• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.2 s.69
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• pp.182-185
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• 2005

We used the IS1096 transposon to construct Mycobacterium bovis BCG mutants resistant to an antituberculosis drug PA-824 and isolated several different mutants. We identified the locations of the insertions and found that the insertions were at various sites including the genes for the PPE proteins. HPLC analyses of the extracts of these five PPE mutant cells showed that three mutants produced only F0, and intermediate for the synthetic pathway of coenzyme $F^{420}$, and the remaining two neither F0 nor $F^{420}$. These data suggest that the products of these PPE genes are somehow involved in the biosynthesis of the coenzyme $F^{420}$.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.563-570
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• 2009

We previously isolated the OsCBT gene, which encodes a calmodulin (CaM)-binding protein, from a rice expression library constructed from fungal elicitor-treated rice suspension cells. In order to understand the function of OsCBT in rice, we isolated and characterized a T-DNA insertion mutant allele named oscbt-1. The oscbt-1 mutant exhibits reduced levels of OsCBT transcripts and no significant morphological changes compared to wild-type plant although the growth of the mutant is stunted. However, oscbt-1 mutants showed significant resistance to two major rice pathogens. The growth of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea, as well as the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae was significantly suppressed in oscbt-1 plants. Histochemical analysis indicated that the hypersensitive-response was induced in the oscbt-1 mutant in response to compatible strains of fungal pathogens. OsCBT expression was induced upon challenge with fungal elicitor. We also observed significant increase in the level of pathogenesis-related genes in the oscbt-1 mutant even under pathogen-free condition. Taken together, the results support an idea that OsCBT might act as a negative regulator on plant defense.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1987.07a
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• pp.323-347
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• 1987

The R locus of maize in one of several genes that regulate the anthocyanin pigments throughout the body of the plant and seed. The R gene product may regulate pigment deposition by controlling the expression of the flavonoid biosynthetic gene pathway in a tissue-specific manner. To understand the basis for tissue specific regulation and allelic variation at R, the molecular study has been done by cloning a portion of the R complex by transposon tagging with Ac. R specific probe were cloned from the R-nj mutant induced by Ac insertion mutagenesis. From southern analysis of R-r complex using the R-nj probe, the structure of R-r was proposed that R-r containes the three elements, (P)(Q)(S). These elements may organize as the inversion triplication model which (S) sequence was inverted in relation to (P) and (Q). The R-sc derivated from R-mb or R-nj was cloned with R-nj probe, and molecular genetical data showed that R-sc containes tissue specific and tissue nonspecific area, and the sequencing of R-sc are progressed now.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.3 s.70
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• pp.415-422
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• 2005

library of the mutants was prepared by transposon mutagenesis of the Mycobacterium bovis BCG. We screened this library for the resistance to an anti-tuberculosis antibiotic, PA-824. Most of the mutants resistant to the PA-824 were not able to synthesize the coenzyme $F_{420}$ which is normally produced by the wild type M. bovis BCG strains. HPLC analysis of the cellular extract showed that one of those mutants which lost the ability to synthesize $F_{420}$ still produced F0. The insertion site of the transposon in this mutant was determined by an inverse PCR and the transposon was found to be inserted in the Rv2435c open reading frame (ORF). Rv2435c ORF is predicted to encode an 80.3 kDa protein. Rv2435c protein appears to be bound to the cytoplasmic membrane, its N-terminal present in the periplasm and C-terminal in the cytoplasm. The C-terminal portion of this protein is highly homologous with the adenylyl cyclases of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. There are 15 ORFs which have homology with the class III AC proteins in the genome of the M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. Two of those, Rv1625c and Rv2435c, are highly homologous with the mammalian ACs. We cloned the cytoplasmic domain of the Rv2435c ORF and expressed it with six histidine residues attached on its C-terminal in Escherichia coli to find out if this protein is a genuine AC. Production of that protein in E. coli was proved by purifying the histidine-tagged protein by using the Ni-NTA resin. This protein, however, failed to complement the cya mutation in E. coli, indicating that this protein lacks the AC activity. All of the further attempts to convert this protein to a functional AC by a mutagenesis with UV or hydroxylamine, or construction of several different fusion proteins with Rv1625c failed. It is, therefore, possible that Rv2435c protein might affect the conversion of F0 to $F_{420}$ not by synthesizing cAMP but by some other way.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2008

