• BMB Reports
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.57-61
• /
• 1995

The expression of a recombinant human lactoferrin is reported in mouse HC11 mammary epithelial cells. Expression of human lactoferrin (hLF) was achieved by placing its cDNA under the control of the bovine ${\beta}$-casein gene. To improve the hLF expression level in a cell culture system, two artificial introns were also introduced to construct expression vectors. One intron was a hybrid-splice signal consisting of bovine ${\beta}$-casein intron 1 and rabbit ${\beta}$-globin intron II. The other intron was a DNA fragment spanning intron 8 of the bovine ${\beta}$-casein gene. The hybrid intron moderately elevated hLF expression, whereas intron 8 alone did not express any detectable amount of hLF as judged by Northem and Western blot analyses. When the two introns were used together they contributed to a synergistic elevation of hLF expression. These data indicate that artificial introns on both sides of the hLF cDNA were necessary to increase expression of cDNA.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.56-59
• /
• 2004

Together with the previous reports, my computer survey revealed that several bacteria contain six copies of the type group II intron IntA. The sequence analysis of IntAs showed the high level of homology in the nucleotide sequence (91.9-99.8%). The consensus sequence, 2,270 base pair long, was derived from the nucleotide sequences of all IntA members. The size of the open reading frame intA was 502 amino acids long, that is homologous to reverse transcriptase-like proteins encoded within the group II introns. It was reported that EPEC.IntA and Sf.IntA were inserted into IS911 and IS629, respectively. The sequence of the flanking region IntA was analyzed here. The data show the insertion of EC.IntA into IS629, the insertion of EHEC.IntA into IS3, the insertion of Yp.IntA into IS904-like sequence, and the insertion of EK12.IntA into IS911. Interestingly, these IS elements nested by IntAs were the members of IS3 family elements. The sequences of the IS3 members correspond to the OrfB with the DDE motif conserved in retroviral integrases. Alignment of the flanking sequences of IntAs revealed that the flanking regions -25 to + 10 of insertion sites, that are generally believed to be required for the retrohoming, were not strongly conserved. The data presented here suggests that the retrohoming pathway of IntA seems to differ from those of other group II introns.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.58 no.4
• /
• pp.367-374
• /
• 2005

Background : The fact that only 10-20% of chronic cigarette smokers develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) reflects the presence of genetic factors associated with the susceptibility to COPD. Recently, it was reported that the surfactant protein A increases the secretion of matrix metalloprotease 9, which degrades extracellular matrices of the lung, through a Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). In this context, possible role of TLR2 in the pathogenesis of COPD was postulated, and a functional dinucleotide repeat polymorphism in intron II of TLR2 was evaluated for any association with COPD. Method : Male patients with COPD and male smokers with a normal pulmonary function were enrolled in this study. The number of Guanine-Thymine repeats in intron II of the TLR2 gene were counted. Because the distributions of the repeats were trimodal, the alleles were classified into three subclasses, 12-16 repeats: short (S) alleles; 17-22 repeats: medium length (M) alleles; and 23-27 repeats: long (L) alleles. Result : 125 male patients with COPD and 144 age- and gender-matched blood donors with a normal lung function were enrolled. There were no differences in the distribution of each allele subclass (S, M and L) between the COPD and control group (p=0.75). The frequencies of the genotypes with and without each allele subclass in the COPD and control group were similar. Conclusion : A microsatellite polymorphism in intron II of TLR2 gene was not associated with the development of COPD in Koreans.

