• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.281-289
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• 2000

Background : Mycobacterial culture is a confirmatory test to detect. M. tuberculosis, but it takes at least 6 weeks to diagnose. PCR is a rapid and sensitive method, but it is known that PCR has a high false positive rate due to contamination, and a high false negative rate due to inhibitors. It is also known that LCR and PCR-Hybridization, recently developed methods, are more specific methods than PCR in terms of detecting M. tuberculosis. In this study, we estimated the clinical utility of in house PCR, LCR and PCR-Hybridization for the detection of M. tuberculosis. Methods : We evaluated 75 specimens, upon which M. tuberculosis culture based testing was requested, by PCR LCR, and PCR-Hybridization and compared results. Mycobacterial culture was performed on 3% Ogawa media for 8 weeks, and an in house PCR, LCx Mycobacterium tuberculosis assay kit (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, III) and the AMPLICOR M. tuberculosis test kit (Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. Branchburg, NJ. USA). Results : In the view of the culture results, the sensitivities of the three tests were 40%, 80%, and 100% and their specificities were 98.6%, 94.3%, and 94.3%. Conclusion : LCR and PCR-Hybridization are rapid and sensitive methods for detecting M. tuberculosis in clinical laboratories.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.42-46
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• 1998

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern hybridization analyses were carried out to identify clones of silk worm thorn (Cudraria tricuspidata) and Rose of sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) which look like one tree with two ar three, branches or two or three different trees. For PCR five different PCR primers $(17{\sim}24\;nucleotides)$ are derived from CaMV 35S promoter, nopaline synthase terminator and coding region of thylakoid membrane protein gene. In the case of silk worm thorn, about 500 bp of PCR product was produced from DNAs of one tree or branch in the presence of 35S primer alone. Southern hybridization analysis of genomic DNAs hybridized with $^{32}P$ labeled PCR product showed that the same size of DNA fragments were hybridized with different intensities. In addition, PCR analyses using 20 different primers of OPERON 10-mer kits showed that only OPA01 primer produced PCR products of different size. These results indicate that two different trees of silk worm thorn combined to one tree. In the case of the Rose of Sharon, the same size of PCR products were produced from three different samples but Southern hybridization with the above PCR product as a probe did not show any hybridized bands. PCR analyses in the presence of OPERON 10-mers showed OPA04 and OPA13 produced different products including same sizes of products. These, results indicate that three different trees of the Rose of Sharon seem to be derived from the tree.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.168-176
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• 2005

Vibrio vulnificus, one of the marine bacterial pathogens causing septicemia, was detected using molecular methods, namely, PCR and/or Southern hybridization, and real-time PCR. Extracted and purified total DNAs by using commercial kits were used as templates for PCR. Multiplex-PCR was conducted by employing three sets of primers for the genes, hemolysin (vvhA), phosphomannomutase (pmm), and metalloprotease (vvpE), for V vulnificus virulence. The presence of DMSO ($5\%$) and BSA ($0.1\%$) in PCR reaction mixture improved a detection efficiency by higher PCR band intensities. TaqMan real-time PCR was carried out by using gene segment of vvhA as a target. Detection limit of PCR/Southern hybridization without enrichments was to be around $10^2\;cells\;g^{-1}$ of sample. However, those three methods using the enrichment at $35^{\circ}C$ in APW showed high sensitivity ($2\~10\;cells\;g^{-1}$ of sediments). Highly sensitive detection of V vulnificus by real-time PCR was achieved within $5\~6$ hr, whereas the detection by PCR/Southern hybridization required about 36 hr. Thus, it was evident that real-time PCR is the most rapid and efficient method for detecting V vulnificus in tidal flat sediments.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.99-103
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• 2004

The aim of the present study was to develop a sensitive and specific assay for the diagnosis of alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) which is a cause agent of malignant catarrhal fever in ruminants. A1HV-1 is a gamma herpesvirus, which is frequent latent, and it is often difficult to detect its antigens or specific nucleic acids because of its low genomic copies in the infected tissues. In this study, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-dot blot hybridization (DBH) assay for detecting AlHV-1 DNA was developed and evaluated for its sensitivity and specificity as comparison with PCR and DBH alone. The developed PCR-DBH was more sensitive than PCR or DBH alone and also very specific. The results showed that the sensitivity of PCR-DBH were higher and stronger than those of PCR and DBH alone. This PCR-DBH assay can be applied efficiently to confirm the presence of AlHV-1 virus on clinical samples and to differentiate specifically between AlHV-1 infection and other viral infections.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Pathology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2002

