• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2007

Wild progenitor species provide potential gene sources for complex traits such as yield and multiple resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses, and thus are expected to contribute to sustainable food supplies. An introgression line 'IR71033-121-15' was derived from a wild species Oryza minuta (2n = 48, BBCC, Acc No. 101141) at IRRI. Introgression analysis using 530 SSR and STS markers revealed that at least 14 chromosomal segments distributed over 12 chromosomes had been introgressed from O. minuta. An $F_{2:3}$ population from the cross between IR71033 and Junambyeo (a Korean japonica cultivar) consisting of 146 lines was used for quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of 16 agronomic traits. A total of 36 single-locus QTLs (S-QTLs) and 45 digenic epistasis (E-QTLs) were identified. In spite of it's inferiority of O. minuta for most of the traits studied, its alleles contributed positively to 57% of the QTLs. The other QTLs originated from either parent, IR71033 or Junambyeo. QTLs for phenotypically correlated traits were mostly detected on introgressed segments. Fourteen QTLs corresponded to QTLs reported earlier, indicating that these QTLs are stable across genetic backgrounds. Twenty-two QTLs controlling yield and its components had not been detected in previous QTL studies. Of these, thirteen consisted of potentially novel alleles from O. minuta. QTLs from O. minuta introgression could be new sources of natural variation for the genetic improvement of rice.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.245-256
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• 2011

This study consists of two sections to figure out the relationship between autistic features and empathizing-systemizing traits. For the first section, the research involved 355 university students to measure their EQ, SQ-R and AQ. As a result, it is found that AQ was negatively correlated to EQ, and D score(relative difference between EQ and SQ-R of the individuals), but it was not significantly related to SQ-R. It means that the subject has high AQ if he has relatively lower EQ than SQ-R. For the second section, the subjects were divided into two groups based on their AQ score; the subjects who had a tendency of autism and the subjects who did not. The test measured how these two groups were different in terms of facial expressions' recognition according to the tendency of autism, facial expression presenting areas(whole face, eyes-alone, mouth-alone) and different types of emotions(basic and complex emotions). As a result, the subjects who had a tendency of autism were lower at judging facial expressions than the subjects who did not. Also, the results showed that the subjects judged better on the condition of basic emotions more than complex emotions, the whole face more than eyes-alone and mouth-alone. Especially, for the eyes-alone condition, the subjects who had a tendency of autism were lower at judging facial expressions than the subjects who did not. This study suggests that empathizing traits and facial expressions' recognition are related to the tendency of autism.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2005

This study was conducted to estimate the effects of genotype for chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC) B-LB genes on economic traits. To detect polymorphism, 400 bp fragments of MHC B-LB genes were obtained and sequenced. After digestions using restriction enzyme Hea III, two restriction enzyme sites were observed. There were two mutations at position 427 and 651 those were decided as Type I and Type II, respectively. Using RFLP analyses, type I were genotyped to TT, TC and CC, and type II to MM, Mm and mm. The relatively higher TC genotype frequencies (0.8) of Type I and Mm genotype frequencies (0.88) of Type II were observed in Korean native chickens. The effects of the genotype on 150 days body weight trait were investigated by the associations of CC and Mm genotypes (P<0.05) in Korean native chickens. This result suggests that a significant association exists between the SNP and 150 days body weight.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1831-1841
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• 2023

