• ALGAE
• /
• 제35권2호
• /
• pp.133-144
• /
• 2020

Pythium porphyrae is responsible for devastating outbreaks in seaweed farms of Pyropia, the most valuable cultivated seaweed worldwide. While the genus Pythium contains many well studied pathogens, the genome of P. porphyrae has yet to be sequenced. Here we report the first available gene repertoire of P. porphyrae and a preliminary analysis of pathogenicity-related genes. Using ab initio detection strategies, similarity based and manual annotation, we found that the P. porphyrae gene repertoire is similar to classical phytopathogenic Pythium species. This includes the absence of expanded RxLR effector family and the detection of classical pathogenicity-related genes like crinklers, glycoside hydrolases, cellulose-binding elicitor lectin-like proteins and elicitins. We additionally compared this dataset to the proteomes of 8 selected Pythium species. While 34% of the predicted proteome appeared specific to P. porphyrae, we could not attribute specific enzymes to the degradation of red algal biomass. Conversely, we detected several cellulases and a cutinase conserved with plant-pathogenic Pythium species. Together with the recent report of P. porphyrae triggering disease symptoms on several plant species in lab-controlled conditions, our findings add weight to the hypothesis that P. porphyrae is a reformed plant pathogen.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제35권6호
• /
• pp.537-546
• /
• 2002

NF-${\kappa}B$/Rel transcription factor family participates in diverse biological processes including embryo development, hematopoiesis, immune regulation, as well as neuronal functions. In this review, the NF-${\kappa}B$/Rel signal transduction pathways and their important roles in the regulation of immune system will be discussed. NF-${\kappa}B$/Rel members execute distinct functions in multiple immune cell types via the regulation of target genes essential for cell proliferation, survival, effector functions, cell trafficking and communication, as well as the formation of lymphoid architecture. Consequently, proper activation of NF-${\kappa}B$/Rel during immune responses to allergens, auto-antigens, allo-antigens, and pathogenic infection is crucial for the integrity of host innate and adaptive immunity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제14권5호
• /
• pp.2699-2701
• /
• 2013

The RAS family genes encode small GTP-binding cytoplasmic proteins. Activated KRAS engages multiple effector pathways, notably the RAF-mitogen-activated protein kinase, phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and RalGDS pathways. In the clinical field, K-ras oncogene activation is frequently found in human cancers and thus may serve as a potential diagnostic marker for cancer cells in circulation. This mini-review aims to summarise information on Ras-induced oncogenesis and the clinical significance of K-ras.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• 제43권spc1호
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 2005

An early step in the pathogenesis of non-typhoidal Salmonella species is the ability to penetrate the intestinal epithelial monolayer. This process of cell invasion requires the production and transport of secreted effector proteins by a type III secretion apparatus encoded in Salmonella pathogenicity island I (SPI-1). The control of invasion involves a number of genetic regulators and environmental stimuli in complex relationships. SPI-1 itself encodes several transcriptional regulators (HilA, HilD, HilC, and InvF) with overlapping sets of target genes. These regulators are, in turn, controlled by both positive and regulators outside SPI-1, including the two-component regulators BarA/SirA and PhoP/Q, and the csr post-transcriptional control system. Additionally, several environmental conditions are known to regulate invasion, including pH, osmolarity, oxygen tension, bile, $Mg^{2+}$ concentration, and short chain fatty acids. This review will discuss the current understanding of invasion control, with emphasis on the interaction of environmental factors with genetic regulators that leads to productive infection.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제44권3호
• /
• pp.179-185
• /
• 2021

Vancomycin response regulator (VncR) is a pneumococcal response regulator of the VncRS two-component signal transduction system (TCS) of Streptococcus pneumoniae. VncRS regulates bacterial autolysis and vancomycin resistance. VncR contains two different functional domains, the N-terminal receiver domain and C-terminal effector domain. Here, we investigated VncR C-terminal DNA binding domain (VncRc) structure using a crystallization approach. Crystallization was performed using the micro-batch method. The crystals diffracted to a 1.964 Å resolution and belonged to space group P212121. The crystal unit-cell parameters were a = 25.71 Å, b = 52.97 Å, and c = 60.61 Å. The structure of VncRc had a helix-turn-helix motif highly similar to the response regulator PhoB of Escherichia coli. In isothermal titration calorimetry and size exclusion chromatography results, VncR formed a complex with VncS, a sensor histidine kinase of pneumococcal TCS. Determination of VncR structure will provide insight into the mechanism by how VncR binds to target genes.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국균학회 2015년도 춘계학술대회 및 임시총회
• /
• pp.61-61
• /
• 2015