A1celaphine herpesvirus 1 (AHV-1) is a causative agent of malignant catarrhal fever which is a fatal and a lymphoproliferative syndrome. AHV-1 is a gamma herpesvirus, which induces frequent latent infection and often difficult to detect its antigens or specific nucleic acids because of its low viral copies in the infected tissues. A new method, in situ PCR, is developed for the detection of AHV-1 nucleic acid in this study. Target sequences of AHV-1 open reading frame 50 gene were detected within AHV-1 infected MDBK cells. As compare with other molecular biological methods for the detection of AHV-1, in situ PCR was found to be more sensitive than in situ hybridization and to be less sensitive than nested PCR. However, nested PCR cannot afford to observe and differentiate AHV-1 infected cells. In situ PCR amplifies a target sequence within cells that can be visualized microscopically with increased sensitivity compared to detection by in situ hybridization. In situ PCR has wide applications for sensitive localization of low copy AHV-1 viral sequences within cells to investigate the role of viruses in a variety of clinical conditions and also provide the rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of AHV-1 infection.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.171-175
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• 1994

To find new crystal protein genes, we screened 42 Bacillus thuringiensis strains of serovar standards by Southern hybridization with a cryI-specific probe which was amplified from B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki HDl by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Two strains, B. thuringiensis subsp. entomocidus HD9 and subsp. subtoxicus HD109, generated weak signals under the low-stringency hybridization conditions. Further analysis with Southern hybridization revealed that the two strains contained cryIB genes which are slightly different from those of B. thuringiensis subsp. thuringiensis HD2. These results were confirmed by PCR with cryIB-specific primers followed by the restriction analysis of PCR products.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.29-33
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• 2014

This study aimed at finding a fast, sensitive, and efficient protocol for molecular identification of intracellular protozoa Toxoplasma (T.) gondii. For molecular detection of T. gondii, we developed a polymerase chain reaction coupled with dot blot hybridization assay (PCR/DBH). For DBH analysis, the amplified DNA of T. gondii tachyzoite was labeled by incorporation of digoxigenin. The DBH assay alone was capable of detecting down to $1{\times}10^4$ pg of T. gondii genomic DNA. The PCR alone was capable of detecting down to $1{\times}10^3$ pg of T. gondii genomic DNA, whereas the PCR/DBH assay was capable of detecting down to $1{\times}10^2$ pg of T. gondii genomic DNA, indicating that sensitivity of the PCR/DBH method was approximately 10 to 100 times higher than PCR or DBH alone. Our PCR/DBH assay will be useful for confirming the presence of T. gondii on the samples and differentiating T. gondii infection from other intracellular protozoa infections.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.470-474
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• 2003

DNA sequence information on small-subunit rRNA gene (16S rDNA) obtained from food-poisoning bacterial culture was used to investigate the presence of bacterial pathogens in food. By reverse dot blot detection method, presence of food-poisoning bacteria could be confirmed on hybridization of digoxigenin-labeled 16S rDNA Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) primer product and biotin-labeled specific oligonucleotide probe. Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus. and Salmonella sp. were used as the representative food-poisoning bacterial microorganisms. An oligonucleotide probe, based on the variable region of 16S rRNA gene, was used as the specific probe. These tools may be more useful than classic biochemical method for rapid identification of contaminated food.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1463-1470
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• 2010

E. coli has long been widely used as a host system for the manufacture of recombinant proteins intended for human therapeutic use. When considering the impurities to be eliminated during the downstream process, residual host cell DNA is a major safety concern. The presence of residual E. coli host cell DNA in the final products is typically determined using a conventional slot blot hybridization assay or total DNA Threshold assay. However, both the former and latter methods are time consuming, expensive, and relatively insensitive. This study thus attempted to develop a more sensitive real-time PCR assay for the specific detection of residual E. coli DNA. This novel method was then compared with the slot blot hybridization assay and total DNA Threshold assay in order to determine its effectiveness and overall capabilities. The novel approach involved the selection of a specific primer pair for amplification of the E. coli 16S rRNA gene in an effort to improve sensitivity, whereas the E. coli host cell DNA quantification took place through the use of SYBR Green I. The detection limit of the real-time PCR assay, under these optimized conditions, was calculated to be 0.042 pg genomic DNA, which was much higher than those of both the slot blot hybridization assay and total DNA Threshold assay, where the detection limits were 2.42 and 3.73 pg genomic DNA, respectively. Hence, the real-time PCR assay can be said to be more reproducible, more accurate, and more precise than either the slot blot hybridization assay or total DNA Threshold assay. The real-time PCR assay may thus be a promising new tool for the quantitative detection and clearance validation of residual E. coli host cell DNA during the manufacturingprocess for recombinant therapeutics.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.3517-3522
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• 2011

Contamination of public bath water by waterborne pathogens can cause disease outbreaks and contribute to background rates of disease. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of waterborne pathogens in public baths. A total of 30 water samples were collected from 30 different public baths in seoul, Korea. Pathogens in water samples were concentrated by 0.45 ${\mu}m$ nitrocellulose membrane filter, analyzed by both cultivation and polymerase chain reaction-reverse blot hybridization (PCR-REBA) of partial 16S rRNA gene. Various microorganisms including Escherichia coli and Shigella spp. were identified by microbiological cultivation. E. coli, Shigella spp., Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Mycobacterium spp. were identified by PCR-REBA. Our results suggest that appropriate hygiene practice and continuous monitoring is needed for reducing health risk associated with public bath houses.