• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to develop species-specific real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) primers for use in the detection of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. These primers were designed based on the nucleotide sequences of the RNA polymerase ${\beta}$-subunit gene (rpoB). We assessed the specificity of the primers against nine strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans, eight strains (three species) of the Haemophilus genus, and 40 strains of 40 other oral bacterial species. Primer sensitivity was determined by testing serial dilutions of the purified genomic DNAs of A. actinomycetemcomitans ATCC $33384^T$. Our data reveal that we had obtained species-specific amplicons for all of the tested A. actinomycetemcomitans strains, and that none of these amplicons occurred in any of the other species. Our PCR protocol proved able to detect as little as 2 fg of A. actinomycetemcomitans chromosomal DNA. Our findings suggest that these qRT-PCR primers are suitable for application in epidemiological studies.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.96-100
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to develop Peptoniphilus mikwangii-specific quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) primers based on the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rDNA) gene. The specificity of the primers was determined by conventional PCR using 29 strains of 27 oral bacterial species including P. mikwangii. The sensitivity of the primers was determined by qPCR using the purified genomic DNA of P. mikwangii KCOM $1628^T$ (40 ng to 4 fg). The data showed that the qPCR primers (RTB134-F4/RTB134-R4) could detect P. mikwangii strains exclusively and as little as 40 fg of the genomic DNA of P. mikwangii KCOM $1628^T$. These results suggest that the developed qPCR primer pair can be useful for detecting P. mikwangii in epidemiological studies of oral bacterial infectious diseases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.648-657
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• 2008

In this study, we used functional genomic strategies, proteomics and quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR, to advance our understanding of genes associated with fumonisin production in the fungus Fusarium verticillioides. Earlier studies have demonstrated that deletion of the FCC1 gene, which encodes a C-type cyclin, leads to a drastic reduction in fumonisin production and conidiation in the mutant strain (FT536). The premise of our research was that comparative analysis of F. verticillioides wild-type and FT536 proteomes will reveal putative proteins, and ultimately corresponding genes, that are important for fumonisin biosynthesis. We isolated proteins that were significantly upregulated in either the wild type or FT536 via two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and subsequently obtained sequences by mass spectrometry. Homologs of identified proteins, e.g., carboxypeptidase, laccase, and nitrogen metabolite repression protein, are known to have functions involved in fungal secondary metabolism and development. We also identified gene sequences corresponding to the selected proteins and investigated their transcriptional profiles via quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR in order to identify genes that show concomitant expression patterns during fumonisin biosynthesis. These genes can be selected as targets for functional analysis to further verify their roles in $FB_1$ biosynthesis.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제40권4호
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• pp.205-210
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• 2015

Prevotella intermedia-specific quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) primers were previously designed based on the nucleotide sequences of RNA polymerase ${\beta}$-subunit gene (rpoB). However, the several clinical strains isolated from Korean populations are not detectable by the qPCR primers. The purpose of this study was to develop new P. intermedia-specific qPCR primers based on the rpoB. The specificity of the primers was determined by conventional PCR with 12 strains of P. intermedia and 52 strains (52 species) of non-P. intermedia bacteria. The sensitivity of primers was determined by qPCR with serial dilutions of the purified genomic DNAs (40 ng to 4 fg) of P. intermedia ATCC $25611^T$. The data indicated that only P. intermedia strains were detected by the P intermedia-specific qPCR primers (RTPiF2/RTPiR2); in addition, as little as 40 fg of P. intermedia genomic DNA could be detected. These results suggest that these qPCR primers are useful in detecting P. intermedia from the bacterial infectious lesions including dental plaque and oral tissue lesions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.1353-1358
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• 2005

A rapid and quantitative real-time PCR was developed to target the invasion A (invA) gene of Salmonella spp. We developed quantitative standard curves based on plasmids containing the invA gene. Based on these curves, we detected Salmonella spp. in artificially contaminated buffered peptone water (BPW) and milk samples. We were able to determine the invA gene copy number per ml of food samples, with the minimum detection limit of $4.1{\times}10^{3}$ copies/ml of BPW and $3.3{\times}10^{3}$ copies/ml of milk. When applied directly to detect and quantify Salmonella spp. in BPW and milk, the present real-time PCR assay was as sensitive as the plate count method; however, copy numbers were one to two logs higher than the colony-forming units obtained by the plate count methods. In the present work, the real-time PCR assay was shown to significantly reduce the total time necessary for the detection of Salmonella spp. in foods and to provide an important model for other foodborne pathogens.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• 제18권5호
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• pp.1118-1123
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• 2009

Event-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection method for genetically modified (GM) maize MIR604 was developed based on integration junction sequences between the host plant genome and the integrated transgene. In this study, 2 primer pairs and probes were designed for specific amplification of 100 and 111 bp DNA fragments from the zSSIIb gene (the maize endogenous reference gene) and MIR604. The quantitative method was validated using 3 certified reference materials (CRMs) with levels of 0.1, 1, and 10% MIR604. The method was also assayed with 14 different plants and other GM maize. No amplification signal was observed in real-time PCR assays with any of the species tested other than MIR604 maize. As a result, the bias from the true value and the relative deviation for MIR604 was within the range from 0 to 9%. Precision, expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD), varied from 2.7 to 10% for MIR604. Limits of detections (LODs) of qualitative and quantitative methods were all 0.1%. These results indicated that the event-specific quantitative PCR detection system for MIR604 is accurate and useful.

