• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2008

When a homothallic ascomycete Aspergillus nidulans is exposed to visible light, cleistothecial development is inhibited. The light response of development in A. nidulans implies the existence of delicate regulation process including reception and translocation of light signaling and determination of development. Previously, mutants that could develop cleistothecia even in the presence of relatively intensive visible light were isolated and several complementation groups were identified. A gene that was able to complement the silA98 mutation, which was responsible for preferred cleistothecia development under visible light, was isolated from AMA-NotI genomic library. The silA gene retained in the 4.3 kb recovered genomic library DNA has an open reading frame (ORF) consisted of 2,388 bp nucleotides, interrupted by 3 introns and consequently encoding 795 amino acids. The putative SilA carries a ${Zn_2}{Cys_6}$ binuclear cluster motif at N terminus and shows high amino acid sequence similarity to Aro80p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Deletion mutants of silA showed a strong induction of sexual development under visible light, indicating that SilA is involved in the negative regulation of sexual development in response to the light.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.162-172
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• 2002

Schizosaccharomyces pombe is suited for the study of cytokinesis as it divides by forming a septum in the middle of the cell at the end of mitosis. To enhance our understanding of the cytokinesis, we have carried out a genetic screen for temperature-sensitive S. pombe mutants that show defects in septum formation and cell division. Here we present the isolation and characterization of a new temperature-sensitive mutant, sun1(septum uncontrolled), which undergoes uncontrolled septation during cell division cycle at restrictive temperature $(37^{\circ}C)$. In sun1 mutant, actin ring and septum are positioned at random locations and angles, and nuclear division cycle continues. These observations suggest that the sun] gene product is required for the proper placement of the actin ring as well as precise septation. The sun] mutant is monogenic recessive mutation unlinked to previously known various cdc genes of S. pombe. In a screen for $sunl^+$ gene to complement the sun] mutant, we have cloned a gene, $susl^+$(suppressor of sun1 mutant), that encodes a protein of 689 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence of $susl^+$ gene is similar to the human hMadlp and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mad1p, a component of the spindle checkpoint in eukaryotic cells. The null mutant of $susl^+$ gene grows normally at various temperatures and has the increased sensitivity to anti-microtubule drug, while $susl^+$ mutant shows no sensitivity to microtubule destabilizing drugs. The putative S. pombe Sus1p directly interacts with S. pombe Mad2p in yeast two-hybrid assays. These data suggest that the newly isolated susr gene encodes S. pombe Mad1p and suppresses sun] mutant defective in controlled septation in a cell division cycle.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.93-97
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• 2008

RraA is a recently discovered protein inhibitor that regulates the enzymatic activity of RNase E, which plays a major role in the decay and processing of RNAs in Escherichia coli. It has also been shown to regulate the activity of RNase ES, a functional Streptomyces coelicolor ortholog of RNase E, which has 36% identity to the amino-terminal region of RNase E. There are two open reading frames in S. coelicolor genome that can potentially encode proteins having more than 35.4% similarity to the amino acid sequence of RraA. DNA fragment encoding one of these RraA orthologs, designated as RraAS2 here, was amplified and cloned in to E. coli vector to test whether it has ability to regulate RNase E activity in E. coli cells. Co-expression of RraAS2 partially rescued E. coli cells over-producing RNase E from growth arrest, although not as efficiently as RraA, induced by the increased ribonucleolytic activity in the cells. The copy number of ColEl-type plasmid in these cells was also decreased by 14% compared to that in cells over-producing RNase E only, indicating the ability of RraAS2 to inhibit RNase E action on RNA I. We observed that the expression level of RraAS2 was lower than that of RraA by 4.2 folds under the same culture condition, suggesting that because of inefficient expression of RraAS2 in E. coli cells, co-expression of RraAS2 was not efficiently able to inhibit RNase E activity to the level for proper processing and decay of all RNA species that is required to restore normal cellular growth to the cells over-producing RNase E.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.265-272
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• 2008

The CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β(C/EBPβ), a member of the leucine zipper DNA-binding protein of transcription factor, plays a crucial role in the control of early phases of adipocyte differentiation. In this studies, we report the identification, characterization, and expression of the Korean native cattle C/EBPβ gene. The Korean native cattle and black cattle C/EBPβ cDNA includes a 1047bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 348 amino acids. The C/EBPβ cDNA sequence of the Korean native cattle and black cattle shows high conservation with the corresponding amino acid sequences reported in other species. The distribution of C/EBPβ mRNA in various tissues of Korean native cattle aged 26 months was investigated using Northern Blot analysis. The C/EBPβ expression was detected in adipose tissue, lung, sirloin while expression was not detected in heart, kidney, small intestine, colon, and liver. However, we are analyzed polymorphism of bZIP domain in the C/EBPβ gene. A polymorphism was not identified at this position.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.1115-1123
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• 2016

_L-Asparaginase (E.C. 3.5.1.1) is an enzyme involved in asparagine hydrolysis and has the potential to effect leukemic cells and various other cancer cells. We identified the _L-asparaginase gene (_L-ASPG86) in the genus Mesoflavibacter, which consists of a 1,035 bp open reading frame encoding 344 amino acids. Following phylogenetic analysis, the deduced amino acid sequence of _L-ASPG86 (_L-ASPG86) was grouped as a type I asparaginase with respective homologs in Escherichia coli and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. The _L-ASPG86 gene was cloned into the pET-16b vector to express the respective protein in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells. Recombinant _L-asparaginase (r-_L-ASPG86) showed optimum conditions at 37-40℃, pH 9. Moreover, r-_L-ASPG86 did not exhibit glutaminase activity. In the metal ions test, its enzymatic activity was highly improved upon addition of 5 mM manganese (3.97-fold) and magnesium (3.35-fold) compared with the untreated control. The specific activity of r-_L-ASPG86 was 687.1 units/mg under optimum conditions (37℃, pH 9, and 5 mM MnSO₄).

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 2006

In order to develop chitosanase for the production of chitosan oligosaccharides, a chitosanase-producing bacterium was isolated from the traditional fermented soybean, Meju, and identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciene MJ-1. The cloned chitosanase gene, 825 bp in size, encoded a single peptide of 274 amino acids with a estimated molecular mass of 30.9 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence showed significant homology with microbial chitosanases. The recombinant chitosanase was expressed in Escherichia coli upon induction with isopropyl-D-thiogalactopyranoside, and purified using $Ni^{2+}-NTA$ agarose column chromatography. The maximal activity of the recombinant chitosanase is at pH 5.0 and $60^{\circ}C$. The recombinant chitosanase is stable between pH 5.0 and pH 7.0 at $37^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, and more than 75% of the activity still remain at $80^{\circ}C$ for 30 min incubation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.671-676
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• 2021

A cDNA encoding the protein lethal (2) essential for life [l(2)efl] was cloned from Gryllus bimaculatus and named GBl(2)efl. This protein is composed of 189 amino acids, including an N-glycosylation site and 15 phosphorylation sites. Its predicted molecular mass is 21.19 kDa, with a theoretical isoelectric point of 6.2. The secondary structure of GBl(2)efl was predicted from the identification of random coils (56.08%), alpha helices (22.22%), extended strands (17.99%), and beta turns (3.7%) through sequence analyses. A homology analysis revealed that GBl(2)efl exhibited a high similarity with other species at the amino acid level, ranging from 52% to 69%. While GBl(2)efl mRNA expression was higher in the dorsal longitudinal flight muscle following a three-day starvation and in the Malpighian tubules following a one-day starvation, no changes in expression were detected in other tissues. Furthermore, tunicamycin-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress resulted in an approximately 1.8-fold higher expression in the fat body compared with the wild type.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.648-655
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• 2010

