• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.309-315
• /
• 2018

Objective: This study aimed to test the expression patterns of ERBB receptor feedback inhibitor 1 (ERRFI1) before and after exercise and the association of non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) of horse ERRFI1 with racing traits in Thoroughbreds. Methods: We performed bioinformatics and gene expression analyses for horse ERRFI1. Transcription factor (TF) binding sites in the 5'-regulatory region of this gene were identified through a tool for prediction of TF-binding site (PROMO). A general linear model was used to detect the association between the nsSNP (LOC42830758 A to G) and race performance. Results: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that expression level of ERRFI1 after exercise was 1.6 times higher than that before exercise. Ten transcription factors were predicted from the ERRFI1 regulatory region. A novel nsSNP (LOC42830758 A to G) was found in ERRFI1, which was associated with three racing traits including average prize money, average racing index, and 3-year-old starts percentile ranking. Conclusion: Our analysis will be helpful as a basis for studying genes and SNPs that affect race performance in racehorses.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.3669-3676
• /
• 2013

Faithful transmission of genetic information depends on accurate chromosome segregation as cells exit from mitosis, and errors in chromosomal segregation are catastrophic and may lead to aneuploidy which is the hallmark of cancer. In eukaryotes, an elaborate molecular control system ensures proper orchestration of events at mitotic exit. Phosphorylation of specific tyrosyl residues is a major control mechanism for cellular proliferation and the activities of protein tyrosine kinases and phosphatases must be integrated. Although mitotic kinases are well characterized, phosphatases involved in mitosis remain largely elusive. Here we identify a novel variant of mouse protein tyrosine phosphatase containing domain 1 (Ptpcd1), that we named Ptpcd2. Ptpcd1 is a Cdc14 related centrosomal phosphatase. Our newly identified Ptpcd2 shared a significant homology to yeast Cdc14p (34.1%) and other Cdc14 family of phosphatases. By subcellular fractionation Ptpcd2 was found to be enriched in the cytoplasm and nuclear pellets with catalytic phosphatase activity. By means of immunofluorescence, Ptpcd2 was spatiotemporally regulated in a cell cycle dependent manner with cytoplasmic abundance during mitosis, followed by nuclear localization during interphase. Overexpression of Ptpcd2 induced mitotic exit with decreased levels of some mitotic markers. Moreover, Ptpcd2 failed to colocalize with the centrosomal marker ${\gamma}$-tubulin, suggesting it as a non-centrosomal protein. Taken together, Ptpcd2 phosphatase appears a non-centrosomal variant of Ptpcd1 with probable mitotic functions. The identification of this new phosphatase suggests the existence of an interacting phosphatase network that controls mammalian mitosis and provides new drug targets for anticancer modalities.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.662-671
• /
• 2015

To enrich the genetic resource of microbial xylanases with high activity and stability under alkaline conditions, a xylanase gene (xynSL4) was cloned from Planococcus sp. SL4, an alkaline xylanase-producing strain isolated from the sediment of soda lake Dabusu. Deduced XynSL4 consists of a putative signal peptide of 29 residues and a catalytic domain (30-380 residues) of glycosyl hydrolase family 10, and shares the highest identity of 77% with a hypothetical protein from Planomicrobium glaciei CHR43. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that deduced XynSL4 is closely related with thermophilic and alkaline xylanases from Geobacillus and Bacillus species. The gene xynSL4 was expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli and the recombinant enzyme showed some superior properties. Purified recombinant XynSL4 (rXynSL4) was highly active and stable over the neutral and alkaline pH range from 6 to 11, with maximum activity at pH 7 and more than 60% activity at pH 11. It had an apparent temperature optimum of 70℃ and retained stable at this temperature in the presence of substrate. rXynSL4 was highly halotolerant, retaining more than 55% activity with 0.25-3.0 M NaCl and was stable at the concentration of NaCl up to 4M. The enzyme activity was significantly enhanced by β-mercaptoethanol and Ca²⁺ but strongly inhibited by heavy-metal ions and SDS. This thermophilic and alkaline- and salt-tolerant enzyme has great potential for basic research and industrial applications.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.257-263
• /
• 2008

