• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2024

Various antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from microalgae have shown antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anticancer, and antioxidant effects, and play crucial roles in medical applications, aquaculture-related disease management, and the food industry. Magainin 2 (MAG2), an AMP, exhibits high antibacterial and antitumor activity, necessitating an efficient recombinant expression system for low-cost, large-scale production. To enhance MAG2 secretion efficiency in Chlorella, we constructed the SS:MAG2:His vector using the known Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CA1 signal sequence (SS) and obtained a stable transformant via an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method and RT-qPCR. ELISA results revealed that the MAG2 content secreted into the medium by the SS:MAG2:His transformants increased proportionally with mRNA expression. These findings offer a strategy for high MAG2 secretion in the Chlorella vulgaris platform, potentially minimizing downstream processing costs.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2014

Sambucus sieboldiana (SS) is a member of the family Caprifoliaceae and has been recommended as a functional material because of its several bioactivities. Although numerous literatures are available on the pharmacological and biological activities, the biological activity of SS in bone regeneration process has not yet been well-defined. Therefore, in this study, the effect of SS was investigated in the proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cell line. The treatment of SS did not significantly affect the cell proliferation in MC3T3-E1 cells. SS significantly accelerated the mineralization and significantly increased the expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OC) mRNAs, compared to the control, in the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. SS significantly accelerated the decrease of osteonectin (ON) mRNA expression as compared with the control in a time-dependent manner in the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. These results suggest that the SS facilitate the osteoblast differentiation and mineralization in MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells. Therefore, there may be potential properties for development and clinical application of bone regeneration materials.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.301-307
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• 2002

Graft transmission and cytopathological studies of a severe pear disease, pear black necrotic leafspot（PBNLS), were carried out to determine the causal agent of the disease. No evidence was found that a fungal or bacterial pathogen could be the causal agent of the disease. Attempts to transmit the agent by sap-inoculation to other plants including herbaceous hosts failed. How-ever, the pathogen was readily graft-transmitted from symptomatic diseased pears to healthy pears. Graft transmission of the pathogen was also demonstrated by using an indicator plant, PS-95, developed in the laboratory through various grafting methods. Ultrastructural study of the disease revealed the consistent presence of flexuous rod-shaped virus-like particles (VLP) in the symptomatic leaves of both Niitaka cultivar and indicator pear, PS-95. The particles, approximately 12 nm in diameter with undetermined length, occurred in the cytoplasm of mesophyll parenchyma cells. Cells with VLPs also contained fibril-containing vesicles, which are common in cells infected with plant viruses with ssRNA genome. The vesicles were formed at the tonoplast. Based on the symptomatology, the presence of fibril-containing vesicles, and graft-transmissibility, it is believed that the VLPs that occurred on symptomatic leaves of black necrotic leafspot of pear are viral in nature, possibly those of a capillovirus.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.39.1-39.13
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• 2020

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration in the exocrine glands. In SS, type I IFN has a pathogenic role, and recently, inflammasome activation has been observed in both immune and non-immune cells. However, the relationship between type I IFN and inflammasome-associated pyroptosis in SS has not been studied. We measured IL-18, caspase-1, and IFN-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) in saliva and serum, and compared whether the expression levels of inflammasome and pyroptosis components, including absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2), NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC), caspase-1, gasdermin D (GSDMD), and gasdermin E (GSDME), in minor salivary gland (MSG) are related to the expression levels of type I IFN signature genes. Expression of type I IFN signature genes was correlated with mRNA levels of caspase-1 and GSDMD in MSG. In confocal analysis, the expression of caspase-1 and GSDMD was higher in salivary gland epithelial cells (SGECs) from SS patients. In the type I IFN-treated human salivary gland epithelial cell line, the expression of caspase-1 and GSDMD was increased, and pyroptosis was accelerated in a caspase-dependent manner upon inflammasome activation. In conclusion, we demonstrate that type I IFN may contribute to inflammasome-associated pyroptosis of the SGECs of SS patients, suggesting another pathogenic role of type I IFN in SS in terms of target tissue -SGECs destruction.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2020

Of the various types of mice used for genome editing, conditional knock-out (cKO) mice serve as an important model for studying the function of genes. cKO mice can be produced using loxP knock-in (KI) mice in which loxP sequences (34 bp) are inserted on both sides of a specific region in the target gene. These mice can be used as KO mice that do not express a gene at a desired time or under a desired condition by cross-breeding with various Cre Tg mice. Genome editing has been recently made easy by the use of third-generation gene scissors, the CRISPR-Cas9 system. However, very few laboratories can produce mice for genome editing. Here we present a more efficient method for producing loxP KI mice. This method involves the use of an HDR vector as the target vector and ssODN as the donor DNA in order to induce homologous recombination for producing loxP KI mice. On injecting 20 ng/µL of ssODN, it was observed that the target exon was deleted or loxP was inserted on only one side. However, on injecting 10 ng/µL of the target HDR vector, the insertion of loxP was observed on both sides of the target region. In the first PCR, seven mice were identified to be loxP KI mice. The accuracy of their gene sequences was confirmed through Sanger sequencing. It is expected that the loxP KI mice produced in this study will serve as an important tool for identifying the function of the target gene.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2009