• Journal of Species Research
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.76-90
• /
• 2017

Aster altaicus var. uchiyamae Kitam. is an endemic taxon of Korea and is protected by law as an endanger taxon. The genetic information of A. altaicus var. uchiyamae is unavailable in Genbank. Here we sequenced chloroplast genome of A. altaicus var. uchiyamae. The cp-genome of Aster altaicus var. uchiyamae was 152,446 bps in size: LSC was 84,240 bps, IR 25,005 bps, SSC 18,196 bps. The cp-genome contains 112 genes and 21 introns consisted of 79 protein coding genes(PCGs), 4 RNA genes, and 29 tRNA genes, with 20 group II introns and one group I intron. There were three pseudo-genes including ${\psi}$-ycf1, ${\psi}$-rps19, and ${\psi}$-trnT_GGU. Eighteen genes, five introns, and parts of two genes and an intron are found within the IR, which has two copies. The cp-DNA of Aster altaicus var. uchiyamae is distinguished from A. spathulifolius, only known cp-genome of the genus Aster, by 172 SNP in genic regions of 43 PCGs and 21 indels in 11 PCGs and SSU. The chloroplast genome sequence was deposited at GenBank (KX35265).

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.60-64
• /
• 2016

Scopolia parviflora of the family Solanaceae is an endemic species of Korea and a traditional Korean medicinal plant. The plastid genome was sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) method. The characterized cp genome is 156,193 bp in size; the large single-copy (LSC) region is 86,364 bp, the inverted repeat (IR) is 25,905 bp, and the small single copy (SSC) region is 18,019 bp. The overall GC content of the plastid genome amounts to 37.61%. The cp genome contains 113 genes and 21 introns, including 80 proteincoding genes, four RNA genes, 30 tRNA genes, 20 group II introns, and one group I intron. A phylogenetic analysis showed that Scopolia parviflora was closely related to Hyoscyamus niger.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.255-273
• /
• 2019

Orchids are indispensable to the floriculture industry due to their unique floral organization. The flowers have two outer whorls of tepals including a lip (labellum), and two inner whorls, pollinia and gynostemiun (column). The floral organization and development is controlled at the molecular level, mainly by the MADS-box gene family, comprising homeotic genes divided into type I and type II groups. The type I group has four sub-groups, Mα, Mβ, Mγ, and Mδ, playing roles in seed, embryo, and female reproductive organ development; the type II group genes form classes A, B, C, D, and E, which are a part of the MIKC^C subgroup with specific roles in florigenesis and organization. The coordinated functioning of these classes regulates the development of various floral whorls. The availability of genome and transcriptome sequence data for Phalaenopsis equestris offers an opportunity to validate the ABCDE model of flower development. Hence, this study sought to characterize the MADS-box gene family and elucidate of the ABCDE model. A total of 48 identified MADS-box proteins, including 20 type I [Mα (12), Mγ (8)] and 28 type II [MIKC^C (27), MIKC*(1)] members, were characterized for physico-chemical features and domains and motifs organization. The exon-intron distribution and the upstream cis-regulatory elements in the promoter regions of MADS-box genes were also analysed. The discrete pace of duplication events in type I and type II genes suggested differential evolutionary constraints between groups. The correlation of spatio-temporal expression pattern with the presence of specific cis-regulatory elements and putative protein-protein interaction within the different classes of MADS-box gene family endorse the ABCDE model of floral development.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.99-99
• /
• 2002

The hormone resistin is associated with typeII diabetes mellitus in rodent model. Resistin impairs glucose tolerance and insulin action. A new class of anti-diabetic drugs were called thiazolidinediones (TZDs) downregulates a resistin which is induced during adipocyte differentiation. But the connection between increased adiposity and resistin remains unknown. The objectives of this study was to clone a mouse resistin cDNA and to generate transgenic mice overexpressing mouse resistin gene. The 555 bp of mouse resistin was amplified from mob cDNAS by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and cloned into pCR$\^$(R)/ 2.1 TOPO T-vector. Mouse resistin mRNA on the basis of Genbank sequence (acession no. AF323080). Then, the PCR product was cloned into pTargeT$\^$TM/ mammalian expression vector that has pCMV promoter and chimeric intron. Restriction enzyme analysis with BamH I and Not I was carried out to determine an orientation of the insert in the vector. The pCMV-mus/resistin gene was prepared from previous recombinant pTargeT$\^$TM/-mus/resistin by digestion of Bgl II, and has used for microinjection into pronuclei of one cell embryos. The microinjected embryos were transfered to pseudopregnant foster-mother. Mouse resistin expression was detected in transgenic F1 mice by Reverse Transcriptase- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Resistin gene expression mouse has heavier body weight which was measured higher level of plasma glucose than that of normal mouse. And in diet-induced experiments, the abdominal fat pads were isolated from each 24h starvation and re-feeding after fasting group mice that were assessed by RT-PCR analysis. In fasting group mice, resistin expression was higher than that of re-feeding group mice. This result suggests that the resistin gene overexpressing mice may be became to obesity and be useful as an animal disease model to be diabetes mellitus caused by insulin resistance of resistin.

