• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.79-89
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• 2019

Objective : This study investigated the anti-diabetic effects of DM1, a herbal mixture with Atractylodis Rhizoma, Anemarrhenae Rhizoma, and Cinnamomi Cortex in high fat diet (HFD)-induced diabetic mice and the mechanism in C2C12 mouse skeletal muscle cells. Methods : The C57B/6 mice were fed high fat for 12 weeks, and then administrated DM1 extract (500 mg/kg, p.o.) for 4 weeks. The changes of body weight, calorie and water intakes, fasting blood glucose levels and the serum levels of glucose, insulin, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, AST and ALT were measured in mice. The histological changes of liver and pancreas tissues were also observed by H&E stain. C2C12 myoblasts were differentiated into myotubes and then treated with DM1 extract (0.5, 1, and 2 mg/㎖) for 24 hr. The expression of myosin heavy chain (MHC), PGC1α, Sirt1 and NRF1, and the AMPK phosphorylation were determined in the myotubes by western blot, respectively. Results : The DM1 extract administration significantly decreased the calorie and water intakes, glucose, triglyceride, AST and ALT levels and increased insulin and HDL-cholesterol in HFD-induced diabetic mice. DM1 extract inhibited lipid accumulation in liver tissue and improved glucose tolerance. In C2C12 myotubes, DM1 treatment increased the expression of MHC, PGC1α, Sirt-1, NRF-1 and the AMPK phosphorylation. Conclusion : In our results indicate that DM1 can improve diabetic symptoms by decreasing the obesity, glucose tolerance and fatty liver in HFD-induced diabetic mice, and responsible mechanism is might be related with energy enhancement.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2007

To develop rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars to be planted on salt-affected sites, cell lines with enhanced proline content and resistance to growth inhibition by Azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (AZCA), a proline analogue, were screened out among calli irradiated with gamma ray of 50, 70, 90, and 120 Gy. The calli had been derived from embryo culture of the cultivar Donganbyeo. Selected AZCA resistant lines that had high proline accumulation were used as sources for selection of NaCl resistant lines. To determine an optimum concentration for selection of NaCl resistant lines, Donganbyeo seeds were initially cultured on the media containing various NaCl concentrations (0 to 2.5%) for 40 days, and 1.5% NaCl concentration was determined as the optimum concentration. One hundred sixteen salt-tolerant (ST) lines were selected from bulked 20,000 seeds of the AZCA resistant $M_{3}$ seeds in the medium containing 1.5% NaCl. The putative 33 lines ($M_{4}$ generation) considered with salt-tolerance were further analyzed for salt tolerance, amino acid and ion contents, and expression patterns of the salt tolerance-related genes. Out of the 33 lines, 7 lines were confirmed to have superior salt tolerance. Based on growth comparison of the entries, the selected mutant lines exhibited greater shoot length with average 1.5 times, root length with 1.3 times, root numbers with 1.1 times, and fresh weight with 1.5 times than control. Proline contents were increased maximum 20%, 100% and 20% in the leaf, seed and callus, respectively, of the selected lines. Compared to control, amino acid contents of the mutants were 24 to 29%, 49 to 143%, 32 to 60% higher in the leaf, seed and callus, respectively. The ratio of $Na^{+}/K^{+}$ for most of the ST-lines were lower than that of control, ranging from 1.0 to 3.8 for the leaf and 11.5 to 28.5 for the root, while the control had 3.5 and 32.9 in the leaf and root, respectively. The transcription patterns for the P5CS and NHXI genes observed by RT-PCR analysis indicated that these genes were actively expressed under salt stress. The selected mutants will be useful for the development of rice cultivar resistant to salt stress.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1323-1334
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• 2010

