• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.154-154
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• 2017

In accordance with the opening of the Korean rice market, this study was focused on establishment of database for discriminating the Korean rice varieties and imported brand rices using DNA markers. In this study, the SNP markers were developed using single nucleotide polymorphisms between the reference sequences of japonica and them of 40 brand rices which collected in Australia, China, Thailand, United States and Vietnam. The developed SNP markers were screened to a total of 360 rices including 320 Korean rice varieties and 40 imported brand rices. We selected polymorphic markers among Korean bred rive varieties and imported brand rices. The selected markers were classified into 3 grades. The markers of A grade produced DNA band in 360 rices of 30~40%, B grades produced in 40~60%, and C grades produced bands over 60% rices. First, we tried to set-up the discriminating system using the minimum SNP markers of A grade. Especially, a set of sixteen SNP markers could identify among Korean bred rice varieties and imported brand rices. Additionally, some SNP markers like NSb for Pib gene, JJ80-T for Pi5 and YL155/YL87 for Pita which linked to resistance genes to blast were used to fingerprinting system. These markers were set-up as multiplex set for enhancing the identification efficiency among rice varieties. Finally, the selected SNP markers would be used to the fluidigm assay to construct the database for elaborate discrimination of rice varieties.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.715-722
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• 2013

Heugu (Korea Black Cattle) is one of the indigenous cattle breeds in Korea; however there has been severe lack of genomic studies on the breed. In this study, we report the first whole genome resequencing of Heugu at higher sequence coverage using Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. More than 153.6 Giga base pairs sequence was obtained, of which 97% of the reads were mapped to the bovine reference sequence assembly (UMD 3.1). The number of non-redundantly mapped sequence reads corresponds to approximately 28.9-fold coverage across the genome. From these data, we identified a total of over six million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), of which 29.4% were found to be novel using the single nucleotide polymorphism database build 137. Extensive annotation was performed on all the detected SNPs, showing that most of SNPs were located in intergenic regions (70.7%), which is well corresponded with previous studies. Of the total SNPs, we identified substantial numbers of non-synonymous SNPs (13,979) in 5,999 genes, which could potentially affect meat quality traits in cattle. These results provide genome-wide SNPs that can serve as useful genetic tools and as candidates in searches for phenotype-altering DNA difference implicated with meat quality traits in cattle. The importance of this study can be further pronounced with the first whole genome sequencing of the valuable local genetic resource to be used in further genomic comparison studies with diverse cattle breeds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.3-12
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• 2018

Objective: DNA methylation plays a major role in regulating the expression of genes related to traits of economic interest (e.g., weight gain) in livestock animals. This study characterized and investigated the functional inferences of genome-wide DNA methylome in the loin (longissimus dorsi) muscle (LDM) of swine. Methods: A total of 8.99 Gb methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequence data were obtained from LDM samples of eight Duroc pigs (four pairs of littermates). The reference pig genome was annotated with 78.5% of the raw reads. A total of 33,506 putative methylated regions (PMR) were identified from methylated regions that overlapped at least two samples. Results: Of these, only 3.1% were commonly observed in all eight samples. DNA methylation patterns between two littermates were as diverse as between unrelated individuals (p = 0.47), indicating that maternal genetic effects have little influence on the variation in DNA methylation of porcine LDM. The highest density of PMR was observed on chromosome 10. A major proportion (47.7%) of PMR was present in the repeat regions, followed by introns (21.5%). The highest conservation of PMR was found in CpG islands (12.1%). These results show an important role for DNA methylation in species- and tissue-specific regulation of gene expression. PMR were also significantly related to muscular cell development, cell-cell communication, cellular integrity and transport, and nutrient metabolism. Conclusion: This study indicated the biased distribution and functional role of DNA methylation in gene expression of porcine LDM. DNA methylation was related to cell development, cell-cell communication, cellular integrity and transport, and nutrient metabolism (e.g., insulin signaling pathways). Nutritional and environmental management may have a significant impact on the variation in DNA methylation of porcine LDM.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.643-649
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• 2010

