• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.365-374
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• 2021

Soybean isoflavones are essential secondary metabolites synthesized through the phenylpropanoid pathway, and they play vital roles in human health. Isoflavone content is a complex quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes, and the genetic mechanisms underlying isoflavone biosynthesis remain largely unknown. Therefore, the present study analyzed the content of isoflavone and expression of six key genes involved in its biosynthesis (i.e., CHS6, HID, IF7GT, IF7MaT, GmIMaT1, and GmIMaT3) during soybean seed germination. Isoflavone content was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography, and isoflavone biosynthetic gene expression was analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR. Two cultivars, namely 'Daepung2ho' and 'Pungsannamulkong', which are high- and low-isoflavone cultivars, respectively, were used. Isoflavone accumulation gradually increased with the progression of the germination period. As such, malonyl glucosides accounted for over 80% of the total content, whereas acetyl glucosides were present at trace amounts. Transcriptional analysis of isoflavone biosynthetic genes demonstrated expression patterns parallel to isoflavone content; however, there was no clear correlation between isoflavone content and gene expression. Moreover, most isoflavone biosynthetic genes showed different expression patterns depending on the individual gene or genotypes. Among the tested genes, HID showed consistently higher expression, except at 3 days after germination, and its expression was upregulated in 'Daepung2ho' but downregulated in 'Pungsannamulkong'. In addition, all tested genes exhibited different expression patterns between cotyledons and hypocotyls and responded differently to the germination period. These findings suggest that the expression levels of isoflavone biosynthetic genes are not consistent with the germination period and appear to be genotype-dependent.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.609-617
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• 1997

Polygenic variation of sternopleural bristle number was investigated at the whole chromosome level in a natural population of Drosophila melanogasfer. Fifty pairs of second and third chromosomes were analyzed at $25^\circ{C}$. Since environmental factors such as temperature influence polygenic expression of quantitative traits, whole chromosomal effects of 28 pairs from the larger original sample were measured under cycling temperature, a $10-30\circ{C}$ cycle in 24 hours, to reveal any polygenic alleles whose effects might be masked under the constant temperature. While third chromosomes typically showed a larger contribution to polygenic variation in both environments, second chromosomes showed greater sensitivity to environmental changes. Cluster analyses of second and third chromosomes produced a limited number of clusters. Such a small number of cluster's implies that there may be a small number of genes, or quantitative trait loci (QTLs), having large effects on phenotypic variation. The genetic structure assessed under constant temperature, however, did not show any correlation with the structure under cycling temperature. The discrepancy could be caused by independent response of each polygenic allele to temperature changes. Thus, polygenic structure in natural populations should be thought of as a temporally changing profile of interactions between gene and ever-changing environment.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.120-129
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• 2023

Recent technical advances have enabled unbiased transcriptomic and epigenetic analysis of each cell, known as "single-cell analysis". Single-cell analysis has a variety of technical approaches to investigate the state of each cell, including mRNA levels (transcriptome), the immune repertoire (immune repertoire analysis), cell surface proteins (surface proteome analysis), chromatin accessibility (epigenome), and accordance with genome variants (eQTLs; expression quantitative trait loci). As an effective tool for investigating robust immune responses in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many researchers performed single-cell analysis to capture the diverse, unbiased immune cell activation and differentiation. Despite challenges elucidating the complicated immune microenvironments of chronic inflammatory diseases using existing experimental methods, it is now possible to capture the simultaneous immune features of different cell types across inflamed tissues using various single-cell tools. In this review, we introduce patient-based and experimental mouse model research utilizing single-cell analyses in the field of chronic inflammatory diseases, as well as multi-organ atlas targeting immune cells.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.238-243
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• 2020

