• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.260-264
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• 2006

Talaromyces flavus mediates the transmission of Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) to several host plants. The ASGV-F carried by T.flavus was partially purified from the fungus. Based on sequence analysis and homology searches, this is closely related to other ASGV strains isolated from host plants. The partially purified viral coat protein (CP) was separated on a 12% SDS-polyacrylamide gel and analyzed by Western blotting with an ASGV anti-serum. A single band at 28 kDa reacted with the ASGV anti-serum. The deduced amino acid sequence of the ORF-l showed conserved domains, including an NTP-binding helicase motif, GFAGSGKT. The amino acid sequences of the helicase and CP showed strong homology to other ASGV strains (98%). All ASGV isolated from plants and fungi had salt bridges composed of the CP and the GFAGSGKT motif of the helicase, which are commonly conserved in plant viruses. These results suggest that ASGV-F is one of ASGV strains isolated from T.flavus based on sequence similarity as well as the serological analysis of CP.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.137-141
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• 2002

The SNF2/SW12 family comprises proteins from a variety of species with in vivo functions, such as transcriptional regulation, maintenance of chromosome stability during mitosis, and various types of DNA repair. This study was shown the characterization of hrp2+ gene which was isolated by PCR amplification using the conserved domain of SNF2 motifs. Sequence analysis of hrp2+ gene showed striking evolutionary conservation among the SNF2 family of proteins. The transcript of hrp2+ gene was found to be a 4.7 kb as identified by Northern hybridization. In addition, to determine the transcription initiation site of hrp2+ gene, primer extension analysis was performed. This result showed the band of 64 bp. The transcriptional start point was mapped to a position of 47 base pair from the first ATG codon of translational initiation codon. In order to investigate the inducibility of hrp2+ gene, transcript levels were examined after treating the cells to various DNA damaging agents. The transcripts of hrp2+ were induced by UV-irradiation. But the transcripts were not induced by treatment of 0.25% Methylmethane sulfonate (MMS). These results implied that the effects of damaging agents are complex and different regulatory pathways exist for the induction of this gene.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.64-64
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• 2003

The sex differentiation of fishes occurs under the control of genetic and various environmental factors. DM-domain containing genes are novel zinc finger transcription factors and play key roles in sex determination. In order to isolate the wrasse DMRT (wDMRT) cDNA from the protogynous wrasse (Halichoeres tenuispinnis), the wrasse testis cDNA library was screened using the $^{32}$ P-labeled PCR products, which were amplified with the degenerate primers from conserved DM-domain regions of several DMRT genes. Among a few positives obtained through screening, the full length wDMRT cDNA of 2.9kb size encoding a predicted 300 amino acid residues was isolated. The sequence analysis exhibited 60%, 43% sequence identity with rainbow trout and tilapia DMRT1, respectively. RT-PCR assay showed that wDMRT was expressed specifically in male testis. Also, wDMRT gene was strongly expressed in May during reproductive season, when the reproductivity of wrasse is most active. This results suggested that wDMRT gene function in testis differentiation The conserved DM-domain regions were amplified using PCR from DMRT genes of several species among Labridae, and their sequences were determined. The sequence of DM-domain region of Halichoeres. tenuispinis was identical to those of Pseudolabrus japonicus, Pteragogus flagellifera, and showed 94% identity with that of Halichoeres poecioptrerus.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.29
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• pp.37-42
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• 2011

The plant-homologue of Bax Inhibitor, a gene described to suppress the cell death induced by Bax gene expression in yeast, was isolated from rice (Oryza sativa L.). Nucleic acid sequence and amino acid sequence were 741 bp and 247 bp, respectively. The amino acid sequence of the predicted protein was well conserved in plant (84 % in amino acids) and contained five membrane-spanning segments.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17
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• pp.109-115
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• 2001

