• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.218-225
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• 2007

In Arabidopsis thaliana, the microtubule-associated protein AtMAP65-1 shows various functions on microtubule dynamics and organizations. However, it is still an open question about whether AtMAP65-1 binds to tubulin dimers and how it regulates microtubule dynamics. In present study, the tubulin-binding activity of AtMAP65-1 was investigated. Pull-down and co-sedimentation exp eriments demonstrated that AtMAP65-1 bound to tubulin dimers,at a molar ratio of 1 : 1. Cross-linking experiments showed that AtMAP65-1 bound to tubulin dimers by interacting with $\alpha$-tubulin of the tubulin heterodimer. Interfering the bundling effect of AtMAP65-1 by addition of salt and monitoring the tubulin assembly, the experiment results indicated that AtMAP65-1 promoted tubulin assembly by interacting with tubulin dimers. In addition, five truncated versions of AtMAP65-1, namely AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$N339 (amino acids 340-587); AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$N494 (amino acids 495-587); AtMAP65-1 340-494 (amino acids 340-494); AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$C495 (amino acids 1-494) and AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$C340 (amino acids 1-339), were tested for their binding activities and roles in tubulin polymerization in vitro. Four (AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$N339, $\Delta$N494, AtMAP65-1 340-494 and $\Delta$C495) from the five truncated proteins were able to co-sediment with microtubules, and three (AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$N339, $\Delta$N494 and AtMAP65-1 340-494) of them could bind to tubulin dimers in vitro. Among the three truncated proteins, AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$N339 showed the greatest activity to promote tubulin polymerization, AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$N494 exhibited almost the same activity as the full length protein in promoting tubulin assembly, and AtMAP65-1 340-494 had minor activity to promote tubulin assembly. On the contrast, AtMAP65-1 $\Delta$C495, which bound to microtubules but not to tubulin dimers, did not affect tubulin assembly. Our study suggested that AtMAP65-1 might promote tubulin assembly by binding to tubulin dimers in vivo.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.209-215
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• 2005

Recently, a large number of clinical experiments have shown that exposure of organic pollutants lead to various cancers through the abnormal cell growth. Environmental pollutants, such as 2, 3, 7, 8-Tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are carcinogen and are known to cause the cognitive disability and motor dysfunction in the developing of brain. The effects of these pollutants on neurodevelopmental disorder is well established, but the underlying mechanism(s) and similarity of gene expression profiles in human brain tumors with organic pollutants still remain unclear. In this study, we first examined the gene expression profiles in glioblastomas compared with meningioma that are kinds of primary human brain tumor by using human cDNA microarray. The results of cDNA microarray analysis revealed that 26 genes were upregulated (Z-ratio>2.0) and 14 genes were downregulated (Z-ratio<-2.0) in glioblastoma compared with meningioma. From the altered gene patterns, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling related genes, such as MAP2K3, MAP3K11 and jun activated domain binding protein, and transcription factors, such as UTF2 and TF12, were upregulated in glioblastoma. Also, we tried to investigate the relation between important genes up- and down-regulated in giloblastoma and various organic pollutants. Therefore, the identification of changes in the patterns of gene expression may provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in human primary brain tumors and of the relation between gene expression profiles and organic pollutants in brain tissue.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.794-804
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• 2012

For the geometric computations on the protein molecules, the proximity queries, such as computing the minimum distance from an arbitrary point to the molecule or detecting the collision between a point and the molecule, are essential. For the proximity queries, the efficiency of the computation time can be different according to the data structure used for the molecule. In this paper, we present the data structures and algorithms for applying proximity queries to a molecule with GPU acceleration. We present two data structures, a voxel map and a sphere tree, where the molecule is represented as a set of spheres, and corresponding algorithms. Moreover, we show that the performance of presented data structures are improved from 3 to 633 times compared to the previous data structure for the molecules containing 1,000~15,000 atoms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 1997.06a
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• pp.23-49
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• 1997

This is a progress report of rice biotechnology including development of gene transformation system, gene cloning and molecular mapping in rice. The scope of the research was focused on the connection between conventional breeding and biotech-researches. Plant transformation via Agrobacterium or particle bombardment was developed to introduce one or several genes to recommended rice cultivars. Two chimeric genes containing a maize ribosome inactivating protein gene (RIP) and a gerbicide resistant gene (bar) were introduced to Nipponbare, a Japonica cultivar, and transmitted to Korean cultivars. The homozygous progenies of herbicide resistant transgenic plant showed good fertility and agronomic characters. To explore the genetic resourses in rice, over 8,000 cDNA clones from immature rice seed have been isolated and sequenced. About 13% of clones were identified as enzymes related to metabolic pathway. Among them, twenty clones have high homology with genes encoding enzymes in the photorespiratory carbon cycle reaction. Up to now about 100 clones were fully sequenced and registered at EMBL and GenBank. For the mapping of quantitative tarits loci (QTL) and eternal recombinant inbred population with 164 F13 lines (MGRI) was developed from a cross between Milyang 23 and Gihobyeo, Korean rice cultivars. After construction of fully saturated RFLP and AFLP map, quantitative traits using MGRI population were analyzed and integrated into the molecular map. Eighty seven loci were determined with 27 QTL characters including yield and yield components on rice chromosomes. Map based cloning was also tried to isolate semi-dwarf (sd-1) gene in rice. A DNA probe, RG 109, the most tightly linked to sd-1 gene was used to screen from bacterial artifical chromosome (BAC) libraries and five over lapping clones presumably containing sd-1 gene were isolated. Rice genetic database including results of biotech reasearch and classical genetics is provided at Korea Rice Genome Server which is accessible with world wide web (www) browser. The server provides rice cDNA sequences and map informations linked with phenotypic images.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.101-109
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• 2002

