• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2005

Methylophaga aminosulfidovorans SK1 (KCTC 10323 BP) can utilize trimethylamine as a sole carbon, nitrogen, and energy source. The bacterial flavin-containing monooxygenase (bFMO) gene was identified in the strain and the recombinant enzyme expressed in E. coli oxidized trimethylamine. To study the function and regulation of the bfmo, over 8,000 nucleotide sequences of the neighboring regions including the bfmo were determined. Three open reading frames proceeding to the bfmo gene encoded analogues to highly conserved nitrate/nitrite sensing two-component system regulators and a methyl accepting protein. Two small open reading frames just downstream of the bfmo gene showed no similar proteins of known functions but the sequences were conserved among other bacteria. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the six putative genes consisted of three transcription units. The three regulatory genes located upstream of the bfmo gene formed two separate transcription units. The bfmo and the two downstream genes were transcribed from a single promoter.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.371-376
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• 1992

Plasmid pSL4 of plasmid pKM 101 mutant have high protection effects and mutagenecity for UV and methyl methanesulfonate, The mucA gene and a pan of mucE gene of pKM 101 and pSL4 were sucloned onto lacZ' fusion vector pMC874 and the hybrid plasmids pBH31 and pBH30 were selected. These plsmids were intrduced into $recA^{+}lexA^{-}$, $recA^{-}와lexA^{+}$ strains and determined the activity of $\beta$-galactosidase for UV. In $recA^{+}lexA^{+}$ strain.$\beta$-galactosidase activity of pBH30 included mue region of pSL4 was higher thall pBH31 inclued muc region of pKM 10 I and the tf-galactosidase of two plasmids was not induced in reeA and leeA mutants with or without UV illumination. Without UV illumination. the .$\beta$-galactosidasc of pBH30 was expressed a little higher level than that of pBH3L We suggest that the functional difference of pKM 10l and pSL4 are due to the variety of mue regulatory region. Also. a plasmid pBH 100 earring umuC' -lacZ' gene fusion was constructed in vitro to study the regulation of the umu operon. It was shown that the umu operon is induced by UV and is regulated by the reeA and lexA genes.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2010

There are four key factors for gas-phase biofilters; biocatalysts(microorganisms), packing materials, design/operating techniques, and diagnosis/management techniques. Biofilter performance is significantly affected by microbial community structures as well as loading conditions. The microbial studies on biofilters are mostly performed on basis of culture-dependent methods. Recently, advanced methods have been proposed to characterize the microbial community structure in environmental samples. In this study, the physiological, biochemical and molecular methods for profiling microbial communities are reviewed, and their applicability to biofilters is discussed. Community-level physiological profile is based on the utilization capability of carbon substrate by heterotrophic community in environmental samples. Phospholipid fatty acid analysis method is based on the variability of fatty acids present in cell membranes of different microorganisms. Molecular methods using DNA directly extracted from environmental samples can be divided into "partial community DNA analysis" and "whole community DNA analysis" approaches. The former approaches consist in the analysis of PCR-amplified sequence, the genes of ribosomal operon are the most commonly used sequences. These methods include PCR fragment cloning and genetic fingerprinting such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism, ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis, and random amplified polymorphic DNA. The whole community DNA analysis methods are total genomic cross-DNA hybridization, thermal denaturation and reassociation of whole extracted DNA and extracted whole DNA fractionation using density gradient.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1420-1429
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• 2020

Corynebacterium glutamicum, an important industrial strain, has a relatively slower reproduction rate. To acquire a growth-boosted C. glutamicum, a descendant strain was isolated from a continuous culture after 600 generations. The isolated descendant C. glutamicum, JH41 strain, was able to double 58% faster (t_d=1.15 h) than the parental type strain (PT, t_d=1.82 h). To understand the factors boosting reproduction, the transcriptomes of JH41 and PT strains were compared. The mRNAs involved in respiration and TCA cycle were upregulated. The intracellular ATP of the JH41 strain was 50% greater than the PT strain. The upregulation of NCgl1610 operon (a putative dyp-type heme peroxidase, a putative copper chaperone, and a putative copper importer) that presumed to role in the assembly and redox control of cytochrome c oxidase was found in the JH41 transcriptome. Plasmid-driven expression of the operon enabled the PT strain to double 19% faster (t_d=1.82 h) than its control (t_d=2.17 h) with 14% greater activity of cytochrome c oxidase and 27% greater intracellular ATP under the oxidative stress conditions. Upregulations of genes those might enhance translation fitness were also found in the JH41 transcriptome. Plasmid-driven expressions of NCgl0171 (encoding a cold-shock protein) and NCgl2435 (encoding a putative peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase) enabled the PT to double 22% and 32% faster than its control, respectively (empty vector: t_d=1.93 h, CspA: t_d=1.58 h, and Pth: t_d=1.44 h). Based on the results, the factors boosting growth rate in C. gluctamicum were further discussed in the viewpoints of cellular energy state, oxidative stress management, and translation.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.495-501
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• 2010

Peaches (Prunus persica) are less popular than the fresh fruits, because their flesh gets soft faster. So many breeders focused on their aim to firmness. Other breeders focused on juiciness, flavor and aroma. Breeding requires much labor, time and money. To reduce these requirements, many scientists develop many SSR, CAPS and SCAR makers. New peach varieties bred in our National Institute of Horticultural & Herbal Science (NIHHS) such as, Cheonhong, Suhong and Harhong are yellow flesh cultivars and Yumyeong, Baekmijosaeng, Baekhyang, Jinmi, Soomee, Mihong, Misshong and Yumee are white flesh cultivars. These peach cultivars are planted in orchard of Korea. To assert breeding cultivar patents and prevent patent disputes, we detected cultivar-specific DNA fragment using 235 sets of Operon RAPD primers, analyzed 134 DNA sequences and constructed SCAR primers. To confirm the cultivar-specific SCAR markers, we applied candidate SCAR primers to 30 peach cultivars widely cultivated in Korea. These selected lines are included father and mother lines that were used to develop new varieties in NIHHS. Using fourteen SCAR primer sets, we characterized thirty cultivars selected. The SCAR marker is expected to serve as molecular evidence distinguishing different peach varieties.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.152-157
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• 2019

