• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.176-184
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• 2016

Background: Wild ginseng, Panax ginseng Meyer, is an endangered species of medicinal plants. In the present study, we analyzed variations within the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) cluster to gain insight into the genetic diversity of the Oriental ginseng, P. ginseng, at artificial plant cultivation. Methods: The roots of wild P. ginseng plants were sampled from a nonprotected natural population of the Russian Far East. The slides were prepared from leaf tissues using the squash technique for cytogenetic analysis. The 18S rDNA sequences were cloned and sequenced. The distribution of nucleotide diversity, recombination events, and interspecific phylogenies for the total 18S rDNA sequence data set was also examined. Results: In mesophyll cells, mononucleolar nuclei were estimated to be dominant (75.7%), while the remaining nuclei contained two to four nucleoli. Among the analyzed 18S rDNA clones, 20% were identical to the 18S rDNA sequence of P. ginseng from Japan, and other clones differed in one to six substitutions. The nucleotide polymorphism was more expressed at the positions 440-640 bp, and distributed in variable regions, expansion segments, and conservative elements of core structure. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed conspecificity of ginseng plants cultivated in different regions, with two fixed mutations between P. ginseng and other species. Conclusion: This study identified the evidences of the intragenomic nucleotide polymorphism in the 18S rDNA sequences of P. ginseng. These data suggest that, in cultivated plants, the observed genome instability may influence the synthesis of biologically active compounds, which are widely used in traditional medicine.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.715-722
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• 2015

In Gram-negative bacteria in the periplasmic space, the dimeric thioredoxin-fold protein DsbC isomerizes and reduces incorrect disulfide bonds of unfolded proteins, while the monomeric thioredoxin-fold protein DsbA introduces disulfide bonds in folding proteins. In the Gram-negative bacteria Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, the reduced form of CueP scavenges the production of hydroxyl radicals in the copper-mediated Fenton reaction, and DsbC is responsible for keeping CueP in the reduced, active form. Some DsbA proteins fulfill the functions of DsbCs, which are not present in Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we identified a DsbA homologous protein (CdDsbA) in the Corynebacterium diphtheriae genome and determined its crystal structure in the reduced condition at $1.5{\AA}$ resolution. CdDsbA consists of a monomeric thioredoxin-like fold with an inserted helical domain and unique N-terminal extended region. We confirmed that CdDsbA has disulfide bond somerase/reductase activity, and we present evidence that the N-terminal extended region is not required for this activity and folding of the core DsbA-like domain. Furthermore, we found that CdDsbA could reduce CueP from C. diphtheriae.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.117-135
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• 2019

Data journals and data papers have grown and considered an important scholarly practice in the paradigm of open science in the context of data sharing and data reuse. This study investigates a total of 713 data papers published in Scientific Data in terms of author, citation, and subject areas. The findings of the study show that the subject areas of core authors are found as the areas of Biotechnology and Physics. An average number of co-authors is 12 and the patterns of co-authorship are recognized as several closed sub-networks. In terms of citation status, the subject areas of cited publications are highly similar to the areas of data paper authors. However, the citation analysis indicates that there are considerable citations on the journals specialized on methodology. The network with authors' keywords identifies more detailed areas such as marine ecology, cancer, genome, database, and temperature. This result indicates that biology oriented-subjects are primary areas in the journal although Scientific Data is categorized in multidisciplinary science in Web of Science database.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.39-49
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to provide the basic data needed to plan the effective teaching design of scaling education and to measure the changes in students' confidence in performing scaling according to the number of scaling practices. Scaling education is presented as a core basic hygiene competency of dental hygienists and evaluated as the practical competency of dental hygienists. This study selected 48 third-year students from the department of dental hygiene at S University in Asan, and analyzed data from completed participant surveys. The degree of "confidence in facing the subject in clinical practice," "confidence in applying hand instrument to the subject," and "confidence in applying ultrasonic instruments to the subject" was assessed on a five-point Likert scale. The difference in confidence was analyzed during five practice sessions. Each response was compared using frequency analysis, chi-square test, and repeated measurement ANOVA. Students who complained of a lack of confidence in the 14.6%, 25.0%, and 12.5%, respectively, in face-to-face practice, hand instruments, and ultrasonic instrument application responses. The more the practice was repeated, the more confident students were in all three categories, and the more statistically significant (p<0.001). As the number of scaling practice sessions increased, students' confidence in performing scaling also improved. In particular, the level of self-confidence was higher after the third practice session when compared to the first session. Therefore, it is necessary to design effective courses for teaching scaling practices so that at least three repetitive practice periods can be provided in clinical dental hygiene practices.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.65-77
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• 2021