Objective: This study was realized to evaluate the effects of supplementation with blends of water and fat-soluble vitamins on animal performance and carcass traits of young Nellore bulls. Methods: Forty-three Nellore bulls, with an initial weight of 261±27.3 kg and a mean age of 8±1.0 months, were used. Five animals were slaughtered at the beginning of the experiment (reference group), to determine the initial empty body weight of the bulls that remained in the experiment. The remaining 38 bulls were fed ad libitum and distributed in a completely randomized design in a 2×2 factorial scheme, with or without supplementation of water-soluble (B-blend+ or B-blend-) and fat-soluble (ADE+ or ADE-) vitamin blends. Diets were isonitrogenous (120 g of crude protein/kg dry matter [DM] of total mixed ration) and consisted of a roughage:concentrate rate of 30:70 based on total DM of diet. The experiment lasted 170 days, with 30 days of adaptation and 140 days for data collection. At the beginning and end of the experimental period, the bulls were weighed to determine the average daily gain. To estimate the apparent digestibility of nutrients and microbial efficiency, spot collections of feces and urine were performed for five consecutive days. Results: DM, ashes, organic matter, crude protein, ethereal extract, neutral detergent fiber corrected for residual ash and residual nitrogenous, and N intake and apparent digestibility were not influenced by vitamin supplementation, but total digestible nutrients intake and non-fibrous carbohydrates digestibility were influenced by B complex vitamin supplementation. Nitrogen balance, microbial efficiency, and performance data were not influenced (p>0.05) by vitamin supplementation. Conclusion: Vitamin supplementation (a blend of water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins or their combinations) does not influence the animal performance and carcass traits of young Nellore bulls.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1141-1155
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• 2024

Objective: RNA epigenetic modifications play an important role in regulating immune response of mammals. Bovine mastitis induced by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a threat to the health of dairy cattle. There are numerous RNA modifications, and how these modification-associated enzymes systematically coordinate their immunomodulatory effects during bovine mastitis is not well reported. Therefore, the role of common RNA modification-related genes (RMRGs) in bovine S. aureus mastitis was investigated in this study. Methods: In total, 80 RMRGs were selected for this study. Four public RNA-seq data sets about bovine S. aureus mastitis were collected and one additional RNA-seq data set was generated by this study. Firstly, quantitative trait locus (QTL) database, transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) database and differential expression analyses were employed to characterize the potential functions of selected enzyme genes in bovine S. aureus mastitis. Correlation analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) were used to further investigate the relationships of RMRGs from different types at the mRNA expression level. Interference experiments targeting the m⁶ A demethylase FTO and utilizing public MeRIP-seq dataset from bovine Mac-T cells were used to investigate the potential interaction mechanisms among various RNA modifications. Results: Bovine QTL and TWAS database in cattle revealed associations between RMRGs and immune-related complex traits. S. aureus challenged and control groups were effectively distinguished by principal component analysis based on the expression of selected RMRGs. WGCNA and correlation analysis identified modules grouping different RMRGs, with highly correlated mRNA expression. The m⁶ A modification gene FTO showed significant effects on the expression of m⁶ A and other RMRGs (such as NSUN2, CPSF2, and METTLE), indicating complex co-expression relationships among different RNA modifications in the regulation of bovine S. aureus mastitis. Conclusion: RNA epigenetic modification genes play important immunoregulatory roles in bovine S. aureus mastitis, and there are extensive interactions of mRNA expression among different RMRGs. It is necessary to investigate the interactions between RNA modification genes regulating complex traits in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.904-910
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• 2016

Complex traits are determined by the combined effects of many loci and are affected by gene networks or biological pathways. Systems biology approaches have an important role in the identification of candidate genes related to complex diseases or traits at the system level. The gene network analysis has been performed by diverse types of methods such as gene co-expression, gene regulatory relationships, protein-protein interaction (PPI) and genetic networks. Moreover, the network-based methods were described for predicting gene functions such as graph theoretic method, neighborhood counting based methods and weighted function. However, there are a limited number of researches in livestock. The present study systemically analyzed genes associated with 102 types of economic traits based on the Animal Trait Ontology (ATO) and identified their relationships based on the gene co-expression network and PPI network in cattle. Then, we constructed the two types of gene network databases and network visualization system (http://www.nabc.go.kr/cg). We used a gene co-expression network analysis from the bovine expression value of bovine genes to generate gene co-expression network. PPI network was constructed from Human protein reference database based on the orthologous relationship between human and cattle. Finally, candidate genes and their network relationships were identified in each trait. They were typologically centered with large degree and betweenness centrality (BC) value in the gene network. The ontle program was applied to generate the database and to visualize the gene network results. This information would serve as valuable resources for exploiting genomic functions that influence economically and agriculturally important traits in cattle.

