• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.183-194
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• 2019

The consumption of fresh vegetables has been related to recurrent outbreaks of foodborne diseases (FBD) worldwide. Therefore, the development of effective alternative technologies is necessary to improve the safety of these products. This study aimed to isolate and identify epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from fresh fruits and leafy vegetables and characterize their antagonistic capacity due to their ability to produce bacteriocins or antibacterial compounds. For this, 92 LAB isolates from fruits and leafy vegetables were screened for antagonistic activity. Two strains with the highest and broadest antagonistic activities were selected for further characterization; one from cantaloupe melon (strain CM175) and one from cilantro leaves (strain C15). The cell-free supernatants (CFS) of CM175 and C15 were found to exhibit antagonistic activity against FBD-causing pathogens. The CM175 and C15 strains were identified as Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus graminis, respectively. Notably, the P. pentosaceus CM175 CFS stopped the growth of Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Saintpaul, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes, and delayed Escherichia coli O157:H7 growth. Moreover, L. graminis C15 CFS delayed the growth of all indicator pathogens, but did not completely stop it. Organic acids and bacteriocin-like molecules were determined to be possibly exerting the observed antagonistic activity of the identified LAB strains. Thus, application of the antagonistic compounds produced by Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus graminis could be a novel and ecological strategy in developing antimicrobial biopreservatives for the food industry and mitigating FBD by reducing the biological contamination in fruit and vegetable orchards, mainly via their potential in controlling both gram-negative and gram-positive pathogenic bacteria.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.164-168
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• 2009

우리나라 하천의 대부분은 다양한 수리학적, 형태학적 특징을 가지고 있으며 이에 따라 수위-유량관계는 민감하게 변화한다. 그 중 하도구간에 서식하고 있는 식생의 영향은 우리가 쉽게 예측할 수 없는 통제 특성을 발생시킨다. 식생(Vegetation)은 서서히 혹은 빠르게 성장하고, 쉽게 변화하여 기간별로 혹은 주기별로 다른 양상의 수위-유량관계를 발생시키고 이는 레이팅 전이(Rating shift)로 이어진다. 본 연구에서는 식생의 영향에 의해 발생되는 수위-유량관계를 좀 더 명확하게 규명하고자, 영산강 수계 황룡강 중류부에 위치한 임곡 지점을 대상 지점으로 선정하고 주기적으로 유량측정을 실시하여 시기별, 측정성과별로 식생의 정도를 검토하고 그 경향성을 파악하였다. 하도 내에서 수중식물의 성장이 진행되면 흐름 저항의 정도가 변하게 되며, 이의 영향으로 유속 역시 변하게 된다. 식생(Vegetation)의 성장기에는 유속이 감소하여 유량이 작아지는 수위-유량관계의 일차적인 음의 전이가 발생하며, 식생의 성장이 극대화되는 8월에는 좀 더 큰 음의 전이가 발생하게 된다. 하지만 식생에 의한 곡선의 전이(Rating Shift)는 영구적인 것이 아니라 계절별로 순환하는 특성을 지니고 있기에, 식생의 영향이 소멸하기 시작하는 9월 이후에는 수위-유량관계가 식생의 영향이 없는 원래의 수위-유량관계로 다시 접근하는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 결과적으로 본 연구에서는 식생의 영향이 없는 수위-유량관계곡선(Original rating curve)을 개발하고 식생의 성장 및 영향의 정도에 따른 기간분리를 실시하여 전이된 수위-유량관계곡선(Shift curve)을 개발하였다. 아울러 전체적인 유출평가의 과정을 거쳐 개발된 곡선식의 적정성 검토를 실시하였다.

• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.186-193
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• 2002

The acid-bible subunit (ALS) associates with the insulinlike growth factor (IGF)-I or II, and the IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in order to form a 150-kD complex in the circulation. This complex may regulate the serum IGFs by restricting them in the vascular system and promoting their endocrine actions. Little is known about how ALS binds to IGFBP3, which connects the IGFs to ALS. Xenopus oocyte was utilized to study the function of ALS in assembling IGFs into the ternary complexes. Xenopus oocyte was shown to correctly translate in vitro transcribed mRNAs of ALS and IGFBP3. IGFBP3 and ALS mRNAs were injected in a mixture, and their products were immunoprecipitated by antisera against ALS and IGFBP3. Contrary to traditional reports that ALS interacts only with IGF-bound IGFBP3, this study shows that ALS is capable of forming a binary complex with IGFBP3 in the absence of IGF When cross-linked by disuccinimidyl suberate, the band that represents the ALS-IGFBP3 complex was evident on the PAGE. IGFBP3 movement was monitored according to the distribution between the hemispheres. Following a localized translation in the vegetal hemisphere, IGFBP3 remained in the vegetal half in the presence of ALS. However, the mutant IGFBP3 freely diffused into the animal half, despite the presence of ALS, which is different from the wild type IGFBP3. This study, therefore, suggests that ALS may play an important role in sequestering IGFBP3 polypeptides via the intermolecular aggregation. Studies using this heterologous model will lead to a better understanding of the IGFBP3 and ALS that assemble into the ternary structure and circulate the IGF system.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.385-391
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• 2017

