• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제20권8호
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• pp.1179-1184
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• 2010

We report the generation of the first monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to the polysaccharide chitosan. Mice were immunized with a mixture of chitosans, and hybridoma clones were screened for specific binders, resulting in the isolation of a single clone secreting a chitosan-specific IgM, mAbG7. In ELISAs, the antibody could bind to chitosans of varying composition, but demonstrated the highest affinity for chitosans with lower degrees of acetylation (DA) and very poor binding to chitin. We tested the ability of the antibody to bind to chitosan in situ, using preparations of fungal cell walls. Immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed that the antibody bound strongly to the cell walls of fungi with high levels of chitosan, whereas poor staining was observed in those species with cell walls of predominantly chitin or cellulose. The potential use of this antibody for the detection of fungal contamination and the protection of plants against fungal pathogens is discussed.

• BMB Reports
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• 제45권7호
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• pp.377-389
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• 2012

Food fermentations have enhanced human health since the dawn of time and remain a prevalent means of food processing and preservation. Due to their cultural and nutritional importance, many of these foods have been studied in detail using molecular tools, leading to enhancements in quality and safety. Furthermore, recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technology are revolutionizing the study of food microbial ecology, deepening insight into complex fermentation systems. This review provides insight into novel applications of select molecular techniques, particularly next-generation sequencing technology, for analysis of microbial communities in fermented foods. We present a guideline for integrated molecular analysis of food microbial ecology and a starting point for implementing next-generation analysis of food systems.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.1-4
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• 2008

A gene's influence on an organism's Darwinian fitness ultimately determines whether it will be lost, maintained or modified by natural selection, yet biologists have few gene expression systems in which to measure whole-organism gene function. In the Department of Molecular Ecology at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology we are training "molecularly enabled field biologists" to use transformed plants silenced in the expression of environmentally regulated genes and the plant's native habitats as "laboratories." Research done in these natural laboratories will, we hope, increase our understanding of the function of genes at the level of the organism. Examples of the role of threonine deaminase and RNA-directed RNA polymerases illustrate the process.

• Mycobiology
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• 제49권2호
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• pp.183-187
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• 2021

The Shine Muscat is a table grape, popular in South Korea for its unique mango-flavor taste. Flyspeck is a disease that is characterized by small, black, and circular specks on the grape cuticle was first observed in several commercial orchards in Sangju, South Korea, in August 2019. Here we identified the causal agent of flyspeck based on an advanced diagnosis approach, comprised of both morphological and molecular analyses. Morphological characteristics of the cultures isolated from grape flyspeck were identical to the fungus Cladosporium perangustum. The concatenated sequences of ITS, ACT, and EF1-α were used for molecular phylogenetic analysis, BLAST searches along with Bayesian inference-based phylogeny, confirmed that the causal agent of grape flyspeck is C. perangustum. The cultured fungal isolates also produced flyspeck symptoms on healthy fruits in pathogenicity tests. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first documented evidence of any Cladosporium sp. producing flyspeck symptoms on any plant.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.131-138
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• 2009

Among rumen microbes, bacteria play important roles in the biological degradation of plant fiber due to their large biomass and high activity. To maximize the utilization of fiber components such as cellulose and hemicellulose by ruminant animals, the ecology and functions of rumen bacteria should be understood in detail. Recent genome sequencing analyses of representative fibrolytic bacterial species revealed that the number and variety of enzymes for plant fiber digestion clearly differ between Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus flavefaciens. Therefore, the mechanism of plant fiber digestion is also thought to differ between these two species. Ecology of individual fibrolytic bacterial species has been investigated using pure cultures and electron microscopy. Recent advances in molecular biology techniques complement the disadvantages of conventional techniques and allow accurate evaluation of the ecology of specific bacteria in mixed culture, even in situ and in vivo. Molecular monitoring of fibrolytic bacterial species in the rumen indicated the predominance of F. succinogenes. Nutritive interactions between fibrolytic and non-fibrolytic bacteria are important in maintaining and promoting fibrolytic activity, mainly in terms of crossfeeding of metabolites. Recent 16S rDNA-based analyses suggest that presently recognized fibrolytic species such as F. succinogenes and two Ruminococcus species with fibrolytic activity may represent only a small proportion of the total fibrolytic population and that uncultured bacteria may be responsible for fiber digestion in the rumen. Therefore, characterization of these unidentified bacteria is important to fully understand the physiology and ecology of fiber digestion. To achieve this, a combination of conventional and modern techniques could be useful.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제57권4호
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• pp.423-427
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• 2019