Background: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate changes in the communication capabilities of dental hygiene students after completing a problem based learning (PBL) dental communication curriculum. With this information, we intend to gather the basic data necessary to stress the need for and value of an education in communication regarding dental hygiene. Methods: PBL-based education was provided to a total of 49 third-year dental hygiene students who took the dental communication class taught by the Department of Dental Hygiene at S University during the 2^nd semester of 2020. The relevant self-evaluation was modified, based on the aim of the present study, to refer to three basic key competencies related to the communication capabilities of dental hygienists. An assessment of dental communication competency was conducted by analyzing the changes in self-evaluations before and after completing the course, for each question, using a paired t-test. The statistical significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: Analysis of core competencies before and after PBL-based dental communication education indicated that all competencies were significantly improved after education (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Dental hygiene students' dental communication skills increased significantly after completing PBL-based dental communication education. Therefore, a PBL-based dental communication curriculum is effective in improving dental communication skills for dental hygiene students.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.77-88
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• 2021

Background: In this study, the Capstone Design was applied to the clinical dental hygiene course of the Department of Dental Hygiene, and its effect was confirmed by qualitatively evaluating the students' reflection on the capstone design class experience. Methods: This study was conducted for the "Clinical Dental Hygiene and Practice III" course, in which third year students develop the ability to judge and plan dental hygiene based on problem-solving ability and critical thinking. By applying the Capstone Design within the core curriculum of the class, the students analyzed problems based on their major knowledge of dental hygiene in order to improve their ability to manipulate periodontal instruments, and focusedon the process of developing the contents of periodontal instruments by using them. Results: The application of Capstone Design on clinical dental hygiene and practice III classes increased students' active class participation, and through the problem-solving process, students' learning and confidence improved. Conclusion: The Capstone Design can be viewed as a teaching method that promotes the participation of students in the dental hygiene department and can effectively help their learning and confidence through a problem-solving process.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.43-49
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• 2022

Pleurotus ostreatus is a globally cultivated mushroom crop. Cap color is a quality factor in P. ostreatus. However, cap color can spontaneously mutate, degrading the quality of the mushroom on the market. Early detection and removal of mutant strains is the best way to maintain the commercial value of the crop. To detect the cap color mutant Gonji7ho, molecular markers were developed based on insertion/deletions (InDels) derived from the comparison of mitogenomes of Gonji7ho and Gonji7hoM mushrooms. Sequencing, assembly, and comparative analysis of the two mitogenomes revealed genome sizes of 73,212 bp and 72,576 bp with 61 and 57 genes or open reading frames (ORFs) in P. ostreatus Gonji7ho and Gonji7hoM, respectively. Fourteen core protein-encoding genes, two rRNA, and 24 tRNA with some OFRs were predicted. Of the 61 genes or OFRs in the wild type, dpo, rpo, and two orf139 were missing (or remnant) in the mutant strain. Molecular markers were developed based on the sequence variations (InDels) between the two mitogenomes. Six polymorphic molecular markers could detect the mutated mitochondria by PCR. These results provide basic knowledge of the mitogenomes of wild-type and mutant P. ostreatus, and can be applied to discriminate mutated mitochondria.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.711-720
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The diet is an important route of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). However, few studies have investigated the association between dietary intake and EDC exposure levels among Koreans. In an earlier study, we showed that the bioactivity of serum aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligands (AhRLs) could be a surrogate biomarker to indicate exposure to EDCs and that they inhibit mitochondrial function. We also found that the mitochondria-inhibiting substances (MIS) in serum ascertained by intracellular adenosine triphosphate (MIS-ATP) and reactive oxygen species (MIS-ROS) levels could be biomarkers of exposure to EDCs, as they showed a strong correlation with AhRL and the levels of EDCs in the blood. Here, we investigated the association between the consumption of specific foods and surrogate serum biomarkers for EDCs, namely AhRL, MIS-ATP, and MIS-ROS, among middle-aged Korean adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 1,466 participants aged 45-76 yrs from the Ansung cohort of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study were included. Food consumption, including that of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits, was measured using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: Fish intake was positively associated with AhRL (β = 0.0035, P = 0.0166), whereas cruciferous vegetable intake was negatively associated with AhRL (β = -0.0007, P = 0.0488). Cruciferous vegetable intake was positively associated with the MIS-ATP levels (β = 0.0051, P = 0.0420). A higher intake of fish was significantly associated with an increased risk of high AhRL (tertile: odds ratio [OR], 1.49; 95% confidence intervals (CIs), 1.08-2.06; P for trend = 0.0305). In addition, the second-highest tertile of cruciferous vegetable intake had lower odds of high AhRL than the lowest tertile (OR, 0.73; 95% CIs, 0.54-0.97), although no significant linear trend was observed. CONCLUSION: Consumption of different types of foods may be differentially associated with EDC exposure in middle-aged Korean adults.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.230-240
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• 2008

