• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.599-606
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• 2012

The characterization of the whole genome of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) from cervical cancer specimens with multiple infections in comparison with single infection samples as the oncogenic potential of the virus may differ. Cervical carcinoma specimens positive for HPV16 by PCR and INNO-LiPA were randomly selected for whole genome characterization. Two HPV16 single infection and six HPV16 multiple infection specimens were subjected to whole genome analysis by using conserved primers and subsequent sequencing. All HPV16 whole genomes from single infection samples clustered in the European (E) lineage while all multiple infection specimens belonged to the non-European lineage. The variations in nucleotide sequences in E6, E7, E2, L1 and Long control region (LCR) were evaluated. In the E6 region, amino acid changes at L83V were related to increased cancer progression. An amino acid variation N29S within the E7 oncoprotein significantly associated with severity of lesion was also discovered. In all three domains of the E2 gene non synonymous mutations were found. The L1 region showed various mutations which may be related to conformation changes of viral epitopes. Some transcription factor binding sites in the LCR region correlated to virulence were shown on GRE/1, TEF-1, YY14 and Oct-1. HPV16 European variant prone to single infection may harbor a major variation at L83V which significantly increases the risk for developing cervical carcinoma. HPV16 non-European variants prone to multiple infections may require many polymorphisms to enhance the risk of cervical cancer development.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2016

In the present study, fast and robust methods for the next generation sequencing (NGS) were developed for analysis of PRRSV full genome sequences, which is a positive sensed RNA virus with a high degree of genetic variability among isolates. Two strains of PRRSVs (VR2332 and VR2332-R) which have been maintained in our laboratory were used to validate our methods and to compare with the sequence registered in GenBank (GenBank accession no. EF536003). The results suggested that both of strains had 100% coverage with the reference; the VR2332 had the coverage depth from minimum 3 to maximum 23,012, for the VR2332-R from minimum 3 to maximum 41,348, and 22,712 as an average depth. Genomic data produced from the massive sequencing capacities of the NGS have enabled the study of PRRSV at an unprecedented rate and details. Unlike conventional sequence methods which require the knowledge of conserved regions, the NGS allows de novo assembly of the full viral genomes. Therefore, our results suggested that these methods using the NGS massively facilitate the generation of more full genome PRRSV sequences locally as well as nationally in regard of saving time and cost.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.189-195
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• 2020

The soybean (Glycine max L.), also known as the soya bean, is an economically important legume species. Pathogens are always major threats for soybean cultivation. Several pathogens negatively affect soybean production. The soybean is also known as a susceptible host to many viruses. Recently, we carried out systematic analyses to identify viruses infecting soybeans using soybean transcriptome data. Our screening results showed that only few soybean transcriptomes contained virus-associated sequences. In this study, we further carried out bioinformatics analyses using a soybean flower bud transcriptome for virus identification, genome assembly, and single nucleotide variations (SNVs). We assembled the genome of Soybean yellow common mosaic virus (SYCMV) isolate China and revealed two SNVs. Phylogenetic analyses using three viral proteins suggested that SYCMV isolate China is closely related to SYCMV isolates from South Korea. Furthermore, we found that replication and mutation of SYCMV is relatively low, which might be associated with flower bud tissue. The most interesting finding was that SYCMV was not detected in the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) line derived from the non-CMS line that was severely infected by SYCMV. In summary, in silico analyses identified SYCMV from the soybean flower bud transcriptome, and a nearly complete genome of SYCMV was successfully assembled. Our results suggest that the low level of virus replication and mutation for SYCMV might be associated with plant tissues. Moreover, we provide the first evidence that male sterility might be used to eliminate viruses in crop plants.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.304-315
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• 2007

