• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.2 s.69
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• pp.176-181
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• 2005

To study calmodulin (CaM) gene expression and its regulation, rice CaM promoter (RCaM-2) was isolated and fused to $\beta-glucuronidase$ (GUS), reporter gene. X-Glue staining patterns revealed that GUS localization is high in meristemic tissues such as the stem apex, stolen tip, and vascular regions. GUS staining in the transverse sections of stem and petiole was restricted to the inside of the vascular system, and cortex and epidermis located outside of the vascular system usually did not show GUS staining even a plant that expressed strong activity. GUS activity was found to be tissue specific expressed and exhibited a dramatic transient increase in response to wounding. These results suggest that the 5'-flanking region of RCaM gene regulates wound-inducible expression.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2002

In order to achieve repetitive somatic embryogenesis in cacao (Theobroma cacao L.), callus derived from floral tissues were continuously cultured in a medium containing 2,4-D. In 5% of the explants, repetitive somatic embryogenesis was observed after 8 weeks and maintained in a globular stage for several weeks. This is the first report showing repetitive somatic embryogenesis in cacao. The calli were bombarded with a plasmid containing $\beta$-glucuronidase (gus) as reporter gene. Two week old calli showed the high average number of cells expressing the us gene. The effect of osmotic agents (mannitol, sorbitol and sucrose) on gene expression was evaluated. Pre-treatment during 16 h with 0.25 M mannitol revealed an improvement in gene expression. The potential utilization of the repetitive embryogenesis, combined with osmotic treatment, is discussed as an alternative to achieve stable transgenic cacao plants.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 2010

Cross reacting antibodies can cause an overestimation of the results of immunoassays. Therefore, alternative methods are needed for the accurate quantification of steroids. Gas chromatography combined with isotope-dilution mass spectrometry (GC-IDMS) is developed to quantify urinary active androgens, testosterone, epitestosterone and dihydrotestosterone, which are clinically relevant androgens to both hair-loss and prostate diseases. The method devised involves enzymatic hydrolysis with $\beta$-glucuronidase, solid-phase extraction, liquid-liquid extraction using methyl tert-butyl ether and subsequent conversion to pentafluorophenyldimethylsilyl-trimethylsilyl (flophemesyl-TMS) derivatives for sensitive and selective analysis in selected-ion monitoring mode. Flophemesyl-TMS derivatization not only eliminates matrix interference but also has a good peak resolution within a 6 min-run. A selective and sensitive GC technique with flophemesyl-TMS derivatives also allows accurate quantitative analysis of three active androgens when combined with IDMS. The limit of quantification of the three analytes was <50 pg/mL, and extraction recoveries ranged from 91.9 to 102.1%. The precision and accuracy were 1.2~6.5% and 89.0~106.7%, respectively. This GC-IDMS method can be useful for evaluating the drug efficacy and monitoring the biological processes responsible for male-pattern baldness and prostate diseases.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.323-327
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• 1990

Protoplasts isolated from embryogenic cell suspensions were electroporated in buffered solutions containing plasmid DNA of pBI121. Transient GUS (beta-glucuronidase) activity measurement and selection for kanamycin resistent showed that expression of foreign genes and stable loransformation were achieved. GUS transient gene expression was increased by increasing DNA concentration of pBI121 plasmid and affected by the level of the applied voltage. An optimal level of GUS activity was obtained after electroporation with a pulse of 200 voltage/1180 uF. Protoplast viability was up to the 60% at the optimal voltage. Cell colonies resistent to 200$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml kanamycin were selected in agar medium and identified by histochemical GUS assay.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.371-380
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• 1994

To determine the patterns and the levels of expression of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV 35S) promoter and the rice actin 1 (Act1) promoter in rice, transgenic rice plants containing CaMV 35S-$\beta$-glucuronidase (GUS) and Act1-GUS constructs were generated and examined by fluorometric and histochemical analyses. The fluorometric analysis of stably transformed calluses showed that the activity of the rice Act1 promoter was stronger than that of the CaMV 35S promoter in rice cells. In a histochemcial study of the transgenic rices, it was shown that the GUS activity directed by the CaMV 35S promoter was localized mainly in parenchymal cells of vascular tissues of leaves and roots and mesophyll cells of leaves. These results are similar to those of potato, a dicot plant. In contrast, rice plant transformed with Act1-GUS fusion construct revealed strong GUS activity in parenchymal cells of vascular tissue, mesophyll cells, epidermal cells, bulliform cells, guard subsidiary cells of leaves and most cells of the root, suggesting that the rice Act1 promoter is more constitutive than the CaMV 35S promoter. It was also confirmed that in both types of transgenic rice little or no staining was localized in metaxylen tracheary elements of vascular tissue from leaves or roots. These results indicate that the rice Act1 promoter can be utilized more successfully for expression of a variety of foreign gene in rice than the CaMV 35S promoter.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.158-164
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• 1987