Abrus agglutinin was purified from the kernels of Abrus precatorius by Sepharose 4B affinity column chromatography followed by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration column chromatography. About 1.25 g of abrus agglutinin was obtained from 1 kg of the kernels. The LD$_{50}$ of abrus agglutinin is 5 mg/kg of body weight, which is less toxic than that of abrin, 20$\mu\textrm{g}$/kg body weight. The amino acid sequence of abrus agglutinin was determined by protein sequencing techniques and deduced from the nucleotide sequence of a cDNA clone encoding full length of abrus agglutinin. There are 258 residues, 2 residues and 267 residues in the A-chain, the linker peptide and the B-chain of abrus agglutinin, respectively. Abrus agglutinin had high homology to abrin-a (77.8%). The 13 amino acid residues involved in catalytic function, which are highly conserved among abrin and ricin, were also conserved within abrus agglutinin. The protein synthesis inhibitory activity of abrus agglutinin ($IC_{50}$/ = 3.5 nM) was weaker than that of abrin-a (0.05 nM). By molecular modeling followed by site-directed mutagenesis showed that Pro199 of abrus agglutinin A-chain located in amphipathic helix H and corresponding to Asn200 of abrin A-chain, can induce bending of helix H. This bending would presumably affect the binding of abrus agglutinin A-chain to its target sequence GpApGpAp, in the tetraloop structure of 285 r-RNA subunit and this could be one of major factors contributing to the relatively weak protein synthesis inhibitory activity and toxicity of abrus agglutinin.n.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.175-182
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• 2007

The lysozyme II gene of cabbage butterfly Artogeia rapae was cloned from fat body of the larvae injected with E. coli and its nucleotide sequence was determined by the RACE-PCR. It has an open reading frame of 414 bp nucleotides corresponding to 138 amino acids including a signal sequence of 18 amino acids. The estimated molecular weight and the isoelectric point of the lysozyme II without the signal peptide were 13,649.38 Da and 9.11, respectively. The A. rapae lysozyme II (ARL II) showed the highest identity (81%) in the amino acid sequence to Manduca sexta lysozyme among other lepidopteran species. The two catalytic residues ($Glu^{32}$ and $Asp^{50}$) and the eight Cys residue motifs, which are highly conserved among other c-type lysozymes in invertebrates and vertebrates, are also completely conserved. A phylogenetic analysis based on amino acid sequences indicated that the ARL II was more closely related to M. sexta, Hyphantria cunea, Heliothis virescens, and Trichoplusia ni lysozymes. The ARL II gene was expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda 21 insect cells and the recombinant ARL II (rARL II) was purified from cell-conditioned media by cation exchange column chromatography and reverse phase FPLC. The purified rARL II was able to form a clear zone in lysoplate assay against Micrococcus luteus. The lytic activity was estimated to be 511.41 U/mg, 1.53 times higher than that of the chicken lysozyme. The optimum temperature for the lytic activity of the rARL II was $50^{\circ}C$, the temperature dependency of the absolute lytic activity of rARL II was higher than that of the chicken lysozyme at low temperatures under $65^{\circ}C$.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.150-156
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• 2018

The genome sequences of two novel monopartite RNA viruses were identified in a common eelgrass (Zostera marina) transcriptome dataset. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analyses revealed that these two novel viruses belong to the genus Amalgavirus in the family Amalgaviridae. They were named Zostera marina amalgavirus 1 (ZmAV1) and Zostera marina amalgavirus 2 (ZmAV2). Genomes of both ZmAV1 and ZmAV2 contain two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 encodes a putative replication factory matrix-like protein, while ORF2 encodes a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domain. The fusion protein (ORF1+2) of ORF1 and ORF2, which mediates RNA replication, was produced using the +1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting (PRF) mechanism. The +1 PRF motif sequence, UUU_CGN, which is highly conserved among known amalgaviruses, was also found in ZmAV1 and ZmAV2. Multiple sequence alignment of the ORF1+2 fusion proteins from 24 amalgaviruses revealed that +1 PRF occurred only at three different positions within the 13-amino acid-long segment, which was surrounded by highly conserved regions on both sides. This suggested that the +1 PRF may be constrained by the structure of fusion proteins. Genome sequences of ZmAV1 and ZmAV2, which are the first viruses to be identified in common eelgrass, will serve as useful resources for studying evolution and diversity of amalgaviruses.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.2 s.69
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• pp.192-196
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• 2005

