• Toxicological Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2008

Formaldehyde has been identified as the most prevalent cause of sick building syndrome (SBS), which has become a major social problem, especially in developing urban areas. However, studies on the molecular mechanisms associated with formaldehyde toxicity have been limited, probably because it is difficult to relate the experimental results obtained from in vitro studies to human exposure in vivo. Using polymerase chain reaction-based suppression subtractive hybridization, we recently identified 27 different formaldehyde-inducible genes including platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha gene (PDGFRA) and mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) gene which were increased significantly in both formaldehyde-exposed human trachea cells, 680.Tr, and rat tracheas. To establish a possible relationship between induction of these formaldehyde-inducible genes and symptoms of SBS, we examined expression levels of these genes in peripheral lymphocytes of residents of new apartments. Here, we report that the expression of PDGFRA and MDM2 transcripts was significantly higher in peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from 15 residents in new buildings than in seven control individuals. Our results suggest that the elevated levels of PDGFRA and MDM2 may be associated with the formaldehyde-induced pathophysiology that is closely related with SBS, and that they deserve evaluation as potential biomarkers for formaldehyde intoxication.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.145-148
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• 2004

As an initial step to define the molecular mechanism of diapause during embryogenesis of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, mRNA transcripts from diapausing eggs and diapause-activated eggs were compared by differential expression using cDNA microarray. Twenty-four individual cDNA clones were identified. Amomg them, ten genes including alcohol dehydrogenase, dead box-l, cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 18 wheeler showed increased expression in the diapause-activated eggs. The rest of fourteen genes showed increased expression in diapausing eggs.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.343-348
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• 2007

Starch contents play important roles in determining the fruit quality. Stawberry accumulates starch in the early stages and then mobilized into soluble sugars during fruit ripening. To date the molecular studies on the ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), a key enzyme of starch biosynthesis, were not reported. cDNAs encoding small (FagpS) and large (FagpL1 and FaspL2) AGPase subunits were isolated from strawberry (Fragaria ${\times}$ ananassa Duch. cv. Niyobou). Both FagpS and FagpL1 cDNAs have open reading frames deriving 55-58 kDa polypeptides, where FagpL2 contains a partial fragment. Sequence analyses showed that FagpS has a glutamate-threonine-cysteine-leucine (ETCL) instead of a glutamine-threonine-cysteine-leucine (QTCL) motif found in all the dicot plants except for Citrus. In fruits, FagpS and FagpL1 were expressed in all stages with a little change in the amounts of transcripts. In the case of FagpL2, we were not able to detect any signal from all stages of fruit development and all tissues except for very a weak signal from the leaf. The results indicate that FagpL1 and FagpL2 show ubiquitous and leaf-specific expression patterns, respectively. The studies suggest that the starch contents in strawberry might be controlled by the expression of AGPase gene at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels during fruit development.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2009

An infectious full-length clone of Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) strain G5H was constructed under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. The cloned SMV G5H established infections upon simple rub-inoculation of soybean leaves with intact plasmid DNA. We demonstrated that this SMV G5H infectious DNA clone caused typical characteristic symptoms and virulence of SMV strain G5H in twelve tested soybean cultivars. Soybean cultivars Lee74, Somyungkong and Sowonkong developed systemic mosaic symptom while Kwanggyo, Taekwangkong, Hwangkeumkong and Geumjeongkong-l showed systemic necrosis. In contrast, Geumjeongkong-2, Jinpumkong-2, L29, V94-5152 and Ogden showed resistant response against SMV-G5H infection. We also determined full-length sequence of cloned SMV-G5H. The phyogenetic analyses reveal that SMV-G5H is most closely related to SMV-G5, and support that SMV-G5H might be derived from SMV-G5 by recombination rather than mutation.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.425-431
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• 2014

Leaf scald caused by the infection of Rhynchosporium secalis, is a worldwide crop disease resulting in significant loss of barley yield. In this study, a systematic sequencing of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was chosen to obtain a global picture of the assembly of genes involved in pathogenesis. To identify a large number of plant ESTs, which are induced at different time points, an amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) display of complementary DNA (cDNA) was utilized. Transcriptional changes of 140 ESTs were observed, of which 19 have no previously described function. Functional annotation of the transcripts revealed a variety of infection-induced host genes encoding classical pathogenesis-related (PR) or genes that play a role in the signal transduction pathway. The expression analyses by a semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed that Rar1 and Rpg4 are defense inducible genes, and were consistent with the cDNA-AFLP data in their expression patterns. Hence, the here presented transcriptomic approach provides novel global catalogue of genes not currently represented in the EST databases.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.43 no.4 s.136
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• pp.149-156
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• 2005

