• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.401-412
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• 2013

Because of an increased number of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) along with associated disease burdens, medical professionals have become more aware of this pathogen in recent years. In this study, by analyzing both the nuclear 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) and mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene loci, 27 clinical Acanthamoeba strains that caused AK in Japan were classified into 3 genotypes, T3 (3 strains), T4 (23 strains), and T5 (one strain). Most haplotypes were identical to the reference haplotypes reported from all over the world, and thus no specificity of the haplotype distribution in Japan was found. The T4 sub-genotype analysis using the 16S rRNA gene locus also revealed a clear subconformation within the T4 cluster, and lead to the recognition of a new sub-genotype T4i, in addition to the previously reported sub-genotypes T4a-T4h. Furthermore, 9 out of 23 strains in the T4 genotype were identified to a specific haplotype (AF479533), which seems to be a causal haplotype of AK. While heterozygous nuclear haplotypes were observed from 2 strains, the mitochondrial haplotypes were homozygous as T4 genotype in the both strains, and suggested a possibility of nuclear hybridization (mating reproduction) between different strains in Acanthamoeba. The nuclear 18S rRNA gene and mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene loci of Acanthamoeba spp. possess different unique characteristics usable for the genotyping analyses, and those specific features could contribute to the establishment of molecular taxonomy for the species complex of Acanthamoeba.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 2004

MicroRNA and siRNA (small interfering RNA), representative members of small RNA, exert their effects on target gene expression through association with protein complexes called miRNP (microRNA associated ribonucleoproteins) and RISC (RNA induced silencing complex), respectively. Although the protein complexes are yet to be fully characterized, human EIF2C2 protein has been identified as a component of both miRNP and RISC. In this report, we raised antiserum against EIF2C2 in order to begin understanding the protein complexes. An immunoblot result indicates that EIF2C2 protein is ubiquitously expressed in a variety of cell lines from human and mouse. EIF2C2 protein exists in both cellular compartments, as indicated by an immunoblot assay with a nuclear extract and a cytosolic fraction (S100 fraction) from HeLa S3 lysate. Depletion of EIF2C1 or EIF2C2 protein resulted in a decrease of microRNA, suggesting a possible role of these proteins in microRNA stability or biogenesis. We also prepared antiserum against dsRNA binding protein PACT, whose homologs in C. elegans and Drosophila are known to have a role in the RNAi (RNA interference) pathway. The expression of PACT protein was also observed in a wide range of cell lines.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.463-469
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• 2020

Objective : This study aimed to investigate the changes and significance of microRNA155 levels in serum of patients with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). Methods : Thirty patients with CSVD who met the inclusion criteria were selected and divided into eight patients with lacunar infarction (LI) group and 22 patients with multiple lacunar infarction (MLI) combined with white matter lesions (WML) group according to the results of head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thirty samples from healthy volunteers without abnormalities after head MRI examination were selected as the control group. The levels of serum microRNA155 in each group were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and the correlation between microRNA155 in the serum of patients with CSVD and the increase of imaging lesions was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. Results : Compared with the control group, the serum microRNA155 level in the LI group, MLI combined with WML group increased, the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05); serum microRNA155 level was positively correlated with the increase of imaging lesions (p<0.05). Conclusion : The change of serum microRNA155 level in patients with CSVD may be one of its self-protection mechanisms, and the intensity of this self-protection mechanism is positively correlated with the number of CSVD lesions.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.225-233
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• 2007

To verify which loop regions of 18S rRNA gene are suitable as species-specific genetic markers in ciliates, we analyzed the genetic variation of 18S rRNA gene among 9 Euplotes species (Hypotrichia : Ciliophora). In our result, no inter-specific variation was detected from V1, V3 and V5 regions, and the length of V7 and V8 are 44 bp and 79 bp, respectively, which are too short to make genetic marker. In contrast, V2 and V4 may be good candidate segments of species-specific diagnostic molecular markers because these two regions are most variable ($1.75{\sim}20.61%$) and showed good inter-specific phylogeny. Furthermore, the sequences of V2 and V4 are 123 bp and 306 bp, respectively in length which are enough to make species-specific marker.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.363-370
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• 1997

RNase MRP is a ribonucleoprotein complex with a site-specific endonuclease activity. Its original substrate for cleavage is the small mitochondrial RNA near the mitochondrial DNA replication origin, thus it was proposed to generate the primer for mtDNA replication. Recently, it has been shown to have another substrate in the nucleus, such as pre-S.8S ribosomal RNA in nucleolus. The gene for the RNA component of RNase MRP (MRP RNA) was found to be encoded by the nucleus genome, suggesting an interesting intracellular trafficking of MRP RNA to both mitochondria and nucleolus after transcription in nucleus. In this study, genomic DNA encoding MRP RNA was microinjected into the nucleus of Xenopus oocytes, to analyze promoter regions involved in the transcription. It showed that the proximal sequence element and TATA box are important for basal level transcription; octamer motif and Sp1 binding sites are for elevated level transcription. Most of Xenopus MRP RNA was exported out to the cytoplasm following transcription in the nucleus. Utilizing various hybrid constructs, export of MRP RNA was found to be regulated by the promoter and the 5' half of the coding region of the gene. Interestingly, the transcription in nucleus seems to be coupled to the export of MRP RNA to cytoplasm. Intracellular transport of injected MRP RNA can be easily visualized by whole-mount in situ hybridization following microinjection; it also shows possible intra-nuclear sites for transcription and export of MRP RNA.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1202-1206
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• 2016

