• Toxicological Research
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• 제13권1_2호
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• pp.117-125
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• 1997

In order to assess the possibility whether CYP2D is involved in caffeine metabolism, we have purified and characterized the rat liver microsomal cytochrome P4502D1 (CYP2D1), equivalent to CYP2D6 in human liver, and have utilized the reconstituted CYP2D1 in the metabolism of 4 primary caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) metabolites such as paraxanthine (1, 7-dimethylxanthine), 1, 3, 7-trimethylurate, theophylline (1, 3-dimethylxanthine) and theobromine (3, 7-dimethylxanthine). Rat liver CYP 2D1 has been purified to a specific content of 8.98 nmole/mg protein (13.4fold purification, 1.5% yield) using $\omega$-aminooctylagarose, hydroxlapatite, and DE52 columns in a sequential manner. As judged from sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), the purified CYP2D1 was apparently homogeneous. Molecular weight of the purified CYP2D1 was found to be 51, 000 Da. Catalytic activity of the purified and then reconstituted CYP2D1 was confirmed by using bufuralol, a known subsFate of CYP2D1. The reconstituted CYP2D1 was found to produce to 1-hydroxylbufuralol at a rate of 1.43$\pm$0.13 nmol/min/nmol P450. The kinetic analysis of bufuralol hydroxylation indicated that Km and Vmax values were 7.32$\mu M$ and 1.64 nmol/min/nmol P450, respectively. The reconstituted CYP2D1 could catalyze the 7-demethylation of PX to 1-methylxanthine at a rate of 12.5 pmol/min/pmol, and also the 7- and 3- demethylations of 1, 3, 7-trimethylurate to 1, 3-dimethylurate and 1, 7-dimethylurate at 6.5 and 12.8 pmol/min/pmol CYP2D1, respectively. The reconstituted CYP2D1 could also 3-demethylate theophylline to 1-methylxanthine at 5 pmol/min/pmol and hydroxylate the theophylline to 1, 3-dimethylurate at 21.8 pmol/min/pmol CYP2D1. The reconstituted CYP2D1, however, did not metabolize TB at all (detection limits were 0.03 pmol/min/pmol). This study indicated that CYP2D1 is involved in 3-and 7-demethylations of paraxanthine and theophylline and suggested that CYP2D6 (equivalent to CYP2D1 in rat liver) present in human liver may be involved in the secondary metabolism of the primary metabolites of caffeine.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.181-185
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• 2003

Callus and suspension cultures derived from leaf explants of Plumbago rosea were established on Murashige and Skoog's medium containing 1 mg/L IAA, 0.5 mg/L NAA and 0.3 mg/L BAP. Callus cultures were tested for their growth and accumulation of plumbagin, a naphthoquinone and was identified by $^1H$ NMR and electron ionization mass spectroscopy. While auxins (not 2,4-D) influenced growth and plumbagin accumulation, cytokinins did not influence them much. Increasing concentrations of IAA in presence of NAA and BAP increased plumbagin in suspensions only up to 1 mg/L. Growth of callus was optimum (8.3 g DCW/I) at a hormonal combination of 1.5 mg/L IAA, 0.5 mg/L NAA and 0.3 mg/L BAP, but high plumbagin accumulation (4.9 mg/g DCW) was recorded at 1.0 mg/L IAA plus 0.3 mg/L BAP. Since instability in growth and secondary metabolite accumulation was noticed, several cell lines/clumps of callus were screened for plumbagin accumulation by visual and analytical methods. Biomass and accumulation of plumbagin showed a negative correlation in several cell lines. But one cell line showed stability both in terms of biomass and plumbagin accumulation over a period of 6 months.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제15권10호
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• pp.1458-1468
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• 2002

There is increasing interest in exploiting natural products as feed additives to solve problems in animal nutrition and livestock production. Essential oils and saponins are two types of plant secondary compounds that hold promise as natural feed additives for ruminants. This paper describes recent advances in research into these additives. The research has generally concentrated on protein metabolism. Dietary essential oils caused rates of NH$_3$ production from amino acids in ruminal fluid taken from sheep and cattle receiving the oils to decrease, yet proteinase and peptidase activities were unchanged. Hyper-ammonia-producing (HAP) bacteria were the most sensitive of ruminal bacteria to essential oils in pure culture. Essential oils also slowed colonisation and digestion of some feedstuffs. Ruminobacter amylophilus may be a key organism in mediating these effects. Saponin-containing plants and their extracts appear to be useful as a means of suppressing the bacteriolytic activity of rumen ciliate protozoa and thereby enhancing total microbial protein flow from the rumen. The effects of some saponins seems to be transient, which may stem from the hydrolysis of saponins to their corresponding sapogenin aglycones, which are much less toxic to protozoa. Saponins also have selective antibacterial effects which may prove useful in, for example, controlling starch digestion. These studies illustrate that plant secondary compounds, of which essential oils and saponins comprise a small proportion, have great potential as 'natural' manipulators of rumen fermentation, to the potential benefit of the farmer and the environment.

