• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.321-334
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• 2017

Process surveillance within agricultural biogas plants (BGPs) was concurrently studied by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and an optimized quantitative microscopic fingerprinting (QMF) technique. In contrast to 16S rRNA gene amplicons, digitalized microscopy is a rapid and cost-effective method that facilitates enumeration and morphological differentiation of the most significant groups of methanogens regarding their shape and characteristic autofluorescent factor 420. Moreover, the fluorescence signal mirrors cell vitality. In this study, four different BGPs were investigated. The results indicated stable process performance in the mesophilic BGPs and in the thermophilic reactor. Bacterial subcommunity characterization revealed significant differences between the four BGPs. Most remarkably, the genera Defluviitoga and Halocella dominated the thermophilic bacterial subcommunity, whereas members of another taxon, Syntrophaceticus, were found to be abundant in the mesophilic BGP. The domain Archaea was dominated by the genus Methanoculleus in all four BGPs, followed by Methanosaeta in BGP1 and BGP3. In contrast, Methanothermobacter members were highly abundant in the thermophilic BGP4. Furthermore, a high consistency between the sequencing approach and the QMF method was shown, especially for the thermophilic BGP. The differences elucidated that using this biphasic approach for mesophilic BGPs provided novel insights regarding disaggregated single cells of Methanosarcina and Methanosaeta species. Both dominated the archaeal subcommunity and replaced coccoid Methanoculleus members belonging to the same group of Methanomicrobiales that have been frequently observed in similar BGPs. This work demonstrates that combining QMF and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing is a complementary strategy to describe archaeal community structures within biogas processes.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2006

The effects of ultrasonication on phytoplankton were investigated in two ponds in which physicochemical and biological water quality was similar, one as a treatment and the other as a control. The samples were collected from August 18 to September 30 in 2003. Traditional morphological analysis showed that Bacillariophyceae dominated phytoplankton community in both ponds. The abundance of Cyanophyceae was lower in the phytoplankton community of the sonicated pond than that of control pond. We used DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) to analyze the diversity and change of phytoplankton community in two ponds. The DGGE banding patterns of 16S rRNA gene and sequence analysis demonstrated that Oscillatoria acuminata and CFB (Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides) group bacterium appeared in the treated pond, and the control pond was dominated by Synechococcus sp. and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. Especially, Pseudanabaena sp. dominated during the ultrasonic cessation in the treated pond. The DGGE profiles of 18S rRNA gene and sequence analysis showed that the treated pond was dominated by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the control pond by C. reinhardtii and Pteromonas protracta. In conclusion, the ultrasonication affected the reduced growth of cyanobacteria, particularly Pseudanabaena.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 2010

This study was aimed at investigating the gene expression profile in basal ganglia of cadmium exposed rat based on cDNA array analysis. For cDNA array analysis, adult Sprague-Dawley male rats (350 ${\pm}$ 25 g) were intraperitoneally injected with 2.0 mg/kg body weight/day of CdCl2 (0.3 ml) for 5 days. For doserelated gene expression analysis rats were intraperitoneally injected with 0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 1.0 mg/kg body weight/day of CdCl$_2$ for 5 days. Control rats were injected with equal volume of saline. Cadmium concentration of brain was analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. For cDNA array, RNA samples were extracted from basal ganglia and reverse-transcribed in the presence of [${\alpha}$32P]-dATP. Membrane sets of the Atlas Rat 1.2 array II and Toxicology array 1.2 (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA) were hybridized with cDNA probe sets. RT-PCR was employed to validate the relative gene expression patterns obtained from the cDNA array. Northern blot hybridization methods were employed to assess the dose-related gene expression. Among the 2352 cDNAs, 671 genes were detected in both array sets and 63 genes of 38 classes showed significant (more than two fold) changes in expression. Thirty five of these genes were up-regulated and twenty eight were down-regulated in the cadmium exposed group. According to the dose-related gene expression analysis, heat shock 27 kDa protein (HSP27), neurodegeneration-associated protein 1 (Neurodap 1) genes were significantly up-regulated and melatonin receptor 1a (Mel1a), Kinesin family member 3C (KIF3C), novel kinesinrelated protein (KIF1D) genes were significantly downregulated even in the low-dose of cadmium exposed group (0.1 mg/kg body weight/day). Conclusions Sixty three genes detected in this study can give some more useful informations about the cadmium-induced neurotoxicity in the basal ganglia. As well as, HSP27, Neurodap1, Mel1a, KIF3C and KIF1D genes may be useful for the study of the cadmium-induced neurotoxicity because these genes showed dramatic changes of mRNA levels in response to the low dose of cadmium exposure.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2022.09a
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• pp.36-36
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• 2022

