• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.10
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• pp.546-551
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• 2014

The insecticidal activity of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry toxins involves toxin stabilization, oligomerization, passage across the peritrophic membrane (PM), binding to midgut receptors and pore-formation. The residues Arg-158 and Tyr-170 have been shown to be crucial for the toxicity of Bt Cry4Ba. We characterized the biological function of these residues. In mosquito larvae, the mutants R158A/E/Q (R158) could hardly penetrate the PM due to a significantly reduced ability to alter PM permeability; the mutant Y170A, however, could pass through the PM, but degraded in the space between the PM and the midgut epithelium. Further characterization by oligomerization demonstrated that Arg-158 mutants failed to form correctly sized high-molecular weight oligomers. This is the first report that Arg-158 plays a role in the formation of Cry4Ba oligomers, which are essential for toxin passage across the PM. Tyr-170, meanwhile, is involved in toxin stabilization in the toxic mechanism of Cry4Ba in mosquito larvae.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.28-42
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• 1969

Field studies were conducted with the split plot design of 20 treatment with a combination of 4 levels of 3, 5, 7 and 9 plants per hill and 5 levels of 60, 80, 100, 120 and 140 hills per 3.3$m^2$ on non-, low- and high-salty areas. Rice variety, Kusabue was grown under jthe standard fertilization and cultivating. Investigation was made on the productive structure of plant population, leaf-area index, light intensity curve by stratum of crop population at the panicle differentiation stage. The competition density effect on the photosynthetic capacity was low as the salt concentration became higher. This seemed to suggest the possiblity of an increased yielding capacity by closer planting in the salty areas. The effect of an increased number of hills per unit area was greater than that of an increased unmber of plants per hill due to the total leaf area and space distribution of the actie assimilation parts of rice plants. The number of ppanicle per unit area in the salty areas were increased when the number of hill per 3.3$m^2$ increased over an increased number of plants per hill, and the panicle weight was reduced by close planting in the non-lalty area, while it was not reduced so much in the salty areas. The number of grains per panicle was significantly decreased by close planting in the salty areas as in the non-salty area, and ratio of matured grain was not decreased even by close planting in the salty areas, while it was significantly decreased by close planting in the non-salty area. An increase in the rice yield was possible by close planting and greatly related to leaf area index in the salty areas but not in the non-salty area. Increasing the number of hills per unit area showed greater effect on the increase of the rice yield than an increased number of plants per hill in the salty areas. Relationships between the growth characteristics and the rice population affected by plant spacing mode for maximum production were discussed.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.653-662
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• 2003

Changes in the area of geo-ecosystem $(62^{\circ}09'S,\;58^{\circ}31'w)$ reflect climatic changes in the South Shetland Islands. Air temperature and deglaciation will increase. The ice-free space area at the SSSS 8- (ASPA 121) site has enlarged threefold during the last 21 years, thus creating conditions for inhabitation and succession. Wind, water and snow play important roles in transportation of geochemical components. They distribute nutrients, mineral substances, seeds, fragments of plants and animals, etc. Plant and animal colonization is patchy and it happens at random in an 'island' - like manner. The colonization pattern is dependant, to a high degree on physical factors. The newly uncovered ice-free areas are at first inhabited by a vascular plant known as the Deschampsia antarctica. The border of the land-oasis with Admiralty Bay is the place where the processes related to animal feeding at the sea and reproduction on the land take place. Bird colonies and pinniped lairs form centers of fertilization surrounded by high chemical gradients dependent on the direction of the flow of nutrients $(e.g.\;NH_4)$. During the last 25 years, the numbers of penguins in this region have decreased, and thus the amount of materials excreted on land has diminished. The numbers of fur seals change in multi-annual cycles, and their migration into this area is related to the E1 $Ni\~{n}o$ phenomenon. The numbers of elephant seals in the area did not change. Organic matter deposited by the sea onto the shore are a source of nutrients and deficient chemical elements on land. Mineral matter is washed out into the waters of Admiralty Bay. These processes change seasonally, and multi annually. Negative effects on the environment at Arctowski Station induced by man are slight, but noticeable nevertheless. Physical processes have the largest influence on the living conditions and distribution of plants and animals, and as a consequence, on the functioning of the geo-ecosystem in the coastal-shore zone of the Maritime Antarctic.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.231-236
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• 2004

