• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.131-137
• /
• 2000

The release of hazardous waste materials into the environment poses serious risks in humans and ecosystems. The risk assessment of environmental pollutants including hazardous chemicals requires a comprehensive measurement of hazard and exposure of the chemicals that can be achieved by toxicity evaluation using a biological system such as biomarkers. In this report we have tried to develop a biomarker used to elucidate a molecular basis of, and to monitor abnormal behaviors caused by diazinon in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) as a model organism. First, an attempt was made to clone tyrosine hydroxylase gene from Japanese medaka that would be a candidate for a biomarker for neuronal modulations and behaviors. For monitoring experiments at behavioral and molecular biological levels, the fish were treated under different sublethal conditions of diazinon and their behavioral responses were observed . In this study we have successfully cloned a partial TH gene from the medaka fish through PCR screening of an ovary cDNA library. DNA sequencing analysis revealed that the amplified fragment was 327 bp encoding 109 amino acids. Comparing the DNA sequence of medaka TH with other species, TH gene revealed the DNA sequence was completely identical to that of rat TH. In the RT-PCR, 330 Up of mRNA was consistently amplified in all the treated samples including control There were no significant differences in the TH expression level regardless of treating concentrations (1∼5,000 ppb) and time (0∼48 hr) The reason appeared to be that RT-PCR was not performed using through a quantitative analysis normalized against an actin gene expression. Organ or tissue - specific detection of TH activity and mRNA as biomarkers will be a useful monitoring tool for neurobehavioral changes in fish influenced by toxic chemicals. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of locomotive patterns and its correlation with the neurochemical and molecular data would be highly useful in measuring toxicity and hazard ofvarious environmental pollutants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.324-328
• /
• 2006

Carbonic anhydrase III (CA3) is a member of a multigene family that encode carbonic anhydrase isozymes. In this study, a complete coding sequence of the pig CA3 gene which encodes a 260 amino-acid protein was determined. The amino acid comparison showed high sequence similarities with previously identified human (86.5%) CA3 gene and mouse (91.5%) Car3 gene. The partial genomic DNA sequences were also investigated. The length of intron 1 was 727 bp. Comparative sequencing of three pig breeds revealed that there was a T${\rightarrow}$C substitution at position 363 within intron 1. The substitution was situated within a NcoI recognition site and was developed as a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) marker for further use in population variation investigations and association analysis. Two alleles (A and B) were identified, and 617 bp fragments were observed for the AA genotype and 236 bp and 381 bp fragments for the BB genotype. The polymorphism of CA3 was detected in 8 pig breeds. Allele B was predominant in the Western pig breeds. In addition, association studies of the CA3 polymorphism with carcass traits in 140 $Yorkshire{\times}Meishan$ $F_2$ offspring showed that the NcoI PCR- RFLP genotype may be associated with variation in several carcass traits of interest for pig breeding. Allele B was associated with increases in lean meat percentage, loin eye height and loin eye area. Statistically significant association with backfat thickness was also found; pigs with the AB genotype had much less backfat thickness than AA or BB genotypes.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.478-482
• /
• 2018

Human rotavirus is a causative agent of acute diarrhea among children. The artificial gene encoding the truncated $VP8^*$ protein of human rotavirus A (serotype 1 strain WA) was synthesized according to the Escherichia coli codon preference. The synthetic $VP8^*$ gene also possessed the NdeI and HindIII restriction sites for the convenient in-frame cloning for translation and a 6-histidine tag at C-terminus for Ni+ affinity purification. Molecular weight of the truncated $VP8^*$ protein deduced from the nucleotide sequences of the artificial gene was a 19.7-kDa. This synthetic $VP8^*$ DNA fragment was inserted into the pT7-7 expression vector and transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3). Transformants harboring the synthetic gene encoding the $VP8^*$ protein was induced by supplement of a final concentration of 0.05 mM ITPG at $20^{\circ}C$. Protein crude extract from the E. coli transformants was subjected to Western blotting with the mouse anti-rotavirus capsid antibody, showing ~20-kDa $VP8^*$ protein band. The truncated $VP8^*$ protein band was also observed by Western blotting using the rabbit polyclonal antibody serum made against the truncated $VP8^*$ protein. This study suggested that the synthetic gene could be used as an easy way to produce the antigenic vaccine candidate for control of virus-associated diseases or to develop antibodies for diagnostic purpose.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2002

