• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1215-1224
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• 2017

Until now, various oncogenic pathways were idenfied. The accumulation of DNA mutation induces genomic instability in the cell, and it makes cancer. The development of bioinformatics and genomics, to find the precise and reliable biomarker is available. This biomarker could be applied the early-dignosis, prediction and convalescence of cancer. Recently, Transposable elements (TEs) have been attracted as the regulator of genes, because they occupy a half of human genome, and the cause of various diseases. TEs induce DNA mutation, as well as the regulation of gene expression, that makes to cancer development. So, we confirmed the relationship between TEs and colon cancer, and provided the clue for colon cancer biomarker. First, we confirmed long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1), Alu, and long terminal repeats (LTRs) and their relationship to colon cancer. Because these elements have large composition and enormous effect to the human genome. Interestingly, colon cancer specific patterns were detected, such as the hypomethylation of LINE-1, LINE-1 insertion in the APC gene, hypo- or hypermethylation of Alu, and isoform derived from LTR insertion. Moreover, hypomethylation of LINE-1 in proto-oncogene is used as the biomarker of colon cancer metastasis, and MLH1 mutation induced by Alu is detected in familial or hereditary colon cancer. The genes, effected by TEs, were analyzed their expression patterns by in silico analysis. Then, we provided tissue- and gender-specific expression patterns. This information can provide reliable cancer biomarker, and apply to prediction and diagnosis of colon cancer.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.19-23
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• 2003

The Ac (activator) which is one of the well-characterized transposable elements from maize was examined for its transposition possibility to the heterologous plant (P.nigra x maximowiczii) genome via Agrobacterium tumefacience (LBA4404) mediated transformation system. A number of transgenic plants were successfully recovered after 30 weeks by amount reduction from 50 to 15 g/$m\ell$ kanamycin for in vitro selection to minimize phytotoxic effects and to increase callus growth and regeneration efficiency. Among transgenic plants, 62 out of 106 transgenic poplars (58.5%) showed abnormal phenotypes such as severe serrated leaves and light leaf coloration. Indigo staining with X-gluc proved indirectly the restoration of Gus enzyme function and the presence of Ac in poplar genome by PCR. Southern analysis indicated the transposition and existence of Ac element in poplar genomes. In this research, an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system in poplar species was developed and identified that Ac derived from maize can be excised and trans posed into other poplar genomes.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.70-77
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• 2016

Transposable elements are one of major sources to cause genomic instability through various mechanisms including de novo insertion, insertion-mediated genomic deletion, and recombination-associated genomic deletion. Among them is Alu element which is the most abundant element, composing ~10% of the human genome. The element emerged in the primate genome 65 million years ago and has since propagated successfully in the human and non-human primate genomes. Alu element is a non-autonomous retrotransposon and therefore retrotransposed using L1-enzyme machinery. The 'master gene' model has been generally accepted to explain Alu element amplification in primate genomes. According to the model, different subfamilies of Alu elements are created by mutations on the master gene and most Alu elements are amplified from the hyperactive master genes. Alu element is frequently involved in genomic rearrangements in the human genome due to its abundance and sequence identity between them. The genomic rearrangements caused by Alu elements could lead to genetic disorders such as hereditary disease, blood disorder, and neurological disorder. In fact, Alu elements are associated with approximately 0.1% of human genetic disorders. The first part of this review discusses mechanisms of Alu amplification and diversity among different Alu subfamilies. The second part discusses the particular role of Alu elements in generating genomic rearrangements as well as human genetic disorders.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.8
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• pp.522-530
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• 2022

Transposable elements (TEs) account for approximately 45% of the human genome. TEs have proliferated randomly and integrated into functional genes during hominoid radiation. They appear as right-handed B-DNA double helices and slightly elongated left-handed Z-DNAs. Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) families are widely distributed in human chromosomes at a ratio of 8%. They contain a 5'-long terminal repeat (LTR)-gag-pol-env-3'-LTR structure. LTRs contain the U3 enhancer and promoter region, transcribed R region, and U5 region. LTRs can influence host gene expression by acting as regulatory elements. In this review, we describe the alternative promoters derived from LTR elements that overlap Z-DNA by comparing Z-hunt and DeepZ data for human functional genes. We also present evidence showing the regulatory activity of LTR elements containing Z-DNA in GSDML. Taken together, the regulatory activity of LTR elements with Z-DNA allows us to understand gene function in relation to various human diseases.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.7
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• pp.607-618
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• 2020

microRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNA molecules involved in the regulation of gene expression. miRNAs inhibit gene expression by binding to the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of their target gene. miRNAs can originate from transposable elements (TEs), which comprise approximately half of the eukaryotic genome and one type of TE, called the long terminal repeat (LTR) is found in class of retrotransposons. Amongst the miRNAs derived from LTR, hsa-miR-3681 was chosen and analyzed using bioinformatics tools and experimental analysis. Studies on hsa-miR-3681 have been scarce and this study provides the relative expression analysis of hsa-miR-3681-5p from humans, chimpanzees, crab-eating monkeys, and mice. Luciferase assay for hsa-miR-3681-5p and its target gene SHISA7 supports our hypothesis that the number of miRNA binding sites affects target gene expression. Especially, the variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) and hsa-miR-3681-5p share the binding sites in the 3' UTR of SHISA7, which leads the enhancer function of hsamiR-3681-5p to inhibit the activity of VNTR. In conclusion, hsa-miR-3681-5p acts as a super-enhancer and the enhancer function of hsa-miR-3681-5p acts as a repressor of VNTR activity in the 3' UTR of SHISA7.

• Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.313-320
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• 2018

Rice is the staple food of more than 50% of the world population. Cultivated rice has the AA genome (diploid, 2n = 24) and small genome size of only 430 megabase (haploid genome). As the sequencing of rice genome was completed by the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), many researchers in the world have been working to explore the gene function on rice genome. Insertional mutagenesis has been a powerful strategy for assessing gene function. In maize, well characterized transposable elements have traditionally been used to clone genes for which only phenotypic information is available. In rice endogenous mobile elements such as MITE and Tos have been used to generate gene-tagged populations. To date T-DNA and maize transposable element systems have been utilized as main insertional mutagens in rice. The Ac/Ds system offers the advantage of generating new mutants by secondary transposition from a single tagged gene. To enhance the efficiency of gene detection, advanced gene-tagging systems (i.e. activation, gene or enhancer trap) have been employed for functional genomic studies in rice. Internationally, there have been many projects to develop large scales of insertional mutagenized populations and databases of insertion sites has been established. Ultimate goals of these projects are to supply genetic materials and informations essential for functional analysis of rice genes and for breeding using agronomically important genes. In this report, we summarize the current status of Ac/Ds-mediated gene tagging systems that has been conducted by collaborative works in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1987.07a
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• pp.241-260
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• 1987

The regulatory mechanisms of gene expression in higher plant were not ascertained in detail because the genome size is very large and complex. However, the above-mentioned study is remarkably progressed in parallel with development of DNA recombinant technology and plant vector system. Some research results connected with the mechanisms could be summarized as follows. 1. Many plant genes including chloroplast genes are cloned. 2. The structures of some regulatory regions of gene expression are determined, and it is confirmed that new regulatory units are made by transposable elements. 3. Plant gene expression is regulated not only at transcriptional level but also at translational level. 4. The factors that regulate plant gene expression could be divided as two categorys. One is endogenous elements including the structural change of chromatin during development stage and tissue differentiation. The other is environmental stimulations such as air, water, heat, salts and light. However, some sufficient research-aid fund is essential in order to study the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression more systematically.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.300-307
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• 2006

Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis (Chinese cabbage) is an economically important crop and a model plant for studies on polyploidization and phenotypic evolution. To gain an insight into the structure of the B. rapa genome we analyzed 12,017 BAC-end sequences for the presence of transposable elements (TEs), SSRs, centromeric satellite repeats and genes, and similarity to the closely related genome of Arabidopsis thaliana. TEs were estimated to occupy 14% of the genome, with 12.3% of the genome represented by retrotransposons. It was estimated that the B. rapa genome contains 43,000 genes, 1.6 times greater than the genome of A. thaliana. A number of centromeric satellite sequences, representing variations of a 176-bp consensus sequence, were identified. This sequence has undergone rapid evolution within the B. rapa genome and has diverged among the related species of Brassicaceae. A study of SSRs demonstrated a non-random distribution with a greater abundance within predicted intergenic regions. Our results provide an initial characterization of the genome of B. rapa and provide the basis for detailed analysis through whole-genome sequencing.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.113-121
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• 2001

The use of a marker gene in a transformation process aims to give a selective advantage to the transformed cells, allowing them to grow faster and better, and to kill the non-transformed cells. In general, the selective gene is introduced into plant genome along with the genes of interest. In some cases, the marker gene can be the gene of interest that will confer an agronomic characteristic, such as herbicide resistance. In this review we list and discuss the use of the most common selective marker genes on plant transformation and the effects of their respective selective agents. These genes could be divided in categories according their mode of action: genes that confer resistance to antibiotics and herbicides; and genes for positive selection. The contention of the marker gene flow through chloroplast transformation is further discussed. Moreover, strategies to recover marker-free transgenic plants, involving multi-auto-transformation (MAT), co-transformation, site specific recombination and intragenomic relocation of transgenes through transposable elements, are also reviewed.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.259-268
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• 2006

Miniature inverted transposable elements (MITEs) are abundant genomic components in plant including rice. MITE-transposon display (MITE-TD) is an Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP)-related technique based on MITE sequence. In this study, we used the MITE-AFLP for the analysis of diversity and relation-ship of the 114 japonica accessions. Of the several MITEs, the mPing family was applied to detect polymorphisms based on PCR amplification. The BfaI adaptor primer and the specific primer derived from mPing terminal inverted repeat (TIR) region were used to PCR amplification of 114 accessions. Nine primer pairs produced a total of 160 polymorphic bands. PIC values of the polymorphic bands generated by nine primer pairs ranged from 0.269 (BfaI + ACT) to 0.426 (BfaI + T). Each accession revealed a distinct fingerprint with two primer combinations, BfaI + G and BfaI + C. Cluster analysis using marker-based genetic similarity classified 114 accessions into five groups. MITE-AFLP markers were genetically mapped using a population of 80 BILs (BC1F7) derived from a cross between the rice accessions, Milyang 23 and Hapcheonaengmi 3. Eight of the markers produced with the primer pair BfaI + 0 were mapped on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9. Considering that one MITE-AFLP marker on chromosome 7 was tightly linked to the Rc gene, the MITE-AFLP markers will be useful for gene tagging and molecular cloning.