• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.273-278
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• 2009

The purpose of this work was to investigate the antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus plantarum YK-9 isolated from fermented Kimchi. Morphological and biochemical characteristics of L. plantarum YK-9 were examined. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA sequencing was performed to identify the strain, and the strain could be assigned to Lactobacillus plantarum, designated as L. plantarum YK-9. The strain was registered in GenBank as [FJ669130]. During the incubation period of L. plantarum YK-9, the changes of bacterial growth and residual organic acids were monitored. HPLC was used to confirm the organic acids produced in the cultures as metabolites. L. plantarum YK-9 produced both lactic acid and acetic acid, which were responsible for the pH decrease during growth. Initial pH 7.0 of the cultures decreased to 3.6 at the incubation after 72 hours, and concentrations of lactic acid and acetic acid increased to approximately 588.7 mM and 255.5 mM, respectively. The antibacterial activities against food-poisoning causing bacteria were examined with 20-fold concentrated culture supernatants from L. plantarum YK-9, and the antibacterial effects were clearly observed against all the bacteria tested in this work.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.171-182
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• 2020

Purpose: The aims of this study were to examine the salivary microbiota in conditions of periodontal health and disease and to explore microbial changes following nonsurgical periodontal treatment. Methods: Non-stimulated saliva samples were collected from 4 periodontally healthy participants at baseline and from 8 patients with chronic periodontitis at baseline and 3 months following nonsurgical periodontal therapy. The V3 and V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene from the DNA of saliva samples were amplified and sequenced. The salivary microbial compositions of the healthy participants and patients with periodontitis prior to and following nonsurgical treatment of periodontitis were compared based on the relative abundance of various taxa. Results: On average, 299 operational taxonomic units were identified in each sample. The phylogenetic diversity in patients with periodontitis was higher than that in healthy participants and decreased following treatment. The abundance of the phylum Spirochaetes and the genus Treponema in patients with periodontitis was 143- and 134-fold higher than in the healthy control group, respectively, but decreased significantly following treatment. The species that were overabundant in the saliva of patients with periodontitis included the Peptostreptococcus stomatis group, Porphyromonas gingivalis, the Fusobacterium nucleatum group, Parvimonas micra, Porphyromonas endodontalis, Filifactor alocis, and Tannerella forsythia. The phylum Actinobacteria, the genus Streptococcaceae_uc, and the species Streptococcus salivarius group were more abundant in healthy participants than in those with periodontitis. There was a trend toward a decrease in disease-associated taxa and an increase in health-associated taxa following treatment. Conclusions: Our results revealed differences in the taxa of salivary microbiota between conditions of periodontal health and disease. The taxa found to be associated with health or disease have potential for use as salivary biomarkers for periodontal health or disease.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2020

Echinostoma revolutum is a zoonotic food-borne intestinal trematode that can cause intestinal bleeding, enteritis, and diarrhea in human and birds. To identify a suspected E. revolutum trematode from a red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) and to reveal the genetic characteristics of its mitochondrial (mt) genome, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and complete mt genome sequence of this trematode were amplified. The results identified the trematode as E. revolutum. Its entire mt genome sequence was 15,714 bp in length, including 12 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and one non-coding region (NCR), with 61.73% A+T base content and a significant AT preference. The length of the 22 tRNA genes ranged from 59 bp to 70 bp, and their secondary structure showed the typical cloverleaf and D-loop structure. The length of the large subunit of rRNA (rrnL) and the small subunit of rRNA (rrnS) gene was 1,011 bp and 742 bp, respectively. Phylogenetic trees showed that E. revolutum and E. miyagawai clustered together, belonging to Echinostomatidae with Hypoderaeum conoideum. This study may enrich the mitochondrial gene database of Echinostoma trematodes and provide valuable data for studying the molecular identification and phylogeny of some digenean trematodes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1366-1372
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• 2018

