• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.97-97
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• 2017

Plant genomes include heterochromatic loci that consist of repetitive sequences and transposable elements. LTR retrotransposon is the major class of transposons in advanced plants in terms of proportion in plant genome. The elements contribute not only to genome size but also to genome stability and gene expression. A number of cases have been reported transposon insertions near genic regions affect crop traits such as fruit pigments, stress tolerance, and yields. Functional LTR retrotransposons produce extrachromosomal DNA from genomic RNA by reverse transcription that takes place within virus-like-particles (VLPs). DECREASED DNA METHYLATION 1 (DDM1) plays important roles in maintaining DNA methylation of heterochromatin affecting all sequence contexts, CG, CHG, and CHH. Previous studies showed that ddm1 mutant exhibits massive transcription of retrotransposons in Arabidopsis, but only few of them were able to create new insertions into the genome. RNA-dependent RNA POLYMERASE 6 (RDR6) is known to function in restricting accumulation of transposon RNA by processing the transcripts into 21-22 nt epigenetically activated small interfering RNA (easiRNA). We purified VLPs and sequence cDNA to identify functional LTR retrotransposons in Arabidopsis ddm1 and ddm1rdr6 plants. Over 20 LTR copia and gypsy families were detected in ddm1 and ddm1rdr6 sequencing libraries and most of them were not reported for mobility. In ddm1rdr6, short fragments of ATHILA gypsy elements were detected. It suggests easiRNAs might regulate reverse transcription steps. The highest enriched element among transposon loci was previously characterized EVADE element. It has been reported that active EVADE element is more efficiently silenced through female germline than male germline. By genetic analyses, we found ddm1 and rdr6 mutation affect maternal silencing of active EVADE elements. DDM1-GFP protein accumulated in megaspore mother cell but was not found in mature egg cell. The fusion protein was also found in early embryo and maternal DDM1-GFP allele was more dominantly expressed in the embryo. We observed localization of DDM1-GFP in Arabidopsis and DDM1-YFP in maize and found the proteins accumulated in dividing zone of root tips. Currently we are looking at cell cycle dependency of DDM1 expression using maize system. Among 10 AGO proteins in Arabidopsis, AGO9 is specifically expressed in egg cell and shoot meristematic cells. In addition, mutation of AGO9 and RDR6 caused failure in maternal silencing, implying 21-22 nt easiRNA pathway is important for retrotransposon silencing in female gametophyte or/and early embryo. On the other hand, canonical 24 nt sRNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathways did not contribute to maternal silencing as confirmed by this study. Heat-activated LTR retrotransposon, ONSEN, was not silenced by DDM1 but the silencing mechanisms require RdDM pathways in somatic cells. We will propose distinct mechanisms of LTR retrotransposons in germline and somatic stages.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.45-55
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• 2023

The diploid Solanum cardiophyllum, a wild tuberbearing species from Mexico is one of the relatives to potato, S. tuberosum. It has been identified as a source of resistance to crucial pathogens and insects such as Phytophthora infestans, Potato virus Y, Colorado potato beetle, etc. and is widely used for potato breeding. However, the sexual hybridization between S. cardiophyllum and S. tuberosum is limited due to their incompatibility. Therefore, somatic hybridization can introduce beneficial traits from this wild species into the potato. After somatic hybridization, selecting fusion products using molecular markers is essential. In the current study, the chloroplast genome of S. cardiophyllum was sequenced by next-generation sequencing technology and compared with those of other Solanum species to develop S. cardiophyllum-specific markers. The total length of the S. cardiophyllum chloroplast genome was 155,570 bp and its size, gene content, order and orientation were similar to those of the other Solanum species. Phylogenic analysis with 32 other Solanaceae species revealed that S. cardiophyllum was expectedly grouped with other Solanum species and most closely located with S. bulbocastanum. Through detailed comparisons of the chloroplast genome sequences of eight Solanum species, we identified 13 SNPs specific to S. cardiophyllum. Further, four SNP-specific PCR markers were developed for discriminating S. cardiophyllum from other Solanum species. The results obtained in this study would help to explore the evolutionary aspects of Solanum species and accelerate breeding using S. cardiophyllum.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 1994