Porphyra yezoensis is a red algal species in the genus Porphyra. The phenetics and genetic diversity of four populations of P. yezoensis in Korea were reconstructed using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Overall, 55 fragments were generated among the tested P. yezoensis array with 20 OPERON primers. A total of 30(54.5%) of these bands were polymorphic. The OPA-18-02 band was amplified in the samples of Nakdong population and absent in them of other three populations. The OPA-20-02 band was only amplified in the Seocheon population. Both bands exhibited distinctive patterns in specific populations. The effective number of alleles per locus (Ae) ranged from 1.161 to 1.293 with a mean of 1.366. The Seocheon population had a high expected diversity (0.163). The Nakdong population was an isolated endemic and intertidal zone. Thus the narrow distributed Nakdong population had a low expected diversity (0.092). Shannon's index of phenotypic diversity (I) of the Seocheon population (0.238) was the highest among all populations. Total genetic diversity ($H_T$) varied between 0.132 for OPA-02 and 0.420 for OPA-19. The interlocus variation of genetic diversity ($H_S$) was 0.059 for OPA-18 and 0.339 for OPA-19. On a per locus basis, the proportion of total genetic variation due to differences among populations ($G_{ST}$) ranged from 0.012 for OPA-11 to 0.762 for OPA-18 with a mean of 0.415, indicating that 42% of the total variation was found among these populations. In an assessment of the proportion of diversity present within this species, 58.5% (100%-41.5%) of genetic variation resided within the populations studied. The Nm was estimated to be low (0.705).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.509-516
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• 1998

A plasmid vector, pXGPRMATG-lac-Tgx, was developed for overproduction of $\beta$-galactosidase in Escherichia coli using the genetic components of groEx, a heat-shock gene cloned from symbiotic X-bacteria in Amoeba proteus. The vector is composed of intragenic promoters P3 and P4 of groEx, the structural gene of lac operon, transcription tenninator signals of lac and groEx, and ColEl and amp'of pBluescript SKII. The optimized host, E. coli DH5$\alpha$, transfonned with the vector constitutively produced 117,310-171,961 Miller units of $\beta$-galactosidase per mg protein in crude extract. The amount of enzyme in crude extract was 53% of total water-soluble proteins. About 43% of the enzyme could be purified to a specific activity of 322,249 Miller units/mg protein after two-fold purification, using two cycles of precipitation with ammonium sulfate and one step of gel filtration. Thus, the expression system developed in this study presents a low-cost and simple method for purifying overproduced $\beta$-galactosidase in E. coli.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1672-1677
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• 2008

IscR (iron-sulfur cluster regulator) has been reported to be a repressor of the iscRSUA operon, and in vitro transcription reactions have revealed that IscR has a repressive effect on the iscR promoter in the case of [$Fe_{2}S_{2}$] cluster loading. In the present study, the iscR gene from A. ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 was cloned and successfully expressed in Escherichia coli, and then purified by one-step affinity chromatography to homogeneity. The molecular mass of the IscR was 18 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The optical and EPR spectra results for the recombinant IscR confirmed that an iron-sulfur cluster was correctly inserted into the active site of the protein. However, no [$Fe_{2}S_{2}$] cluster was assembled in apoIscR with ferrous iron and sulfide in vitro. Therefore, the [$Fe_{2}S_{2}$] cluster assembly in IscR in vivo would appear to require scaffold proteins and follow the Isc "AUS" pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2009

A number of bifidobacterial species of human origin were screened for the presence of cryptic plasmids. One strain, Bifidobacterium longum FI10564, harbored plasmids of approximately 2.2 kb, 3.6 kb, and 4.9 kb in size. The smallest plasmid, pFI2576(2,197 bp), was studied in detail and its complete nucleotide sequence was determined. Computer-assisted analysis of this novel plasmid(G+C content 62%) identified 9 putative open reading frames(orfs), 3 of which were shown to be probable genes. These putative genes are arranged in an operon-like structure, in which the overlapping orfs 1 and 2 encode putative Rep proteins and are highly homologous to the rep genes of the B. longum plasmid pMBI(1,847 bp). The mechanism of replication of pFI2576 was investigated using Southern blot analysis of whole cell lysates, with and without S1 nuclease treatment, and atomic force microscopy(AFM). The results indicate that pFI2576 is likely to use the theta mode of replication.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.139-144
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• 2016

Synthetic oscillators are gene circuits in which the protein expression will change over time. The delay of transcription, translation, and protein folding is used to form this kind of behavior. Here, we tried to design a synthetic oscillator by a negative feedback combined with a positive feedback. With the mutant promoter P_LacC repressed by LacIq and P_Lux activated by AHL-bound LuxR, two gene circuits, Os-LAA and Os-ASV, were constructed and introduced into LacI-deleted E. coli DH5α cells. When glucose was used as the carbon source, a low level of fluorescence was detected in the culture, and the bacteria with Os-ASV showed no oscillation, whereas a small portion of those carrying Os-LAA demonstrated oscillation behavior with a period of about 68.3 ± 20 min. When glycerol was used as the carbon source, bacteria with Os-ASV demonstrated high fluorescence value and oscillation behavior with the period of about 121 ± 21 min.