• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.255-273
• /
• 2019

Orchids are indispensable to the floriculture industry due to their unique floral organization. The flowers have two outer whorls of tepals including a lip (labellum), and two inner whorls, pollinia and gynostemiun (column). The floral organization and development is controlled at the molecular level, mainly by the MADS-box gene family, comprising homeotic genes divided into type I and type II groups. The type I group has four sub-groups, Mα, Mβ, Mγ, and Mδ, playing roles in seed, embryo, and female reproductive organ development; the type II group genes form classes A, B, C, D, and E, which are a part of the MIKC^C subgroup with specific roles in florigenesis and organization. The coordinated functioning of these classes regulates the development of various floral whorls. The availability of genome and transcriptome sequence data for Phalaenopsis equestris offers an opportunity to validate the ABCDE model of flower development. Hence, this study sought to characterize the MADS-box gene family and elucidate of the ABCDE model. A total of 48 identified MADS-box proteins, including 20 type I [Mα (12), Mγ (8)] and 28 type II [MIKC^C (27), MIKC*(1)] members, were characterized for physico-chemical features and domains and motifs organization. The exon-intron distribution and the upstream cis-regulatory elements in the promoter regions of MADS-box genes were also analysed. The discrete pace of duplication events in type I and type II genes suggested differential evolutionary constraints between groups. The correlation of spatio-temporal expression pattern with the presence of specific cis-regulatory elements and putative protein-protein interaction within the different classes of MADS-box gene family endorse the ABCDE model of floral development.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.26 no.12
• /
• pp.1698-1707
• /
• 2013

Optimization of the dietary formulation is the most effective way to reduce methane. Nineteen feed ingredients (brans, vegetable proteins, and grains) were evaluated for their potential to generate methane and change methanogen diversity using an in vitro ruminal fermentation technique. Feed formulations categorized into high, medium and low production based on methane production of each ingredient were then subjected to in vitro fermentation to determine the real methane production and their effects on digestibility. Methanogen diversity among low, medium and high-methane producing groups was analyzed by PCR-DGGE. The highest methane production was observed in Korean wheat bran, soybean and perilla meals, and wheat and maize of brans, vegetable protein and cereal groups, respectively. On the other hand, corn bran, cotton seed meal and barley led to the lowest production in the same groups. Nine bacteria and 18 methanogen 16s rDNA PCR-DGGE dominant bands were identified with 83% to 99% and 92% to 100% similarity, respectively. Overall, the results of this study showed that methane emissions from ruminants can be mitigated through proper selection of feed ingredients to be used in the formulation of diets.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.350-353
• /
• 2009

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) often causes severe allergic reactions in sensitive people. Agglutinin is known to be one of the allergenic proteins in peanut. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was developed to detect peanut ingredients in food using a primer pair corresponding to the agglutinin gene. This primer pair enabled PCR amplification of specific regions of agglutinin DNA from peanut, but not from 11 other nuts, beans, and cereals (pistachio, almond, sunflower seed, pine nut, walnut, soybean, black bean, kidney bean, azuki bean, rice, and black rice). The proposed PCR method successfully identified all of the 6 processed foods containing peanut whereas 13 other processed foods, which don't declare peanuts as an ingredient, were all negative. The detection limit of this method for purified peanut DNA was 100 pg/reaction. The sensitivity of this method was sufficient to detect peanut DNA in soybean DNA mixture which had been spiked with 0.1% peanut DNA.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.387-397
• /
• 2003

