• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.215-220
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• 2013

Against environmental stresses, many bacteria utilize the alternate sigma factor RpoS that induces transcription of the specific set of genes helpful in promoting bacterial survival. Intracellular levels of RpoS are determined mainly by its turnover through proteolysis of ClpXP protease. Delivery of RpoS to ClpXP strictly requires the adaptor protein RssB. The two-component-type response regulator RssB constantly interacts with RpoS, but diverse environmental changes inhibit this interaction through modification of RssB activity, which increases RpoS levels in bacteria. This review discusses and summarizes recent findings on regulatory factors in RssB-RpoS interactions, including IraD, IraM, IraP anti-adaptor proteins of RssB and phosphorylation of N-terminal receiver domain of RssB. New information shows that the coordinated regulation of RssB activity in controlling RpoS turnover confers efficient bacterial defense against stresses.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.80 no.3
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• pp.270-276
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• 2017

Background: A disputed rpoB mutation is a specific type of rpoB mutation that can cause low-level resistances to rifampin (RIF). Here, we aimed to assess the frequency and types of disputed rpoB mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from South Korea. Methods: Between August 2009 and December 2015, 130 patients exhibited RIF resistance on the MTBDRplus assay at Asan Medical Center. Among these cases, we identified the strains with disputed rpoB mutation by rpoB sequencing analysis, as well as among the M. tuberculosis strains from the International Tuberculosis Research Center (ITRC). Results: Among our cases, disputed rpoB mutations led to RIF resistance in at least 6.9% (9/130) of the strains that also exhibited RIF resistance on the MTBDRplus assay. Moreover, at the ITRC, sequencing of the rpoB gene of 170 strains with the rpoB mutation indicated that 23 strains (13.5%) had the disputed mutations. By combining the findings from the 32 strains from our center and the ITRC, we identified the type of disputed rpoB mutation as follows: CTG511CCG (L511P, n=8), GAC516TAC (D516Y, n=8), CTG533CCG (L533P, n=8), CAC526CTC (H526L, n=4), CAC526AAC (H526N, n=3), and ATG515GTG (M515V, n=1). Conclusion: Disputed rpoB mutations do not seem to be rare among the strains exhibiting RIF resistance in South Korea.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.148-156
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• 2024

Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum, a plant pathogenic bacterium that can survive for a long time in soil and water, causes lethal wilt in the Solanaceae family. Sigma S is a part of the RNA polymerase complex, which regulates gene expression during bacterial stress response or stationary phase. In this study, we investigated the role of sigma S in R. pseudosolanacearum under stress conditions using a rpoS-defective mutant strain of R. pseudosolanacearum and its wild-type strain. The phenotypes of rpoS-defective mutant were complemented by introducing the original rpoS gene. There were no differences observed in bacterial growth rate and exopolysaccharide production between the wild-type strain and the rpoS mutant. However, the wild-type strain responded more sensitively to nutrient deficiency compared to the mutant strain. Under the nutrient deficiency, the rpoS mutant maintained a high bacterial viability for a longer period, while the viability of the wild-type strain declined rapidly. Furthermore, a significant difference in pH was observed between the culture supernatant of the wild-type strain and the mutant strain. The pH of the culture supernatant for the wild-type strain decreased rapidly during bacterial growth, leading to medium acidification. The rapid decline in the wild-type strain's viability may be associated with medium acidification and bacterial sensitivity to acidity during transition to the stationary phase. Interestingly, the rpoS mutant strain cannot utilize acetic acid, D-alanine, D-trehalose, and L-histidine. These results suggest that sigma S of R. pseudosolanacearum regulates the production or utilization of organic acids and controls cell death during stationary phase under nutrient deficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.258-265
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• 2004

Numerous genes of Escherichia coli have been shown to growth phase-dependent expression throughout growth. The global patterns of growth phase-dependent gene expression of E. coli throughout growth using oligonucleotide microarrays containing a nearly complete set of 4,289 annotated open reading frames. To determine the change of gene expression throughout growth, we compared RNAs taken from timecourses with common reference RNA, which is combined with equal amount of RNA pooled from each time point. The hierarchical clustering of the conditions in accordance with timecourse expression revealed that growth phases were clustered into four classes, consistent with known physiological growth status. We analyzed the differences of expression levels at genome level in both exponential and stationary growth phase cultures. Statistical analysis showed that 213 genes are shown to, growth phase-dependent expression. We also analyzed the expression of 256 known operons and 208 regulatory genes. To assess the global impact of RpoS, we identified 193 genes coregulated with rpoS and their expression levels were examined in the isogenic rpoS mutant. The results revealed that 99 of 193 were novel RpoS-dependent stationary phase-induced genes and the majority of those are functionally unknown. Our data provide that global changes and adjustments of gene expression are coordinately regulated by growth transition in E. coli.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.336-339
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• 1995

