• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.257-262
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• 2005

Mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) sequence analysis has been a useful tool for species identification of animals and human individuals. Two hypervariable regions (HV1 and HV2) in control region of mitochondrial genome were analyzed for human individual identification. In case of animal species identification, several genes on mt DNA such as cytochrome b (cytb), RNAs, cytochrome oxidases (CO) were used. In this study, co-amplification of HV1 and cytb was carried out in order to check the contamination of animal DNA and to verify the human DNA. The primer sets used in PCR were H15997/L16236 for HV1 and H14724/L15149 for cytb. PCR products for HV1 and cytb were 239 bp and 425 bp, respectively. The appearance of two bands on agarose gel implied the DNA came from human, however the single band of cytb gene represented the non-human animal DNA.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.235-242
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• 2014

Cancer cells are known to drastically alter cellular energy metabolism. The Warburg effect has been known for over 80 years as pertaining cancer-specific aerobic glycolysis. As underlying molecular mechanisms are elucidated so that cancer cells alter the cellular energy metabolism for their advantage, the significance of the modulation of metabolic profiles is gaining attention. Now, metabolic reprogramming is becoming an emerging hallmark of cancer. Therapeutic agents that target cancer energy metabolism are under intensive investigation, but these investigations are mostly focused on the cytosolic glycolytic processes. Although mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation is an integral part of cellular energy metabolism, until recently, it has been regarded as an auxiliary to cytosolic glycolytic processes in cancer energy metabolism. In this review, we will discuss the importance of mitochondrial respiration in the metabolic reprogramming of cancer, in addition to discussing the justification for using mitochondrial DNA somatic mutation as metabolic determinants for cancer sensitivity in glucose limitation.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.145-148
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• 2004

We compared the DNA sequence difference of isolates of Clonorchis sinensis from one Korean (Kimhae) and two Chinese areas (Guangxi and Shenyang), The sequences of nuclear rDNA (18S, internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2: ITS1 and ITS2) and mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1: cox1) were compared. A very few intraspecific nucleotide substitution of the 18S, ITS1, ITS2 and cox1 was found among three isolates of C. sinensis and a few nucleotide insertion and deletion of ITS1 were detected. The 18S, ITS1, ITS2 and cox1 sequences were highly conserved among three isolates. These findings indicated that the Korean and two Chinese isolates are similar at the DNA sequence level.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.218-224
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• 1988

Restriction endonucleases were used to search for intraspecific variation at 32 cleavage sites in mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA) purified from fourteen strains of Drosophila melanogaster helonging to different localities of the world. mtDNA of D. melanogaster was displayed site variation(Hpall, Haelll and Seal endonucleases) and length variation(maxirnum 550bp). Six genotypes, Ml, M2, M3, M4, M6 and M7, could be distinguished based on ihe site types witti a low average of intraspecific substitution rate (1.88%),but M5 type of Ogasawara strain in Japan was not detected in this study. A possible explanation for the low divergence was that mtDNA variation of fourteen strains in D. melanogaster could not he accumulated sufficiently owing to recent divergence of few individuals, and that sequence divergence was prevented by frequent migration in spite of the geographical isolation.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2017

The tiny dragonfly, Nannophya pygmaea (Odonata: Libellulidae), is an endangered insect in South Korea. Previously, a partial mitochondrial DNA sequence that corresponded to a DNA barcoding region has been used to infer genetic diversity and gene flow. In this study, we additionally sequenced the barcoding region from N. pygmaea that had been collected from three previously sampled populations (40 individuals) and these sequences were combined with the preexisting data. We also selected and sequenced an additional mitochondrial gene (ND5) to find further variable gene regions in the mitochondrial genome. DNA barcoding sequences of 108 individuals from five South Korean localities showed that genetic diversity was highest in Gangjin, Jeollanam-do Province. Muuido, which was previously occupied by a single haplotype, was also found to have an identical haplotype, which confirmed the low genetic diversity on this islet. Gene flow among populations is highly limited, and no clear distance- or region-based geographic partitioning was observed. Phylogenetic relationships among haplotypes showed that there were no discernable haplotypes in South Korea. ND5 provided slightly more haplotypes compared to the barcoding region in 40 individuals (14 vs. 10 haplotypes in the COI gene). It also had a slightly higher within-locality diversity estimate, which suggested that ND5 had potential as mitochondrial DNA-based marker for population genetic analysis.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.52
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• pp.337.1-337.14
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• 2018

