• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.249-256
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• 2017

The Monascus azaphilone (MAz) pigment is a well-known food colorant that has yellow, orange and red components. The structures of the yellow and orange MAz differ by two hydride reductions, with yellow MAz being the reduced form. Orange MAz can be non-enzymatically converted to red MAz in the presence of amine derivatives. It was previously demonstrated that mppE and mppG are involved in the biosynthesis of yellow and orange MAz, respectively. However, ${\Delta}mppE$ and ${\Delta}mppG$ knockout mutants maintained residual production of yellow and orange MAz, respectively. In this study, we deleted the region encompassing mppD, mppE and mppG in M. purpureus and compared the phenotype of the resulting mutant (${\Delta}mppDEG$) with that of an mppD knockout mutant (${\Delta}mppD$). It was previously reported that the ${\Delta}mppD$ strain retained the ability to produce MAz but at approximately 10% of the level observed in the wildtype strain. A chemical analysis demonstrated that the ${\Delta}mppDEG$ strain was still capable of producing both yellow and orange MAz, suggesting the presence of minor MAz route(s) not involving mppE or mppG. Unexpectedly, the ${\Delta}mppDEG$ strain was observed to accumulate fast-eluting pigments in a reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. A LC-MS analysis identified these pigments as ethanolamine derivatives of red MAz, which had been previously identified in an mppE knockout mutant that produces high amounts of orange MAz. Although the underlying mechanism is largely unknown, this study has yielded an M. purpureus strain that selectively accumulates red MAz.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.275-284
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• 2006

The molecular components that generate and maintain circadian rhythms of physiology and behavior in mammals are present both in the brain (suprachiasmatic nucleus; SCN) and in peripheral tissues. Examination of mice with targeted disruptions of either mPer1 or mPer2 has shown that these two genes have key roles in the SCN circadian clock. Here we show that loss of the clock gene mPer2 affects forced locomotor performance in mice without altering muscle contractility. A proteomic analysis revealed that the anterior tibialis muscles of the mPer2 knockout mice had higher levels of glycolytic enzymes such as triose phosphate isomerase and enolase than those of either the wild type or mPer1 knockout mice. In addition, the level of expression of HSP90 in the mPer2 mutant mice was also significantly higher than in wildtype mice. These results suggest that the reduced locomotor endurance of the mPer2 knockout mice reflects a greater dependence on anaerobic metabolism under stress conditions, and that the two canonical clock genes, mPer1 and mPer2, play distinct roles in the physiology of skeletal muscle.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2018

Our previous research demonstrated the essential role of the xenB gene in stress response to RDX by using Pseudomonas sp. HK-6 xenB knockout. We have extended this work to examine the cellular responses and altered proteomic profiles of the HK-6 xenA knockout mutant under RDX stress. The xenA mutant degraded RDX about 2-fold more slowly and its growth and survival rates were several-fold lower than the wild-type HK-6 strain. SEM revealed more severe morphological damages on the surface of the xenA mutant cells under RDX stress. The wild-type cells expressed proportionally-increased two stress shock proteins, DnaK and GroEL from the initial incubation time point or the relatively low RDX concentrations, but slightly less expressed at prolonged incubation period or higher RDX. However the xenA mutant did not produced DnaK and GroEL as RDX concentrations were gradually increased. The wild-type cells well maintained transcription levels of dnaA and groEL under increased RDX stress while those in the xenA mutant were decreased and eventually disappeared. The altered proteome profiles of xenA mutant cells under RDX stress also observed so that the 27 down-regulated plus the 3 up-regulated expression proteins were detected in 2-DE PAGE. These all results indicated that the intact xenA gene is necessary for maintaining cell integrity under the xenobiotic stress as well as performing an efficient RDX degradation process.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.743-748
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• 2017

Objective: Based on rapid advancement of genetic modification techniques, genomic editing is expected to become the most efficient tool for improvement of economic traits in livestock as well as poultry. In this study, we examined and verified the nickase of mutated CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) to modulate the specific target gene in chicken DF1 cells. Methods: Chicken myostatin which inhibits muscle cell growth and differentiation during myogenesis was targeted to be deleted and mutated by the Cas9-D10A nickase. After co-transfection of the nickase expression vector with green fluorescent gene (GFP) gene and targeted multiplex guide RNAs (gRNAs), the GFP-positive cells were sorted out by fluorescence-activated cell sorting procedure. Results: Through the genotyping analysis of the knockout cells, the mutant induction efficiency was 100% in the targeted site. Number of the deleted nucleotides ranged from 2 to 39 nucleotide deletion. There was no phenotypic difference between regular cells and knockout cells. However, myostatin protein was not apparently detected in the knockout cells by Western blotting. Additionally, six off-target sites were predicted and analyzed but any non-specific mutation in the off-target sites was not observed. Conclusion: The knockout technical platform with the nickase and multiplex gRNAs can be efficiently and stablely applied to functional genomics study in poultry and finally adapted to generate the knockout poultry for agribio industry.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.302-306
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• 2014