Rice blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the most destructive diseases of rice worldwide. The rice - M. oryzae pathosystem has become a model in the study of plant - fungal interactions due to its economic importance and accumulating knowledge. During the evolutionary arms race with M. oryzae, rice plants evolved a repertoire of Resistance (R) genes to protect themselves from diseases in a gene-for-gene fashion. M. oryzae secretes a battery of small effector proteins to manipulate host functions for its successful infection, and some of them are recognized by host R proteins as avirulence effectors (AVR), which turns on strong immunity. Therefore, the analysis of interactions between AVRs and their cognate R proteins provide crucial insights into the molecular basis of plant - fungal interactions. Rice blast resistance genes Pik, Pia, Pii comprise pairs of protein-coding ORFs, Pik-1 and Pik-2, RGA4 and RGA5, Pii-1 and Pii-2, respectively. In all three cases, the paired genes are tightly linked and oriented to the opposite directions. In the AVR-Pik/Pik interaction, it has been unraveled that AVR-Pik binds to the N-terminal coiled-coil domain of Pik-1. RGA4 and RGA5 are necessary and sufficient to mediate Pia resistance and recognize the M. oryzae effectors AVR-Pia and AVR1-CO39. A domain at the C-terminus of RGA5 characterized by a heavy metal associated domain was identified as the AVR-binding domain of RGA5. Similarly, physical interactions among Pii-1, Pii-2 and AVR-Pii are being analyzed.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• 제38권5호
• /
• pp.452-456
• /
• 2015

Obesity is the fifth leading risk for death globally, and a significant challenge to global health. It is a common, complex, non-malignant disease and develops due to interactions between the genes and the environment. DNA methylation can act as a downstream effector of environmental signals; analysis of this process therefore holds substantial promise for identifying mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors jointly contribute to disease risk. To assess the effects of excessive weight and obesity on gene-specific methylation levels of promoter regions, we determined the methylation status of four genes involved in inflammation and oxidative stress [interleukin 6 (IL6), tumor necrosis factor ${\alpha}$ ($TNF{\alpha}$), mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), and glucose transport 4 (GLUT4)] in blood cell-derived DNA from healthy women volunteers with a range of body mass indices (BMIs) by methylation-specific PCR. Interestingly, the samples from obese individuals ($BMI{\geq}30kg/m^2$) showed significantly increased hypermethylation for IL6 gene compared to normal weight ($BMI<23kg/m^2$) and overweight sample ($23kg/m^2{\leq}BMI<30kg/m^2$) (P = 0.034 and P = 0.026). However there was no statistically significant difference in promoter methylation of the other 3 genes between each group. These findings suggest that aberrant DNA methylation of IL6 gene promoter may play an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of obesity and IL6 methylation could be used as molecular biomarker for obesity risk assessment. Further studies are required to elucidate the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship.

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
• /
• 제5권2호
• /
• pp.131-136
• /
• 2001

초파리 발생과정에서 세포사멸에 관여하는 유전자인 reaper(rpr), grim, dcp-1, diap1, diap1, diap2의 발현양상을 경제적 RT-PCR 방법으로 분석하였다. 세포사멸 유도 유전자인 rpr, grim의 발현양상은 발생단계에 따른 ecdysone titer 변화 양상과 매우 유사하였다. Effector caspase인 dcp-1 전사체는 초기 배와 암컷 성체에서 높은 발현을 보였다. 반면에 세포사멸 억제인자인 diap1과 diap2 전사체는 세포사멸 유도 인자인 rpr과 girm 전사체와 서로 상반적인 양상으로 발현되었다. 또한, 유주 3령 유충의 발생단계 별로 침샘조직과 성체원기조직에서 rpr, diap2, dcp-1의 전사체의 양적 변동을 분석하였다. rpr, diap2의 전사체양은 두 조직에서 서로 상반적으로 변화하였다. 이 결과는 정상 발생과정에서 세포죽음 관련유전자들의 발현이 ecdysone 신호에 의해 조절됨을 암시해 주었다.