A cDNA clone for a transcript preferentially expressed during an early phase of flooding was isolated from Nicotiana tabacum. Nucleotide sequencing of the cDNA clone identified an open reading frame that has high homology to the previously reported glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins. The open reading frame consists of 157 amino acids with an N-terminal RNA-recognition motif and a C-terminal glycine-rich domain, and thus the cDNA clone was designated as Nicotiana tabaccum glycine-rich RNA-binding protein-1 (NtGRP1). Expression of NtGRP1 was upregulated under flooding stress and also increased, but at much lower levels, under conditions of cold, drought, heat, high salt content, and abscisic acid treatment. RNA homopolymer-binding assay showed that NtGRP1 binds to all the RNA homopolymers tested with a higher affinity to poly r(G) and poly r(A) than to poly r(U) and poly r(C). Nucleic acid-binding assays showed that NtGRP1 binds to ssDNA, dsDNA, and mRNA. NtGRP1 suppressed expression of the fire luciferase gene in vitro, and the suppression of luciferase gene expression could be rescued by addition of oligonucleotides. Collectively, the data suggest NtGRP1 as a negative modulator of gene expression by binding to DNA or RNA in bulk that could be advantageous for plants in a stress condition like flooding.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1744-1752
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• 2017

Myeolchi jeotgals (MJs) were prepared with purified salt (PS), solar salt aged for 1 year (SS), and bamboo salt (BS) melted 3 times at 10% and 20% (w/w) concentrations, and fermented for 28 weeks at $15^{\circ}C$. BS MJ showed higher pH and lower titratable acidities than the other samples because of the alkalinity of bamboo salt. Lactic acid bacteria counts increased until 4-6 weeks and then decreased gradually, and were not detected after 20 weeks from MJs with 10% salt. Yeast counts of PS MJs were higher than those of BS and SS MJs. Bacilli were detected in relatively higher numbers throughout the 28 weeks, like marine bacteria, but archae were detected in lower numbers during the first 10 weeks. When 16S rRNA genes were amplified from total DNA from PS MJ (10% salt) at 12 weeks, Tetragenococcus halophilus was the major species. However, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the dominant species for BS MJ at the same time point. In SS MJ, T. halophilus was the dominant species and S. epidermidis was the next dominant species. BS and SS MJs showed higher amino-type nitrogen, ammonia-type nitrogen, and volatile basic nitrogen contents than PS MJs. SS and BS were better than PS for the production of high-quality MJs.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2005

Chlorella viruses are large icosahedral, plaque-forming, dsDNA viruses that infect certain unicellular, chlorellalike green algae. The genomic DNA of over 300 kb contains many useful genes and promoters. Over 40 chlorella viruses have been isolated from fresh water in Korea since 1998. The viruses were amplified initially in chlorella strain NC64A, and pure isolates were obtained by repeated plaque isolation. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed similar but distinct protein patterns, both among the group of purified viruses and in comparison with the prototype chlorella virus PBCV-1. Digestions of the 330- to 350-kb genomic DNAs with 10 restriction enzymes revealed different restriction fragment patterns among the isolates. The tRNA-coding regions of 8 chlorella viruses were cloned and sequenced. These viruses contain 14-16 tRNA genes within a 1.2- to 2-kb region, except for the SS-1 isolate, which has a 1039-bp spacer in a cluster of 11 tRNA genes. Promoter regions of several early genes were isolated and their activities were analyzed in transformed chlorella. Some promoters showed stronger activity than commonly used CaMV 35S promoter and chlorella transformation vectors for heterologous protein are beings constructed using these promoters.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.41-50
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• 2010

Mycoviruses have been found in many fungal species including mushrooms. Double-stranded (ds) RNA genomes were common type in mycoviruses, but single-stranded (ss) RNA mycoviruses were also reported in some fungal species. Sequencing analysis using cDNA cloning experiments revealed that mycoviruses can be classified into several different virus families such as Totiviridae, Hypoviridae, Partitiviridae and Barnaviridae etc. Because the nucleotide sequence data that are available in these days are very limited in a number of mycoviruses, the existence of more diverse viral groups in fungi are currently expected. In this review, we selected four different fungal groups, which were considered as the model systems for mycovirus related studies in both plant pathogenic fungi and edible mushroom species, and discussed about their molecular characteristics of diverse mycoviruses. The plant pathogenic fungi introduced here were Cryphonectria parasitica and Helminthosporium victoriae and the edible mushroom species were Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus ostreatus.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.223-230
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• 2010

To investigate the variations of physico-chemical factors in four stations (Hanlim, Aewol, Sinchon, Hamdeok) at Jeju coastal area, Water temperature, Salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solid (SS), ammonia-nitrogen ($NH_4-N$), nitrite-nitrogen ($NO_3-N$), nitrate-nitrogen ($NO_2-N$) were analysed. The ranges of water temperature were from 26.23 to $28.6^{\circ}C$, the salinity were from 31.4 to 32.88‰, the pH were from 8.15 to 8.35, the chemical oxygen were from 0.48 to 0.91 mg $L^{-1}$. A total of 52 strains of marine actinomycetes was isolated from Jeju Island coastal area. They were characterized by determining morphological and physio-biochemical properties, the API kit and confirmed by molecular methods including partial sequencing of 16S rRNA. A neighbor-joining tree of partial 16S rRNA sequences divided the 52 isolates in 2 major groups, 22 strains of Gram positive bacteria/Actinobacteria (division)/Actinomycetales (order)/Streptomycineae (suborder)/Streptomycetaceae (family)/Streptomyces (93.1%) and 2 strains of Streptospotangineae (suborder)/Nocardiopsaceae (family)/Nocardiopsis (6.9%).