The ability of Bacillus subtilis, strain ALICA to produce three mycolytic enzymes (chitinase, ${\beta}$-1,3-glucanase, and protease), was carried out by the chemical standard methods. Bacillus subtilis ALICA was screened based on their antifungal activity in dual plate assay and cell-free culture filtrate (25%) against five different phytopathogenic fungi Alternaria alternata, Macrophomina sp., Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Botrytis cinerea, and Sclerotium rolfesii. The B. subtilis ALICA detected positive for chitinase, ${\beta}$-1,3-glucanase and protease enzymes. Fungal growth inhibition by both strain ALICA and its cell-free culture filtrate ranged from 51.36% to 86.3% and 38.43% to 68.6%, respectively. Moreover, hyphal morphological changes like damage, broken, swelling, distortions abnormal morphology were observed. Genes expression of protease, ${\beta}$-1,3-glucanase, and lipopeptides (subtilosin and subtilisin) were confirmed their presence in the supernatant of strain ALICA. Our findings indicated that strain ALICA provided a broad spectrum of antifungal activities against various phytopathogenic fungi and may be a potential effective alternative to chemical fungicides.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.99-99
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• 2001

The acid-labile subunit (ALS) associates with insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I or -II and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) to form a 150-kD complex in the circulation. This complex is thought to regulate the serum IGFs by restricting them in the vascular system and promotes their endocrine actions. Little is known about how ALS binds to IGFBP3, which connects the IGFs to ALS. Xenopus oocyte was utilized to study the function of ALS in assembling IGFs into the ternary complexes. Xenopus oocyte was shown to correctly translate in vitro transcribed mRNAs of ALS and IGFBP3. IGFBP3 and ALS mRNAs were injected in mixture and their products were immunoprecipitated by antisera against ALS and IGFBP3. Contrary to the traditional reports that ALS interacts only with IGF-bound IGFBP3, this study shows that ALS is capable of forming a binary complex with IGFBP3 in the absence of IGF. When cross-linked by disuccinimidyl substrate, band representing ALS-IGFBP3 complex was evident on the PAGE. IGFBP3 movement was monitored according to the distribution between the hemispheres. Following a localized translation in the vegetal hemisphere, IGFBP3 was shown to remain in the vegetal half in the presence of ALS. Different from wild type IGFBP3, however, mutant IGFBP3 freely diffused into the animal half despite the presence of ALS. Taken together, this study suggests that ALS may play an important role in sequestering IGFBP3 polypeptides via the intermolecular aggregation. Studies using this heterologous model will lead to a better understanding of the IGFBP3 and ALS assembling into the ternary structure and circulating IGF system.

• Mycobiology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.92-100
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• 2018

The filamentous Ascomycota Colletotrichum gloeosporioides sensu lato is a fungus that has been reported worldwide as a causal agent of anthracnose disease in avocado and other crops. In Mexico, this species affects fruits from an early stage of development in the orchard until the post-harvest stage. Although fungicides are continuously applied to control Colletotrichum species, pericarp cankers and soft rot mesocarp in fruits are still frequently observed. Considering the lack of a precise description of the causative agent, the aim of the current study was to determine the pathogens involved in this symptomatology. Twenty-four isolates were consistently obtained from the pericarp of avocado fruits cv. "Hass" collected in the central avocado-producing area of Mexico. Morphological features such as colony growth, conidia size, and mycelial appressorium were assessed. Bayesian multilocus phylogenetic analyses were performed using amplified sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA; actin, chitin synthase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase partial genes; and APn2-Mat1-2 intergenic spacer and mating type Mat1-2 partial gene from the nine selected isolates. In addition, fruits were inoculated with a conidial suspension and reproducible symptoms confirmed the presence of Colletotrichum fructicola in this area. This pathogenic species can now be added to those previously reported in the country, such as C. acutatum, C. boninense, C. godetiae, C. gloeosporioides, and C. karstii. Disease management programs to reduce the incidence of anthracnose should include C. fructicola to determine its response to fungicides that are routinely applied, considering that the appearance of new species is affecting the commercial quality of the fruits and shifting the original population structure.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 2004

The medicinal value of the genus Cleome justifies bio-technological studies of Cleome rosea, a Brazilian annual species from sandy coastal ecosystems (restinga), which have been submitted to an intense process of antropogenic degradation. In the present work, was analyzed the influence of cytokinins, 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 6-furfurylaminopurine (kinetin) added to the Murashige and Skoog medium (MS), on the proliferation capacity of explants from the stem axis (hypocotyl, node and internode) for a period of five monthly subcultures (150 days). Regardless of the explant sources, plantlet regeneration by direct and indirect organogenesis was observed. The largest number of shoots proliferated through direct organogenesis was obtained on medium with 4.4 $\mu{M}$ BA. Also, the highest proliferation capacity through indirect organogenesis was found on medium with 4.4 $\mu{M}$ BA + 4.6 $\mu{M}$ kinetin. The presence of kinetin alone was not effective for multiplication of the species. Elongation and rooting were obtained when shoots were transferred onto growth regulator-free medium, and acclimatization rates from 70% to 81% were achieved depending on explant sources used. Plants were then successfully established in soil and showed normal phenotypes.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.77-82
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• 2002

In ascidians, a primitive chordate, maternal cytoplasmic factors and inductive interactions are involved in the specification of cell fates in early embryos. The larval structure of ascidians is relatively simple, and the major mesodermal tissues of the tadpole larva are notochord, muscle, and mesenchyme. Formation of muscle cells is a cell-autonomous process, and localized maternal macho-l mRNA specify muscle fate in the posterior marginal zone of the early embryo. In contrast, inductive influence from endoderm precursors plays important roles in the specification of notochord and mesenchyme fates. FGF-Ras-MAPK signaling is involved In the induction of both tissues. The difference in responsiveness of the posterior mesenchyme and anterior notochord precursors to FGF signaling is caused by the presence or absence of intrinsic factors that inherited from the posterior-vegetal egg cytoplasm, respectively. In these inductions, directed signal polarizes the induced cells and promotes asymmetric cell divisions to produce two daughter cells with distinct fates.