Improvement of the macro- and micro-elements density of rice (Oryza sativa L.) is gradually becoming a new breeding objective. In this study, the genomic regions associated with potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron content in rice grain were identified and characterized by using a doubled haploid (DH) population. Fifty-six simple sequence repeat (SSR) and one hundred and twelve sequence tagged site (STS) markers were selected to construct the genetic linkage map of the DH population with a full length of 1808.3cM scanning 12 rice chromosomes. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected, and QTL effects and QTL interactions were calculated for five traits related to macro- and micro-elements in the DH population from a cross between 'Samgang' (Tongil) and 'Nagdong' (Japonica). Twelve QTLs were located on five chromosomes, consisting of two QTLs for potassium, three QTLs for calcium, two QTLs for magnesium, one QTL for iron content and four QTLs for the ratio of magnesium to potassium (Mg/K). Among them, qca1.1 was detected on chromosome 1 with an LOD value of 8.58 for calcium content. It explained 27% of phenotype variations with increasing effects from 'Samgang' allele. Furthermore, fifteen epistatic combinations with significant interactions were observed on ten chromosomes for five traits, which totally accounted for 4.19% to 12.72% of phenotype variations. The screening of relatively accurate QTLs will contribute to increase the efficiency of marker-assisted selection (MAS), and to accelerate the establishment of near-isogenic lines (NILs) and QTL pyramiding.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2001.11a
• /
• pp.257-260
• /
• 2001

BCNU 106, 154 and 171 was isolated in the areas contaminated by high concentrations of organic solvents. These strains had the tolerance to almost all kinds of organic solvents used in this study. Especially, it was interested that BCNU 106, and 171 had the tolerance to meta-, para- and ortho. xylene. And 3 strains had high MIC (minimal inhibition concentrations).

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.51-56
• /
• 2007

A plant pathogenic fungus, Gibberella zeae (anamorph: Fusarium graminearum), not only generates economic losses by causing disease on cereal grains, but also leads to severe toxicosis in human and animals through the production of mycotoxins in infected plants. Here, we characterized a histidine auxotrophic mutant of G. zeae, designated Z43R1092, which was generated using a restriction enzyme-mediated integration (REMI) procedure. The mutant exhibited pleiotropic phenotypic changes, including a reduction in mycelial growth and virulence and loss of sexual reproduction. Outcrossing analysis confirmed that the histidine auxotrophy is linked to the insertional vector in Z43R1092. Molecular analysis showed that the histidine requirement of Z43R1092 is caused by a disruption of an open reading frame, designated GzHIS7. The deduced product of GzHIS7 encodes a putative enzyme with an N-terminal glutamine amidotransferase and a C-terminal cyclase domain, similar to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae HIS7 required for histidine biosynthesis. The subsequent gene deletion and complementation analyses confirmed the functions of GzHIS7 in G. zeae. This is the first report of the molecular characterization of histidine auxotrophy in G. zeae, and our results demonstrate that correct histidine biosynthesis is essential for virulence, as well as sexual development, in G. zeae. In addition, our results could provide a G. zeae histidine auxotroph as a recipient strain for genetic transformation using this new selectable marker.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.219-223
• /
• 2010

Recently, the oak wilt diseases especially on Quercus mongolica, have been increasing in various districts of Korea. A collection of 38 strains of the oak wilt pathogen Raffaelea qeurcus-mongolicae and R. quecivora isolated from Quercus spp. in Korea and Japan was characterized by $\beta$-tubulin gene sequence and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. In cluster analysis based on $\beta$-tubulin gene sequence the strains were divided into 4 clusters, of which clusters 2 and 4 were composed of Japanese strains except for one Korean strain. RAPD analysis showed that they were also effectively differentiated by a strong RAPD fragments. On the basis of the two genetic analysis, significant differences were detected between Korean strains and Japanese strains.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.48 no.1
• /
• pp.43-48
• /
• 2010