• 한국자원식물학회지
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.273-280
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• 2009

A cDNA clone encoding a MDR-like ABC transporter protein was isolated from Brassica rapa seedlings, through rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). This gene (named as Brmdr 1; GenBank accession no.: DQ296184 ) had a total length of 4222 bp with an open reading frame of 3900 bp, and encoded a predicted polypeptide of 1300 amino acids with a molecular weight of 143.1 kDa. The BrMDR1 protein shared 71.0, 62.5, 60.0 and 58.2% identity with other MDR proteins isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana (AAN28720), Coptis japonica (CjMDR), Gossypium hirsutum (GhMDR) and Triticum aestivum (TaMDR) at amino acid level, respectively. Southern blot analysis showed that Brmdr1 was a low-copy gene. Expression pattern analysis revealed that Brmdr1 constitutively expressed in the root, stem petals and stamens, but with lower expression in leaves and open flowers. The domains analysis showed that BrMDR1 protein possessed two transmembrane domains (TMDs) and two nucleotide binding domains (NBDs) arranging in "TMD1-NBD1-TMD2-NBD2" direction, which is consistent with other MDR transporters. Within NBDs three characteristic motifs common to all ABC transporters, "Walker A", "Walker B" and C motif, were found. These results indicate that BrMDR1 is a MDR-like ABC transporter protein that may be involved in the transport and accumulation of secondary metabolites.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.73-77
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• 2005

Plant-derived natural products have been and will continue to be valuable sources. Elicitors have been employed to modify cell metabolism in order to enhance the productivity of useful metabolites in plant cell/tissue cultures. In this study, several elicitors were used to improve the productivity of useful metabolites and to reduce culture time for archiving high concentration in P. ginseng hairy root cultures. The addition of chitosan, chitosan oligosaccharide and alginate oligosaccharide to the culture of P. ginseng hairy roots caused growth to be inhibited with the increase in elicitor concentration. The usage of the chitosan elicitor and D-glucosamine caused a slight decrease in hairy root growth, whereas total ginseng saponin accumulated slightly with the increase in elicitor concentration. When gel beads were added to the culture medium at the initial period, hairy root growth was enhanced. The maximum growth was 1.35 times higher than that of the control at $1\%$ (w/v). Total ginseng saponin content decreased due to the addition of alginate beads. This would result in consistent diffusion of lower levels of calcium ions during the culture period that promotes biomass growth.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.295-298
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• 2006

Actinomycetes are ubiquitous Gram-positive soil bacteria and a group of the most important industrial microorganisms for the biosynthesis of many valuable secondary metabolites as well as the source of various bioconversion enzymes. Cytochrome P450 hydroxylase (CYP), a hemebinding protein, is known to be involved in the modification of various natural compounds, including polyketides, fatty acids, steroids, and some aromatic compounds. Previously, six different novel CYP genes were isolated from a rare actinomycetes called Sebekia benihana, and they were completely sequenced, revealing significant amino acid similarities to previously known CYP genes involved in Streptomyces secondary metabolism. In the present study, these six CYP genes were functionally expressed in Streptomyces lividans, using an $ermE^{*}$ promoter-containing Streptomyces expression vector. Among six CYP genes, two S. benihana CYP genes (CYP503 and CYP504) showed strong hydroxylation activities toward 7-ethoxycoumarin. Furthermore, the recombinant S. lividans containing both the S. benihana CYP506-ferredoxin genes as well as the S. coelicolor feredoxin reductase gene also demonstrated cyclosporin A hydroxylation activity, suggesting potential application of actinomycetes CYPs for the biocatalysts of natural product bioconversion.

