• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2001

Bacillus anthracis is a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium that causes the disease anthrax. The anthrax toxin contains three components, including the protective antigen (PA), which binds to eucaryotic cell surface receptors and mediates the transport of toxins into the cell. In this study, the entire 2,294-nucleotide protective antigen gene (pag) was sequenced from 4 of B. anthracis strains to identify potential variation in the toxin and to further our understanding of B. anthracis evolution in Korea. Sequence alignment of the entire PA gene from 30 strains representative of the four B. anthracis diversity groups revealed mutations. The mutation of B. anthracis BAK are located adjacent to a highly antigenic region crossing the junction between PA domains 3 and 4 shown to be critical to LF binding. The different mutational combinations observed in this study give rise to 11 PA genotypes and 4PA phenotypes. Three-dimensional analysis of all the amino acid changes (Ala to Val) observed in BAK indicated that these changes are not only close sequentially but also very close in three-dimensional space to the antigenic region importan tfor LF binding. Phylogenetic (cladistic) analysis of the pag corresponded with previous strain grouping based on chromosomal variation, suggesting that plasmid evolution in B. anthracis has occurred with little or no horizontal transfer between the different strains.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.296-302
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• 2010

Microcystis (Cyanobacteria, Chroococcales) is one of the green tide-causing organisms in freshwaters, and some species produce microcystin that is hepatotoxin. In the aspects of freshwater quality controls and health concerns, therefore it is necessary to manage the harmful organisms. In the present study, RNA polymerase beta subunit (rpoB) gene sequences of Microcystis were determined and characterized in order to use a potential marker for the molecular detections of the species. Microcystis rpoB showed high divergences of DNA similarity and genetic distances when compared with those of 16S rRNA, and the molecular differences were statistically significant (Student t-test, p<0.05). Parsimony analyses showed the rpoB gene evolves more than 2-fold faster than 16S rRNA. In addition, phylogeny of the rpoB gene separated each M. aeruginosa strain more clearly compared with a 16S rRNA tree. This study found that the order Chroococcales, including Microcystis, has approximately two rRNA operons and single copy of the rpoB gene in their chromosomes. These results suggest that the rpoB gene is a useful marker for the molecular phylogenetics and the detection of Microcystis.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.156-159
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• 2006

A base substitution was introduced at the position 789 in Escherichia coli 16S rRNA, which was previously identified as an invariant residue for ribosome function and the ability of the mutant ribosomes to translate chloramphenicol acetyltransfernse mRNA was measured by determining the degree of resistance to chloramphenicol of cells expressing these mutant ribosomes. As expected, mutant ribosomes containing a base sub-stitution at the position 789 showed significantly reduced protein-synthesis ability and to identify a functional role played by this residue in protein synthesis, we developed an efficient genetic method to select second-site revertants in 16S rRNA that restore protein-synthesis function to these mutant ribosomes.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.729-744
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• 2023

The value of lithium has significantly increased due to the rising demand for electric cars and batteries. Lithium is primarily found in pegmatites, hydrothermally altered tuffaceous clays, and continental brines. Globally, groundwater-fed salt lakes and oil field brines are attracting attention as major sources of lithium in continental brines, accounting for about 70% of global lithium production. Recently, deep groundwater, especially geothermal water, is also studied for a potential source of lithium. Lithium concentrations in deep groundwater can increase through substantial water-rock reaction and mixing with brines. For the exploration of lithim in deep groundwater, it is important to understand its origin and behavior. Therefore, based on a nationwide preliminary study on the hydrogeochemical characteristics and evolution of thermal groundwater in South Korea, this study aims to investigate the distribution of lithium in the deep groundwater environment and understand the geochemical factors that affect its concentration. A total of 555 thermal groundwater samples were classified into five hydrochemical types showing distinct hydrogeochemical evolution. To investigate the enrichment mechanism, samples (n = 56) with lithium concentrations exceeding the 90th percentile (0.94 mg/L) were studied in detail. Lithium concentrations varied depending upon the type, with Na(Ca)-Cl type being the highest, followed by Ca(Na)-SO₄ type and low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type. In the Ca(Na)-Cl type, lithium enrichment is due to reverse cation exchange due to seawater intrusion. The enrichment of dissolved lithium in the Ca(Na)-SO₄ type groundwater occurring in Cretaceous volcanic sedimentary basins is related to the occurrence of hydrothermally altered clay minerals and volcanic activities, while enriched lithium in the low-pH Ca(Na)-HCO₃ type groundwater is due to enhanced weathering of basement rocks by ascending deep CO₂. This reconnaissance geochemical study provides valuable insights into hydrogeochemical evolution and economic lithium exploration in deep geologic environments.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.203-219
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• 2016