Coenurosis is an important zoonotic helminthic disease caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Taenia multiceps. This parasite typically infects the brain of the intermediate hosts, including sheep, goat, cattle and even humans. We report a case of T. multiceps infection in a yak confirmed by clinical symptoms, morphological characteristics, and molecular and phylogenetic analyses. The coenurus was thin-walled, whitish, and spherical in shape with a diameter of 10 cm. The parasite species was identified as T. multiceps by PCR amplification and sequencing of the 18S rRNA, cox1 and nad1 genes. Three gene sequences all showed high homology (all above 97%) with the reference sequences from different hosts. Moreover, phylogenetic reconstructions with the 3 published Taenia gene sequences confirmed that the Qinghai yak isolate was closely related to T. multiceps. Although there are advanced diagnosis and treatment methods for coenurosis, early infection is difficult to diagnose. Importantly, the findings of yak infection case should not be ignored due to its zoonotic potential.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제51권6호
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• pp.657-662
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• 2013

Freshwater snails of the family Lymnaeidae play an important role in the transmission of fascioliasis worldwide. In Vietnam, 2 common lymnaeid species, Lymnaea swinhoei and Lymnaea viridis, can be recognized on the basis of morphology, and a third species, Lymnaea sp., is known to exist. Recent studies have raised controversy about their role in transmission of Fasciola spp. because of confusion in identification of the snail hosts. The aim of this study is, therefore, to clarify the identities of lymnaeid snails in Vietnam by a combination of morphological and molecular approaches. The molecular analyses using the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA clearly showed that lymnaeids in Vietnam include 3 species, Austropeplea viridis (morphologically identified as L. viridis), Radix auricularia (morphologically identified as L. swinhoei) and Radix rubiginosa (morphologically identified as Lymnaea sp.). R. rubiginosa is a new record for Vietnam. Among them, only A. viridis was found to be infected with Fasciola spp. These results provide a new insight into lymnaeid snails in Vietnam. Identification of lymnaeid snails in Vietnam and their role in the liver fluke transmission should be further investigated.

• Mycobiology
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• 제49권2호
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• pp.196-200
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• 2021

In May to July 2019, ovate-leaf atractylodes seedling and plant with Damping-off symptoms were observed in farmer field at Sangju and Mungyeong, Korea. Seven fungal isolates have been retrieved from diseased root tissue and identified as Rhizoctonia solani AG-5 based on morphological and molecular characteristics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on damping-off of ovate-leaf atractylodes caused by R. solani AG-5 in South Korea.

• 한국가정과학회지
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.119-128
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• 1998

Nonwoven fabrics for diaper coverstock were treated with chitosan solution by pad-dry method. Two chitosans of different molecular weigh(Mw) with similar degree of deacetylation(DDA) were used: Mw 1,800(chitosan oligomer, DDA 84%). Effect of chitosan treatment on the mechanical properties was investigated using KES-FB system. Primary hand values were calculated from mechanical properties using the same equation as the men's suiting equation with minor modification, and total hand values were calculated using new KN-5LNW equation for nonwoven fabrics developed by Kawabata et al. Increase in chitosan treatment concentration increased B, 2HB, WT, LT and RC, and decreased WC continuously. Chitosan treatment affected other mechanical properties regardless of molecular weight. Considering primary hand values obtained from mechanical properties, it was found that chitosan of Mw 180,000 and chitosan oligomer provided softer, smoother, and more bulky at below 0.05% and above 0.5% treatment concentration respectively. Samples treated with 1.0% chitosan oligomer solution, and 0.01％ chitosan solution of Mw 180,000 showed the best total hand values. (Korean J Human Ecology 1(2):119∼128, 1998)

• BMB Reports
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• 제52권10호
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• pp.601-606
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• 2019

Arginine methylation plays crucial roles in many cellular functions including signal transduction, RNA transcription, and regulation of gene expression. Protein arginine methyltransferase 8 (PRMT8), a unique brain-specific protein, is localized to the plasma membrane. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying PRMT8 plasma membrane targeting remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the N-terminal 20 amino acids of PRMT8 are sufficient for plasma membrane localization and that oligomerization enhances membrane localization. The basic amino acids, combined with myristoylation within the N-terminal 20 amino acids of PRMT8, are critical for plasma membrane targeting. We also found that substituting Gly-2 with Ala [PRMT8(G2A)] or Cys-9 with Ser [PRMT8(C9S)] induces the formation of punctate structures in the cytosol or patch-like plasma membrane localization, respectively. Impairment of PRMT8 oligomerization/dimerization by C-terminal deletion induces PRMT8 mis-localization to the mitochondria, prevents the formation of punctate structures by PRMT8(G2A), and inhibits PRMT8(C9S) patch-like plasma membrane localization. Overall, these results suggest that oligomerization/dimerization plays several roles in inducing the efficient and specific plasma membrane localization of PRMT8.