• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.1119-1125
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• 2018

Melanocortin 4 receptor: (MC4R) and Myostatin (MSTN) are two important growth trait-related genes in animals. In this study, we showed that two SNPs, MC4R-719A>G and MSTN-519C>T, found in the promoters of the MC4R and MSTN genes, respectively, are both associated with growth traits in Spinibarbus hollandi. Furthermore, we observed that there were significant associations between the expression levels of the MC4R and MSTN genes and these two growth trait-related SNPs. The expression level of MC4R gene in brain was lower in GG genotype fish with extremely high growth performance than that in AA genotype fish with extremely low growth performance. Expression level of the MSTN gene in muscle was lower in TT genotype fish with extremely high growth performance than that in CC and CT genotype fish with lower growth performance. The results indicated that these SNPs located in the promoters of MC4R and MSTN are associated with growth-related traits through modification of gene expression levels. The MSTN and MC4R SNPs may have useful application in effective marker-assisted selection aimed to increase output in S. hollandi.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.58-62
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• 2019

Objective: The oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor 1 (OLR1) gene plays an important role in the degradation of oxidized low-density lipoprotein and adipocyte proliferation in mammals. For this reason, we aimed at investigating the association of OLR1 gene polymorphisms with carcass quality traits in Chinese Qinchuan cattle. Methods: The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was identified in the 3' untranslated region of bovine OLR1 gene by DNA sequencing. In addition, the haplotype frequency and linkage disequilibrium estimates of three SNPs were evaluated in 520 individuals. Results: Results indicated that the studied three SNPs were within the range of moderate genetic diversity (0.25< polymorphism information content<0.5). Haplotype analysis of three SNPs showed that ten different haplotypes were identified, but only five haplotypes were listed as those with a frequency of <0.05 were excluded. The Hap3 ($-G_1T_2C_3-$) had the highest haplotype frequency (42.10%). Linkage disequilibrium analysis showed that the three SNPs had a low linkage ($r^2<0.001$). The T10588C and C10647T were significantly associated with backfat thickness and intramuscular fat content in Qinchuan cattle. Conclusion: Based on our results, we believe that the OLR1 gene could be a strong candidate gene for influencing carcass quality traits in Qinchuan cattle.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2022

This study was conducted to analyze the genetic polymorphisms of dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) in horse breeds and its association with substrate characteristics in Jeju crossbreds (Jeju Horse × Thoroughbred). Polymorphisms in DRD4 are candidate genes associated with temperament in various mammals, including humans. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) G292A in the exon 3 region of the horse DRD4 has a reported association with curiosity and vigilance in thoroughbreds. Sanger sequencing was used to identify polymorphisms of the mutations in DRD4 in three horse breeds. The SNP frequency in Jeju horses was significantly different from the frequency in other breeds. Character evaluation, conducted in the Jeju crossbreds and scored using a temperament test and contact test, revealed a high correlation between each test. Comparison of the polymorphism in the DRD4 of horses and the results of the character evaluation revealed lower scores for all temperaments in horses carrying allele A. Comparison of the SNP of G292A and blood dopamine levels in Jeju crossbreds showed 2.87 times higher levels for the GA type than for the GG type. This study identified an association between DRD4 polymorphism and various test methods for evaluating horse temperament and levels of neurotransmitters. Further research could validate the use of this gene as a genetic marker for character evaluation.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.130-135
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• 2014

Background: Panax ginseng, the most famous medicinal herb, has a highly duplicated genome structure. However, the genome duplication of P. ginseng has not been characterized at the sequence level. Multiple band patterns have been consistently observed during the development of DNA markers using unique sequences in P. ginseng. Methods: We compared the sequences of multiple bands derived from unique expressed sequence tagsimple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers to investigate the sequence level genome duplication. Results: Reamplification and sequencing of the individual bands revealed that, for each marker, two bands around the expected size were genuine amplicons derived from two paralogous loci. In each case, one of the two bands was polymorphic, showing different allelic forms among nine ginseng cultivars, whereas the other band was usually monomorphic. Sequences derived from the two loci showed a high similarity, including the same primer-binding site, but each locus could be distinguished based on SSR number variations and additional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or InDels. A locus-specific marker designed from the SNP site between the paralogous loci produced a single band that also showed clear polymorphism among ginseng cultivars. Conclusion: Our data imply that the recent genome duplication has resulted in two highly similar paralogous regions in the ginseng genome. The two paralogous sequences could be differentiated by large SSR number variations and one or two additional SNPs or InDels in every 100 bp of genic region, which can serve as a reliable identifier for each locus.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.475-480
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• 2010

