• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.32.1-32.11
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• 2023

Resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs, especially ethambutol (EMB), has been widely reported worldwide. EMB resistance is caused by mutations in the embB gene, which encodes the arabinosyl transferase enzyme. This study aimed to detect mutations in the embB gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Papua and to evaluate their impact on the effectiveness of EMB. We analyzed 20 samples of M. tuberculosis culture that had undergone whole-genome sequencing, of which 19 samples were of sufficient quality for further bioinformatics analysis. Mutation analysis was performed using TBProfiler, which identified M306L, M306V, D1024N, and E378A mutations. In sample TB035, the M306L mutation was present along with E378A. The binding affinity of EMB to arabinosyl transferase was calculated using AutoDock Vina. The molecular docking results revealed that all mutants demonstrated an increased binding affinity to EMB compared to the native protein (-0.948 kcal/mol). The presence of the M306L mutation, when coexisting with E378A, resulted in a slight increase in binding affinity compared to the M306L mutation alone. The molecular dynamics simulation results indicated that the M306L, M306L + E378A, M306V, and E378A mutants decreased protein stability. Conversely, the D1024N mutant exhibited stability comparable to the native protein. In conclusion, this study suggests that the M306L, M306L + E378A, M306V, and E378A mutations may contribute to EMB resistance, while the D1024N mutation may be consistent with continued susceptibility to EMB.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.77 no.4
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• pp.161-166
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• 2014

Since tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health concern and the incidence of multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB is increasing globally, new modalities for the detection of TB and drug resistant TB are needed to improve TB control. The Xpert MTB/RIF test can be a valuable new tool for early detection of TB and rifampicin resistance, with a high sensitivity and specificity. Late-generation fluoroquinolones, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin, which are the principal drugs for the treatment of MDR-TB, show equally high efficacy and safety. Systemic steroids may reduce the overall TB mortality attributable to all forms of TB across all organ systems, although inhaled corticosteroids can increase the risk of TB development. Although fixed dose combinations were expected to reduce the risk of drug resistance and increase drug compliance, a recent meta-analysis found that they might actually increase the risk of relapse and treatment failure. Regarding treatment duration, patients with cavitation and culture positivity at 2 months of TB treatment may require more than 6 months of standard treatment. New anti-TB drugs, such as linezolid, bedaquiline, and delamanid, could improve the outcomes in drug-resistant TB. Nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease has typical clinical and immunological phenotypes. Mycobacterial genotyping may predict disease progression, and whole genome sequencing may reveal the transmission of Mycobacterium abscessus. In refractory Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease, a moxifloxacin-containing regimen was expected to improve the treatment outcome.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.327-332
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• 2008

Soft coral Dendronephthya gigantea (Verrill, 1864) is a conspicuous species dominating shallow sea waters of Jejudo Island, Korea. Recently its whole mitochondrial genome sequencing was completed by us and the sequence information provided an opportunity to test the age of Octocorallia and time of evolutionary separation between some representative orders of the subclass Octocorallia. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on 13 mitochondrial protein encoding genes revealed a polyphyletic relationship among octocorallians representing two orders (Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea) and four families (Alcyoniidae, Nephtheidae, Briareidae, and Gorgoniidae). Estimates of divergence times among octocorallians indicate that the first splitting might occur around end of or after Cretaceous period (50-79 million years ago (Ma)). The age is relatively young compared to the long history of stony sea corals (>240 Ma). Taken together our result suggests a possible relatively recent radiating evolution at least in the order Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea. Molecular dating and phylogenetic analysis based on much broader taxon sampling and many genes might give an insight into this interesting hypothesis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.612-622
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• 2012

Olfactory receptors (ORs) detect volatile chemicals that lead to the initial perception of smell in the brain. The olfactory receptor (OR) is the first protein that recognizes odorants in the olfactory signal pathway and it is present in over 1,000 genes in mice. It is also the largest member of the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Most ORs are extensively expressed in the nasal olfactory epithelium where they perform the appropriate physiological functions that fit their location. However, recent whole-genome sequencing shows that ORs have been found outside of the olfactory system, suggesting that ORs may play an important role in the ectopic expression of non-chemosensory tissues. The ectopic expressions of ORs and their physiological functions have attracted more attention recently since MOR23 and testicular hOR17-4 have been found to be involved in skeletal muscle development, regeneration, and human sperm chemotaxis, respectively. When identifying additional expression profiles and functions of ORs in non-olfactory tissues, there are limitations posed by the small number of antibodies available for similar OR genes. This review presents the results of a research series that identifies ectopic expressions and functions of ORs in non-chemosensory tissues to provide insight into future research directions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.149-154
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• 2017

