• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.375.1-375.1
• /
• 2016

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has revolutionized genetics and become one of the most popular techniques in modern biological and medical sciences. It can be used not only as an in vitro DNA amplification method but also used in many bioassay applications. The PCR can be used to exponentially produce a large number of DNA copies from a small quantity of DNA molecules in a few hours. However, as unwanted DNA fragments are also often manufactured, the amplification efficiency of PCR is decreased. To overcome this limitation, several nanomaterials have been employed to increase the specificity of the PCR reaction. Recently, graphene has attracted a great interest for its excellent electron transfer, thermal and biocompatibility. Especially, gold nanoparticle-coated graphene oxide (GO/AuNPs) led to enhance electron and thermal transfer rate and low-charge transfer resistance. Therefore, we report the development of a demonstration for the PCR efficiency using a large-scale production of the GO and combination of gold nanoparticles. Because a thermal conductivity is an important factor for improving the PCR efficiency in different DNA polymerases and different size samples. When PCR use GO/AuNPs, the result of transmission electron microscopy and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) showed an enhanced PCR efficiency. We have demonstrated that GO/AuNPs would be simply outperformed for enhancing the specificity and efficiency of DNA amplification procedure.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.377-381
• /
• 2014

Microscopy is considered as the gold standard for malaria diagnosis although its wide application is limited by the requirement of highly experienced microscopists. PCR and serological tests provide efficient diagnostic performance and have been applied for malaria diagnosis and research. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of nested PCR and a recently developed an ELISA-based new rapid diagnosis test (RDT), NovaLisa test kit, for diagnosis of malaria infection, using microscopic method as the gold standard. The performance of nested-PCR as a malaria diagnostic tool is excellent with respect to its high accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and ability to discriminate Plasmodium species. The sensitivity and specificity of nested-PCR compared with the microscopic method for detection of Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, and P. falciparum/P. vivax mixed infection were 71.4 vs 100%, 100 vs 98.7%, and 100 vs 95.0%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA-based NovaLisa test kit compared with the microscopic method for detection of Plasmodium genus were 89.0 vs 91.6%, respectively. NovaLisa test kit provided comparable diagnostic performance. Its relatively low cost, simplicity, and rapidity enables large scale field application.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.41-46
• /
• 2020

PCR PET flake's market endeavors difficult situations of its oversupply and decreasing demands in South Korea. Since China banned the import of most recycled plastics, flake producers who mostly export the flakes lost their biggest market. The producers struggled to survive in the competitions with PCR PET flake from EU and 3^rd countries but it was challenging due to substandard quality and increasing cost. Attempts to improve the quality of PCR PET flake have been made but they were only an individual company's efforts. The objective of this study was to understand the market status on PCR PET flake in South Korea and to present suggestions for improving its quality. The results of the questionnaires targeted to flake producers showed that no testing methods on PCR PET flake were standardized and there were critical factors to the quality such as moisture content, contaminants, and viscosity. Case studies of US, Japan and other countries had been done especially about testing methods and 76 samples from 21 companies were tested according to those methods. Based on the results, the final factors were decided as contaminants, moisture content, alkalinity index and intrinsic viscosity. There is a plan to standardize testing methods and they could be guidelines to improve the business competitiveness of PCR PET flake in South Korea.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.139-146
• /
• 2014

