• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2004

In mammals, male and female germline stem cells are derived from primodial germ cells. Despite many efforts to identify stem cells from gonads, there has been little successe to identify germline stem cells yet. In this study, we isolate and characterized porcine germline stem cells using only stem cell markers that are prevalently expressed in various tissues. Gonadal cells derived from both male and female formed colonies and showed AP activities and different lectin binding properties. Pluripotency of germline stem cells was also identified by positive signals against putative stem cells markers such as SSEA-1 and SSEA-3. In addition, nestin was also found in primary gonad cells that have a similar morphology to the AP-positive cells. The nestin expression suggests that the germline stem cells may have similar expression of the prevalent stem cell markers found in other tissues. The demonstration of nestin expression together with pluripotent cell markers calls further investigation of the possible differentiation of nestin-positive cells into neurons.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.625-635
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• 2004

Trichnuris suis does not excrete eggs during larval stage as well as in particular adult stage, It is impossible to diagnose by use of fecal examination method in those periods. Therefore, serological diagnostic method can be very useful for those stages. In order to produce monoclonal antibody, specific somatic and secretory-excretory (SE) antigens of T. suis were identified and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Monoclonal antibody-producing hybridoma cells were cloned, which were made of popliteal lymph node of BALB/c mice immunized with a 45 kDa somatic antigen of T. suis. Five clones (1B9, 2C4, n2C5, 2D7 and 2D8) showing strong responses to T. suis antigens were selected and the isotype identified. All monoclonal antibodies were IgG1 isotype and the light chains were k chain. Established monoclonal antibodies reacted specifically to somatic and SE antigens of T. suis and did not cross-reacted to antigens of ascaris suum, trichuris vulpis, or Trichinella spiralis. The sensitivity of somatic and SE antigens against these monoclonal antibodies were significant (p<0.01) associated with those of positive and negative sera.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1319-1326
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• 2007

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP1) is a key regulatory enzyme of gluconeogenesis that catalyzes the hydrolysis of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate to generate fructose-6-phosphate and inorganic phosphate. Deficiency of fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase is associated with fasting hypoglycemia and metabolic acidosis. The enzyme has been shown to occur in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals. The bovine FBP1 gene was cloned and characterized in this study. The full length (1,241 bp) FBP1 mRNA contained an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 338 amino acids, a 63 bp 5' untranslated region (UTR) and a 131 bp 3' UTR. The bovine FBP1 gene was 89%, 85%, 82%, 82% and 74% identical to the orthologs of pig, human, mouse, rat and zebra fish at mRNA level, and 97%, 96%, 94%, 93% and 91% identical at the protein level, respectively. This gene was broadly expressed in cattle with the highest level in testis, and the lowest level in heart. An intronic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (A/G) was identified in the $5^{th}$ intron of the bovine FBP1 gene. Genotyping of 133 animals from four beef breeds revealed that the average frequency for allele A (A-base) was 0.7897 (0.7069-0.9107), while 0.2103 (0.0893-0.2931) for allele B (G-base). Our preliminary association study indicated that this SNP is significantly associated with traits of Average Daily Feed Intake (ADFI) and Carcass Length (CL) (p<0.01). In addition, the FBP1 gene was assigned on BTA8 by a hybrid radiation (RH) mapping method.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1069-1077
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• 2009

Castration of male pig produces significant negative effects on skeletal muscle development. The androgen receptor (AR), two splice variants of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I Ea and MGF) and the myostatin gene may play important roles in this process. In the present study, the expression of AR, IGF-I Ea, MGF and myostatin genes in three skeletal muscles, the brachialis, longissimus and semitendinosus, were studied using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Our experimental design used 14 pairs of male Landrace sire${\times}$Yorkshire dam piglets. The two piglets in each pair were full sibs, one of which was castrated at 21 d of age; the other remained intact. The study group was divided into subgroups of equal size. Animals in the first subgroup were slaughtered at 147 d and those of the second at 210 d of age. Carcass weight and lean meat yield were similar between boars and barrows at 147 d of age (p>0.05), whereas barrows had lower carcass weight and less lean meat yield at 210 d of age (p<0.05). Castration caused down-regulation of AR gene expression at both 147 and 210 d of age (p<0.05). The two splice variants of the IGF-I gene from porcine skeletal muscle were cloned using RT-PCR, and it was found that MGF differs from IGF-I Ea in having a 52-base insert in the last coding exon of the mRNA. Both splice variants were down-regulated by castration only at 210 d of age (p<0.05). No differences in expression of the myostatin gene were observed between boars and barrows at either 147 or 210 d of age (p>0.05). These results suggest that the downregulation of AR, IGF-I Ea and MGF gene expression following castration helps to explain the negative effect of castration on skeletal muscle development.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2012

DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) gene contains three different isoform transcripts, Dnmt1s, Dnmt1o, and Dnmt1p, are produced by alternative usage of multiple first exons. Dnmt1o is specific to oocytes and preimplantation embryos, whereas Dnmt1s is expressed in somatic cells. Here we determined that porcine Dnmt1o gene had differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in 5'-flanking region, while those were not found in the Dnmt1s promoter region. The methylation patterns of the porcine Dnmt1o/Dnmt1s DMRs were investigated using bisulfite sequencing and pyrosequencing analysis through all preimplantation stages from one cell to blastocyst stage in in vivo or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The Dnmt1o DMRs contained 8 CpG sites, which located in -640 bp to -30 bp upstream region from transcription start site of the Dnmt1o gene. The methylation status of 5 CpGs within the Dnmt1o DMRs were distinctively different at each stage from one-cell to blastocyst stage in the $in$ $vivo$ or SCNT, respectively. 55.62% methylation degree of the Dnmt1o DMRs in the $in$ $vivo$ was increased up to 84.38% in the SCNT embryo, moreover, $de$ $novo$ methylation and demethylation occurred during development of porcine embryos from the one-cell stage to the blastocyst stage. However, the DNA methylation states at CpG sites in the Dnmt1s promoter regions were hypomethylated, and dramatically not changed through one-cell to blastocyst stage in the $in$ $vivo$ or SCNT embryos. In the present study, we demonstrated that the DMRs in the promoter region of the porcine Dnmt1o was well conserved, contributing to establishment and maintenance of genome-wide patterns of DNA methylation in early embryonic development.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.925-937
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• 2016

In the last few decades, transgenic animal technology has witnessed an increasingly wide application in animal breeding. Reproductive traits are economically important to the pig industry. It has been shown that the bone morphogenetic protein receptor type IB (BMPR1B) A746G polymorphism is responsible for the fertility in sheep. However, this causal mutation exits exclusively in sheep and goat. In this study, we attempted to create transgenic pigs by introducing this mutation with the aim to improve reproductive traits in pigs. We successfully constructed a vector containing porcine BMPR1B coding sequence (CDS) with the mutant G allele of A746G mutation. In total, we obtained 24 cloned male piglets using handmade cloning (HMC) technique, and 12 individuals survived till maturation. A set of polymerase chain reactions indicated that 11 of 12 matured boars were transgene-positive individuals, and that the transgenic vector was most likely disrupted during cloning. Of 11 positive pigs, one (No. 11) lost a part of the terminator region but had the intact promoter and the CDS regions. cDNA sequencing showed that the introduced allele (746G) was expressed in multiple tissues of transgene-positive offspring of No.11. Western blot analysis revealed that BMPR1B protein expression in multiple tissues of transgene-positive $F_1$ piglets was 0.5 to 2-fold higher than that in the transgene-negative siblings. The No. 11 boar showed normal litter size performance as normal pigs from the same breed. Transgene-positive $F_1$ boars produced by No. 11 had higher semen volume, sperm concentration and total sperm per ejaculate than the negative siblings, although the differences did not reached statistical significance. Transgene-positive $F_1$ sows had similar litter size performance to the negative siblings, and more data are needed to adequately assess the litter size performance. In conclusion, we obtained 24 cloned transgenic pigs with the modified porcine BMPR1B CDS using HMC. cDNA sequencing and western blot indicated that the exogenous BMPR1B CDS was successfully expressed in host pigs. The transgenic pigs showed normal litter size performance. However, no significant differences in litter size were found between transgene-positive and negative sows. Our study provides new insight into producing cloned transgenic livestock related to reproductive traits.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1896-1901
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• 2010

