• Title/Summary/Keyword: -galactosidase

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Quick Detection of Firefly Luciferase Gene Expression in Live Developing Bovine Embryos by Photoncounting

  • Nakamura, A.;Okumura, J.;Muramatsu, T.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.11 no.5
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    • pp.498-502
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    • 1998
  • The present study was designed, fIrst to develop the new methodology to measure the bioluminescence activity easily in live developing bovine embryos by photoncounting, and secondly to compare the expression efficiency of four luciferase reporter genes in bovine embryos at four- to 16-cell stages. In experiment 1, equimolar pSVlacZ and pSVEluc were microinjected into the pronucleus of fertilized bovine oocytes. At 2 days after micro injection, bioluminescence activity of these embryos was measured by photoncounting with a luminometer for 1 min, and lacZ gene expression in the same embryos was assayed by X-gal staining. All the luciferase-positive oocytes showed some bacterial ${\beta}$-galactosidase activity irrespective of the intensity. In experiment 2, four firefly luciferase genes (pTKEluc, pTK6WEluc, pSVEluc and pMiwluc) were introduced by micro injection, and the injected embryos were cultured for the following 2 days. Detection of the luciferase gene expression was done by photoncounting at 5 to 55 min. Over the measurement period, the luciferase activity was almost constant irrespective of the transgenes microinjected. The luciferase activity and expression efficiency at 2 days after microinjection were not significantly affected by the difference in the microinjected transgenes. The present results demonstrated that the bioluminescence activity in live developing bovine embryos could be measured quickly by photoncounting.

Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Palm Kernel Cake and Palm Oil, and Enzyme Supplementation on Performance of Laying Hens

  • Chong, C.H.;Zulkifli, I.;Blair, R.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.21 no.7
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    • pp.1053-1058
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    • 2008
  • A total of 392 twenty eight week-old laying hens was used to study the effects of dietary inclusion of solvent-extracted palm kernel cake (PKC) (0%, 12.5% and 25%) and enzyme (mixture of mannanase, ${\alpha}$-galactosidase and protease) supplementation (0 kg/t, 1 kg/t and 2 kg/t) on the performance of laying hens. The levels of PKC did not significantly influence nitrogen corrected true metabolizable energy (TMEn) of the diets. Enzyme-supplemented PKC had significantly higher AME and TMEn values than PKC diets with no enzyme supplementation. Dietary inclusion of 12.5% and 25% PKC in the diets of laying hens did not adversely affect mean egg production or daily egg mass. However, layers consumed significantly more PKC-based diets and had significantly poorer feed conversion ratios (FCR) than controls. However, the feed intake and FCR of hens provided the 12.5% PKC-based diets with enzyme supplementation at 1 kg/t did not differ from the controls. Dietary inclusion of PKC or enzyme did not affect eggshell quality, but egg yolk colour was significantly paler when layers were fed the 25% PKC diet.

Duck Oil-loaded Nanoemulsion Inhibits Senescence of Angiotensin II-treated Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells by Upregulating SIRT1

  • Kang, Eun Sil;Kim, Hyo Juong;Han, Sung Gu;Seo, Han Geuk
    • Food Science of Animal Resources
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    • v.40 no.1
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    • pp.106-117
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    • 2020
  • Cellular senescence is associated with age-related vascular disorders and has been implicated in vascular dysfunctions. Here, we show that duck oil-loaded nanoemulsion (DO-NE) attenuates premature senescence of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) triggered by angiotensin II (Ang II). Compared with control nanoemulsion (NE), DO-NE significantly inhibited the activity of senescence-associated β-galactosidase, which is a biomarker of cellular senescence, in Ang II-treated VSMCs. SIRT1 protein expression was dose- and time-dependently induced in VSMCs exposed to DO-NE, but not in those exposed to NE, and SIRT1 promoter activity was also elevated. Consistently, DO-NE also dose-dependently rescued Ang II-induced repression of SIRT1 expression, indicating that SIRT1 is linked to the anti-senescence action of DO-NE in VSMCs treated with Ang II. Furthermore, the SIRT1 agonist resveratrol potentiated the effects of DO-NE on VSMCs exposed to Ang II, whereas the SIRT1 inhibitor sirtinol elicited the opposite effect. These findings indicate that DO-NE inhibits senescence by upregulating SIRT1 and thereby impedes vascular aging triggered by Ang II.

