• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.352-355
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• 1987

The isolation and characterization of type II restriction endonuclease from Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405 were described. This enzyme (Cth I endonuclease) is an isoschizomer of Bcl I endonuclease recognizing 5'-TGATCA-3'. Cth I endonuclease requires MG$^{2+}$ ion for its activity and is maximally active at PH 1.5 to 10.5 in the Presence of 0 to 10mM NaCl. Cth I endonuclease is heat stable and has an optimum temperature of 6$0^{\circ}C$. The activity of Cth I enzyme is sensitive to dam methylation.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.227-233
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• 2007

This study was conducted to examine the mRNA expression of apoptosis-related and imprinted genes and methylation pattern of the differentially methylated region (DMR) of H19 gene in day 35 of SCNT pig fetuses. The day 35 of natural mating (control) or cloned (clone) pig fetuses were recovered from uterus. Endometrium from dam and liver from fetus were obtained, respectively. mRNA expression was evaluated by real-time PCR and methylation pattern was analyzed by bisulfite sequencing method. The Bcl-2 mRNA expression in clone was significantly lower than that of control (p<0.05). The mRNA expression of H19 gene in both endometrium and liver was significantly higher in clone than that of control, respectively (p<0.05). The level of IGF-2 mRNA in liver of clone was significantly lower than that of control (p<0.05), whereas the mRNA expression of IGF2-R gene in liver of clone was significantly higher than that of control (p<0.05). The DMR of H19 was lower methylation pattern in clone than that of control. These results suggest that the aberrant mRNA expression of apoptosis-related and imprinted genes and the lower DMR methylation pattern of imprinted gene may be closely related to the inadequate fetal development of cloned fetus.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2019

DNA methylation is involved in diverse processes in bacteria, including maintenance of genome integrity and regulation of gene expression. CcrM, the DNA methyltransferase conserved in Alphaproteobacterial species, carries out $N^6$-adenine or $N^4$-cytosine methyltransferase activities using S-adenosyl methionine as a co-substrate. Celeribacter marinus IMCC12053 from the Alphaproteobacterial group was isolated from a marine environment. Single molecule real-time sequencing method (SMRT) was used to detect the methylation patterns of C. marinus IMCC12053. Gibbs motif sampler program was used to observe the conversion of adenosine of 5'-GANTC-3' to $N^6$-methyladenosine and conversion of $N^4$-cytosine of 5'-GpC-3' to $N^4$-methylcytosine. Exocyclic DNA methyltransferase from the genome of strain IMCC12053 was chosen using phylogenetic analysis and $N^4$-cytosine methyltransferase was cloned. IPTG inducer was used to confirm the methylation activity of DNA methylase, and cloned into a pQE30 vector using dam-/dcm- E. coli as the expression host. The genomic DNA and the plasmid carrying methylase-encoding sequences were extracted and cleaved with restriction enzymes that were sensitive to methylation, to confirm the methylation activity. These methylases protected the restriction enzyme site once IPTG-induced methylases methylated the chromosome and plasmid, harboring the DNA methylase. In this study, cloned exocyclic DNA methylases were investigated for potential use as a novel type of GpC methylase for molecular biology and epigenetics.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.208-214
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• 1994

We screened many species from a wide variety of bacterial genera for a new type II restriction endonuclease. The purification and characterization of SolI from a soil isolate, Streptoverticillium olivoverticillatum are described here. The enzyme turned out to be an isoschizomer of BamHI. It recognized the hexanucleotide sequence of 5'-G$\downarrow$GATCC-3' and cleaved as in dicated by the arrow, generating a 4 base 5' extension. Unlike its isoschizomer, BamHI, the activity was sensitive to dam methylation within the recognition sequence. Following ammonium sulfate fractionation of the crude extract, heparin-agarose and Affi-gel Blue column chromatography were employed to purify the enzyme. SolI required at least 0.2 mM of $MgCl_2$ for the cleavage to occur. The enzyme exhibited its maximal activity in the absence of NaCl, but was inhibited completely in the presence of 120 mM NaCl. The pH and temperature optima for activity were pH 8.6 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively. The molecular weight of SolI was estimated to be 43,000 Da by Superose-12 gel filtraion chromatography.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1279-1287
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• 2012

We established an efficient transformation method for thermophile Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426 using conjugative transfer from Escherichia coli of host-mimicking plasmids that imitate DNA methylation of strain HTA426 to circumvent its DNA restriction barriers. Two conjugative plasmids, pSTE33T and pUCG18T, capable of shuttling between E. coli and Geobacillus spp., were constructed. The plasmids were first introduced into E. coli BR408, which expressed one inherent DNA methylase gene (dam) and two heterologous methylase genes from strain HTA426 (GK1380-GK1381 and GK0343-GK0344). The plasmids were then directly transferred from E. coli cells to strain HTA426 by conjugative transfer using pUB307 or pRK2013 as a helper plasmid. pUCG18T was introduced very efficiently (transfer efficiency, $10^{-5}-10^{-3}\;recipient^{-1}$). pSTE33T showed lower efficiency ($10^{-7}-10^{-6}\;recipient^{-1}$) but had a high copy number and high segregational stability. Methylase genes in the donor substantially affected the transfer efficiency, demonstrating that the host-mimicking strategy contributes to efficient transformation. The transformation method, along with the two distinguishing plasmids, increases the potential of G. kaustophilus HTA426 as a thermophilic host to be used in various applications and as a model for biological studies of this genus. Our results also demonstrate that conjugative transfer is a promising approach for introducing exogenous DNA into thermophiles.