Phytase from Escherichia coli WC7 was purified from cell extracts and its molecular mass was estimated to be 45 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Its optimum temperature and pH for phytate hydrolysis was 6$0^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.0, respectively. The enzyme was stable up to 6$0^{\circ}C$ and over broad pH range (pH 2-12). The enzyme had higher affinity for sodium phytate than p-nitrophenylphosphate (pNPP). That is, the apparent Km value for sodium phytate and pNPP were $0.15\pm$0.02 mM and 2.82$\pm$0.05 mM, respectively. The gene encoding the phytase was cloned in E. coli XL1-Blue. Sequence analysis showed an open reading frame of 1241 Up encoding a signal peptide (22 aa) and a mature enzyme (410 aa). WC7 phytase was expressed up to 17.5 U/ml in the transformed E. coli XL1-Blue/pUEP, which was 23-fold higher than the activity from wild strain.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2006

To develop a new variety of orchardgrass with improved digestibility, caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (Dgcomt), which is a methylation enzyme involved in the early stages of lignin biosynthesis, was isolated and characterized. Dgcomt was expressed not only in leaves but also in stems and roots. The expression levels of transcripts were high in stems and roots which are the most lignified tissues, and only moderate levels of transcripts were expressed in leaves. To develop transgenic orchardgrass plants by down-regulating the Dgcomt gene, an RNAi suppression vector with partial Dgcomt DNA fragment was constructed and transferred into the genome of orchardgrass via Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer method. PCR and Southern blot analyses with genomic DNAs from putative transgenic plants revealed that the T-DNA region containing RNAi construct was successfully integrated into the genome of orchardgrass. Northern blot analysis revealed that the majority of the down-regulated transgenic lines showed significant reduction in Dgcomt gene expression. These RNAi transgenic orchardgrass will be useful for molecular breeding of new variety with improved digestibility by down-regulating lignin biosynthetic enzyme.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.292-301
• /
• 2010

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a pituitary glycoprotein hormone that is encoded by separate alpha- and betasubunit genes. It plays a key role in stimulating and regulating ovarian follicular development and egg production in chicken. FSH signal transduction is mediated by the FSH receptor (FSHR) that exclusively interacts with the beta-subunit of FSH, but characterization of prokaryotic expression of the FSHb gene and its effect on the expression of the FSHR gene in local chickens have received very little attention. In the current study, the cDNA fragment of the FSHb gene from Dagu chicken was amplified using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and inserted into the pET-28a (+) vector to construct the pET-28a-FSHb plasmid. After expression of the plasmid in E. coli BL21 (DE3) under inducing conditions, the recombination protein, $FSH{\beta}$ subunit, was purified and injected into the experimental hens and the effect on the mRNA expression levels of the FSHR gene was investigated. Sequence comparison showed that the coding region of the FSHb gene in the local chicken shared 99%-100% homology to published nucleotides in chickens; only one synonymous nucleotide substitution was detected in the region. The encoded amino acids were completely identical with the reported sequence, which confirmed that the sequences of the chicken FSHb gene and the peptides of the $FSH{\beta}$ subunit are highly conserved. This may be due to the critical role of the normal function of the FSHb gene in hormonal specificity and regulation of reproduction. The results of gene expression revealed that a recombinant protein with a molecular weight of about 19 kDa was efficiently expressed and it was identified by Western blotting analysis. After administration of the purified $FSH{\beta}$ protein, significantly higher expression levels were demonstrated in uterus, ovary and oviduct samples (p<0.05). These observations suggested that the expressed $FSH{\beta}$ protein possesses biological activity, and has a potential role in regulation of reproductive physiology in chickens.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.351-361
• /
• 2019

In our previous study, pyrrolnitrin produced in Pseudomonas chlororaphis G05 plays more critical role in suppression of mycelial growth of some fungal pathogens that cause plant diseases in agriculture. Although some regulators for pyrrolnitrin biosynthesis were identified, the pyrrolnitrin regulation pathway was not fully constructed. During our screening novel regulator candidates, we obtained a white conjugant G05W02 while transposon mutagenesis was carried out between a fusion mutant $G05{\Delta}phz{\Delta}prn::lacZ$ and E. coli S17-1 (pUT/mini-Tn5Kan). By cloning and sequencing of the transposon-flanking DNA fragment, we found that a vfr gene in the conjugant G05W02 was disrupted with mini-Tn5Kan. In one other previous study on P. fluorescens, however, it was reported that the deletion of the vfr caused increased production of pyrrolnitrin and other antifungal metabolites. To confirm its regulatory function, we constructed the vfr-knockout mutant $G05{\Delta}vfr$ and $G05{\Delta}phz{\Delta}prn::lacZ{\Delta}vfr$. By quantifying ${\beta}-galactosidase$ activities, we found that deletion of the vfr decreased the prn operon expression dramatically. Meanwhile, by quantifying pyrrolnitrin production in the mutant $G05{\Delta}vfr$, we found that deficiency of the Vfr caused decreased pyrrolnitrin production. However, production of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid was same to that in the wild-type strain G05. Taken together, Vfr is required for pyrrolnitrin but not for phenazine-1-carboxylic acid biosynthesis in P. chlororaphis G05.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.287-295
• /
• 2020

