• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.46-52
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• 2023

Methane is the second most emitted greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Despite lower emissions than those of carbon dioxide, methane receives significant attention owing to its more than 20-fold higher global warming potential. Consequently, the importance of research on methanotrophic bacteria, microorganisms capable of converting methane gas into high-value materials, is increasingly emphasized. In the case of methanotrophic bacteria, knowledge on episomal plasmids that can be used for genetic engineering remains lacking, which poses significant challenges to the engineering process. The replication origin sequences of natural plasmids within methanotrophic bacteria have been predicted through in silico methods. The basic characteristics of the replication origin, such as a high A/T ratio, repetitive sequences, and proximity to proteins related to replication, have been used as criteria for identifying the replication origin. As a result, a region with a sequence of 18 base pairs repeated eight times could be identified. The putative replication origin sequence thus identified generally takes the form of iterons, but it also possesses unique features such as the length of the gap between iterons and the repetition of identical iteron sequences. This information can be valuable for future design of episomal plasmids applicable to methanotrophs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.788-797
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• 2001

The usefulness of three PCR methods were evaluated for the epidemiological typing of Staphylococcus aureus: an enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR), repetitive extragenic palindromic element PCR (REP-PCR), and 16S-23S intergenic spacer PCR (ITS-PCR). The analysis was performed using a collection of S. aureus strains comprised of 6 reference and 79 isolates from patients with various diseases. Among the 85 S. aureus strains tested, 6 references and 6 isolates were found to be susceptible to methicillin, whereas the remaining 73 isolates were resistant to it. PCR methods are of special concern, as conventional phenotypic methods are unable to clearly distinguish among methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains. The ability of the techniques to detect different unrelated types was found to be as follows: ERIC-PCR, 19 types; REP-PCR, 36 types; and ITS-PCR, 14 types. On the basis of combining the ERIC, REP, and ITS fingerprints, the 85 S. aureus strains were grouped into 56 genetic types (designated G1 to G56). The diversities for the 85 S. aureus strains, calculated according to Simpson\`s index, were 0.88 for an ERIC-PCR, 0.93 for a REP-PCR, and 0.48 for an ITS-PCR, and the diversity increased up to 0.97 when an ERIC-PCR and REP-PCR were combined. The above discrimination indices imply that the genetic heterogeneity of S. aureus strains is high. Accordingly, this study demonstrates that DNA sequences from highly conserved repeats of a genome, particularly a combination of ERIC sequences and REP elements, are a convenient and accurate tool for the subspecies-specific discrimination and epidemiologic tracking of S. aureus.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.119-122
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• 2013

Repetitive strings such as periods have been studied vigorously in so diverse fields as data compression, computer-assisted music analysis, bioinformatics, and etc. In bioinformatics, periods are highly related to repetitive patterns in DNA sequences so called tandem repeats. In some cases, quite similar but not the same patterns are repeated and thus we need approximate string matching algorithms to study tandem repeats in DNA sequences. In this paper, we propose a new definition of approximate periods of strings based on distance sum. Given two strings $p({\mid}p{\mid}=m)$ and $x({\mid}x{\mid}=n)$, we propose an algorithm that computes the minimum approximate period distance based on distance sum. Our algorithm runs in $O(mn^2)$ time for the weighted edit distance, and runs in O(mn) time for the edit distance, and runs in O(n) time for the Hamming distance.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.499-505
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• 2009

Background: Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units (MIRUs) that are located mainly in intergenic regions dispersed throughout the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome. The selected MIRU loci, which were composed of a 12-locus set, demonstrated a high power for discrimination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates collected from Kangwon province of Korea. To evaluate its ability to discriminate the M. tuberculosis strains, 45 clinical isolates were genotyped using the methods IS6110 RFLP and MIRU. Methods: All the samples were collected during the period from January 2007 to December 2007 from TB patients, who were residents and registered to a public health center of Kangwon Province in Korea. A total of 45 DNAs were extracted from clinical isolated mycobacterial strains and genotyped using IS6110 RFLP, the MIRU method. Results: We compared the 12-MIRU with IS6110 RFLP in the 45 samples, the 12-locus version offered less discriminatory power (Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index [HGDI]: 0.959 vs 0.998; 57.78% of clustered cases vs 8.89%). Conclusion: This 12-locus MIRU can be useful when additional combinations of other loci for genotyping M. tuberculosis in Korea where the Beijing family strains are dominant.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.177-188
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• 1993