The purpose of this paper was analyzing the contents of life science area in elementary science textbooks according to Korean science curricula change to get suggestions for the advancement of science curriculum. The framework of content analysis was developed by revising TIMSS 2015 life science evaluation framework. The results of this research were as follows: 'The differences of living things and non-living things appearing in the first grade mostly were not included in the 1st, the 6th and the 2009 revised curricula. Contents emphasizing rural life were appeared from 'Teaching themes period' to the 2nd curriculum period, disappeared from the 3rd curriculum period until the 2009 revised curriculum. Contagious disease was emphasized in all elementary grades in the 1st curriculum period, which reflected a social phenomena emphasizing health and hygiene after the Korean War. Mostly fungus was included until the 7th curriculum period and bacteria and virus were added from the 2007 revised curriculum period. The way of improving health was emphasized continuously.' The differences of living things and non-living things should be included in elementary science curriculum for the correct 'life' concept formation of elementary students. 'Strategies for helping the living of descendants' and 'the heredity of animal and plant' which were appeared in the lower grades, should be included at the higher grades with greater depth. The incoming elementary science textbooks also need to include science contents about evolution in greater depth, along with human health.

• Journal of the Korean Society of International Agriculture
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.546-551
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• 2011

Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, belong to the genus Chrysanthemum, which includes about 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. We extracted DNA from Dendranthema grandiflorum ('Smileball') to construct a simple sequence repeat (SSR)-enriched library, using a modified biotin-streptavidin capture method. GS FLX (Genome Sequencer FLX System which provides the flexibility to perform the broad range of applications) sequencing (at the 1/8 run specification) resulted in 18.83 mega base pairs (Mbp) with an average read length of 280.06 bp. Sequence analyses of all SSR-containing clones revealed a predominance of di-nucleotide motifs (16,375, 61.5%) followed by tri-nucleotide motifs (6,616, 24.8%), tetra-nucleotide motifs (1,674, 6.3%), penta-nucleotide motifs (1,283, 4.8%), and hexa-nucleotide motifs (693, 2.6%). Among the di-nucleotide motifs, the AC/CA class was the most frequently identified (93.5% of all di-nucleotide types), followed by the GA/AG class (6.1%), the AT/TA class (0.4%), and the CG/GC class (0.03%). When we analyzed the distribution of different repeat motifs and their respective numbers of repeats, regardless of the motif class, of 100 SSR markers, we found a higher number of di-nucleotide motifs with 70 to 80 repeats; we also found two di-nucleotide motifs with 83 and 89 repeats, respectively, but their product lengths were within optimum size (297 and 300 bp). In future work, we will screen for polymorphisms of possible primer pairs. The results will provide a useful tool for assessing molecular diversity and investigating the population structure among and within Chrysanthemum species.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.591-606
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to develop the argumentation program to build scientific concepts on natural selection for science-gifted elementary students and to know how to implement this program. For this study, nine key concepts about natural selection such as the overproduction of offspring, limited resources, population stability, competition, variation, heredity of variation, differential survival, change of the population and speciation were selected through the literature study. The programs were developed by learning cycle instructional model. Argument writings and discourses have been collected, analyzed and compared before and after the program. Two questionnaires to compare pre and post concept change consist of multiple choice questionnaire and open-ended response question were developed and applied to 19 science-gifted elementary students. Sufficiency of the explanation and conceptual quality of the explanation were used to assess the quality of their arguments before and after the program. Discourse and visual models collected from the highest and lowest group about score improvement were compared. The scores of the gifted statistically improved significantly in multiple choice questionnaire. Students' alternative conceptions about natural selection at the beginning of the program decreased and changed scientifically after the program. Visual models drawn by the students supported the results as well. This study asserts that elementary science-gifted students are able to explain evolutionary perspectives about organism change and use the key concepts of natural selection. The study means that evolutionary perspective is possible to be reflected in elementary science curriculum for the gifted.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.186-192
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• 2006