A lot of SSRs (simple sequence repeats) in peach and pear from enriched genomic libraries and in peach from a cDNA library were developed. These SSRs were applied to other related species, giving phenograms of 52 Prunus and 60 pear accessions. Apple SSRs could also be successfully used in Pyrus spp. Thirteen morphological traits were characterized on the basis of the linkage map obtained from an $F_2$ population of peach. This map was compiled with those morphological markers and 83 DNA markers, including SSR markers used as anchor loci, to compare different peach maps. Molecular markers tightly linked to new root-knot nematode resistance genes were also found. A linkage map including disease-related genes, pear scab resistance and black spot susceptibility, in the Japanese pear Kinchaku were constructed using 118 RAPD markers. Another linkage map, of the European pear Bartlett, was also constructed with 226 markers, including 49 SSRs from pear, apple, peach and chewy. Maps of other Japanese pear cultivars, i.e., Kousui and Housui, were also constructed. These maps were the first results of pear species.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2002.04b
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• pp.101-109
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• 2002

A lot of SSRs (simple sequence repeats) in peach and pear from enriched genomic libraries and in peach from a cDHA library were developed. These SSRs were applied to other related species, giving phenograms of 52 Prunus and 60 pear accessions. Apple SSRs could also be successfully used in Pyrus spp. Thirteen morphological traits were characterized on the basis of the linkage map obtained from an Fa population of peach. This map was compiled with those morphological markers and 83 DHA markers, including SSR markers used as anchor loci, to compare different peach maps. Molecular markers tightly linked to new root-knot nematode resistance genes were also found. A linkage map including disease-related genes, pear scab resistance and black spot susceptibility, in the Japanese pear Kinchaku were constructed using 118 RAPD markers. Another linkage map, of the European pear Bartlett, was also constructed with 226 markers, including 49 SSRs from pear, apple, peach and cherry. Maps of other Japanese pear cultivars, i.e., Kousui and Housui, were also constructed. These maps were the first results of pear species.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.227-230
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• 2016

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes Johne's disease (JD) in ruminants. This is the first large scale report to estimate the herd-level prevalence of antibodies against MAP by using an ELISA to detect antibodies in bulk tank milk (BTM) samples. The samples were collected from January 2011 to November 2011, from 636 herds of the dairy farms in the Gyeonggi and Chungbuk areas of Korea. The overall apparent prevalence of MAP antibody-positive herds was 8.5%, and regional prevalence were 32/440 (7.3%) and 22/196 (11.2%) of dairy farms in the Gyeonggi and Chungbuk areas, respectively. The results did not differ significantly by region. While we have determined the prevalence rate of MAP in the Gyenoggi and Chungbuk areas in this study, there is a continuing need for well-designed studies to calculate the prevalence of MAP in dairy herds based on culture and molecular findings.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.7-9
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• 2018

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes a significant economic burden in the animal production industry. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of MAP in the feces of wild duck populations residing along a riverside close to farms in the center of Korea. From wild Spot-billed (Anas poecilorhyncha) and Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) ducks, 128 fecal samples were collected and analyzed using multiplex real-time PCR, sequencing, and nested PCR to confirm the presence of the organism. The molecular analyses showed that 44 samples (34.4%) were positive for MAP, suggesting a high prevalence of MAP in the wild duck population. Considering the nature and habitat of wild ducks, this result suggests that the organism was introduced from contaminated water from waste of nearby farms, and that the wild ducks may act as a transmitter of the organism to other wild birds or livestock.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.230-242
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• 2017

In the Arabidopsis genome, approximately 80 MAP3Ks (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinases) have been identified. However, only a few of them have been characterized, and the functions of most MAP3Ks are largely unknown. In this paper, we report the function of MAP3K16 and several other MAP3Ks, MAP3K14/15/17/18, whose expression is salt-inducible. We prepared MAP3K16 overexpression (OX) lines and analyzed their phenotypes. The result showed that the transgenic plants were ABA-insensitive during seed germination and cotyledon greening stage but their root growth was ABA-hypersensitive. The OX lines were more susceptible to water-deficit condition at later growth stage in soil. A MAP3K16 knockout (KO) line, on the other hand, exhibited opposite phenotypes. In similar transgenic analyses, we found that MAP3K14/15/17/18 OX and KO lines displayed similar phenotypes to those of MA3K16, suggesting the functional redundancy among them. MAP3K16 possesses in vitro kinase activity, and we carried out two-hybrid analyses to identify MAP3K16 substrates. Our results indicate that MAP3K16 interacts with MKK3 and the negative regulator of ABA response, ABR1, in yeast. Furthermore, MAP3K16 recombinant protein could phosphorylate MKK3 and ABR1, suggesting that they might be MAP3K16 substrates. Collectively, our results demonstrate that MAP3K16 and MAP3K14/15/17/18 are involved in ABA response, playing negative or positive roles depending on developmental stage and that MAP3K16 may function via MKK3 and ABR1.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.74.1-74
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• 2002