• ALGAE
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.267-277
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• 2014

Green tides occur every year in the Yellow Sea (YS), and numerous investigations are proceeding on various aspects of the phenomenon. We have identified bloom-forming species collected from diverse locations in the YS using morphological traits and the chloroplast gene for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL). Morphological and rbcL sequence data analyses characterized the blooming species on both sides of the YS as belonging to the Ulva linza-procera-prolifera (LPP) complex clade or U. prolifera of earlier reports. However, U. procera within the LPP complex must be regarded as synonym of U. linza. Moreover, U. prolifera in free-floating samples collected from the Qingdao coast in 2009 was clearly in a distinct clade from that of the blooming species. Therefore, U. linza is the main green tide alga in the YS and has the procera-morphology. The green drift mats in the southeastern part of the YS (southwest sea of Korea) consisted predominantly of U. linza and rarely of U. compressa or U. prolifera.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.172-180
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to measure the causal relationships among food involvement, health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal, weight control, and fruit consumption. A total of 290 questionnaires were completed. A structural equation model was used to measure the causal effects of the constructs, and the structural analysis results for the data indicated an excellent model fit. The effects of food involvement on health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal, weight control, and fruit consumption were statistically significant. As expected, health, mood, and weight control had significant effects on fruit consumption. Moreover, food involvement had a significant indirect effect on fruit consumption through health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal and weight control. For the future development and testing of conceptual models that integrate the relationships among personality traits, food choice motives, and fruit consumption, this study may approach a deeper understanding of the complex relationships among fruit consumption behavior-related variables. Greater understanding of these complex relationships can improve the managerial diagnosis of the problem and opportunities for different marketing strategies, including fruit production and fruit product development and marketing communications.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.817-822
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• 2009

Type-1 phosphatase (PP-1) was assessed in foot muscle (FM) and hepatopancreas (HP) of estivating (EST) Otala lactea. Snail PP-1 displayed several conserved traits, including sensitivity to inhibitors, substrate affinity, and reduction in size to a 39 kDa catalytic subunit (PP-1c). During EST, PP-1 activity in FM and HP crude extracts was reduced, though kinetics and protein levels of purified PP-1c isoforms were not altered. PP-1c protein levels increased and decreased in nuclear and glycogen-associated fractions, respectively, during EST. Gel filtration determined that a 257 kDa low $K_m$ PP-1$\alpha$ complex decreased during estivation whereas a 76 kDa high $K_m$ complex increased in EST. Western blotting confirmed that the 76 kDa protein consisted of PP-1$\alpha$ and nuclear inhibitor of PP-1 (NIPP-1). A suppression of PP-1 activity factors in the overall metabolic rate depression in estivating snails and the mechanism is mediated through altered cellular localization and interaction with binding partners.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.14-17
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• 2008

GENDISCAN study (Gene Discovery for Complex traits in Asian population of Northeast area) was designed to incorporate methodologies which enhance the power to identify genetic variations underlying complex disorders. Use of population isolates as the target population is a unique feather of this study. However, population isolates may have hidden inbreeding structures which can affect the validity of the study. To understand how this issue may affect results of GENDISCAN, we estimated inbreeding coefficients in two study populations in Mongolia. We analyzed the status of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE), polymorphism information contents (PIC), heterozygosity, allelic diversity, and inbreeding coefficients, using 317 and 1,044 STR (short tandem repeat) markers in Orkhontuul and Dashbalbar populations. HWE assumptions were generally met in most markers (88.6% and 94.2% respectively), and single marker PIC ranged between 0.2 and 0.9. Inbreeding coefficients were estimated to be 0.0023 and 0.0021, which are small enough to assure that conventional genetic analysis would work without any specific modification. We concluded that the population isolates used in GENDISCAN study would not present significant inflation of type I errors from inbreeding effects in its gene discovery analysis.