This study was conducted using quantitative real-time PCR using Lactobacilli as probiotics. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT PCR) was conducted via a method involving SYBR Green 1 and a probe. Plasmid DNA was cloned using the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic species region. Gene clones were diluted from $10^2$ to $10^{10}$. Standard curves were constructed via Ct values obtained from the results of Real-time PCR via the aforementioned SYBR Green 1 and probe method. Plasmid DNA was also cloned using the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic species region and the gene clones were diluted from $10^2$ to $10^{10}$ copy numbers via the probe method. Using RT PCR, a standard curve of plasmid DNA copy numbers was also determined. The slope value for the Y-axis intercept and $R^2$ value were measured as -3.346, 33.18, and 0.993, respectively, via the first method. For the second method, the slope value for the Y-axis intercept and $R^2$ were -3.321, 31.10 and 0.995, respectively. The PCR inhibitor could not express the detection curve at a copy number over $10^{10}$ via either method, owing to high DNA density. The DNA extract from probiotics was diluted without pre-culturing, and 16 products were amplified via both methods. The Ct value was 11.06~18.12 in the first method and 16.74~22.11 in the second method. Measured probiotics and log copy values were largely similar among the methods used. It was concluded that both methods are effective for analysis, but further research will be required to verify the optimal method.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.757-764
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• 2007

Marbling of cattle meat is dependent on the coordinated expression of multiple genes. Cattle dramatically increase their intramuscular fat content in the longissimus dorsi muscle between 12 and 27 months of age. We used the annealing control primer (ACP)-differential display RT-PCR method to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that may participate in the development of intramuscular fat between early (12 months old) and late fattening stages (27 months old). Using 20 arbitrary ACP primers, we identified and sequenced 14 DEGs. BLAST searches revealed that expression of the MDH, PI4-K, ferritin, ICER, NID-2, WDNMI, telethonin, filamin, and desmin (DES) genes increased while that of GAPD, COP VII, ACTA1, CamK II, and nebulin decreased during the late fattening stage. The results of functional categorization using the Gene Ontology database for 14 known genes indicated that MDH, GAPD, and COP VII are involved in metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and the TCA cycle, whereas telethonin, filamin, nebulin, desmin, and ACTA1 contribute to the muscle contractile apparatus, and PI4-K, CamK II, and ICER have roles in signal transduction pathways regulated by growth factor or hormones. The final three genes, NID-2, WDNMI, and ferritin, are involved in iron transport and extracellular protein inhibition. The expression patterns were confirmed for seven genes (MDH, PI4-K, ferritin, ICER, nebulin, WDNMI, and telethonin) using real-time PCR. We found that the novel transcription repressor ICER gene was highly expressed in the late fattening stage and during bovine preadipocyte differentiation. This information may be helpful in selecting candidate genes that participate in intramuscular fat development in cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.627-632
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• 2007

FoxO1, FoxO3a and FoxO4 belong to the FoxO gene family, which play important roles in the PI3K/PKB pathway. In this study, we cloned the porcine FoxO1, FoxO3a and FoxO4 sequences and assigned them to SSC11p11-15, SSC1p13 and SSC xq13 using somatic cell hybrid panel (SCHP) and radiation hybrid panel (IMpRH). RT-PCR results showed that these three genes are expressed in multiple tissues. Sequencing of PCR products from different breeds identified a synonymous T/C polymorphism in exon 2 of FoxO3a. This FoxO3a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) can be detected by AvaII restriction enzyme. The allele frequencies of this SNP were investigated in Dahuabai, Meishan, Tongcheng, Yushan, Large White, and Duroc pigs. Association of the genotypes with growth and carcass traits showed that different genotypes of FoxO3a were associated with carcass length and backfat thickness between 6th and 7th ribs (BTR) and drip loss (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.870-875
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the alternative splicing in equine cordon-bleu WH2 repeat protein-like 1 (COBLL1) gene that was identified in horse muscle and blood leukocytes, and to predict functional consequences of alternative splicing by bioinformatics analysis. In a previous study, RNA-seq analysis predicted the presence of alternative spliced isoforms of equine COBLL1, namely COBLL1a as a long form and COBLL1b as a short form. In this study, we validated two isoforms of COBLL1 transcripts in horse tissues by the real-time polymerase chain reaction, and cloned them for Sanger sequencing. The sequencing results showed that the alternative splicing occurs at exon 9. Prediction of protein structure of these isoforms revealed three putative phosphorylation sites at the amino acid sequences encoded in exon 9, which is deleted in COBLL1b. In expression analysis, it was found that COBLL1b was expressed ubiquitously and equivalently in all the analyzed tissues, whereas COBLL1a showed strong expression in kidney, spinal cord and lung, moderate expression in heart and skeletal muscle, and low expression in thyroid and colon. In muscle, both COBLL1a and COBLL1b expression decreased after exercise. It is assumed that the regulation of COBLL1 expression may be important for regulating glucose level or switching of energy source, possibly through an insulin signaling pathway, in muscle after exercise. Further study is warranted to reveal the functional importance of COBLL1 on athletic performance in race horses.