• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 2008

The bio-molecules involved in defense mechanisms can be used as efficient biomarkers for physiological changes in organisms caused by both of internal and external stress. Thus, the expression level of genes which encoding such molecules serve as critical 'early warning system' for environmental assessment as well as health diagnosis of biological organisms. In this study, Cytochrome P450, Heat shock protein 90, Ubiquitin and ${\beta}$-actin gene were isolated for the first time from a red alga Gracilaria textorii. The quantitative differential gene expression analyses of three genes, GteCYP1A, GteHsp90 and Gte-UB, were carried out in G. textorii sporophytes collected from two different localities, polluted Sujeong (Masan, Korea) and potentially unpolluted Danggeum (Daemaemuldo Is., Korea). The transcripts of all three tested genes were highly expressed in the Sujeong population. The results suggest: 1) the Sujeong site was more polluted than the Danggeum site; 2) G. textorii could be applicable to marine environment monitoring in coastal regions.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.219-229
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• 2021

The hepatoprotective effect of liposoluble portion of Pyropia yezoensis (PYLP) was investigated against alcohol-induced liver injury in mice. Fatty acids were predominant in PYLP obtained from hexane fraction of 70% EtOH extract after ultrasonication. In particular, polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid and linoleic acid accounted for 56.91% of the total lipids. PYLP significantly reduced liver damage induced by the alcohol treatment in mice. PYLP treatment increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathion peroxidase by reducing thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Histological observations showed that PYLP minimizes damage to living tissue induced by alcohol treatment by modulating the expression level of proteins involved in the anti-apoptotic signaling pathway. Our results suggest that PYLP, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids extracted from the red alga P. yezoensis, will be useful as a potential liver protectant in the hangover industry.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.207-217
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• 2021

An increase in seawater temperature owing to global warming is expected to substantially limit the growth of marine algae, including Pyropia yezoensis, a commercially valuable red alga. To improve our knowledge of the genes involved in the acquisition of heat tolerance in P. yezoensis, transcriptomes sequences were obtained from both the wild-type SG104 P. yezoensis and heat-tolerant mutant Gy500. We selected 1,251 differentially expressed genes that were up- or downregulated in response to the heat stress condition and in the heat-tolerant mutant Gy500, based on fragment per million reads expression values. Among them, PyHRG1 was downregulated under heat stress in SG104 and expressed at a low level in Gy500. PyHRG1 encodes a secretory protein of 26.5 kDa. PyHRG1 shows no significant sequence homology with any known genes deposited in public databases to date. However, PyHRG1 homologs were found in other red algae, including other Pyropia species. When PyHRG1 was introduced into the single-cell green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, transformed cells overexpressing PyHRG1 showed severely retarded growth. These results demonstrate that PyHRG1 encodes a novel red algae-specific protein and plays a role in heat tolerance in algae. The transcriptome sequences obtained in this study, which include PyHRG1, will facilitate future studies to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in heat tolerance in red algae.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.103-107
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• 2002

Four known sesquiterpenes, laurinterol (1), isolaurinterol (2), aplysinal (3) and aplysin (4) were isolated from the Korean red alga Laurencia okamurae off Cheju Island, Korea. Their structures were identified by comparison with the literature data. Compounds 1-4 showed potent cytotoxicity against A549, SK-OV-3, SKMEL-2, XF498, and HTl5 cell lines with $EC_{50}$ values ranging from 1.2 to 17.6 ${\mu}g/ml$.

• ALGAE
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.191-197
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• 2003

Histones are important proteins that interact with the DNA double helix to form nucleosome. Two putative histone genes, GjH2A-1 and GjH2A-2 were isolated from a red alga Griffithsia japonica. The putative open reading frame of GjH2A-1 and GjH2A-2 shared high similarity with the previously reported amino acid sequences of histone H2As. They have a motif consisting of seven amino acids A-G-L-Q-F-P-V, which matches the histone H2A motif [AC]-G-L-x-F-P-V. Phylogenetic trees were constructed from amino acid sequences of 38 histone H2As. The histone H2As were divided into two groups: major H2As and H2A.F/Z variants. The major histone H2A group consisted of animals, fungi, plants + green algae, and red algae H2A subgroups. The animal histone H2A subgroup was divided into vertebrates, echinoderms, nematodes, insects, and segmented worms H2As. The putative red algal histone genes, GjH2A-1 and GjH2A-2, constituted an independent lineage. This is the first report on red algal histone genes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 1998.06a
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• pp.355-356
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• 1998

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.264-266
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• 1988

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.308-313
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• 2018

During a survey of marine algal flora, a red algal species was collected from Giseong, Uljin located on the eastern coast of Korea. This species has the generic features of Cryptonemia belonging to Halymeniaceae, and is characterized by the presence of erect foliose thalli arising from a discoid holdfast, somewhat fan-shaped blade with an evanescent midrib at the base, narrow main axes with blade-like wings of slightly undulate margin, a perennial stalk, and entwined filamentous medulla with refractive stellate cells. In a phylogenetic tree based on rbcL sequence, the Korean alga nests in the same clade with C. lomation from France and C. seminervis from Spain. Genetic divergence among the sequences within the clade was not recognized thus suggesting that both the species are conspecific. The name C. lomation considered to be valid nomenclaturally is accepted for the entity. Based on the morphological and molecular analyses, the Korean alga is identified as C. lomation, originally described from Italy. This confirms the occurrence of C. lomation in Korea. The species appears to be distributed in the temperate region influenced more or less by the North Korea Cold Current.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.4311-4317
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• 2014

Background: Nano-biotechnology is recognized as offering revolutionary changes in the field of cancer therapy and biologically synthesized gold nanoparticles are known to have a wide range of medical applications. Materials and Methods: Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were biosynthesized with an aqueous extract of the red alga Corallina officinalis, used as a reducing and stabilizing agent. GNPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive analysis (EDX) and Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy and tested for cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, considering their cytotoxicty and effects on cellular DNA. Results: The biosynthesized GNPs were $14.6{\pm}1nm$ in diameter. FT-IR analysis showed that the hydroxyl functional group from polyphenols and carbonyl group from proteins could assist in formation and stabilization. The GNPs showed potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cells, causing necrosis at high concentrations while lower concentrations were without effect as indicated by DNA fragmentation assay. Conclusions: The antitumor activity of the biosynthesized GNPs from the red alga Corallina officinalis against human breast cancer cells may be due to the cytotoxic effects of the gold nanoparticles and the polyphenolcontent of the algal extract.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 1999

Developmental morphology of the red alga, Osmundea crispa (Hollenberg) Nam from California was studied on the basis of liquid-preserved and herbarium specimens. Vegetative axial segment of the species produces two pericentral cells and one trichoblast. Spermatangial filaments (branches) are derived from apical and epidermal cells in pocket-shaped apical pit with an ostiole-like upper opening. Procarp-bearing segment of female trichoblast produces five pericentral cells, of which the fifth functions as supporting cell of carpogonial branch. Tetrasporangial production occurs in random epidermal cells in apical pit of branchlets, and two presporangial cover cells show parallel arrangement to stichidial axis. As this vegetative and reproductive development is included in the generic delineation of Osmundea Stackhouse, O. crispa among the known Osmundea species is characterized by habit forming compact cushion-like clump with angular to terete thallus. It is also distinguished from O. hybrida (AP. de Candolle) Nam without the compressed thallus by the number of pericentral cells in procarp-bearing segment and shape of spermatangial pit. Taxonomic implication of the shape of spermatangial pit is also included.