• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.116-122
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• 2009

Heteropappus arenarius Kitam., an autumn-flowering biennial belonging to wild chrysanthemums, is found to be native in southeastern coastal area and Jeju island of Korea. It could play a good role for ground cover plants on a large-scale landscape area, especially, barren soil or sloping hillside. This study was initiated to screen optimum germination temperature influenced by local strain and harvesting stage of H. arenarius. The following was the response of seed germination between local strain and temperature. The average of final germination percentage (FG) was the highest in 'Guryongpo' (89.7%) among four local strains, followed by 'Gujwa' (87.3%), 'Gampo' (87.3%), and 'HKNU-I' (71.5%). The average of $T_{50}$ was shorter in 'Gujwa' (3.6 d) and 'Guryongpo' (4.0 d) than the others. The average of FG and $T_{50}$ was the highest as 76.2% and shortest as 3.6 d in $20^{\circ}C$, respectively, followed by $30^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, and $15^{\circ}C$. In case of 'Gujwa', however, FG and T50 was higher in $20^{\circ}C$ and shorter in $15^{\circ}C$ than others. In the relationship between harvesting stage and temperature, the average of FG was greatly higher in Stage III (90.7%) and Stage IV (88.6%) than the others including Stage II (35.7%) and Stage I (26.0%). The average of $T_{50}$ was shorter in Stage IV (3.7 d) and Stage III (4.3 d) than the others, which showed less than 50% of FG. Nevertheless, the available range of seed harvesting stage was from Stage I to Stage IV because H. arenarius seeds could germinate at all stages. In conclusion, it was recommended that the optimum temperature and harvesting stage was $20^{\circ}C$ and Stage $III{\sim}IV$, respectively, for seed germination of H. arenarius.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.217-224
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• 2017

Carbon monoxide (CO), a reaction product of cytoprotective enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), is a gaseous messenger with anti-proliferative, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory actions in many cell types. Here, we investigated the role of CO on the process of monocyte differentiation induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) in human monocytic THP-1 cells. CORM-2 (tricarbonyldichlororuthenium (II) dimer, $Ru2Cl_4(CO)_6$), a CO-releasing compound, decreased a marked cell adherence with a slight reduction of proliferation in monocytic THP-1 cells treated with PMA. And, CORM-2 significantly inhibited expression of differentiation markers such as CD14, CD11b plus CD18 (macrophage-1 antigen, Mac-1 or complement receptor 3, CR3) and phagocytosis of carboxylate-modified red fluorescent latex beads, in PMA-stimulated THP-1 cells. For the further experiments, differentiation of PMA-treated cells was enhanced after the initial 2 days stimulus by removing the PMA-containing media then incubating the cells in fresh media for a another 4 days. And, we observed the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and phagocytosis in differentiated macrophages. Treatment with CORM-2 significantly abolished the secretion of IL-6, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and phagocytosis using fluorescence-conjugated E. coli (K-12 strain) bioparticles in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated differentiated macrophages. In conclusion, these results suggest that CO inhibits the differentiation of monocytic THP-1 cells as well as the activation of differentiated macrophages.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1317-1324
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• 2013

High-molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) have been shown to play a crucial role in determining the processing properties of the wheat grain. We have produced marker-free transgenic rice plants containing a wheat Glu-1Bx7 gene encoding the HMG-GS from the Korean wheat cultivar 'Jokyeong' using the Agrobacterium-mediated co-transformation method. The Glu-1Bx7-own promoter was inserted into a binary vector for seed-specific expression of the Glu-1Bx7 gene. Two expression cassettes comprised of separate DNA fragments containing only Glu-1Bx7 and hygromycin phosphotransferase II (HPTII) resistance genes were introduced separately to the Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105 strain for co-infection. Each EHA105 strain harboring Glu-1Bx7 or HPTII was infected to rice calli at a 3:1 ratio of Glu-1Bx7 and HPTII, respectively. Then, among 216 hygromycin-resistant $T_0$ plants, we obtained 24 transgenic lines with both Glu-1Bx7 and HPTII genes inserted into the rice genome. We reconfirmed integration of the Glu-1Bx7 gene into the rice genome by Southern blot analysis. Transcripts and proteins of the wheat Glu-1Bx7 were stably expressed in the rice $T_1$ seeds. Finally, the marker-free plants harboring only the Glu-1Bx7 gene were successfully screened at the $T_1$ generation.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.362-368
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• 2018