Transfer of Micropolyspora internatus into the genus Saccharomonospora as "Saccharomonospora internatus comb. nov." was proposed by Kurup and Greiner-Mai, but the nomenclatural change has not been validly published. Although the inclusion of M. internatus in the genus Saccharomonospora has not being established, the synonymy of "Saccharomonospora internatus" and S. viridis was proposed by Greiner-Mai. A number of recent publications regarded M. internatus as a synonym of S. viridis, but the name M. internatus is still used in some cases instead of S. viridis. This is because of the complicated history of M. internatus and S. viridis, but it is different from the generally accepted view of prokaryotic taxonomy. To clearly verify the synonymy of M. internatus and S. viridis, a literature review and experimental verification were conducted in this study. Based on the genomic and phenotypic characteristics obtained in this study, the synonymy of the two species was obvious. The emended description of S. viridis is given.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1473-1481
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• 2018

A cellulase hyperproducing mutant strain, JNDY-13, was obtained using the ARTP mutation system and with Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 as the parent strain. Whole-genome sequencing of JNDY-13 confirmed that 105 of the 653 SNPs were point mutations, 336 mutations were deletions and 165 were insertions. Moreover, 99 mutations were insertions and duplications. Among all the mutations, the one that occurred in the galactokinase gene might be related to the production of cellulases in T. reesei JNDY-13. Moreover, the up-regulation of cellulase and hemicellulase genes in JNDY-13 might contribute to higher cellulases production. Under optimal conditions, the highest cellulase activity by batch fermentation reached 4.35 U/ml, and the highest activity of fed-batch fermentation achieved was 5.40 U/ml.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.27.1-27.9
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• 2019

Supernumerary B chromosomes were found in Lilium amabile (2n = 2x = 24), an endemic Korean lily that grows in the wild throughout the Korean Peninsula. The extra B chromosomes do not affect the host-plant morphology; therefore, whole transcriptome analysis was performed in 0B and 1B plants to identify differentially expressed genes. A total of 154,810 transcripts were obtained from over 10 Gbp data by de novo assembly. By mapping the raw reads to the de novo transcripts, we identified 7,852 differentially expressed genes (log₂FC > |10|), in which 4,059 and 3,794 were up-and down-regulated, respectively, in 1B plants compared to 0B plants. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that various differentially expressed genes were involved in cellular processes including the cell cycle, chromosome breakage and repair, and microtubule formation; all of which may be related to the occurrence and maintenance of B chromosomes. Our data provide insight into transcriptomic changes and evolution of plant B chromosomes and deliver an informative database for future study of B chromosome transcriptomes in the Korean lily.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.171-182
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• 2009

Many aspergilli that belongs to ascomycetes have sexuality. In a homothallic or self-fertile fungus, a number of fruiting bodies or cleistothecia are formed in a thallus grown from a single haploid conidia or ascospores. Genome-sequencing project revealed that two mating genes (MAT) encoding the regulatory proteins that are necessary for controlling partner recognition in heterothallic fungi were conserved in most aspergilli. The MAT gene products in some self-fertile species were not required for recognition of mating partner at pheromone-signaling stage but required at later stages of sexual development. Various environmental factors such as nutritional status, culture conditions and several stresses, influence the decision or progression of sexual reproduction. A large number of genes are expected to be involved in sexual development of Emericella nidulans (anamorph: Aspergillus nidulans), a genetic and biological model organism in aspergilli. The sexual development process can be grouped into several development stages, including the decision of sexual reproductive cycle, mating process, growth of fruiting body, karyogamy followed by meiosis, and sporulation process. Complicated regulatory networks, such as signal transduction pathways and gene expression controls, may work in each stage and stage-to-stage linkages. In this review, the components joining in the regulatory pathways of sexual development, although they constitute only a small part of the whole regulatory networks, are briefly mentioned. Some of them control sexual development positively and some do negatively. Regarding the difficulties for studying sexual differentiation compare to asexual one, recent progresses in molecular genetics of E. nidulans enlarge the boundaries of understanding sexual development in the non-fertile species as well as in fertile fungi.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.172-174
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• 2005

Recent anti-cancer approaches have been based to target tumor-specifically associated and/or causative molecules such as RNAs or proteins. As this specifically targeted anti-cancer modulator, we have previously described a novel human cancer gene therapeutic agent that is Tetrahymena group I intron-based trans-splicing ribozyme which can reprogram and replace human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) RNA to selectively induce tumor-specific cytotoxicity in cancer cells expressing the target RNA. Moreover, the specific ribozyme has been shown to efficiently retard tumor tissues in xenograft mice which had been inoculated with hTERT-expressing human cancer cells. In this study, we assessed specificity of trans-splicing reaction in cells to evaluate the therapeutic feasibility of the specific ribozyme. In order to analyze the trans-spliced products by the specific ribozyme in hTERT-positive cells, RT, 5'-end RACE-PCR, and sequencing reactions of the spliced RNAs were employed. Then, whole analyzed products resulted from reactions only with the hTERT RNA. This study suggested that the developed ribozyme perform highly specific RNA replacement of the target RNA in cells, hence trans-splicing ribozyme will be one of specific agents for genetic approach to revert cancer.