Evaluation of the primary etiologic agents that cause aseptic meningitis outbreaks may provide valuable information regarding the prevention and management of aseptic meningitis. In Korea, an outbreak of aseptic meningitis caused by echovirus type 30 (E30) occurred from May to October in 2008. In order to determine the etiologic agent, CSF and/or stool specimens from 140 children hospitalized for aseptic meningitis at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital between June and October of 2008 were tested for virus isolation and identification. E30 accounted for 61.7% (37 cases) and echovirus 6 accounted for 21.7% (13 cases) of all the human enteroviruses (HEVs) isolates (60 cases in total). For the molecular characterization of the isolates, the VP1 gene sequence of 18 Korean E30 isolates was compared pairwise using the MegAlign with 34 reference strains from the GenBank database. The pairwise comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the VP1 genes demonstrated that the sequences of the Korean strains differed from those of lineage groups A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Reconstruction of the phylogenetic tree based on the complete VP1 nucleotide sequences resulted in a monophyletic tree, with eight clustered lineage groups. All Korean isolates were segregated from other lineage groups, thus suggesting that the Korean strains were a distinct lineage of E30, and a probable cause of this outbreak. This manuscript is the first report, to the best of our knowledge, of the molecular characteristics of E30 strains associated with an aseptic meningitis outbreak in Korea, and their respective phylogenetic relationships.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.26.1-26.12
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• 2019

Identification of fusion gene is of prominent importance in cancer research field because of their potential as carcinogenic drivers. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data have been the most useful source for identification of fusion transcripts. Although a number of algorithms have been developed thus far, most programs produce too many false-positives, thus making experimental confirmation almost impossible. We still lack a reliable program that achieves high precision with reasonable recall rate. Here, we present FusionScan, a highly optimized tool for predicting fusion transcripts from RNA-Seq data. We specifically search for split reads composed of intact exons at the fusion boundaries. Using 269 known fusion cases as the reference, we have implemented various mapping and filtering strategies to remove false-positives without discarding genuine fusions. In the performance test using three cell line datasets with validated fusion cases (NCI-H660, K562, and MCF-7), FusionScan outperformed other existing programs by a considerable margin, achieving the precision and recall rates of 60% and 79%, respectively. Simulation test also demonstrated that FusionScan recovered most of true positives without producing an overwhelming number of false-positives regardless of sequencing depth and read length. The computation time was comparable to other leading tools. We also provide several curative means to help users investigate the details of fusion candidates easily. We believe that FusionScan would be a reliable, efficient and convenient program for detecting fusion transcripts that meet the requirements in the clinical and experimental community. FusionScan is freely available at http://fusionscan.ewha.ac.kr/.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.129-138
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• 2017

In this study, we aimed to characterize fungal samples from necrotic lesions on collar regions observed in different sweetpotato growing regions during 2015 and 2016 in Korea. Sclerotia appeared on the root zone soil surface, and white dense mycelia were observed. At the later stages of infection, mother roots quickly rotted, and large areas of the plants were destroyed. The disease occurrence was monitored at 45 and 84 farms, and 11.8% and 6.8% of the land areas were found to be infected in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Fungi were isolated from disease samples, and 36 strains were preserved. Based on the cultural and morphological characteristics of colonies, the isolates resembled the reference strain of Sclerotium rolfsii. Representative strains were identified as S. rolfsii (teleomorph: Athelia rolfsii) based on phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer and large subunit genes along with morphological observations. To test the pathogenicity, sweetpotato storage roots were inoculated with different S. rolfsii strains. 'Yulmi' variety displayed the highest disease incidence, whereas 'Pungwonmi' resulted in the least. These findings suggested that morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic analysis were useful for identification of S. rolfsii.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.692-702
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• 2015

Lactobacillus mucosae is a natural resident of the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals and a potential probiotic bacterium. To understand the global protein expression profile and metabolic features of L. mucosae LM1 in the early stationary phase, the QExactive^TM Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer was used. Characterization of the intracellular proteome identified 842 proteins, accounting for approximately 35% of the 2,404 protein-coding sequences in the complete genome of L. mucosae LM1. Proteome quantification using QExactive^TM Orbitrap MS detected 19 highly abundant proteins (> 1.0% of the intracellular proteome), including CysK (cysteine synthase, 5.41%) and EF-Tu (elongation factor Tu, 4.91%), which are involved in cell survival against environmental stresses. Metabolic pathway annotation of LM1 proteome using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database showed that half of the proteins expressed are important for basic metabolic and biosynthetic processes, and the other half might be structurally important or involved in basic cellular processes. In addition, glycogen biosynthesis was activated in the early stationary phase, which is important for energy storage and maintenance. The proteogenomic data presented in this study provide a suitable reference to understand the protein expression pattern of lactobacilli in standard conditions