The bovine fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) plays an important role to uptake intracellular fatty acid. It has been previously reported as a positional candidate gene for marbling score in livestock. The re-sequencing of FABP4 gene detected a polymorphic AT repeated sequence in intron II of FABP4 gene. Allelic distribution for this microsatellite marker was examined in other cattle breeds. A total of 8 alleles were detected with diverse repeat units (14 to 21 AT repeat) in Hanwoo and 7 breeds. Of the 8 alleles, the predominant alleles were $[AT]_{16}$, $[AT]_{18}$ and $[AT]_{19}$ in the Hanwoo and 7 cattle breeds. The linear mixed model for genotypic effect (3237AT) on carcass traits showed a significant effect on marbling score (MAR P=0.025) and live weight (LWT; P=0.04) in the 583 Hanwoo cattle population. Live weight (LW) was highest in the homozygous $(AT)_{17}$ genotype ($557.5{\pm}6.94$) and lowest in the heterozygous $(AT)_{16/17}$ genotype ($521.7{\pm}7.70$). On the other hand, the homozygous $(AT)_{17}$ genotype ($3.0{\pm}0.15$) has the highest effect on marbling score and the lowest effect was in homozygous (AT)$_{18}$ genotype ($2.2{\pm}0.15$). The marbling score difference between both groups was 0.8 which is around two times higher than SNP genotype effect on marbling score in Limousin $\times$ Wagyu crosses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.269-269
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• 2022

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) on rice panicles is getting problematic in recent several years in Korea due to climate changes such as high temperature and more frequent typhoons during harvesting season. PHS negatively affects grain quality severely and also yield. Genetic improvement of Korean varieties (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) through a marker assisted-backcross breeding (MAB) with the known PHS resistant genes must be one of ideal solutions. However, the final breeding products of MAB occasionally exhibit unwanted traits, especially the cross between genetically distant parents. This might be caused by linkage drag and/or presence of the gene-unlinked donor introgressions, resulting that the final products could not be released to the farmers. The major PHS resistance gene, Sdr4 (Seed dormancy 4) originated from an indica cultivar, Kasalath was selected as a donor gene. In order to avoid unexpected phenotypes in the breeding products, we performed a precision marker-based breeding (PMBB) consisting of foreground, recombinant, and background selections (FS, RS, and BS) which aim to develop 'single small introgression lines' (~100 kb introgression). Korean varieties (Ilpum and Gopum) were crossed with Kasalath. We developed Sdr4-allele specific markers for FS and a set of polymorphic flanking markers near the Sdr4 (-350kb and +420kb) for RS. To minimize linkage drag, the small introgression (< 125kb) containing Sdr4 was selected in Ilpum background (BC₂F₄) through 1^st RS with ~1,200 F₂ or BC₁F₂ plants (one side trimmed) and then 2^nd RS with ~1,000 progenies from the 1^st RS selected plants (another side trimmed). After RS, the selected lines were genotyped by using Infinium 7K SNP chip to detect other donor introgressions and the lines were backcrossed. Currently BS is on-going from the backcross-derived progenies with BS markers to remove residual introgressions. During the PMBB process, genetic effect of Sdr-4-Kasalath allele was confirmed in Ilpum and Gopum backgrounds by PHS phenotyping using the segregating BC₂F₃ or BC₁F₄ materials. The Sdr4 PMBB lines in Ilpum background (< 125kb introgression) will be valuable genetic resources to improve PHS resistance in modem popular temperate japonica varieties.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8319-8324
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• 2014

Although genetic markers identifying women at an increased risk of developing breast cancer exist, the majority of inherited risk factors remain elusive. Mutations in the BRCA1/BRCA2 gene confer a substantial increase in breast cancer risk, yet routine clinical genetic screening is limited to the coding regions and intronexon boundaries, precluding the identification of mutations in noncoding and untranslated regions. Because 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) polymorphisms disrupting microRNA (miRNA) binding can be functional and can act as genetic markers of cancer risk, we aimed to determine genetic variation in the 3'UTR of BRCA1/BRCA2 in familial and early-onset breast cancer patients with and without mutations in the coding regions of BRCA1/BRCA2 and to identify specific 3'UTR variants that may be risk factors for cancer development. The 3'UTRs of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were screened by heteroduplex analysis and DNA sequencing in 100 patients from 46 BRCA1/2 families, 54 non-BRCA1/2 families, and 47 geographically matched controls. Two polymorphisms were identified. SNPs $c.^*1287C$ >T (rs12516) (BRCA1) and $c.^*105A$ >C (rs15869) (BRCA2) were identified in 27% and 24% of patients, respectively. These 2 variants were also identified in controls with no family history of cancer (23.4% and 23.4%, respectively). In comparison to variations in the 3'UTR region of the BRCA1/2 genes and the BRCA1/2 mutational status in patients, there was a statistically significant relationship between the BRCA1 gene polymorphism $c.^*1287C$ >T (rs12516) and BRCA1 mutations (p=0.035) by Fisher's Exact Test. SNP $c.^*1287C$ >T (rs12516) of the BRCA1 gene may have potential use as a genetic marker of an increased risk of developing breast cancer and likely represents a non-coding sequence variation in BRCA1 that impacts BRCA1 function and leads to increased early-onset and/or familial breast cancer risk in the Turkish population.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1234-1238
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• 2017