Optimization of media compositions on carbohydrolase complex production in liquid culture of Lentinus edodes

  • Park, Jeom-Seok;Choi, Mim-Gu;Ji, Young-Min;Choi, Jeong-Woo;Hong, Eock-Kee
    • 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2003.10a
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    • pp.278-281
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    • 2003
  • This study was concentrated on investigating the optimum compositions of medium for the production of carbohydrolases complex. In order to maximize the activities of the carbohydrolases complex, cellulose and yeast extract were chosen as the best C and N sources, respectively. The concentrations of cellulose and yeast extract as well as minerals and amino acids were also studied. On the other hand, ${\beta}-glucosidase$ and ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ showed the maximal activities at $60^{\circ}C$ and pH 4, while ${\beta}-galactosidase$ showed the maximal activity at $50^{\circ}C$ and pH 3.

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Effects of Yeast Addition during Salting and Preparation on Fermentation of Kimchi (소금절임과 김치담금시 효모의 첨가가 숙성에 미치는 영향)

  • 김순동;김경희;오영애
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.27 no.6
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    • pp.1077-1085
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    • 1998
  • The effects of yeast on the fermentation of kimchi were investigated. The treatments were divided into two groups; yeast treatment during salting of Chinese cabbage(YS) and yeast treatment added in kimchi preparation(YF kimchi). The edible periods of the kimchi after yeast treatment during salting (YS kimchi) was extended 4~5 days by the results of pH, acidity, sensory quality. The activities of amylase, polygalacturonase and galactosidase of YS kimchi were retained at low levels compared to non treated condition throughout all fermentation periods, whereas protease activity was not significant different from the non treated condition. In addition, the contents of total hexose and uronic acid did not show remarkable change throughout fermentation, but total pentose was decreased by more than 7% at the early middle stage of fermentation(7~14 day after soaking). The change of free amino acid content was decreased by 16~44% than the non treated condition. In contrast, in the YF kimchi, the sensory quality was not good. The activities of amylase, protease, polygalacturonase and gal actosidase were appreciably higher than that of the non treated condition. Meanwhile, the contents of total hexose, total pentose and uronic acid, as products of degradation of cell wall constituents by the above enzymes, were decreased by 18~68% throughout fermentation than the non treated con dition, and total free amino acids were higher than the YS kimchi. Thus, yeast treatment during salting was found to be more effective to extend the edible periods of the kimchi.

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Development of a Sensitive Bioassay Method for Quorum Sensing Inhibitor Screening Using a Recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens

  • Kim Yeon Hee;Kim Young Hee;Kim Jung Sun;Park Sunghoon
    • Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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    • v.10 no.4
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    • pp.322-328
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    • 2005
  • Acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) are known to be the triggering molecules in the quorum sensing mechanism of many gram-negative bacteria. In order to detect AHL inhibitors that are potential biofilm inhibitors, a convenient and sensitive bioassay was developed based on the $\beta$-galactosidase activity ($\beta$-GAL) of a recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain. A series of commercially available AHLs were tested for inducing $\beta$-GAL at varying concentrations in agar-plate and liquid cultures of the reporter strain. All AHLs tested exhibited a concentration­dependent induction, and octanoyl homoserine lactone (OHL) showed the highest sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.1 nM in the liquid culture assay. When fimbrolide, a known quorum sensing inhibitor, was added, induction of $\beta$-GAL by OHL was repressed. The repression at a constant OHL concentration was dependent on the fimbrolide concentration with the detection limit below 1 ppm, indicating that this assay is a sensitive method for screening AHL inhibitors.

Importance of Nucleotides Adjacent to the Core Region of Diphtheria tox Promoter/Operator

  • Lee, John-Hwa
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.12 no.4
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    • pp.622-627
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    • 2002
  • Diphtheria toxin repressor (DtxR) binds to approximately 30 to 35-bp regions containing an interrupted 9-bp inverted repeat within a 19-bp core sequence. The core sequence is fairly conserved and critical for DtxR binding. The flanking regions that are consisted of 5 to 8 more of nucleotides from the core are also required for DtxR binding. The nucleotides in both flanking regions are A-T rich. To examine whether the A-T nucleotides in both flanking regions from the core have significant roles for DtxR binding, a DNA fragment was constructed based on the diphtheria tox promoter/operator, and DNA fragments with substitution of A and T nucleotides In the flanking regions to G and C were also constructed. To assess the effect of these substitutions on binding of DtxR and repressibility by DtxR, $\beta$-galactosidase activity from lacZ fused to the region was assessed. Gel mobility shift of the region by purified DtxR was also examined. The DNA fragments containing the mutations in the flanking regions still exhibited repression and mobility shift with DtxR. The core segment with the mutation is still, therefore, recognized by DtxR. Nonetheless, the results from the assays indicated that the substitution significantly decreased repression of the operator by DtxR in vivo under high-iron condition and decreased binding of DtxR to the operator. These results suggest that A and T nucleotides fur both flanking regions are preferred for the binding of DtxR.

