• Animal cells and systems
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.243-246
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• 2001

Human endoqenous retroviral long terminal repeats (LTRs) have been found to be coexpressed with sequences of genes closely located nearby. It has been suggested that the LTR elements have contributed to structural changes or genetic variations of human genome connected to various diseases and evolution. Using cDNA library derived from placenta tissue, we performed PCR amplification and identified five new HERV-W LTR elements. Those LTR elements showed a high degree of sequence similarity (98-99%) with HERV-W LTR (AF072500). A phylogenetic tree obtained by the neighbor-joining method revealed that HERV-W LTR elements could be mainly divided into two groups through evolutionary divergence. Five new HERV-W LTR elements (pla-1, 4, 5, 6, 7) belonged to the group I with AX000960, AF072504, and AF072506 from GenBank database. The data suggest that several copy numbers of the HERV-W LTR elements are transcribed in placenta and may contribute to the understanding of biological function such as human placental morphogenesis.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.76-81
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• 1989

The mitotic nuclear divisions in hyphae and chromosome number in 10 strains of Fusarium oxysporum were studies with the aid of Giemsa-HCl techniques. The chromosome number of fungi was ranged from 4 to 8. Of the 10 strains (F. oxysporum f. sp. lycoperici, F. oxysporum Kangnung D2) are n=4; two (F. oxysporum Sachun3, F. oxysporum S Kohung D2) n=5; five (F. oxysporum S Kohung 3, F. oxysporum CS Hongchun D16, F. oxysporum S Bosung 5, F. oxysporum SSunchun4 and F. oxysporum S Haenam 4) n=7 and one (F. oxysporum from the Australia) are n=8. These results along with my previous papers indicate that the basic chromosome number of the F. oxysporum may be n=4 and may have been evolutionary modification within this fugal group through diploidy and aneuploidy. As additional strains are studied, the chromosome number should help to reveal steps possible phylogenetic relationship within the group as well as more clearly defining taxonomic group and variation factors.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.367-379
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• 2011

This study was conducted to develop an ecological park planning model to enhance the functions of habitats and ecological corridors in Green Belt Areas, because changing policies have resulted in the degredation of the Green Belts due to progressive fragmentation of ecosystems. The principal outcome of the study is to plan an ecological park model through the restoration of habitats. In order to evaluate the capacity of the model to enhance the ecological functions of habitats and ecological corridors in Green Belt Areas, a simulation of habitats was carried out in the Sungnam-Yusoo region. The model was developed via following steps: 1. Selection of candidate sites and selection of the study site by analyzing development factors; 2. Selection of target species that can represent the habitat at the site; 3. Analysis of the site's suitability index for the target species; 4. Establishment of a conceptual plan to enhance and expand the currently produced suitability index; 5. Creation of a master plan based on the conceptual plan; and 6. Evaluation of the enhanced and expanded suitability index of the site. The study showed that the Habitat Unit (HU) of Rana coreana, which was selected as the target species of the study, increased from $28,044m^2$(3.6%) to $224,352m^2$(28.8%), and the HU of the site as the ecological corridor for wild animals increased from $4,674m^2$(0.6%) to $152,684m^2$(19.6%). The study results show that the ecological deficits of the Green Belt Area can be overcome by enhancing the ecological functions of the region, which should be beneficial. The model could be utilized for effective enhancement and management of other Green Belt Areas.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2013

In the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ${\alpha}$-amylase (BAA), the loop (residues 176-185; region I) that is the part of the calcium-binding site (CaI, II) has two more amino acid residues than the ${\alpha}$-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis (BLA). Arg176 in this region makes an ionic interaction with Glu126 from region II (residues 118-130), but this interaction is lost in BLA owing to substitution of R176Q and E126V. The goal of the present work was to quantitatively estimate the effect of ionic interaction on the overall stability of the enzyme. To clarify the functional and structural significance of the corresponding salt bridge, Glu126 was deleted (${\Delta}$E126) and converted to Val (E126V), Asp (E126D), and Lys (E126K) by site-directed mutagenesis. Kinetic constants, thermodynamic parameters, and structural changes were examined for the wild-type and mutated forms using UV-visible, atomic absoption, and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. Wild-type exhibited higher $k_{cat}$ and $K_m$ but lower catalytic efficiency than the mutant enzymes. A decreased thermostability and an increased flexibility were also found in all of the mutant enzymes when compared with the wild-type. Additionally, the calcium content of the wild-type was more than ${\Delta}E126$. Thus, it may be suggested that ionic interaction could decrease the mobility of the discussed region, prevent the diffusion of cations, and improve the thermostability of the whole enzyme. Based on these observations, the contribution of loop destabilization may be compensated by the formation of a salt bridge that has been used as an evolutionary mechanism or structural adaptation by the mesophilic enzyme.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.139-147
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• 2003

Burckhardt (1987) combined Aphalaridae and Spondyliaspididae into the Psyllidae, as there were no character sets which had clearly defined these three families. During the analysis on the character evolution of the psyllids from the world including Australia, there were a few different results for the taxonomy of the Spondyliaspidinae. 52 species and 28 genera in the Australian native psyllids were dissected to examine the taxonomic position of the subfamily Spondyliaspidinae. All of the dissected psyllids in the subfamily Spondyliaspidinae had one follicle in the male testes, but the subfamilies of the Psyllidae except Spondyliaspidinae were having two or more follicles. By the characteristics with living on the Eucalyptus host plants recently evolved, having just one follicle which clearly defined it from other families and experienced an explosive specific diversification in the Gondwana region, it is reasonable to separate the subfamily Spondyliaspidinae from the family Psyllidae with two or more follicles.