The 1,874 rice lines were selected from 3,000 Ds insertional mutant pool by Basta herbicide treatment and were surveyed for trait variation and molecular characteristics of genes knocked out by Ds insertion. Compared with "Donjin", an original japonica cultivar used for transformation, Ds insertion mutant pool showed large variation in major agronomic traits including tiller, panicle, and heading etc. Southern blot analysis demonstrated that these lines on the average had two Ds copies in Donjin genome, resulting in 38.4% of one copy, 32.5% of two copies, 16.7% of three copies, and 11.3% of over four copies. GUS analysis showed that 3.9% of lines (73/1,860) had tissue-specific expression in leaves, nodal parts, floral organs such as stigma and pollen, and roots. Data set obtained from agricultural trait variation and molecular characteristics for individual Ds insertional lines would provide researchers with more information for understanding the function of unknown rice genes controlling economically important traits.

• ALGAE
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.127-141
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• 2018

Low efficiency in microalgal biomass production was largely attributed to the low density of algal cell cultures. Though mutations that reduced the level of chlorophyll or pigment content increased efficiency of photon usage and thus the cell-culture density under high-illumination growth conditions (e.g., >$500{\mu}mol\;photon\;m^{-2}\;s^{-1}$), it was unclear whether algae could increase cell-culture density under low-illumination conditions (e.g., ${\sim}50{\mu}mol\;photon\;m^{-2}\;s^{-1}$). To address this question, we performed forward genetic screening in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. A pool of >1,000 insertional mutants was constructed and subjected to continuous subcultures in shaking flasks under low-illumination conditions. Complexity of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pattern in cultures indicated the degree of heterogeneity of mutant populations. We showed that the levels of RFLP complexity decreased when cycles of subculture increased, suggesting that cultures were gradually populated by high cell-culture density (HCD) strains. Analysis of the 3 isolated HCD mutants after 30 cycles of subcultures confirmed that their maximal biomass production was 50-100% higher than that of wild type under low-illumination. Furthermore, levels of chlorophyll content in HCD mutant strains were similar to that of wild type. Inverse polymerase chain reaction analysis identified the locus of insertion in two of three HCD strains. Molecular and transcriptomic analyses suggested that two HCD mutants were a result of the gain-of-function phenotype, both linking to the abnormality of mitochondrial functions. Taken together, our results demonstrate that HCD strains can be obtained through continuous subcultures under low illumination conditions.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.105-109
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• 2009

We reported previously that overexpression of a salicylic acid (SA) methyltransferase1 gene from rice (OsBSMT1) or a SA glucosyltransferase1 gene from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtSAGT1) leads to increased susceptibility to Pseudomonas syringae due to reduced SA levels. To further examine their roles in the defense responses, we assayed the transcript levels of AtBSMT1 or AtSAGT1 in plants with altered levels of SA and/or other defense components. These data showed that AtSAGT1 expression is regulated partially by SA, or nonexpressor of pathogenesis related protein1, whereas AtBSMT1 expression was induced in SA-deficient mutant plants. In addition, we produced the transgenic Arabidopsis plants with RNAi-mediated inhibition of AtSAGT1 and isolated a null mutant of AtBSMT1, and then analyzed their phenotypes. A T-DNA insertion mutation in the AtBSMT1 resulted in reduced methyl salicylate (MeSA) levels upon P. syringae infection. However, accumulation of SA and glucosyl SA was similar in both the atbsmt1 and wild-type plants, indicating the presence of another SA methyltransferase or an alternative pathway for MeSA production. The AtSAGT1-RNAi line exhibited no altered phenotypes upon pathogen infection, compared to wild-type plants, suggesting that (an)other SA glucosyltransferase(s) in Arabidopsis plants may be important for the pathogenesis of P. syringae.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.673-680
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• 2009

