가시오가피의 첨가는 영지버섯 균사체를 이용한 분비 단백질 라카아제 및 셀룰라아제의 생산량을 효율적으로 증가시켰다. 영지버섯 균사체의 생장률 측정에서 가시오가피의 첨가는 영지버섯 균사의 생장률이 톱밥에 비해 절반 수준에 밖에 못미치는 결과를 나타내었다. 반면에 영지버섯 균사의 분비 단백질인 라카아제와 셀룰라아제의 양을 증가시키는데 톱밥에 비해 큰 효과가 있음을 확인할 수 있었다. 가시오가피가 첨가된 배양액에서의 라카아제 활성은 톱밥이 첨가된 배양액에서보다 영지 1호, 영지 2호 및 녹각 영지에서 0.61~2.37배 증가하였고, 이 중에서도 영지 2호는 0.947 U/min으로 라카아제 활성이 가장 높게 평가되었다. 셀룰라아제 활성 평가에서는 가시오가피가 첨가된 배양액에서의 셀룰라아제 활성은 톱밥이 첨가된 배양액에서보다 영지 1호, 영지 2호 및 녹각 영지에서 1.77~2.81배 증가하였고, 이 중에서도 영지 1호 및 영지 2호에 비해 녹각 영지에서 0.172 U/min으로 셀룰라아제 활성이 가장 높게 평가되었다. 따라서 가시오가피의 첨가가 영지버섯 균사의 분비 단백질 생산을 증가시키는데 유용한 소재로 사료된다.

Ganoderma lucidum, a species of the class Basidiomycetes, attracts international attention due to the wide variety of its biological activities and great potential as cosmetic ingredient, such as skin care cosmetics including ‘skin-whitening’. However, there is little information available regarding the tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the chemical composition and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the G. lucidum. To isolate active single compound from G. lucidum (GASC), we conducted ethanol extraction and chloroform fractionation. In addition, we assayed the inhibitoty effect of tyrosinase activity and melanin biosynthesis in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells. In the present study, we identified a GASC, which exhibited inhibitory effects of cellular tyrosinase activity, the protein expression of cellular tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related protein-1, 2. In additional, microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), as known as crucial regulator of melanogenesis-related genes, was down-regulated by treatment with GASC in a concentration-dependent manner. GASC exhibited significant inhibition of tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis in B16F10. The finding that melanogenesis inhibitory effect of GASC will contribute to facilitate various approaches of this mushroom for use in skin whitening products.

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize new Flammulina velutipes laccases from its whole-genome sequence. Of the 15 putative laccase genes detected in the F. velutipes genome, four new laccase genes (fvLac-1, fvLac-2, fvLac3, and fvLac-4) were found to contain four complete copper-binding regions (ten histidine residues and one cysteine residue) and four cysteine residues involved in forming disulfide bridges. fvLac-1, fvLac-2, fvLac3, and fvLac-4, encoding proteins consisting of 516, 518, 515, and 533 amino acid residues, respectively. Potential N-glycosylationsites(Asn-Xaa-Ser/Thr) were identified in the cDNA sequence of fvLac-1(Asn-454), fvLac-2(Asn- 437andAsn-455), fvLac-3(Asn-111andAsn-237), and fvLac4 (Asn-402andAsn-457). In addition, the first 19–20 amino acid residues of these proteins were predicted to comprise signal peptides. Laccase activity assays and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) analyses clearly reveal that CuSO4 affects the induction and the transcription level of these laccase genes.