Ephedra distachya cultures have been known to accumulate two major $\rho-coumaroylamino$ acids (p-coumaroylgicine and $\rho-coumaroylamino$ -D-alanine) by D-Ala treament. When D-Ala was added together with serial concentrations of yeast-derived elicitor, the accumulation of $\rho-coumaroylamino$ -D-Ala $(\rho-CDA)$ was geatly increased in an additive manner. In feeding experiments, $[1-^14C]$-D-Ala was incorporated into $\rho-CDA$at a rate of 2.2% or 2.3% of added radioactivity, indicating that exogenous D-Ala served as a precursor of the conjugate. $[1-^14C]$-L-Ala wasalso incorporated into p-CDA (0.23%) in the elicitor treated cultures. This fact suggested that at least a part of $(\rho-CDA)$ was produced from active conversion of L-Ala by the elecitation. In order to investigate a possible role of D-Ala as an elicitor of $\rpo-coumaroylamino$ acids $(\rpo-CAA)$, cold D-Ala was added together with labeled L-Ala. Although L-Ala seemed to be incorporated into $\rho-CDA$ by this treatment, the incorporation ratio was too small (0.054%) to draw a clear conclusion. However, the amount of $\rpo-coumaroylglycine$, which did not use D-Ala as a substrate, was also sightly increased by D-Ala treatment irrespective of the presence of elicitor, suggesting that exogenous D-Ala might act as an elicitor of$\rpo-CAA$ as well as a precusor substrate of $\rho-CDA$.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.79-88
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• 2017

At the present, fish farms are suffering a lot of economic losses due to infectious diseases caused by various pathogens including aeromonad. Aeromonad is ubiquitous bacteria that causes infectious diseases. At least 26 species in the genus Aeromonas have been reported to cause fatal infections not only in salmonid fishes, but also in other freshwater and seawater fishes. Molecular techniques based on nucleic acid sequences of 16S rDNA and housekeeping genes can be used to identify the Aeromonas species. In this study, The genus Aeromonas was isolated from salmonid fishes of sixteen fish farms in Gangwon-Do, Korea and phylogenetically identified based on the sequences of 16S rDNA and housekeeping genes for Aeromonad, i.e. RNA polymerase sigma factor ${\sigma}^{70}$ (rpoD) or DNA gyrase subunit B (gyrB). Consequently, 96 strains were collected from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), masou salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and 36 isolates were identified as the genus Aeromonas by 16S rDNA analysis. Thirty six Aeromonad isolates were further analysed based on rpoD or gyrB gene sequences and found Aeromonas salmonicida (24 isolates), A. sobria (10 isolates), A. media (1 isolates) and A. popoffii (1 isolates), indicating that A. salmonicida is a main infectious bacteria in Salmonid fishes in Gangwon-Do. It was also proved that the phylogenetic identification of Aeromonas species based on the sequences of housekeeping gene is more precise than the 16S rDNA sequence.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1299-1309
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• 2019

As an opportunistic bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 contains two phenazine-producing gene operons, phzA1B1C1D1E1F1G1 (phz1) and phzA2B2C2D2E2F2G2 (phz2), each of which is independently capable of encoding all enzymes for biosynthesizing phenazines, including phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and its derivatives. Other previous study reported that the RpoS-deficient mutant SS24 overproduced pyocyanin, a derivative of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid. However, it is not known how RpoS mediates the expression of two phz operons and regulates pyocyanin biosynthesis in detail. In this study, with deletion of the rpoS gene in the $PA{\Delta}phz1$ mutant and the $PA{\Delta}phz2$ mutant respectively, we demonstrated that RpoS exerted opposite regulatory roles on the expression of the phz1and phz2 operons. We also confirmed that the phz1 operon played a critical role and especially biosynthesized much more phenazines than the phz2 operon when the rpoS gene was knocked out in P. aeruginosa. By constructing the translational reporter fusion vector lasR'-'lacZ and the chromosomal fusion mutant $PA{\Delta}lasR::lacZ$, we verified that RpoS deficiency caused increased expression of lasR, a transcription regulator gene in a first quorum sensing system (las) that activates overexpression of the phz1 operon, suggesting that in the absence of RpoS, LasR might act as an intermediate in overproduction of phenazine biosynthesis mediated by the phz1 operon in P. aeruginosa.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.334-342
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• 2001