The inexpensive large-scale production of pure PGA (Penicillin G Acylase) has been a commercial goal. PGA has been used as a model enzyme in the development of simple one-step purification methods. In this study, the purification of poly-His tagged PGA protein secreted into the periplasmic space was carried out by using immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). The PGA gene was obtained from E. coli ATCC 11105. Codons encoding histidines were fused at the C-terminus of the PGA gene by PCR. E. coli JM109 harboring pPGA-HIS6 vector produced active his-tagged acylases in the presence of lac promoter during cultivation at $26^{\circ}C$. The maximum specific activity of the acylase purified by using one-step chromatography after osmotic shock was 38.5 U/mg and was recovered with the yield of 70％. Both 23 kDa ($\alpha$) and 62 kDa ($\beta$) subunits were recovered by using IMAC with just C-terminus tagging of the $\beta$ subunit. The purification of the periplasmic fraction by osmotic shock and that of purified acylase was increased by 2.6-fold and 19-fold, respectively, compared to the crude extract.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.25 no.3 s.82
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• pp.191-201
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• 1997

A mutant (HSMl) of Cryphonectria parasitica created during transformation reproduced the hypovirulent symptoms in virus-free wild type. Its phenomena have been proved with morphological marker such as reduced sporulation, pigmentation, and laccase production. In addition to the changes in phenotypic characteristics, down-regulations of Lac1, Crp1, Vir1 and Vir2 were also observed. The integration of transforming vector was confirmed and located within genome by marker rescuing. Vector integration occurred between two genes, Cpg2 and Cpg3, which resulted in the disruption of neither Cpg2 nor Cpg3. Both Cpg2 and Cpg3 genes, sized at 1.8 kb and 1.9 kb respectively, were rarely transcribed genes in Cryphonectria parasitica. Cpg2 expression was significantly overexpressed from 4 to 5 day old culture of both UEP1 and HSM1 while no differences were observed in Cpg3 expression. It appears that an aberration from the normal expression of Cpg2, not Cpg3, results in the hypovirulent symptoms in virus-free wild type.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.79-83
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• 2013

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been known to affect to cell migration, proliferation, morphogenesis and apoptosis by degrading the extracellular matrix. In the previous studies, undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were successfully proliferated inside the extracellular matrix (ECM) analog-conjugated three-dimensional (3D) poly ethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogel. However, there is no report about MMP secretion in ESCs, which makes it difficult to understand and explain how ESCs enlarge space and proliferate inside 3D PEG-based hydrogel constructed by crosslinkers containing MMP-specific cleavage peptide sequence. Therefore, we investigated what types of MMPs are released from undifferentiated ESCs and how extracellular signals derived from various niche conditions affect MMP expression of ESCs at the transcriptional level. Results showed that undifferentiated ESCs expressed specifically MMP2 and MMP3 mRNAs. Transcriptional up-regulation of MMP2 was caused by the 3D scaffold, and activation of integrin inside the 3D scaffold upregulated MMP2 mRNAs synergistically. Moreover, mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) on 2D matrix and 3D scaffold induced upregulation of MMP3 mRNAs, and activation of integrins through conjugation of extracellular matrix (ECM) analogs with 3D scaffold upregulated MMP3 mRNAs synergistically. These results suggest that successful proliferation of ESCs inside the 3D PEG-based hydrogel may be caused by increase of MMP2 and MMP3 expression resulting from 3D scaffold itself as well as activation of integrins inside the 3D PEG-based scaffold.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.74-83
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• 2000

