• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권7호
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• pp.998-1003
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• 2014

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST; E.C. 2.6.1.1), a vitamin B6-dependent enzyme, preferentially promotes the mutual transformation of aspartate and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate to oxaloacetate and glutamate. It plays a key role in amino acid metabolism and has been widely recommended as a biomarker of liver and heart damage. Our study aimed to evaluate the extensive preparation of AST and its application in quality control in clinical laboratories. We describe a scheme to express and purify the 6His-AST fusion protein. An optimized sequence coding AST was synthesized and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) strain for protein expression. Ideally, the fusion protein has a volumetric productivity achieving 900 mg/l cultures. After affinity chromatography, the enzyme activity of purified AST reached 150,000 U/L. Commutability assessment between the engineered AST and standard AST from Roche suggested that the engineered AST was the better candidate for the reference material. Moreover, the AST showed high stability during long-term storage at $-20^{\circ}C$. In conclusion, the highly soluble 6His-tagged AST can become a convenient tool for supplying a much better and cheaper standard or reference material for the clinical laboratory.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권7호
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• pp.1266-1271
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• 2017

Lactobacillus fermentum strain JDFM216, isolated from a Korean infant feces sample, possesses the ability to enhance the longevity and immune response of a Caenorhabditis elegans host. To explore the characteristics of strain JDFM216 at the genetic level, we performed whole-genome sequencing using the PacBio system. The circular draft genome has a total length of 2,076,427 bp and a total of 2,682 encoding sequences were identified. Five phylogenetically featured genes possibly related to the longevity and immune response of the host were identified in L. fermentum strain JDFM216. These genes encode UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 1-carboxyvinyltransferase (E.C. 2.5.1.7), ErfK/YbiS/YcfS/YnhG family protein, site-specific recombinase XerD, homocysteine S-methyltransferase (E.C. 2.1.1.10), and aspartate-ammonia ligase (E.C. 6.3.1.1), which are involved in peptidoglycan synthesis and amino acid metabolism in the gut environment. Our findings on the genetic background of L. fermentum strain JDFM216 and its potential candidate genes for host longevity and immune response provide new insight for the application of this strain in the food industry as newly isolated functional probiotic.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.383-389
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• 2003

1845 bp의 SeMIPS cDNA를 발육종자에서 분리하고 이 cDNA의 구조와 특성을 분석하였다. 이 cDNA는 엽록체로 향하는 신호펩타이드의 아미노산 서열이 존재하지 않아서 세포질형 MIPS로 예상되었다. 또한 이 cDNA의 아미노산 서열의 유사성은 다른 MIPS와 비교한 결과 60-94%의 높은 아미노산 서열 유사성을 보여주었으며, 특히 식물끼리의 유사성이 훨씬 높았다. Northern blot분석에서 볼 때 참깨의 조직별 SeMIPS mRNA는 완숙종자, 줄기, 뿌리에서는 약하게 발현되었고, 잎에서는 비교적 강하게 발현되는 현상을 보여주었다. Yeast 돌연변이체를 통한 활성 시험에서는 SeMIPS가 myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase의 효소활성을 가지고 있다는 실험적 증거를 얻었으며, C-말단 아미노산 20개가 효소활성에 필수적이라는 사실이 본 실험에서 검증되었다.

• 원예과학기술지
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.32-45
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• 2016

Fruit bagging has been widely practiced in peach cultivation to produce high quality and unblemished fruit. Moreover, fruit bagging has been utilized to study the effect of shading on the quality of fruit. We conducted a proteomic analysis on peach fruit to elucidate the biochemical and physiological events that characterize the effect of bagging treatment. Comparative analysis of 2D electrophoresis (2-DE) gels showed that relative protein levels differed significantly at 125 DAFB (days after full bloom), as well as at 133 DAFB in fruit that had been bagged until 125 DAFB, followed by exposure to sunlight. Most of the proteins with altered expression were identified by MALDI TOF/TOF. Twenty-one proteins with differential expression among the groups were identified at 125 DAFB, while thirty proteins with differential expression among the groups were identified at 133 DAFB. The analysis revealed that expression of proteins involved in photosynthesis, stress responses, and biochemical processes influencing metabolism were altered during bagging treatment, suggesting that regulation of the synthesis of carbohydrates, amino acids, and proteins influenced fruit size, solid/acid ratio, and peel color. This work provides the first characterization of proteomic changes in peach in response to fruit bagging treatment. Identifying and tracking protein changes may allow us to better understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of bagging treatment.