Fusarium graminearum causes a serious scab disease of small grains in Korea. The nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus, Fusarium graminearum virus-DK21 (FgV-DK21), from F. graminearum strain DK21, which is associated with hypovirulence in F. graminearum, was determined and compared to the genome sequences of other mycoviruses, including Cryponectria hypoviruses. The FgV-DK21 dsRNA consists of 6,624 nucleotides, excluding the 3'-terminal poly(A) tail. The viral genome has 53- and 46-nucleotide 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs), respectively, and five putative open reading frames. A phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of ORF1, which encodes a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and those of other mycoviruses revealed that this organism forms a distinct virus clade with other hypoviruses, and is more distantly related to other mycoviruses (3.8 to 24.0% identity). However, pairwise sequence comparisons of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of ORFs 2 through 5 revealed no close relationships to other protein sequences currently available in GenBank. Analyses of RNA accumulation by Northern blot and primer extension indicated that these putative gene products are expressed from at least two different subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs), in contrast to the cases in other hypoviruses. This study suggests the existence of a new, as yet unassigned, genus of mycoviruses that exhibits a potex-like genome organization and sgRNA accumulation.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.80-87
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• 2007

Beet curly top virus (BCTV) and Beet severe curly top virus (BSCTV), members of curtoviruses, encode seven open reading frames (ORFs) within a ~3 kb genome. One of these viral ORFs, C1, is known to play an important role in the early stage of viral infection in plants during initiation of viral DNA replication. We used promoter:: reporter (${\beta}$-glucuronidase) gene fusions in transgenic Arabidopsis to identify the putative promoter region of BCTV ORF C1. Unlike other geminiviruses, the intergenic region of BCTV was not sufficient to promote C1 expression in transgenic plants. When sequences extending into the coding region of C1 were tested, strong expression of the reporter protein was observed in vascular tissues of transgenic plants. This expression was not dependent on the presence of the intergenic regions or proximal 5' portions of the C1 coding region. Transgenic plants expressing a reporter gene under control of the putative complete C1 promoter were inoculated with virus to determine if any viral transcript affected C1 expression. Virus inoculated plants did not show any altered pattern or change in of reporter gene expression level. These results suggest that (1) important transcriptional activator elements for C1 expression reside in the 3' portion of C1 coding area itself, (2) C1 protein does not auto-regulate its own expression and (3) C1 expression of two curtoviruses is controlled differently compared to other geminiviruses.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.189-196
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• 2017

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is associated with formation of Kaposi's sarcoma, multicentric Castleman's disease, and primary effusion lymphoma. Replication and transcription activator (RTA) genes are expressed upon reactivation of KSHV, which displays a biphasic life cycle consisting of latent and lytic replication phases. RTA protein expression results in KSHV genome amplification and successive viral lytic gene expression. Transcriptional activity of viral lytic genes is regulated through epigenetic modifications. In Raji cells latently infected with Epstein-Barr virus, various modifications, such as acetylation and methylation, have been identified at specific lysine residues in histone H4 during viral reactivation, supporting the theory that expression of specific lytic genes is controlled by histone modification processes. Data obtained from chromatin immunoprecipitation and quantitative real-time PCR analyses revealed alterations in the H4K8ac and H4K20me3 levels at lytic gene promoters during reactivation. Our results indicate that H4K20me3 is associated with the maintenance of latency, while H4K8ac contributes to KSHV reactivation in infected TREx BCBL-1 RTA cells.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.285-291
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• 2005

The nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which is the essential catalytic enzyme for the viral replication and is an appealing target for the development of new therapeutic agents against HCV infection. A small amount of serum from a single patient with hepatitis C was used to get the genome of a Korean HCV isolate. Sequence analysis of NS5B 1701 nucleotides showed the genotype of a Korean isolate to be subtype 1b. The soluble recombinant HCV NS5B polymerase lacking the C-terminal 24 amino acids was expressed and purified to homogeneity. With the highly purified NS5B protein, we established in vitro systems for RdRp activity to identify potential polymerase inhibitors. The rhodanine family compounds were found to be potent and specific inhibitors of NS5B from high throughput screening (HTS) assay utilizing the scintillation proximity assay (SPA) system. The binding mode of an inhibitor was analyzed by measuring various kinetic parameters. Lineweaver-Burk plots of the inhibitor suggested it binds not to the active site of NS5B polymerase, but to an allosteric site of the enzyme. The activity of NS5B in in vitro polymerase reactions with homopolymeric RNA requires interaction with multiple substrates that include a template/primer and ribonucleotide triphosphate. Steady-state kinetic parameter, such as Km, was determined for the ribonucleotide triphosphate. One of compounds found interacts directly with the viral polymerase and inhibits RNA synthesis in a manner noncompetitively with respect to UTP. Furthermore, we also investigated the ability of the compound to inhibit NS5B-directed viral RNA replication using the Huh7 cell-based HCV replicon system. The investigation is potentially very useful for the utility of such compounds as anti-hepatitic agents.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.281-286
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• 2007

