• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.438-446
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• 2012

In 1964, Susumu Ohno, an evolutionary biologist, hypothesized that the size of X chromosome was conserved in mammalian evolution, and that this was based on chromosomal length. Today, unlike Ohno's method which was based on estimated lengths, we know the exact lengths of some mammalian sequences. The aim of this study was to reanalyze Ohno's hypothesis. In mammalian species, variation in the length of the X chromosome is greater than in the autosomes; however, this variation is not statistically significant. This means that differences in chromosomal length occur equally in the X chromosome and in the autosomes. Interspersed nuclear elements and genetic rearrangements were analyzed to maintain the same variance between the length of the X chromosome and the autosomes. The X chromosome contained fewer short interspersed elements (SINEs) (0.90 on average); however, it did contain more long interspersed elements (LINEs) than did autosomes (1.56 on average). An overall correlation of LINEs and SINEs with genetic rearrangements was observed; however, synteny breaks were more closely associated with LINEs in the autosomes, and with SINEs in the X chromosome. These results suggest that the chromosome-specific activities of LINEs and SINEs result in the same variance between the lengths of the X chromosome and the autosomes. This is based on the function of interspersed nuclear elements, such as LINEs, which can inactivate the X chromosome and the reliance of non-autonomous SINEs on LINEs for transposition.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1335-1340
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• 2007

β-Ketoacyl acyl carrier protein synthase (KAS) III is a particularly attractive target in the type II fatty acid synthetic pathway, since it is central to the initiation of fatty acid synthesis. Enterococcus faecalis, a Grampositive bacterium, is one of the major causes of hospital acquired infections. The rise of multidrug-resistant of most bacteria requires the development of new antibiotics, such as inhibition of the KAS III. In order to block the fatty acid synthesis by inhibition of KAS III, at first, three dimensional structure of Enterococcus faecalis KAS III (efKAS III) was determined by comparative homology modeling using MODELLER based on x-ray structure of Staphylococcus aureus KAS III (saKAS III) which is a gram-positive bacteria and is 36.1% identical in amino acid sequences with efKAS III. Since His-Asn-Cys catalytic triad is conserved in efKAS III and saKAS III, substrate specificity of efKAS III and saKAS III and the size of primer binding pocket of these two proteins are expected to be similar. Ligand docking study of efKAS III with naringenin and apigenin showed that naringenin docked more strongly with efKAS III than apigenin, resulting in the intensive hydrogen bond network between naringenin and efKAS III. Also, only naringenin showed antibacterial activity against E. faecalis at 256 μg/mL. This study may give practical implications of flavonoids for antimicrobial effects against E. faecalis.

• Mycobiology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.133-138
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• 2003

Analysis of phylogenetic relationship was performed among Phellinus species based on 18S ribosomal subunit sequence data. Twenty-five strains of 19 Phellinus species including P. linteus were examined in this study. Regions of 18S ribosomal subunit were very conserved, but some variable regions between Phellinus species were observed. The species-specific detection primers, modified by 2 or 3 nucleotides in sense primer were designed based on 18S ribosomal DNA(rDNA) sequence data. The 210 by PCR bands were detected with annealing temperature $48^{\circ}C$. The 18S 2F-18S 4R detection primer set distinguished P. linteus from various Phellinus species but some species like P. baumii, P. weirianius, P. rhabarberinus and P. pomaceus also had weak reactivity on this primer set. The 18S 3F-18S 4R primer set distinguished only P. linteus from various Phellinus species, although sensitivity with this primer set was lower than that of 18S 2F-18 4R primer set. These primer sets would be useful for the detection of only P. linteus among unknown Phellinus species rapidly.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.545-553
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• 1999