Cryptosporidium and Giardia are 2 protozoan parasites responsible for waterborne diseases outbreaks worldwide. In order to assess the prevalence of these protozoans in drinking water samples in the northern part of Portugal and the risk of human infection, we have established a long term program aiming at pinpointing the sources of surface water, drinking water, and environmental contamination, working with the water-supply industry. Total 43 sources of drinking water samples were selected, and a total of 167 samples were analyzed using the Method 1623. Sensitivity assays regarding the genetic characterization by PCR and sequencing of the genes, 18S SSU rRNA, for Cryptosporidium spp. and $\beta$, -giardin for G. duodenalis were set in the laboratory. According to the defined criteria, molecular analysis was performed over 4 samples. Environmental stages of the protozoa were detected in 25.7% (43 out of 167) of the water samples, 8.4% (14 out of 167) with cysts of Giardia, 10.2% (17 out of 167) with oocysts of Cryptosporidium and 7.2% (12 out of 167) for both species. The mean concentrations were 0.1-12.7 oocysts of Cryptosporidium spp. per 10 L and 0.1-108.3 cysts of Giardia duodenalis per 10 L. Our results suggest that the efficiency in drinking water plants must be ameliorated in their efficiency in reducing the levels of contamination. We suggest the implementation of systematic monitoring programs for both protozoa. To authors' knowledge, this is the first report evaluating the concentration of environmental stages of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in drinking water samples in the northern part of Portugal.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.401-412
• /
• 2013

Because of an increased number of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) along with associated disease burdens, medical professionals have become more aware of this pathogen in recent years. In this study, by analyzing both the nuclear 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) and mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene loci, 27 clinical Acanthamoeba strains that caused AK in Japan were classified into 3 genotypes, T3 (3 strains), T4 (23 strains), and T5 (one strain). Most haplotypes were identical to the reference haplotypes reported from all over the world, and thus no specificity of the haplotype distribution in Japan was found. The T4 sub-genotype analysis using the 16S rRNA gene locus also revealed a clear subconformation within the T4 cluster, and lead to the recognition of a new sub-genotype T4i, in addition to the previously reported sub-genotypes T4a-T4h. Furthermore, 9 out of 23 strains in the T4 genotype were identified to a specific haplotype (AF479533), which seems to be a causal haplotype of AK. While heterozygous nuclear haplotypes were observed from 2 strains, the mitochondrial haplotypes were homozygous as T4 genotype in the both strains, and suggested a possibility of nuclear hybridization (mating reproduction) between different strains in Acanthamoeba. The nuclear 18S rRNA gene and mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene loci of Acanthamoeba spp. possess different unique characteristics usable for the genotyping analyses, and those specific features could contribute to the establishment of molecular taxonomy for the species complex of Acanthamoeba.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.93-97
• /
• 1997

For the molecular genetic study of cold tolerance mechanism in plants, a cDNA encoding fatty acid desaturase (fad3), converting linoleic acid (18:2, $\omega$-6) to linolenic acid (18:3, $\omega$-3), was isolated from $\lambda$ZAPII Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA expression library by plaque hybridization using fad3 cDNA probe derived from Brassica napus. A 1.8 kb-EcoRI fragment from a lambda clone showing a strong positive hybridization signal was subcloned into pGEM7 and analyzed for its nucleotide sequence. From deduced amino acid sequences, the fad3 gene was revealed to have an open reading frame(ORF) consisting of 386 amino acids with a molecular mass of 44,075 Da. The fad3 gene was compared to chloroplast $\omega$-3 fatty acid desaturase (fad7) and endoplasmic reticulum Δ12 fatty acid desaturase (fad2) to show 70% and 58% amino acid sequence homology, respectively, Especially, amino acids of internal (82 to 151) and carboxy terminal (276 to 333) regions were highly conserved, implying their requisite role for enzymatic functioning of fatty acid desaturases. IPTG-induced fad3 cDNA expression in E. coli cells was suggested to be toxic to bacterial growth.