Background: Mitochondrial heteroplasmy, the co-existence of different mitochondrial polymorphisms within an individual, has various forensic and clinical implications. But there is still no guideline on the application of massively parallel sequencing (MPS) in heteroplasmy detection. We present here some critical issues that should be considered in heteroplasmy studies using MPS. Methods: Among five samples with known innate heteroplasmies, two pairs of mixture were generated for artificial heteroplasmies with target minor allele frequencies (MAFs) ranging from 50% to 1%. Each sample was amplified by two-amplicon method and sequenced by Ion Torrent system. The outcomes of two different analysis tools, Torrent Suite Variant Caller (TVC) and mtDNA-Server (mDS), were compared. Results: All the innate heteroplasmies were detected correctly by both analysis tools. Average MAFs of artificial heteroplasmies correlated well to the target values. The detection rates were almost 90% for high-level heteroplasmies, but decreased for low-level heteroplasmies. TVC generally showed lower detection rates than mDS, which seems to be due to their own computation algorithms which drop out some reference-dominant heteroplasmies. Meanwhile, mDS reported several unintended low-level heteroplasmies which were suggested as nuclear mitochondrial DNA sequences. The average coverage depth of each sample placed on the same chip showed considerable variation. The increase of coverage depth had no effect on the detection rates. Conclusion: In addition to the general accuracy of the MPS application on detecting heteroplasmy, our study indicates that the understanding of the nature of mitochondrial DNA and analysis algorithm would be crucial for appropriate interpretation of MPS results.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.482-485
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• 2006

Korean native goats have lived on the Korean peninsula for more than 2,000 years and are regarded as a valuable genetic resource for the world. As an initial step to investigate the genetic structures of this breed, phylogenetic analysis and calculation of genetic diversities have been performed using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variations. A total of 19 Korean native goats were grouped into six haplotypes and the large majority of haplotypes were present in 13 animals. All mtDNA of these Korean goats belonged to the mitochondrial (mt) lineage A and revealed remarkably small genetic distances within the population when compared with other Asian goat populations, indicating less genetic variation in the Korean native goats. These results indicate high-inbred status of the Korean native goats and will influence breeding and conservation strategies adopted for this breed.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.57-64
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• 2007

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is known to protect the heart against ischemia/reperfusion (IR)-induced injuries, and regional differences in the mitochondrial antioxidant state during IR or IPC may promote the death or survival of viable and infarcted cardiac tissues under oxidative stress. To date, however, the interplay between the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme system and the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the body has not yet been resolved. In the present study, we examined the effects of IR- and IPC-induced oxidative stresses on mitochondrial function in viable and infarcted cardiac tissues. Our results showed that the mitochondria from viable areas in the IR-induced group were swollen and fused, whereas those in the infarcted area were heavily damaged. IPC protected the mitochondria, thus reducing cardiac injury. We also found that the activity of the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme system, which includes manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), was enhanced in the viable areas compared to the infarcted areas in proportion with decreasing levels of ROS and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage. These changes were also present between the IPC and IR groups. Regional differences in Mn-SOD expression were shown to be related to a reduction in mtDNA damage as well as to the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c (Cyt c). To the best of our knowledge, this might be the first study to explore the regional mitochondrial changes during IPC. The present findings are expected to help elucidate the molecular mechanism involved in IPC and helpful in the development of new clinical strategies against ischemic heart disease.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.259-265
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• 2014

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-depleted (${\rho}^0$) cells are often used as mtDNA recipients to study the interaction between the nucleus and mitochondria in mammalian cells. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain mtDNA-depleted cells with many different nuclear backgrounds for the study. Here, we demonstrate a rapid and reliable method to isolate mammalian mtDNA-depleted cells involving treatment with the antimitochondrial agents ethidium bromide (EtBr) and 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC). After a short exposure to EtBr or ddC, followed by rapid clonal isolation, we were able to generate viable mtDNA-depleted cells from mouse and human cells and were able to successfully repopulate them with exogenous mitochondria from platelets isolated from mouse and human blood samples. These mtDNA-depleted cells can be used to characterize the nuclear mitochondrial interactions and to study mtDNA-associated defects in mammalian cells. Our method of isolating mtDNA-depleted cells is practical and applicable to a variety of cell types.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.215-228
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• 1999

To choose one or more appropriate molecular markers or gene regions for resolving a particular systematic question among the organisms at a certain categorical level is still a very difficult process. The primary goal of this review, therefore, is to provide a theoretical information in choosing one or more molecular markers or gene regions by illustrating general properties and phylogenetic utilities of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that have been most commonly used for phylogenetic researches. The highly conserved molecular markers and/or gene regions are useful for investigating phylogenetic relationships at higher categorical levels (deep branches of evolutionary history). On the other hand, the hypervariable molecular markers and/or gene regions are useful for elucidating phylogenetic relationships at lower categorical levels (recently diverged branches). In summary, different selective forces have led to the evolution of various molecular markers or gene regions with varying degrees of sequence conservation. Thus, appropriate molecular markers or gene regions should be chosen with even greater caution to deduce true phylogenetic relationships over a broad taxonomic spectrum.