The SNF2/SW12 family comprises proteins from a variety of species with in vivo functions, such as transcriptional regulation, maintenance of chromosome stability during mitosis, and various types of DNA repair. This study was shown the characterization of hrp2+ gene which was isolated by PCR amplification using the conserved domain of SNF2 motifs. Sequence analysis of hrp2+ gene showed striking evolutionary conservation among the SNF2 family of proteins. The transcript of hrp2+ gene was found to be a 4.7 kb as identified by Northern hybridization. To investigate the inducibility of hrp2+ gene, transcript levels were examined after treating the cells to various DNA damaging agents. The transcripts of hrp2+ were induced by UV-irradiation. But the transcripts were not induced by treatment of $ 0.25\%$ Methylmethane sulfonate (MMS). These results implied that the effects of damaging agents are complex and different regulatory pathways exist for the induction of this gene. Hrp2 protein was purified near homogeneity by combination of affinity chromatography. We tested the purified Hrp2 protein for the helicase activity in an oligonucleotide release assay. However we were unable to detect any helicase activity associated with the Hrp2 protein, indicating that the helicase motifs in Hrp2 are merely indicators of a broader DNA-dependent ATPase activity.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.495-500
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• 2016

We have solved the crystal structure of a predicted fructose-specific enzyme $IIB^{fruc}$ from Escherichia coli ($EcEIIB^{fruc}$) involved in the phosphoenolpyruvate-carbohydrate phosphotransferase system transferring carbohydrates across the cytoplasmic membrane. $EcEIIB^{fruc}$ belongs to a sequence family with more than 5,000 sequence homologues with 25-99% amino-acid sequence identity. It reveals a conventional Rossmann-like ${\alpha}-{\beta}-{\alpha}$ sandwich fold with a unique ${\beta}$-sheet topology. Its C-terminus is longer than its closest relatives and forms an additional ${\beta}$-strand whereas the shorter C-terminus is random coil in the relatives. Interestingly, its core structure is similar to that of enzyme $IIB^{cellobiose}$ from E. coli ($EcIIB^{cel}$) transferring a phosphate moiety. In the active site of the closest $EcEIIB^{fruc}$ homologues, a unique motif CXXGXAHT comprising a P-loop like architecture including a histidine residue is found. The conserved cysteine on this loop may be deprotonated to act as a nucleophile similar to that of $EcIIB^{cel}$. The conserved histidine residue is presumed to bind the negatively charged phosphate. Therefore, we propose that the catalytic mechanism of $EcEIIB^{fruc}$ is similar to that of $EcIIB^{cel}$ transferring phosphoryl moiety to a specific carbohydrate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.312-320
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• 2000

Abstract The full sequence of the plasmid pKJ36, which was derived from Bifidobacterium longum KJ, was determined and analyzed to construct shuttle vectors between E. coli and Bifidobacterium. The plasmid pKJ36 was composed of 3,625 base pairs with a 65.1% G+C content. The structural organization of pKJ36 was highly similar to that of pKJ50, and the three major ORFs on pKJ36 showed high amino acid sequence homologies with those of pKJ50. The putative proteins coded by these three ORFs were designated as RepB (32.0 kDa, pI=9.25), MembB (29.0 kDa, pI=12.25), and MobB (39.0 kDa, pI=IO.66), respectively. The amino acid sequence of RepB showed a 57% identity and 70% similarity with that of the RepA protein of pKJ50. Upstream of the repB gene, the so-called iteron sequence was directly repeated four-and-ahalf times and a conserved dnaA box was identified. An amino acid sequence comparison between the MobB and MobA of pKJ50 revealed a 48% identity and 61 % similarity. A conserved oriT sequence with an inverted repeat identical to that of pKJ50 was also found upstream of the mobB gene. A hydropathy analysis of MembB revealed four possible transmembrane regions. The expressions of the repB and membB genes were confirmed by RT-PCR. The in vitro translation reaction of pKJ36 showed protein bands with anticipated sizes with respect to each putative gene product. S 1 endonuclease treatment and Southern hybridization suggested that pKJ36 replicates by a rolling circle mechanism via a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) intermediate. A shuttle vector between E. coli and Bifidobacterium sp. was constructed using the pKJ36, pBR322, and staphylococcal chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene. The successful transformation of the Bifidobacterium strains was shown by Southern hybridization and PCR. The transformation efficiency differed from strain to strain and, depending on the electroporation conditions, with a range between $1.2{\times}10^1-2.6{\times}10^2{\;}cfu/\mu\textrm{g}$ DNA.X> DNA.