• Title/Summary/Keyword: Biology and Life Science

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Screening and Evaluation of Antibacterial Metabolites from Entomopathogenic Fungi

  • Shin, Tae-Young;Ko, Seung-Hyun;Lee, Won-Woo;Bae, Sung-Min;Choi, Jae-Bang;Woo, Soo-Dong
    • International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.89-94
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    • 2013
  • Entomopathogenic fungal species have been investigated for their potential use as biological control agents owing to their natural role as insect pathogens. These fungi produce a wide range of secondary metabolites with high therapeutic values, such as antibiotics and cytotoxic substances. To evaluate the antibacterial activity of entomopathogenic fungi, 10 isolates from Korean soil were selected and tested for their activity against Escherichia coli by using fungal culture filtrates. Antibacterial activity was assessed using a two-step process: (1) a screening assay for the selection of fungal isolates and (2) a quantitative assay to evaluate the activity of select fungi. Although 4 fungal isolates were selected through the screening assay, only 3 fungal isolates, from Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, showed high antibacterial activity according to the quantitative assay. The antibacterial activity of selected fungal culture filtrates was stable when exposed to heat and proteolytic enzyme treatments, which indicated that the antibacterial compound is not a protein. These entomopathogenic fungal metabolites might be useful as a source for bacterial control and in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Calmodulin-Binding Transcription Factor OsCBT Suppresses Defense Responses to Pathogens in Rice

  • Koo, Sung Cheol;Choi, Man Soo;Chun, Hyun Jin;Shin, Dong Bum;Park, Bong Soo;Kim, Yul Ho;Park, Hyang-Mi;Seo, Hak Soo;Song, Jong Tae;Kang, Kyu Young;Yun, Dae-Jin;Chung, Woo Sik;Cho, Moo Je;Kim, Min Chul
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.563-570
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    • 2009
  • We previously isolated the OsCBT gene, which encodes a calmodulin (CaM)-binding protein, from a rice expression library constructed from fungal elicitor-treated rice suspension cells. In order to understand the function of OsCBT in rice, we isolated and characterized a T-DNA insertion mutant allele named oscbt-1. The oscbt-1 mutant exhibits reduced levels of OsCBT transcripts and no significant morphological changes compared to wild-type plant although the growth of the mutant is stunted. However, oscbt-1 mutants showed significant resistance to two major rice pathogens. The growth of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea, as well as the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae was significantly suppressed in oscbt-1 plants. Histochemical analysis indicated that the hypersensitive-response was induced in the oscbt-1 mutant in response to compatible strains of fungal pathogens. OsCBT expression was induced upon challenge with fungal elicitor. We also observed significant increase in the level of pathogenesis-related genes in the oscbt-1 mutant even under pathogen-free condition. Taken together, the results support an idea that OsCBT might act as a negative regulator on plant defense.

Identification of Potential DREB2C Targets in Arabidopsis thaliana Plants Overexpressing DREB2C Using Proteomic Analysis

  • Lee, Kyunghee;Han, Ki Soo;Kwon, Young Sang;Lee, Jung Han;Kim, Sun Ho;Chung, Woo Sik;Kim, Yujung;Chun, Sung-Sik;Kim, Hee Kyu;Bae, Dong-Won
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.28 no.4
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    • pp.383-388
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    • 2009
  • The dehydration responsive element binding protein 2C (DREB2C) is a dehydration responsive element/C-repeat (DRE/CRT)-motif binding transcription factor that induced by mild heat stress. Previous experiments established that overexpression of DREB2C cDNA driven by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (35S:DREB2C) resulted in increased heat tolerance in Arabidopsis. We first analyzed the proteomic profiles in wild-type and 35S:DREB2C plants at a normal temperature ($22^{\circ}C$), but could not detect any differences between the proteomes of wild-type and 35S: DREB2C plants. The transcript level of DREB2C in 35S: DREB2C plants after treatment with mild heat stress was increased more than two times compared with expression in 35S:DREB2C plants under unstressed condition. A proteomic approach was used to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying thermotolerance in 35S:DREB2C Arabidopsis plants. Eleven protein spots were identified as being differentially regulated in 35S:DREB2C plants. Moreover, in silico motif analysis showed that peptidyl-prolyl isomerase ROC4, glutathione transferase 8, pyridoxal biosynthesis protein PDX1, and elongation factor Tu contained one or more DRE/CRT motifs. To our knowledge, this study is the first to identify possible targets of DREB2C transcription factors at the protein level. The proteomic results were in agreement with transcriptional data.

Isolation and Expression Analysis of a GDSL-like Lipase Gene from Brassica napus L.

  • Ling, Hua;Zhao, Jingya;Zuo, Kaijing;Qiu, Chengxiang;Yao, Hongyan;Qin, Jie;Sun, Xiaofen;Tang, Kexuan
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.39 no.3
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    • pp.297-303
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    • 2006
  • As lipolytic enzymes, GDSL lipases play an important role in plant growth and development. In order to identify their functions and roles, the full-length cDNA of a GDSL lipase gene, designated BnLIP2, was isolated from Brassica napus L. BnLIP2 was 1,300 bp long, with 1,122 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 373 amino acid residues. Sequence analysis indicated that BnLIP2 belonged to GDSL family. Southern blot analysis indicated that BnLIP2 belonged to a small gene family in rapeseed genome. RT-PCR analysis revealed that BnLIP2 was a tissue-specific expressing gene during reproductive growth and strongly expressed during seed germination. BnLIP2 expression could not be detected until three days after germination, and it subsequently became stronger. The transcript of this gene was deficient in root of seedlings growing at different stages. When juvenile seedlings were treated by methyl jasmonate (MeJ), salicylic acid (SA) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), BnLIP2 expression could not be induced in root. Our study implicates that BnLIP2 probably plays an important role in rapeseed germination, morphogenesis, flowering, but independent of root growth and development.