with a ROSGENE strip for colorimetric influenza H1N1 virus detection. The integrated RT-PCR- ROSGENE device is consist of four functional units which are a pneumatic micropump for sample loading, 2 ${\mu}L$ volume RT-PCR chamber for target gene amplification, a resistance temperature detector (RTD) electrode for temperature control, and a ROSGENE strip for target gene detection. The device was fabricated by combining four layers: First wafer is for RTD microfabrication, the second wafer is for PCR chamber at the bottom and micropump channel on the top, the third is the monolithic PDMS, and the fourth is the manifold for micropump operation. The RT-PCR was performed with subtype specific forward and reverse primers which were labeled with Texas-red, serving as a fluorescent hapten. A biotin-dUTP was used to insert biotin moieties in the PCR amplicons, during the RT-PCR. The RT-PCR amplicons were loaded in the sample application area, and they were conjugated with Au NP-labeled hapten-antibody. The test band embedded with streptavidins captures the biotin labeled amplicons and we can see violet colorimetric signals if the target gene was amplified with the control line. The off-chip RT-PCR amplicons of the influenza H1N1 virus were analyzed with a ROSGENE strip in comparison with an agarose gel electrophoresis. The intensities of test line was proportional to the template quantity and the detection sensitivity of the strip was better than that of the agarose gel. The test band of the ROSGENE strip could be observed with only 10 copies of a RNA template by the naked eyes. For the on-chip RT-PCR-ROSGENE experiments, a RT-PCR cocktail was injected into the chamber from the inlet reservoir to the waste outlet by the micro-pump actuation. After filling without bubbles inside the chamber, a RT-PCR thermal cycling was executed for 2 hours with all the microvalves closed to isolate the PCR chamber. After thermal cycling, the RT-PCR product was delivered to the attached ROSGENE strip through the outlet reservoir. After dropping 40 ${\mu}L$ of an eluant buffer at the end of the strip, the violet test line was detected as a H1N1 virus indicator, while the negative experiment only revealed a control line and while the positive experiment a control and a test line was appeared.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1729-1733
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• 2007

Brassinolide insensitive associated receptor kinase 1(BAK1) is a critical component that play an important roles in signaling of brassinosteroid biosynthesis. Brassinosteroid-deficient and -insensitive mutants showed the characteristic of dwarf symptom. The nutrient deficient tomato showing stunt phenomenon was selected from soiless cultivation system using modified Sonneveld hydroponic solution. Twenty eight protein spots showing different expression levels compared to the control were isolated from extracts of stunted tomato leaves by 2D PAGE analyses. Significantly down-regulated 6 protein spots out of 28 protein spots were analyzed and sequenced by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The protein spot having pI=4.5 and MW=24 kDa was identified as a signal protein, BAK1, which is directly related to brassinosteroid biosynthesis. In addition, five other protein spots were identified as BCK1, cystein proteinase, sulfutase, peroxidase and zinc finger factor respectively, and they were also signal proteins related to brassinosteroid biosynthesis. Furthermore, amplification of 500bp of BAK1 mRNA by RT-PCR using a primer set of peptide matched regions was inhibited conpared to that of the wild type. The results sugested that the BAK1 might be regulated at the transcription level in response to nutrition applications.