During the first half of twentieth century, even though the importance of non-calorie essential micronutrients of 13 vitamins and 17 minerals has been known to alleviate nutritional disorder; the primary objective of agriculture and plant breeding programs has been to increase the productivity and seed yields, and macronutrients of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates made up the bulk of foodstuff which were used primarily as an energy source. In the last decade it has been found that non-essential micronutrients encompass a vast group of phytochemicals including antioxidants that are not strictly required in the diet but when present at sufficient levels work as health-promoting chemicals. Nowadays agricultural crops are grown for health rather than for food or fiber, and modifying the nutritional compositions of plant foods has become an urgent health issue. To ensure an adequate intake of essential vitamins and minerals, and to increase the consumption of health-promoting phytochemicals, the researches on plant secondary metabolism have been made. The attempt to improve nutritional quality of crops has been blocked by a lack of basic knowledge of plant metabolism. The advent of genomics era enabled new approaches to make crossing regardless of species, family, or phylum barriers, and the accumulation in our basic knowledge on plant secondary metabolism during the coming decade would be tremendous. As the major staple crops contain insufficient amount of many micronutrients, fortification strategy will be a necessary practice. Elevated intake of specific vitamins, C, E, and $\beta$-carotene, mineral selenium, antioxidants, and phytochemicals significantly reduces the risk of chronic disease such as cancer, cardiovascular disorder, diabetis, and other degenerative disease associated with aging. As the attempt to improve the nutritional quality of crops requires the basic knowledges on plant metabolism, plant biochemistry, human physiology, and food chemistry, strong interdisplinary collaboration among plant biotechnologists, human nutritionists, and food scientists will be needed. Inhibition of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other degenerative disorder may be the biggest goal facing nutritional plant breeders. But the assumption that simply increasing dietary level of any compound will necessarily improve human health is a dangerous idea because many plant secondary products and dietary contaminants have paradoxical (hermetic) effects. Before biotechnical manipulation is undertaken to elevate or reduce any individual constituent of crops, the contribution of the micronutrient to human health must first be investigated.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 1999.07a
• /
• pp.63-67
• /
• 1999

We have isolated more than a dozen cDNA clones corresponding to genes that were expressed in Arabidopsis leaves when they were kept in the dark. The nucleotide sequence analysis showed that some of the clones encoded proteins with significant homology to $\beta$-glucosidase (din2), branched-chain $\alpha$-keto acid dehydrogenase subunit E1$\beta$(din3), and another subunit E2 (din4), yeast RAD23 (din5), asparagine synthetase (din6), pre-mRNA splicing factor SRp35 (din7), phosphomannose isomerase (din9), seed imbibition protein (din10), and 2-oxoacid-dependent oxidase (din11). Accumulation of transcripts from din3,4,6 and 10 occurred rapidly after the plants were transferred to darkness. Transcripts from din2,9, and 11 could be detected only after 24 h of dark treatment. Inhibition of photo-synthesis by DCMU strongly induced the accumulation of transcripts from those genes, and application of sucrose to detached leaves suppressed the accumulation both in the dark and by DCMU. These observations indicate that expression of the genes is caused by sugar starvation resulted from the cessation of photosynthesis. We further showed that din2-encoded protein also accumulated in senescing leaves. Given these results, possible roles of din genes in leaves in the dark and senescing leaves are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.61-65
• /
• 1995

Karyotype analysis was carried out in four lines of Bupleurum falcatum L. cultivated in Korea and SDS-PAGE was applied to determine the seed protein profiles among the lines. Chromosomes were classified into two groups, large and small ones. Two kinds of karyotype, 2n=20 and 2n=26, were identified. Chromosome 1 of 2n=20 were all submedian, while that of 2n=26 were median. Chromosomes 2, 3 and 5 of 2n=20 showed polymorphism in size and arm-ratio. Chromosome 2 was submedian, while others were median in the line of 2n=26. Karyotypcs of cultivars native of Korea were similiar each other, while those introduced from Japan showed different patterns. In SDS PAGE gels, qualitative difference s in high molecular weight proteins, more than 45KD, were detected among the lines. The numbers of specific band were three in lines of 2n=20 and two in 2n=26.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.170-176
• /
• 2009

Lectin was finally isolated on Sephadex G-100 from Korean soybean cultivars developed for soy source and investigated its some biochemical properties. Native PAGE pattern of this lectin revealed a molecular weight of 108 kDa as tetramer. The molecular weight of this lectin isolated as double protein band by SDS-PAGE was calculated to be 32 and 22 kDa from the relative mobilities compared with those of the standard proteins. Among the tested red blood cell, the isolated lectin agglutinated rabbit red blood cell treated with trypsin, but did not agglutinated human red blood cells (A, B, AB, O), rat, and untreated rabbit red blood cell. The optimal temperature and thermal stability of isolated lectin was at 20-$50^{\circ}C$ and 10-$60^{\circ}C$, respectively. This lectin was stable at 7.2, and showed complete loss in its activity below pH 6.2 and above pH 8.0.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.238-244
• /
• 2003