Transcriptional Induction of a Carbon Starvation Gene during Other Starvation and Stress Challenges in Pseudomonas putida MK1: A Role of a Carbon Starvation Gene in General Starvation and Stress Responses

  • Chitra, Subramanian;Lee, Ho-Sa;Kim, Youngjun
    • Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.141-147
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    • 1999
  • Thirteen transcriptionally-fused carbon starvation mutants, derived from Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633, were analyzed for their survivability and transcriptional induction profiles upon carbon starvation. One of these mutants, MK114, which exhibited the lowest survivability and the highest induction rate, was selected and further examined under different starvation (nitrogen and phosphate) and stress (osmolarity, H2O2, salts, alcohol, and heat) conditions. Under all tested conditions MK114 induced ${\beta}$-galactosidase activity, implying that the interrupted gene (cst114) is a general starvation and stress response gene. The rate of induction ranged from 2.6-fold for phosphate starvation to 3.7-fold for osmotic shock. The mini-Tn5 flanking DNA was cloned from the chromosome of MK114. The cloned DNA fragment exhibited carbon starvation activity, indicating that this fragment contains a carbon starvation-related promoter region. This region was partially sequenced. Possible physiological roles of Cst114 in a carbon sensing mechanism and in other stress responses are also discussed.

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Disruptions of Two Apparent rho-Independent Transcription Terminator Structures do not help in Enhancing the Expression of aceK in E. coli

  • Lee, Su-Ji;Chung, Taeo-Wan
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.28 no.5
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    • pp.458-463
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    • 1995
  • Two apparent rho-independent transcription terminator structures within the coding sequence of aceK have been destroyed to access their roles in the differential expression between aceA and aceK in the glyoxylate bypass operon of E. coli. The effect of mutations on the expression of aceK was evaluated in two different ways: one by maxicell labeling and the other by lacZ fusion gene construction. The maxicell labeling experiment with the mutant operon clones has failed, like that of the wild type operon clone, to visibly show isocitrate dehrogenase (IDH) kinase/phosphatase, the product of aceK, on the autoradiogram of a protein gel. When the same mutations were introduced into an aceK::lacZ fusion gene to quantitatively evaluate the mutational effect, the activity of ${\beta}-galactosidase$ in neither of the mutant versions of the fusion gene was elevated significantly enough to explain the degree of polarity observed in this region. Thus, we conclude that neither of these intragenic, apparent rho-independent transcription terminator structures, which have long been suspected as a major determinant in the down regulation of aceK, really act as a premature transcriptional terminator.

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Evaluation of Safety with Astragali Radix : Ames, Rec and umu Assays (Ames, Rec 및 umu Assay를 이용한 황기의 안전성평가)

  • Shon, Yun-Hee;Nam, Kyung-Soo
    • Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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    • v.34 no.1 s.132
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    • pp.80-85
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    • 2003
  • Water extract from Astragali Radix (AR) was tested for the safety using Ames, Bacillus subtilis Rec, and umu gene expression mutagenicity tests. Mutagenic activity in any assays we tested was not found. In Ames test, Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA 100 were used to identify mutagenic property, and the number of histidine revertants was measured. In the Recassay, Bacillus subtilis ${H-17(Rec^+)\;and\;M-45(Rec^-)}$ strains were used to test DNA damage activity. In the SOS umu test, Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 containing plasmid pSK1002 was used as a test strain, and we monitored the levels of umu operon expression by measuring the ${\beta}-galactosidase$ activity. From the results, there was no DNA damage and mutagenicity of AR. Hepatotoxicity of AR to female ICR mice was also monitored by the measurements of s-GOT, s-GPT, LDH activities after oral feeding for 15 days. AR was not shown any significant changes of s-GOT, s-GPT and LDH activities in mice sera.