The molecular understanding of resistance and susceptibility of host plants to scab, a most threatful disease to pome fruit production worldwide, is very limited. Comparing resistant line '93-3-98' to susceptible one 'Sweet Skin' at seven time points of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 days post inoculation, RNA-sequencing data derived from infected and mock-inoculated young leaves were analyzed to evaluate the tolerant response and to mine candidate genes of pear to the scab pathogen Venturia nashicola. Analysis of the mapped reads showed that the infection of V. nashicola led to significant differential expression of 17,827 transcripts with more than 3-fold change in the seven pairs of libraries, of which 9,672 (54%) are up- and 8,155(46%) are down-regulated. These included mainly receptor (NB-ARC domains-containing, CC-NBS-LRR, TIR-NBS-LRR, seven transmembrane MLO family protein) and transcription factor (ethylene responsive element binding, WRKY DNA-binding protein) related gene. An arsenal of defense response of highly resistant pear accessions derived from European pear was probably supposed no sooner had V. nashicola infected its host than host genes related to disease suppression like Polyketide cyclase/dehydrase and lipid transport protein, WRKY family transcription factor, lectin protein kinase, cystein-rich RLK, calcium-dependent phospholipid-binding copine protein were greatly boosted and eradicated cascade reaction induced by pathogen within 24 hours. To identify transcripts specifically expressed in response to V. nashicola, RT-PCRs were conducted and compare to the expression patterns of seven cultivars with a range of highly resistant to highly susceptible symptom. A DEG belonging to the PR protein family genes that were higher expressed in response to V. nashicola suggesting extraordinary role in the resistance response were led to the identification. This study provides the first transcriptional profile by RNA-seq of the host plant during scab disease and insights into the response of tolerant pear plants to V. nashicola.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.232-238
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• 2013

Water temperature is key factor influencing growth and reproduction of fish and its increase give rise to various physiological changes including gene expression. Heat shock protein (Hsp), one of the molecular chaperones, is highly conserved throughout evolution and its expression is induced by various stressors such as temperature, oxidative, physical and chemical stresses. Here, we isolated partial cDNA clones encoding 70-kDa Hsp (Hsp70) and $\beta$-actin using reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) from gut of Rhynchocypris kumgangensis, a Korean indigenous species and cold-water fish, and investigated expression profiles of Hsp70 under an increase of water temperature using $\beta$-actin as an internal control for RT-PCR. Cloned Hsp70 cDNA of R. kumgangensis showed homology to Ctenopharyngodon idella (96%), Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (96%), Danio rerio (93%) and Oncorhynchus mykiss (81%) Hsp70. Cloned $\beta$-actin cDNA of R. kumgangensis showed homology to D. rerio (98%), H. molitrix (97%), C. idella (97%) and O. mykiss (90%) $\beta$-actin. Both mRNA of Hsp70 and $\beta$-actin were expressed in gut, brain, and liver in R. kumgangensis. Futhermore, expression of Hsp70, in brain, was highly augmented by an increase of water temperature. These results suggest that Hsp70 mRNA expression level in brain can be used as a biological molecular marker to represent physiological stress against an increase of water temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.187-187
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• 2003

Methylmercury (MeHg), one of the heavy metal compounds, can cause severe damage to the central nervous system in humans. Many reports have shown that MeHg is poisonous to human body through contaminated foods and has released into the environment. Despite many studies on the pathogenesis of MeHg-induced central neuropathy, no useful mechanism of toxicity has been established so far. In this study, two methods, cDNA Microarray and SSH, were performed to assess the expression profile against MeHg and to identify differentially expressed genes by MeHg in neuroblastoma cell line. TwinChip Human-8K (Digital Genomics) was used with total RNA from SH-SY5Y (human neuroblastoma cell line) treated with solvent (DMSO) and 6.25 uM (IC50) MeHg. And we performed forward and reverse SSH method on mRNA derived from SH-SY5Y treated with DMSO and MeHg (6.25 uM). Differentially expressed cDNA clones were sequenced and were screened by dot blot and ribonuclease protection assay to confirm that individual clones indeed represent differentially expressed genes. These sequences were identified by BLAST homology search to known genes or expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Analysis of these sequences may provide an insight into the biological effects of MeHg in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease and a possibility to develop more efficient and exact monitoring system of heavy metals as environmental pollutants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.20-33
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• 2017