During the life cycle, plants have to suffer from various environmental stresses. A common element in response to many environmental stresses is cellular dehydration. Dehydrins are a family of proteins commonly induced by environmental stresses associated with low temperature or dehydration and during seed maturation drying. For the study in the defense mechanism against various stresses, a cDNA clone encoding a dehydrin gene was isolated from a cDNA library prepared from tab root mRNAs of Codonopsis lanceolata. The cDNA, designated ClDhn1, is 893 nucleotides long and has an open reading frame of 480 bp with a deduced amino acid sequence of 159 residues. The ClDhn1 amino acid sequence is highly hydrophilic and possesses two conserved repeats of characterized lysine­rich K­segment (KIKEKLPG), and a 7­serine residue stretch prior to the first lysine­rich repeat that is common to many dehydrins. The DEYGNP conserved motif is, however, modified in the sequence of ClDhn1 gene. The deduced amino acid sequence of ClDhn1 was compared with other plant dehydrinls and showed high homology with Solanum commersonii

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.183-190
• /
• 2009

The plasma membrane-localized BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE1 (BRI1) and BRI1-ASSOCIATED KINASE1 (BAK1) are a well-known receptor pair involved in brassinosteroids (BR) signaling in Arabidposis. The formation of a receptor complex in response to BRs and the subsequent activation of cytoplasmic domain kinase activity share mechanistic characteristics with animal receptor kinases. Here, we demonstrate that BRI1 and BAK1 are BR-dependently phosphorylated, and that phosphorylated forms of the two proteins persist for different lengths of time. Mutations of either protein abolished phosphorylation of the counterpart protein, implying transphosphorylation of the receptor kinases. To investigate the specific amino acids critical for formation of the receptor complex and activation of BAK1 kinase activity, we expressed several versions of BAK1 in yeast and plants. L32E and L46E substitutions resulted in a loss of binding of BAK1 to BRI1, and threonine T455 was essential for the kinase activity of BAK1 in yeast. Transgenic bri1 mutant plants overexpressing BAK1(L46E) displayed reduced apical dominance and seed development. In addition, transgenic wild type plants overexpressing BAK1(T455A) lost the phosphorylation activity normally exhibited in response to BL, leading to semi-dwarfism. These results suggest that BAK1 is a critical component regulating the duration of BR efficacy, even though it cannot directly bind BRs in plants.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.370-381
• /
• 2017

Rathayibacter tritici, which is a Gram positive, plant pathogenic, non-motile, and rod-shaped bacterium, causes spike blight in wheat and barley. For successful pathogenesis, R. tritici is associated with Anguina tritici, a nematode, which produces seed galls (ear cockles) in certain plant varieties and facilitates spread of infection. Despite significant efforts, little research is available on the mechanism of disease or bacteria-nematode association of this bacterium due to lack of genomic information. Here, we report the first complete genome sequence of R. tritici NCPPB 1953 with diverse features of this strain. The whole genome consists of one circular chromosome of 3,354,681 bp with a GC content of 69.48%. A total of 2,979 genes were predicted, comprising 2,866 protein coding genes and 49 RNA genes. The comparative genomic analyses between R. tritici NCPPB 1953 and R. toxicus strains identified 1,052 specific genes in R. tritici NCPPB 1953. Using the BlastKOALA database, we revealed that the flexible genome of R. tritici NCPPB 1953 is highly enriched in 'Environmental Information Processing' system and metabolic processes for diverse substrates. Furthermore, many specific genes of R. tritici NCPPB 1953 are distributed in substrate-binding proteins for extracellular signals including saccharides, lipids, phosphates, amino acids and metallic cations. These data provides clues on rapid and stable colonization of R. tritici for disease mechanism and nematode association.