• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.283-289
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• 2015

This study surveys the improvement characteristics in old-aged muscular mitochondria by bio-active materials coated fabric (BMCF). To observe the effects, the fabric (10 and 30%) was worn to old-aged rat then the oxygen consumption efficiency and copy numbers of mitochondria, and mRNA expression of apoptosis- and mitophagy-related genes were verified. By wearing the BMCF, the oxidative respiration significantly increased when using the 30% materials coated fabric. The mitochondrial DNA copy number significantly decreased and subsequently recovered in a dose-dependent manner. The respiratory control ratio to mitochondrial DNA copy number showed a dose-dependent increment. As times passed, Bax, caspase 9, PGC-$1{\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$-actin increased, and Bcl-2 decreased in a dose-dependent manner. However, the BMCF can be seen to have had no effect on Fas receptor. PINK1 expression did not change considerably and was inclined to decrease in control group, but the expression was down-regulated then subsequently increased with the use of the BMCF in a dose-dependent manner. Caspase 3 increased and subsequently decreased in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the BMCF invigorates mitophagy and improves mitochondrial oxidative respiration in skeletal muscle, and in early stage of apoptosis induced by the BMCF is not related to extrinsic death-receptor mediated but mitochondria-mediated signaling pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1128-1133
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• 2010

The diversity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in activated sludge were compared using PCR-DGGE and real-time PCR assays. Activated sludge samples were collected from five different types of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) mainly treating textile, paper, food, and livestock wastewater or domestic sewage. The composition of total bacteria determined by PCR-DGGE was highly diverse between the samples, whereas the community of AOB was similar across all the investigated activated sludge. Total bacterial numbers and AOB numbers in the aerated mixed liquor were in the range of $1.8{\times}10^{10}$ to $3.8{\times}10^{12}$ and $1.7{\times}10^6$ to $2.7{\times}10^{10}$ copies/l, respectively. Activated sludge from livestock, textile, and sewage treating WWTPs contained relatively high amoA gene copies (more than $10^5$ copies/l), whereas activated sludge from food and paper WWTPs revealed a low number of the amoA gene (less than $10^3$ copies/l). The value of the amoA gene copy effectively showed the difference in composition of bacteria in different activated sludge samples and this was better than the measurement with the AOB 16S rRNA or total 16S rRNA gene. These results suggest that the quantification of the amoA gene can help monitor AOB and ammonia oxidation in WWTPs.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.450-455
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• 2018

We examined correlations of the density of fish farms with the distributions of indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli, fecal streptococci) and a bacterial fish pathogen (Streptococcus parauberis) off the coastline of Jeju Island. Seawater samples were collected at four coastal sites on the Island [Aewol (control), Gujwa, Pyoseon and Daejeong] in June, August and October 2016. The indicator bacteria were generally more frequently isolated from samples taken in August when water temperatures and human activities on nearby beaches were highest. Although fish farms were least common at Daejeong, the numbers of isolated fecal indicator bacteria were highest in the seawater and effluent water collected from this site. Hence, fish farms were not likely major contributors of indicator bacteria at Daejeong. We found discrepancies between the isolated bacterial counts and the predicted bacterial copy numbers deduced from our qPCR results, indicating that this pathogen may exist in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state in seawater. Thus, livestock wastewater and chemical fertilizer loading off Jeju Island may negatively impact seawater quality more than the effluent released from fish farms does.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.221-227
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• 2013

The methane oxidation characteristics at the top and bottom layers in up-flow biofilters were investigated. Two biofilters were packed with perlite and tobermolite (biofilter A: respectively top and bottom; biofilter B: respectively bottom and top) and then compared. The methane oxidation rate was analyzed with the packed bed of the biofilter layers. The bacterial population in the biofilter was characterized using quantitative real-time PCR. For the methane oxidation rate of the biofilter A column, the perlite top part ($845.16{\pm}64.78{\mu}mol{\cdot}VS^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$) gave a relatively higher value than the tobermolite bottom part ($381.85{\pm}42.00{\mu}mol{\cdot}VS^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$). For the methane oxidation rate of the biofilter B column, the tobermolite top part ($601.25{\pm}37.78{\mu}mol{\cdot}VS^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$) provided a relatively higher value than the perlite bottom part ($411.07{\pm}53.02{\mu}mol{\cdot}VS^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$). The pmoA gene copy numbers, responsible for methanotrophs, in the top layer of biofilter A (1.27E+13 pmoA gene copy number/mg-VSS) was higher than in the bottom layer (3.33E+13 pmoA gene copy number/mg-VSS). However, the population of methanotrophs in biofilter B was not significantly different between the top and bottom layers. These results suggest that although the methane oxidation rates of perlite and tobermolite in the top parts of biofilter A and B were high, methanotroph populations were higher in the bottom parts of both biofilters, with a rapid decline in methane concentrations within the biofilters.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.69-73
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• 2012

The explosive development of genomics technologies including microarrays and next generation sequencing (NGS) has provided comprehensive maps of cancer genomes, including the expression of mRNAs and microRNAs, DNA copy numbers, sequence variations, and epigenetic changes. These genome-wide profiles of the genetic aberrations could reveal the candidates for diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers as well as mechanistic insights into tumor development and progression. Recent efforts to establish the huge cancer genome compendium and integrative omics analyses, so-called "integromics", have extended our understanding on the cancer genome, showing its daunting complexity and heterogeneity. However, the challenges of the structured integration, sharing, and interpretation of the big omics data still remain to be resolved. Here, we review several issues raised in cancer omics data analysis, including NGS, focusing particularly on the study design and analysis strategies. This might be helpful to understand the current trends and strategies of the rapidly evolving cancer genomics research.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.226-231
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• 2007