• ALGAE
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.365-369
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to determine the optimal blade size and timing to transplant seed-stock of Ecklonia cava Kjellman onto the reef structure. We used the modified artificial stepped reef structure. A total of 14 units (3.0 m length ${\times}$ 3.5 m width ${\times}$ 1.1 m height) were deployed 7-8 m deep under the water to examine the optimal blade size and timing to transplant seed-stock of E. cava onto the structures. Sporophytes of E. cava <1 cm in length were all died within 1 month of transplantation. The blades of 5-10 cm in length which were transplanted in March 2007 survived and grew well on the artificial reefs. Growth rates of 5-10 cm size class were higher than those of longer blade sporophytes (20-30 cm size class, transplanted in April) while the survival rates showed no difference between the classes of blade size. Both classes of 5-10 and 20-30 cm in length grew until July, and a reduction in size had occurred in September. These results indicate the importance of the blade size of E. cava and timing for successful transplantation of the seaweed on artificial reef structures.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2008

Salinity stress is a major limiting factor in cereal productivity. Many studies report improvements in salt tolerance using model plants, such as Arabidopsis thaliana or standard varieties of rice, e.g., the japonica rice cultivar Nipponbare. However, there are few reports on the enhancement of salt tolerance in local rice cultivars. In this work, we used the indica rice (Oryza sativa) cultivar BR5, which is a local cultivar in Bangladesh. To improve salt tolerance in BR5, we introduced the Escherichia coli catalase gene, katE. We integrated the katE gene into BR5 plants using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated method. The introduced katE gene was actively expressed in the transgenic BR5 rice plants, and catalase activity in $T_1$ and $T_2$ transgenic rice was approximately 150% higher than in nontransgenic plants. Under NaCl stress conditions, the transgenic rice plants exhibited high tolerance compared with nontransgenic rice plants. $T_2$ transgenic plants survived in a 200 mM NaCl solution for 2 weeks, whereas nontransgenic plants were scorched after 4 days soaking in the same NaCl solution. Our results indicate that the katE gene can confer salt tolerance to BR5 rice plants. Enhancement of salt tolerance in a local rice cultivar, such as BR5, will provide a powerful and useful tool for overcoming food shortage problems.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.637-645
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• 2019

Effector-triggered immunity (ETI) is an effective layer of plant defense initiated upon recognition of avirulence (Avr) effectors from pathogens by cognate plant disease resistance (R) proteins. In rice, a large number of R genes have been characterized from various cultivars and have greatly contributed to breeding programs to improve resistance against the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. The extreme diversity of R gene repertoires is thought to be a result of co-evolutionary history between rice and its pathogens including M. oryzae. Here we show that Pii is an allele of Pi5 by DNA sequence characterization and complementation analysis. Pii-1 and Pii-2 cDNAs were cloned by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction from the Pii-carrying cultivar Fujisaka5. The complementation test in susceptible rice cultivar Dongjin demonstrated that the rice blast resistance mediated by Pii, similar to Pi5, requires the presence of two nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat genes, Pii-1 and Pii-2. Consistent with our hypothesis that Pi5 and Pii are functionally indistinguishable, the replacement of Pii-1 by Pi5-1 and Pii-2 by Pi5-2, respectively, does not change the level of disease resistance to M. oryzae carrying AVR-Pii. Surprisingly, Exo70F3, required for Pii-mediated resistance, is dispensable for Pi5-mediated resistance. Based on our results, despite similarities observed between Pi5 and Pii, we hypothesize that Pi5 and Pii pairs require partially distinct mechanisms to function.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.251-258
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• 2018

In mathematics and computer science, an optimization problem is the problem of finding the best solution from feasible ones. In the context of genetic algorithm, the difficulty of an optimization problem can be explained in terms of problem epistasis. In biology, epistasis means that the phenotype of a gene is suppressed by one or more genes, but in an evolutionary algorithm it means the interaction between genes. In this paper, we experimentally show that problem epistasis and the performance of genetic algorithm are closely related. We compared problem epistasis (One-Max, Royal Road, and NK-Landscape) using a framework that quantifies problem epistasis based on Shannon's information theory, and could show that problem becomes more difficult as problem epistasis grows. In the case that a genetic algorithm finds the optimal solution, performance is compared through the number of generations, otherwise through the ratio of the fitness of the optimal solution to that of the best solution.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.179-192
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• 2023

The world has watched the emergence of numerous animal viruses that may threaten animal health which were added to the perpetual growing list of animal pathogens. This emergence drew the attention of the experts and animal health groups to the fact that it has become necessary to work on vaccine development. The current review aims to explore the perspective vaccines for emerging viral diseases in farm animals. This aim was fulfilled by focusing on modern technologies as well as next generation vaccines that have been introduced in the field of vaccines, either in clinical developments pending approval, or have already come to light and have been applied to animals with acceptable results such as viral-vectored vaccines, virus-like particles, and messenger RNA-based platforms. Besides, it shed the light on the importance of differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals technology in eradication programs of emerging viral diseases. The new science of nanomaterials was explored to elucidate its role in vaccinology. Finally, the role of Bioinformatics or Vaccinomics and its assist in vaccine designing and developments were discussed. The reviewing of the published manuscripts concluded that the use of conventional vaccines is considered an out-of-date approach in eliminating emerging diseases. However, these types of vaccines are considered the suitable plan especially in countries with few resources and capabilities. Piloted vaccines that rely on genetic-based technologies with continuous analyses of current viruses should be the aim of future vaccinology. Smart genomics of emerging viruses will be the gateway to choosing appropriate vaccines, regardless of the evolutionary rates of viruses.