• Genes and Genomics
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• 제40권11호
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• pp.1157-1167
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• 2018

Sulfolobus species can grow on a variety of organic compounds as carbon and energy sources. These species degrade glucose to pyruvate by the modified branched Entner-Doudoroff pathway. We attempted to determine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under sugar-limited and sugar-rich conditions. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to quantify the expression of the genes and identify those DEGs between the S. acidocaldarius cells grown under sugar-rich (YT with glucose) and sugar-limited (YT only) conditions. The functions and pathways of the DEGs were examined using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to validate the DEGs. Transcriptome analysis of the DSM 639 strain grown on sugar-limited and sugar-rich media revealed that 853 genes were differentially expressed, among which 481 were upregulated and 372 were downregulated under the glucose-supplemented condition. In particular, 70 genes showed significant changes in expression levels of ${\geq}$ twofold. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that the genes encoding components of central carbon metabolism, the respiratory chain, and protein and amino acid biosynthetic machinery were upregulated under the glucose condition. RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses indicated that the sulfur assimilation genes (Saci_2197-2204) including phosphoadenosine phosphosulfate reductase and sulfite reductase were significantly upregulated in the presence of glucose. The present study revealed metabolic networks in S. acidocaldarius that are induced in a glucose-dependent manner, improving our understanding of biomass production under sugar-rich conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권12호
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• pp.1905-1911
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• 2020

Homoserine dehydrogenase (HSD) catalyzes the reversible conversion of ʟ-aspartate-4-semialdehyde to ʟ-homoserine in the aspartate pathway for the biosynthesis of lysine, methionine, threonine, and isoleucine. HSD has attracted great attention for medical and industrial purposes due to its recognized application in the development of pesticides and is being utilized in the large scale production of ʟ-lysine. In this study, HSD from Bacillus subtilis (BsHSD) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity for biochemical characterization. We examined the enzymatic activity of BsHSD for ʟ-homoserine oxidation and found that BsHSD exclusively prefers NADP+ to NAD+ and that its activity was maximal at pH 9.0 and in the presence of 0.4 M NaCl. By kinetic analysis, Km values for ʟ-homoserine and NADP+ were found to be 35.08 ± 2.91 mM and 0.39 ± 0.05 mM, respectively, and the Vmax values were 2.72 ± 0.06 μmol/min-1 mg-1 and 2.79 ± 0.11 μmol/min-1 mg-1, respectively. The apparent molecular mass determined with size-exclusion chromatography indicated that BsHSD forms a tetramer, in contrast to the previously reported dimeric HSDs from other organisms. This novel oligomeric assembly can be attributed to the additional C-terminal ACT domain of BsHSD. Thermal denaturation monitoring by circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to determine its melting temperature, which was 54.8℃. The molecular and biochemical features of BsHSD revealed in this study may lay the foundation for future studies on amino acid metabolism and its application for industrial and medical purposes.

• 운동영양학회지
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.6-10
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• 2020

[Purpose] Milk is a commonly ingested post-exercise recovery protein source. Casein protein, found in milk, is characterized by its slow digestion and absorption. Recently, several studies have been conducted with a focus on how pre-sleep casein protein intake could affect post-exercise recovery but our knowledge of the subject remains limited. This review aimed at presenting and discussing how pre-sleep casein protein ingestion affects post-exercise recovery and the details of its potential effector mechanisms. [Methods] We systematically reviewed the topics of 1) casein nutritional characteristics, 2) pre-sleep casein protein effects on post-exercise recovery, and 3) potential effector mechanisms of pre-sleep casein protein on post-exercise recovery, based on the currently available published studies on pre-sleep casein protein ingestion. [Results] Studies have shown that pre-sleep casein protein ingestion (timing: 30 minutes before sleep, amount of casein protein ingested: 40-48 g) could help post-exercise recovery and positively affect acute protein metabolism and exercise performance. In addition, studies have suggested that repeated pre-sleep casein protein ingestion for post-exercise recovery over a long period might also result in chronic effects that optimize intramuscular physiological adaptation (muscle strength and muscle hypertrophy). The potential mechanisms of pre-sleep casein protein ingestion that contribute to these effects include the following: 1) significantly increasing plasma amino acid availability during sleep, thereby increasing protein synthesis, inhibiting protein breakdown, and achieving a positive protein balance; and 2) weakening exercise-induced muscle damage or inflammatory responses, causing reduced muscle soreness. Future studies should focus on completely elucidating these potential mechanisms. [Conclusion] In conclusion, post-exercise ingestion of at least 40 g of casein protein, approximately 30 minutes before sleep and after a bout of resistance exercise in the evening, might be an effective nutritional intervention to facilitate muscle recovery.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.209-220
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• 2022