Background : RpoB gene mutations have been found in about 96-98% of rifampicin (RMP)-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Recent reports confirm that the in laboratory settings a rpoB gene mutation can be used as a surrogate marker for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. However, its usefulness in clinical applications has not been evaluated. This study was performed to confirm whether mutation analysis of the rpoB gene of M. tuberculosis is useful in clinical settings. Methods : The medical records of 33 patients in whom rpoB gene analysis was conducted using an INNOLiPA Rif. TB assay (LiPA) from June, 1998, to July, 2000, at the Asan Medical Center were retrospectively reviewed in 33 patients. The clinical characteristics in addition to the drug susceptibility and LiPA results were analyzed. The drug susceptibility test was considered as a gold standard method for M. tuberculosis susceptibility and these results were compared with those of the rpoB gene study and sequencing analysis. Sequencing analysis of the rpoB gene was done in cases where there was a discrepancy between the results of the drug susceptibility an d rpoB gene study. Results : The mean age and sex ratio was $42{\pm}18$, and 24:9 (M:F), respectively. There were 19 RMP susceptible (58%) and 14 RMP-resistant cases (42%) according to the rpoB gene study. The mean time from the request to reporting the results of the rpoB gene study was $5.2{\pm}2.6$ days. The mean gap from reporting the rpoB gene study to reporting the susceptibility was $56{\pm}35$ days. Twenty-eight cases (85%) showed identical results compared with the drug susceptibility results, whereas five cases (15%) showed contradictory results. When compared with the sequencing analysis, of the five cases that showed contradictory results, two had LiP A analysis errors and the remaining three were identical to the sequencing results. The rpoB gene study was of assistance in choosing the appropriate drugs in 28 cases (85%). Conclusions : An rpoB gene study using an LiP A assay was useful in rapidly diagnosing RMP-resistant tuberculosis, which enabled a proper choice of the appropriate drugs in clinical practices. However, an LiPA assay always should be performed in conjunction with microscopy, culture, and susceptibility tests.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.250-255
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• 2014

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) resides and replicates inside macrophages. In our previous report, we reported that CD8+ T cell-mediated immune responses specific for the peptide derived from MTB RNA polymerase beta-subunit ($RpoB_{127-135}$) could be induced in TB patients expressing HLA-$A^*0201$ subtype. In order to examine whether $RpoB_{127-135}$ specific CD8+ T cells can recognize MTB infected macrophages in vitro, CD8+ T cell lines specific for $RpoB_{127-135}$ peptide were generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy HLA-$A^*0201$ subjects by in vitro immunization technique. In this study, we observed $RpoB_{127-135}$ specific CD8+ T cells could recognize and destroy macrophages infected with MTB for 2 to 4 days. $RpoB_{127-135}$ specific CD8+ T cell immune response was inducible from PBMC of healthy subjects expressing HLA-$A^*0206$ subtype, one of HLA-A2 supertype members. Next, we investigated the HLA-I processing mechanism of $RpoB_{127-135}$ peptide in MTB infected macrophages. As a result, the presentation of the MTB derived epitope peptide, $RpoB_{127-135}$, to CD8+ T cells was not inhibited by the treatment with brefeldin-A (ER-Golgi transport inhibitor) or lactacystin (proteasome inhibitor), which blocks the classical HLA-I processing pathway. However, $RpoB_{127-135}$ specific CD8+ T cell activity was blocked either by the blocking agent for the endocytosis (cytochalasin D) or by the blocking antibody (W6/32) for HLA-I molecules. Therefore, the $RpoB_{127-135}$ peptide may be processed by accessing the alternate HLA-I processing pathway. Understanding the processing and presentation mechanisms of the MTB derived proteins will help to improve the efficacy of vaccines and the efficiency of therapeutic agents for TB.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.280-283
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• 1998

We have cloned the RNA polymerase sigma-like factors from a wide range of actinomycetes by using specific primers with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The specific oligonucleotide primers were designed on the basis of amino acid sequences of conserved regions from HrdA, B, D of Streptomyces griseus as well as from the rpoD box of many eubacteria. The consensus sequences were from the rpoD box and helix-turn-helix motif involved in -35 recognition. The designed primers were successfully applied to amplify the DNA fragments of the hrd homolog genes from 8 different strains of actinomycetes which produce a wide variety of important antibiotics. The 480 bp of the DNA fragment was amplified from all 8 strains, and it was identified as a part of hrdA and hrdB as we designed. The deduced amino acid sequence of PCR-amplified DNA fragments were highly homologous to those of other known RNA polymerase sigma factors of S. griseus and Streptomyces aureofaciens. Therefore, this study with specifically designed primers will support rapid cloning of the RNA polymerase sigma factors which recognize different classes of promoters from actinomycetes, and it will also be helpful in understanding the relationship of promoters and sigma factors leading to heterogeneity of RNA polymerases in actinomycetes.