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.312-317
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• 2002

Indigenous lactobacilli were isolated from vaginas of Korean women for possible use in ecological treatment of bacterial vaginosis. Vaginal swab samples were obtained from a gynecological clinic and streaked on Rogosa SL agar plates to select the most predominant lactobacilli in each sample. The preliminary identification of the isolates as lactobacilli was based on microscopic observation of Gram-positive rod-shaped cell morphology. The initial characterization was performed on 108 isolates in terms of their cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH), antimicrobial activity, and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production capability, and 10 isolates were then selected for further molecular identification. For a rapid procedure to identify lactobacilli, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of the l6S rRNA genes were applied. The 10 selected lactobacilli and 9 different reference strains of Lactobacillus spp. were characterized by PCR-RFLP where the amplified l6S rDNA was digested with 7 different restriction endonucleases prior to analysis. DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of one particular isolate, KLB 46, that had been identified as L. crispatus by the PCR-RFLP analysis, further confirmed its identity as L. crispatus.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2010

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have greatly contributed to the identification of common variants responsible for numerous complex traits. There are, however, unavoidable limitations in detecting causal and/or rare variants for traits in this approach, which depends on an LD-based tagging SNP microarray chip. In an effort to detect potential casual and/or rare variants for complex traits, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) and triglycerides (TGs), we conducted a targeted resequencing of loci identified by the Korea Association REsource (KARE) GWAS. The target regions for resequencing comprised whole exons, exon-intron boundaries, and regulatory regions of genes that appeared within 1 Mb of the GWA signal boundary. From 124 individuals selected in population-based cohorts, a total of 0.7 Mb target regions were captured by the NimbleGen sequence capture 385K array. Subsequent sequencing, carried out by the Roche 454 Genome Sequencer FLX, generated about 110,000 sequence reads per individual. Mapping of sequence reads to the human reference genome was performed using the SSAHA2 program. An average of 62.2% of total reads was mapped to targets with an average 22X-fold coverage. A total of 5,983 SNPs (average 846 SNPs per individual) were called and annotated by GATK software, with 96.5% accuracy that was estimated by comparison with Affymetrix 5.0 genotyped data in identical individuals. About 51% of total SNPs were singletons that can be considered possible rare variants in the population. Among SNPs that appeared in exons, which occupies about 20% of total SNPs, 304 nonsynonymous singletons were tested with Polyphen to predict the protein damage caused by mutation. In total, we were able to detect 9 and 6 potentially functional rare SNPs for T2D and triglycerides, respectively, evoking a further step of replication genotyping in independent populations to prove their bona fide relevance to traits.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.431-440
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• 2016

In 2004, bacterial spot-causing xanthomonads (BSX) were reclassified into 4 species-Xanthomonas euvesicatoria, X. vesicatoria, X. perforans, and X. gardneri. Bacterial spot disease on pepper plant in Korea is known to be caused by both X. axonopodis pv. vesicatoria and X. vesicatoria. Here, we reidentified the pathogen causing bacterial spots on pepper plant based on the new classification. Accordingly, 72 pathogenic isolates were obtained from the lesions on pepper plants at 42 different locations. All isolates were negative for pectolytic activity. Five isolates were positive for amylolytic activity. All of the Korean pepper isolates had a 32 kDa-protein unique to X. euvesicatoria and had the same band pattern of the rpoB gene as that of X. euvesicatoria and X. perforans as indicated by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. A phylogenetic tree of 16S rDNA sequences showed that all of the Korean pepper plant isolates fit into the same group as did all the reference strains of X. euvesicatoria and X. perforans. A phylogenetic tree of the nucleotide sequences of 3 housekeeping genes-gapA, gyrB, and lepA showed that all of the Korean pepper plant isolates fit into the same group as did all of the references strains of X. euvesicatoria. Based on the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, we identified the pathogen as X. euvesicatoria. Neither X. vesicatoria, the known pathogen of pepper bacterial spot, nor X. perforans, the known pathogen of tomato plant, was isolated. Thus, we suggest that the pathogen causing bacterial spot disease of pepper plants in Korea is X. euvesicatoria.