• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.411-419
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• 2022

Carotenoids are red, orange, and yellow fat-soluble pigments that exist in nature, and are known as physiologically active substances with various functions, such as provitamin A, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer. Because of their physiological activity and color availability, carotenoids are widely used in the food, cosmetics, and aquaculture industries. Currently, most carotenoids used industrially use chemical synthesis because of their low production cost, but natural carotenoids are in the spotlight because of their safety and physiologically active effects. However, the production of carotenoids in plants and animals is limited for economic reasons. Carotenoids produced by bacteria have a good advantage in replacing carotenoids produced by chemical synthesis. Since carotenoids produced from bacteria have limited industrial applications due to low productivity, studies are continuously being conducted to increase the production of carotenoids by bacteria. Studies conducted to increase carotenoid production from bacteria include the activity of enzymes in the bacterial carotenoid biosynthesis pathway, the development of mutant strains using physical and chemical mutagens, increasing carotenoid productivity in strain construction through genetic engineering, carotenoid accumulation through stress induction, fermentation medium composition, culture conditions, co-culture with other strains, etc. The aim of this article was to review studies conducted to increase the productivity of carotenoids from bacteria.

• 한국약용작물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.341-342
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• 2012

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.183-187
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• 1999

To establish an efficient screening system for new herbicides using plant cultured cells, responses of tobacco photomixotrophic cultured (PH) cells to various herbicides with different modes of action were surveyed by measuring the cell growth and ion conductivity in medium. The cells were cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.7mg/L 2,4-D, 0.3mg/L kinetin and 30 g/L sucrose at $25^{\circ}C$ in the light (100 rpm). Chemicals were treated to suspension cultures of tobacco PH cells at the time of subculture. The cell growth and ion conductivity in the medium were investigated on 12 days after chemical treatment. The ion conductivity assay gave well correlated results to the cell growth inhibition data. The responses of tobacco PM cells were dependent on the modes of action of chemicals tested. Atrazine, an inhibitor of photosynthetic electron transport (PET), strongly inhibited both the cell membrane and cell growth ($IC_{50}$/, about 1 $\mu$M). Butachlor (an inhibitor of cell division), glufosinate (an inhibitor of amino acid biosynthesis), and fluridone (an inhibitor of carotenoid biosynthesis) showed a dose-dependent inhibition. However, Quinclorac, a herbicide with an auxin activity, did not affect the cell growth and ion leakage. These results suggested that tobacco PM cells is suitable materials for the simple screening of new herbicides such as PET, amino acid biosynthesis, ceil division inhibitors by measuring the cell growth and ion conductivity.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2014

This review study was conducted to recommend the effective use of herbicide mixtures in Korea. The herbicide ingredients by Herbicide Resistancce Action Committee (HRAC) was classified into 23 groupes according to the mode of action (acetyl CoA carboxylase inhibitors, acetolactate synthase, photosystem I and II inhibitors, protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors, carotenoid biosynthesis inhibitors, enolpyruvyl shikimate-3-phosphate synthase inhibitors, glutamine synthetase inhibitors, dihydropteroate synthetase inhibitors, mitosis inhibitors, cellulose inhibitors, oxidative phosphorylation uncouplers, fatty acid and lipid biosynthesis inhibitors, synthetic auxins, auxin transport inhibitors and potential nucleic acid inhibitors or non-descript mode of action). The rice herbicide mixtures registered in Korea were classified based on the guideline of HRAC. Accordingly, such a classification system for resistance management can help to avoid continuous use of the herbicide having the same mode of action in the same field.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.586-593
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• 2022

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a high-protein oilseed crop, cultivated worldwide. Soybean seeds are abundant in various secondary metabolites with physiologically active. Mature seeds of 25 soybean cultivars with various morphological and physiological characteristics analyzed for secondary metabolites, such as carotenoid, isoflavone, and soyasaponin. These secondary metabolites showed various content by genotype in 25 cultivars. Total carotenoid content ranged from 1.23 to 33.78 mg/g and three cultivars, such as IT177645, PI90763 and IT234975 with black seed coat showed high levels of total carotenoid. Total isoflavones content ranged from 20.28 to 276.35 mg/100g and were detected high levels in Savoy, PI90763 and KLG16001. In addition, total soyasaponins content ranged from 33.12 to 246 mg/100g and were detected high levels in PI90763, PI86490 and IT234975. The PI90763 was showed abundant content in all of the carotenoid, isoflavones and soyasaponins. These results could be valuable information for the development of new soybean cultivars and regulation of secondary metabolites biosynthesis in soybean.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2009

Carotenoids such as $\beta$-carotene and astaxanthin are used as food colorants, animal feed supplements and for nutritional and cosmetic purposes. In a previous study, an astaxanthin biosynthesis gene cluster was isolated from the marine bacterium, Paracoccus haeundaensis. Geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) synthase (CrtE), encoded by the ortE gene, catalyzes the formation of GGPP from farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), which is an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of carotenoids in early steps. In order to study the biochemical and enzymatic characteristics of this important enzyme, a large quantity of purified GGPP synthase is required. To overproduce GGPP synthase, the crtE gene was subcloned into a pET-44a(+) expression vector and transformed into the Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) codon plus cell. Transformants harboring the crtE gene were cultured and the crtE gene was over-expressed. The expressed protein was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography and applied to study its biochemical properties and molecular characteristics.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2004