Tuberculosis is a global public health problem and manifests itself as a difference in the genetic susceptibility of the host, along with the properties of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and candidate genes proposed in the Genome-wide association study (GWAS) on tuberculosis in a recently published Chinese population were reported. In this study, we investigated whether the genetic polymorphism of candidate genes related to tuberculosis is reproduced when targeting Koreans. The CLCN6 (rs12404124, rs198391, rs535107), DOK7 (rs1203104, rs1203103) and HLA-DRA (rs1051336) gene polymorphisms showed statistically significant results. In addition, it was also found whether it acts as an expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) that can influence gene expression. This study confirmed that the genetic polymorphism of the three genes (CLCN6, DOK7, HLA-DRA) affects the development of tuberculosis and will help to understand the genetic specificity of tuberculosis and the interaction between pathogens and hosts.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.26.1-26.9
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• 2023

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) produces a severe hypersensitivity reaction caused by Herpes simplex virus or mycoplasma infection, vaccination, systemic disease, or other agents. Several studies have investigated the genetic susceptibility involved in SJS. To provide further genetic insights into the pathogenesis of SJS, this study prioritized high-impact, SJS-associated pathogenic variants through integrating bioinformatic and population genetic data. First, we identified SJS-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms from the genome-wide association studies catalog, followed by genome annotation with HaploReg and variant validation with Ensembl. Subsequently, expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) from GTEx identified human genetic variants with differential gene expression across human tissues. Our results indicate that two variants, namely rs2074494 and rs5010528, which are encoded by the HLA-C (human leukocyte antigen C) gene, were found to be differentially expressed in skin. The allele frequencies for rs2074494 and rs5010528 also appear to significantly differ across continents. We highlight the utility of these population-specific HLA-C genetic variants for genetic association studies, and aid in early prognosis and disease treatment of SJS.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.37-43
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• 2010

The wild silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) is a polyphagous silk producing insect that feeds on Terminalia arjuna, T. tomentosa and Shorea robusta and is distributed in the forest belts in different states of India. Phenotypically distinct populations of the A. mylitta are called "eco-race" or "ecotypes". Genetic improvement of this wild silkworm has not progressed much due to lack of adequate information on the factors that control the expression of most of the economically important traits. Considering the amazing technological advances taking place in molecular biology, it is envisaged that it is now possible to take greater control on these intractable traits if a combination of genetic, molecular and bioinformatics tools are used. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping is one such approach that has extensively been used in both animal and plant system to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for a number of economically important traits. LD mapping has a number of advantages over conventional biparental linkage mapping. Therefore, LD mapping is considered more efficient for gene discovery to meet the challenge of connecting sequence diversity with heritable phenotypic differences. However, care must be taken to avoid detection of spurious associations which may occur due to population structure and variety interrelationships. In this review, we discuss how LD mapping is suitable for the dissection of complex traits in wild silkworms (Antheraea mylitta).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.24-24
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• 2022

This present study was to identify a novel candidate gene that contribute to the elevated α-linolenic acid (ALA, ω-3) concentration in PE2166 from mutagenesis of Pungsannamul. Major loci qALA5_1 and qALA5_2 were detected on chromosome 5 of soybean through quantitative trait loci mapping analyses of recombinant inbred lines. With next generation sequencing of parental lines and Pungsannamul, and recombinant analyses, a potential gene, Glyma. 05g221500 (HD) controlling elevated ALA concentration was identified. HD is a homeodomain-like transcriptional regulator that may regulate the expression level of microsomal ω-3 fatty acid desaturase (FAD3) genes responsible for the conversion of linoleic acid into ALA in the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway. In addition, we hypothesized that combination of mutant alleles, HD and either of microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase 2-1 (FAD2-1\ could reduce the ω-6/ω-3 ratio. In populations where HD, and FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B genes were segregated, combination of a hd allele from PE2166 and either of the variant FAD2-1 alleles were sufficient to reduce the ω-6/ω-3 ratio in seeds.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.280-280
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• 2022

