• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 1995

The effects of DNA polymerase $\beta$ on the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombinations were investigated using the transgenic Drosophila beating chimetic gene consisting of a promoter region of Drosophila actin 5C gene and rat DNA polymerase $\beta$. For detecting the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombinations, the heterozygous (mwh/+) strains possessing or lacking transgene poi 13 were used. The spontaneous frequency of small mwh spots, due to deletion or nondisjunction etc., in the non-transgenic w strain and the transgenic p[pol $\beta$]-130 strain was 0.351 and 0.606, respectively. The spontaneous frequency (0.063) of large mwh spots, arises mostly from somatic recombination between the centromere and the locus mwh, in the transgenic p[pol $\beta$]-130 strain was about three times higher than that (0.021) of the non-transgenic w strain. The mutant clone frequencies of small and large mwh spots induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and ethyl methanesulfonate in the transformant p[pol $\beta$]-130 were higher than those in the host strain w. The present results suggest that rat DNA polymerase $\beta$ participate at least in the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombination processes.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.606-610
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• 2008

Phenoloxidase (PO), a melanin-forming enzyme around the foreign bodies, is an important component of the host defense system in invertebrates. Pro-PO is the enzymatically inactive zymogen form of PO. In the Drosophila genome, three Pro-PO isoforms have been identified to date. These include Pro-PO1 and 2, which are primarily expressed in crystal cells, and Pro-PO3, which is predominantly found in the lamellocytes. In this study, we demonstrated that Drosophila Pro-PO3, but not Pro-PO1 or 2, is enzymatically active in its zymogen form. These findings were evidenced by spectacular melanin forming capacities of various cells and tissues that overexpressed these pro-enzymes. Furthermore, the melanization phenotype observed in the lamellocyte-enriched $hop^{Tum-l}$ mutant was drastically reduced in the absence of PPO3, indicating that PPO3 plays a major role in the lamellocyte-mediated spontaneous melanization process. Taken together, these findings indicate that the biochemical properties, activation mode and in vivo role of Pro-PO3 are likely distinct from those of the other two Pro-PO enzymes involved in Drosophila physiology.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.159-169
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• 2010

Lesion mimic mutant (LMM) plants display spontaneous necrotic lesions on their leaves without any pathogenic infection. Specific rice LMMs designated as spotted leaf (spl) including spl1, spl3, spl4, spl5 and spl6 are genetically known as lesion resembling disease (lrd) mutant. The inheritance patterns in the $F_1$ and $F_2$ progenies of these mutants are controlled by recessive genetic factors. Lesion development in the rice LMMs were controlled by both development stages and environmental factors. The rice LMMs exhibited higher numbers of spots under $45^{\circ}C$ temperature than those under $30^{\circ}C$. Contents of chlorophyll were drastically reduced at 60 days old LMM leaves when the spot formation was severe. The levels of endogenous hydrogen peroxide were highest at 45 days old mutants but reduced at 60 days old. Transcription levels of stress related genes including thioredoxin peroxidase and protein disulfide isomerase were reduced in spotted leaves than those of non spotted leaves. It could be suggested that scavenging system against reactive oxygen species induced by either stresses or innate metabolisms may not work properly in the rice LMMs. As these rice LMMs autonomously expressed clear lesions of lrd phenotype without pathogen infection, it could be useful to understand stresses responses in plants.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.71-72
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• 2016

Focal cortical dysplasia type II (FCDII) is a focal malformation of the developing cerebral cortex and the major cause of intractable epilepsy. However, since the molecular genetic etiology of FCD has remained enigmatic, the effective therapeutic target for this condition has remained poorly understood. Our recent study on FCD utilizing various deep sequencing platforms identified somatic mutations in MTOR (existing as low as 1% allelic frequency) only in the affected brain tissues. We observed that these mutations induced hyperactivation of the mTOR kinase. In addition, focal cortical expression of mutant MTOR using in utero electroporation in mice, recapitulated the neuropathological features of FCDII, such as migration defect, cytomegalic neuron and spontaneous seizures. Furthermore, seizures and dysmorphic neurons were rescued by the administration of mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin. This study provides the first evidence that brain somatic activating mutations in MTOR cause FCD, and suggests the potential drug target for intractable epilepsy in FCD patients.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.315-320
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• 1996

The effects of 2-arnino-3-methyIimidazo[4,5-fq]u inoline (IQ), 2-amino-6dimethyl-dipyrido[l,2-a;3',2'-d] imidazole (Glu-P-1) and aflatoxin B1 (AFBI) on the mitotic recombinations and somatic chromosome mutations were investigated using the transgenic Drosophila bearing a chimeric gene consisting of a promoter region of Drosophila actin 5C gene and rat DNA polymerase $. For investigating mitotic recombinations and the somatic chromosome mutations, the heterozygous (mwhl+) strain possessing or lacking transgene pol P was used. The spontaneous frequency of small mwh spots, due to deletion or nondisjunction etc., in the non-transgenic w strain and the transgenic plpol $1-130 strain was 0.351 and 0.606, respectively. The spontaneous frequency (0.063) of large mwh spots, arising mostly from somatic recombination between the centromere and the locus mwh, in the transgenic plpol $1-130 strain, was about three times higher than that (0.021) of the non-transgenic w strain. The mutant clone frequencies of two types induced by two heterocyclic mines (IQ and Glu-P-1) and AFBl in the transformant pbol PI-130 were two or three times higher than those in the host strain w. These mean that rat DNA polymerase P participates at least in the somatic chromosome mutations and mitotic recombination processes. And the present results suggest that the transgenic Drosophl!~ used in this study can be used as a hypersensitive, in vivo short-term assaying system for various environmental mutagens.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2005