• 해양환경안전학회지
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• 제26권6호
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• pp.674-680
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• 2020

적조가 처음 시작되는 해역을 조기에 파악하기 위하여 Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR)을 경남해역 적조현장에 활용하였다. 2019년 경남해역을 대상으로 Cochlodinium polykrikoides를 qPCR로 정량분석한 결과, 6월 초에 저밀도로(0.0015~0.0058 cells mL^-1) 검출되기 시작하여 8월 중순에는 최대 0.163 cells mL^-1 밀도로 증가하였고, 주로 남해도 주변에서 높게 검출되었다. 8월 말에는 현미경 검경으로 남해도 주변에서 높게 출현함이 확인되었고(최대 24 cells mL^-1), 9월 2일에는 남해도에서 적조주의보가 발령되었고(최대 200 cells mL^-1), 9월 1일에는 최대 12,000 cells mL^-1까지 남해도 해역에서 발생하였다. 위 결과는 극미량의 C. polykrikoides이 적조발생 전에 남해도에서 검출되었고 이후 같은 해역에서 적조가 발생되었음을 보여준다. 이는 qPCR이 극미량의 C. polykrikoides을 조기검출하는데 유용한 방법임을 보여준다.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.153-157
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• 2013

Although culture is the gold standard method to identify mycobacteria, its use in tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBL) is limited due to formalin fixation of the submitted specimens. We evaluated the performance of quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR) for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) in granulomatous lymphadenitis using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. From 2000 to 2010, a total number of 117 cases of lymph node samples with granulomatous inflammation which were surgically removed and fixed in formalin were studied. Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) and Ziehl-Neelsen-stained (ZN) slides were reviewed. qPCR using Real TB-Taq$^{(R)}$ was performed for all cases to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thirteen non-tuberculous lymphadenopathy cases were used as negative control. Cervical lymph nodes were more frequently affected (60%, 70/117) than other sites. ZN stain for acid fast bacilli was positive in 19 (16.24%) cases. qPCR for tuberculosis was positive in 92 (78.63%) cases. Caseous necrosis was found in 103 (88.03%) cases. While the ZN stain and qPCR were both negative in all control cases, the qPCR showed a significantly higher positive rate (78.63% vs. 16.24%) compared to ZN stain in histologically diagnosed TBL. Quantitative real-time PCR proves to be more sensitive than ZN stain for diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.358-367
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• 2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as an international health emergency. Current diagnostic tests are based on the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) method, which is the gold standard test that involves the amplification of viral RNA. However, the RT-qPCR assay has limitations in terms of sensitivity and quantification. In this study, we tested both qPCR and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to detect low amounts of viral RNA. The cycle threshold (CT) of the viral RNA by RT-PCR significantly varied according to the sequences of the primer and probe sets with in vitro transcript (IVT) RNA or viral RNA as templates, whereas the copy number of the viral RNA by ddPCR was effectively quantified with IVT RNA, cultured viral RNA, and RNA from clinical samples. Furthermore, the clinical samples were assayed via both methods, and the sensitivity of the ddPCR was determined to be equal to or more than that of the RT-qPCR. However, the ddPCR assay is more suitable for determining the copy number of reference materials. These findings suggest that the qPCR assay with the ddPCR defined reference materials could be used as a highly sensitive and compatible diagnostic method for viral RNA detection.

• 한국어병학회지
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.101-107
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• 2018

여윔증상이 나타난 양식장(farm-B 및 farm-C)의 넙치 및 여윔증상이 나타나지 않은 양식장(farm-A) 넙치의 각 내부 장기(신장, 장, 비장, 뇌 및 간)를 대상으로 점액포자충 Parvicapsula sp.의 양적 분석을 real-time PCR 방법을 사용하여 각각 실시하였다. 여윔증상을 보였던 farm-C의 넙치 신장에서 가장 높은 DNA copy number ($1.7{\times}10^7copies/mg$ tissue)를 보였고, farm-B의 넙치에서는 모든 내부 장기에서 낮은 수치가 나타났으며, farm-A의 넙치에서는 모든 내부 장기에서 음성 결과를 나타내었다. 동일한 시료를 사용한 PCR 및 병리조직학적 분석에서도 real-time PCR에서의 결과와 같은 양상을 보였다.