This study is the first comprehensive report on the molecular cloning, structural characterization, sequence comparison between wild and mutant types, copy number in the genome, expression features and activities of a gene encoding 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) in Korean lawn grass ($Zoysia$ $japonica$). The full length cDNA of the EPSPS from Korean lawn grass ($zj$EPSPS) obtained from a 3' and 5' RACE method was 1540 bp, containing a 1176 bp ORF, a 144 bp leader sequence (5' UTR) and a 220 bp 3' UTR, which was eventually decoded 391 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 41.74 kDa. The Southern blot detection of the $zj$EPSPS showed that the gene exists as a single copy in the Korean lawn grass genome. Sequence comparison of the $zj$EPSPS gene demonstrated that the glyphosate-tolerant mutant (GT) having a Pro-53 to Ser substitution in the gene seems to have a preferred binding activity of the enzyme to phosphoenol pyruvate(PEP) over glyphosate, which allows the continuous synthesis of aromatic amino acids in the shikimate pathway. From the Northern blotting analysis, the $zj$EPSPS was found to be highly expressed, with continuous increase until 36 hours after 0.5% glyphosate treatment in both wild and mutant samples, but 1.5-fold higher EPSP synthase activity was observed in the tolerant mutant when exposed to the glyphosate treatment. The molecular information of the $zj$EPSPS gene obtained from this study needs to be further dissected to be more effectively applied to the development of gene-specific DNA markers and zoysiagrass cultivars; nevertheless, the glyphosate-tolerant mutant having the featured $zj$EPSPS gene can be provided to turfgrass managers for weed problems with timely adoptable management options.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1276-1289
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• 2017

This study isolated and purified the antimicrobial peptide McSSP-31 from an acidified hemocyte extract of a Mytilus coruscus. The antimicrobial peptide was purified by using a $C_{18}$ reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The peptide was determined to be 3330.549 Da by matrix assisted-laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrophotometer (MALDI-TOF/MS). The N-terminus of a 14 amino-acid sequence was identified as P-S-P-T-R-R-S-T-S-R-S-K-S-R by Edman degradation method. The acquired sequence showed a 93% similarity with the sperm-specific protein Phi-1, which is from M. californianus. The identified open-reading frame (ORF) of peptide was 306 bp encoding 101 amino acids, which was analyzed by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), cloning and sequencing analysis. We compared the full sequence with other known proteins that reveal the sperm-specific protein Phi-1 (93.5%) of M. californianus. Synthesized antimicrobial peptide (McSSP-31) showed antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria including B. subtilis, S. mutans, S. aureus and gram-negative bacteria including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, P. aeruginosa and fungi, C. albicans. Also, synthesized peptide showed strong antibacterial activity against antibiotic-resistant strains, including S. aureus. The cytotoxicity of the peptide was determined by using the HUVEC human cell line. The peptide did not exhibit any significant cytotoxic effects on the normal human cell line, and it had very low hemolytic activity with flounder hemoglobin. The results demonstrated that peptide purified from the hemocyte of a M. coruscus exhibits antibacterial activity against various bacteria and has the potential to be an alternative antibiotic agent.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.600-606
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• 2012

A Bacillus sp. that produces fibrinolytic enzyme was isolated from Cheonggukjang, a traditional Korean soybean-fermented food. According to 16S rRNA gene base sequencing, the bacillus was identified as a variety of Bacillus subtilis, and named Bacillus subtilis IDCC 9204. Fibrinolytic enzyme NK-IL9204 was stable up to $60^{\circ}C$ and within pH range of 5-10. Purified NK-IL9204 was detected through fibrin zymography. The molecular weight and isoelectric point of the enzyme were estimated to be 27.7 kDa and 6.7 by SDS-PAGE and 2D electrophoresis, respectively. Its amino acid sequence was similar to that of nattokinase (identities 99.5%) and different from that of nattokinase BPN (identities 86.4%). The plasma fibrinolytic activity of NK-IL9204 was measured by euglobulin clot lysis times (ECLT). The NK-IL9204 was orally administered to SD rats for 3 weeks (1,000 FU/rat/day). The ECLT was significantly shortened by supplementation of NK-IL9204.