• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1852-1859
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• 2019

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus, belonging to the genus Alphavirus of the Togaviridae family. It causes multiple symptoms, including headache, fever, severe joint and muscle pain, and arthralgia. Since CHIKV was first isolated in Tanzania in 1952, there have been multiple outbreaks of chikungunya fever. However, its pathogenesis and mechanisms of viral immune evasion have been poorly understood. In addition, the exact roles of individual CHIKV genes on the host innate immune response remain largely unknown. To investigate if CHIKV-encoded genes modulate the type I interferon (IFN) response, each and every CHIKV gene was screened for its effects on the induction of the IFN-β promoter. Here we report that CHIKV nsP2, E2 and E1 strongly suppressed activation of the IFN-β promoter induced by the MDA5/RIG-I receptor signaling pathway, suggesting that nsP2, E2, and E1 are the major antagonists against induction of IFN-β. Delineation of underlying mechanisms of CHIKV-mediated inhibition of the IFN-β pathway may help develop virus-specific therapeutics and vaccines.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2010

Expression patterns of OsAREB1 revealed that expression of OsAREB1 gene can be induced by ABA, PEG and heat. Yeast one-hybrid assay demonstrated it can bind to ABA-responsive element (ABRE), which was found in most stress-induced genes. Transgenic Arabidopsis over-expressing OsAREB1 had different responses to ABA and glucose compared to wild-type plants, which suggest OsAREB1 might have a crucial role in these two signaling pathways. Further analysis indicate that OsAREB1 have multiple functions in Arabidopsis. First, OsAREB1 transgenic plants had higher resistance to drought and heat, and OsAREB1 up-regulated the ABA/stress related gene such as RD29A and RD29B. Second, it delayed plant flowering time by down-regulating the expression of flowering-related genes, such as FT, SOC1, LFY and AP1. Due to the dates, OsAREB1 may function as a positive regulator in drought/heat stresses response, but a negative regulator in flowering time in Arabidopsis.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.300-304
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• 1997

Leaf dise explants of Solanum tuberosum cultivar. Desiree and Atlantic, were infected with a Agrobacterium MP90 strain containing chimeric gene construct, consisting of antibiotic and low temperature regulated gene (H28) for transformation. regenerated multiple shoots were selected on a medium containing kanamycin and carbenieillin after exposure to Agrobacterium. Both PCR analysis of NPT Ⅱ, H28 genes and northern blot analysis indicated that the genes coding for the enzyme were successfully integrated into the potato genome and could be expressed in potato plants.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1105-1109
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• 2015

Chemoresistance is the most common cause of chemotherapy failure during breast cancer (BCA) treatment. It is generally known that the mechanisms of chemoresistance in tumors involve multiple genes and multiple signaling pathways,; if appropriate drugs are used to regulate the mechanisms at the gene level, it should be possible to effectively reverse chemoresistance in BCA cells. It has been confirmed that chemoresistance in BCA cells could be reversed by ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2). Preliminary studies of our group identified some drugresistance specific miRNA. Accordingly, we proposed that G-Rh2 could mediate drug-resistance specific miRNA and corresponding target genes through the gene regulatory network; this could cut off the drug-resistance process in tumors and enhance treatment effects. G-Rh2 and breast cancer cells were used in our study. Through pharmaceutical interventions, we could explore how G-Rh2 could inhibit chemotherapy resistance in BCA, and analyze its impact on related miRNA and target genes. Finally, we will reveal the anti-resistance molecular mechanisms of G-Rh2 from a different angle in miRNA-mediated chemoresistance signals among cells.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.3.1-3.10
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• 2018

Background: Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the most common causes of seafood-borne illnesses in Korea, either directly or indirectly, by consuming infected seafood. Many studies have demonstrated the antibiotic susceptibility profile of V. parahaemolyticus. This strain has developed multiple antibiotic resistance, which has raised serious public health and economic concerns. This article reviews the food-borne outbreaks, distributions, virulence, and antibiotic resistance profiles of V. parahaemolyticus in Korea during 2003-2016. Main body: V. parahaemolyticus infections appeared to be seasonally dependent, because 69.7% of patient infections occurred in both August and September during 2003-2016. In addition, the occurrence of V. parahaemolyticus in marine environments varies seasonally but is particularly high in July, August, and September. V. parahaemolyticus isolated from aquaculture sources on the Korean coast varied in association with virulence genes, some did not possess either the tdh (thermostable direct hemolysin) or trh (tdh-related hemolysin) genes, and a few were positive for only the trh gene or both genes. The high percentage of ampicillin resistance against V. parahaemolyticus in the aquatic environment suggests that ampicillin cannot be used to effectively treat infections caused by this organism. Short conclusion: This study shows that the observed high percentage of multiple antibiotic resistance to V. parahaemolyticus is due to conventionally used antibiotics. Therefore, monitoring the antimicrobial resistance patterns at a national level and other solutions are needed to control aquaculture infections, ensure seafood safety, and avoid threats to public health caused by massive misuse of antibiotics.

