• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.508-513
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• 2003

The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produces toxin inclusions that are deleterious to target insect larvae. These toxins are believed to interact with a specific receptor protein(s) that is present on the gut epithelial cells of the larvae. In various insect species (in particular those belonging to the lepidopteran class), aminopeptidase N (APN) is one of the two receptor proteins that are considered to be involved in toxin-receptor interactions. However, in mosquitoes, the nature and identity of the receptor protein is unknown. Here, using RT-PCR, we identified two isoforms of the APN transcripts in the Aedes aegypti mosquito larval midgut. These results are congruent with a previous report of multiple isoforms of the APN gene expression in lepidopteran larvae. Which of the two isoforms (or other yet unidentified receptor proteins) is involved in the killing of mosquito larvae remains to be elucidated.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.65-74
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• 2000

Toxoplasma-killing activities of mouse peritoneal macrophages activated by the extracts of Tetrahymena pyriformis (Korean and Chinese strains) were evaluated, and the active protein fractions from both strains were partially characterized by a method including chromatographies and SDS-PAGE. The first peak in Korean strain and the second peak in Chinese strain of T. pyriformis obtained by DEAE-Sephadex A-50 chromatography were most effective in the activation of macrophages to kill Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites in vitro. Subsequent fractionations of obtained peak fractions were performed on a Sephadex G-200 gel. The first peaks fractionated from both strains of T. pyrtyomis had the highest toxoplasmacidal activities, and when subjected to the SDS-PAGE, one prominent band was visualized for each of the strains showing the same molecular weight of ca. 52.6 kDa. This active protein is suggested to be related to non-specific activation of mouse peritoneal macrophages.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.339-345
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• 1994

Polyphenol oxidase in Yam was partially purified through ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. The specific activity of purified PPO was 138.22 unit/mg protein. The optimum pH and temperature of purified PPO were respectively 7.0 and 30$^{\circ}C$. The heat treatment at 80$^{\circ}C$ for 6 min, decreased PPO activity to 50%. The enzyme showed high substrate specificity toward catechol. The Km value for catechol was 5 mM. In the Ames test using S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100 catechol-YEBRP, pyrogallol-YEBRP, chlorogenic-YEBRP showed strong antimutagenicity on sodium azide and MECF excepting hydroquinone-YEBRP showed killing effect on both strains.

• Journal of the Korean Mathematical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 1995

Let $(M,g_M,F)$ be a (p+q)-dimensional connected Riemannian manifold with a foliation $F$ of codimension q and a complete bundle-like metric $g_M$ with respect to $F$. Let $Ric_D$ be the transverse Ricci field of $F$ with respect to the transverse Riemannian connection D which is a torsion-free and $g_Q$-metrical connection on the normal bundle Q of $F$. We consider transverse confomal (or, projective) fields of $F$. It is clear that a tranverse Killing field s of $F$ preserves the transverse Ricci field of $F$, that is, $\Theta(s)Ric_D = 0$, where $\Theta(s)$ denotes the transverse Lie differentiation with respect to s.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1368-1376
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• 2005

Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces a variety of bacteriocidal substances including pyocins that are active against the same species, but their physiological roles are relatively unknown. Here, we profiled the bacteriocidal activities in the culture supernatants of various P. aeruginosa isolates and describe the competitive growth advantages of strains PAO1 and PA14 over some strains including PAK, which are sensitive to their bacteriocidal activities. These findings suggest that the factors governing the production of pyocins and the resistance to them play important roles in controlling P. aeruginosa populations in its local environments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.180-185
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• 2007

R-type pyocin is a bacteriophage tail-shaped bacteriocin produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but its physiological roles are relatively unknown. Here we describe a role of R-type pyocin in the competitive growth advantages between P aeruginosa strains. Partial purification and gene disruption revealed that the major killing activity from the culture supernatant of PA14 is attributed to R-type pyocin, neither F-type nor S-type pyocins. These findings may provide insight into the forces governing P aeruginosa population dynamics to promote and maintain its biodiversity.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2001

In a previous study by Kim et al. (2000), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) has been demonstrated to be effective against algae that cause red tides. To secure the environmental safely of the chemical in practical use, effect of NaOCl, at concentrations required for algicidal activity, on the histology of rockfish and little neck clam was examined. When the animals were exposed to NaOCl at concentrations of 0.5 or 2ppm for 1 hr, there was no exposure-associated histological change in either animal. As the experimental exposure condition was set in consideration of the use, our results provide safety information necessary for practical application to marine fields.

• CELLMED
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.22.1-22.19
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• 2016

The biologically active compounds derived from different natural organisms such as animals, plants, and microorganisms like algae, fungi, bacteria and merine organisms. These natural compounds possess diverse biological activities like anthelmintic, antibacterial, antifungal, antimalarial, antiprotozoal, antituberculosis, and antiviral activities. These biological active compounds were acted by variety of molecular targets and thus may potentially contribute to several pharmacological classes. The synthesis of natural products and their analogues provides effect of structural modifications on the parent compounds which may be useful in the discovery of potential new drug molecules with different biological activities. Natural organisms have developed complex chemical defense systems by repelling or killing predators, such as insects, microorganisms, animals etc. These defense systems have the ability to produce large numbers of diverse compounds which can be used as new drugs. Thus, research on natural products for novel therapeutic agents with broad spectrum activities and will continue to provide important new drug molecules.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.759-764
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• 2015

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are one of the critical components in host innate immune responses to imbalanced and invading microbial pathogens. Although the antimicrobial activity and mechanism of action have been thoroughly investigated for decades, the exact biological properties of AMPs are still elusive. Most AMPs generally exert the antimicrobial effect by targeting the microbial membrane, such as barrel stave, toroidal, and carpet mechanisms. Thus, the mode of action in model membranes and the discrimination of AMPs to discrepant lipid compositions between mammalian cells and microbial pathogens (cell selectivity) have been studied intensively. However, the latest reports suggest that not only AMPs recently isolated but also well-known membrane-disruptive AMPs play a role in intracellular killing, such as apoptosis induction. In this mini-review, we will review some representative AMPs and their antimicrobial mechanisms and provide new insights into the dual mechanism of AMPs.

• Bulletin of the Korean Mathematical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 1992

We discuss transverse harmonic fields on compact foliated Riemannian manifolds, and give a necessary and sufficient condition for a transverse field to be a transverse harmonic one and the non-existence of transverse harmonic fields. 1. On a foliated Riemannian manifold, geometric transverse fields, that is, transverse Killing, affine, projective, conformal fields were discussed by Kamber and Tondeur([3]), Molino ([5], [6]), Pak and Yorozu ([7]) and others. If the foliation is one by points, then transverse fields are usual fields on Riemannian manifolds. Thus it is natural to extend well known results concerning those fields on Riemannian manifolds to foliated cases. On the other hand, the following theorem is well known ([1], [10]): If the Ricci operator in a compact Riemannian manifold M is non-negative everywhere, then a harmonic vector field in M has a vanishing covariant derivative. If the Ricci operator in M is positive-definite, then a harmonic vector field other than zero does not exist in M.