Conversion of the normal soluble form of prion protein, PrP ($PrP^C$), to proteinase K-resistant form ($PrP^{Sc}$) is a common molecular etiology of prion diseases. Proteinase K-resistance is attributed to a drastic conformational change from ${\alpha}$-helix to ${\beta}$-sheet and subsequent fibril formation. Compelling evidence suggests that membranes play a role in the conformational conversion of PrP. However, biophysical mechanisms underlying the conformational changes of PrP and membrane binding are still elusive. Recently, we demonstrated that the putative transmembrane domain (TMD; residues 111-135) of Syrian hamster PrP penetrates into the membrane upon the reduction of the conserved disulfide bond of PrP. To understand the mechanism underlying the membrane insertion of the TMD, here we explored changes in conformation and membrane binding abilities of PrP using wild type and cysteine-free mutant. We show that the reduction of the disulfide bond of PrP removes motional restriction of the TMD, which might, in turn, expose the TMD into solvent. The released TMD then penetrates into the membrane. We suggest that the disulfide bond regulates the membrane binding mode of PrP by controlling the motional freedom of the TMD.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.304-311
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• 1995

To determine whether chitinolytic enzymes from Chromobacterium violaceum C-61 play an important role in the suppression of Rhizoctonia damping-off, Tn5 insertion mutants deficient in chitinolytic activity (Chi a- mutants) were selected and their chitinolytic and disease suppression were compared with those of the parental strain. Four Chi a- mutants selected from about 2,000 transconjugants did not inhibit mycelial growth of Rhizoctonia solani on nutrient agar-potato dextrose agar (BA-PDA) and their abilities to suppress Rhizoctonia damping-off were much lower than the parental strain. However, population density in the eggplant rhizosphere did not differ significantly between the parental strain and four Chi a- mutants. The crude enzyme of the parental strain inhibited growth of R. solani on NA-PDA and its chitinase activity was much higher than that of Chi a- mutants. But the N,N' -diacetylchitobiase activity between these isolates were not significantly different. The chitinase of Chi a- mutants was defective in 2 isoforms of 52- and 37-kDa among four isoforms of 54-, 52-, 50- and 37-kDa. A Tn5 element was inserted into one site of 10 kb EcoRI fragment of chromosomal DNA in three Chi- mutants, C61-C1, -C2, and -C3. In C61-C4 mutant, a Tn5 element was inserted into two sites of 10 kb and 4.4 kb EcoRI fragments. These results suggest that the chitinase of C. violaceum C-61 play an important role in the suppression of Rhizoctonia damping-off of cucumber and eggplant.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.275-282
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• 2005

A chitinolytic bacterium, Chromobacterium sp. strain C-61, was found strongly antagonistic to Rhizoctonia solani, a causal agent of damping-off of eggplant. In this study, the biocontrol activity and enzymatic characteristics of strain C-61 were compared with its four Tn5 insertion mutants (C61-A, -B, -C, and -D) that had lower chitinolytic ability. The chitinase activity of a 2-day old culture was about $76\%,\;49\%\;and\;6\%$ level in C61-A, C61-B and in C61-C, respectively, compared with that of strain C-61. The $\beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase$(Nahase) activity was little detected in strain C-61 but increased largely in C-61A, C61-B and C61-C. Activities of chitinase and Nahase appeared to be negatively correlated in these strains. Another mutant, C-61D, produced no detectable extracellular chitinase and Nahase. The in vitro and in vivo biocontrol activities of strain C-61 and its mutants were closely related to their ability to produce chitinase but not Nahase. No significant differences in population densities between strain C-61 and its mutants were observed in soil around eggplant roots. The results of SDS-PAGE and isoelectrofocusing showed that a major chitinase of strain C-61 is 54-kDa with pI of approximately 8.5. This study provides evidence that the biocontrol activity of Chromobacterium sp. strain C-61 against Rhizoctonia solani depends on the ability to produce chitinase with molecular weight of 54-kDa and pI of 8.5.