• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.370-375
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• 2011

In this study the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) combined with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was evaluated as a method permitting the rapid detection of pathogens in fresh originally grown vegetables. A universal primer (341GCf/534r) was selected for its ability to amplify the V3 region of 16S-rRNA genes in their target pathogens (Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monoytogenes, Staphyloocus aureus, E. coli). The 194 bp fragments in PCR were successfully duplicated as expected. The amplified fragments of the same size from six different pathogens also showed good separation upon DGGE. The detection limit of PCR-DGGE for six pathogens in fresh-cut lettuces were over $10^{5}$ CFU/g when sampled by stomaching. However, when the sampling method was changed from stomaching to shaking, the detection limit of six pathogens in organic vegetables was shown to increase by over $10^{1}$ CFU/g, but only those of B. cereus were over $10^{3}$ CFU/g. Therefore, PCR-DGGE was shown to be a reliable method for the detection of pathogens in fresh-cut vegetables.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.290-295
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• 2019

Salmonella spp. are frequently associated with food and are among the most important foodborne pathogens. The recent Salmonella out breaks in Korea was associated with chocolate mousse cakes served with school meals during September 2018. The objective of this research was to compare the 3M Molecular Detection Assay 2 - Salmonella and the Korean Standard Method of Salmonella in artificially inoculated mousse (chocolate and cheese) and tiramisu cakes. Mousse (chocolate and cheese) and tiramisu cakes were artificially inoculated with S. Typhimurium. Twenty five gram of sample was enriched with 225 mL buffered peptone water for incubation at $37^{\circ}C$ for 24 h. After enrichment, the cultures were analyzed by using the 3M Molecular Detection Assay 2 - Salmonella and the Korean Standard Method. Most of the inoculated samples showed similar results except the chocolate mousse cakes, in which real-time PCR was unable to detect S. Typhimurium even after $10^4CFU/25g$ of inoculation. However, S. Typhimurium inoculated at a concentration of $10^0CFU/25g$ was detected by using 3M Molecular Detection Assay 2 - Salmonella. In chocolate mousse, detection of S. Typhimurium using real-time PCR was partially successful when dark chocolate was added at less than 15%. Negative results in real-time PCR and 3M Molecular Detection Assay 2 - Salmonella were confirmed by gel electrophoresis. The data indicated that dark chocolate could inhibit amplification of the target gene in the PCR reactions. In conclusion, the 3M Molecular Detection Assay 2 - Salmonella was better than the Korean Standard Method (real-time PCR) for the detection of S. Typhimurium in chocolate mousse cakes and chocolate mousse.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.248-251
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• 1995

정신분열병의 약물치료에서 중요한 역할을 하는 도파민의 기전은 지금까지 5종류의 수용체들이 발견되고 클론되면서, 새롭고 보다 근본적인 유전학적 접근을 통해 규명될 수 있게 되었다. 특히, 도파민 수용체 D4 (DRD4)는 막단백질의 세포질쪽 세번째굴곡에 48-bp반복 다형성배열을 가지고있다. 이러한 다형성 반복배열이 신호전달에 참여할 가능성이 높은 막단백질의 세포질쪽 굴곡에 있다는것은, 각 개인의 항정신병약물에 대한 민감성의 차이를 포함하여 정신분열병에 대한 개개인의 유전적 차이를 진단할 수 있는 가능성을 제시한다. 이러한 가능성을 검증하기 위하여 주로 손쉽고 빠른 중합효소연쇄반응(PCR)을 사용하여 DRD4의 아형들을 분류하게 되는데, DRD4의 PCR은 그 반복배열과 그 주변배열의 높은 GC함량(78% G+C) 때문에 일반적인 PCR 방법을 변형시켜 사용해야한다. DRD4의 아형을 분류하기 위해 변형된 PCR은 통상적으로 7-deaza dGTP와 10% DMSO를 사용하게된다. 이러한 DRD4 PCR은 대부분의 경우 성공하지만, 항상 모든 시료에서 PCR이 성공되는것은 아니었으며 반복적으로 시도하여 증폭시킬 수 있었다. 이러한 어려움은 대부분이 template DNA에 문제가 있을것으로 의심되며 DNA정제 또는 template DNA를 제한효소로 적절하게 무작위절단하여 성공율을 높일 수 있었다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1398-1403
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• 2016

