• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2000

For the rapid selection of higher recombinant hirudin producing strain in a methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha, a multiple gene integration and dose-dependent selection vector, based on a telomere-associated ARS and a bacterial aminoglycoside 3-phosphotransferase (aph) gene, was adopted. Two hirudin expression cassettes (HV1 and HV2) were constructed using the MOX promoter of H. polymorpha and the mating factor $\alpha$ secretion signal of S. cerevisiae. Multiple integrants of a transforming vector containing hirudin expression cassettes were easily selected by using an antibiotic, G418. Hirudin expression level and integrated plasmid copy number of the tested transformants increased with increasing the concentration of G418 used for selection. The expression level of HV1 was consistently higher than that of HV2 under the similar conditions, suggesting that the gene context might be quite important for the high-level gene expression in H. polymorpha. The highest hirudin producing strain selected in this study produced over 96 mg/L of biologically active hirudin in a 500-mL flask and 165 mg/L in a 5-L fermentor.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.308-313
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• 1996

An 1.4 kb of the fad3 cDNA encoding microsomal linoleic acid desaturase catalyzing the conversion of linoleic acid (18:2, ${\omega}-6$) to linolenic acid (18:2, ${\omega}-3$) was introduced into tobacco plants by the Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation, Among the transgenic tobacco plants conferring kanamycin resistance, five transformants showing increment in unsaturated fatty acid contents were selected and further analyzed for the transgenecity, In genomic Southern blot analyses, copy numbers of the integrated fad3 DNA in chromosomal DNA of the five transgenic tobacco plants were varied among the transgenic lines. By Northern blot analyses, the abundancy of the fad3 mRNA transcript directed by Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter was consistent with the relative copy number of the fad3 DNA integrated in the chromosome of transgenic tobacco plants. When compared with the wild type, accumulation of linolenic acid in transgenic tobacco roots was elevated 3.7- to 4.7-fold showing a corresponding decrease in the linoleic acid contents; however, slight increments for linolenic acid were noticed in transgenic leaf tissues. These results indicated that the elevated level of fad3 expression is achieved in transgenic tobacco plants.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.327-333
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• 1996

Yeast, like many other microbes, encounters large variations in ambient pH in their natural environments. Microorganisms capable of growing over a wide pH range require a versatile, efficient pH homeostatic mechanism protecting intracellular processes against extremes of pH. In several organisms, fusions to the bacterial lacZ gene have been extremely useful for the identification of genes expressed at different time during the life cycle or under different growth conditions. In this study, using the lacZ gene screening system, we surveyed a large number of yeast strains with lacZ insertion to identify genes regulated by pH. A yeast genomic library was constructed and inserted with lacZ by a shuttle mutagenesis procedure. The yeast transformants were individually picked up with a toothpick, replica-plated, and grown in alkaline pH medium. Among the 35,000 colonies screened, 10 candidate strains were identified initially by the $\beta$-gal assay. We finally confirmed two yeast strains carrying the genes whose expression are strictly dependent on pH of growth medium. One of the fusions showing a 10-fold induction in expression level in response to alkali pH was selected and further characterized. The pH-regulated gene was cloned by inverse PCR and a partial sequence of the gene was determined. Identification and characterization of the gene is currently under investigation.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.42-46
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• 1992

From the soil environment which is treated with herbicides. we isolated strain having high resistance against glyphosate. After being identified. the isolated strain was turned out to be Pseudomc~nu.c~c ~paciua nd to have intense tolerance lo the 10 mM glyphosate. The isolated strain shows slow, growth rate about twenty hours in glyphosate comparing with that in inorganic phosphate. As a result of confirming the p~~sitioonf glyphosate resistant gene. it was proved to exist in chromosome. After cloning it into E coli C600, transformants E. coli THC-101 and plasmid pGR19 were obtained.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2009

Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of rice blast, forms a specialized infection structure, called an appressorium, which is crucial for penetration and infection of the host plant. Pharmacological data suggest that calcium/calmodulindependent signaling is involved in appressorium formation in this fungus. To understand the role of the calcium/calmodulin-activated protein phosphatase on appressorium formation at the molecular level, MCNA, a gene encoding the catalytic subunit of calcineurin, was functionally characterized in M. oryzae. Transformants expressing sense/antisense RNA of MCNA exhibited significant reductions in mycelial growth, conidiation, appressorium formation, and pathogenicity. cDNA of MCNA functionally complemented a calcineurin disruptant strain (cmp1::LEU2 cmp2::HIS3) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These data suggest that calcineurin A plays important roles in signal transduction pathways involved in the infection-related morphogenesis and pathogenicity of M. oryzae.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.607-613
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• 1994