Facade Greenery requires little earth and, because it grows vertically, it provides a lot of bio-mass. Facade greenery cannot replace areas such as parks, but it can act as a supplement, particularly in providing a greater degree of nature in our cities. The purpose of this paper is to promote the spread of facade greenery in order to improve the ecological worth of cities. But there is no basic data about fauna in Facade Greenery Zones. Thus for the first time this research investigates what kind of invertebrate communities exist in Facade Greenery Zones. To study the fauna in a facade greenery zone, three sites (Ewha-dong, Kongnung-dong, Daechi-dong) have been selected as representative facade greenery zones in Seoul and 9 plots ($0.5m{\times}0.5m$) were set up. Thirty seven species in 28 families in 10 orders were observed at Ewha-dong, 27 Species in 14 Families in 9 Orders were found at Kongnung-dong, 34 Species in 17 Families 10 in Orders were observed at Daechi-dong. From the investigations (October 3, 1998 and August 25, 1999), a high species diversity in facade greenery zones was proved with low dominance indices, and high diversity indices of the investigated sites. This study shows that facade greenery zone may be habitable space for invertebrates.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.41-49
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• 2008

In recent years, a life phenomenon using a workflow management tool in bioinformatics has been actively researched. Workflow management tool is the base which enables researchers to collaborate through the re-use and sharing of service, and a variety of workflow management tools including MyGrid project's Taverna, Kepler and BioWMS have been developed and used as the open source. This workflow management tool can model and automate different services in spatially-distant area in one working space based on the web service technology. Many tools and databases used in the bioinformatics are provided in the web services form and are used in the workflow management tool. In such the situation, the web services development and stable service offering for a sequence similarity search which is basically used in the bioinformatics can be essential in the bioinformatics field. In this paper, the similarity retrieval speed of biology sequence data was improved based on a Linux cluster, and the sequence similarity retrieval could be done for a short time by linking with the workflow management tool through developing it in the web services.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.354-364
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• 1990

The ultrastructure and silk formational process of the flagelliform glands, one of the capture thread producing organs in the orb web spider (Nephila clavata L. Koch), have been studied with electron microscope. A pair of flagelliform glands consist of three distinct regions: excretory duct, storage sac and convoluted tail. This gland is connected to the large spinning tube (spigot) of the posterior spinnerets with two pairs of aggregate glands, and showed a characteristic spigot structure called "triad". The excretory duct consists of three long segments surrounded by the same sheath of connective tissue. The distal duct near the spinning tube bears the electron lucent subcuticles which have the functions of water removal and orientation of the silk fiber, whereas the proximal duct near the sac contains the cuticule precursor transported through the intercellular space. Cytoplasms of the sac and tail regions have well developed rough endoplasmic reticulum and contain the round secretory granules commonly, but the electron densities and internal textures of the granules do not coincided. Adjacent epithelial cells are connected with the specialized septate junctions, and secretory granules accumulated at the apical pole are released to the lumen by the apocrine secretion.secretion.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 1995

Visible injury symptoms such as necrosis, chlorosis and premature senscence in the leaves of Ginkgo bloba and Pinus thunbergii treated with acid rain of pH 3.2 or below were observed. The epicuticular wax erosions were observed by SEM after exposure to acid rain of pH 2.4 and 3.2 in G. biloba and pH 4.0 below in P. thunbergii. The adaxial epidennal cells and sponge parenchyma cells were compressed, and those were distorted in the leaves of G. biloba treated with simulated acid rain of pH 3.2 or below. However, vascular tissue was intact. With increase of acidity, mesophyll cells were smaller than those of control while intercellular space in mesophyU was increased. In P. thunbergii, sponge parenchyma cells and vascular tissue except epidennis were distorted after exposure to acid rain of pH 2.4. The size change of stomata in foliar injury was not observed, but the stomatal index and size of stomatal aperture in leaves treated with acid rain increased. The stomata of injured leaf were opened in both species examined.amined.