The effect of nitric oxide (NO) on antioxidant system and protective mechanism against oxidative stress under UV-B radiation was investigated in leaves of maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings during 3 days growth period. UV-B irradiation caused a decrease of leaf biomass including leaf length, width and weight during growth. Application of NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), significantly alleviated UV-B stress induced growth suppression. NO donor permitted the survival of more green leaf tissue preventing chlorophyll content reduction and of higher quantum yield for photosystem II than in non-treated controls under UV-B stress, suggesting that NO has protective effect on chloroplast membrane in maize leaves. Flavonoids and anthocyanin, UV-B absorbing compounds, were significantly accumulated in the maize leaves upon UV-B exposure. Moreover, the increase of these compounds was intensified in the NO treated seedlings. UV-B treatment resulted in lipid peroxidation and induced accumulation of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) in maize leaves, while NO donor prevented UV-B induced increase in the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and $H_2O_2$. These results demonstrate that NO serves as antioxidant agent able to scavenge $H_2O_2$ to protect plant cells from oxidative damage. The activities of two antioxidant enzymes that scavenge reactive oxygen species, catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in maize leaves in the presence of NO donor under UV-B stress were higher than those under UV-B stress alone. Application of 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4, 4, 5, 5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3- oxide (PTIO), a specific NO scavenger, to the maize leaves arrested NO donor mediated protective effect on leaf growth, photosynthetic pigment and free radical scavenging activity. However, PTIO had little effect on maize leaves under UV-B stress compared with that of UV-B stress alone. $N^{\omega}$-nitro-L-arginine (LNNA), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), significantly increased $H_2O_2$ and MDA accumulation and decreased antioxidant enzyme activities in maize leaves under UV-B stress. This demonstrates that NOS inhibitor LNNA has opposite effects on oxidative resistance. From these results it is suggested that NO might act as a signal in activating active oxygen scavenging system that protects plants from oxidative stress induced by UV-B radiation and thus confer UV-B tolerance.

• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2007

This study was initiated to evaluate the qualitative characteristics of creeping bentgrass(Agrostis palustris Huds.) cultivars for the climate In Korea through the NTEP(Nat'l Turfgrass Evaluation Program) data. 'L-93' showed the highest rating in overall mean visual quality. It was also the most prominent cultivar in seedling vigors, ground cover, and genetic color especially in summer. In case of turf texture, 'Penn A-1' and 'A-2' were the finest group, but the poorest group in cold tolerance. Leaf density and thatch accumulation were lower with 'Penncross', 'Pennlinks', 'Crenshaw', and 'L-93' as compared with 'Penn A'-type and 'G'-type cultivars. Resistance to moss invasion was greater with 'Penn A'-type and 'G'-type cultivars, but 'Penncross' was the least. These observations indicated that leaf density was considered to associate with the characters of turf quality, thatch accumulation and resistance to moss invasion. 'Penn A'-type cultivars were highly resistant to snow mold. Greater resistance to brown patch was associated with 'Penn A' and 'Penncross'. Higher resistance to pythium blight was found with 'Penncross' and 'Pennlinks'. 'L-93' showed higher resistance to dollar spot, but not to pythium. Therefore, these results demonstrated that turf maintenance program for the new bentgrass cultivars should be different from a conventional management for the cultivar of 'Penncross'.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.237-237
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• 2017