Oxycarotenoids are oxygenated carotenoids that perform critical roles in plants. $\beta$-Carotene hydroxylase adds hydroxyl groups to the $\beta$-rings of carotenes and has been cloned from several bacteria and plants including Arabidopsis. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of $\beta$-carotene hydroxylase gene (Chyb) on the oxycarotenoids biosynthesis in the transgenic Arabidopsis. Construct of pGCHYB containing Chyb was established onto Gateway vector system (pENTR3C gateway vector and pH2GW7 destination vector). Arabidopsis thaliana (cv. Columbia) was transformed with Agrobacterium tumerfacience GV3101 harboring pGCHYB construct driven by 35S promoter and hygromycin resistant gene. Seven hundred bases paired PCR products, indicating the presence of Chyb gene, were found in the transformants by PCR analysis using Chyb primers. Hygromycin resistance assay showed that transgenes were stably inherited to next generation. The overexpression of the Chyb gene resulted in the decrease carotenoid content. Especially, astaxanthin unusual oxycarotenoid in wild type Arabidopsis was detected in the transgenic plants. This means that decreased carotenoids might be converted into astaxanthin metabolism with the aid of silent gene in the host.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1024-1033
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• 2012

A gene encoding a novel geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) synthase from Kocuria gwangalliensis has been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The deduced amino acid sequence showed 59.6% identity with a putative GGPP synthase (CrtE) from K. rhizophila. An expression plasmid containing the crtE gene was constructed, and E. coli cells containing this plasmid produced a recombinant protein with a theoretical molecular mass of 41 kDa, corresponding to the molecular weight of GGPP synthase. Due to the lack of crtE, crtB, and crtI in E. coli, the biosynthesis of lycopene was only obtained when the plasmid pCcrtE was co-transformed into E. coli expressing the pRScrtBI-carrying carotenoid biosynthesis crtB and crtI genes, which were sub-cloned from Paracoccus haeundaensis. The biochemical studies on the expressed proteins were performed via HPLC. The results obtained from this study will provide a wider base of knowledge regarding the primary structure of CrtE cloned from K. gwangalliensis at the molecular level.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.12
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• pp.813-817
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• 2010

Plants undergo cell division throughout their life in order to maintain their growth. It is well known that root and shoot tip of plants possess meristems, which contain quiescent cells. Fluridone (1-methyl-3-phenyl-5-(3-trifluromethyl (phenyl))-4-(1H)-pyridinone) is an established inhibitor of both ABA and carotenoid biosynthesis. However, the other functions of fluridone remain undiscovered. In this report, we provide experimental evidence that fluridone plays a role in the division of the quiescent centre of the Arabidopsis root meristem. This study examined the effects of exogenous fluridone and ABA on the development of the stem cell niche in Arabidopsis root. We show that fluridone promoted the division of stem cells in the quiescent centre, whereas exogenous ABA suppressed quiescent centre division. Furthermore, we established a novel regulatory function for fluridone by demonstrating that it plays an important role in postembryonic development.

• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2015

Microalgae research is gaining momentum because of their potential biotechnological applications, including the generation of biofuels. Genome sequencing analysis of two model microalgal species, polar free-living Coccomyxa sp. C-169 and symbiotic Chlorella sp. NC64A, revealed insights into the factors responsible for their lifestyle and unravelled biotechnologically valuable proteins. However, genome sequence analysis under-explored cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s), heme-thiolate proteins ubiquitously present in species belonging to different biological kingdoms. In this study we performed genome data-mining, annotation and comparative analysis of P450s in these two model algal species. Sixty-nine P450s were found in two algal species. Coccomyxa sp. showed 40 P450s and Chlorella sp. showed 29 P450s in their genome. Sixty-eight P450s (>100 amino acid in length) were grouped into 32 P450 families and 46 P450 subfamilies. Among the P450 families, 27 P450 families were novel and not found in other biological kingdoms. The new P450 families are CYP745-CYP747, CYP845-CYP863, and CYP904-CYP908. Five P450 families, CYP51, CYP97, CYP710, CYP745, and CYP746, were commonly found between two algal species and 16 and 11 P450 families were unique to Coccomyxa sp. and Chlorella sp. Synteny analysis and gene-structure analysis revealed P450 duplications in both species. Functional analysis based on homolog P450s suggested that CYP51 and CYP710 family members are involved in membrane ergosterol biosynthesis. CYP55 and CYP97 family members are involved in nitric oxide reduction and biosynthesis of carotenoids. This is the first report on comparative analysis of P450s in the microalgal species Coccomyxa sp. C-169 and Chlorella sp. NC64A.