Objective: The vertebral number is associated with body length and carcass traits, which represents an economically important trait in farm animals. The variation of vertebral number has been observed in a few mammalian species. However, the variation of vertebral number and quantitative trait loci in sheep breeds have not been well addressed. Methods: In our investigation, the information including gender, age, carcass weight, carcass length and the number of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae from 624 China Kazakh sheep was collected. The effect of vertebral number variation on carcass weight and carcass length was estimated by general linear model. Further, the polymorphic sites of Vertnin (VRTN) gene were identified by sequencing, and the association of the genotype and vertebral number variation was analyzed by the one-way analysis of variance model. Results: The variation of thoracolumbar vertebrae number in Kazakh sheep (18 to 20) was smaller than that in Texel sheep (17 to 21). The individuals with 19 thoracolumbar vertebrae (T13L6) were dominant in Kazakh sheep (79.2%). The association study showed that the numbers of thoracolumbar vertebrae were positively correlated with the carcass length and carcass weight, statistically significant with carcass length. To investigate the association of thoracolumbar vertebrae number with VRTN gene, we genotyped the VRTN gene. A total of 9 polymorphic sites were detected and only a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs426367238) was suggested to associate with thoracic vertebral number statistically. Conclusion: The variation of thoracolumbar vertebrae number positively associated with the carcass length and carcass weight, especially with the carcass length. VRTN gene polymorphism of the SNP (rs426367238) with significant effect on thoracic vertebral number could be as a candidate marker to further evaluate its role in influence of thoracolumbar vertebral number.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.326-335
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• 2015

Citrus is an economically important fruit tree with the largest amount of fruit production in the world. It provides important nutrition such as vitamin C and other health-promoting compounds including its unique flavonoids for human health. However, it is classified into the most difficult crops to develop new cultivars through conventional breeding approaches due to its long juvenility and some unique reproductive biological features such as gamete sterility, nucellar embryony, and high level of heterozygosity. Due to global warming and changes in consumer trends, establishing a systematic and efficient breeding programs is highly required for sustainable production of high quality fruits and diversification of cultivars. Recently, reference genome sequences of sweet orange and clementine mandarin have been released. Based on the reference whole-genome sequences, comparative genomics, reference-guided resequencing, and genotyping-by-sequencing for various citrus cultivars and crosses could be performed for the advance of functional genomics and development of traits-related molecular markers. In addition, a full understanding of gene function and gene co-expression networks can be provided through combined analysis of various transcriptome data. Analytic information on whole-genome and transcriptome will provide massive data on polymorphic molecular markers such as SNP, INDEL, and SSR, suggesting that it is possible to construct integrated maps and high-density genetic maps as well as physical maps. In the near future, integrated maps will be useful for map-based precise cloning of genes that are specific to citrus with major agronomic traits to facilitate rapid and efficient marker-assisted selection.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.342-349
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• 2015

Kiwifruit is a new fruit crop that was commercialized in the late 1970s. Recently, its cultivation and consumption have increased rapidly worldwide. Kiwifruit is a dioecious, deciduous, and climbing plant having fruit with hairs and various flesh colors and a variation in ploidy level; however, the industry consists of very simple cultivars or genotypes. The need for efficient cultivar improvement together with the evolutional and biological perspectives based on unique plant characteristics, have recently encouraged genome analysis and bioinformatics application. The draft genome sequence and chloroplast genome sequence of kiwifruit were released in 2013 and 2015, respectively; and gene annotation has been in progress. Recently, transcriptome analysis has shifted from previous ESTs analysis to the RNA-seq platform for intensive exploration of controlled genetic expression and gene discovery involved in fruit ascorbic acid biosynthesis, flesh coloration, maturation, and vine bacterial canker tolerance. For improving conventional breeding efficiency, molecular marker development and genetic linkage map construction have advanced from basic approaches using RFLP, RAPD, and AFLP to the development of NGS-based SSR and SNP markers linked to agronomically important traits and the construction of highly saturated linkage maps. However, genome and transcriptome studies have been limited in Korea. In the near future, kiwifruit genome and transcriptome studies are expected to translate to the practical application of molecular breeding.