• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.438-445
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• 2004

A radiotracer study was conducted to evaluate the influence of body size and temperature on the uptake rates of Cd, Se and Zn in the California mussel, Mytilus californianus. Uptake rates of Cd, Se and Zn were determined simultaneously with clearance of the mussels with 3 different size classes (0.07, 0.24 and 0.73 g flesh dry weight $individual^{-1})$ and at 4 different temperatures (3, 8, 13 and $21^\circ{C})$. The weight-specific uptake rates of 3 elements significantly decreased with body size, but increased with temperature. Simultaneously measured clearance rates of mussels were closely associated with metal uptake rates. The significant association of clearance rates and metal uptake rates of mussels emphasizes the importance of functional role of water pumping activity in the metal uptake process in filter-feeding organisms.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1259-1268
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• 2016

In this study, we investigated antimicrobial peptide from the acidified muscle extract of Mytilus coruscus, which mostly inhabits China, Japan, and Korea, to develop a natural product-derived antibiotics substitution in terms of its abuse and restriction. Antimicrobial peptide was purified by $C_{18}$ reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and was detected as having a molecular mass of 6,701 Da by MALDI-TOF/MS. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified peak was obtained from edman degradation, and 20 identified residues shown 100% identity with the N-terminus region of sperm-specific protein and protamine-like PL-II/PL-IV precursor of Mytilus californianus. We also identified 60 open-reading frame (ORF) encoding amino acids with 183 bp of purified peptide based on the obtained amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence of ORF showed 100% and the nucleotide sequence revealed 97.2% identity with the protamine-like PL-II/PL-IV precursor of Mytilus californianus. Synthesized antimicrobial peptide showed antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria, including Bacillus cereus (minimal effective concentration [MEC], $20.8{\mu}g/ml$), Bacillus subtilis (MEC, $0.2{\mu}g/ml$), Streptococcus mutans (MEC, $0.2{\mu}g/ml$), gram-negative bacteria including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MEC, $5.7{\mu}g/ml$), Escherichia coli (MEC, $2.6{\mu}g/ml$) and fungi, Candida albicans (MEC, $56.3{\mu}g/ml$). In addition, synthesized peptide showed stable activities under heat and salt conditions against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, but was inhibited by salt against only C. albicans. With these results, isolated peptide from M. coruscus could be an alternative agent to antibiotics for defending against pathogenic microorganisms, and helpful information to understand the innate immune system of marine invertebrates.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1276-1289
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• 2017

This study isolated and purified the antimicrobial peptide McSSP-31 from an acidified hemocyte extract of a Mytilus coruscus. The antimicrobial peptide was purified by using a $C_{18}$ reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The peptide was determined to be 3330.549 Da by matrix assisted-laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrophotometer (MALDI-TOF/MS). The N-terminus of a 14 amino-acid sequence was identified as P-S-P-T-R-R-S-T-S-R-S-K-S-R by Edman degradation method. The acquired sequence showed a 93% similarity with the sperm-specific protein Phi-1, which is from M. californianus. The identified open-reading frame (ORF) of peptide was 306 bp encoding 101 amino acids, which was analyzed by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), cloning and sequencing analysis. We compared the full sequence with other known proteins that reveal the sperm-specific protein Phi-1 (93.5%) of M. californianus. Synthesized antimicrobial peptide (McSSP-31) showed antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria including B. subtilis, S. mutans, S. aureus and gram-negative bacteria including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, P. aeruginosa and fungi, C. albicans. Also, synthesized peptide showed strong antibacterial activity against antibiotic-resistant strains, including S. aureus. The cytotoxicity of the peptide was determined by using the HUVEC human cell line. The peptide did not exhibit any significant cytotoxic effects on the normal human cell line, and it had very low hemolytic activity with flounder hemoglobin. The results demonstrated that peptide purified from the hemocyte of a M. coruscus exhibits antibacterial activity against various bacteria and has the potential to be an alternative antibiotic agent.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.317-326
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• 2010

The availability of fast and inexpensive sequencing technology has enabled researchers around the world to conduct many genome sequencing and expressed sequence tag (EST) projects of diverse organisms. In recent years, whole genome projects have been undertaken to sequence ten species from the phylum Mollusca. These include Aplysia californica, Lottia gigantea, Crassostrea virginica, Spisula solidissima, Mytilus californianus, Biomphalaria glabrata, Crepidula fornicata, Elysia chlorotica, Lottia scutum and Radix balthica. Additionally, complete mitochondrial genomes of 91 mollusks have been reported. In Korea, EST projects have been conducted in nine mollusk species that include Nesiohelix samarangae, Pisidium (Neopisidium) coreanum, Physa acuta, Incilaria fruhstorferi, Meretrix lusoria, Ruditapes philippinarum, Nordotis gigantea, Crassostrea gigas and Laternula elliptica. Finally, the mitochondrial genome projects from the Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and the rock shell (Thais clavigera) have been conducted and reported. However, no systemic mollusk genome project has so far been conducted in Korea. In this report, the current status and research trends in mollusk genome study in Korea will be discussed.