• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2004

A filamentous virus was isolated from taro (Colocasia esculenta Schott) showing mosaic and chlorotic feather-ing symptoms in Chuncheon, Gangwon province in 2002. Based on ELISA, its appearance in electron microscope, serological relationships, and RT-PCR using specific primer and nucleotide sequence analysis of the CP gene, the isolated virus was identified as Dasheen mosaic virus (DsMV) and designated as Korean isolated (DsMV-Kr). DsMV was not serologically related to Zantedeschia mosaic virus (ZaMV), which has been reported to infect an Araceae plants. Since the coat protein revealed electrophoretic heterogeneity, about 42 kDa, 39 kDa and 31 kDa by SDS-PAGE, an improved purification method was established for the production of antisera against DsMV-Kr. The purification method used in this study may be effectively applied to the purification of other filamentous viruses.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1046-1049
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• 2005

Acanthopanx senticosus (Araliaceae) is a long-lived woody species primarily distributed throughout East Asia. This species is regarded as medically and ecologically important woody plants in Korea. To identify the variation of the RAPD patterns between domestic and foreign A. senticosus species, 22 random primers were applied to Korean A. senticosus and A. senticosus for. inermis, Chinese and Russian A. senticosus. Six primers of them could be used to discriminate the origins and 58 polymorphisms among 92 scored DNA fragments. Six bands are specific for Korean A. senticosus and A. senticosus for. inermis. Especially, three primers, OPD04, OPD11 and OPE10, were useful to differentiate between domestic and foreign Acanthopanax species. RAPD analysis was a useful method to discriminate among A. senticosus populations or accessions and Korean accessions are distinct genetically.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2009

Members of the NAM-ATAF-CUC (NAC) protein family are plant-specific transcription factors that contain a highly conserved N-terminal NAC-domain and diverse C-terminal regions. They have been implicated in plant development and abiotic stress responses. To identify interacters of rice NAC-domain proteins (OsNACs), we performed yeast two-hybrid screening of rice cDNA library using OsNAC5 as a bait, and the results showed that OsNAC5 interacts with other OsNACs including itself. To delineate an interacting domain, a series of deletion constructs of four OsNACs were made and transformed into yeast in various combinations. The results revealed that the conserved NAC domain of OsNACs plays a primary role in homodimer and heterodimer formation, and a part of C-terminal sequence is also necessary for the interaction. In vitro pull-down assays using recombinant OsNAC proteins verified the dimer formations, together suggesting that OsNACs may act by forming homodimers and/or heterodimers in plants.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.80-86
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• 2014

Unlike to natural organic matters (NOMs), effluent organic matters (EfOMs) are not well understood due to their complexity and heterogeneity. In this study, EfOMs from sewage and industrial wastewater treatment effluents and Suwannee River NOM (SRNOM) were isolated into hydrophobic (HPO), transphilic (TPI) and hydrophilic (HPI) fractions. Specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) and fluorescence excitation emission matrix (FEEM) analyses were used to characterize physicochemical properties. In addition, acute toxicity and oxidative stress to Daphnia magna were evaluated to characterize toxicological properties. EfOMs showed similar properties to microbially derived organic matters having low hydrophobicity, which are totally different from SRNOM having high hydrophobicity. Moreover, acute toxicity and antioxidant enzyme activity in D. magna was largely dependent on fraction types of EfOMs. These findings suggest that EfOMs have different physicochemical and toxicological properties compared with those of NOMs, which needs to be further identified with various sources of EfOMs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.158-161
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• 2003

To develop an effective adsorbent for radio active Carbon Dioxide, $^14CO_2$, which is discharged to nearby atmosphere from nuclear power plants of CANDU type, we made some preliminary adsorbents and tested their abilities of $CO_2$ removal. The chemical agents used was LiOH and we supported or impregnated it on the surface or the internal volume of activated Carbon(GW-H). The physical and chemical properties of various adsorbents were measured using methods such as XRD, BET. SEM images were taken to investigate the change of surface morphology of the adsorbents. Finally, amount of $CO_2$ adsorption of them were verified under specific conditions. We found that mechanical mixing of LiOH and activated Carbon showed the maximum $CO_2$ removal ability, while surface activation of activated Carbon by Nitric Acid-treatment enhanced its $CO_2$ removal efficiency to some degree.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2002