Autonomously replicating sequence Binding Factor 1(ABF1) is a DNA-binding protein that specifically recognizes the $RTCRYN_5ACG$ at many sites in the yeast genome including the promoter element, mating-type silencer and ARS. To express the intact full-length ABF1 gene in E. coli, the ABF1 gene has been cloned into pMAL-c2 and His-61, Leu-353 and Leu-360 were substituted with other amino acid. ABF1 fusion proteins of wild type ABF1 and H61A, L353R and L360R nutants were purified by amylose resin affinity chromatography. Fusion protein of MBP and ABF1 was digested by Factor Xa and Characterized by gel retardation assay and complementation test. As aresult, we suggested that other DNA binding motif except atypical inc-finger motif is in the middle region of ABF1.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.107-116
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• 1994

Interorder somatic hybrids were obtained by protoplast fusion between Pleurotus ostreatus in the order Agaricales and Elfvingia applanata in the order Aphyllophorales. The fusants were classified into stable heterokaryons and spontaneously segregated heterokaryons. Hyphae of all fusion products except two strains did not form clamp connections. Out of them, two clamped and three clampless fusants produced mature fruiting bodies by light-dark cycle on sawdust rice bran medium. All of these basidiocarps had clamp connections. Three fusants were analysed with the distribution of progenies and segregation of genetic characters by random spore analyses. The genetic markers were shown to segregate and recombine in the first generation of monospores isolated from basidiocarps. Phenotypes of a large number of auxotrophic progenies were not detected in the two clamped fusants. The aberration ratio of segregants indicated the gene interaction resulting from different genome structure between distantly related species. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was adopted for the detection of somatic hybrids nuclear DNA. Four fusants showed a positive results in three kinds of primers. The prominent reaction products are represented by new bands in primer # 87 and # 125. Out of four fusants, two somatic hybrids had non-parental mtDNA patterns when digested with EcoR1 and HindIII. Comparison of somatic hybrids, tissue culture isolates(TC) and multispore germination isolates(MS) were made using esterase isozyme analysis. It is apparent that somatic hybrids had a minor banding patterns which are quite different from those of parents.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.952-958
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• 2007

We isolated many genes induced from pepper cDNA microarray data following their infection with the soybean pustule pathogen Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines 8ra. A full-length cDNA clone of the Capsicum annuum ankyrin-repeat domain $C_3H_1$ zinc finger protein (CaKR1) was identified in a chili pepper using the expressed sequence tag (EST) database. The deduced amino acid sequence of CaKR1 showed a significant sequence similarity (46%) to the ankyrin-repeat protein in very diverse family of proteins of Arabidopsis. The gene was induced in response to various biotic and abiotic stresses in the pepper leaves, as well as by an incompatible pathogen, such as salicylic acid (SA) and ethephon. CaKR1 expression was highest in the root and flower, and its expression was induced by treatment with agents such as NaCl and methyl viologen, as well as by cold stresses. These results showed that CaKR1 fusion with soluble, modified green fluorescent protein (smGFP) was localized to the cytosol in Arabidopsis protoplasts, suggesting that CaKR1 might be involved in responses to both biotic and abiotic stresses in pepper plants.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.329-333
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• 1998

$\beta$-Glucuronidase (GUS) gene of Escherichia coli was introduced into sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) cells by particle bombardment and expressed in the regenerated plants. Microprojectiles coated with DNA of a binary vector pBI121 carrying CaMV35S promoter-GUS gene fusion and a neomycin phosphotransferase gene as selection marker were bombarded on embryogenic calli which originated from shoot apical meristem-derived callus and transferred to Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 100 mg/L kanamycin. Bombarded calli were subcultured at 4 week intervals for six months. Kanamycin-resistant calli transferred to MS medium supplemented with 0.03 mg/L 2iP, 0.03 mg/L ABA, and 50 mg/L kanamycin gave rise to somatic embryos. Upon transfer to MS basal medium without kanamycin, they developed into plantlets. PCR and northern analyses of six regenerants transplanted to potting soil confirmed that the GUS gene was inserted into the genome of the six regenerated plants. A histochemical assay revealed that the GUS gene was preferentially expressed in the vascular bundle and the epidermal layer of leaf, petiole, and tuberous root.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.335-341
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• 2017

