• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.311-316
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• 2016

The efficacy of plant breeding has been enhanced by application of molecular markers in population screening and selection. Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is a major staple crop that is economically important with worldwide distribution. It is valued for its spicy taste and medicinal effect. The aim of this study was to discover single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), microsatellite markers information, and percentage sharing through orthologous analysis of pepper-specific pungency-related genes. Here, we report the results of transcriptome analysis and microsatellite markers for four pepper varieties that possess a pungency-related gene. Orthologous analyses was performed to identify species-specific pungency-related genes in pepper, Arabidopsis thaliana L., potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Advancements in next-generation sequencing technologies enabled us to quickly and cost-effectively assemble and characterize genes to select molecular markers in various organisms, including pepper. We identified a total of 9762, 7302, 8596, and 6886 SNPs for the four pepper cultivars Blackcluster, Mandarine, Saengryeg 211, and Saengryeg 213, respectively. We used 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing to identify microsatellite markers and tri-nucleotide repeats (54.4%), the most common repeats, followed by di-, hexa-, tetra-, and penta-nucleotide repeats. A total of 5156 (15.9%) pepper-specific pungency-related genes were discovered as a result of orthologous analysis.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.123-136
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• 2012

Diseases caused by begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae, genus Begomovirus) constitute a serious constraint to tropical and sub-tropical agro-ecosystems worldwide. In recent years, they have also introduced in temperate regions of the world where they have great impact and are posing a serious threat to a variety of greenhouse crops. Begomoviral diseases can in extreme cases reduce yields to zero leading to catastrophic losses in agriculture. They are still evolving and pose a serious threat to sustainable agriculture across the world, particularly in tropics and sub-tropics. Till recently, there have been no records on the occurrence of begomoviral disease in South Korea, however, the etiology of other plant viral diseases are known since last century. The first begomovirus infected sample was collected from sweet potato plant in 2003 and since then there has been gradual increase in the begomoviral epidemics specially in tomato and sweet potato crops. So far, 48 begomovirus sequences originating from various plant species have been submitted in public sequence data base from different parts of the country. The rapid emergence of begomoviral epidemics might be with some of the factors like evolution of new variants of the viruses, appearance of efficient vectors, changing cropping systems, introduction of susceptible plant varieties, increase in global trade in agricultural products, intercontinental transportation networks, and changes in global climatic conditions. Another concern might be the emergence of a begomovirus complex and satellite DNA molecules. Thorough understanding of the pathosystems is needed for the designing of effective managements. Efforts should also be made towards the integration of the resistant genes for the development of transgenic plants specially tomato and sweet potato as they have been found to be widely infected in South Korea. There should be efficient surveillance for emergence or incursions of other begomoviruses and biotypes of whitefly. This review discusses the general characteristics of begomoviruses, transmission by their vector B. tabaci with an especial emphasis on the occurrence and distribution of begomoviruses in South Korea, and control measures that must be addressed in order to develop more sustainable management strategies.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2010

Definitive identification of original plant species is important for standardizing herbal medicine. The herbal medicines Cynanchi Wilfordii Radix (Baekshuoh in Korean and Beishuwu in Chinese) and Polygoni Multiflori Radix (Hashuoh in Korean and Heshuwu in Chinese) are often misidentified in the Korean herbal market due to morphological similarities and similar names. Therefore, we developed a reliable molecular marker for the identification of Cynanchi Wilfordii Radix and Polygoni Multiflori Radix. We used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of three plant species, Polygoni multiflorum, Cynanchum wilfordii, and Cynanchum auriculatum, to obtain several species-specific RAPD amplicons. From nucleotide sequences of these RAPD amplicons, we developed six sequence characterized amplification region (SCAR) markers for distinguishing Polygoni Multiflori Radix and Cynanchi Wilfordii Radix. Furthermore, we established SCAR markers for the simultaneous discrimination of the three species within a single reaction by using multiplex-PCR. These SCAR markers can be used for efficient and rapid authentication of these closely related species, and will be useful for preventing the distribution of adulterants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.499-499
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• 2011