• 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.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2015

Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (MED) is one of the more common skeletal dysplasias. MED is characterized by joint pain and stiffness, a waddling gait, and/or mild short stature in childhood. Radiographic findings include delayed and irregular ossification of the epiphyses in multiple joints. Mutations in at least six different genes (COMP, MATN3, COL9A1, COL9A2, COL9A3, and DTDST) can cause MED, and it can be either dominant or recessive inheritance. Molecular diagnosis is important for accurate prognosis and genetic counselling. COMP mutation is the most common form of MED in Western. But, MATN3 mutation was reported as the most common type of MED in Korea. Here, we describe a boy who was diagnosed as MED by clinical and radiological features. Hip radiograph of the patient was suggested MATN3 mutation. But knee radiograph was suggested COMP mutation. MATN3 and COMP mutations direct sequencing, but were no mutation. So we tested whole exome sequencing, but significant variant was not detected as known MED six genes mutations. The patient was diagnosed as having MED clinically and radiologically. Further study to identify the other responsible genes for MED is needed.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.576-582
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• 2019

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is an opportunistic pathogen in dogs and is recognized as a zoonotic pathogen causing public health concern. Although canine-associated S. pseudintermedius has mainly been recognized for its antimicrobial resistance and ability to cause skin infections in dogs, information on antimicrobial resistance profiles and enterotoxigenicity of S. pseudintermedius in livestock is very limited. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of 18 different staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) genes and toxic shock syndrome toxin gene (tst-1) in S. pseudintermedius strains isolated from dogs, pigs, and beef cattle. Moreover, antimicrobial resistance profiles of the strains were determined along with the presence of mecA and SCCmec types. Except for one bovine isolate, all S. pseudintermedius isolates from dogs and pigs were resistant to multiple drugs (≥ 4 different drugs). Four out of six canine isolates were methicillin resistant and carried SCCmec type V. In addition, 11 different SE genes (seb, sec, see, seg, sei, sej, sel, seo, sep, seq, and seu) and tst-1 were identified in S. pseudintermedius isolates from dogs, pigs, and beef cattle. Most S. pseudintermedius isolates (83%) harbored multiple SE genes, and sel (42%) and sep (42%) were most frequently detected in the isolates. Our results suggested that S. pseudintermedius isolates from livestock and companion animals may serve as a reservoir for SE genes and antimicrobial resistance.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.151-160
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• 2005

By a cDNA array representing 2308 signal transduction related genes, we studied the expression profiles of HeLa cells stably transfected by Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 4B (HCV-NS4B). The alterations of the expression of four genes were confirmed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR; and the aldo-keto reductase family 1, member C1 (AKR1C1) enzyme activity was detected in HCV-NS4B transiently transfected HeLa cells and Huh-7, a human hepatoma cell line. Of the 2,308 genes we examined, 34 were up-regulated and 56 were down-regulated. These 90 genes involved oncogenes, tumor suppressors, cell receptors, complements, adhesions, transcription and translation, cytoskeletion and cellular stress. The expression profiling suggested that multiple regulatory pathways were affected by HCV-NS4B directly or indirectly. And since these genes are related to carcinogenesis, host defense system and cell homeostatic mechanism, we can conclude that HCV-NS4B could play some important roles in the pathogenesis mechanism of HCV.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1597-1606
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• 2020

Transcription factor engineering to regulate multiple genes has shown promise in the field of microalgae genetic engineering. Here, we report the first use of transcription factor engineering in Chlorella sp. HS2, thought to have potential for producing biofuels and bioproducts. We identified seven endogenous bZIP transcription factors in Chlorella sp. HS2 and named them HSbZIP1 through HSbZIP7. We overexpressed HSbZIP1, a C-type bZIP transcription factor, in Chlorella sp. HS2 with the goal of enhancing lipid production. Phenotype screening under heterotrophic conditions showed that all transformants exhibited increased fatty acid production. In particular, HSbZIP1 37 and 58 showed fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yields of 859 and 1,052 mg/l, respectively, at day 10 of growth under heterotrophic conditions, and these yields were 74% and 113% higher, respectively, than that of WT. To elucidate the mechanism underlying the improved phenotypes, we identified candidate HSbZIP1-regulated genes via transcription factor binding site analysis. We then selected three genes involved in fatty acid synthesis and investigated mRNA expression levels of the genes by qRT-PCR. The result revealed that the possible HSbZIP1-regulated genes involved in fatty acid synthesis were upregulated in the HSbZIP1 transformants. Taken together, our results demonstrate that HSbZIP1 can be utilized to improve lipid production in Chlorella sp. HS2 under heterotrophic conditions.