Short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs) are dispersed throughout eukaryotic genomes. These SINEs have been shown to be excellent phylogenetic markers for the closed related species. In this report, we isolated two novel families of SINEs from the mud loach. The two SINE families, mlSINE-L and mlSINE-S, have genomic lengths of about 410bp and 270bp, respectively. 5' and 3' ends of the SINE families are well conserved and highly homologous to each of corresponding ends of RSg-1 and SmaI SINEs. Phylogenetic analysis shows that mlSINEs are unique to the mud loach. A dot blot hybridization experiment shows that mlSINE-L has an estimated copy number of $1{\times}10^3$ per $2{\times}10^9bp$ (2.8 pg) and is more frequently distributed at nuclear matrix attachment regions (MARs) than loop DNAs. The result suggests that mlSINEs may preferentially integrate in or near MARs.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.236-242
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• 1988

Mitochondrial DNAs of two Mdh allelotypes of the dark chub, Z. temmincki inhabiting in Korean fresh water, were analysed. Samples of each type were collected from four populations, and the fragment patterns for mtdNA of each type were explained from 7 of the eleven restriction enzymes with hexanucleotide recognition site. Genome size was approximately 16.7 kilobases. The highly typical mtdNA fragments of each type were discovered in digestion profiles produced by Eco RI and Pst I enzyrnes. The comparisons of restriction fragment patterns and relative digestion maps permitted the estimation of fragment homology (F) and nucleotide sequence divergence(p). Between the two identical types, sequence divergence(p) was 0.128(MS), and 0.045(MM), ; between the two different types, 0.195 (range 0.177-0.226). These result may provide a distinct difference more than the value derived from allozyrne analysis, and a powerful new molecular approach for assessing genetic-evolutionary relationship among fishes.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.65-89
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the science concepts and teaching and learning methods presented in the science education-related activities of the Nuri Curriculum teacher guidebooks for ages 3-5. Methods: The research data included 772 activities related to science education in the teachers' guidebook. The analysis of science concepts was based on physical science (force and motion, physical structure, electricity and magnetism, light and shadow, sound properties), chemistry (material properties, material reaction), life science (organizational structure, growth and change, heredity and evolution, animal plant and human relationships), earth science (earth system interaction, earth system structure, and universe), engineering (designed world, engineering design, engineering, technology and society) and ecology (environment preservation). Teaching and learning methods were analyzed according to the types of small and large group activities and of free play activities. Results: Science concepts were mainly presented in the fields of engineering, chemistry, and life science commonly among children aged 3-5, whereas the concepts of physical science were lowly presented in all ages. Science concepts appeared mainly in the daily subjects of 'animal plant and nature', 'life tools', 'environment and life', and 'spring, summer, autumn and winter'. As the teaching and learning method, free paly activities (science area, free outdoor selection activity, math and manipulative activity) were mostly used for the ages of 3 and 4, and small and large group activities (cooking, story sharing, music activity) were for the age of 5. Conclusion/Implications: It is necessary to select the level of science area and concept that can be taught according to the age of children and the timing of the teaching.