To obtain a new strain of Ganoderma lucidum by protoplast fusion technique, its protoplast formation and regeneration were studied. Several factors affecting the protoplast formation and regeneration were investigated to find their optimum conditions. The mycelium was grown for four days on the cellophane membrane placed on G. Incidum complete medium (GCM). When various commercial lytic enzymes were examined for protoplast isolation, the combination of Novozym 234 and $\beta$glucuronidase was found to be effective. An osmotic stabilizer, 0.6 M sucrose in 20 mM phosphate buffer pH 5.8, gave the highest yield of protoplasts. Three-hour incubation in shaking incubator was most suitable for releasing protoplasts. To increase the protoplast yield, pretreatment with 2-mercaptoethanol was carried out. The regeneration frequency in GCM containing 0.6M MgSO$_4$ 7$H_2O$ was shown to be 0.66%.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.164-173
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• 2009

The anti-inflammatory effect of Spirulina fusiformis on monosodium urate crystal-induced inflammation in mice has been investigated and compared with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Indomethacin. The paw volume, lysosomal enzyme activities, lipid peroxidation, anti-oxidant status and inflammatory mediator tumour necrosis factor-$\alpha$ were studied in control and monosodium urate crystal-induced mice after oral administration of Spirulina platensis in an experimental model for gouty arthritis. In the induced mice, the levels of lysosomal enzymes, inflammatory mediator tumour necrosis factor-$\alpha$, lipid peroxidation and the paw volume increased significantly, whereas the antioxidant status decreased when compared to control mice. $\beta$-glucuronidase and lactate dehydrogenase level were also found to be increased in untreated monosodium urate crystal-incubated polymorphonuclear leucocytes. After the oral administration of Spirulina fusiformis, the physical and biochemical changes observed in monosodium urate crystal-induced animals were significantly restored to near normal levels. The results clearly indicated the anti-inflammatory role of Spirulina fusiformis, a promising drug for gouty arthritis.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.497-504
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• 1995

Isolation of Staphylococcus hyicus subsp. hyicus from the skin of healthy chickens was performed and biochemical characteristics of the isolates were examined. Staphylococcus hyicus subsp hyicus was isolated from 129(14.8%) of 874 healthy chickens. The rate of isolation of this organism from chickens was found to vary depending upon the poultry farms at the isolation rate of 0% to 38.7% and this organism was isolated more frequently from adult chickens of over 1 year old than young chickens. All of the isolates were negative for haemolysis on rabbit, sheep, pig and chicken blood agars, protein A and ${\beta}$-glucuronidase, but positive for coagulase using pig plasma, heat-stable DNase, phosphatase and Tween 80 hydrolysis. Hyaluronidase was positive in 97.7% of isolates, but their reaction was weaker than that of swine strains of Staphylococcus hyicus subsp hyicus. The isolates were biotyped on the basis of the reactions for protease, urease, nitrate, galactose, trehalose and lactose, and 11 biotypes were found among the 129 isolates of Staphylococcus hyicus subsp hyicus.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.89-93
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• 1998

Tomato phenylalanine ammonia-lyase 5 (tPAL5) was identified that alternate initiation sites were utilized differentially in response to environmental stimuli (Lee et al, 1992b). In this study, we tried to look into tissue -or cell- specific expression pattern of tPAL5 gene by fusing with ${\beta}-glucuronidase$ (GUS) gene in transgenic tobacco plants. In transgenic plants, root and stem extracts contained 8~12 fold higher levels of GUS activity than petiole or leaf tissue while the highest levels of induction was observed from leaf tissue by mechanical wounding (5~11 fold). In trans-sections of stems and petioles, GUS activity was restricted to phloem cells(outer region) of developing vascular bundle and mainly at apical tip region in the root tissues. The levels of GUS activity was drastically reduced (10~12 fold reduction) when the 5'-upstream region of tPAL5 gene (-1151bp from ATG codon) was deleted up to -665. The levels of GUS expression, however, raised up by 6~8 fold when deleted up to -455. Therefore, we conclude that there are positive cis-elements at the region -1151 to -1008 and at -455 to -195 while the negative cis-element is at -1008 to -455.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.481-490
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• 2009

Diverse posttranslational modifications of histones, such as acetylation and methylation, play important roles in controlling gene expression. Histone methylation in particular is involved in a broad range of biological processes, including heterochromatin formation, X-chromosome inactivation, genomic imprinting, and transcriptional regulation. Recently, it has been demonstrated that proteins containing the Jumonji (Jmj) C domain can demethylate histones. In Arabidopsis, twenty-one genes encode JmjC domain-containing proteins, which can be clustered into five clades. To address the biological roles of the Arabidopsis genes encoding JmjC-domain proteins, we analyzed the temporal and spatial expression patterns of nine genes. RT-PCR analyses indicate all nine Arabidopsis thaliana Jmj (AtJmj) genes studied are actively expressed in various tissues. Furthermore, studies of transgenic plants harboring AtJmj::${\beta}$-glucuronidase fusion constructs reveal that these nine AtJmj genes are expressed in a developmentally and spatially regulated manner.