Rice is highly sensitive to salt stress especially in its early growth stage, which thus is one of the major constraints in rice production. In rice plants, salt sensitivity is associated with the accumulation of $Na^+$ in the shoots, especially in the photosynthetic tissues. High salt concentrations in soil cause high $Na^+$ and $Cl^-$ transport to the shoot and preferential accumulation of those ions in older leaves, which decreases $K^+$ in the shoot, photosynthetic activity and grain yield. Salt exclusion capacity at the leaf sheath is therefore considered to be one of the main mechanisms of salt tolerance. In addition, it is suspected that the lamina joint might be involved in the salt transport from leaf sheath to leaf blade. This research aims to determine if leaf sheaths of rice exclude a large amount of $Na^+$ only or other ions such as $K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, and $Cl^-$ as well, to identify tissues in the leaf sheath, which accumulate $Na^+$, and to examine if the lamina joint is involved in the salt exclusion by the leaf sheath. The rice seedlings of salt tolerant genotype FL478 and salt sensitive genotype IR29 were independently treated with NaCl, KCl, $MgCl_2$ and $CaCl_2$, and Taichung 65 and its near-isogenic liguleless line (T65lg) were treated with NaCl. Then, the content of $Na^+$, $K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, and $Cl^-$ ions and their specific location were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, Ion Chromatograph, and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. Results showed that leaf sheaths of FL478 and IR29 accumulated a large amount of $Na^+$, $K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, and $Cl^-$ ons, and thus excluded them from leaf blades when treated with high concentration of each salt. When treated with NaCl, the highest $Na^+$ concentration was found in the basal part of leaf sheaths of both cultivars. Moreover, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that the central parenchyma cells of the leaf sheath were the site where most Na, Cl, and K were retained under salinity in the salt tolerant genotype FL478. Also, the concentration of $Na^+$, $K^+$ and $Cl^-$ ions in leaf sheaths and leaf blades was comparable between T65 and T65lg, indicating that the lamina joint may not be involved in the exclusion of $Na^+$, $Cl^-$ and $K^+$ by the leaf sheath from the leaf blade under salinity. Therefore, we conclude that the central parenchyma cells of basal part of leaf sheath are the site that plays a physiological role to exclude $Na^+$ in the shoots of rice without the involvement of the lamina joint.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.140-140
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• 2017

Nutritious and functional foods from crop have received great attention in recent years. Colored-grain wheat contains high phenolic compound and a large number of flavonoid. The anthocyanin and polyphenolic synthesis and accumulation is generally stimulated in response to biotic or abiotic stresses. Here, we analyzed genome wide transcripts in seedling of colored-grain wheat response to ABA and PEG treatment. About 900 and 1500 transcripts (p-value < 0.05) from ABA and PEG treatment were aligned to IWGSC1+popseq DB which is composed of over 110,000 transcripts including 100,934 coding genes. NR protein sequences of Poaceae from NCBI and protein sequence of transcription factors originated from 83 species in plant transcription factor database v3.0 were used for annotation of putative transcripts. Gene ontology analysis were conducted and KEGG mapping was performed to show expression pattern of biosynthesis genes related in flavonoid, isoflavonoid, flavons and anthocyanin biopathway. DroughtDB (http://pgsb.helmholtz-muenchen.de/droughtdb/) was used for detection of DEGs to explain that physiological and molecular drought avoidance by drought tolerance mechanisms. Drought response pathway, such as ABA signaling, water and ion channels, detoxification signaling, enzymes of osmolyte biosynthesis, phospholipid metabolism, signal transduction, and transcription factors related DEGs were selected to explain response mechanism under water deficit condition. Anthocyanin, phenol compound, and DPPH radical scavenging activity were measured and antioxidant activity enzyme assays were conducted to show biochemical adaptation under water deficit condition. Several MYB and bHLH transcription factors were up-regulated in both ABA and PEG treated condition, which means highly expressed MYB and bHLH transcription factors enhanced the expression of genes related in the biosynthesis pathways of flavonoids, such as anthocyanin and dihydroflavonols in colored wheat seedlings. Subsequently, the accumulation of total anthocyanin and phenol contents were observed in colored wheat seedlings, and antioxidant capacity was promoted by upregulation of genes involved in maintaining redox state and activation of antioxidant scavengers, such as CAT, APX, POD, and SOD in colored wheat seedlings under water deficit condition. This work may provide valuable and basic information for further investigation of the molecular responses of colored-grain wheat to water deficit stress and for further gene-based studies.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 2011

Here we report a simple screening system using hematoxylin staining (HS) of the root apex. It allowed rapid classification into different aluminum (Al) tolerance from 65 cultivars within one week. Using this system, we selected the most Al-tolerant (Jayae-2) and-sensitive (Pum-2) barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) The results show that the different responses in Al-induced growth inhibition, Al accumulation and expression of plasma membrane (PM) $H^+$-ATPase in root apices of selected two cultivars. It showed strongly Al-induced growth inhibition in a dosedependant manner only in Pum-2 but not in Jayae-2. Aluminum accumulation in root apices (10 mm) was significantly higher in Pum-2 only. The $H^+$-ATPase expression of PM vesicles by western blotting was decreased in Pum-2 but not in Jayae-2 treated with $20{\mu}M$ Al for 24 h. These finding indicate to screen from our system is rapid and reliable and to sustain the expression of PM $H^+$-ATPase at translational level is an important role in root growth as affected by Al.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.729-734
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• 2010

