• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1015-1025
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• 2015

The development of diverse polymyxin derivatives is needed to solve the toxicity and resistance problems of polymyxins. However, no platform has generated polymyxin derivatives by genetically engineering a polymyxin synthetase, which is a nonribosomal peptide synthetase. In this study, we present a two-step approach for the construction of engineered polymyxin synthetases by substituting the adenylation (A) domains of polymyxin A synthetase, which is encoded by the pmxABCDE gene cluster of Paenibacillus polymyxa E681. First, the seventh L-threonine-specific A-domain region in pmxA was substituted with the L-leucine-specific A-domain region obtained from P. polymyxa ATCC21830 to make polymyxin E synthetase, and then the sixth D-leucine-specific A-domain region (A_6-D-Leu-domain) was substituted with the D-phenylalanine-specific A-domain region (A_6-D-Phe-domain) obtained from P. polymyxa F4 to make polymyxin B synthetase. This step was performed in Escherichia coli on a pmxA-containing fosmid, using the lambda Red recombination system and the sacB gene as a counter-selectable marker. Next, the modified pmxA gene was fused to pmxBCDE on the chromosome of Bacillus subtilis BSK4dA, and the resulting recombinant strains BSK4-PB and BSK4-PE were confirmed to produce polymyxins B and E, respectively. We also succeeded in constructing the B. subtilis BSK4-PP strain, which produces polymyxin P, by singly substituting the A_6-D-Leu-domain with the A_6-D-Phe-domain. This is the first report in which polymyxin derivatives were generated by genetically engineering polymyxin synthetases. The two recombinant B. subtilis strains will be useful for improving the commercial production of polymyxins B and E, and they will facilitate the generation of novel polymyxin derivatives.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.179-183
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• 2009

To facilitate the genetic manipulation of Cladosporium phlei, a causal agent of leaf spot disease in timothy (Phleum pretense), protoplast-mediated transformation of C. phlei has been developed and the resulting transformants were characterized in this study. Hygromycin B resistance was applied as a dominant selection marker due to the sensitivity of C. phlei to this antibiotic. The transformation efficiency ranged from approximately 20-100 transformants per experiment. Southern blot analysis of stable transformants revealed that transformation occurred by way of stable integration of the vector DNA into the fungal chromosome. PCR analysis and plasmid rescuing of randomly selected transformants suggested that integration of tandem repeat copies of vector DNA was common. In addition, multiple integrations of the transforming vector at different chromosomal sites were also observed. The establishment of a transformation method for C. phlei facilitates strain improvement of this fungus and can be applied as an initial step in the molecular analysis of pigment production in this fungus.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.57-57
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• 2017

Chrysanthemum is one of the most important floral crop in Korea produced about 7 billion dollars (1 billion for pot and 6 billion for cutting) in 2013. However, it is difficult to breed and to do genetic study because 1) it is highly self-incompatible, 2) it is outcrossing crop having heterozygotes, and 3) commercial cultvars are hexaploid (2n = 6x = 54). Although low-density genetic map and QTL study were reported, it is not enough to apply for the marker assisted selection and other genetic studies. Therefore, we are trying to make high-density genetic mapping using GBS with about 100 $F_1s$ of C. boreale that is oHohhfd diploid (2n = 2x = 18, about 2.8Gb) instead of commercial culitvars. Since Chrysanthemum is outcrossing, two-way pseudo-testcross model would be used to construct genetic map. Also, genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) would be utilized to generate sufficient number of markers and to maximize genomic representation in a cost effective manner. Those completed sequences would be analyzed with TASSEL-GBS pipeline. In order to reduce sequence error, only first 64 sequences, which have almost zero percent error, would be incorporated in the pipeline for the analysis. In addition, to reduce errors that is common in heterozygotes crops caused by low coverage, two rare cutters (NsiI and MseI) were used to increase sequence depth. Maskov algorithm would also used to deal with missing data. Further, sparsely placed markers on the physical map would be used as anchors to overcome problems caused by low coverage. For this purpose, were generated from transcriptome of Chrysanthemum using MISA program. Among those, 10 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, which are evenly distributed along each chromosome and polymorphic between two parents, would be selected.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.137-143
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• 1999