Accurate and rapid diagnosis of dermatophytosis, a disease whose prevalence has been steadily increased, is important for successful treatment. Current laboratory methods for diagnosing dermatophytosis rely on KOH mount and fungal culture method. However, these methods have low sensitivity and are time-consuming (2~4 weeks to diagnosis). In our previous study, a rapid molecular diagnostic assay (PCR-reverse blot hybridization assay, REBA) was developed to identify the following 6 main species of dermatophytes: Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. tonsurans, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum, and Epidermophyton floccosum. However, the REBA required more evaluation to validate its use in clinical examinations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and validate the ability of the PCR-REBA to successfully identify dermatophytes in clinical isolates from dermatophytosis patients. Both conventional identification methods and the PCR-REBA were used to assess the presence of species of dermatophytes in 148 clinical isolates. The results of the two approaches were compared, and discrepancies between the two approaches were resolved by fungal ITS1 sequence analysis. T. rubrum was the most prevalent dermatophyte identified by conventional identification methods (118/148, 79.7%) and the PCR-REBA (131/148, 88.4%). The overall rate of consistency between conventional identification methods and the PCR-REBA was 79.0% (117/148 samples). Fungal ITS1 sequence analysis showed that PCR-REBA results were correct for 93.5% (29/31) of the discrepant samples. The PCR-REBA is rapid, sensitive, and highly specific compared with conventional identification methods. Thus, the PCR-REBA is a potentially useful tool for identifying dermatophytes in clinical settings.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 1998

The present study was performed to analyze the gene expressions of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide(PACAP) and its receptor in the rat uterus, a candidate for novel extrahypothalamic source and target. The PACAP cDNA fragments corresponding to the common exon region which is found in both the rat hypothalamus and testis were produced from all tissue samples including the rat uterus by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). No PCR product was amplified from the rat hypothalamic, pituitary, ovarian and uterine samples when the 5' primer corresponding to the testis-specific exon 1 region was used, while the predicted size of product was detected from the testis sample. RT-PCR using the uterine RNA and specific primers for the PACAP receptor yielded products with predicted sizes. Transcripts for the rat uterine PACAP receptor were identified as type I isoforms with hip-hop and hip- or hop-type inserts. After pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (15 IU) treatment of immature rats (day 25), the level of PACAP mRNA was increased in 24 h and 48 h group, and was declined to the lowest in 72 h group. The present study shows the presence of transcripts for PACAP and its receptor isoform in the rat uterus. These finding ssuggest that the uterine PACAP ight act as a novel autocrine and/or paracrine factor via its specific receptors on the reglulation of rat uterine function and physiology during the reproductive cycle.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.228-235
• /
• 1999

Genetic diversity of ninety-five Korean isolates of Phytophthora was investigated on the basis of PCR-RFLP of ribosomal DNA. The isolates were previously identified as following fifteen species by mycological and cultural characteristics; P. boehmeriae, P. cactorum, P. cambivora, P. capsici, P. cinnamoni, P. citricola, P. citrophthora, P. cryptogea, P. drechsleri, P. erythroseptica, P. infestans, P. megasperma, P. nicotianae, P. palmivora and P. sojae. The regions of small subunit (SSU) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA were amplified with primer pair, NS1 and ITS4, by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and digested with nine restriction enzymes. P. boehmeriae, P. cactorum, P. cambivora, P. capsici, P. cinnamomi, P. citricola, P. citrphthora, P. infestans, P. nicotianae and P. palmivora showed specific band patterns for each species. However, P. sojae and P. erythroseptica presented identical band patterns and P. cryptogea, P. drechsleri and P. megasperma were divided into six groups, which were not compatible with delineation of the species. A group originated from cucurbits showed distinct band patterns from other groups, but the other five groups were closely related within 96.0% similarity, forming one complex group. Consequently, Korean isolates of Phytophthora were divided into thirteen genetic groups and each group was readily differentiated by comparing digestion patterns of AvaII, HaeIII, MboI, HhaI and MspI. Therefore, PCR-RFLP of rDNA using the five enzymes can be used to differentiate or identify the Phytophthora species reported in Korea so far.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.238-244
• /
• 2007

Nowadays many people are concerned about being healthy, and many dairy products are taken as health supplementary foods. Among dairy products, kefir, also called as Tibet mushroom, is a yogurt fermented by kefir grain, which is a mixture of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Although there are many empirical evidences that kefir is very influential for human body, the exact reason is not definitively discovered. Therefore, it would be useful to understand characteristics of a kefir grain and to categorize bacteria in a kefir grain. In this paper, molecular biological apparatus such as PCR, electrophoresis, PCR purification, DNA sequencing were used to identify and classify the species of lactic acid bacteria and yeast in a kefir grain. We used PCR-based identification method using 16S rRNA primer and Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) primer. We identified 6 different species which were selected on different medium. In addition, observation with scanning electron microscope (SEM) enabled us to grasp an external shape of the kefir grain. Although we found a limited number of microbial species, more intensive research are needed for extensive identification of microorganism species in Korean kefir grain.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.95-98
• /
• 2017