The community of common reed (Phragmites australis) is expanded by the development of new shoots from nodes of rhizomes and old shoots in natural environments. We developed the useful technique to construct reed mats of floating islands developed from shoot nodes of reeds for the purpose of the rapid stabilization of vegetation and the application of adapted plants with their specific environmental conditions. The vegetation development was compared in the floating islands planted with the different reed samples. The reed samples were consisted of four types : long shoot in the length of 100 cm (AG I), short shoot of 15 cm (AG II), long rhizome of 100 cm (BG I) and short rhizome of 15 cm (BG II). Shooting started earlier in BG I and BG II than in AG I and AG II. But the rate of shooting was higher in AG I and AG II than in BG I and BG II. After four weeks, AG I and AG II were higher than BG I and BG II in the biomass and density of newly developed shoots. These results showed that the construction of sod mats by planting only reed shoots was a useful technique to develop vegetation on the floating islands.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2009

Carotenoids being most important pigments among those occurring in nature, have received increased interest owing to their beneficial effects on human health. An effort is made to review marine carotenoids as important bioactive compounds with reference to their presence, chemical, and biofunctional benefits they afford. The potential beneficial effects of marine carotenoids were particularly focused on astaxanthin and fucoxanthin, major marine carotenoids found in marine animals and aquatic plants, respectively. Both carotenoids show strong antioxidant activity which is attributed to quenching singlet oxygen and scavenging free radicals. The potential role of the carotenoids as dietary antioxidants has been suggested as being one of the main mechanism by which they afford their beneficial health effects such as anticancer activity and anti-inflammatory effect. Only recently, antiobesity effect and antidiabetic effect have been noted as specific and novel bio-functions of fucoxanthin. Nutrigenomic study reveals that fucoxanthin induces uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression in white adipose tissue (WAT) mitochondria to lead to oxidation of fatty acids and heat production in WAT. Fucoxanthin improves insulin resistance and decreases blood glucose level, at least in part, through the down-regulation of tumor necrosis factor $\alpha$ ($TNF{\alpha}$) in WAT of animals.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.317-322
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• 2009

The proteins from 15 types of cultivar of hot peppers cultivated in Korea were extracted and its allergenicity was investigated by immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The immunoblotting of hot pepper proteins extracts (HPEs) against serum of hot pepper sensitized patients revealed dominant IgE binding to 14, 37, and 40 kDa molecules. The specific levels of IgE to HPEs sample No. 1, 3, and 7 were much higher than the other samples in patients. Also, IgE binding capacity of HPEs were not reduced by thermal processing and digestion in ELISA using human IgE antibody acquired from hot pepper sensitized patients. By means of Western blotting using anti-thaumatin IgY, thaumatin-like protein (TLP) acting as allergen in several plants and fruits was detected in tested hot peppers. This study demonstrates that the antigenic protein in hot peppers are present but are differently contained according to cultivars.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.71-75
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• 1996

In order to study the antitumoral effect of Selaginella tamariscina extracts, the cytotoxicities to human histiocytic leukemia cells (U937) and lymphocyte were measured by MTT method. The water extract of Selaginella tamariscina was partitioned into chloroform (CHCl3), ethylacetate (EtAc), n-butanol (BuOH) and water (H2O), successively. CHCl3, EtAc and BuOH fractions of Selaginella tamariscina showed the cytotoxicity to the U937 cells but they had effect on the cytotoxicity of lymphocyte under the same conditions. The tumor-specific cytotoxicity of Selaginella tamariscina fractions migh have been attributed to their genotoxic effect on actively proliferating cells. The expression of p53 tumor suppressor gene was then evaluated by northern blotting. The increased expression of p53 was induced by Selaginella tamariscina fraction V but no expression of p53 was induced by CHCl3, EtAc, and BuOH fractions of Selaginella tamariscina water extract (fraction V) should be required for the cytotoxcity on U937 and the other fractions of Selaginella tamariscina mediated the U937 disruption.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2006

WRKY family proteins are a class of plant-specific transcription factors involved in stress response signaling pathways. In this study a gene encoding a putative WRKY protein was isolated from a pepper EST database (http://genepool.kribb.re.kr). The cDNA, named Capsicum annuum WRKY2 (CaWRKY2), encodes a putative polypeptide of 548 amino acids, containing two WRKY domains with zinc finger motifs and two potential nuclear localization signals. Northern blot analyses showed that CaWRKY2 mRNA was preferentially induced during incompatible interactions of pepper plants with PMMoV, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae 61, and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria race 3. Furthermore, CaWRKY2 transcripts were strongly induced by wounding and ethephon treatment, whereas only moderate expression was detected following treatment with salicylic acid and jasmonic acid. CaWRKY2 was translocated to the nucleus when a CaWRKY2-smGFP fusion construct was expressed in onion epidermal cells. CaWRKY2 also had transcriptional activation activity in yeast. Taken together our data suggest that CaWRKY2 is a pathogen-inducible transcription factor that may have a role in early defense responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.