• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.80-86
• /
• 2004

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing was applied to the epidemiological investigation of 21 Candida tropicalis isolates collected from urine specimens of 11 patients and one healthcare worker, in an intensive care unit (ICU) over a 4-month period. Seventeen epidemiologically unrelated strains from 14 patients were also tested to determine the discriminatory power of PFGE. PFGE typing consisted of electrophoretic karyotyping (EK) and restriction endonuclease analysis of genomic DNA (REAG), using two restriction enzymes (BssHII and SfiI). The EK pattern was the same in all 38 isolates, while REAG using SfiI separated the isolates into nine types. However, 16 different PFGE types were iden-tified by REAG with BssHII, and the same results were obtained when the results of both REAG tests were combined. In serial urinary isolates from 10 patients, all strains from each patient had the same PFGE pattern. While the epidemiologically unrelated strains from 14 patients consisted of 13 different PFGE types, the 20 isolates from the 11 ICU patients fell into only two PFGE types (types Cl and C2), and these apparently originated from the two different outbreaks. All strains of type Cl (n = 12) were isolated from six patients, between November 1999 and January 2000, and all of the type C2 strains (n=8) were isolated from five patients, during January and February 2000. This study shows two con-secutive clusters of C. tropicalis candiduria in an ICU, defined by PFGE typing, and also demonstrates that a PFGE typing method using BssHII is perhaps the most useful method for investigating C. tropi-calis candiduria.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.208-214
• /
• 1995

The effects of various 2, 4-D-degradative plasmids on the axenic growth patterns, the degradation phenotypes, and the competitiveness of different host bacteria were evaluated in liquid cultures; the organisms and plasmids used were Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134/pJP4, Alcaligenes paradoxus/p2811, Pseudomonas pickettii/p712, pJP4, and p712 or p 2811 exhibited very different restriction fragment profiles in restriction endonuclease digests. These plasmids were transferred to the recipients (P. cepacia and Alcaligenes JMP228) at relatively high frequencies ranging from 8.9 $\times$ 10$^3$ to 1.6 $\times$ 10$^5$ per donar cell. In the axenic liquid cultures the fast-growing strains, such as P. pseudomallei/p745 and P. cepacia/pJP4, exhibited short lag periods, high specific growth rates, and high relative fitness coefficients, while the slow-growing strains, such as P. pickettii/p712 and A. paradoxus/p2811, had long lag periods, low specific growth rates, and low relative fitness coefficients. Depending on the type of plasmid containing the genes for the 2, 4-D pathway, some transconjugants exhibited intermediate grwoth patterns between the fast-growing strains and the slow-growing strains. The plasmid and plasmid-host interactions determined specific growth rate and lag time, respectively, which were shown to be principal determinants of competitiveness among the strains, but relative fitness coefficient derived from the axenic culture was not always predictive for the mixed culture condition.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.445-452
• /
• 1999

Eight strains of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella typhi were isolated from Kyonggi area during January-February, 1997. They were resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin, carbenicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim. Eight strains had one plasmid respectively which size was approximately M.W 220 kb and showed same restriction pattern by endonuclease HindIII. The plasmid was similar to the plasmid in size that was related to multidrug resistant S. typhi isolated from southeast Asia. It were transferred by conjugation to recipient E. coli K-12 in frequency of $2.43{\times}10^4-1.73{\times}10^{-2}$ and transconjugant showed same drug-resistant pattern with donor cells. All of 8 strains produced ${\beta}$-lactamase that was assummed to TEM-l type by isoelectric focusing and PCR.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.73-81
• /
• 1988

$\alpha$-Amylase (EC.3.2.1.1) of Neurospora crassa (ATCC9279) was cloned in E. coli HB101 using shotgun method, and the enzymes isolated from both N. crassa and E. coli were compared. Chromosomal DNA isolated from the spores of N. crassa was partially digested with PstI restriction endonuclease and rejoined to pBR322 which had been digested with the same enzyme. The resulting recombinant DNA were introduced into E. coli HB101 which had competancy by treating with $CaCl_{2}$. As the result, about 8000 colonies which showed tetracycline resistance were selected and two of the colonies which had 13.5Kb recombinant plasmid exhibit starch degrading activity on starch-containing plate when treated with D-cycloserine. $\alpha$-Amylases from both N.crassa and E. coli were isolated by using ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose ion exchange column chromatography and Bio-Gel P150 gel foltration column. As the result, about 81.3 fold and 5.6 fold purifications in specific activities were obtained respectively, and specific activities of the gel filtrates were 6.1u/mg and 85u/mg respectively. The properties of both enzymes were compared and they showed quite the similar patterns in optimal temperature, optimal pH and had same molecular weight about 100,000 daltons on gel filtration method. Optimal temperatures for both enzymes were $70^{\circ}C$ and optimal pH were about 6 and 10.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.115-121
• /
• 1999

MIC test of 16 chemotherapeutic agents was performed on 24 isolates of Edwardsiella tarda collected from flounders. They revealed resistance against combinations of ampicillin, amoxicillin, erythromycin, flumequine, doxycycline(DOXY), nalidixic acid, novobiocin, oxolinic acid, oxytetracycline(OTC), thiamphenicol(TP) and sulfonamide. Two strains carried transferable R plasmid encoding Otc Kanamycin Tp and Otc chloramphenicol Doxy Tetracycline Tp, respectively. The R plasmids were not similar each other on the basis of their digestion pattern of restriction endonuclease, suggesting distribution of different transferable R plasmid among E. tarda from flounders.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.116-125
• /
• 1987