A novel chromosomal gene tagging technique using a specific fragment of the fatty acid desaturase-like open reading frame (des-like ORF) from the tox-argK gene cluster of Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola was developed to identify Xanthomonas spp.released into the environment as biocontrol agents. X. campestris pv. convolvuli FB-635, a pathogen of Convolvulus arvensis L., (bindweed), was chosen as the organism in which to develop and test the system. A 0.52 kb DES fragment amplified from P. syringae pv. phaseolicola C-199 was inserted into pGX15, a cosmid clone containing a 10.3 kb Eco RI-HindIII fragment derived from the xanthomonadin biosynthetic gene cluster contained in plasmid pIG102, to create a pigG::DES insertion. The 10.8 kb EcoRI-BamHI fragment carrying the pigG:: DES insertion was cloned into pLAFR3 to generate pLXP22. pLXP22 was then conjugated into X. campestris pv. convolvuli FB-635 and the pigG::DES insertion integrated into the bacterial chromosome by marker exchange. Rifampicin resistant, tetracycline sensitive, starch hydrolyzing, white colonies were used to differentiate the marked strain from yellow pigmented wild-type ones. PCR primers specific for the unique DES fragment were used for direct detection of the marked strain. Result showed the marked strain could be detected at very low levels even in the presence of high levels of other closely related or competitive bacteria. This PCR-based DES-tagging system provides a rapid and specific tool for directly monitoring the dispersal and persistence of Xanthomonas spp.released into the environment.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.533-541
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• 2005

We identify the correct chromosome and locate the corresponding markers close to the QTL in the linkage analysis of a quantitative trait by using the SSVS method. We consider several markers linked to the QTL, as well as to each oyher and thus the i.b.d. values at these loci generate collinear predictors to be evaluated when using the SSVS approach. The results on considering only closely linked markers to two QTL simultaneously showed clear evidence in favor of the closest marker to the QTL considered over other markers. The results of the analysis of collinear markers with SSVS showeed high concordance to those obtained using traditional multiple regression. We conclude based on this simulation study that the SSVS is quite useful to identify linkage with multiple linked markers simultaneously for a complex quantitative trait.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3437-3441
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• 2012

Background: Oncogenic Bmi-1 (B-lymphoma Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion region-1) belongs to the Polycomb-group (PcG) family of proteins and plays an important role in the regulation of proliferation, senescence, cell cycle and apoptosis, chromosome stability, activation of gene transcription. Methods: To clarify the roles of Bmi-1 in tumourigenesis and progression of gastric carcinomas, it was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and real-time RT-PCR in gastric carcinomas, dysplasia, intestinal metaplasia (IM), and gastritis with a comparison of its expression with clinicopathological parameters of carcinomas. Results: There was gradually increased Bmi-1 protein expression from gastritis, IM, dyplasia to carcinoma (p<0.001). Bmi-1 expression was positively linked to tumor size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis and worse prognosis of carcinomas (p<0.001), but not to age or sex of carcinoma patients (p>0.05). There was higher Bmi-1 protein expression in intestinal-type carcinomas than diffuse-type ones (p<0.001). At mRNA level, Bmi-1 protein expression was increased from gastritis, IM, dysplasia and carcinoma (p<0.001). Bmi-1 overexpression was observed in gastric carcinoma with larger diameter, deeper invasion, lymph node metastasis, and intestinal-type carcinoma (p<0.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate that up-regulated Bmi-1 expression is positively linked to pathogenesis, growth, invasion, metastasis and differentiation of gastric carcinomas. It was considered as a promising marker to indicate the aggressive behaviors and prognosis of gastric carcinomas.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.265-271
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• 2011

