• ALGAE
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2019

DNA metabarcoding is currently used for large-scale taxonomic identification to understand the community composition in various marine ecosystems. However, before being widely used in this emerging field, this experimental and analytic approach still has several technical challenges to overcome, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) bias, and lack of well-established metabarcoding markers, a task which is difficult but not impossible to achieve. In this study, we present an adapted PCR-free small-organelles enriched metagenomics (SoEM) method for marine biodiversity assessment. To avoid PCR bias and random artefacts, we extracted target DNA sequences without PCR amplification from marine environmental samples enriched with small organelles including mitochondria and plastids because their genome sequences provide a valuable source of molecular markers for phylogenetic analysis. To experimentally enrich small organelles, we performed subcellular fractionation using modified differential centrifugation for marine environmental DNA samples. To validate our SoEM method, two marine environmental samples from the coastal waters were tested the taxonomic capturing capacity against that of traditional DNA metabarcoding method. Results showed that, regardless of taxonomic levels, at least 3-fold greater numbers of taxa were identified in our SoEM method, compared to those identified by the conventional multi-locus DNA metabarcoding method. The SoEM method is thus effective and accurate for identifying taxonomic diversity and presents a useful alternative approach for evaluating biodiversity in the marine environment.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2000

Over decades of work, the probiotic research has grown rapidly with a number of new cultures, which is claimed a variety of benefit. However, many of the specific effects attributed to the ingestion of probiotics remain convoluted and scientifically unsubstantiated. Accordingly, the scientific community faces a greater challenge and must objectively seek cause and effect relationships for many potential and currently investigated probiotic species. Rational selection and design of probiotics remains an important challenge and will require a solid information about the physiology and genetics of candidate strains relevant to their intestinal roles, functional activities, and interaction of with other resident micro flora. As far as beneficial culture of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is concerned, simple, cost-effective, and exact identification of candidate strains is of foremost importance among others. Until recently, the relatedness of bacterial isolates has been determined sorely by testing for one or several phenotyphic markers, using methods such as serotyping, phage-typing, biotyping, and so forth. However, there are problems in the use of many of these phenotype-based methods. In contrast, some of newer molecular typing methods involving the analysis of DNA offer many advantages over traditional techniques. These DNA-based methods have the greater discriminatory power than that of phenotypic procedures. This review focuses on the importance and the basis of molecular typing methods along with some considerations on de-sign and selection of probiotic culture for human consumption.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.464-468
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• 2017

The identification of pork in commercially processed meats is one of the most crucial issues in the food industry because of religious food ethics, medical purposes, and intentional adulteration to decrease production cost. This study therefore aimed to develop a method for the detection of pork adulteration in meat products using primers specific for pig mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial DNA sequences for pig, cattle, chicken, and sheep were obtained from GenBank and aligned. The 294-bp mitochondrial DNA D-loop region was selected as the pig target DNA sequence and appropriate primers were designed using the MUSCLE program. To evaluate primer sensitivity, pork-beef-chicken mixtures were prepared as follows: i) 0% pork-50% beef-50% chicken, ii) 1% pork-49.5% beef-49.5% chicken, iii) 2% pork-49% beef-49% chicken, iv) 5% pork-47.5% beef-47.5% chicken, v) 10% pork-45% beef-45% chicken, and vi) 100% pork-0% beef-0% chicken. In addition, a total of 35 commercially packaged products, including patties, nuggets, meatballs, and sausages containing processed chicken, beef, or a mixture of various meats, were purchased from commercial markets. The primers developed in our study were able to detect as little as 1% pork in the heat treated pork-beef-chicken mixtures. Of the 35 processed products, three samples were pork positive despite being labeled as beef or chicken only or as a beef-chicken mix. These results indicate that the developed primers could be used to detect pork adulteration in various processed meat products for application in safeguarding religious food ethics, detecting allergens, and preventing food adulteration.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2008