We cloned the $\beta$-tubulin genes from the wild type strain and two benomyl-resistant mutants of Metahizium anisopliae and determined their nucleotide sequences. A $\beta$-tubulin encoding 448-residue protein from wild type M. anisopliae shows strong homology to other $\beta$-tubulins. The coding region is interrupted by four introns. Comparisons of intron position between the M. anisopliae gene and other fungal $\beta$-tubulin genes show considerable positional conservation. The mutations responsible for benomyl resistance were determined in two spontaneous mutants, 8-18 and 8­19. One mutant 8-18 substituted glutamate for aspar­agine at position 33 and lysine for glutamine at position 134. The other mutant 8-19 showed alterations at three positions of $\beta$-tubulin arginine for tryptophan at position 21, lysine for asparagine at position 33, and phenylalanine for leucine at position 240. These data suggest that regions of $\beta$-tubulin containing amino acids 21, 33,134, and 240 interact to form the binding site of benomyl.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.151-155
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• 2000

A cDNA (Oslls1) encoding Lls1-homologue of maize was isolated from cDNA library of rice (Oryza sativa cv. Ilpum). The 2,138 bp of full length Oslls1 clone contains an open reading frame of 1,623 nucleotides encoding 575 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of Oslls1 has a high level of homology with chlorophyll a oxygenases of Arabidopsis thaliana (67%) and Marchantia polymorpha (65%). Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA indicates the existence of a small gene family for Oslls1 in the rice genome. The expression of Oslls1 mRNA was induced in leaves and germinating seeds. Treatment of $H_2O$$_2$significantly down-regulated Oslls1 expression. The expression of Oslls1 mRNA was consititutively down-regulated in the blm, a rice mutant exhibiting spontaneous necrotic lesions. These results suggest that this Oslls1 gene may be involved incell death mechanisms in the blm mutant of rice.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.640-648
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• 2022

CD133, also known as prominin-1, was first identified as a biomarker of mammalian cancer and neural stem cells. Previous studies have shown that the prominin-like (promL) gene, an orthologue of mammalian CD133 in Drosophila, plays a role in glucose and lipid metabolism, body growth, and longevity. Because locomotion is required for food sourcing and ultimately the regulation of metabolism, we examined the function of promL in Drosophila locomotion. Both promL mutants and pan-neuronal promL inhibition flies displayed reduced spontaneous locomotor activity. As dopamine is known to modulate locomotion, we also examined the effects of promL inhibition on the dopamine concentration and mRNA expression levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and DOPA decarboxylase (Ddc), the enzymes responsible for dopamine biosynthesis, in the heads of flies. Compared with those in control flies, the levels of dopamine and the mRNAs encoding TH and Ddc were lower in promL mutant and pan-neuronal promL inhibition flies. In addition, an immunostaining analysis revealed that, compared with control flies, promL mutant and pan-neuronal promL inhibition flies had lower levels of the TH protein in protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) neurons, a subset of dopaminergic neurons. Inhibition of promL in these PAM neurons reduced the locomotor activity of the flies. Overall, these findings indicate that promL expressed in PAM dopaminergic neurons regulates locomotion by controlling dopamine synthesis in Drosophila.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.119-123
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• 2005

Benomyl-resistant mutants of entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae were isolated and their physiological characteristics were investigated. These militants were obtained spontaneously or by UV irradiation in benomyl-treated media. Four spontaneous (S-2, S-11, S-18, S-19) and four UV-induced (UV-4, UV-5, UV-19, UV-24) mutants, which grow stably and normally were selected. No significant differences in conidia or hyphal shape, conidia viability, mycelial biomass, or virulent to the diamondback moth were observed between the wild type and their mutants. But differently from the mycelial growth of other benomyl-resistant mutants which was slower than that of the wild type on a modified Czapek-Dox, SDAY, $4\%$ chitin, or $1\%$ skim milk medium, that in the spontaneous mutants, S-18 and S-19, did not show any difference from the wild type. Especially, S-18 and S-19 grew well at benomyl concentrations up to 50 times or higher than that which inhibits wild type proliferation. These results suggested that S-18 and S-19 could potentially be used with the fungicide, benomyl.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.130-133
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• 2002

The last step in the photocycle of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) is a spontaneous recovery of the dark state from the active state in which the p-coumaric acid chromophore is thermally isomerized, concomitantly with the deprotona- tion of the chtomophore and the refolding of the protein moicty. For the purpose of understanding the mechanism of the thermal back-isomerization, we have investigated the rate-determining step by analyzing mutant PYPs of Met100, which was previously shown to play a major role in facilitating the reaction (1). The mutation to Lys, Leu, Ala, or Glu decelerated the dark state recovery by 1 to 3 three orders of magnitude. By evaluating temperature-dependence and pH-dependence of the kinetics of the dark state recovery, it was found that the retardation by mutations resulted from elevation of the activation enthalpy ( H$\^$┿/) and that the pKa of the chromophore, which was affected by the mutation, is in a linier correlation with the amplitude of the rate constants. It was, therefore, deduced from the correlation that the free energy for crossing the activated state in the dark recovery process is proportional to the free energy for the deprotonation of the chromophore, identifying the rate-determining step as the deprotonation of the chromophore. (1) Devanathan, S. Genick, U. K. Canestrelli, I. L. Meyer, T. E. Cusanovich, M. A. Getzoff, E. D. Tollin, G., Biochemistry 1998, 37, 11563 - 11568