Objective: Superstimulatory treatment of one-month-old lambs can achieve synchronous development of numerous growing follicles. However, these growing follicles cannot complete maturation and ovulation. Oocyte maturation and competence are acquired during follicular development, in which granulosa cells play an essential role. Methods: In this study, we applied RNA sequencing to analyze and compare gene expression between prepubertal and adult superstimulated follicle granulosa cells in sheep. Results: There were more than 300 genes that significantly differed in expression. Among these differently expressed genes, many extracellular matrix genes (EGF containing Fibulin Like Extracellular Matrix Protein 1, pentraxin 3, adrenomedullin, and osteopontin) were significantly down-regulated in the superstimulated follicles. Ingenuity pathway and gene ontology analyses revealed that processes of axonal guidance, cell proliferation and DNA replication were expressed at higher levels in the prepubertal follicles. Epidermal growth factor, T-Box protein 2 and beta-estradiol upstream regulator were predicted to be active in prepubertal follicles. By comparison, tumor protein P53 and let-7 were most active in adult follicles. Conclusion: These results may contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms governing the development of granulosa cells in the growing follicle in prepubertal sheep.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7501-7508
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• 2013

Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder of hematopoietic stem cell scarrying the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome and an oncogenic BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of BCR-ABL1 kinase is a treatment of choice for control of CML. Objective: Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNAs within exosomes from cancer cells play crucial roles in initiation and progression. This study was performed to assess miRNAs within exosomes of K562 cells. Methods: miRNA microarray analysis of K562 cells and K562 cell-derived exosomes was conducted with the 6th generation miRCURYTM LNA Array (v.16.0). Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were also carried out. GO terms and signaling pathways were categorized into 66 classes (including homophilic cell adhesion, negative regulation of apoptotic process, cell adhesion) and 26 signaling pathways (such as Wnt). Results: In exosomes, 49 miRNAs were up regulated as compared to K562 cells, and two of them were further confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. There are differentially expressed miRNAs between K562 cell derived-exosomes and K562 cells. Conclusion: Selectively expressed miRNAs in exosomes may promote the development of CML via effects on interactions (e.g. adhesion) of CML cells with their microenvironment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1670-1679
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• 2015

Two hollow fiber membrane biofilm reactors (HF-MBfRs) were operated for autotrophic nitrification and hydrogenotrophic denitrification for over 300 days. Oxygen and hydrogen were supplied through the hollow fiber membrane for nitrification and denitrification, respectively. During the period, the nitrogen was removed with the efficiency of 82-97% for ammonium and 87-97% for nitrate and with the nitrogen removal load of 0.09-0.26 kg NH₄⁺-N/m³/d and 0.10-0.21 kg NO₃^--N/m³/d, depending on hydraulic retention time variation by the two HF-MBfRs for autotrophic nitrification and hydrogenotrophic denitrification, respectively. Biofilms were collected from diverse topological positions in the reactors, each at different nitrogen loading rates, and the microbial communities were analyzed with partial 16S rRNA gene sequences in denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Detected DGGE band sequences in the reactors were correlated with nitrification or denitrification. The profile of the DGGE bands depended on the NH₄⁺ or NO₃^- loading rate, but it was hard to find a major strain affecting the nitrogen removal efficiency. Nitrospira-related phylum was detected in all biofilm samples from the nitrification reactors. Paracoccus sp. and Aquaspirillum sp., which are an autohydrogenotrophic bacterium and an oligotrophic denitrifier, respectively, were observed in the denitrification reactors. The distribution of microbial communities was relatively stable at different nitrogen loading rates, and DGGE analysis based on 16S rRNA (341f /534r) could successfully detect nitrate-oxidizing and hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria but not ammonium-oxidizing bacteria in the HF-MBfRs.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.159-167
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• 2017

The microbial community is known to have a key role during the rearing period of broilers. In this study, gut microbial composition and diversity were examined to evaluate the relationships between these factors and broiler growth performance. By applying 454-pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 regions of bacterial 16S rRNA genes, six fecal samples from four- and 28-day-old chickens from three broiler farms and 24 intestinal samples of broilers with heavy and light body weights were analyzed. Microbial composition assessment revealed Firmicutes to be the most prevalent phylum at farm A, while Proteobacteria were predominant at farms B and C. Fecal microbial richness and diversity indices gradually increased from four to 28 days at all three farms. Microbial diversity assessment revealed that small intestine microbial diversity was lower in heavy birds than in light birds. In light birds, the Firmicutes proportion was lower than that in heavy birds. In conclusion, each broiler farm revealed a specific microbial profile which varied with the age of the birds. The microbial communities appeared to affect growth performance; therefore, gut microbial profiles can be utilized to monitor growth performance at broiler farms.