• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.12
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• pp.647-654
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• 2015

Energy homeostasis in our body system is maintained by balancing the intake and expenditure of energy. Excessive accumulation of fat by disrupting the balance system causes overweight and obesity, which are increasingly becoming global health concerns. Understanding the pathogenesis of obesity focused on studying the genes related to familial types of obesity. Recently, a rare human genetic disorder, ciliopathy, links the role for genes regulating structure and function of a cellular organelle, the primary cilium, to metabolic disorder, obesity and type II diabetes. Primary cilia are microtubule based hair-like membranous structures, lacking motility and functions such as sensing the environmental cues, and transducing extracellular signals within the cells. Interestingly, the subclass of ciliopathies, such as Bardet-Biedle and Alström syndrome, manifest obesity and type II diabetes in human and mouse model systems. Moreover, studies on genetic mouse model system indicate that more ciliary genes affect energy homeostasis through multiple regulatory steps such as central and peripheral actions of leptin and insulin. In this review, we discuss the latest findings in primary cilia and metabolic disorders, and propose the possible interaction between primary cilia and the leptin and insulin signal pathways which might enhance our understanding of the unambiguous link of a cell's antenna to obesity and type II diabetes.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.142-145
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• 1995

The pumb gene encoding a basic amino acid transport protein in Neurospora crassa could be cloned by using a mutant strain defective in pmb gene as a host strain, using a negative selection on the media containing amino acid analogue canavanine. To select positive transformants of the genes for cloning, an auxotrophic marker (his-2) was added to a pmb mutant strain by mating ; a triple mutant (pmn : pmb : his-2) was constructued by crossing a strain defective in basic amino acid transport system (# 1683-bat um 535 "A") to a double mutant strain defective in neutral amino acid transport and histidine production (mitrol : his-2 "a"). Crossing was performed on synthetic crossing (SC) media containing histidine. The pmn : pmb and pmn :pmb : his-2 strains were selected among the progeny colonies from crosses on plates containing 5- .mu.g/ml para-fluoro-phenylalanine (PFPA), 200 .mu.g/ml canavanine, and 500 .mu.g/ml histidine. The selected colonies were cultured on minimal media with or without histidine for discarding pmn : pmb strain, because the pmn : pmb : his -2 strain grows only on histidine containing media. The pmn :pmb : his-2 strain selected can be used as a host strain for the cloning of the pmb and the pmn genes from a Neurospora genomic library by means of positive selections.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.45 no.1 s.141
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• pp.59-63
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• 2007

Merozoite surface protein-1(MSP-1) and merozoite surface protein-2(MSP-2) were used to develop vaccines and to investigate the genetic diversity in Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Iran. Nested polymerase chain reaction amplification was used to determine polymorph isms of block 2 of the MSP-1 and the central domain of MSP-2 genes. A total of 67 microscopically positive P. falciparum infected individuals from a major endemic region, southeast Iran, were included in this trial. Nine alleles of MSP-1 and 11 alleles of MSP-2 were identified. The results showed that amplified product from these surface antigen genes varied in size and there was specific pattern for each isolate. Besides, regarding this pattern, 23 multiple infections with at least 2 alleles were observed. While the endemic regions of malaria in Iran is classified in low to moderate group, but extensive polymorphism was observed for each marker and the MSP-2 central repeat was the most diverse that could be considered in designing malaria vaccine.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.765-770
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• 2014

This study aimed to characterize CTX-M producers of urinary E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates and to determine the prevalence of plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance genes among them. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined, and PCR and sequencing were performed. Among the 42 (82.3%) E. coli and 24 (77.4%) K. pneumoniae isolates containing $bla_{CTX-M}$, $bla_{CTX-M-14}$ and $bla_{CTX-M-15}$ were detected in 23 and 19 E. coli isolates, respectively, and in 7 and 17 K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively. CTX-M producers of urinary E. coli and K. pneumoniae were resistant to multiple antibiotics and contained other antimicrobial resistance genes. CTX-M-15 producers contained more antimicrobial resistance genes than did CTX-M-14 producers.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1169-1176
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• 2007

Genes encoding proteins responsible for limonene catabolism were cloned from a limonene-degrading microorganism, Enterobacter cowanii 6L, which was isolated from citron (Citrus junos) peel. The 8.6, 4.7, and 7.7 kb fragments (CD3, CD4, and CD6) of E. cowanii 6L chromosomal DNA that confer to E. coli the ability to grow on limonene have been cloned and their corresponding DNA sequences were determined. Nine open reading frames (ORFs) were identified, and the four ORFs (921 bp of CD3-2; 1,515 bp of CD4-1; 1,776 bp of CD6-1; and 1,356 bp of CD6-2) that encode limonene hydroxylase were confirmed by independently expressing these genes in E. coli. FAD and NADH were found to stimulate the hydroxylation reaction if added to cell extracts from E. coli recombinants, and multiple compounds (linalool, dihydrolinalool, perillyl alcohol, (${\alpha}-terpineol$, and ${\gamma}-terpineol$) were the principal products observed. Our results suggest that the isolate E. cowanii 6L has a broad metabolic capability including utilization of limonene. This broad metabolic ability was confirmed by identifying four novel limonene hydroxylase functional ORFs in E. cowanii 6L.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.437-448
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• 2016

