벼 흰잎마름병균의 정확한 진단을 위하여 PCR용 진단 kit를 개발하였다. 본 PCR kit를 개발하기 위하여 벼 흰잎마름 병균 유전체 정보 중 phage-related integrase and transposase gene의 염기서열을 이용하여 프라이머를 각각 제작하였다. 프라이머 염기서열은 XOP-F (5-CGG TCT GCT CAA TGA GGA AGA-3)와 XOP-R2 (5-TGC AAT TGG TGT TCTCCA GG-3), XOT-F (5-GTC ATA GGT GAG GCT TCCC-3)와 XOT-R2 (5-AGT GCG ATC TTT CAG CAG G-3)로 벼 흰잎마름병균의 DNA를 401bp와 492bp를 증폭하게 제작하였다. PCR 증폭은 벼 흰잎마름병균만 증폭하였으며 다른 세균인 Escherichia coli, Agrobacterim, Pectobacterium caratovora subsp. cartovorum, P. atrosepticum, Pseudomonasputida, P. syringae, P. savastanoi pv. phaeolicola, P. savastanoipv. savastanoi and P. marginalis pv. Marginalis 등은증폭되지 않아 특이성이 인정 되었다. 본 프라이머로 병이 의심되는 벼잎과 논물에서 병원균을 3시간 이내에 검출할 수 있었다.

The sol-gel technique has been studied to fabricate a homogeneous Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst. Ambient effects (air, Ar, and H2) on thermal decomposition of the citrate precursor have been systematically investigated to fabricate an Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst. Severe agglomeration of metal catalyst was observed under thermal decomposition of citrate precursor in air atmosphere. Ar/H2 atmosphere effectively restricted agglomeration of bimetallic catalyst and formation of highly-dispersed Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst with high specific surface-area due to the formation of Fe-Mo nanoclusters within MgO support. High-quality thin-multiwalled carbon nanotubes (t-MWCNTs) with uniform diameters were achieved on a large scale by catalytic decomposition of methane over Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst prepared under Ar-atmosphere. The produced t-MWCNTs had outer diameters in the range of 4-8 nm (average diameter ~6.6 nm) and wall numbers in the range of 4-7 graphenes. The as-synthesized t-MWCNTs showed product yields over 450% relative to the utilized Fe-Mo/MgO catalyst, and indicated a purity of about 85%.

 ,  , Pseudanostirus ecarinatus (Stepanov, 1930) is recognized for the first time in Korea. A redescription and illustrations of the species are presented based on a single male specimen collected from Mt. Bangtae Gangwon-do. We also provide diagnostic characteristics of the genus, which clearly separate it from other closely related genera, Calambus Thomson, 1859 and Anostrius Thomson, 1859.

Hyperacture rejection (HAR) of pig organs, upon xenotransplantation into primates, could partly be overcome by knocking out the alpha-Gal gene. However, xenotransplanted organs may still undergo immunological acture rejection (AR) or acute vascular rejection (AVR). Among several genes involved in AR and AVR, the hCD47 evades the monocyte/ macrophage mediated phagocytosis by identifying the self/non-self signal (CD47-SIRPa) whereas hTFPI participates in the regulation of coagulation pathway by acting upstream of the thrombin. In this study, we investigated hCD47 and hTFPI as two possible candidates for avoiding AR and AVR, respectively upon pig-to-human xenotransplantation. A co-expression vector for hCD47 and hTFPI was constructed using 2A peptides system (F2A) and transfected into the porcine kidney cell line (PK-15). The transfected cells stably expressed both hCD47 and hTFPI mRNA and proteins. Co-culture of non-transfected, hCD47-transfected, hTFPI-transfected or hCD47+hTPFI-transfected PK15 cells with natural killer (NK) cells, monocytes and macrophages confirmed the cytotoxic effect of hCD47 and revealed a synergistic effect of hCD47 and hTFPI co-transfection. There was an attractive survivability of 25～30% on each type of innate immune cell, NK cell and macrophage. These results suggest that transgenic pigs, genetically modified for hCD47 and hTFPI may be useful for overcoming xenograft rejection. Furthermore, cotransfection with hTFPI may enhance the cytotoxic effect of hCD47, possibly by assisting the hCD47-SIRPa binding by an unknown mechanism.