Interactions between viral proteins and host proteins are essential for virus replication. Especially, translation of viral genes completely depends on the host machinery. In potyviruses, interactions of genome-linked viral protein (VPg) with host translation factors including eIF4E, eIF(iso)4E, and poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) has previously been characterized. In this study, we investigated interactions between Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) viral proteins and host translation factors by yeast two-hybrid system. SMV VPg interacted with eIF4E, eIF(iso)4E, and PABP in yeast two-hybrid system, while SMV helper component proteinase (HC-pro) interacted with neither of those proteins. The interaction between SMV NIb and PABP was also detected. These results are consistent with those reported previously in other potyviruses. Interestingly, we found reproducible and specific interactions between SMV coat protein (CP) and PABP. Deletion analysis showed that the region of CP comprising amino acids 116 to 206 and the region of PABP comprising amino acids 520 to 580 are involved in CP/PABP interactions. Soybean library screening with SMV NIb by yeast two-hybrid assay also identified several soybean proteins including chlorophyll a/b binding preprotein, photo-system I-N subunit, ribulose 1,5-biphosphate carboxylase, ST-LSI protein, translation initiation factor 1, TIR-NBS type R protein, RNA binding protein, ubiquitin, and LRR protein kinase. Altogether, these results suggest that potyviral replicase may comprise a multi-protein complex with PABP, CP, and other host factors.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.45-57
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• 2009

The molecular genetic characterization of Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV) Yangsan strain (ADVYS), a Korean isolate, was investigated by analyzing the electrophoresis patterns and the physical maps of the viral DNA digested with various endonucleases. To establish DNA library for ADV-YS, twelve major BamHI restricted segments were cloned. Each location of the segments in the ADV genome was determined by sequence comparison with the sequences reported in Genbank and those sequences of the both termini of the segments. Physical maps were constructed based on the electrophoresis patterns of the digested viral DNA by restriction endonuclease and the results of Southern blot analyses with various DIG labeled probes originated from those of enzyme restricted segments of virulent (Shope) and avirulent (Bartha) strain. Comparing ADV-YS with a standard strain of Kaplan in the maps of restriction enzymes, following major respects were identified: (i) disappearance of BamHI restriction site between the first and second BamHI segments, (ii) creation of the BamHI restriction site in the fifth segment, and (iii) generation of the BglII site in the unique short (US) region. The genome of ADV-YS also contains a type 2 herpesvirus DNA molecule (in which the US region only inverts itself relative to the unique longregion) like all other ADV strains except Norden strain(type3), analyzed up to date. The size of the ADV genome estimated from the sizes of the restriction enzyme fragments, was approximately 145.3 kb (BamHI) or 145.4 kb (BglII). BamHI enzyme cleavage patterns were compared among the five Korean ADV isolates: Yangsan, Yongin, Dangjin, Jincheon and Iksan strains. Difference either in the number or in the size of the DNA fragments, suspected regions of termini of IR and TR, could be detected among all five strains.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.301-310
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• 2005

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of mammals and has a great potential for causing severe economic loss in susceptible cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and buffalo. FMDV, a member of the Aphthovirus genus in the Picornaviridae family, is a non-enveloped icosahedral virus that contains a positive sense RNA of about 8.2 kb in size. The genome carries one open reading frame consisting of 3 regions: capsid protein coding region P1, replication related protein coding region P2, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase coding region P3. FMDV infects pharynx epithelial cell in the respiratory tract and viral replication is active in lung epithelial cell. Morbidity is extremely high. A FMD outbreak in Korea in 2002 caused severe economic loss. Although intense research is undergoing to develop appropriate drugs to treat FMDV infection, there is no specific therapeutic for controlling FMDV infection. Moreover, there is an increasing demand for the development of vaccine strategies against FMDV infection in many countries. In this report, more effective prevention strategies against FMDV infection were reviewed.