Gene set analysis utilizing biologic information is expected to produce more interpretable results because the occurrence of tumors (or diseases) is believed to be associated with the regulation of related genes. Many methods have been developed to identify statistically significant gene sets across different phenotypes; however, most focus exclusively on either the differential gene expression or the differential correlation structure in the gene set. This research provides a new method that simultaneously considers the differential expression of genes and differential coexpression with multiple genes in the gene set. Application of this NEW method is illustrated with real microarray data example, p53; subsequently, a simulation study compares its type I error rate and power with GSEA, SAMGS, GSCA and GSNCA.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.259-265
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• 2008

This study was conducted to investigate incidence of extended-spectrum ${\beta}$-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains and characteristics of ESBL gene in pathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from poultry during the period from April 2003 to December 2005 in Korea. Among 203 isolates, 4 isolates (3 from broilers and 1 from layer) were confirmed as ESBL producing strains by double disk synergy test, polymerase chain reaction and sequencing for ${\beta}$-lactamase genes. $bla_{CTX-M-15}$ and $bla_{CMY-2}$ were detected in these 4 isolates and were transferred to recipient by conjugation, respectively. Also, these ESBL producing strains were associated with multiple drug resistance. In conclusion, these results exhibit incidence of CTX-M and CMY-2 ${\beta}$-lactamase in pathogenic E coli from poultry in Korea, and clinically important meaning in human. And they also suggest the needs for rapid and broad surveillance to monitor ESBL genes and R plasmid transferring resistant gene in poultry.

• ALGAE
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Genomic data is accumulating in public database at an unprecedented rate. Although presently dominated by the sequences of metazoan, plant, parasitic, and picoeukaryotic taxa, both expressed sequence tag (EST) and complete genomes of free-living algae are also slowly appearing. This wealth of information offers the opportunity to clarify many long-standing issues in algal and plant evolution such as the contribution of the plastid endosymbiont to nuclear genome evolution using the tools of comparative genomics and multi-gene phylogenetics. A particularly powerful approach for the automated analysis of genome data from multiple taxa is termed phylogenomics. Phylogenomics is the convergence of genomics science (the study of the function and structure of genes and genomes) and molecular phylogenetics (the study of the hierarchical evolutionary relationships among organisms, their genes and genomes). The use of phylogenetics to drive comparative genome analyses has facilitated the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of genes, gene families, and organisms. Here we survey the available genome data, introduce phylogenomic pipelines, and review some initial results of phylogenomic analyses of algal genome data.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.95-106
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• 2012

It has been revealed that multiple cohorts of tertiary follicles develop during some animal estrous cycle and the human menstrual cycle. To reach developmental competence, oocytes need the support of somatic cells. During embryogenesis, the primordial germ cells appear, travel to the gonadal rudiments, and form follicles. The female germ cells develop within the somatic cells of the ovary, granulosa cells, and theca cells. How the oocyte and follicle cells support each other has been seriously studied. The latest technologies in genes and proteins and genetic engineering have allowed us to collect a great deal of information about folliculogenesis. For example, a few web pages (http://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov; http://mrg.genetics.washington.edu) provide access to databases of genomes, sequences of transcriptomes, and various tools for analyzing and discovering genes important in ovarian development. Formation of the antrum (tertiary follicle) is the final phase of folliculogenesis and the transition from intraovarian to extraovian regulation. This final step coordinates with the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. On the other hand, currently, follicle physiology is under intense investigation, as little is known about how to overcome women's ovarian problems or how to develop competent oocytes from in vitro follicle culture or transplantation. In this review, some of the known roles of hormones and some of the genes involved in tertiary follicle growth and the general characteristics of tertiary follicles are summarized. In addition, in vitro culture of tertiary follicles is also discussed as a study model and an assisted reproductive technology model.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.158-165
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• 2015

Marbling is an important trait regarding the quality of beef. Analysis of beef cattle transcriptome and its expression profile data are essential to extend the genetic information resources and would support further studies on beef cattle. RNA sequencing was performed in beef cattle using the Illumina High-Seq2000 platform. Approximately 251.58 million clean reads were generated from a high marbling (H) group and low marbling (L) group. Approximately 80.12% of the 19,994 bovine genes (protein coding) were detected in all samples, and 749 genes exhibited differential expression between the H and L groups based on fold change (>1.5-fold, p<0.05). Multiple gene ontology terms and biological pathways were found significantly enriched among the differentially expressed genes. The transcriptome data will facilitate future functional studies on marbling formation in beef cattle and may be applied to improve breeding programs for cattle and closely related mammals.