Tiller angle, defined as the angle between the main stem and its side tillers, is one of the main target traits selected inbreeding to achieve the ideal plant type and increase rice yield. Therefore, the discovery and identification of tiller angle-related genes can provide architecture and yield. In the present work, using QTL analysis hence a total of 8 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected based on the phenotype data of tiller angle and tiller crown width in two years. Among them, four QTLs (qTA9, qCW9, qTA9-1, qCW9-1) were overlapped at marker interval RM6235-RM24288 on chromosome 9 with a large effect value regarded as stable major QTL. Twenty tiller angle-related genes were selected from the target region and the relative gene expression levels were checked in five compact type lines, five spreading type lines, and their parental lines. Finally, OsSA URq9 which belongs auxin-responsive SMALL AUXIN UP RNA (SAUR) protein family was selected as a target gene. Overall, this work will help broaden our understanding of the genetic control of tiller angle and tiller crown width, and this study provides both a good theoretical basis and a new genetic resource for the breeding of ideal-type rice.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1141-1155
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• 2024

Objective: RNA epigenetic modifications play an important role in regulating immune response of mammals. Bovine mastitis induced by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a threat to the health of dairy cattle. There are numerous RNA modifications, and how these modification-associated enzymes systematically coordinate their immunomodulatory effects during bovine mastitis is not well reported. Therefore, the role of common RNA modification-related genes (RMRGs) in bovine S. aureus mastitis was investigated in this study. Methods: In total, 80 RMRGs were selected for this study. Four public RNA-seq data sets about bovine S. aureus mastitis were collected and one additional RNA-seq data set was generated by this study. Firstly, quantitative trait locus (QTL) database, transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) database and differential expression analyses were employed to characterize the potential functions of selected enzyme genes in bovine S. aureus mastitis. Correlation analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) were used to further investigate the relationships of RMRGs from different types at the mRNA expression level. Interference experiments targeting the m⁶ A demethylase FTO and utilizing public MeRIP-seq dataset from bovine Mac-T cells were used to investigate the potential interaction mechanisms among various RNA modifications. Results: Bovine QTL and TWAS database in cattle revealed associations between RMRGs and immune-related complex traits. S. aureus challenged and control groups were effectively distinguished by principal component analysis based on the expression of selected RMRGs. WGCNA and correlation analysis identified modules grouping different RMRGs, with highly correlated mRNA expression. The m⁶ A modification gene FTO showed significant effects on the expression of m⁶ A and other RMRGs (such as NSUN2, CPSF2, and METTLE), indicating complex co-expression relationships among different RNA modifications in the regulation of bovine S. aureus mastitis. Conclusion: RNA epigenetic modification genes play important immunoregulatory roles in bovine S. aureus mastitis, and there are extensive interactions of mRNA expression among different RMRGs. It is necessary to investigate the interactions between RNA modification genes regulating complex traits in the future.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.368-375
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• 2020

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a disease that is accompanied by various metabolic related problems and refers to a disease in which various adult diseases occur along with obesity. These metabolic syndromes appear according to the individual's genetic background. APOA5-ZPR1-BUD13, a gene cluster belonging to chromosome 11q23.3, is well known for its risk of plasma triglycerides and coronary artery disease. Recently, the GWAS results for metabolic syndrome were published in Koreans. The results included the APOA5-ZPR1-BUD13, and the SNPs that first appeared in Koreans in the ZPR1 and BUD13 were also discovered. In this study, the reproducibility was investigated for the newly discovered ZPR1 (rs964184) and BUD13 (rs2075295, rs1558861) using The Health Examinees (HEXA) cohort and showed significance. In addition, BUD13 (rs117548857, rs10488698, rs149527022, rs10790162), ZPR1 (rs2075290, rs145796806, rs201247587), APOA5 (rs12791103, rs1263173, rs7396835, rs17520254) were additionally discovered and significant results were obtained. For the SNPs that showed significant results, the effect on protein expression and the effect of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) were also confirmed. This study is expected to contribute to the prevention and treatment of diseases with differences in onset based on individual genetic patterns as well as presenting the effect of genetic mutations in the APOA5-ZPR1-BUD13 on metabolic syndrome and blood lipid levels.