• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.407-409
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• 2000

Outer envelope membrane proteins of chloroplasts encoded by the nuclear genome are transported without the N-terminal transit peptide. Here, we investigated the targeting mechanism of AtOEP7, an Arabidopsis homolog of small outer envelope membrane proteins in vivo. AtOEP7 was expressed transiently in protoplasts or stably in transgenic plants as fusion proteins with GFP. In both cases AtOEP7:GFP was targeted to the outer envelope membrane when assayed under a fluorescent microscope or by Western blot analysis. Except the transmembrane domain, deletions of the N- or C-terminal regions of AtOEP7 did not affect targeting although a region closed to the C-terminal side of the transmembrane domain affected the targeting efficiency. Targeting experiments with various hybrid transmembrane mutants revealed that the amino acid sequence of the transmembrane domain determines the targeting specificity The targeting mechanism was further studied using a fusion protein, AtOEP7：NLS：GFP, that had a nuclear localization signal. AtOEP7：NLS：GFP was efficiently targeted to the chloroplast envelope despite the presence of the nuclear localization signal. Taken together, these results suggest that the transmembrane domain of AtOEP7 functions as the sole determinant of targeting specificity and that AtOEP7 may be associated with a cytosolic component during translocation to the chloroplast envelope membrane.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.14-14
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• 2010

Plastid proteomics are essential organelles present in virtually all cells in plants and green algae. Plastids are responsible for the synthesis and storage of key molecules required for the basic architecture and functions of plant cells. The proteome of plastid, and in particular of chloroplast, have received significant amounts of attention in recent years. Various fractionation and mass spectrometry (MS) techniques have been applied to catalogue the chloroplast proteome and its sub-organelles compartments. To better understanding the function of the lumenal sub-organelles within the thylakoid network, we have carried out a systematical analysis and identification of the lumenal proteins in the thylakoid of wheat by using Tricine-SDS-PAGE, and LTQ-ESI-FTICR mass spectrometry followed by SWISS-PROT database searching. We isolation and fractionation these membrane from fully developed wheat leaves using a combination of differential and gradient centrifugation couple to high speed ultra-centrifuge. After collecting all proteins to eliminate possible same proteins, we estimated that there are 407 different proteins including chloroplast, chloroplast stroma, lumenal, and thylakoid membrane proteins excluding 20 proteins, which were identified in nucleus, cytoplasm and mitochondria. A combination of these three programs (PSORT, TargetP, TMHMM, and TOPPRED) was found to provide a useful tool for evaluating chloroplast localization, transit peptide, transmembranes, and also could reveal possible alternative processing sites and dual targeting. Finally, we report also sub-cellular location specific protein interaction network using Cytoscape software, which provides further insight into the biochemical pathways of photosynthesis. The present work helps understanding photosynthesis process in wheat at the molecular level and provides a new overview of the biochemical machinery of the thylakoid in wheat.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2001

Using maize green- and white-leaf tissue, we have examined the effect of various chemicals on cytoplasmic leakage with respect to the light requirement or chloroplast targeting for their activities. Oxyfluorfen, oxadiazon, diuron, and paraquat, which are known as representative herbicides acting on plant chloroplasts, caused the electrolyte leakage only in the green tissues, whereas 2, 4-dinitrophenol, rose bengal (singlet oxygen producing chemical) and methyl-jasmoante (senscence-stimulating chemical) play a role both in green- and white-tissue. Benzoyl(a) pyrene, generating superoxide radical upon light illumination, functions only in white tissues. Tralkoxydim, metsulfuron-methyl and norflurazon showed no effect in two tested plant samples. In terms of light requirement in electrolyte leakage activity, diuron, oxyfluorfen, oxadiazon, rose bengal, and benzoyl(a) pyrene absolutely require the light for their functions, but other chemicals did not. based on these results, we could classify into four different response types according to whether chemicals require light or chlroplasts for their action. This classification is likely to be applied to simply and rapidly identify the requirement of light and chlroplasts for the actions of chemicals, thereby it makes easy to characterize many new herbicides that their action mechanisms are unclear, and to elucidate the mode of action of them.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.261-270
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• 2009

Oxidative stress is a major damaging factor for plants exposed to environmental stresses. In order to develop transgenic rice plants with enhanced tolerance to various environmental stresses, PsAPX1, the gene of ascorbate peroxidase isolated from Pisum sativum was expressed in chloroplast under the control of an oxidative stress inducible sweet potato peroxidase2 (SWPA2) promoter (referred to as PsAPX1 plants). PsAPX1 transgenic plants showed enhanced tolerance to various environmental stresses, such as 170 mM NaCl, UV-B, ozone, 20% PEG, and drought in compared with non-transgenic (NT) plants. These results suggest that chloroplast-targeted over-expression of PsAPX1 gene could be very useful strategy for developing transgenic rice plants with increased tolerance to environmental stresses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.177-177
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• 2005

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.46-55
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• 1999

