• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2015

Purpose: The long-term administration of antibiotics interferes with bacterial culture in the middle ear fluids (MEFs) of young children with otitis media with effusion (OME). The purpose of this study is to determine whether molecular diagnostics can be used for rapid and direct detection of the bacterial pathogen in culture-negative MEFs. Methods: The specificity and sensitivity of both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to the lytA gene of Streptococcus pneumoniae were comparatively tested and then applied for pneumococcal detection in the clinical MEFs. Results: The detection limit of the PCR assay was approximately $10^4$ colony forming units (CFU), whereas that of LAMP was less than 10 CFU for the detection of S. pneumoniae. Both PCR and LAMP did not amplify nucleic acid at over $10^6$ CFU of H. influenzae or M. catarrhalis, both of which were irrelevant bacterial species. Of 22 culture-negative MEFs from children with OME, LAMP positivity was found in twelve MEFs (54.5%, 12/22), only three of which were PCR-positive (25%, 3/12). Our results showed that the ability of LAMP to detect pneumococcal DNA is over four times higher than that of PCR (P<0.01). Conclusions: As a high-resolution tool able to detect nucleic acid levels equivalent to <10 CFU of S. pneumoniae in MEFs without any cross-reaction with other pathogens, lytA -specific LAMP may be applied for diagnosing pneumococcus infection in OME as well as evaluating the impact of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against OME.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.182-187
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• 2012

In this study, the experimental method has been investigated using molecular biological way to identify raw materials from seasoned red-pepper sauce which is one of the most popular spices in Korea. 6 kinds of seasoned red-pepper sauces were chosen as a sample containing chilli pepper, garlic, onion as a major ingredient and species specific primers were used for the identification of the raw material of processed food. Selected samples were pre-treated to remove salt (samples were washed with distilled water 3~4 times for desalting), after that, to amplify the extracted genes, whole genome amplification (WGA) kit was performed. Afterwards, PCR products were confirmed through the electrophoresis. As a result, 102, 180, 280 bp of specific PCR products were confirmed for each major ingredients such as chilli pepper, garlic, onion. From this study, the gene extraction method was validated for the identification of ingredients from the spices and it would be applied to distinction of low quality chilli pepper powder including seasoned red-pepper sauce illegally.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2011

In 2005, a survey was conducted to identify virus diseases on victory onion, Allium victorialis var. platyphyllum grown in Ulleung island located in the East Sea. A total of 61 samples were collected from victory onion in the neighborhood of Seonginbong. The identification of viruses from the samples were carried out by electron microscopy and RT-PCR using primers species specific to GCLV, LYSV, SLV, OYDV and genus specific to Allexivirus, respectively. From sixty-one samples, filamentous rod particles (600-900 nm) were detected from four victory onion samples in EM, three samples containing SLV and one sample containing both SLV and Allexivirus in RT-PCR analysis, respectively. Victory onions naturally infected by the viruses were asymptomatic apparently. The viruses detected by RT-PCR were further characterized by the nucleotide sequence analysis of the coat protein region. Three isolates of SLV showed approximately 99% identities in the nucleotide and amino acid sequences, suggesting that they were likely to be the same strain. On the other hand, they showed approximately 75.7~83.7% identities in the nucleotide and 89.2~97.0% in amino acid sequences compared with the previously reported SLV isolates in Allium. The CP gene of the Allexivirus showed approximately 99.2% nucleotide identities and 98.8% amino acid identities with Garlic virus A. However, there was relatively low homology ranging from 60.6% to 81.5% compared with other Allexiviruses (GarV-C, GarV-E, GarV-X, GMbMV, and Shal-X). These data suggested that two viruses, SLV and GarV-A identified from victory onion, are named SLV-Ulleungdo and GarV-A-Ulleungdo, respectively. This is the first report of viruses infecting victory onion.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.147.1-147
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• 2003

Freesia, a member of the Iridaceae family, has fragant, tubular shaped flowers and is very popular ornamental plants in the world. Diseased freesia plants showing systemic leaf streak mosaic symptoms were collected from a cultivated farm in Kyonggi province, Korea in 2003, and its causal agents were investigated. Two viruses, Cucumber mosaic virus (Fr-CMV) and a potyvirus, were identified from the leaf tissues of the diseased freesia based on sequence analysis and host range tests. CMV-Fr could infect systemically on Chenopodium quinoa, C. amaranticolor, N. glutinosa, and N. benthamiana, and this biological property is distinguishable from ordinary strains of CMV. A filamentous potyvirus-shaped virus could not infect general indicator plants by mechanical inoculation. Single RT-PCR products was successfully amplified with a set of degenerate primers specific to the Potyvirus genus and total nucleic acids from the infected tissues, and was cloned into the pGEMT-Easy vector. Nucleotide sequences confirmed it belongs to the Potyvirus genus with either a new species or an isolate of Freesia mosaic virus (no information is available for the FrMV). This is the first report of FrMV in Korea and more characterizations of the two viruses are in progress.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1229-1239
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• 2005

