• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 2009

Chromosome analysis using karyotyping and bicolor FISH were carried out for two Maackia species (M. fauriei and M. amurensis) found in Korea. The somatic metaphase chromosome number was 2n = 2x = 18 in both, and the size of these chromosomes ranged from 3.58 to $5.82{\mu}m$. The chromosome complements consisted of two pairs of metacentric (chromosomes 1 and 7), four pairs of submetacentrics (chromosomes 4, 6, 8 and 9) and three pairs of subtelocentrics (chromosomes 2, 3 and 5) in M. fauriei but, chromosomes 4 (subtelocentric) and 7 (submetacentric) of M. amurensis have different morphology. Using bicolor FISH, a pair of 45S rDNA loci were observed for both M. fauriei and M. amurensis, but the number and site of the 5S rDNA signal were different in the two species. M. fauriei has two pairs of 5S signals on chromosomes 7 and 8 but, M. amurensis has four paris on chromosomes 3, 4, 7 and 7. Hence, the 5S rDNA is a useful FISH for Maackia species.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.85-89
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• 2011

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a useful tool for reproducing genetically identical animals or producing transgenic animals. Many reports have demonstrated that the efficiency of animal cloning by SCNT requires reprogramming of the somatic nucleus to a totipotent like-state. The SCNT-related reprogramming might mimic the natural reprogramming process that occurs during normal mammalian development. However, recent evidence indicates that the reprogramming event by SCNT is incomplete. In this study, the traditional SCNT procedure (TNT) was modified by injecting donor nuclei into recipient cytoplasm prior to the enucleation process to expose the donor nucleus before removing the karyoplast containing the chromosomes of the oocytes which might possess additional reprogramming factors, and this modified technique was named as reversing the usual order of SCNT (RONT). Other procedures including activation and in vitro culture were the same as TNT. Contrary to expectations, the rate of blastocyst development was not different significantly between RONT and TNT (8.6% and 7.9%, respectively). However, duration of micromanipulation performed by the same technician and equipments was remarkably reduced because the ruptured oocytes after nuclear injection were excluded from the enucleation process. This study suggests that RONT, a simplified SCNT protocol, shortens the duration of SCNT procedure and this less time-costing protocol may enable the researchers to perform murine SCNT easier.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2008

Telomeres consist of tandem guanine-thymine(G-T) repeats in most eukaryotic chromosomes. Human telomeres are predominantly linear, double stranded DNA as they ended in 30-200 nucleotides(bases,b) 3'-overhangs. In DNA replication, removal of the terminal RNA primer from the lagging strand results in a 3'-overhang of uncopied DNA. This is because of bidirectional DNA replication and specificity of unidirectional DNA polymerase. After the replication, parental and daughter DNA strands have unequal lengths due to a combination of the end-replication problem and end-processing events. The gradual chromosome shortening is observed in most somatic cells and eventually leads to cellular senescence. Telomere shortening could be a molecular clock that signals the replicative senescence. The shortening of telomeric ends of human chromosomes, leading to sudden growth arrest, triggers DNA instability as biological switches. In addition, telomere dysfunction may cause chronic allograft nephropathy or kidney cancers. The renal cell carcinoma(RCC) in women may be less aggressive and have less genomic instability than in man. Younger patients with telomere dysfunction are at a higher risk for RCC than older patients. Thus, telomeres maintain the integrity of the genome and are involved in cellular aging and cancer. By studying the telomeric DNA, we may characterize the genetic determinants in diseases and discover the tools in molecular medicine.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.144-146
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• 2002

Cytogenetic analysis of Anemarrhena ashodeloides BUNGE, which is one of medicinal plants belonging to Haemodoraceae was carried out using Feulgen staining. The somatic metaphase chromosome number was identified to 2n=22 (x=11) and the size of chromosomes ranges from $1.27-3.80\;{\mu}m$. Three pairs of chromosomes were relatively long in total length and the others were short. The karyotype was bimodal in chromosome length and arm ratios. The chromosome complement comprise eight pairs of metacentric (chromosome 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11), two pairs of submetacentric (chromosome 4 and 5), and one pair of subtelocentric (chromosome 1).

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2010

Rubus nishimuranus Koidz. (Rosaceae), a species previously unrecorded for the Korean flora, was collected in the lowlands near a beach on Jeju Island. This species was known to be distributed only in Japan. R. nishimuranus differs from R. trifidus Thunb. ex Murray, by having leaves 3-foliate or sometimes the upper leaflets connate below and from R. hirustus Thunb. by having leaves ternate and the leaflets sessile or nearly so. The somatic chromosome number was 2n = 2x = 14 and the size of chromosomes ranged $1.2-2.5{\mu}m$. The chromosome complement of this species consisted of three pairs of metacentrics (chromosomes 1, 2 and 5), submetacentrics (chromosomes 3, 6 and 7) and a pair of subtelocentrics (chromosome 4).