Fasciola hepatica is a trematode that causes zoonosis, mainly in cattle and sheep, and occasionally in humans. Few recent studies have determined the infection status of this fluke in Korea. In August 2015, we collected 402 samples of freshwater snails at Hoenggye-ri (upper stream) and Suha-ri (lower stream) of Song-cheon (stream) in Daegwalnyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun in Gangwon-do (Province) near many large cattle or sheep farms. F. hepatica infection was determined using PCR on the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2). Among the 402 samples, F. hepatica 1TS-2 marker was detected in 6 freshwater snails; thus, the overall prevalence in freshwater snails was 1.5%. The prevalence varied between collection areas, ranging from 0.0% at Hoenggye-ri to 2.9% at Suha-ri. However, F. gigantica ITS-2 was not detected in the 6 F. hepatica-positive samples by PCR. The nucleotide sequences of the 6 F. hepatica ITS-2 PCR-positive samples were 99.4% identical to the F. hepatica ITS-2 sequences in GenBank, whereas they were 98.4% similar to F. gigantica ITS-2 sequences. These results indicated that the prevalence of F. hepatica in snail intermediate hosts was 1.5% in Gangwon-do, Korea; however the prevalence varied between collection areas. These results may help us to understand F. hepatica infection status in natural environments.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.313-323
• /
• 2020

To investigate the morphological characteristics and genetic relationships among isolate of the artificially cultivated mushroom Hypsizygus marmoreus, 111 isolates were collected from Korea and other countries. Random amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) and ITS rDNA sequencing were used to confirm the genetic relationships among the collected H. marmoreus isolates. As a result of RAPD analysis using universal rice primer (URP)-PCR, all isolates of H. marmoreus clustered into three groups, which showed high sequence similarity (>90%). In addition, isolates with morphological and geographical differences formed independent clusters. However, it was impossible to distinguish between brown and white strains. Sixteen strains showing morphological and geographic differences were selected, and their ITS region sequences (640 bp) were aligned and compared. The ITS region sequences belonging to these isolates showed 94.8-99.1% similarities to those of publicly available H. marmoreus strains in GenBank. In conclusion, there were differences among isolates in terms of morphology and the area from which they were collected, but all the isolates used in the experiment were classified as H. marmoreus.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.162-170
• /
• 2006

Oysters are known to be carriers of food-born diseases, but research on viruses in Korean oysters is scarce despite its importance for public health. We therefore tested oysters cultivated in Goheung, Seosan, Chungmu, and Tongyeong, for viral contamination using cell culture and integrated cell culture PCR (ICC-PCR) with Buffalo green monkey kidney (BGMK) and human lung epithelial (A549) cells. Additional screens via PCR, amplifying viral nucleic acids extracted from oysters supplemented our analysis. Our methods found 23.6 %, 50.9 %, and 89.1 % of all oysters to be positive for adenoviruses when cell culture, ICC-PCR, and direct PCR, respectively, was used to conduct the screen. The same methodology identified enteroviruses in 5.45%, 30.9%, and 10.9% of all cases. Most of the detected enteroviruses (81.3%) were similar to poliovirus type 1; the remainder resembled coxsackievirus type A1. A homology search with the adenoviral sequences revealed similarities to adenovirus subgenera C (type 2, 5, and 6), D (type 44), and F (enteric type 40 and 41). Adenovirus-positive samples were more abundant in A549 cells (47.3%) than in BGMK cells (18.2 %), while the reverse was true for enteroviruses (21.8 % vs. 14.5 %). Our data demonstrate that Korean oysters are heavily contaminated with enteric viruses, which is readily detectable via ICC-PCR using a combination of A549 and BGMK cells.