Objective: A disintegrin and metallopeptidase with thrombospondin motifs type 8 (ADAMTS8) is crucial for diverse physiological processes, such as inflammation, tissue morphogenesis, and tumorigenesis. The chicken ADAMTS8 (chADAMTS8) gene was differentially expressed in the kidney following exposure to different calcium concentrations, suggesting a pathological role of this protein in metabolic diseases. We aimed to examine the molecular characteristics of chADAMTS8 and analyze the gene-expression differences in response to toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) stimulation. Methods: The ADAMTS8 mRNA and amino acid sequences of various species (chicken, duck, cow, mouse, rat, human, chimpanzee, pig, and horse) were retrieved from the Ensembl database and subjected to bioinformatics analyses. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) experiments were performed with various chicken tissues and the chicken fibroblast DF-1 cell line, which was stimulated with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly[I:C]; a TLR3 ligand). Results: The chADAMTS8 gene was predicted to contain three thrombospondin type 1 (TSP1) domains, whose amino acid sequences shared homology among the different species, whereas sequences outside the TSP1 domains (especially the amino-terminal region) were very dif­ferent. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that chADAMTS8 is evolutionarily clustered in the same clade with that of the duck. chADAMTS8 mRNA was broadly expressed in chicken tissues, and the expression was significantly up-regulated in the DF-1 cells in response to poly(I:C) stimulation (p<0.05). These results showed that chADAMTS8 may be a target gene for TLR3 signaling. Conclusion: In this report, the genetic information of chADAMTS8 gene, its expression in chicken tissues, and chicken DF-1 cells under the stimulation of TLR3 were shown. The result suggests that chADAMTS8 expression may be induced by viral infection and correlated with TLR3-mediated signaling pathway. Further study of the function of chADAMTS8 during TLR3-dependent inflammation (which represents RNA viral infection) is needed and it will also be important to examine the molecular mechanisms during different regulation, depending on innate immune receptor activation.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.86-90
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• 2009

The C. militaris belongs to entomopathogenic fungi, which have their specific sequences in internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS2) depending on species. In this study, to identify the phylogenetic relationship of the strain hybrided by mating of C. militaris, we compared DNA sequences of ITS regions and 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) repeat unit of hybrid strain and its parental strains. The result revealed that hybrid strains are C. militaris species. In addition, cordycepins produced by hybrid strains and other strains of C. militaris were analyzed by HPLC with 20mM $KH_2PO_4$ of mobile phase and C-18 columns. The result indicated that the strain hybrided by mating produce higher concentration of phytochemical cordycepin than other C. militaris strains.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.160-171
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• 2017

Larvae of Bradysia agrestis, an insect vector that transports plant pathogens, were sampled from geographically isolated regions in Korea to identify their cutaneous fungal and bacterial flora. Sampled areas were chosen within the distribution range of B. agrestis; each site was more than 91 km apart to ensure geographical segregation. We isolated 76 microbial (fungi and bacteria) strains (site 1, 29; site 2, 29; site 3, 18 strains) that were identified on the basis of morphological differences. Species identification was molecularly confirmed by determination of universal fungal internal transcribed spacer and bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences in comparison to sequences in the EzTaxon database and the NCBI GenBank database, and their phylogenetic relationships were determined. The fungal isolates belonged to 2 phyla, 5 classes, and 7 genera; bacterial species belonged to 23 genera and 32 species. Microbial diversity differed significantly among the geographical groups with respect to Margalef's richness (3.9, 3.6, and 4.5), Menhinick's index (2.65, 2.46, and 3.30), Simpson's index (0.06, 0.12, and 0.01), and Shannon's index (2.50, 2.17, and 2.58). Although the microbial genera distribution or diversity values clearly varied among geographical groups, common genera were identified in all groups, including the fungal genus Cladosporium, and the bacterial genera Bacillus and Rhodococcus. According to classic principles of co-evolutionary relationship, these genera might have a closer association with their host insect vector B. agrestis than other genera identified. Some cutaneous bacterial genera (e.g., Pseudomonas) displaying weak interdependency with insect vectors may be hazardous to agricultural environments via mechanical transmission via B. agrestis. This study provides comprehensive information regarding the cutaneous microflora of B. agrestis, which can help in the control of such pests for crop management.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.161-168
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• 2006

To investigate the origin of backyeoncho (Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten), we isolated 685 bp clone using ITS primer pairs. The rDNA consists of the genes coding for the partial 54 bp 185, 162 bp 5.8S, and partial 56 bp 26S. The coding regions are interrupted by two internal transcribed spacers, 193 bp ITS1 and 220 bp ITS2. The ITS2 of backnyeoncho in length was shorter than that previously registered in Cucurbitoideae plants. The GC contents was 66.8% in ITS1, and 67.7% in ITS2. The rDNA of backnyeoncho matched to the previously reported genes and showed a high similarity with the 95% identity with Pereskiopsis porteri (L708037). In the phylogenetic analysis, the backnyeoncho rDNA was clustered with Pereskiopsis porteri (L708037).