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.590-594
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• 2008

brc-2, an ortholog of BRCA2 in Caenorhabditis elegans, is essential in the maintenance of genetic integrity. In C. elegans, cellular location correlates with meiotic progression, and transgene-induced cosuppression is observed in the germ line but not in somatic cells. We used these unique features to dissect the role of brc-2 in the germ line from that in somatic cells. In situ hybridization of wild type animals revealed that brc-2 gene expression was higher in oocytes than in other germline cells, and was barely detectable in mitotic cells. In contrast, germ cells containing multicopies of the brc-2 transgene showed no significant in situ hybridization signal at any oogenesis stage, confirming that brc-2 expression was functionally cosuppressed in the transgenic germ line. RAD-51 foci formation in response to DNA damage was abrogated in brc-2-cosuppressed germ cells, whereas wild-type germ cells showed strong RAD-51 foci formation. These germ cells exhibited massive chromosome fragmentation and decompaction instead of six bivalent chromosomes in diakinesis. Accordingly, lethality was observed after the early stage of germline development. These results suggest that brc-2 plays essential roles in chromosome integrity in early prophase, and therefore is crucial in meiotic progression and embryonic survival.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.39-43
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• 2006

A detailed karyotype analysis was carried out in five Korean native Iridaceae species; Iris pseudoacorus, I. pallasii. var. chinensis, I. tectrum, I. dichotoma and Belamcanda chinensis. Chromosome compositions of the five species showed that they have different karyotypic formulae; I. pseudoacorus 2n=34=10m+16smn+8st including two pairs of satellite chromosomes, I. pallasii var. chinensis 2n=40=26m+12sm+2st including two pairs of satellite chromosomes, I. tectrum 2n=30=14m+16sm including five pairs of satellite chromosomes, I. dichotoma 2n=32=22m+10sm including two pairs of satellite chromosomes, and B. chinensis 2n=32=20m+10sm+2st including one pair of satellite chromosomes. These results will supplement the previous cytogenetic reports in Iridaceae species and enhance our understanding on the genetic structure, which will be useful in clarifying the unique characteristics of each species for practical breeding programs for horticultural and pharmaceutical purposes.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.151-162
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• 2008

Chromosome analysis using karyotyping and bicolor FISH were carried out in Pimpinella hallaisanensis which is one of the endemic plants in Jeju island of Korea. The somatic methaphase chromosomes number of this plant was 2n=2x=22 and the size of this chromosomes ranged from 3.58 to $5.82{\mu}m$. The chromosome complements consisted of two pairs of metacentrics (chromosomes 1 and 2), four pairs of submetacentrics (chromosomes 3, 4, 6 and 8) and five pairs of subtelocentrics (chromosomes 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11). Using bicolor FISH, three pairs of 5S and four pairs of 45S rDNA loci were observed. Two pairs of 5S rDNA signals were detected on the end of the long arm of chromosome 4 and one pair of them were observed between long arm end and centromere. Another 45S rDNA signals were detected on the end of short arm of chromosome 4, 6, 10 and 11, respectively. Hence, the chromosome number reexamined using both conventional staining and FISH methods was different from previous report.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.14-18
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• 1971

Lilium Miquelianum Makino is a species which originated in Korea. The Karyotype of the species was examined in materials collected at Mts. Kaya, Kasan, Chejung, and Kaji. The results are as follows: 1) The somatic chromosome number was found to be 2n=24. 2) The karyotype is described as: K=2Am＋2Bkm＋2Csst＋2Dsst＋2Ests＋2Fst＋2Gst＋2Hst＋2Ist＋2Jsst＋2Kst＋2Lst m: metacentric, sm: submetacentric st: subtelocentric, s: secondary constriction 3) A single subcentric supernumerary B-chromosome was found in some bulbs from Mt. Kasan. 4) The shape of the supernumerary B-chromosome was similar to that of the E chromosome which had separated at its secondary constriction and lost its lower chromosome fragment. 5) From three to eight nucleio of varying sizes were found in the telophase or interphase nucleus of root tip cells. The maximum number of eight nucleoli corresponds to the number of chromosomes that have a secondary constriction.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.95-99
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• 2014

Cancer is unique amongst human diseases in that its cellular manifestations arise and evolve through the acquisition of somatic alterations in the genome. In particular, instability in the number and structure of chromosomes is a near-universal feature of the genomic alterations associated with epithelial cancers, and is triggered by the inactivation of tumour suppressor mechanisms that preserve chromosome integrity in normal cells. The nature of these mechanisms, and how their inactivation promotes carcinogenesis, remains enigmatic. I will review recent work from our laboratory on the tumour suppressor BRCA2 that addresses these issues, focusing on new insights into cancer pathogenesis and therapy that are emerging from improved understanding of the molecular basis of chromosomal instability in BRCA2-deficient cancer cells.