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a key controller of the carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM), and is known to be affected by ambient pH and CO₂ compositions. Herein, we characterized three novel CAs genes (PmCA1, 2, and 3) from the marine dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum, and evaluated the relative expressions of the PmCAs and photosynthetic genes PmatpB and PmrbcL under different pH conditions. Each PmCA was predicted to have amino acid residues constituting the zinc binding site. With signal peptide, PmCA1 and PmCA2 were predicted to be intracellular CAs located in the cytoplasm and chloroplast membrane, respectively. On the other hand, PmCA3 was predicted to be extracellular CA located in the plasma membrane. Also, PmCA1 was classified into the beta family, and PmCA2 and PmCA3 were classified into the alpha family via phylogenic analysis. The photosynthesis efficiency of P. minimum was similar at pH 7 to 9, and decreased significantly at pH 6 and pH 10. Overall, relative gene expression levels of the three PmCAs decreased at low pH, and increased as pH increased. Photosynthesis related genes, PmatpB and PmrbcL, showed similar expression patterns to those of PmCAs. These results suggest that changes in seawater pH may affect photosynthesis and CO₂ metabolism in marine dinoflagellates.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제32권12호
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• pp.1561-1572
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• 2022

Plastic pollution has been recognized as a serious environmental problem, and microbial degradation of plastics is a potential, environmentally friendly solution to this. Here, we analyzed and compared microbial communities on waste plastic films (WPFs) buried for long periods at four landfill sites with those in nearby soils to identify microbes with the potential to degrade plastics. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectra of these WPFs showed that most were polyethylene and had signs of oxidation, such as carbon-carbon double bonds, carbon-oxygen single bonds, or hydrogen-oxygen single bonds, but the presence of carbonyl groups was rare. The species richness and diversity of the bacterial and fungal communities on the films were generally lower than those in nearby soils. Principal coordinate analysis of the bacterial and fungal communities showed that their overall structures were determined by their geographical locations; however, the microbial communities on the films were generally different from those in the soils. For the pulled data from the four landfill sites, the relative abundances of Bradyrhizobiaceae, Pseudarthrobacter, Myxococcales, Sphingomonas, and Spartobacteria were higher on films than in soils at the bacterial genus level. At the species level, operational taxonomic units classified as Bradyrhizobiaceae and Pseudarthrobacter in bacteria and Mortierella in fungi were enriched on the films. PICRUSt analysis showed that the predicted functions related to amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism and xenobiotic degradation were more abundant on films than in soils. These results suggest that specific microbial groups were enriched on the WPFs and may be involved in plastic degradation.

• 한국균학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.112-118
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• 2004

한국산 흰구름버섯(Trametes hirsuta S1)로부터 배지 내로 분비된 laccase를 ultrafiltration과 anion exchange chromatography, adsorption chromatography를 이용하여 분리 정제하고 정제된 효소의 특성을 조사하였다. Laccase는 균주의 일차 대사 과정에서 주로 생산되는 세포의 페놀 산화효소였다. 흰구름버섯을 기본 배지에서 배양하였을 때 생장은 배양 6일까지 급속히 이루어졌고, laccase의 활성은 배양 5일에 최대활성을 나타냈으며 배양액에서 LiP와 VAO의 활성은 측정되지 않았다. Laccase의 생산에 미치는 유도원의 영향을 조사하기 위하여 배양 중인 흰구름버섯에 몇몇 유도원을 첨가한 결과, 2,5-xylidine은 대조구에 비하여 laccase의 생산을 약4배 증가 시켰다. 정제된 laccase는 SDS 젤 전기영동에서 대략 66 kDa의 분자량을 가지는 단일 폴리펩타이드(single polypeptide)였고, 탄수화물 함량은 12%였다. 정제된 laccase의 $K_m$과 $V_{max}$를 ABTS[2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazo line-6-sulfonic acid)]를 기질로 사용하여 조사한 결과 각각 $51.2\;{\mu}M$과 $56.8\;{\mu}mole{\cdot}min^1{\cdot}mg^{-1}$로 측정되었다. Laccase 활성의 최적 pH는 3.0이며, 이 효소는 $50^{\circ}C$ 미만에서 1시간 동안 처리하였을 때 안정적이었고 $70^{\circ}C$에서 20분간 처리하였을 때 효소의 활성이 반감되었다. Laccase의 분광학적 특성을 조사한 결과 구리를 포함하는 단백질로 나타났다. 일반적으로 알려진 laccase의 기질들에 대한 특이성을 조사한 결과, 5 mM ABTS에서 가장 높은 활성을 나타내었으며 tyrosine에서는 laccase의 활성이 나타나지 않았다. 저해제의 영향을 조사한 결과, 일반적으로 구리를 포함하는 단백질의 저해제인 $NaN_3$, TGA, DDC를 일정 농도로 처리한 실험구에서는 효소의 활성이 완전하게 억제되었으며, EDTA 처리구에서는 효소의 활성이 억제되지 않았다. 한국산 흰구름버섯 S1 균주로부터 생산되는 laccase의 N-말단의 아미노산의 서열은 Coriolus hirsutus의 laccase와 100%의 상동성을 나타냈고, T. versicolor의 laccase I과는 68%의 상동성을 나타냈다.