Housekeeping genes are widely used as internal controls in a variety of study types, including real time RT-PCR, microarrays, Northern analysis and RNase protection assays. However, even commonly used housekeeping genes may vary in stability depending on the cell type or disease being studied. Thus, it is necessary to identify additional housekeeping-type genes that show sample-independent stability. Here, we used statistical analysis to examine a large human microarray database, seeking genes that were stably expressed in various tissues, disease states and cell lines. We further selected genes that were expressed at different levels, because reference and target genes should be present in similar copy numbers to achieve reliable quantitative results. Real time RT-PCR amplification of three newly identified reference genes, CGI-119, CTBP1 and GOLGAl, alongside three well-known housekeeping genes, B2M, GAPD, and TUBB, confirmed that the newly identified genes were more stably expressed in individual samples with similar ranges. These results collectively suggest that statistical analysis of microarray data can be used to identify new candidate housekeeping genes showing consistent expression across tissues and diseases. Our analysis identified three novel candidate housekeeping genes (CGI-119, GOLGA1, and CTBP1) that could prove useful for normalization across a variety of RNA-based techniques.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.120-125
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• 1995

.betha.-galactosidase activity of Escherichia coli cells containing operon fusion nhaA'-'lacZ was monitored to study the regulation of expression of nhaA gene under various conditions. The expression of the fusion was enhanced only by chemicals containing Na$^{+}$ or Li$^{+}$. This Na$^{+}$ or Li$^{+}$. This Na$^{+}$(Li$^{+}$)-specific enhancement of .betha.-galactosidase activity represented the increase in the rate of synthesis of .betha.-galactosidase rather than the decrease in the breakdown rate. The induction pattern was influenced by copy numbers of the gene. Induction by Na$^{+}$ or Li$^{+}$ was concentration and time dependent, reaching maximum 5-6 fold induction after 2 hours at 0.4-0.5 M for Na$^{+}$ or at 0.25-0.35 M for Li$^{+}$, Although the expression was induced at much lower concentration of Na$^{+}$ at alkaline pH values than at neutral pH in the presence of Na$^{+}$, alkaline pH itself did ot induced the expression of the fusion in the absence of Na$^{+}$. Temperature shift and growth phase of culture did not affect the level of induction.he level of induction.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.508-513
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• 2002

Human endogenous retroviral long terminal repeats (LTRs) have been found to be coexpressed with sequences of genes located nearby. It has been suggested that the LTR elements have contributed to the structural change or genetic variation of human genome connected to various diseases. The HERV-W family has been identified in the cerebrospinal fluids and brains of individuals with schizophrenia. Using a cDNA library derived from a human brain, the HERV-W LTR elements were examined and five new LTR elements were identified. These elements were examined using a YAC clone panel from the Xq21.3 region linked to psychosis that was replicated on the Y chromosome after the separation of the chimpanzee and human lineages. Fourteen elements of the HERV-W LTR were identified in that region. Those LTR elements showed a high degree of sequence similarity ($91.8-99.5\%$) with previously reported HERV-W LTR. A phylogenetic tree obtained from the neighbor-joining method revealed that new HERV-W LTR elements were closely related to the AXt000960, AF072504, and AF072506 from the GenBank database. The data indicates that several copy numbers of the HERV-W LTR elements exist on the Xq21.3 region and are also expressed in the human brain. These LTR elements need to be further investigated as potential leads to neuropsychiatric diseases.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.866-871
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• 2007

Testis-specific protein (TSPY) is a Y-specific gene, with up to 200 copy numbers in bulls. In order to make bovine embryo sexing under farm condition more feasible, the possibility of using a non-electrophoretic method to detect the TSPY gene for sexing bovine early embryos was examined. Primers were designed to amplify a portion of the TSPY gene and a common gene as an internal control primer. PCR optimization was carried out using a DNA template from bovine whole blood. Furthermore, embryo samples were diagnosed by this method and the sexing results were contrasted with those of the Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) method. The results showed that TSPY was as reliable a sexing method as LAMP. Forty-three morula and blastocyst embryos collected from superovulated donor dairy cattle were sexed by this method, and twenty-one embryos judged to be female embryos were transferred non-surgically to recipients 6 to 8 days after natural estrus. Out of 21 recipients, 9 were pregnant (42.86%) and all delivered female calves. The results showed that the sex predicted by this protocol was 100% accurate. In conclusion, the TSPY gene was a good male specific marker and indicated that a non-electrophoretic method was feasible and accurate to detect the TSPY gene for sexing preimplantation bovine embryos.

• BMB Reports
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.86-91
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• 2013

Glucose effects on the vegetative growth of Dictyostelium discoideum Ax2 were studied by examining oxidative stress and tetrahydropteridine synthesis in cells cultured with different concentrations (0.5X, 7.7 g $L^{-1}$; 1X, 15.4 g $L^{-1}$; 2X, 30.8 g $L^{-1}$) of glucose. The growth rate was optimal in 1X cells (cells grown in 1X glucose) but was impaired drastically in 2X cells, below the level of 0.5X cells. There were glucose-dependent increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and mitochondrial dysfunction in parallel with the mRNA copy numbers of the enzymes catalyzing tetrahydropteridine synthesis and regeneration. On the other hand, both the specific activities of the enzymes and tetrahydropteridine levels in 2X cells were lower than those in 1X cells, but were higher than those in 0.5X cells. Given the antioxidant function of tetrahydropteridines and both the beneficial and harmful effects of ROS, the results suggest glucose-induced oxidative stress in Dictyostelium, a process that might originate from aerobic glycolysis, as well as a protective role of tetrahydropteridines against this stress.