The cultivated potato as well as its tuber-bearing relatives are considered model plants for cell and tissue culture, and therefore for exploiting the genetic variation induced by in vitro culture. The association between molecular stability and tissue culture in different genetic backgrounds and ploidy levels has already been explored. However, it still remains to be ascertained whether somaclonal variation differs between callus-derived chromosome-doubled and undoubled regenerants. Our research aimed at investigating, through amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers, the genetic changes in marker-banding patterns of diploid and tetraploid regenerants obtained from one clone each of Solanum bulbocastanum Dunal and S. cardiophyllum Lindl (both 2n = 2x = 24) and tetraploids from cultivated S. tuberosum L. (2n = 4x = 48). Pairwise comparisons between the banding patterns of regenerants and parents allowed detecting considerable changes associated to in vitro culture both at diploid and tetraploid level. The percentages of polymorphic bands between diploid and tetraploid regenerants were, respectively, 57 and 69% in S. bulbocastanum and 58 and 63% in S. cardiophyllum. On average, the frequencies of lost parental fragments in regenerants were significantly higher than novel bands both in S. bulbocastanum (48 vs. 22%) and S. tuberosum (36 vs. 18%) regenerants. By contrast, in S. cardiophyllum, a similar incidence of the two events was detected (32 vs. 29%). Our results revealed that structural changes after tissue culture process strongly affected the genome of the species studied, but diploid and tetraploids regenerated plants responded equally.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.219-226
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• 2012

The acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, C-2 to C-3 short chain (ACADS) gene is known to be related with fat metabolism, especially coverts the fat to the energy sources in cattle. In human, the mutations in this gene cause SCAD deficiency, which is one of the fatty acid metabolism disorders. The ACADS gene is located on bovine chromosome 17. The objective of this study was to identify SNPs in Hanwoo ACADS gene and identify the relationships with economic traits. In this study, two SNPs, T1570G SNP in exon 2 and G13917A SNP in exon 4, were observed. Moreover, in the coding region, 2 missense mutations, T (Cys) ${\rightarrow}$ G (Trp) mutation at 1570 bp and G (Arg) ${\rightarrow}$ A (Gln) mutation at 13917 bp, were observed. These mutations were subjected to the PCR-RFLP for typing 198 Hanwoo animals. The observed genotype frequency for T1570G was 0.135 (TT), 0.860 (TG) and 0.005 (GG), respectively. Also, 0.900 (GG) and 0.100 (GA) were observed for the G13917A mutation. The association of these SNPs with four economic traits, CW (Carcass Weight), BF (Backfat Thickness), LMA (Longissimus Muscle Area), MS (Marbling Score), were also observed. The results indicated that no significant results were observed in all four traits (P>0.05). This might indicate that further studies are ultimately needed to use the SNPs in ACADS gene in lager populations for effectively used for the marker assisted selection.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2005

Ethanol has long been implicated in triggering apoptotic neurodegeneration. We examined the effects of ethanol on the rat brain during synaptogenesis when a spurt in brain growth occurs. This period corresponds to the first 2 postnatal weeks in rats and is very sensitive to ethanol exposure. Ethanol was administered subcutaneously to 7-day- postnatal rat pups by a dosing regimen of 3 g/kg at 0 h and again at 2 h. Blood ethanol levels peaked ($677{\pm}16.4mg/dl$) at 4 h after the first ethanol administration. The cerebral cortexes of the ethanol-treated group showed several typical symptoms of apoptosis such as chromosome condensation and disintegration of cell bodies. Activated caspase-3 positive cells were found in the cortex within 2 h of the first injection, and reached a peak at 12 h. In addition, TUNEL staining revealed DNA fragmentation in the same regions. These results demonstrate that acute ethanol administration causes neuronal cell death via a caspase-3-dependent pathway within 24 h, suggesting that activation of caspase-3 is a marker of the developmental neurotoxicity of ethanol.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2003

Acidocin 4A produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus GP4A was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation and sequential chromatographies containing Octyl sepharose CL-4B column, $C_{18}$ Sep-Pak Cartridge, $C_{18}$ RP HPLC and HPLC gel filtration. Tricine SDS-PACE resulted in a single band with estimated molecular mass of 4.1 kDa corresponding to the polypeptide weight marker. Electron microscopy of acidocin-treated indicator cells(L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis ATCC 4797) confirmed that acidocin 4A presented bacteriolytic effect, resulting in cell lysis. Curing trial using ethidium bromide (EtBr) was carried out to examine whether acidocin 4A determinant was encoded either by chromosome or on plasmid. The plasmid designated as pLA4A, being about 20 kb in size, was responsible for acidocin 4A production and immunity to host cells.