A 474-base pair segment covering the hypervariable region of VP2 gene from six Korean infectious bursal disease virus(K-IBDV) isolates(K1, K2, SH/92, 225, 269, 310) and one attenuated IBDV(DAE) were amplified using RT-PCR, sequenced, and compared with published sequences for IBDV. K-IBDV isolates(K1, K2, SH/92, 225, 269) and foreign very virulent(vv) IBDV strains had 94.93~100% amino acid sequence similarity. K-IBDV isolate 310 and other K-IBDV isolates had 84.31~86.07% amino acid sequence similarity. Attenuated strain(DAE), like other attenuated strain, has substitution at positions 279(D to N) and 284(A to T) as well as in the serine-rich heptapeptide region. Five K-IBDV isolates except 310 isolate share unique amino acid residues at positions 222(A), 256(I), 294(I) which are not present in other standard and attenuated strains. At the two hydrophilic region, K-IBDV isolates except 310 isolate had identical amino acids comparing with Belgium vv IBDV 894VB but had four amino acid substitutions comparing with Chinese vv IBDV F9502. The SWSASGS heptapeptide is conserved in all K-IBDV isolates. The sequence of K-IBDV isolate 310 was markedly different from other IBDV strains, evolving from a separate lineage than the others. By phylogenetic analysis, Five K-IBDV isolates except 310 isolate were categorized in one group with foreign vv IBDV isolates but K-IBDV isolate 310 was categorized in a separate group which was differentiated from other compared IBDV strains.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 1999

The physical map of bacteriophage $\PhiFC1$ DNA was constructed with the restriction endonucleases SalI, BamHI, EcoRI, XbaI, and AvaI. The 40.5-kb DNA restriction map is shown to be circularly permuted representing the headful packaging mechanism of the phage. The DNA restriction fragments containing the packaging initiation site(pac) was localized on the restriction map and the nucleotide sequences of the region were analyzed. Four open reading frames (ORFs), following one another with the same orientation, were found at the region. The 2nd ORF (ORF-ts) has significant amino acid sequence homologies to the previously known terminase small subunits of other bacteriophages. The putative terminase small subunit gene has a presumptive NTP-hydrolysis motif and a helix-turn-helix motif. The cleavage site for the first round of packaging was found to be located at the coding sequence of the putative terminase small subunit gene. The fourth ORF, even if partially sequenced, has a good amino acid sequence homology to the portal vertex proteins of other bacteriophages representing the evolutionarily conserved arrangements of genes near the pac site of this bacteriophage, $\PhiFC1$.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.133-144
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• 2000

Objective: Several water channels (aquaporins; AQP) that belong to the MIP (major intrinsic protein) family have identified. In the selected tissues including red blood cells or renal tubules, water movements are abundant and/or physiologically important. Unexpectedly, a high water permeability of human and ram sperm has been reported. Recent studies showed that AQP7 and AQP8 are present in testes, so that the high water permeability of human sperm suggested to be mediated by AQPs. Method: To identify the identity of aquaporins expressed in testes, RT-PCR was performed using degenerative primers, which were designed to correspond to highly conserved sequences surrounding the Asn-Pro-Ala (NPA) motifs in the aquaporins. New expressed AQP series were reconfirmed by immunohistochemical study using rabbit polyclonal antibodies. Results: DNA sequencing of PCR products revealed that AQP2 and AQP3 mRNA as well as AQP7 and AQP8 are expressed in human and rat testes. In human and rat testes, AQP2 are expressed in spermatozoa, interstitial cells and myofibroblasts and AQP3 are expressed in myofibroblasts of semineferous tubules on immunocytochemical stain. Conclusion: These results indicate that multiple aquaporins are expressed in testes, and that they may have important roles in the spermatogenesis and the germ cell function of testis.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.142-148
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• 2005

The immune response-related genes have been suggested to be the most favorable genes for positive selection during evolution. Comparing the entire DNA sequence of chimpanzee chromosome 22 (PTR22) with human chromosome 21 (HSA21), we have identified 15 orthologs having indel in their coding sequences. Among them, interferon-${\alpha}$ receptor-1 gene (IFNAR1), an immuneresponse-related gene, is subjected to comparative genomic analysis. Chimpanzee IFNAR1 showed the same genomic structure as human IFNAR1 (11 exons and 10 introns) except the 3 bp insertion in exon 4. The sequence alignment of IFNAR1 coding sequence indicated that 'ISPP' amino acid sequence motif is highly conserved in chimpanzee and other animals including mouse and chicken. However, the human IFNAR1 shows that one proline residue is missing in the sequence motif. The homology modeling of the IFNAR1 structures suggests that the proline deletion in human IFNAR1 leads to the formation of the following ${\alpha}$-helix, whereas two sequential prolines in chimpanzee IFNAR1 inhibit it. As a result, human IFNAR1 may adopt a characteristic structure distinct from chimpanzee IFNAR1. This human specific trait could contribute to specific immune response in the most optimized manner for humans. Further molecular biological studies on the IFNAR1 will help us to gain insights into the molecular implication of species-specific host-pathogen interaction in primate evolution.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.387-392
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• 2011