• 한국약용작물학회지
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.91-94
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• 2005

Plants have been known to accumulate a very diverse range of triterpene saponins. We have investigated the regulation of saponin biosynthesis in higher plants using Centella asiatica (L.) Urban as a model plant. Effects of a feeding precursor on asiaticoside production from leaves and on the level of two-type OSCs mRNA were investigated. As a feeding precursor, squalene negatively affected the levels of CYS and bAS mRNA, but it also decreased the production of asiaticoside from whole plants. Plant hormones regulate secondary metabolism, and in plant tissue cultures they could affect both culture growth and secondary metabolite production. Although enhancement of asiaticoside production from whole plant cultures by addition of TDZ (thidiazuron) has been reported, the positive effect of TDZ on the levels of OSCs transcripts was not observed.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.41.1-41.9
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• 2022

The pathogen Gallibacterium anatis has caused heavy economic losses for commercial poultry farms around the world. However, despite its importance, the functions of its hypothetical proteins (HPs) have been poorly characterized. The present study analyzed the functions and structures of HPs obtained from Gallibacterium anatis (NCTC11413) using various bioinformatics tools. Initially, all the functions of HPs were predicted using the VICMpred tool, and the physicochemical properties of the identified virulence proteins were then analyzed using Expasy's ProtParam server. A virulence protein (WP_013745346.1) that can act as a potential drug target was further analyzed for its secondary structure, followed by homology modeling and three-dimensional (3D) structure determination using the Swiss-Model and Phyre2 servers. The quality assessment and validation of the 3D model were conducted using ERRAT, Verify3D, and PROCHECK programs. The functional and phylogenetic analysis was conducted using ProFunc, STRING, KEGG servers, and MEGA software. The bioinformatics analysis revealed 201 HPs related to cellular processes (n = 119), metabolism (n = 61), virulence (n = 11), and information/storage molecules (n = 10). Among the virulence proteins, three were detected as drug targets and six as vaccine targets. The characterized virulence protein WP_013745346.1 is proven to be stable, a drug target, and an enzyme related to the citrate cycle in the present pathogen. This enzyme was also found to facilitate other metabolic pathways, the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and the biosynthesis of amino acids.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• 제31권9호
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• pp.1394-1403
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• 1998

The study was designed to observe the effect of dietary calcium and fats on plasma cholesterol level, hepatic microsomal fluidity and HMG-CoA reductase activity as well as the excretion of fecal bile acids and neutral sterols in 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine(DMH)-treated rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats, at 7 weeks of age, were divided into 2 groups, 0.3% and 1.0% Ca levels and each group again subdivided into 2 groups of corn oil and perilla oil. Each rat was intramuscularly infused with DMH for 6 weeks to give total dose of 180mg/kg body weight and also fed experimental diet containing 15%(w/w) different fit and Ca(0.3% or 1.0%) for 20 weeks. High dietary calcium(1.0%) did not significantly influence on plasma cholesterol as well as hepatic microsomal fluidity and HMG CoA reductase activity, but significantly reduced the excretion of total bile acid per gram of faces and increased the excretion of total neutral sterol. However, high dietary Ca reduced the excretion of secondary bile acid(deoxycholic and lithocholic acids) which was known as promoter for colon cancer. Perilla oil rich in n-3 ${\alpha}$-linolenic acid significantly decreased plasma cholesterol by increasing hepatic microsomal fluidity compared with corn oil, but did not influence on HMG CoA reductase activity. Perilla oil did not influence on fecal excretion of total and primary bile acids, but reduced the excretion of secondary bile acids. Therefore, it could be recommended to consume more fish product and food rich in calcium and use more perilla oil in meal preparation to prevent from coronary hear disease and colon cancer especially when high fit diet has been practiced. (Korean Nutrition 31(9) : 1394-1403, 1998)

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권12호
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• pp.1737-1746
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• 2013

IbMYB1, a transcription factor (TF) for R2R3-type MYB TFs, is a key regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis during storage of sweet potatoes. Anthocyanins provide important antioxidants of nutritional value to humans, and also protect plants from oxidative stress. This study aimed to increase transgenic potatoes' (Solanum tuberosum cv. LongShu No.3) tolerance to environmental stress and enhance their nutritional value. Transgenic potato plants expressing IbMYB1 genes under the control of an oxidative stress-inducible peroxidase (SWPA2) promoter (referred to as SM plants) were successfully generated through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Two representative transgenic SM5 and SM12 lines were evaluated for enhanced tolerance to salinity, UV-B rays, and drought conditions. Following treatment of 100 mM NaCl, seedlings of SM5 and SM12 lines showed less root damage and more shoot growth than control lines expressing only an empty vector. Transgenic potato plants in pots treated with 400 mM NaCl showed high amounts of secondary metabolites, including phenols, anthocyanins, and flavonoids, compared with control plants. After treatment of 400 mM NaCl, transgenic potato plants also showed high DDPH radical scavenging activity and high PS II photochemical efficiency compared with the control line. Furthermore, following treatment of NaCl, UV-B, and drought stress, the expression levels of IbMYB1 and several structural genes in the flavonoid biosynthesis such as CHS, DFR, and ANS in transgenic plants were found to be correlated with plant phenotype. The results suggest that enhanced IbMYB1 expression affects secondary metabolism, which leads to improved tolerance ability in transgenic potatoes.