• 식물병연구
• /
• 제25권2호
• /
• pp.49-61
• /
• 2019

식물 바이러스는 작물 생산량 손실을 일으키는 주요 병원체 중 하나로, 돌연변이 발생이 빈번하고 치료 약제가 개발되어 있지 않아 방제가 매우 어렵다. 이러한 바이러스병을 방제하기 위한 가장 효과적인 방법은 저항성 품종을 재배하는 것이며, 바이러스 저항성 품종을 개발하기 위해서는 바이러스와 기주 식물 간의 다양한 유전자적 상호작용에 대한 정확한 이해가 필요하다. 열성 저항성은 병원체가 살아가는데 필요한 식물 유전자가 결핍되었을 때 획득되는데, 저항성 유전자(R gene)에 의해 유도되는 우성 저항성에 비해 넓은 범위의 저항성을 발현하고 돌연변이 출현에 쉽게 저항성이 깨지지 않는 특성을 보인다. 현재까지 알려진 바이러스병에 대한 열성 저항성 유전자는 대부분 순행유전학(forward genetics)를 통해 밝혀졌으나, 최근 CRISPR/Cas9 등을 이용한 유전자 교정 기술의 급속한 발전에 힘입어 역유전학(reverse genetics)을 통한 열성 저항성 작물개발의 가능성이 열리고 있다. 이러한 역유전학적 접근을 통한 열성 저항성 작물 개발은 먼저 바이러스 단백질과 상호작용하는 기주 인자를 밝히고 이들간의 상호작용을 억제하도록 하는 기주 인자에 대한 유전자 교정을 통해 이루어 질 수 있다. 본 논문에서는 열성 저항성에 대한 소개와 새로운 열성 저항성 후보 유전 소재 발굴을 위한 기주 인자 연구의 중요성 및 방법을 소개하고, 열성 저항성 작물 개발에 적용할 수 있는 유전자 교정기술의 최신 동향에 관해 정리하였다.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• 제26권9호
• /
• pp.558-568
• /
• 2023

Vibrio vulnificus is an aquatic bacterium causing septicemia and wound infection in humans. To understand this pathogen at the genomic level, it was performed whole genome sequencing of a cefoxitin-resistant strain, V. vulnificus 1908-10 possessing virulence-related genes (vvhA, viuB, and vcgC) isolated from Gadeok island coastal seawater in South Korea. The genome of V. vulnificus 1908-10 consisted of two circular contigs and no plasmid. The total genome size was estimated to be 5,018,425 bp with a guanine-cytosine (GC) content of 46.9%. We found 119 tRNA and 34 rRNA genes respectively in the genome, along with 4,352 predicted protein sequences. Virulence factor (VF) analysis further revealed that V. vulnificus 1908-10 possess various virulence genes in classes of adherence, antiphagocytosis, chemotaxis and motility, iron uptake, quorum sensing, secretion system, and toxin. In the comparison of the presence/absence of virulence genes, V. vulnificus 1908-10 had fur, hlyU, luxS, ompU, pilA, pilF, rtxA, rtxC, and vvhA. Of the 30 V. vulnificus comparative strains, 80% of the C-genotype strains have all of these genes, whereas 40% of the E-genotype strains have all of them. In particular, pilA were identified in 80% of the C-type strains and 40% of the E-type strains, showing more difference than other genes. Therefore, V. vulnificus 1908-10 had similar VF characteristics to those of type C strains. Multifunctional-autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin (MARTX) toxin of V. vulnificus 1908-10 contained 8 A-type repeats (GXXGXXXXXG), 25 B.1-type repeats (TXVGXGXX), 18 B2-type repeats (GGXGXDXXX), and 7 C-type repeats (GGXGXDXXX). The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) showed that the RtxA protein of V. vulnificus 1908-10 had the effector domain in the order of cross-liking domain (ACD)-C58_PaToxP-like domain- α/β hydrolase-C58_PaToxP-like domain.