• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.364-369
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• 1999

In order to obtain the suitable plasmids for constructing plasmid vectors of Bacillus species, endogeneous plasmid DNAs were screended from thermo-tolerant soil bacteria. Based on agarose gel electrophoresis patterns of the isolated plasmid DNAs, two strains harboring small-size plasmids were selected. The isolated were identified to belong to the genus Bacillus on the basis of their morphological and biochemical properties, and named Bacillus sp. 3-3 and 77-8, respectively. The restriction endonuclease maps were determined for four plasmids including two plasmids from each Bacillus isolates. It is interesting that Bacillus sp. 3-3 and 77-8 have an identical plasmid according to the restriction maps. The three kinds of hybrid plasmids constructed by introducing each plasmid of two isolates into a Escherichia coli plasmid vector. pUCCm18 containing chloramplenicol resistance gene active in Bacillus strains, could be replicated in B. subtilis and B. licheniformis. These plasmids are very stable in B. subtilis, suggesting that the Bacillus plasmids identified in this work would be useful for development of new cloning vectors for Bacillus strains.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.286-290
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• 2009

The stability of three different kinds of pUC-derived plasmids, pDsRed, pZsYellow, and pGFPuv, was investigated in Pectobacterium strains to utilize those plasmids as tracers. All three plasmids pDsRed, pZsYellow and pGFPuv showed their specific colors in Pectobacterium strains. Especially, the plasmid pDsRed conferred bright pink colonies on the Pectobacterium strains. When the bacteria lost the plasmid pDsRed, the colonies turned white, suggesting that the plasmid could be a good marker system for Pectobacterium strains on different environmental conditions. The effect of the antibiotic pressure on the stability of the plasmid was different depending on the host bacteria. P. carotovorum subsp. betavasculorum was more sensitive to the antibiotic pressure than P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum Pcc21. However, temperature change significantly affected plasmid stability on both Pectobacterium strains. Almost all strains lost the plasmids with the shift in temperature from $28^{\circ}C$ to $37^{\circ}C$. Presence of the plasmids did not affect bacterial pathogenicity on their own host plants. Among three plasmids, pZsYellow was not useful as a marker because the yellow fluorescent proteins from pZs Yellow were interfered with the yellow natural fluorescence of the plant tissues induced by the defense system. Since the red color of DsRed can be seen with naked eyes, plasmid pDsRed was applicable as a marker. However, the color change was slow so that additional manipulation to increase the expression speed was necessary. Plasmid pGFPuv could serve as a perfect marker without any problem, tracing the reproduction and spread of the plant pathogens perfectly.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.339-343
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• 2009

Recently, co-delivery of drug and gene has been attempted for higher therapeutic effects of anticancer agents. In this study, cationic liposomes were prepared using 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammoniopropane (DOTAP) as a cationic lipid to investigate the effect of drug loading on the physicochemical characteristics of cationic liposomes/DNA complexes. The complex formation between cationic liposomes and negatively charged plasmid DNA was confirmed and the protection from DNase was observed. Particle size of complexes was reduced not by drug loading, but by the increased ratio of cationic lipid to plasmid DNA. Meanwhile, zeta potential of complex was increased by the addition of cationic liposomes to complexes and the effect of drug loading on the zeta potential was not much higher than on particle size. Gel retardation of complexes was indicated when the complexation weight ratios of cationic lipid to plasmid DNA were higher than 24:1 for drug free complexes and 20:1 for drug loaded ones, respectively. Agarose gel retardation showed the similar complexation between plasmid DNA and drug free liposomes or drug loaded liposomes. Both complexes protected plasmid DNA from DNase independent of complexation temperature. From the results, drug loading may affect not the complex formation of cationic liposomes and plasmid DNA, but the particle size of complex.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.116-120
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• 1991

The transformant Bacillus subtilis ED213 carrying the pSO100 which cloned the cdd gene encoding cytidine deaminase (cytidine /2'-deoxycytidine aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.5, CDase) originated from wild type B. subtilis was cultivated in Spizizen minimal medium (SMM). To overcome poor expression of the cdd gene in SMM medium, the medium compositions and growth conditions were optimized. The optimized medium compositions and growth conditions were cytidine concentration of 80 mg/l, glycerol of 25 g/l, and $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ of 10 g/l, along with $37^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. The intracellular CDase production was increased 3 times from 1,000 unit/ml to 3,200 unit/ml, and extracellular CDase also increased from nearly undetectable amounts to 1,500 unit/ml. The cytidine concentration was signified as the most critical compositional factor for overproduction of CDase by increasing the cell density mainly in culture broth. The plasmids were more stable in cells that were grown in original SMM medium with stability of 90% compared to those grown in optimized SMM medium with stability of 80% after 48 hours cultivation. The most active amplification of plasmid was occurred in the logarithmic phase, which showed a value around four times higher than the initial copy number. In the exponential phase, the CDase production was closely related to the plasmid copy number along with the cell density. However, it was not accorded with cell density at the stationary phase.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 1991