To investigate the molecular scavenging capabilities of the larvae of Hermetia illucens, two serine proteases (SPs) were cloned and characterized. Multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic tree analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences of Hi-SP1 and Hi-SP2 were suggested that Hi-SP1 may be a chymotrypsin- and Hi-SP2 may be a trypsin-like protease. Hi-SP1 and Hi-SP2 3-D homology models revealed that a catalytic triad, three disulfide bonds, and a substrate-binding pocket were highly conserved, as would be expected of a SP. E. coli expressed Hi-SP1 and Hi-SP2 showed chymotrypsin or trypsin activities, respectively. Hi-SP2 mRNAs were consistently expressed during larval development. In contrast, the expression of Hi-SP1 mRNA fluctuated between feeding and molting stages and disappeared at the pupal stages. These expression pattern differences suggest that Hi-SP1 may be a larval specific chymotrypsin-like protease involved with food digestion, while Hi-SP2 may be a trypsin-like protease with diverse functions at different stages.

• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.529-536
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• 2008

Cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) is a key enzyme in the phenylpropanoid pathway, which is responsible for synthesizing a variety of secondary metabolites that participate in development and adaptation. In this study, we isolated a full-length cDNA of the C4H gene from the Korean black raspberry (Rubus sp.) and found that this gene existed as a single gene. By comparing the deduced amino acid sequence of Rubus sp. C4H with other sequences reported previously we determined that this sequence was highly conserved among widely divergent plant species. In addition, quantitative real time PCR studies indicated that the C4H gene had a differential expression pattern during fruit development, where gene expression was first detected in green fruit and was then remarkably reduced in yellow fruit, followed by an increase in red and black fruit. To investigate the two peaks in expression observed during fruit development and ripening, we measured the flavonoid content. The content of the major flavanol of Korean black raspberry fruits was determined to be highest at the beginning of fruit development, followed by a gradually decrease according to the developmental stages. In contrast, the content of anthocyanins during the progress of ripening was dramatically increased. Our results suggest that the C4H gene in Korean black raspberry plays a role during color development at the late stages of fruit ripening, whereas the expression of C4H gene during the early stages may be related to the accumulation of flavanols.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.947-952
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• 2007

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogen responsible for 2-3 million deaths every year worldwide. The emergence of drug-resistant and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has increased the need to identify new antituberculosis targets. Acetohydroxy acid synthase, (AHAS, EC 2.2.1.6), an enzyme involved in branched-chain amino acid synthesis, has recently been identified as a potential anti-tuberculosis target. To assist in the search for new inhibitors and “receptor-based” design of effective inhibitors of tubercular AHAS (TbAHAS), we constructed four different structural models of TbAHAS and used one of the models as a target for virtual screening of potential inhibitors. The quality of each model was assessed stereochemically by PROCHECK and found to be reliable. Up to 89% of the amino acid residues in the structural models were located in the most favored regions of the Ramachandran plot, which indicates that the conformation of each residue in the models is good. In the models, residues at the herbicide-binding site were highly conserved across 39 AHAS sequences. The binding mode of TbAHAS with a sulfonylurea herbicide was characterized by 32 hydrophobic interactions, the majority of which were contributed by residue Trp516. The model based on the highest resolution X-ray structure of yeast AHAS was used as the target for virtual screening of a chemical database containing 8300 molecules with a heterocyclic ring. We developed a short list of molecules that were predicted to bind with high scores to TbAHAS in a conformation similar to that of sulfonylurea derivatives. Five sulfonylurea herbicides that were calculated to efficiently bind TbAHAS were experimentally verified and found to inhibit enzyme activity at micromolar concentrations. The data suggest that this time-saving and costeffective computational approach can be used to discover new TbAHAS inhibitors. The list of chemicals studied in this work is supplied to facilitate independent experimental verification of the computational approach.