Unicellular cyanobacterial strains of Subsections I and II and filamentous cyanobacterial strains of Subsection III have been shown to be polyphyletic, heterocystous strains of Subsections IV and V, both of which were previously reported to be monophyletic. In this study, the small subunit ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) sequences of 13 strains of cyanobacteria - one strain, Oscillatoria nigro-viridis PCC7112, of the Subsection III, 6 strains including genus Anabaena, Nostoc, Tolypothrix, Calothrix and Scytonema of the Subsection IV, and 6 strains including genus Hapalosiphon, Fischerella and Chlorogloeopsis of the Subsection V - were determined. The phylogenetic analysis of cyanobacteria was carried out using the 16S rRNA sequences. The results of the phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA sequences, based on Neighbour-joining, maximum-parsimony, and maximum-likelihood methods, indicated that the members of Subsection IV were not monophyletic but polyphyletic. In addition, the phylogenetic results strongly indicated that the genus Scytonema in Subsection IV could be a common ancestor of heterocystous cyanobacteria in Subsection IV and V. Furthermore, the phylogenetic analyses revealed that the genus Anabaena could be phylogenetically diverse and that cyanobacterial strains in Subsection IV might be polyphyletic, whereas those in Subsection V could be monophyletic, as reported before. The results for the genus Anabaena indicate that it should be reclassified.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1816-1821
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• 2003

Reliable PCR based identification of lactobacilli has been described utilizing the sequence of 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region. Those sequence comparisons showed a high degree of difference in homology among the strains of L. rhamnosus, L. casei, L. acidophilus and L. helveticus whose 16S-23S rRNA intergenic small SR's sizes were 222 bp, 222 bp, 206 bp and 216 bp respectively. The sequence of 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region of L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103 revealed the close relatedness to those of L. casei strains by the homology ranges from 95.4% to 97.2%. 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region nucleotide sequence of L. acidophilus showed some distant relatedness with L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103 with the homology ranges from 40.3% to 41.8% and that with L. helveticus was shown to be 30% of homology, which exists at the most distant phylogenetic relatedness. The identification of species and strain of lactobacilli was possible on the basis of these results. The common sequences among the 17 strains were CTAAGGAA located in the initiating position of the DNA and some discrepancies were found between the same strains based on these results.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.194-199
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• 1995

A portion (7.4 kb) of ribosomal DNA tandem repeat unit from a genome of the mushroom T. matsutake has been cloned. A 1.75 kb EcoRI fragment was cloned first using S. cerevisiae 255 rRNA gene as a probe, and this was then used for further cloning. A chromosomal walking experiment was carried out and the upstream region of the 1.75 kb fragment was cloned using SmaI/BamHI enzyme, the size was estimated to be 5.2 kb in length. Part of the downstream region of the 1.75 kb fragment was also cloned using XbaI/BamHI enzymes. Restriction enzyme maps of three cloned DNA fragments were constructed. Northern hybridization, using total RNA of T. matsutake, and the restriction fragments of three cloned DNAs as probes, revealed that all four ribosomal RNA genes (large subunit[LSU], small subunit [SSU], 5.85 and 5S rRNA genes) are present in the cloned region. The gene organization of the rDNA are regarded as an intergenic spacer [IGS]2 (partial) - SSU rRNA - internal transcribed spacer [ITS]1 - 5.8S rRNA - ITS2 - LSU rRNA - IGS1 -5S rRNA - IG52 (partial).

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.426-439
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• 2019

Many small RNAs (sRNAs) regulate gene expression by base pairing to their target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) with the help of Hfq in Escherichia coli. The sRNA DsrA activates translation of the rpoS mRNA in an Hfq-dependent manner, but this activation ability was found to partially bypass Hfq when DsrA is overproduced. The precise mechanism by which DsrA bypasses Hfq is unknown. In this study, we constructed strains lacking all three rpoS-activating sRNAs (i.e., ArcZ, DsrA, and RprA) in $hfq^+$ and $Hfq^-$ backgrounds, and then artificially regulated the cellular DsrA concentration in these strains by controlling its ectopic expression. We then examined how the expression level of rpoS was altered by a change in the concentration of DsrA. We found that the translation and stability of the rpoS mRNA are both enhanced by physiological concentrations of DsrA regardless of Hfq, but that depletion of Hfq causes a rapid degradation of DsrA and thereby decreases rpoS mRNA stability. These results suggest that the observed Hfq dependency of DsrA-mediated rpoS activation mainly results from the destabilization of DsrA in the absence of Hfq, and that DsrA itself contributes to the translational activation and stability of the rpoS mRNA in an Hfq-independent manner.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.529-538
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• 1998

In order to analyze the intracellu1ar localization of specific RNA components of ribonucleoproteins (RNP) in Xenopus oocytes, a modified protocol of whole-mount in situ Hybridization is presented in this paper, Mitochondria specific 12S rRNA probe was used to detect the amplification and distribution of mitochondria in various stages of the oocyte life cycle, and the results were found to be consistent with previously known distribution of mitochondria. The results with other specific probes (U1 and U3 small nuclear RNAs, and 5S RNA) also indicate that this procedure is generally effective in localizing RNAs in RNP complexes even inside organelles. In addition, the RNA component of RNase MRP, the RNP with endoribo-nuclease activity, localize to the nucleus in various stages of the oocyte life cycle. Some of MRP RNA, however, were found to be localized to the special population of mitochondria near the nucleus, especially in the active stage of mitochondrial amplification. It suggests dual localization of RNase MRP in the nucleus and mitochondria, which is consistent with the proposed roles of RNase MRP in mitochondrial DNA replication and in rRNA processing in the nucleolus.