The simultaneous detection and accurate identification of hepatitis A virus (HAV) is critical in food safety and epidemiological studies to prevent the spread of HAV outbreaks. Towards this goal, a one-step duplex reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR method was developed targeting the VP1/P2B and VP3/VP1 regions of the HAV genome for the qualitative detection of HAV. An HAV RT-qPCR standard curve was produced for the quantification of HAV RNA. The detection limit of the duplex RT-PCR method was 2.8 × 10¹ copies of HAV. The PCR products enabled HAV genotyping analysis through DNA sequencing, which can be applied for epidemiological investigations. The ability of this duplex RT-PCR method to detect HAV was evaluated with HAV-spiked samples of fresh lettuce, frozen strawberries, and oysters. The limit of detection of the one-step duplex RT-PCR for each food model was 9.4 × 10² copies/20 g fresh lettuce, 9.7 × 10³ copies/20 g frozen strawberries, and 4.1 × 10³ copies/1.5 g oysters. Use of a one-step duplex RT-PCR method has advantages such as shorter time, decreased cost, and decreased labor owing to the single amplification reaction instead of four amplifications necessary for nested RT-PCR.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.788-797
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• 2001

The usefulness of three PCR methods were evaluated for the epidemiological typing of Staphylococcus aureus: an enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR), repetitive extragenic palindromic element PCR (REP-PCR), and 16S-23S intergenic spacer PCR (ITS-PCR). The analysis was performed using a collection of S. aureus strains comprised of 6 reference and 79 isolates from patients with various diseases. Among the 85 S. aureus strains tested, 6 references and 6 isolates were found to be susceptible to methicillin, whereas the remaining 73 isolates were resistant to it. PCR methods are of special concern, as conventional phenotypic methods are unable to clearly distinguish among methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains. The ability of the techniques to detect different unrelated types was found to be as follows: ERIC-PCR, 19 types; REP-PCR, 36 types; and ITS-PCR, 14 types. On the basis of combining the ERIC, REP, and ITS fingerprints, the 85 S. aureus strains were grouped into 56 genetic types (designated G1 to G56). The diversities for the 85 S. aureus strains, calculated according to Simpson\`s index, were 0.88 for an ERIC-PCR, 0.93 for a REP-PCR, and 0.48 for an ITS-PCR, and the diversity increased up to 0.97 when an ERIC-PCR and REP-PCR were combined. The above discrimination indices imply that the genetic heterogeneity of S. aureus strains is high. Accordingly, this study demonstrates that DNA sequences from highly conserved repeats of a genome, particularly a combination of ERIC sequences and REP elements, are a convenient and accurate tool for the subspecies-specific discrimination and epidemiologic tracking of S. aureus.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.4
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• pp.425-431
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• 2007

To investigate genetic diversity and PCR detection of Rhizina undulata, PCR detection and sequence analysis of rDNA ITS region of R. undulata in soil were analyzed and developed. The length of partial 18S rDNA from four R. undulata isolates were 1,375 nt. The sequence similarity of R. undulata isolates was 100%. The rDNA ITS regions of R. undulata isolates were 585 nt long. Nucleotide sequencing of the ITS regions showed that PDK-1, PTT-1 and PDJ-9 isolates had 100% sequence identity. But, PDS-5 isolate differed from the three isolates by two nucleotide substitution. R. undulata-specific primers designed by the sequence of ITS region were used in PCR detection of R. undulata. PCR products about 525 bp size, which is specific to R. undulata, were amplified from total DNAs of R. undulata isolates. To assay the sensitivity of PCR detection by R. undulata ITS-specific primer, purely cultured mycelial suspension of R. undulata was serially diluted and mixed with 100g of sterile sandy loam soil, respectively. And then, PCR products of total DNAs extracted from each mycelium-soil mixtures were analysed. The PCR protocol could detected up to 1ng mycelium of R. undulata within 100g of soil.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.430-436
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• 2005

