• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.609-616
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• 2021

Bacterial soft rot, caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc), is one of the destructive diseases of radish (Raphanus sativus) in Asian countries. The objective of this study was to establish an efficient bioassay method for the evaluation of bacterial soft rot resistance in commercial radish cultivars. First, an efficient bioassay method for examining resistance to bacterial soft rot in commercial radish cultivars was investigated. Six commercial radish cultivars were tested under various conditions: two temperatures (25℃ and 30℃), three inoculations methods (drenching, spraying, and root dipping), and two growth stages (two- and four-leaf stages). The results suggested that spraying with 1×10⁶ cfu/ml of bacterial inoculums during the four-leaf stage and incubating at 30℃ could be the most efficient screening method for bacterial soft rot resistance in commercial radish cultivars. Second, we investigated the degree of resistance of 41 commercial radish cultivars to five Pcc isolates, namely KACC 10225, KACC 10343, KACC 10421, KACC 10458, and KACC 13953. KACC 10421 had the strongest susceptibility in terms of moderately resistant disease response to bacterial soft rot. Out of the 41 radish cultivars, 13 were moderately resistant to this pathogen, whereas 28 were susceptible. The moderately resistant radish cultivars in this investigation could serve as resistance donors in the breeding of soft rot resistance or could be used to determine varietal improvement for direct use by breeders, scientists, farmers, researchers, and end customers.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.147-155
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• 2017

Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) is an enzyme responsible for the initial step in the base excision repair pathway and is known to be a potential drug target for treating cancers, because its expression is associated with resistance to DNA-damaging anticancer agents. Although several inhibitors already have been identified, the identification of novel kinds of potential inhibitors of APE1 could provide a seed for the development of improved anticancer drugs. For this purpose, we first classified known inhibitors of APE1. According to the classification, we constructed two distinct pharmacophore models. We screened more than 3 million lead-like compounds using the pharmacophores. Hits that fulfilled the features of the pharmacophore models were identified. In addition to the pharmacophore screen, we carried out molecular docking to prioritize hits. Based on these processes, we ultimately identified 1,338 potential inhibitors of APE1 with predicted binding affinities to the enzyme.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.241-254
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• 2016

Environmental microbes like Bordetella petrii has been established as a causative agent for various infectious diseases in human. Again, development of drug resistance in B. petrii challenged to combat against the infection. Identification of potential drug target and proposing a novel lead compound against the pathogen has a great aid and value. In this study, bioinformatics tools and technology have been applied to suggest a potential drug target by screening the proteome information of B. petrii DSM 12804 (accession No. PRJNA28135) from genome database of National Centre for Biotechnology information. In this regards, the inhibitory effect of nine natural compounds like ajoene (Allium sativum), allicin (A. sativum), cinnamaldehyde (Cinnamomum cassia), curcumin (Curcuma longa), gallotannin (active component of green tea and red wine), isoorientin (Anthopterus wardii), isovitexin (A. wardii), neral (Melissa officinalis), and vitexin (A. wardii) have been acknowledged with anti-bacterial properties and hence tested against identified drug target of B. petrii by implicating computational approach. The in silico studies revealed the hypothesis that lpxD could be a potential drug target and with recommendation of a strong inhibitory effect of selected natural compounds against infection caused due to B. petrii, would be further validated through in vitro experiments.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.146-156
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• 2001

The biosynthetic gene clusters for bluensomycin and spectinomycin were isolated and characterized from the bluensomycin producer, Streptomyces bluensis ATCC27420 and the spectinomycin producer, Streptomyces spectabilis ATCC27741, respectively. PCR primers were designed specifically to amplify a segment of dTDP-glucose synthase gene based on its conserved sequences of several actinomycete strains. By screening cosmid libraries using amplified PCR fragments, 30-kb and 45-kb DNA fragments were isolated from Streptomyces bluensis and Streptomyces spectabilis, respectively. Sequencing analysis of them revealed that each contains 15 open reading frames (ORFs). Some of these ORFs were turned out to be antibiotic resistance genes (blmA and speN), dTDP-glucose synthase genes (blmD and spcD), and dTDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase genes (blmE and spcE), suggesting that the blm and spec gene clusters are likely involved in the biosynthesis of bluensomycin and spectinomycin, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 1999

The development and industrial application of intestinal anaerbic bacteria is highly important in the munufacture of foodstuffs and medical products. We have conducted studies, screening anaerobic intestinal bacteria for acid and bile tolerance and for pathogens suppression in the intestine of swine. One such study was taxonomic in nature and dealt with the isolate's biochemical responses. The results indicated that the BSA-131 strian ioslated. which suppressed various pathogens (13 typical strains), were identified as Lactobacillus reuterii. The strain, which named L. reuterii BSA-131, was able to tolerate acid condition down to pH2 and could also tolerate bile at 5%. The strain exhibited resistance to a range of antibiotics including, cephalexin, erythromycin, flumequine, furazolidine, gentamycin, penicillin G, norfloxacin, spectinomycin, tetracycline, tiamuline, neomycin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin etc.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2006