The primary aim of this study is to estimate the home range of a pair of raccoon dogs(Nyctereutes procyonoides koreensis) and to compare with the previous study of raccoon dogs in a rural area of Gurye, the southern part of South Korea. Radiotracking was regularly carried out on 2 raccoon dogs for 2 days every 2 months(in June, August, October and December, 2006). During the 2 days, radiotracking was usually conducted every $1{\sim}3$ hours through day and night. The analysis of tracking data with a total of $46{\sim}64$ bearings showed that the total home range size of the pair was $0.41km^2$, and mean home range size was $0.32km^2$ by 95% minimum convex polygons(MCP) estimate. The home ranges of the male and female were largely overlapping(about $70{\sim}95%$), and the sizes were not very much different from each other. However, there was a big difference between day $(0.01km^2)$ and night-time $(0.35km^2)$ home ranges, and it was largest in summer$(0.56km^2)$ and smallest in winter $(<0.01km^2)$. In addition, the home range of the pair included 1 core area and 4 different feeding areas. In conclusion, our raccoon dog home range data using the same individuals but with more frequent bearings per day and more extended tracking intervals still showed very similar results to the previous study with less frequent bearings per day and more extensive tracking days.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.27-28
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• 2014

Beauveria bassiana (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales, Ascomycota) is an anamorphic fungus having a potential to be used as a biological control agent because it parasitizes a wide range of arthropod hosts including termites, aphids, beetles and many other insects. A number of bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs) have been isolated from B. bassiana and functionally verified. Among them, beauvericin and bassianolide are cyclic depsipeptides with antibiotic and insecticidal effects belonging to the enniatin family. Non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) play a crucial role in the synthesis of these secondary metabolites. NRPSs are modularly organized multienzyme complexes in which each module is responsible for the elongation of proteinogenic and non-protein amino acids, as well as carboxyl and hydroxyacids. A minimum of three domains are necessary for one NRPS elongation module: an adenylation (A) domain for substrate recognition and activation; a tholation (T) domain that tethers the growing peptide chain and the incoming aminoacyl unit; and a condensation (C) domain to catalyze peptide bond formation. Some of the optional domains include epimerization (E), heterocyclization (Cy) and oxidation (Ox) domains, which may modify the enzyme-bound precursors or intermediates. In the present study, we analyzed genomes of B. bassiana and its allied species in Hypocreales to verify the distribution of NRPS-encoding genes involving biosynthesis of beauvericin and bassianolide, and to unveil the evolutionary processes of the gene clusters. Initially, we retrieved completely or partially assembled genomic sequences of fungal species belonging to Hypocreales from public databases. SM biosynthesizing genes were predicted from the selected genomes using antiSMASH program. Adenylation (A) domains were extracted from the predicted NRPS, NRPS-like and NRPS-PKS hybrid genes, and used them to construct a phylogenetic tree. Based on the preliminary results of SM biosynthetic gene prediction in B. bassiana, we analyzed the conserved gene orders of beauvericin and bassianolide biosynthetic gene clusters among the hypocrealean fungi. Reciprocal best blast hit (RBH) approach was performed to identify the regions orthologous to the biosynthetic gene cluster in the selected fungal genomes. A clear recombination pattern was recognized in the inferred A-domain tree in which A-domains in the 1st and 2nd modules of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases were grouped in CYCLO and EAS clades, respectively, suggesting that two modules of each synthetase have evolved independently. In addition, inferred topologies were congruent with the species phylogeny of Cordycipitaceae, indicating that the gene fusion event have occurred before the species divergence. Beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases turned out to possess identical domain organization as C-A-T-C-A-NM-T-T-C. We also predicted precursors of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases based on the extracted signature residues in A-domain core motifs. The result showed that the A-domains in the 1st module of both synthetases select D-2-hydroxyisovalerate (D-Hiv), while A-domains in the 2nd modules specifically activate L-phenylalanine (Phe) in beauvericin synthetase and leucine (Leu) in bassianolide synthetase. antiSMASH ver. 2.0 predicted 15 genes in the beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster of the B. bassiana genome dispersed across a total length of approximately 50kb. The beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster contains beauvericin synthetase as well as kivr gene encoding NADPH-dependent ketoisovalerate reductase which is necessary to convert 2-ketoisovalarate to D-Hiv and a gene encoding a putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator. Our syntenic comparison showed that species in Cordycipitaceae have almost conserved beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster although the gene order and direction were sometimes variable. It is intriguing that there is no region orthologous to beauvericin synthetase gene in Cordyceps militaris genome. It is likely that beauvericin synthetase was present in common ancestor of Cordycipitaceae but selective gene loss has occurred in several species including C. militaris. Putative bassianolide biosynthetic gene cluster consisted of 16 genes including bassianolide synthetase, cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, and putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator genes. Our synteny analysis found that only B. bassiana possessed a bassianolide synthetase gene among the studied fungi. This result is consistent with the groupings in A-domain tree in which bassianolide synthetase gene found in B. bassiana was not grouped with NRPS genes predicted in other species. We hypothesized that bassianolide biosynthesizing cluster genes in B. bassiana are possibly acquired by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from distantly related fungi. The present study showed that B. bassiana is the only species capable of producing both beauvericin and bassianolide. This property led to B. bassiana infect multiple hosts and to be a potential biological control agent against agricultural pests.