• Journal of Species Research
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.152-158
• /
• 2015

Dendranthema boreale and D. indicum are easily distinguished from other Korean Dendranthema spp. by having yellow flowers. We have found a putative new taxon of Dendranthema having white flowers, except for sharing most characters with Dendranthema boreale. The chloroplast (cp) genome of the putative new taxon of Dendranthema, Dendranthema sp. K247003, registered in National Agro-Biodiversity Center (ABC), was completely characterized as a genetic barcode. The cp-genome of Dendranthema sp. K247003 was 151,175-bp in size: LSC was 82,886-bp, IR 24,971-bp, SSC 18,347-bp. The cp-genome of Dendranthema sp. K247003 contains 113 genes and 21 introns consisted of 79 protein coding genes, 4 RNA genes, and 30 tRNA genes, with 20 group II introns and one group I intron. Some of the genes and there introns were duplicated in IR. The cp-DNA of Dendranthema sp. K247003 is distinguished from that of D. boreale IT121002 by 67 SNPs in genic regions of 24 protein coding genes and by a 9-bp INDEL in ycf1. Further cp-DNA study will give us better information on genetic markers of Dendranthema species.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.193-199
• /
• 2016

Global warming caused from the heavy consumption of fossil fuel is one of the biggest problems to be solved. Biofuel has been gained more attention as an alternative to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel. Recently, butanol produced from the genus Clostridium has been considered as one of the promising alternatives for gasoline, fossil based fuel. Nevertheless, the lack of the genome-engineering tools for the genus Clostridium is the major hurdle for the economic production of butanol. More recently, genome engineering tools have been developed for metabolic engineering of butanol-producing Clostridium species, which includes genome scale network model and genome editing tools on the basis of mobile group II introns and CRISPR/Cas system. In this study, the genome engineering tools for butanol-producing Clostridium species have been reviewed with a brief future perspective.

• Journal of Species Research
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.266-277
• /
• 2022

The current surveys of Ulva in the subtidal area around Jeju Island give a chance to discover unrecorded green algal species of the Korean macroalgal flora. As a result of this investigation, we found Ulva adhaerens Matusmoto & Shimada, inhabiting the subtidal regions, up to 15 m deep, and conducted the DNA barcoding on plastid rbcL-3P and tufA regions with describing the morphological characteristics. Our specimens of U. adhaerens forms a monophyletic clade with the Japanese type specimen and U. piritoka Ngāti Kuri, Heesch & W.A. Nelson from New Zealand exhibiting each 0.3% sequence divergences, respectively, in the plastid rbcL-3P. The genetic variation of U. adhaerens clade is 1.0-3.9% in rbcL-3P and 4.8-9.8% in tufA to each Ulva species, including the generic type, U. lactuca Linneaus. The morphology of Korean U. adhaerens specimens is identical to the type specimens of U. adhaerens from Japan having the development of rhizoidal filaments from both of the cell layers of the distromatic blade and the extension of rhizoidal clumps with adhesive trait between blades by extended rhizoidal clumps at the basal blades. The thallus attachment to substrate is by numerous minute discoidal plates made up of rhizoids originating from the inner part of distromatic blades in basal. Although there are still some problems to resolve the relationship between U. adhaerens and U. piritoka in the rbcL dataset and the phylogenetic pattern of the Group II intron of rbcL, we propose the new record of U. adhaerens in Korean macroalgal flora based on the morphological characteristics of Korean specimens. Continued study of the genus Ulva by morphological and molecular assessment will delimit the species of Ulva, elucidate the relationships between them, and uncover the species diversity.