Grasshoppers play vital role in the digestion of photosynthetically fixed carbons. With the aid of intestinal microflora, the grasshopper can degrade leaves constituents such as cellulose and hemicellulose. The purpose of this study was to examine cellulolytic yeast isolates from the gut of grasshoppers collected in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Among the yeast isolates, ON2, ON17 (two strains), and ON6 (one strain) showed positive cellulolytic activity in the CMC-plate assay. The sequence analyses of D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rDNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions revealed that the strains ON2 and ON17 were most closely related to Papiliotrema aspenensis CBS $13867^T$ (100%, sequence similarity in D1/D2 domains; 99.4% sequence similarity in ITS) and strain ON6 related to Saitozyma flava (100% in D1/D2 domains; 99.0% in ITS). All these three yeast strains are capable of degrading cellulose; therefore, the members of endosymbiotic yeasts may produce their own enzymes for carbohydrate degradation and convert mobilized sugar monomers to volatile fatty acids. Thus, the endosymbiotic yeast strains ON2, ON17 (represents the genus Papilioterma) and ON6 (Saitozyma) belonging to the family Tremellomycetes, are unreported strains in Korea.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.662-669
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• 2007

Although the function of cellular prion protein (PrP$^C$) and the pathogenesis of prion diseases have been widely described, the mechanisms are not fully clarified. In this study, increases of the portion of non-glycosylated prion protein deposited in the hamster brains infected with scrapie strain 263K were described. To elucidate the pathological role of glycosylation profile of PrP, wild type human PrP (HuPrP) and two genetic engineering generated non-glycosylated PrP mutants (N181Q/N197Q and T183A/T199A) were transiently expressed in human astrocytoma cell line SF126. The results revealed that expressions of non-glycosylated PrP induced significantly more apoptosis cells than that of wild type PrP. It illustrated that Bcl-2 proteins might be involved in the apoptosis pathway of non-glycosylated PrPs. Our data highlights that removal of glycosylation of prion protein provokes cells apoptosis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.555-560
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to investigate levels of serum creatinine, CuSOD and MnSOD protein expression in the kidney after renal ischemic reperfusion with pre-exercise using heat shock protein 70.1 in knock-out mice (KO). The C57/BL6 strain (Wild type: WT) and KO were divided into 4 groups as follows: Sham control group (Sham), pre-exercise group (Ex), pre-exercise +ischemia group (Ex+IR), and ischemia group (IR). CuSOD and MnSOD expression were significantly decreased (p<0.01, p<0.05) and blood creatinine concentration was significantly increased (p<0.01) in the IR group of KO. In contrast, CuSOD and MnSOD expression in the Ex+IR group of KO were higher than the IR group, while creatinine concentration was significantly lower. These results suggest that Hsp70 is directly correlated to renal ischemic reperfusion injury. Pre-exercise in renal ischemia might prevent or inhibit positive oxidative stress inhibitory effects by increasing anti-oxidative enzymes (CuSOD, MnSOD) within the kidney and improve to prevent renal function. Thus, pre-exercise may have a protective role against renal injury after renal ischemia.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.16 no.4 s.82
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• pp.521-528
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• 2004

In general, polymer concrete has more excellent mechanical properties and durability than Portland cement concrete, but very sensitive to heat and has large deformations. In this study, the long-term creep behaviors was predicted by the short-term creep test, and then the characteristic of creep of recycled-PET polymer concrete was defined by material and experimental variables. The error in the predicted long-term creep values is less than 5 percent for all polymer concrete systems. The filler carry out an important role to restrict the creep strains of recycled PET Polymer concrete. The creep strain and specific on using the $CaCO_3$ were less than using fly-ash. The creep increases with an increase in the applied stress, but not proportional the rate of stress increase ratio. The creep behavior of polymer concrete using recycled polyester resin is not a linear viscoelastic behavior.

• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 2007

Infection of free-living dinoflagellates by endoparasitic dinoflagellates of the genus Amoebophrya are thought to have significant impacts on host population dynamics and have long been proposed to be a potential biological agent for controlling harmful algal bloom (HAB). To understand the impact of Amoebophrya on particular host species, however, it is necessary to quantify aspects the parasites life cycle. Here we used cultures of Amoebophryahost systems from Jinhae Bay, Korea to determine, parasite generation time, and dinospore survival and infectivity. The proportion of host cells infected by Amoebophrya sp. changed sharply from 5% to 87% with increasing dinospore:host inoculation ratios. In the absence of H. triquetra, most free-living dinospores died within 72 hours and their ability to infect host cells decreased remarkably in a day. The relatively short free-living phase of Amoebophrya suggests that the spread of infections is most likely to occur during seasons of high host abundance, as that is when dinospores have the greatest chance of encountering host cells. Infection of host cells inoculated with dinospores during the day was higher than when inoculated during the night, suggesting that infection rates might be related to environmental light conditions and/or diurnal biological rhythm of host species. Total generation times of parasite strains from a thecate dinoflagellate Heterocapsa triquetra were nearly the same regardless of dinospore:host inoculation ratios, representing 54 ± 0.5 h in a 1:1 ratio and 55 ± 1.2 h in a 20:1 ratio. Dinospore production of Amoebophrya sp. infecting Heterocapsa triquetra was estimated to be 125 dinospores per a strain of Amoebophrya sp. There is a growing need to maintain a variety of host-parasite systems in culture and to examine their autecology under various environmental conditions. Such studies would be very helpful in understanding ecological role of these parasites, their overlooked importance in the flow of material and energy in marine ecosystem, and their practical use as biological control agents applied directly to areas affected by HAB.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.364-369
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• 2002

Streptomyces shows a eukaryotic characteristic that vegetative cell can grow into mycelial form and has morphological and physiological differentiation at a certain period during its life cycle. Streptomyces has been used for the production of many biologically active compounds, such as antibiotics and pronase. Production of second metabolites and differentiation of the vegetative cell share the certain period of its lift cycle. Therefore, second metabolites may affect the differentiation of the vegetative cell. One of the microbial hormone, called A-factor, regulates the production of second metabolites, sporulation and differentiation of the cells. Streptomyces griseus produces streptomycin as well as many different kinds of proteinase. As mentioned, period of proteinases production overlaps with the period of differentiation of the vegetative cells. Protease may play a important role for the differentiation of the cells. In this paper, function of the SGPD gene cloned from S. griseus IFO 13350 tested whether it affects for the differentiation of A-factor mutated S. griseus HH1 and S. griseus IFO13350. pWHM3 and pWHM3-sprD plasmid was transformed into S. griseus HH1 and S. griseus IFO13350. Chymotrypsin activity of the cultured medium of the transformants with pWHM3-sprD plasmid didn't show any change with that of the transformants with plasmid only. The transformants with pWHM3-sprD plasmid didn't show the increase of the production of actinorhodin as well as morphological change in S. griseus IFO 13350 and HH1, as well. The promoter sequences of the SGPA and SGPB gene which encode chymotrypsin-like protease, were compared with that of SGPD gene. Regulatory mechanism of gene expression of proteinase genes will be studied for the development of high production system for protease as well as the function of the proteases.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.38 no.2 s.149
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• pp.197-203
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• 2007

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the common disease in elderly men. Recently old-age population is increased and we are growing more and more interested in clinical importance of BPH. In this study, the effect of PLX, which was the mixture of tomato extract (including 2% of lycopene) and chitooligosaccharide, on prostatic cancer cell and testosterone-induced BPH in adult rats of the Sprague Dawley strain was determined. The cell viability was evaluated by MTT method using L929 and LNCaP cell line, pretreated with various concentrations of PLX. The expression of prostatic specific antigen (PSA) and 5${\alpha$}$-reductase genes were evaluated by realtime PCR using LNCaP cell line and compared various concentrations of PLX with 50 ${\mu}$M of finasteride. An experimental prostatic hyperplasia was induced in male Sprague Dawley rats by giving testosterone for 8 weeks. After 2 weeks from start of giving testosterone, PLX and finasteride were administered orally once a day. The results were analyzed with prostate weight per body weight at 8 weeks. Cell viability of L929 cell line decreased specifically at the concentration of 2000 ${\mu}$g/mf of PLX. The cytotoxicity of PLX to the LNCaP cell line was shown at above 500 ${\mu}$g/ml of PLX. The inhibitory effect of PLX to the expression of PSA and 5${\alpha$}$-reductase genes in LNCaP cell line increased with the concentration of PLX. In vivo study, the results of PLX and finasteride administered group were 3.75${\pm}$0.60 and 3.49${\pm}$0.49 prostate weight ${\times}10^3$/body weight, which were lower than the result of BPH induced group (4.74${\pm}$0.58). These results suggested that PLX may be an effective material in BPH by having the role of the 5a-reductase inhibitor.