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.54-58
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• 2006

The genetic analyses of Acanthopanax senticosus Harms from Korea, China and Russia, were made by comparing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The ITS region of A. senticosus was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the universal primers and then directly sequenced. The length of the ITS region including 162 bp 5.85 rRNA gene ranged from 608 bp (for Korean and Chinese) to 611 bp (for Russian). The G+C content of ITS region were 60.20% for Korean and Chinese plants and 60.06% for Russian plants. Sequence comparisons indicated that ITS regions of A. senticosus from Korea and China were identical, whereas the ITS sequence of A. senticosus from Russia showed 99.2% homology with the plants from Korea. Variation in sequences were attributable to 5 bp substitution such as transversion or insertion events. These results suggested that A. senticosus Harms from Korea and China were closely related in phylogenetic relationship compared to Russian. In addition, A. senticosus Harms were more similar to Kalopanax pictus than A. sessiliflorus in their ITS sequences.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.637-643
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• 2020

Background: Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) is one of the world's most valuable medicinal plants with numerous pharmacological effects. Ginseng has been cultivated from wild mountain ginseng collections for a few hundred years. However, the genetic diversity of cultivated and wild ginseng populations is not fully understood. Methods: We developed 92 polymorphic microsatellite markers based on whole-genome sequence data. We selected five markers that represent clear allele diversity for each of their corresponding loci to elucidate genetic diversity. These markers were applied to 147 individual plants, including cultivars, breeding lines, and wild populations in Korea and neighboring countries. Results: Most of the 92 markers displayed multiple-band patterns, resulting from genome duplication, which causes confusion in interpretation of their target locus. The five high-resolution markers revealed 3 to 8 alleles from each single locus. The proportion of heterozygosity (H_e) ranged from 0.027 to 0.190, with an average of 0.132, which is notably lower than that of previous studies. Polymorphism information content of the markers ranged from 0.199 to 0.701, with an average of 0.454. There was no statistically significant difference in genetic diversity between cultivated and wild ginseng groups, and they showed intermingled positioning in the phylogenetic relationship. Conclusion: Ginseng has a relatively high level of genetic diversity, and cultivated and wild groups have similar levels of genetic diversity. Collectively, our data demonstrate that current breeding populations have abundant genetic diversity for breeding of elite ginseng cultivars.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.308-314
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• 2012

Two hundred and twenty three yeast strains were randomly isolated from Korean traditional $nuruk$. Among them, six urease producing yeast strains (designated JJA, JJB, JJ22, SHA, SHC and SH10) were selected on the Christensen urea agar plates. They showed the same pattern in the PCR-RFLP analysis of the ITS I-5.8S-ITS II region digested with $Hae$III and $HinF$1 restriction endonucleases. Its DNA sequences showed 100% (strains SHA, SHC and SH10) and 99.8% (strains JJA, JJB and JJ22) identity with those of $Issatchenkia$ $orientalis$ type strain ATCC 24210. Phylogenetic analysis resulted in that all the strains were closely related to $I.$ $orientalis$. Two representative strains, JJ22 and SH10, showing the highest urease activities were selected for further characterization. Their morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics were also the same as $I.$ $orientalis$. Therefore, both the two strains were identified as $I.$ $orientalis$. They could grow at a wide range of temperature between $20-40^{\circ}C$ as well as pH between 2.0 and 10.0. However, a higher level urease activity were obtained at acidic pH than that at alkalic pH. The maximal level of urease activity was obtained at $30^{\circ}C$ (strain SH10) or $35^{\circ}C$ (strain JJ22) and in a liquid medium adjusted to the initial pH 5.0.