An 11-year old, intact female Poodle (weighing 2.3 kg) was referred with signs of consistent coughing, dyspnea, poor exercise tolerance, and anorexia. Diagnostic imaging and laboratory studies revealed idiopathic hemorrhagic pericardial effusion complicated with ISACHC Ib stage of chronic mitral valvular degeneration. Percutaneous transcatheter pericardiotomy (PTP) was performed at the right precordium using alligator forceps with fluoroscopic guidance. Immediately after PTP, electrocardiogram and echocardiogram showed dramatic improvement of cardiac performance. Patient was released with the prescription of furosemide (1 mg/kg, bid, PO), enalapril (0.5 mg/kg, bid, PO), cephradine (20 mg/kg, bid, PO) for mild mitral regurgitation and post-management of infection. Diagnostic studies performed at 2 weeks after PTP revealed no further accumulation of pericardial effusion and improvement of clinical signs. The dog is currently medicated with enalapril and monitored regularly.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1142-1148
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• 2020

Mitochondria play a vital role in iron uptake and metabolism in pathogenic fungi, and also influence virulence and drug tolerance. However, the regulation of iron transport within the mitochondria of Cryptococcus neoformans, a causative agent of fungal meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised individuals, remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we identified and functionally characterized Mrs3/4, a homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial iron transporter, in C. neoformans var. grubii. A strain expressing an Mrs3/4-GFP fusion protein was generated, and the mitochondrial localization of the fusion protein was confirmed. Moreover, a mutant lacking the MRS3/4 gene was constructed; this mutant displayed significantly reduced mitochondrial iron and cellular heme accumulation. In addition, impaired mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster metabolism and altered expression of genes required for iron uptake at the plasma membrane were observed in the mrs3/4 mutant, suggesting that Mrs3/4 is involved in iron import and metabolism in the mitochondria of C. neoformans. Using a murine model of cryptococcosis, we demonstrated that an mrs3/4 mutant is defective in survival and virulence. Taken together, our study suggests that Mrs3/4 is responsible for iron import in mitochondria and reveals a link between mitochondrial iron metabolism and the virulence of C. neoformans.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.581-593
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• 2016

The advantages of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) on insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have been well established. However, the molecular mechanisms of the anti-diabetic action of MUFAs remain unclear. This study examined the anti-hyperglycemic effect and explored the molecular mechanisms involved in the actions of fish oil- rich in MUFAs that had been acquired from hybrid catfish (Pangasius larnaudii${\times}$Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) among experimental type 2 diabetic rats. Diabetic rats that were fed with fish oil (500 and 1,000 mg/kg BW) for 12 weeks significantly reduced the fasting plasma glucose levels without increasing the plasma insulin levels. The diminishing levels of plasma lipids and the muscle triglyceride accumulation as well as the plasma leptin levels were identified in T2DM rats, which had been administrated with fish oil. Notably, the plasma adiponectin levels increased among these rats. The fish oil supplementation also improved glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and pancreatic histological changes. Moreover, the supplementation of fish oil improved insulin signaling ($p-Akt^{Ser473}$ and p-PKC-${\zeta}/{\lambda}^{Thr410/403}$), $p-AMPK^{Thr172}$ and membrane GLUT4 protein expressions, whereas the protein expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-${\alpha}$ and nuclear NF-${\kappa}B$) as well as p-PKC-${\theta}^{Thr538}$ were down regulated in the skeletal muscle. These data indicate that the effects of fish oil-rich in MUFAs in these T2DM rats were partly due to the attenuation of insulin resistance and an improvement in the adipokine imbalance. The mechanisms of the anti-hyperglycemic effect are involved in the improvement of insulin signaling, AMPK activation, GLUT4 translocation and suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine protein expressions.