The expressed sequence tags(ESTs) from immature seed of rice, Oryza sativa cv Milyang 23, were partially sequenced and analyzed by homology. As of 1998, the partial sequences of about 6,600 cDNA clones were analyzed from normal and normalized immature seed cDNA libraries. About 2,200 ESTs were putatively identified by BLASTX deduced amino acid sequence homology analysis. About 20% of them were putatively identified as storage proteins. Also the clones were highly homologous to genes involved particularly in starch biosynthesis, glycolysis, signal transduction and defenses. Compared to 35% of redundancy in the ESTs of normal cDNA library, that from the substracted library was 15%. The Korea Rice Genome Network is maintained to provide the updated information of sequences, their homologies and sequence alignments of ESTs. For the stable expression of transgene in rice, diverse vectors were developed for overexpression, targeting and gene dosage effect with transit peptides (Tp) and matrix attachment region (MAR) sequence from chicken lysozyme locus. The rice calli were transformed via Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404(pSB1) with the triparental mating technique and selected by herbicide resistance. The green fluorescent protein(GFP) gene in expression vector under the control of rbcS promoter-Tp was overexpressed upto 10 % of the total soluble protein. In addition, the Tp-sGFP fusion protein was properly processed during translocation into chloroplast. The expression of sGFP in the presence of MAR sequences was analyzed with Northern and immunoblot analysis. All the lines in which sGFP transgene with MAR sequence, showed position independent and copy number-dependent expression, while the lines without MAR showed the varied level of expression with the integration site. Thus the MAR sequence significantly reduced the variation in transgene expression between independent transformants.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.130-135
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• 2004

The marine dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium, which produces PSP toxins, has a global distribution. As human-assisted dispersal of the species has been suggested, it is important to develop molecular tools to trace the dispersal pathway. To screen population-specific DNA sequences that differentiate Korean and Japanese A. catenella, we targeted the area downstream of the chloroplast psbA gene using PCR with population-specific DNA primers followed by RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis and sequencing. The RFLP patterns of the PCR products divided Korean and Japanese A. catenella regional isolates into three types: Korean, Japanese, and type CMC3, isolated from Korea. We sequenced the PCR products, but found no similar gene in a homology search. The molecular phylogeny inferred from the sequences separated the Korean and Japanese A. catenella strains, as did the RFLP patterns. However, the Japanese isolates included two slightly different sequences (types J and K), while the Korean sequence was the same as the Japanese K type. In addition, a unique sequence was found in the Korean strains CMC2 and CMC3. Population-specific PCR amplification with Japanese A. catenella type-specific PCR primers designed from the type J sequence yielded PCR products for Japanese strains only, showing that the unknown gene can be used for a population analysis of Korean and Japanese A. catenella.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.112.1-112.1
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• 2007

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• Proceedings of the Korean Aquaculture Society Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.134-135
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• 2003

The geographic expansion of the toxic dinoflagellates genus Alexandrium has been shown to be world wide ranging. The members of the genus Alexandrium ocnstituted of 20-30 species did not show substantial differences in their morphology, which is mostly referred in the 'tamarensis species complex', except some species. Though rDNA sequences variations are very few and pseudogene types are so diverse that it is difficult to use them as the specific markers. In this study, we outlined Korean and Japanese A, tamarense and A. catenella regional isolates by phylogenetic analysis inferred from no cutting alignments of LSU rDNA D1-D2 and SSU rDNA sequences to group these regional isolates. The results were compared to RFLP patterns of PCR products targeted chloroplast DNA. Lastly screening of highly repeated microsatellite DNA which is frequently used for population analysis in eukaryotes was conducted. A. catenella regional strains identified by the sequencing of rDNA D1-D2 domain were divided into at least 3 groups of type E, CMC and Chinese type, divergence root may not be deep comparing with that of A. tamarense whose pseudogenes are very variable. Results of RFLP pattern and the phylogeny of the unknown gene targeting chloroplast showed that Korean and Japanese A. catenella regional isolates were divided into 3 types: Korean, Japanese and the third CMC types. Population-specific PCR amplification with Japanese A. catenella type-specific PCR primers was useful method for population analysis of A. catenella. Various types of satellite sequences such as 5 nucleotides repeats were obtained from A. tamarense and A. catenella. The 5 nucleotides repeats were primed at the both 3'and 5' ends, and these repeats were prominent as longer repeated motifs. This repeated DNA was intercalated as internal sequences containing various types subrepeats. It is expected that these satellite DNA would be a useful molecular population marker through detail comparison among Alexandrium regional isolates to trace their transferring pathway and to prevent their human-associated their regional extents.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.243-249
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• 2010

Molecular farming is production of pharmaceutically and industrially important proteins in plants. Plants and plant cell culture systems have been used as bio-factory to produce recombinant proteins such as monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, vaccines, hormones, interleukins, commercial enzymes and etc. The terms molecular farming, biofarming, molecular pharming, phytomanufacturing, recombinant or plant-made industrials, planta-pharma, plant bioreactors, plant biofactory, and pharmaceutical gardening are used interchangeably. Molecular farming can provide safe and inexpensive pharmaceutical proteins as well as commercial ones. In spite of several advantages of molecular farming such as safety and inexpensive cost, there are also a couple of drawbacks in the existing technology. One of them is low expression level of target gene in plants, which has been improved by optimizing gene-based codon usage, screening of strong promoters, expression of transcription factors, subcellular targeting of target proteins, chloroplast transformation, and transient expression using viral expression system (magnifection). Some plant-based commercial proteins have already been in markets and more than twenty plant-based pharmaceuticals have been in clinical trials, from that we can expect that several plant-based pharmaceutical proteins will be seen in the markets in the near future.