This study was performed to find out the reasonable sexing methods In the chicken, obtain the basic information for the mechanisms related to chicken sexual differentiation and identify the genes which known to involved in chicken sex differentiation. The chromosome analysis of chicken embryonic fibroblast was a simple method to determine sex of chicken by means of Z and W chromosome identification. The bands of female chicken genomic DNA digested with Xho Ⅰ and Eco RI restriction endonuclease showed to be useful in direct sex determination and these repetitive sequences of Xho Ⅰ and Eco RI families were proposed to be very homologous in their sequences by colony hybridization analysis. Seven of 150 random primers were selected to amplify the W chromosome-specific band by using arbitrary primed PCR and three of them were useful to identify the sex of chicken. To identify the sex differentiation genes in the chicken, PCR for the amplification of ZFY and SRY sequences was performed. ZFY and SRY sequences were amplified successfully in the chicken genome, implying that chicken genome might have the sex-related conserved sequences similar to mammalian ones. The PCR products of ZFY amplification were the same in both sexes, suggesting that these sequences may be located on autosome or Z chromosome. The profile of PCR amplification for SRY sequences showed variation between sexes, but this result was not enough to specify whether the SRY gene in chicken is on the autosome or sex chromosome.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.269-275
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to develop a rapid and reliable PCR method for sexing of morula or blastocyst stage bovine embryo. BOV97M and bovine 1.715 satellite DNA sequences were selected for amplification of male and bovine specific DNA, respectively. But the unbalanced number of copies of these two repetitive sequences required some modification of PCR method. Karyotyping of blastomeres were carried for the confirmation of sex determination in bovine embryos. The coincidence rate of sex between biopsied-single blastomere and matched blastocyst was 80.0%. When in vivo- and in vitro- derived embryos were compared, 61.8% and 56.7% were male in in vitro- and in vivo-derived embryos, respectively. In vivo-derived embryos showed better hatching rate than in vitro-derived embryos following biopsy of blastomeres. In conclusion, rapid and effective PCR could be applied to sexing of bovine preimplantation embryos using single blastomere. The sensitivity of this assay may eliminate the need for biopsy of more than one nucleated blastomere and reduce trauma to the embryos derived from biopsy procedure.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.87-89
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• 2001

The nucleotide sequence of the domestic silkworm (Bombyx mori) mitochondrial (mt) control region and its flanking genes was determined from PCR clones. The control region of the silkworm mt genome was located between the small ribosomal RNA gene and transfer RN $A^{Met}$. This 499 bp control region hale 95.4% A+T content. Extensive comparative analysis studies performed with similar control region of other insect genomes could not reveal a highly conserved region containing conserved motifs of animal mito-chondrial genome. The remarkable feature that found in this control region was the presence of tandem motifs containing nine repetitive sequences. The potential usefulness of this motif sequences for Bombyx species or their taxonomically related species is enhanced by its unique localization in the maternally inheritance mitochondrial molecule.e.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2011

We characterized a cytoplasmic actin gene locus in greenling Hexagrammos otakii (Scorpaeniformes). Genomic clones isolated from the greenling DNA library contained two homologous cytoplasmic actin gene copies (HObact2.1 and HObact2.2) in a tail-to-head orientation. Their gene structure is characterized by six translated exons and one non-translated exon. Exon-intron organization and the nucleotide sequences of the two actin gene isoforms are very similar. However, only the HObact2.1 isoform contains microsatellite-like, dinucleotide repeats in the 5'-flanking region (named HOms2002) and intron 1 following the non-translated exon 1 (named HOms769). One microsatellite locus (HOms769) was highly polymorphic while the other (HOms2002) was not. Based on bioinformatic analysis, different transcription factor binding motifs are related to stress and immune responses in the two actin isoforms. Semiquantitative and real-time reverse transcription-PCR assays showed that both isoform transcripts were detectable ubiquitously in all the tissues examined. However, the basal expression levels of each isoform varied across tissues. Overall, the two isoforms showed a similar, but not identical, expression pattern. Our data suggest that the cytoplasmic actin genes may be the result of a recent duplication event in the greenling genome, which has not experienced significant subfunctionalization in their housekeeping roles.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2004

Twelve mecoprop-degrading bacteria were isolated from soil samples, and their genetic and phenotypic characteristics were investigated. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequences indicated that the isolates were related to members of the genus Sphingomonas. Ten different chromosomal DNA patterns were obtained by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) amplification of repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) sequences from the 12 isolates. The isolates were found to be able to utilize the chiral herbicide meco-prop as a sole source of carbon and energy. While seven of the isolates were able to degrade both (R)-and (S)-mecoprop, four isolates exhibited enantioselective degradation of the (S)-type and one isolate could degrade only the (R)-enantiomer. All of the isolates were observed to possess plasmid DNAs. When certain plasmids were removed from isolates MPll, MP15, and MP23, those strains could no longer degrade mecoprop. This compelling result suggests that plasmid DNAs, in this case, conferred the ability to degrade the herbicide. The isolates MP13, MP15, and MP24 were identified as the same strain; however, they exhibited different plasmid profiles. This indicates that these isolates acquired dif-ferent mecoprop-degradative plasmids in different soils through natural gene transfer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.243-250
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• 2003

Eight numerically dominant 4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) butyric acid (2,4-DB)-degrading bacteria and three pairs of bacteria showing syntrophic metabolism of 2,4-DB were isolated from soils, and their phylogenetic and phenotypic characteristics were investigated. The isolates were able to utilize 2,4-DB as a sole source of carbon and energy, and their 2.4-DB degradative enzymes were induced by the presence of 2.4-DB. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequences indicated that the isolates were related to members of the genera, Variovorax, Sphingomonas, Bradyrhizobium, and Pseudomonas. The chromosomal DNA patterns of the isolates obtained by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) amplification of repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) sequences were distinct from each other. Four of the isolates had plasmids, but only one strain, DB 1, rad a transmissible 2,4-D degradative plasmid. When analyzed with PCR using primers targeted to the tfdA, B, and C genes, only strains DB2 and DB9a produced DNA bands of the expected sizes with the tfdA and C primers, respectively. All of the isolates were able to degrade 2,4-D as well as 2,4-DB, suggesting that the degradation pathways of these compounds were closely related to each other, but respiratory activities of many isolates adapted to 2,4-DB metabolism were quite low with 2,4-D.