Lactobacillus zymae GU240 was previously isolated from Kimchi, a Korean fermented vegetable, as a strong GABA producer. The strain showed β-galactosidase (β-Gal) activity on MRS agar plates with X-gal. When growth and β-Gal activities of GU240 were measured using MRS (glucose, 2%, w/v) and MRSL (lactose, 2%, w/v) broths, cells were found to grow slowly in MRSL, and the β-Gal activity (36 units at 4 h) was lower than that of cells grown in MRS (94 units at 16 h). The highest OD₆₀₀ value of the culture in MRS was 1.6 at 24 h at 37℃, whereas that of the culture in MRSL was 0.6 at 16 h. β-Gal activity of the culture in MRS reached the maximum (95.6 u/ml) at 16 h, decreased thereafter, and was not detected at 48 h. β-Gal activity for culture in MRSL reached its highest (36 u/ml) at 4 h and decreased gradually, but some activity (11.05 u/ml) still remained at 72 h. The structural gene encoding β-Gal in L. zymae GU240 was cloned as a 3.1 kb fragment, and DNA sequencing confirmed the presence of complete lacLM genes. lacLM genes from L. zymae GU240 showed 98-99% homologies in nucleotide sequences with other lacLM genes from L. brevis. Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR confirmed the operon structure of lacLM. The results indicated that L. zymae GU240 might be in the process of losing the ability to grow rapidly on lactose-containing medium, such as milk, due to adaptations to plant environments, including kimchi.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.205-210
• /
• 1999

16brio cholerne is an important pathogenic organism that causes dimhea in human beings. V ciaoleroe KNIH002 was isolated from patients suffering with dian.heal disease in Korea. From Southern hybridization using the amplified PCR product of 307 bp as a probe. which was obtained from PCR reaction using primer detecting cholera toxin gene, we have found that the c b gene located in 4.5-kb fragmenl double digested with Pstl and BgllI of the chromosome. Therefore, we made mini-libraries of the isolate using PstI and Bgm restriction endonuclease and pBluescript SKU(+) vector. As a result. we cloned 4.5-kb PstI-BglII fragment containing the c a gene encoding a cholera toxin from the constructed mini-libraries of V olzolerae KNlH002 by colony hybridization using the same probes. This recombinant plasmid was named pCTX75. E. coii XL1- Blue harboring pCTX75 showed the cytotoxicity on Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. From the sequencing of he cloned recombinant plasmid, we confinned that it has virulence gene cassette consisting of ace, zot, ctx.4 and cf"~B gene. The ace and zot genes were composed of 291 hp and 1.200 bp with ATG initiation codon and TGA lennination codon, respectively. Nucleotide sequence of the ace gene exhibited 100% identity with that of V cholera E7946 El Tor Ogawa strains. But, nucleolide and amino acid sequence comparison of the zot gene exhibited 99% and 98.8% identity with that of V cholerae 395 Classical Ogawa stram, respectively. Specially. the Ala-100, Ala-272 and Ala-281 sites of Zoi polypeptide presented in V choleme 395 Classical Ogawa strain are replaced by Val in V cholerae KNIH002.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.443-448
• /
• 1996

In order to investigate the function of xylA promoter(Pxyl) as regulatory region Pxyl-lacZ fusion gene was constructed by the insertion of xylA promoter to the multiple cloning site of upstream of lacZ gene in a multicopy numbered plasmid pMC1403 containing promoterless lac operon, which was designated pMCX191, and Pxyl-lacZ fragment from pMCX191 was inserted to low copy numbered plasmid pLG339, designated pLGX191. The expressions of ${\beta}-galactosidase$ in these recombinant plasmids containing Pxyl-lacZ fusion gene were induced strongly by the addition of xylose, repressed by the addition of 0.2% glucose in the presence of xylose. The catabolite repressions were derepressed by the addition of 1 mM cAMP as same as native xylA gene. The fragment of xylA promoter was partially deleted from the upstream of xylA promoter by exonuclease III to investigate the regulation site of xylA promoter and the degrees of deletion derivatives of xylA promoter were analyzed by the DNA base sequencing. By the investigations of the induction by xylose, repression by glucose and derepression by cAMP on xylose isomerase production, the regulation site of xylA promoter may be located in segment between -165 and -59 bp upstream from the initiation site of xylA translation.