Myostatin represses muscle growth by negatively regulating the number and size of muscle fibers. Myostatin loss-of-function can result in the double-muscling phenotype and increased muscle mass. Thus, knockout of myostatin gene could improve the quality of meat from mammals. In the present study, zinc finger nucleases, a useful tool for generating gene knockout animals, were designed to target exon 1 of the myostatin gene. The designed ZFNs were introduced into porcine primary fibroblasts and early implantation embryos via electroporation and microinjection, respectively. Mutations around the ZFNs target site were detected in both primary fibroblasts and blastocysts. The proportion of mutant fibroblast cells and blastocyst was 4.81% and 5.31%, respectively. Thus, ZFNs can be used to knockout myostatin in porcine primary fibroblasts and early implantation embryos.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2011

The role of the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) of Helicobacter pylori in the oxidative stress was investigated in this study. A fur knockout mutant of H. pylori was constructed by replacing the fur gene with an aphA (kanamycin resistant marker) gene. Photodynamic therapy using methylene blue (MB) and 660 nm light was chosen to induce oxidative stress. The bactericidal effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) was compared between wild type H. pylori and fur knockout mutant H. pylori. The degree of oxidative damage of DNA was confirmed using alkaline gel electrophoresis and an assay of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). In control groups, the number of viable cells was maintained constantly during experiment. After PDT, the mutant H. pylori showed 10,000 times decreased viable cell number compared with wild type H. pylori. Depending on the exposure time of 660 nm light, the 3-fold increase in the concentration of 8-OHdG was observed in mutant H. pylori. The results of this study showed that H. pylori's Fur protein may play a role in oxidative stress induced by PDT.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2019

Di- and tri-methylation of lysine 4 on histone H3 (H3K4me2 and H3K4me3, respectively) are epigenetic markers of active genes. Complex associated with Set1 (COMPASS) mediates these H3K4 methylations. The involvement of COMPASS activity in secondary metabolite (SM) biosynthesis was first demonstrated with an Aspergillus nidulans cclA knockout mutant. The cclA knockout induced the transcription of two cryptic SM biosynthetic gene clusters, leading to the production of the cognate SM. Monascus spp. are filamentous fungi that have been used for food fermentation in eastern Asia, and the pigment Monascus azaphione (MAz) is their main SM. Monascus highly produces MAz, implying that the cognate biosynthetic genes are highly active in transcription. In the present study, we examined how COMPASS activity modulates MAz biosynthesis by inactivating Monascus purpureus cclA (Mp-cclA) and swd1 (Mp-swd1). For both ${\Delta}Mp-cclA$ and ${\Delta}Mp-swd1$, a reduction in MAz production, accompanied by an abated cell growth, was observed. Suppression of MAz production was more effective in an agar culture than in the submerged liquid culture. The fidelity of the ${\Delta}Mp-swd1$ phenotypes was verified by restoring the WT-like phenotypes in a reversion recombinant mutant, namely, trpCp: Mp-swd1, that was generated from the ${\Delta}Mp-swd1$ mutant. Real-time quantitative Polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated that the transcription of MAz biosynthetic genes was repressed in the ${\Delta}Mp-swd1$ mutant. This study demonstrated that MAz biosynthesis is under the control of COMPASS activity and that the extent of this regulation is dependent on growth conditions.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.593-602
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• 2022

Anthracnose, caused by the ascomycete fungus Colletotrichum scovillei, is a destructive disease in pepper. The fungus germinates and develops an infection structure called an appressorium on the plant surface. Several signaling cascades, including cAMP-mediated signaling and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, are involved in fungal development and pathogenicity in plant pathogenic fungi, but this has not been well studied in the fruit-infecting fungus C. scovillei. Ste50 is an adaptor protein interacting with multiple upstream components to activate the MAPK cascades. Here, we characterized the CsSTE50 gene of C. scovillei, a homolog of Magnaporthe oryzae MST50 that functions in MAPK cascades, by gene knockout. The knockout mutant ΔCsste50 had pleiotropic phenotypes in development and pathogenicity. Compared with the wild-type, the mutants grew faster and produced more conidia on regular agar but were more sensitive to osmotic stress. On artificial and plant surfaces, the conidia of the mutant showed significantly reduced germination and failed to form appressoria. The mutant was completely non-pathogenic on pepper fruits with or without wounds, indicating that pre-penetration and invasive growth were both defective in the mutant. Our results show that the adaptor protein CsSTE50 plays a role in vegetative growth, conidiation, germination, appressorium formation, and pathogenicity in C. scovillei.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.388-389
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• 2005

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.700-709
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• 2016

The mitogen-activated protein kinase HOG1 (high-osmolarity glycerol response pathway) plays a crucial role in the response of yeast to hyperosmotic shock. Trichosporonoides oedocephalis produces large amounts of polyols (e.g., erythritol and glycerol) in a culture medium. However, the effects of HOG1 gene knockout and environmental stress on the production of these polyols have not yet been studied. In this study, a To-HOG1 null mutation was constructed in T. oedocephalis using the loxP-Kan-loxP/Cre system as replacement of the targeted genes, and the resultant mutants showed much smaller colonies than the wild-type controls. Interestingly, compared with the wild-type strains, the results of shake-flask culture showed that To-HOG1 null mutation increased erythritol production by 1.44-fold while decreasing glycerol production by 71.23%. In addition, this study investigated the effects of citric acid stress on the T. oedocephalis HOG1 null mutants and the wild-type strain. When the supplementation of citric acid in the fermentation medium was controlled at 0.3% (w/v), the concentration of erythritol produced from the wild-type and To-HOG1 knockout mutant strains improved by 18.21% and 21.65%, respectively.