Silicon nanowires (Si NWs) have been extensively studied for nanoelectronics owing to their unique optical and electrical properties different from those of bulk silicon. For the development of Si NW devices, better understanding of oxidation behavior in Si NWs would be an important issue. For example, it is widely known that atomic scale roughness at the dielectric (SiOx)/channel (Si) interface can significantly affect the device performance in the nano-scale devices. However, the oxidation process at the atomic-scale is still unknown because of its complexity. In the present work, we investigated the oxidation behavior of Si NW in atomic scale by simulating the dry oxidation process using a reactive molecular dynamics simulation technique. We focused on the residual stress evolution during oxidation to understand the stress effect on oxidation behavior of Si NWs having two different diameters, 5 nm and 10 nm. We calculated the charge distribution according to the oxidation time for 5 and 10 nm Si NWs. Judging from this data, it was observed that the surface oxide layer started to form before it is fully oxidized, i.e., the active diffusion of oxygen in the surface oxide layer. However, it is well-known that the oxide layer formation on the Si NWs results in a compressive stress on the surface which may retard the oxygen diffusion. We focused on the stress evolution of Si NWs during the oxidation process. Since the surface oxidation results in the volume expansion of the outer shell, it shows a compressive stress along the oxide layer. Interestingly, the stress for the 10 nm Si NW exhibits larger compressive stress than that of 5 nm Si NW. The difference of stress level between 5 an 10 anm Si NWs is approximately 1 or 2 GPa. Consequently, the diameter of Si NWs could be a significant factor to determine the self-limiting oxidation behavior of Si NWs when the diameter was very small.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.413-416
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• 2008

A synthesis route to ordered mesoporous carbons with controllable nitrogen content has been developed for high-performance EDLC electrodes. Nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbons (denoted as NMC) were prepared by carbonizing a mixture of two different carbon sources within the mesoporous silica designated by KIT-6. Furfuryl alcohol was used as a primary carbon precursor, and melamine as a nitrogen dopant. This synthesis procedure gave cubic Ia3d mesoporous carbons containing nitrogen as much as 13%. The carbon exhibited a narrow pore size distribution centered at 3-4 nm with large pore volume (0.6-1 cm3 g-1) and high specific BET surface area (700-1000 m2 g-1). Electrochemical behaviors of the NMC samples with various N-contents were investigated by a two-electrode measurement system at aqueous solutions. At low current density, the NMC exhibited markedly increasing capacitance due to the increase in the nitrogen content. This result could be attributed to the enhanced surface affinity between carbon electrode and electrolyte ions due to the hydrophilic nitrogen functional groups. At high current density conditions, the NMC samples exhibited decreasing specific capacitance against the increase in the nitrogen content. The loss of the capacitance with the N-content may be explained by high electric resistance which causes a significant IR drop at high current densities. The present results indicate that the optimal nitrogen content is required for achieving high power and high energy density simultaneously.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.92-98
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• 1992

Some physicochemical properties and molecular structure of cow pea, mung bean and acorn starches(mook-forming starches) and red bean, wheat and sweat potato starches(mook-unforming starches) were investigated. Amylose contents of cow pea, mung bean and acorn starch were higher than the others. Cow pea starch was similiar to mung bean starch in gelatinization characteristics by Brabender amylogram but cold viscosity of red bean starch and peak viscosity of sweet potato starch were especially high. Whereas viscosity of wheat starch was low in whole temperature range. Amylose molecules of larger molecular size$(above\;5{\times}10^5\;molecular\;weight)$ of three mook-forming starches were more than shoes of red bean and wheat starch. Chain distribution ratios$(DP\;35{\sim}55\;to\;DP\;10{\sim}20)$ of cow pea, mung bean and acorn amylopectin were higher than thoes of red bean, sweet potato and wheat amylopectin.

• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2020

The genus Termitomyces (Lyophyllaceae, Basidiomycota) is often associated with fungus-feeding termites (Macrotermitinae) due to their strong symbiotic relationships. The genus is widely found exclusively in certain regions of Africa and Asia. They are recognized as edible mushroom within Southeast Asia as well. But it is often misidentified based on morphology by the local communities especially in Malaysia for Chlorophyllum molybdites which is a highly poisonous mushroom. Thus, it is necessary to study the genus for Malaysia with the synergy of using both morphological and molecular identification. In this study, we aim to describe another new species as an addition to the genus Termitomyces found within Sabah, Malaysia. We generated two new sequences (nrLSU and mtSSU) for the new species and a total of 28 nrLSU and mtSSU sequences were retrieved from GenBank for the phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inferences. We identified that the new collection from Sabah province is a new species and named as Termitomyces gilvus based on the termites found in the mound. A phylogeny tree made from the concatenated genes of LSU and mtSSU suggests that T. gilvus is closely related to T. bulborhizus from China. According to our results, the combination of molecular and morphology proved to be a robust approach to re-evaluate the taxonomic status of Termitomyces species in Malaysia. Additional surveys are needed to verify the species diversity and clarify their geographic distribution.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.397-402
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• 2020

Collagen type I is the most abundant protein in the human body. It shows viscoelastic behavior, which is what confers tendons with their viscoelastic properties. There are two different temperature setting methods in molecular dynamics simulations, namely rescaling and reassignment. The rescaling method maintains the temperature by scaling the given temperature, while the reassignment method sets the temperature according to a Maxwell distribution at the target temperature. We observed time-dependent behavior when the reassignment method was applied in tensile simulation, but not when the rescaling method was applied. Time-dependent behavior was observed only when the reassignment method was applied or when one side of the collagen molecule was stretched to a greater extent than the other side. As result, the collagen is elongated to 80nm, 100nm, 130nm, and 180nm, respectively, when the collagen is pulled by different velocities, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 Å/ps, up to 40 Å. The results do not provide a detailed physical explanation, but the phenomena illustrated in this result are important for caution when further simulations are performed.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.333-341
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• 2000

Blends consisting of linear shape polylactic acid and star shape polylactic acid (L-PLLA/S-PLLA) have been prepared by melt and solution blending. The effect of blending method on the thermal properties and crystallization behavior of L-PLLA/S-PLLA blends has been investigated. The molecular weight decrease was revealed both in melt and solution blending. S-PLLA was found to be more stable than L-PLLA in the reduction of molecular weight during the course of blending due to its star shape structure. As a result, broad molecular weight distribution was obtained in solution blending. It was found that melting temperature and glass transition temperature decrease with increasing S-PLLA content. Blending method had large influence on the glass transition temperature of PLLA blends, while less effect on melting temperature. From DSC results, it can be noticed that solution blending is more effective blending method to obtain higher crystallinity than melt blending for S-PLLA and blend with higher S-PLLA content.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.414-422
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• 2020

Fangchinoline (FAN) is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid that is widely known for its anti-tumor properties. The goal of this study is to examine the effects of FAN on arthritis and the possible pathways it acts on. Human fibroblast-like synovial cells (FLS), carrageenan/kaolin arthritis rat model (C/K), and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice model were used to establish the efficiency of FAN in arthritis. Human FLS cells were treated with FAN (1, 2.5, 5, 10 µM) 1 h before IL-1β (10 ng/mL) stimulation. Cell viability, reactive oxygen species measurement, and western blot analysis of inflammatory mediators and the MAPK and NF-κB pathways were performed. In the animal models, after induction of arthritis, the rodents were given 10 and 30 mg/kg of FAN orally 1 h before conducting behavioral experiments such as weight distribution ratio, knee thickness measurement, squeaking score, body weight measurement, paw volume measurement, and arthritis index measurement. Rodent knee joints were also analyzed histologically through H&E staining and safranin staining. FAN decreased the production of inflammatory cytokines and ROS in human FLS cells as well as the phosphorylation of the MAPK pathway and NF-κB pathway in human FLS cells. The behavioral parameters in the C/K rat model and CIA mouse model and inflammatory signs in the histological analysis were found to be ameliorated in FAN-treated groups. Cartilage degradation in CIA mice knee joints were shown to have been suppressed by FAN. These findings suggest that fangchinoline has the potential to be a therapeutic source for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.