Semen can be divided into two parts. One is cellular part which contains sperms the other is liquid part which is called by seminal plasma. The seminal plasma is a nutritive and protective medium for the sperms. Fructose, which is major energy source, is supplied to sperms swim to female oocyte. Alkalic property protects sperms from hostile environment of female reproductive organ. Also, seminal plasma induces tolerance to preexisted immune cells, and changes intra‐uterine environment to better conditions for fertilized embryos to implant. However, the effects of seminal plasma in in vitro culture of fertilized embryos are unclear. Second fraction of fresh semen was obtained from a normal farm pig. The semen was centrifuged to remove sperms, and then supernatant was filtrated. The filtered seminal plasma was stored in — 30℃. In this study, electrically activated and chemically activated porcine embryos were employed to investigate the developmental rate after 2 hours treatment of none, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% seminal plasma in culture media by two days of activation. Both electrically and chemically activated embryos, cleavage rate and cell numbers of blastocysts were not significant difference within four groups. Blastocyst formation rate of electrically activated embryos also did not show significant difference within any groups. However 0.1% seminal plasma treatment group showed significantly increase of blastocyst formation rate in chemically activated group (None; 24.8%, 0.1%; 31.7%, 0.5%; 19.4, and 1%; 16.5%, respectively. p<0.05).

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation is post-translational modification of cellular proteins related to cell survival, cell death, cellular proliferation and epigenetic events. It has recently been shown to be important for pre-implantation development of mouse embryos. However, its function during early embryonic development of pig is not clear. This study investigated the importance of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation during in vitro development of pig embryos produced by in vitro fertilization(IVF) or parthenogenetic activation (PA). Results showed that, chemical inhibition of PARP by 3-aminobenzamide (3-AB) did not influence the in vitro development of pig embryos up to morula stage (20±3.1 vs. 28.1±1.2%; p>0.05) but significanlty reduced the rate of blastocyst formation (5.2±2.1 vs. 20±3.1%; p<0.05) when compared to non-treated controls. Furthermore, culture of morula stage embryos in the pressence of 3-AB for 24h significantly reduced the rate of blastocyst formation (19.6± 4.6 vs. 41.4±5.3%; p<0.05) and expansion (4.7±3.0 vs. 28.1±6.1; p<0.05). The proportion of large-sized blastocyst (>200 μm) having higher blastocoel volume (15.3×106 μm3) was significantly reduced (p<0.05) in treatment group (32.2±7.8%) compared to non-treated control group (65.7±9.0%). TUNEL assay revealed that poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation-inhibited blastocyst had significantly increased indices of apoptosis than those of non-treated controls (10.88±0.02 vs. 2.71±0.01; p<0.05). These data suggest that Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation may be important for blastocyst formation in pig embryo.

The biological activities of the various solvent extracts of mycelial Schizophyllum commune were investigated. The electron donating ability of mycelial S. commune was showcel 39%, 21%, 35% and 43% in Hot-water extract, water extract, ethanol extract and methanol extract at a 1,000 ㎍/㎖ concentration, respectively. As the results of SOD (superoxide dismutase)-like ability of Hot-water extract, water extract, ethanol extract and methanol extract of mycelial S. commune were showed 39%, 21%, 35% and 43% at a 1,000 ㎍/㎖ concentration, respectively. Measurement of ABTS radical cation scavenging activity of all extracts was showed more than 80% scavenging activity at a 1,000 ㎍/㎖ concentration. The tyrosinase inhibition effects related to skin-whitening by mycelial S. commune in Hot-water and water extract at 1,000 ㎍/㎖ were showed closely 5% activity and ethanol and methanol extracts were showed about 10% at 1000 ㎍/㎖ concentration. Antimicrobial activity of Propionibacterium acnes and Malassezia furfur were ineffective in mycelial S. commune extracts. These results showed that the mycelial S. commune has potential for the development of antioxidative, whitening effests and as a natural and functional additives.

We investigated the spatial distribution of ground beetle species from the edge of secondary forests in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do. Nine secondary forests were selected, and 81 pitfall traps for collecting ground beetles were placed along forest interior―forest edge―forest exterior gradients during 14 June to 9 November, 2011. A total of 32 species belonging to 13 genera of 8 subfamilies were identified from 3710 collected ground beetles. Ten dominant species were selected for analysis. Five species such as Chlaenius micans (ANOVA, with Tukey's test, F2, 78=3.11, P=0.0502), Chlaenius ocreatus (F2, 78=2.76, P=0.0692), Dolichus halensis halensis (F2, 78=9.80, P=0.0002), Harpalus eous (F2, 78=2.73, P=0.0712), and Harpalus tridens (F2, 78=6.74, P=0.0020) were abundant at forest exterior. Three species such as Synuchus cycloderus (F2, 78=7.91, P=0.0007), Synuchus nitidus (F2, 78=9.72, P=0.0002), and Synuchus sp.1 (F2, 78=4.50, P=0.0142) were abundant at forest edge and forest interior. Coptolabrus smaragdinus branickii (F2, 78=3.24, P=0.0444) was abundant at forest edge and exterior. Finally, Chlaenius naeviger (F2, 78=1.39, P=0.2542) showed a wide distribution in this study. This study showed a significant edge effect on dominant ground beetles. Many environmental variables and prey items may be important factors for the spatial pattern of ground beetles. Because forest edges are generally important for many predaceous arthropods including ground beetles, the conservation and management of forest edges are important for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functions.