Four hundred and sixty five randomly selected clones from a cDNA library of Blattella germanica were partially sequenced and searched using BLAST as a means of analyzing the transcribed sequences of its genome. A total of 363 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from 465 clones after editing and trimming the vector and ambiguous sequences. About $42\%$ (154/363) of these clones showed significant homology with other data base registered genes. These new B. germanica genes constituted a broad range of transcripts distributed among ribosomal proteins, energy metabolism, allergens, proteases, protease inhibitors, enzymes, translation, cell signaling path-ways, and proteins of unknown function. Eighty clones were not well-matched by database searches, and these rep-resent new B. germanica-specific ESTs. Some genes which drew our attention are discussed. The information obtained increases our understanding of the B. germanica genome.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2000

The plastid genomes of several plants contain ndh genes homologues of genes encoding subunits of the mitochondrial complex I. We sequenced the part of lupin ndhB, ndhD and ndhF genes in order to compare the structure of these genes with those of Nicotiana tabaum, Arabidopsis thaliana, Zea mays and Oryza sativa with the idea to detect the presence of stretches with identical aminoacid composition. We were only able to find one or two stretches of this kind of about 16 aminoacid- long in the analyzed fragments of the ndh genes. The total number of such stretches was different in particular gene products: for ndhc 1, ndhB 9, ndhD 3 and ndhF 6. We have also examined the transcription pattern of ndhC, ndhK and ndhJ genes during lupin development. We show that the greatest amount of ndhC, ndhK and ndhJ transcripts are observed in 7- to 14 day- old lupin seedlings. We also studied the level of transcription of those genes in plants growing at low temperature. All the data confirmed that the abundance of transcription of ndhC, ndhK, and ndhJ genes increased under chill conditions. It has to be noted that the level of transcription of the ndhC gene was higher than the other genes probably due to higher stability of this transcript.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.199-206
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• 2008

We have developed an efficient system of assessing the ability of a gene silencing cassette to silence transcripts from recalcitrant or poorly studied plant species by using a model plant as a host for the gene of interest. Tobacco plants transgenic for Lachrymatory Factor Synthase (LFS) enzyme activity from onion were first produced by introducing a CaMV 35S-onion-lfs gene construct. These plants were then subjected to a second transformation with an RNAi construct directed against the lfs gene sequence. LFS enzyme activity assay showed that the transgenic plants, containing both the lfs gene and the RNAi construct, had significantly reduced LFS activity. This observation was supported by Western analysis for the LFS protein and further validated by quantitative RT-PCR analysis that demonstrated a significant reduction in the lfs transcript level in the dual transformants. In this work, we have demonstrated that the RNAi construct is a suitable candidate for the development of a non-lachrymatory onion. Our model plant RNAi system has wide-reaching applications for assessment and targeting of plant secondary pathway genes, from poorly studied or recalcitrant plant species, that are important in the pharmacological, food and process industries.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 2008

The bio-molecules involved in defense mechanisms can be used as efficient biomarkers for physiological changes in organisms caused by both of internal and external stress. Thus, the expression level of genes which encoding such molecules serve as critical 'early warning system' for environmental assessment as well as health diagnosis of biological organisms. In this study, Cytochrome P450, Heat shock protein 90, Ubiquitin and ${\beta}$-actin gene were isolated for the first time from a red alga Gracilaria textorii. The quantitative differential gene expression analyses of three genes, GteCYP1A, GteHsp90 and Gte-UB, were carried out in G. textorii sporophytes collected from two different localities, polluted Sujeong (Masan, Korea) and potentially unpolluted Danggeum (Daemaemuldo Is., Korea). The transcripts of all three tested genes were highly expressed in the Sujeong population. The results suggest: 1) the Sujeong site was more polluted than the Danggeum site; 2) G. textorii could be applicable to marine environment monitoring in coastal regions.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.123-126
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• 2004

The actin-binding protein profilin cDNA was firstly isolated from the lepidopteran insect, silkworm Bombyx mori. The B. mori profilin cDNA contains an open reading frame of 378 bp encoding 126 amino acid residues and possesses three cysteine residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the B. mori profilin cDNA showed 80% identity to Apis mellifera profilin and 72% to Drosophila melanogaster profilin. Northern blot analysis showed that B. mori profilin is highly expressed in epidermis and less strongly in silk gland. In addition, Northern blot analysis revealed the presence of B. mori profilin transcripts in all tissues examined, suggesting that B. mori profilin gene is expressed in most, if not all, body tissues.