The Bacillus stearothermophilus arfI gene encoding a-arabinofuranosidase was isolated from the genomic library, cloned into pBR322, and subsequently transferred into the Escherichia coli HB101. The recombinant E. coli was selected from approximately 10,000 transformants screened by making use of its ability to produce a yellow pigment around the colony on the selective medium supplemented with p-nitrophenyl-$\alpha$-L-arabinofuranoside (pNPAf), a chromogenic substrate. The functional clone was found to harbor a recombinant plasmid, pKMG11 with an insertion of about 5 kb derived from the B. stearothermophilus chromosomal DNA. Identity of the arfI gene on the insert DNA was confirmed by a zymogram with 4-methylumbelliferyl-$\alpha$-L-arabinofuranoside as the enzyme substrate. The $\alpha$-arabinofuranosidase from the recombinant E. coli strain showed very high substrate specificity; the enzyme displayed high activity only with pNPAf among many other p- or $o$-nitrophenyl derivatives of several sugars, and acted only on arabinoxylan among various natural arabinose containing polysaccharides tested.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.286-290
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• 2006

A genomic library of Streptococcus vestibularis ATCC49124 was constructed in an E. coli plasmid vector, and the urease-positive transformants harboring the urease gene cluster were isolated on Christensen-urea agar plates. The minimal DNA region required for urease activity was located in a 5.6 kb DNA fragment, and a DNA sequence analysis revealed the presence of a partial ureI gene and seven complete open reading frames, corresponding to ureA, B, C, E, F, G, and D, respectively. The nucleotide sequence over the entire ure gene cluster and 3'-end flanking region of S. vestibularis was up to 95% identical to that of S. salivarius, another closely related oral bacterium, and S. thermophilus, isolated from dairy products. The predicted amino acid sequences for the structural peptides were 98-100% identical to the corresponding peptides in S. salivarius and S. thermophilus, respectively, whereas those for the accessory proteins were 96-100% identical. The recombinant E. coli strain containing the S. vestibularis ure gene cluster expressed a high level of the functional urease holoenzyme when grown in a medium supplemented with 1 mM nickel chloride. The enzyme was purified over 49-fold by using DEAE-Sepharose FF, Superdex HR 200, and Mono-Q HR 5/5 column chromatography. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 2,019 U/mg, and the Michaelis constant ($K_{m}$) of the enzyme was estimated to be 1.4 mM urea. A Superose 6HR gel filtration chromatography study demonstrated that the native molecular weight was about 196 kDa.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.773-779
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• 2002

A gene (hap) encoding aminopeptidase from the chromosomal DNA of Bacillus licheniformis was cloned. The gene is 1,347 bp long and encodes a 449 amino acid preproprotein with a major mature region of 401 amino acids (calculated molecular mass 43,241 Da). N-Terminal sequence of the purified protein revealed a potential presence of N-terminal propeptide. The deduced primary amino acid sequence and the mass analysis of the purified protein suggested that a C-terminal peptide YSSVAQ was also cleaved off by a possible endogeneous protease. Tho amino acid sequence displayed 58% identity with that of the aminopeptidase from alkaliphilic Bacillus halodurans. This bacterial enzyme was overexpressed in recombinant Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis cells. Clones containing the intact hap gene, including its own promoter and signal sequence, gave rise to the synthesis of extracellular and thrmostable enzyme by B. subtilis transformants. The secreted protein exhibited the same biochemical properties and the similar apparent molecular mass as the B. lichenzyormis original enzyme.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.401-410
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• 2006

The plastid transformation approach offers a number of unique advantages, including high-level transgene expression, multi-gene engineering, transgene containment, and a lack of gene silencing and position effects. The extension of plastid transformation technology to monocotyledonous cereal crops, including rice, bears great promise for the improvement of agronomic traits, and the efficient production of pharmaceutical or nutritional enhancement. Here, we report a promising step towards stable plastid transformation in rice. We produced fertile transplastomic rice plants and demonstrated transmission of the plastidexpressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) and aminoglycoside 3′-adenylyltransferase genes to the progeny of these plants. Transgenic chloroplasts were determined to have stably expressed the GFP, which was confirmed by both confocal microscopy and Western blot analyses. Although the produced rice plastid transformants were found to be heteroplastomic, and the transformation efficiency requires further improvement, this study has established a variety of parameters for the use of plastid transformation technology in cereal crops.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.227-231
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• 1992

The plasmids pSUPBT and pSUPBTR were constructed with a vector pSUP2021 and the BT toxin gene in the plasmid pES 1. The plasmids constructed were introduced into the antagonistic rhizobacteria P. fluorescens KR164 by conjugation and P. fluorescens having pSUPBT and pSUPBTR were named P. fluorescens KR164(pSUPBT)#2, KR164(pSUPBT)#3, KR164(pSUPBTR)#2 and KR164(pSUPBTR)#3, respectively. The BT toxin gene were identified in all transformants by Southern hybridization and the final product of BT toxin gene was identified only in P. fluorescens KR164(pSUPBTR)#3 by SDS-PAGE. This crystal toxin protein were also observed in electron microscopy.