Aerides vandarum and Vanda stangeana are two rare and endangered vandaceous orchids with immense floricultural traits. The intergeneric hybrids were synthesized by performing reciprocal crosses between them. In vitro germination response of the immature hybrid embryos was found to be best on half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 20% (v/v) coconut water/liquid endosperm from tender coconut. Determination of hybridity was made as early as the immature seeds or embryos germinated in vitro, using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Out of 15 arbitrarily chosen decamer RAPD primers, two were found to be useful in amplification of polymorphic bands specific to the parental species and their presence in the reciprocal crosses. However, a decisive profile that can identify the reciprocal crosses could not be provided by RAPD. Amplification of the trnL-F non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA of the parent species and hybrids aided easy identification of the reciprocal crosses from the fact that maternal inheritance of chloroplast DNA held true for these intergeneric hybrids. Subsequent restriction digestion of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified trnL-F non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA also consolidated the finding. Such PCR-based molecular markers could be used for early determination of hybridity and easy identification of the reciprocal crosses.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.469-476
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• 2017

Background: Panax ginseng Meyer (Asian ginseng) has a large nuclear genome size of > 3.5 Gbp in haploid genome equivalent of 24 chromosomes. Tandem repeats (TRs) occupy significant portions of the genome in many plants and are often found in specific genomic loci, making them a valuable molecular cytogenetic tool in discriminating chromosomes. In an effort to understand the P. ginseng genome structure, we characterized an ultrahigh copy 167-bp TR (Pg167TR) and explored its chromosomal distribution as well as its utility for chromosome identification. Methods: Polymerase chain reaction amplicons of Pg167TR were labeled, along with 5S and 45S rDNA amplicons, using a direct nick-translation method. Direct fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to analyze the chromosomal distribution of Pg167TR. Results: Recently, we reported a method of karyotyping the 24 chromosome pairs of P. ginseng using rDNA and DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) bands. Here, a unique distribution of Pg167TR in all 24 P. ginseng chromosomes was observed, allowing easy identification of individual homologous chromosomes. Additionally, direct labeling of 5S and 45S rDNA probes allowed the identification of two additional 5S rDNA loci not previously reported, enabling the refinement of the P. ginseng karyotype. Conclusion: Identification of individual P. ginseng chromosomes was achieved using Pg167TR-FISH. Chromosome identification is important in understanding the P. ginseng genome structure, and our method will be useful for future integration of genetic linkage maps and genome scaffold anchoring. Additionally, it is a good tool for comparative studies with related species in efforts to understand the evolution of P. ginseng.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2022

Two tree frogs, Dryophytes suweonensis and Dryophytes japonicus, inhabiting Korea, are morphologically similar and share the same habitats. Therefore, they are identified mainly through their calls, especially for males. Dryophytes suweonensis is registered as an endangered (IUCN: EN grade) and protected species in South Korea. Thus, it is necessary to develop a method to rapidly identify and discriminate the two species and establish efficient protection and restoration plans. We identified significant genetic variation between them by sequencing a maternally-inherited mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA region. Based on the sequence data, we designed a pair of primers containing 7bp differences for high resolution melting(HRM) analysis to rapidly and accurately characterize their genotypes. The HRM analysis using genomic DNA showed that the melting peak for D. suweonensis was 76.4±0.06℃, whereas that of D. japonicus was 75.0±0.05℃. The differential melt curve plot further showed a distinct difference between them. We also carried out a pilot test for the application of HRM analysis based on immersing D. suweonensis in distilled water for 30 min to generate artificial environmental DNA(eDNA). The results showed 1.10-1.31℃ differences in the melting peaks between the two tree frog samples. Therefore, this HRM analysis is rapid and accurate in identifying two tree frogs not only using their genomic DNA but also using highly non-invasive eDNA.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2021