In this study, the prevalence and quantity of a latent pseudorabies virus (PrV) infection in the nervous tissues of randomly selected pigs was determined via nested and real-time PCR. The nervous tissues, including the trigeminal ganglion (TG), olfactory bulb (OB), and brain stem (BS), were collected from the heads of 40 randomly selected pigs. The majority of the nervous tissues from the selected pigs evidenced a positively amplified band on nested PCR. In particular, nested PCR targeted to the PrV glycoprotein B (gB) gene yielded positive results in all of the BS samples. Nested PCR for either the gE or gG gene produced positive bands in a less number of nervous tissues ($57.5\%$ and $42.5\%$, respectively). Real-time PCR revealed that the examined tissues harbored large copy numbers of latent PrV DNA, ranging between $10^{0.1}\;and\;10^{7.2}(1-1.58{\times}10^7)$ copies per $1{\mu}g$ of genomic DNA. Real-time PCR targeted to the PrV gE gene exhibited an accumulated fluorescence of reporter dye at levels above threshold, thereby indicating a higher prevalence than was observed on the nested PCR ($100\%$ for BS, $92\%$ for OB, and $85\%$ for TG). These results indicate that a large number of farm-grown pigs are latently infected with a field PrV strain with a variety of copy numbers. This result is similar to what was found in association with the human herpes virus.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.425-434
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• 2020

Background: Viral infection outbreaks are emerging public health concerns. They often exhibit seasonal patterns that could be predicted by the application of big data and bioinformatic analyses. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify trends in diarrhea-causing viruses such as rotavirus (Gr.A), norovirus G-I, and norovirus G-II in Cheonan, Korea. The identified related factors of diarrhea-causing viruses may be used to predict their trend and prevent their infections. Method: A retrospective analysis of 4,009 fecal samples from June 2010 to December 2019 was carried out at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was employed to identify virus strains. Information about seasonal patterns of infection was extracted and compared with local weather data. Results: Out of the 4,009 fecal samples tested using multiplex RT-PCR (mRT-PCR), 985 were positive for infection with Gr.A, G-I, and G-II. Out of these 985 cases, 95.3% (n = 939) were under 10 years of age. Gr.A, G-I, and G-II showed high infection rates in patients under 10 years of age. Student's t-test showed a significant correlation between the detection rate of Gr.A and the relative humidity. The detection rate of G-II significantly correlated with wind-chill temperature. Conclusion: Climate factors differentially modulate rotavirus and norovirus infection patterns. These observations provide novel insights into the seasonal impact on the pathogenesis of Gr.A, G-I, and G-II.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2011

In analysis of DNA viruses from the contaminated shellfish using PCR, preparation method of template DNA is an important factor to get enough copy number of viruses. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of PCR template of Megalocytivirus (sT50mg-D) DNA obtained from 50 mg digestive gland homogenate of oyster using commercial method, and compared with that obtained from 5 g of the same tissues (T5g-D) after PEG precipitation procedures of virus. Both templates DNA suspended in the same volume of distilled water showed positive results by primary PCR with 35 cycles, and the presence of Megalocytivirus was confirmed in oysters collected from cultured farms in Korea. Moreover, PCR with sT50mg-D allowed us to discriminate the contaminated oyster individually, that can not be done in PCR with T5g-D prepared from the mixture of three different individual oyster to get 5 g digestive gland homogenate. In quantitative analysis with real time PCR, Megalocytivirus concentrations in 50 ${\mu}l$ templates prepared using 0.5~50 mg of one positive sample were appeared in the range 6.14E+00~1.2E+02/${\mu}l$. We were not able to get positive result using template DNA contained less than 6.14E+00 copies. Consequently, 2-step PCR performed with DNA extracts from oyster homogenate of small amount (sT50mg-D) i) was enough to detect the contaminated Megalocytivirus in shellfish, ii) allowed us to do the analysis for individual shellfish rather than mixture of several shellfish and iii) showed the presence of Megalocytivirus in oyster from Korea.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2015

As expected, the expression of denitrifying genes in a Typha wetland (relatively stagnant compared to other ponds), showing higher nitrogen removal efficiency in summer, was affected by temperature. The abundance and gene transcripts of nitrate reductase (narG), nitrite reductase (nirS), nitric oxide reductase (norB), and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes in seasonal sediment samples taken from the Acorus and Typha ponds of free surface flow constructed wetlands were investigated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (Q-RT-PCR). Denitrifying gene copy numbers ($10^5-10^8$ genes $g^{-1}$ sediment) were found to be higher than transcript numbers-($10^3-10^7$ transcripts $g^{-1}$ sediment) of the Acorus and Typha ponds, in both seasons. Transcript numbers of the four functional genes were significantly higher for Typha sediments, in the warm than in the cold season, potentially indicating greater bacterial activity, during the relatively warm season than the cold season. In contrast, copy numbers and expression of denitrifying genes of Acorus did not provide a strong correlation between the different seasons.