It is still difficult and time consuming to obtain cDNA sequences that contain the entire nucleotide sequence of the corresponding mRNA. A rapid and high efficient cloning method to obtain full-length cDNA segments is thus developed. The cloning procedure described here consists of the construction of oligo(dT)-tailed vector primer using pWR34 plasmid, polyadenylation of mRNA-cDNA heteroduplex using terminal deoxytransferase, and replacement of MRNA strand with DNA by RNase H and DNA polymerase I. The restriction endonuclease analysis shows that the size of inserted-cDNA is in the range of 1.5~4.0 kb long suggesting that most of cloned cDNA are full-length or nearly full-length cDNA. The plasmid-DNA recombinants obtained were 4$\times$$10^5$~$10^{6}$ per $\mu\textrm{g}$ of rat liver poly (A$^+$)mRNA, which is 4 to 10 fold higher cloning efficiency in comparison to the presently used methods for full-length cDNA cloning. The results indicate that the described cloning system is much simpler, less time consuming, and very efficient cloning method to construct a cDNA library.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.243-247
• /
• 2002

Prolonged exercise is known to increase steady-state serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) and apolipoprotein AI(apo AI) concentrations. We investigated the effect of adaptation to endurance exercise on the association of the genetic polymorphism in the apo AI gene with these biochemical parameters. 108 male subjects were randomly selected from a group of elite athletes, and 65 male samples used as sedentary control group from Korean general population. The genetic polymorphism in the apo AI gene locus was detected by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and DNA digestion with Msp I restriction endonuclease. The genotype frequency for the Msp I RFLP was significantly different between the elite athletes and sedentary controls(P<0.05). There were, however, no significant associations between the Msp I RFLP of the apo AI gene and the biochemical parameters in elite athletic group. Therefore, our findings indicate that the Msp I RFLP of the apo AI gene was not associated with the serum apo AI and HDL-cholesterol concentrations in Korean male elite athletes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.10 no.5
• /
• pp.663-669
• /
• 2000

The fur (ferric uptake regulation) expression vector pMON2064 was modified to produce a Fur-fusion expression vector. A kinker site, factor Xa cleavage site, and several restriction endonuclease sites were introduced to facilitate easy cloning and isolating of the fusion protein. The resulting fusion expression vector, pMONSTER, was then used to make fusion expression vector, pMONSTER, was then used to make fusion proteins with $\beta$-galactosidase and the protease of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1 PR). Strain SW4020 harboring the Fur $\beta$-galactosidase fusion vector produced blue colonies on a 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-$\beta$-D-galactoside plate and the resulting 133 kDa fusion protein reacted with an anti-Fur antibody. The strain harboring the Fur-HIV-1 PR fusion vector produced a 29 kDa fusion protein, which also reacted with an anti-Fur antibody. The Fur-HIV-1 PR fusion protein was purified by a single column application that was designed to isolate the Fur protein. The purified Fur-HIV-1 PR fusion protein digested with factor Xa cleaved a recombinant Gag protein to release smaller fragments, including a p24 capsid protein. The Fur-HIV-1 PR fusion protein itself did not exhibit any proteolytic activity.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.550-555
• /
• 1995

A strain of Pseudomonas sp. isolated from soil was shown to produce a high level of extracellular endo-inulinase. In this work, the endo-inulinase gene (inu1) of the bacterial strain was cloned into the plasmid pBR322 by using EcoRI restriction endonuclease and E. coli HB101 as a host strain. One out of 7, 000 transformants obtained from the above cloning experiment formed a clear zone around its colony on the selective medium supplemented with 2.0% inulin after a prolonged incubation at 37$\circ$C and subsequent cold shock treatment. The functional clone was found to carry a recombinant plasmid (pKMG50) with a 3.7 kb genomic insert containing the genetic information for the inulinase activity. The inulinase from E. coli HB101/pKMG50 was proved to be an endo-acting enzyme and produced constitutively in the recombinant E. coli cells. Zymogram of the enzyme from the recombinant cells with inulin substrate indicated that the molecular mass of the active protein was 190 Kd, while that of the endo-inulinase from the Pseudomonas strain was 170 Kd. This size discrepancy suggested that the inulinase from the recombinant E. coli HB101 cells might be the initial product of translation, not the mature form produced in the strain of Pseudomonas sp..

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 1994

The homology among the genes coding for degradation of bipheny(BP) and 4-chlorobiphenyl(4CB) was comparatively analyzed by Southern hybridization in several BP/4CB degrading bacterial strains. As the hybridization results of their genomic DNAs with pcbABCD as the DNA probe, the group of Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12. P08 and P27 strain was separated by the group of P20 and P1242 strains. The P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707 showed the hybidization signal which was homologous to the group of DJ-12, but they had different restriction endonuclease sites. The pcbAB genes in pCUl recombinant plasmid from Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 appeared to be homologous to pchAB genes in pKTF20 cloned from P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707, but the C genes in both strains were not homologous. The bphABC in pKTF20 showed the signals homologous to the cbp ACB in pAW6194 cloned from P. putida OU83, but homologous signal was not found botween the pcbABCD genes in pCUl and the cbpADCB genes in pAW6194 recombbinant plasmid.