Human immunodeficiency virus-like particles (HIVVLPs) with native conformations similar to that of the wild-type virion could be valid candidates for vaccine development. To this end, we used a Semliki Forest Virus (SFV) expression system to produce HIV- VLPs containing high quantities of native envelope proteins. Here, we described a single SFV replicon containing the HIV gagpol and env genes under the control of separate subgenomic promoters. Mature VLPs incorporating the Gag and Env proteins were detected in the supernatant of replicon-expressing cells by Western blot analysis. The HIV-VLPs showed the expected molecular density (1.14-1.18 g/ml) on a $20-60\%$ sucrose gradient; the particles were 100-120 nm in diameter and Env proteins were observed on their surfaces by immunogold electron microscopy. RT-PCR analysis of VLP-associated RNAs in mature HIV-VLPs revealed two SF V-derived RNA species (full-length and subgenomic). Immunization studies in Balb/c mice showed that these HIV-VLPs were capable of inducing both HIV-specific antibodies and cell-mediated immune responses. Taken together, our results indicate that the SFV replicon system is useful for the production of HIV-VLPs, which may be valuable candidates for an HIV vaccine.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2006

This study was conducted to identify native ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi colonizing Pinus densiflora for revegetation of abandoned coal mines in Korea. Seedlings of P. densiflora growing on coal mining spoils of a study site in Samcheok were collected. ECM roots were observed under stereomicroscope and their DNA were extracted from each root tip for a seedling for molecular identification. A PCR primer pair specific to fungi, ITS1F and ITS4, was used to amplify fungal DNA. Restriction enzymes, Alul and Hinfl were used for restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Combined with RFLP profiles and sequence analysis, total twenty one taxa were identified from the ECM root tips. Basidiomycetous fungi including Thelephoraceae, Pezizales, Laccaria, Pisolithus and Ascomycetous fungi including ericoid mycorrhizal fungi were identified from this study. Results showed that the most frequently found in the study sites was a species in Thelephoraceae. A possible use of ECM fungi identified in this study for the revegetation of abandoned coal mines with P. densiflora was discussed.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.361-364
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• 2008

The complete nucleotide sequences of a Korean isolate of Potato virus X(PVX-Kr) has been determined. Full-length cDNA of PVX-Kr has been directly amplified by long template reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) using virus specific 5'-end primer and 3'-end primer, and then constructed in a plasmid vector. Consecutive subclones of a full-length cDNA clone were constructed to identify whole genome sequence of the virus. Total nucleotide sequences of genome of PVX-Kr were 6,435 excluding one adenine at poly A tail, and genome organization was identical with that of typical PVX species. Comparison of whole genome sequence of PVX-Kr with those of European and South American isolates showed 95.4-96.8% and 77.4-77.9%, in nucleotide similarity, respectively. Sequenced PVX-Kr in this study and twelve isolates already reported could be divided into two subgroups in phylogeny based on their complete nucleotide sequences. Phylogenetic tree analysis demonstrated that PVX-Kr was clustered with European and Asian isolates(Taiwan, os, bs, Kr, S, X3, UK3, ROTH1, Tula) in the same subgroup and South American isolates(CP, CP2, CP4, HB) were clustered in the other subgroup.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.294-300
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• 2009

Activation tagging that uses T-DNA vectors containing multimerized transcriptional enhancers from the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S gene is a powerful tool to determine gene function in plants. This approach has been successfully applied in screening various types of mutations and cloning the corresponding genes. We generated an activation tagged hairy root pool of ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) in an attempt to isolate genes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of ginsenoside (triterpene saponin), which is known as the major active ingredient of the root. Quantitative and qualitative variation of ginsenoside in activation tagged hairy root lines were profiled using LC/MS. Metabolic profiling data enabled selection of a specific hairy root line which accumulated ginsenoside at a higher level than other lines. The relative expression level of several genes of triterpene biosynthetic pathway in the selected hairy root line was determined by real time RT-PCR. Overall results suggest that the activation tagged ginseng hairy root system described in this study would be useful in isolating genes involved in a complex metabolic pathway from genetically intractable plant species by metabolic profiling.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2003

Streptococcal infection is one of the most serious disease of cultured olive flounder, Paralychthys olivaceus in Korea and caused by more than one species. However, there has been considerable confusions about the taxonomic position of the fish pathogenic streptococci. In this study, We performed the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) pattern analysis to evaluate the possible classification in 8 streptococci isolated from diseased olive flounder and reference strains based on their DNA structure. RAPD PCR with DNA solution prepared by simple boiling and 10-mer random primer was appeared to be a good tool for discrimination of different streptococcal strains. Phenotypical characters by simple biological test and API 20 Strep corresponded well to the specific profiles of RAPD in streptococcal isolates of this study. Therefore, the RAPD profile was considered as one of differential characters to discriminate the streptococcal isolates from diseased olive flounder.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.187-192
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• 2011

TGF-$\beta$ activated kinase-1 (TAK1) plays a pivotal role in developmental processes in many species. Previous research has mainly focused on the function of TAK1 in model organisms, and little is known about the function of TAK1 in hymenoptera insects. Here, we isolated and characterized the TAK1 gene from Apis cerana cerana. Promoter analysis of AccTAK1 revealed the presence of transcription factor binding sites related to early development. Real-time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry experiments revealed that AccTAK1 was expressed at high levels in fourth instar larvae, primarily in the abdomen, in the intestinal wall cells of the midgut and in the secretory cells of the salivary glands. In addition, AccTAK1 expression in fourth instar larvae could be dramatically induced by treatment with pesticides and organic solvents. These observations suggest that AccTAK1 may be involved in the regulation of early development in the larval salivary gland and midgut.