We reviewed the Korean species belonging to the Tribe Dendometrini. Of the previously recorded five species in Korea, Athousius humeralis (Miwa, 1927) and Limoniscus rufipennis (Lewis, 1894) are confirmed as the misidentification of Ampedus basalis (Mennerheim, 1852) and Corymbitodes sp., respectively. It is suggested to exclude these species in the Korean fauna. In addition, the records of Limonius eximius (Lewis, 1874) and Limoniscus vittatus (Candèze, 1873) are also questionable since no specimens available in this study. We actually examined three species throughout this study. Limoniscus kraatzi ((Candèze, 1879) is recognized as the mostly abundant species in the Korean fauna. A new species, Cidnopus nigronitidus sp. nov. and a new record of Limoius scutellaris (Dolin, 2003) comb. nov. are recognized in Korea.

The purpose of this study is to identify which width of the base of support(BOS) is safer and more effective in lifting by comparing muscle activations and body sways when lifting objects under the width variation of the BOS. A total of fifteen healthy adults participated in this study. For the width variation of the BOS, the participants changed the width between their feet into three different types(10cm, 32cm, 45cm) and lifted a 10kg four times in each type after going up on a force plate. In order to measure body sways according to the width variation of the BOS, a motion analysis system was used. In addition, in order to measure the muscle activations of lower extremities, including the erector spinae, gluteus maximus, rectus femoris, and tibialis anterior, an electromyogram(EMG) analysis was employed. In addition, the Borg's scale was drawn by quantifying the subjective discomfort levels felt from each width of the BOS. In conclusion, no statistically significant differences according to the width variation of the BOS were observed(p=.295, .308)(p>.05). However, a statistically significant difference was exhibited between the Borg's scale, which indicates the discomfort levels from lifting performances, and the width variation of the BOS (p=.000*).

Suspension culture is a useful tool for culturing embryonic stem (ES) cells in large-scale, but the stability of pluripotency and karyotype has to be maintained in vitro for clinical application. Therefore, we investigated whether the chromosomal abnormality of ES cells was induced in suspension culture or not. The ES cells were cultured in suspension as a form of aggregate with or without mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and 0 or 1,000 U/ml leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) was treated to suspended ES cells. After culturing ES cells in suspension, their karyotype, DNA content, and properties of pluripotency and differentiation were evaluated. As a result, the formation of tetraploid ES cell population was significantly increased in suspension culture in which ES cells were co-cultured with both MEFs and LIF. Tetraploid ES cell population was also generated when ES cells were cultured alone in suspension regardless of the existence of LIF. On the other hand, the formation of tetraploid ES cell population was not detected in LIF-free condition, in which MEFs were included. The origin of tetraploid ES cell population was turned out to be E14 ES cells and not MEFs by microsatellite analysis and the basic properties of them were still maintained despite ploidy-conversion to tetraploidy. Furthermore, we identified the ploidy shift from tetraploidy to near-triploidy as tetraploid ES cells were differentiated spontaneously. From these results, we demonstrated that suspension culture system could induce ploidy-conversion generating tetraploid ES cell population. Moreover, optimization of suspension culture system may make possible mass-production of ES cells.

In order to provide the basis for developing practical mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) culture method, how the endogenous level of self-renewal-stimulating factor genes was altered in the mESCs by different extracellular signaling was investigated in this study. For different extracellular signaling, mESCs were cultured in 2 dimension (D), 3D and integrin-stimulating 3D culture system in the presence or absence of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and transcriptional level of Lif, Bmp4 and Wnt3a was evaluated in the mESCs cultured in each system. The expression of three genes was significantly increased in 3D system relative to 2D system under LIF-containing condition, while only Wnt3a expression was increased by 3D culture under LIF-free condition. Stimulation of integrin signaling in mESCs within 3D system with exogenous LIF significantly up-regulated transcriptional level of Bmp4, but did not induce transcriptional regulation of Lif and Wnt3a. In the absence of LIF inside 3D system, the expression of Lif and Bmp4 was significantly increased by integrin signaling, while it significantly decreased Wnt3a expression. Finally, the signal from exogenous LIF significantly caused increased expression of Lif in 2D system, decreased expression of Bmp4 in both 2D and 3D system, and decreased expression of Wnt3a in integrin-stimulating 3D system. From these results, we identified that endogenous expression level of self-renewal-stimulating factor genes in mESCs could be effectively regulated through artificial and proper manipulation of extracellular signaling. Moreover, synthetic 3D niche stimulating endogenous secretion of self-renewal-stimulating factors will be able to help develop growth factor-free maintenance system of mESCs.