The complexity of the bacterial recombination system is a barrier for the construction of bacterial mutants for the further functional investigation of specific genes. Several protocols have been developed to inactivate genes from the genus Pseudomonas. Those protocols are complicated and time-consuming and mostly do not enable easy construction of multiple knock-ins/outs. The current study describes a single and double crossover-recombination system using an optimized vector-free allele-exchange protocol for gene disruption and gene replacement in a single species of the family Pseudomonadaceae. The protocol is based on self-ligation (circularization) for the DNA cassette which has been obtained by overlapping polymerase chain reaction (Fusion-PCR), and carries an antibiotic resistance cassette flanked by homologous internal regions of the target locus. To establish the reproducibility of the approach, three different chromosomal genes (ncRNA31, rpoN, rpoS) were knocked-out from the root-associative bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501. The results showed that the P. stutzeri A1501 mutants, which are free of any plasmid backbone, could be obtained via a single or double crossover recombination. In order to optimize this protocol, three key factors that were found to have great effect on the efficiency of the homologous recombination were further investigated. Moreover, the modified protocol does not require further cloning steps, and it enables the construction of multiple gene knock-in/out mutants sequentially. This work provides a simple and rapid mutagenesis strategy for genome editing in P. stutzeri, which may also be applicable for other gram-negative bacteria.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.357-362
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• 2007

There is an increasing demand for high throughput (HTP) methods for gene analysis on a genome-wide scale. However, the current repertoire of HTP detection methodologies allows only a limited range of cellular phenotypes to be studied. We have constructed two HTP-optimized expression vectors generated from the red fluorescent reporter protein (RFP) gene. These vectors produce RFP-tagged target proteins in a multiple expression system using gateway cloning technology (GCT). The RFP tag was fused with the cloned genes, thereby allowing us localize the expressed proteins in mammalian cells. The effectiveness of the vectors was evaluated using an HTP-screening system. Sixty representative human C2 domains were tagged with RFP and overexpressed in HiB5 neuronal progenitor cells, and we studied in detail two C2 domains that promoted the neuronal differentiation of HiB5 cells. Our results show that the two vectors developed in this study are useful for functional gene analysis using an HTP-screening system on a genome-wide scale.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.29.1-29.6
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• 2022

In September 2017, an outbreak with high mortality, which showed the typical signs of ND, occurred among a flock of more than 2000 Eurasian collared doves in Konarak, southeast of Iran. A confirmed pigeon paramyxovirus type 1 strain was isolated from the brain tissues of the dead doves. The isolate, which was called Pigeon/Iran/Konarak/Barin/2017, was classified as a highly velogenic NDV. Complete genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolate belonged to subgenotype XXI.2, which has never been reported from Iran before. The isolate had the highest homology (96.15%) with early 2010s Italian isolates. Further studies will be required to understand the diversity better.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.631-638
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• 2008

Tandem affinity purification (TAP) method combined with LC-MS/MS is the most accurate and reliable way to study the interaction of proteins or proteomics in a genome-wide scale. For the first time, we used a TAP-tag as a mutagenic tool to disrupt protein interactions at the specific site. Although lots of commonly used mutational tools exist to study functions of a gene, such as deletional mutations and site-directed mutagenesis, each method has its own demerit. To test the usefulness of a TAP-tag as a mutagenic tool, we applied a TAP-tag to RNA polymerase II, which is the key enzyme of gene expression and is controlled by hundreds of transcription factors even to transcribe a gene. Our experiment is based on the hypothesis that there will be interrupted interactions between Pol II and transcription factors owing to the TAP-tag attached at the C-terminus of each subunit of Pol II, and the abnormality caused by interrupted protein interactions can be observed by measuring a cell-cycle of each yeast strain. From ten different TAP-tagged strains, Rpb7- and Rpb12-TAP-tagged strains show severe defects in growth rate and morphology. Without a heterodimer of Rpb4/Rpb7, only the ten subunits Pol II can conduct transcription normally, and there is no previously known function of Rpb7. The observed defect of the Rpb7-TAP-tagged strain shows that Rpb7 forms a complex with other proteins or compounds and the interruption of the interaction can interfere with the normal cell cycle and morphology of the cell and nucleus. This is a novel attempt to use a TAP-tag as a proteomic tool to study protein interactions.