An autonomous replication sequence (ARS) derived from Cephalosporium acremonium ATCC 20339 was cloned in Sarchuromyces cerevisiae SHY 3 using YIp5 as a cloning vector. A new recombinant plasmid, designated pCY-2, which contained a 3.7 kb BamHI fragment of C. acrenzonium DNA showed the highest stability among the 40 recombinant plasmids composed of the YIp5 2nd ARS of C. ucremoniztm. Also, Southern hybridization and transformation of E, cull with DNA purified from yeast transformants verified that pCY-2 autonomously replicates in yeasts. Transformation efficiency and plasmid stability of pCY-2 in yeast were higher than those ol YRp 7 containing ARS which originated from yeast. Detailed studies by subcloning revealed that two ARSs existed within 2.6 kb of the insert, which is a novel discovery. However, it was concluded that these two ARSs were ligated during the gene manipulation in vitro.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.168-173
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• 1993

The expression kinetics of human lipocortin I (LCI), a potential anti-inflammatory agent, was studied in the shake-flask and fermenter cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae carrying a galactose-inducible expression system. The cell growth, expression level of LCI, and the plasmid stability were investigted under various galactose induction conditions. The expression of LCI was repressed by the presence of a very small amount of dextrose in the culture medium, but it was induced by galactose after dextrose became completely depleted. The optimal ratio of dextrose to galactose for lipocortin I production was found to be 1.0 (10 g/l dextrose and 10 g/l galactose). With optimal D/G ratio of 1.0 and the addition of galactose prior to dextrose depletion, LCI of about 100~130 mg/l was produced. LCI at a concentration of 174 mg/l was porduced in the fed-batch culture, which was nearly a twice as much of that produced in the batch culture. The plasmid stability was very high in all culture cases, and thus was considered to be not an important parameter in the expression of LCI.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 1992

The influence of the nature of plasmids on fermentation parameters such as cell growth, cell viability, plasmid stability, and product formation has been investigated using E. coli M5248 and its recombinant derivatives M5248 [pBR322], M5248[pAS1], and M5248[pNKM21]. At a low temperature ($30^\circ{C}$), the cell growth, cell viability, and protein synthesis of the recombinants were nearly identical to those of the host cell. However, at high temperature ($42^\circ{C}$), in which transcription from the P_L$ promoter is derepressed, the recombinant cells showed decreased stability along with lower growth rates and cell viability. The ratio of total protein to cell mass was in the order of E. coli M5248>M5248[pBR322]>M5248[pAS1]>M5248[pNKM21]. It was found that transcription from the $P_L$ promoter adversely affect the plasmid maintenance and host cell metabolism even in the absence of the cloned-gene expression. Furthermore, profiles of ${\beta}$ activity were shown to vary with recombinant strains. E coli M5248[pBR322] showed highest ${\beta}-lactamase$ activity at $30^\circ{C}$, while at $42^\circ{C}\;{\beta}-lactamase$ activity was significantly reduced irrespective of the strains. The effect of the plasmid properties on plasmid-encoded gene expression has been further examined based on the relationship between $\{beta}-lactamase$ activity and plasmid-harboring cell numbers.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.109-120
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• 1995

As the genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs) and their recombinant plasmid DNAs could be released into natural environments, their stabilities and impacts to indigenous microorganisls have become very importhant research subjects concerning with environmental and ecological aspects. In this study, the genetically modified E. coli CU103 and its recombinant pCU103 plasmid DNA, in which pcbCD genes involving in degradation of biphenyl and 4-chlorobiphenyl were cloned, were studied for their survival and stability in several different waters established under laboratory conditions. E. coli CU103 and its host E. coli XL1-Blue survived longer in sterile distilled water (SDW) and filtered autoclaved river water (FAW) than in filtered river water (FW). A lot of extracellular DNAs were released from E. coli CU103 by lytic action of phages in FW and the released DNAs were degraded by DNase dissolved in the water. Such effects of the factors in FW on stability of the recombinant pCU103 plasmid were also observed in the results of gel electrophoresis, quantitative analysis with bisbenzimide, and transformation assay. Therefore, the recombinant plasmids of pCU103 were found to be readily liberated from the genetically modified E. coli CU103 into waters by normal metabolic processes and lysis of cells. And the plasmid DNAs were quite stable in waters, but their stabilities could be affected by physicoKDICical and biological factors in non-sterile natural waters.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 1995

The purpose of this study was the development of promoter for the lacZ' gene. Two heterologous promoter I and II of lacZ' gene were isolated from chromosomal DNA Bam HI fragment of yeast. The size of the promoter I was estimated to be 2.5 kb and ${\beta}-galactosidase$ activity was 124.6 U/mg protein, and the size of the promoter II was 4.0 kb and its ${\beta}-galactosidase$ activity was 168.8 U/mg protein, respectively. The stability of the recombinant YEp plasmid in the transformant was from 52.7 to 67.4% at minimal medium. YIp plasmid was constructed from YEp plasmid, and expressed both in E. coli and yeast. The promoter I aid II iso-lated from yeast chromosomal DNA can be used for promoter of plasmid YEp and YIp.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 1986.12a
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• pp.525.3-526
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• 1986

For the analysis of fermentation characteristics and productivity of plasmid coded product, car-boxymethylcellulase in a recombinant DNA cell fermentation system, batch and continuous fermentations were carried out using a Bacillus megaterium ATCC 14945 transformed with a plasmid, pCK 108 haboring carboxymethyl cellulase gene. The effects of carbon and nitrogen sources and of temperature and pH on cell growth, product yield, plasmid stability, specific plasmid contents of cell, and gene expression efficiency were carefully studied. These experimental results will be discussed in some details.