Molecular co-suppression phenomena are important to consider in transgene experiments. Embryogenic cells were obtained from immature cotyledons and engineered with two different gene constructs (pHV and pHVS) through particle bombardment. Both constructs contain a gene conferring resistance to hygromycin (hpt) as a selective marker and a modified glycinin (11S globulin) gene (V3-1) as a target. sGFP(S65T) as a reporter gene was, however, inserted into the flanking region of the V3-1 gene (pHVS). Fluorescence microscopic screening after the selection of hygromycin, identified clearly the expression of sGFP(S65T) in the transformed soybean embryos bombarded with the pHVS construct. Stable integration of the transgenes was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot analysis. Seeds of transgenic plants obtained from the pHV construct frequently lacked an accumulation of endogenous glycinin, which is encoded by homologous genes to the target gene V3-1. Most of the transgenic plants expressing sGFP(S65T) showed highly accumulation of glycinin. The expression of sGFP(S65T) and V3-1 inherits into the next generations. sGFP(S65T) as a reporter gene may be useful to increase the transformation efficiency of transgenic soybean with avoiding gene co-suppression.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.64-74
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• 2016

Recently, the seismic stability evaluation of concrete gravity dams is raised due to the failure of dams occurred by the Izmit, Turkey and JiJi, Taiwan earthquake in 1999. Dams failure may incur loss of life and properties around the dam as well as damage to dam structure itself. Recently, there has been growing much concerns about "earthquake - resistance" or "seismic safety" of existing concrete gravity dams designed before current seismic design provisions were implemented. This research develops three evaluation levels for seismic stability of concrete gravity dams on the basis of the evaluation method of seismic stability of concrete gravity dams in U.S.A., Japan, Canada, and etc. Level 1 is a preliminary evaluation which is for purpose of screening. Level 2 is a pseudo-static evaluation on the basis of the seismic intensity method. And level 3 is a detail evaluation by the dynamic analysis. Evaluation results on existing concrete gravity dams on operation showed good seismic performance under designed artificial earthquake(KHC earthquake).

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.123-128
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• 2017

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common oral mucosal disorder for which no curative treatment is available. We previously reported that decreased Streptococcus salivarius and increased Acinetobacter johnsonii on the oral mucosa are associated with RAS risk. The purpose of this study was to identify antibiotics that selectively inhibit A. johnsonii but minimally inhibit oral mucosal commensals. S. salivarius KCTC 5512, S. salivarius KCTC 3960, A. johnsonii KCTC 12405, Rothia mucilaginosa KCTC 19862, and Veillonella dispar KCOM 1864 were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility test using amoxicillin, cefotaxime, gentamicin, clindamycin, and metronidazole in liquid culture. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was defined as the concentration that inhibits 90% of growth. Only gentamicin presented a higher MIC for A. johnsonii than MICs for S. salivarius and several oral mucosal commensals. Interestingly, the growth of S. salivarius increased 10~200% in the presence of sub-MIC concentrations of gentamicin, which was independent of development of resistance to gentamicin. In conclusion, gentamicin may be useful to restore RAS-associated imbalance in oral microbiota by selectively inhibiting the growth of A. johnsonii but enhancing the growth of S. salivarius.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2807-2811
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• 2015

Scorpion venom peptides recently have attracted attention as alternative chemotherapeutic agents that may overcome the limitations of current drugs, providing specific cytotoxicity for cancer cells with an ability to bypass multidrug-resistance mechanisms, additive effects in combination therapy and safety. In the present study, BmKn-2 scorpion venom peptide and its derivatives were chosen for assessment of anticancer activities. BmKn-2 was identified as the most effective against human oral squamous cells carcinoma cell line (HSC-4) by screening assays with an $IC_{50}$ value of $29{\mu}g/ml$. The BmKn-2 peptide killed HSC-4 cells through induction of apoptosis, as confirmed by phase contrast microscopy and RT-PCR techniques. Typical morphological features of apoptosis including cell shrinkage and rounding characteristics were observed in treated HSC-4 cells. The results were further confirmed by increased expression of pro-apoptotic genes such as caspase-3, -7, and -9 but decrease mRNA level of anti-apoptotic BCL-2 in BmKn-2 treated cells, as determined by RT-PCR assay. In summary, the BmKn-2 scorpion venom peptide demonstrates specific membrane binding, growth inhibition and apoptogenic activity against human oral cancer cells.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.11 no.sup1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2008

Enterobiasis and head lice infestations, contact-borne parasitic diseases, are the most prevalent parasitic infections of children in Korea, and they are transmitted by close contact with infected persons. They are not of major concern in public health, therefore their importance in children's health care are overlooked in Korea. Egg positive rates of Enterobius vermicularis have been reported to be 10~20% among children in kindergartens and primary schools. Enterobiasis is diagnosed by scotch tape anal swab, but repeated examination is necessary for accurate diagnosis. Albendazole or mebendazole are extremely effective for treatment, however, reinfections usually occur if treatment is not repeated at least three times at a 3-week-interval, targeting the whole family members including the patients. Environmental sanitation and health education are also necessary to guarantee the successful treatment of enterobiasis. Head lice infestation is still an indication of public health status. Children of 3 to 12 years old and their families have infestations more frequently, and girls have more than boys. Diagnosis can be made by identification of live lice or nits on the head. Pediculicides are effective treatment of infestations, however they do not kill nits completely, requiring second treatment. Recently wet combing is preferred as an alternative by parents in England because of possible toxicity of drugs and resistance of lice. It is impossible to completely prevent enterobiasis and/or head lice infestations. Therefore, mass screening and prevention are required, and, in local clinics, a thorough evaluation of the symptoms and past history, and appropriate laboratory tests are necessary.