This study developed a species identification method for the salted opossum shrimp of Acetes japonicus, A. chinensis (Korea, China), A. indicus (I, II), and Palaemon gravieri based on PCR-RFLP markers. Genomic DNA was extracted from the salted opossum shrimp. The COI gene was used to amplify 519 base pairs (bp) using specific primers. The amplified products were digested by Acc I and Hinf I, and the DNA fragments were separated by automated electrophoresis for RFLP analysis. When the amplified DNA product (519 bp) was digested with Acc I, A. japonicus, A. chinensis (Korea), and A. indius (II) showed two fragments, whereas a single band of 519 bp was detected in A. chinensis (China) and A. indius (I). Also, in the RFLP patterns digested by Hinf I, A. chinensis (Korea) and A. chinensis (China) showed a single band of 519 bp, while two fragments were observed in A. japonicus and A. indius (I) and four fragments in A. indius (II). The PCR amplicon of P. gravieri was digested by Acc I into 3 bands of 271, 202, and 46 bp and by Hinf I into a single band of 519 bp. Therefore, salted opossum shrimp-specific RFLP markers showing distinct differences between four species and two sub-species by PCR-RFLP analysis. Thus, the PCR-RFLP markers developed in this study are a good method for identifying the six types of salted opossum shrimp.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2005

Dyers woad leaf (Daqingye) is a traditional Chinese medicine commonly used as anti-pyretic, anti-bacterial and anti-viral agent against infectious diseases. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2005) records that Dyers woad leaf should be derived from the leaves of Isatis indigotica Fort., but the leaves of Polygonum tinctorium Ait., Baphicacanthus cusia (Nees) Bremek. and Clerodendron cyrtophyllum Turcz. have also been used as substitutes of Dyers woad leaf in different regions of China. The leaf morphologies of these four species show a close resemblance, and based on their morphological appearance, it is difficult to identify them. Here, molecular genetic methods were developed as a target to identify different members of Dyers woad leaf. The 5S-rRNA spacer domain was amplified by polymerase chain reaction from genomic DNAs isolated from I. indigotica, P. tinctorium, B. cusia and C. cyrtophyllum, and the nucleotide sequences showed a great diversity. In addition, random amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis was also used to distinguish the members of Dyers woad leaf. These molecular methods could be used as a tool in authentic identification of Dyers woad leaf.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.740-747
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• 2006

Amplification by universal consensus sequences in pathogenic bacterial DNA would allow rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria, and amplification of genus-specific and species-specific sequences of pathogenic bacterial DNA might be used for genotyping at the genus and species levels. For design of probes for molecular diagnostics, several tools are available as stand-alone programs or as Web application. However, since most programs can design only a few probe sets at one time, they are not suitable for large-scale and automatic probes design. Therefore, for high-throughput design of specific probes in diagnostic array development, an automated design tool is necessary. Thus, we developed a Web-based automatic system for design of genus-specific and species-specific probes for pathogen detection. The system is available at http://www.miprobe.com.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 2019

One of wild diploid Solanum species, Solanum chacoense, is one of the excellent resources for potato breeding because it is resistant to several important pathogens, but the species is not sexually compatible with potato (S. tuberosum) causing the limitation of sexual hybridization between S. tuberosum and S. chacoense. Therefore, diverse traits regarding resistance from the species can be introgressed into potato via somatic hybridization. After cell fusion, the identification of fusion products is crucial with molecular markers. In this study, S. chacoense specific markers were developed by comparing the chloroplast genome (cpDNA) sequence of S. chacoense obtained by NGS (next-generation sequencing) technology with those of five other Solanum species. A full length of the cpDNA sequence is 155,532 bp and its structure is similar to other Solanum species. Phylogenetic analysis resulted that S. chacoense is most closely located with S. commersonii. Sequence alignment with cpDNA sequences of six other Solanum species identified two InDels and 37 SNPs specific sequences in S. chacoense. Based on these InDels and SNPs regions, four markers for distingushing S. chacoense from other Solanum species were developed. These results obtained in this research could help breeders select breeding lines and facilitate breeding using S. chacoense in potato breeding.