Odontogenic cells express many genes spatiotemporally through complex and intricate processes during tooth formation. Therefore, investigating them during the tooth development has been an important subject for the better understanding of tooth morphogenesis. The present study was performed to identify the genetic profiles which are involved in the morphological changes during the different stages of rat tooth development using the Agilent Rat Oligonucleotide Microarrays. Morphologically, the maxillary 3rd molar germ at 10 days post-partum (dpp) was at the cap/bell stage. In contrast, the maxillary 2nd molar germ showed the root development stage. After microarray analysis, there were a considerable number of up- or down-regulated genes in the 3rd and the 2nd molar germ cells during tooth morphogenesis. Several differentially expressed genes for nerve supply were further studied. Among them, neuroligin 1 (Nlgn 1) was gradually downregulated during tooth development both at the transcription and the translation level. Also, Nlgn 1 was mostly localized in the dental sac, which is an important component yielding the nerve supply. This genetic profiling study proposed that many genes may be implicated in the biological processes for the dental hard tissue formation and, furthermore, may allow the identification of the key genes involved in the nerve supply to the dental sac.

The salivary gland undergoes complex process of growth and differentiation of the branching morphogenesis of ductal system during the prenatal and early postnatal periods which are regulated by various elements in the extracellular matrix. Extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) is a cell adhesion molecule. In the present study, localization and expression of EMMPRIN in development and effects of chorda-lingual denervation and cyclosporine A (CsA) treatment on the EMMPRIN expression were investigated. Immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and Western blot were used to determine expression level. Immunohistochemistry revealed that EMMPRIN was localized specifically in the cytoplasm of ductal cells, not acini of the submandibular gland all the postnatal periods. At prenatal day 18, when the formation of ducts was not definite, no immunoreactivity was observed. Both Western blot and RT-PCR analyses revealed that EMMPRIN expression was maintained up to postnatal day 7, decreased after postnatal day 10. The EMMPRIN expression was upregulated by the surgical denervation of the chorda-lingual nerve in the gland as well as by the CsA treatment. The present study suggests that EMMPRIN is a crucial molecule for maintaining physiological functions of the salivary gland.

The 35.6-mb genome contained 12,218 predicted protein-encoding genes and 287 tRNA genes assembled into 11 scaffolds corresponding with the 11 chromosomes of strain KACC 42780. Based on presence of copper binding region and signal peptide, 8 laccase genes (Fv Lac-1, Fv Lac-2, Fv Lac-3, Fv Lac-4, Fv Lac-5, Fv Lac-6, Fv Lac-7, Fv Lac-8) were selected in F.velutipes genome. The laccase genes of F.velutipes ranged from 1,300 to 1,700 base pair in their size. In addition, the molecular mass and PI values of laccase genes ranged from 50 to 62 kDa and from 3 to 11, respectively. In laccase activity assays, the highest laccase activity (3unit/ml)was shown in medium with 0.5mM of CuSO4 on 9th day. However, laccase activity was severely decreased in medium with 1mM and 2mM of CuSO4 was drastically decreased from day 3 through day 9. Interestingly, laccase activity in the medium without CuSO4 showed higher level than in the medium with 0.25, 1 and 2mM on both 6th and 9th day. RT_PCR showed the highest transcription level with 0.25mM and 0.5mM of CuSO4 supplementation on day 3 and on day 9, respectively. In addition, the transcription level of Lac-1 increased depending on concentration of CuSO4 supplementation.

Ganoderma lucidum has a long history for traditional medicine in Asian countries. However, taxonomy of Ganoderma species remains controversial, since it was initially classified on the basis of morphological characteristics. Recently, Ganoderma sichuanense was proposed as a re-proposed name for Ganoderma lucidum in China. Likewise, all of the Korean G. lucidum were clustered into 1 group together with G. sichuanense from China, when a phylogenetic analysis was undertaken based on the ITS rDNA sequences of the Ganoderma species. Furthermore, G. lucidum from Europe and North America were clustered into different group. Based on these results, re-consideration of naming Korean cultivated G. lucidum is needed.

Flammulina velutipes is a popular edible basidiomycete mushroom found in East Asia and is commonly known as winter mushroom. Mushroom development showing dramatic morphological changes by different environmental factors is scientifically and commercially interesting. We have sequenced the 35.6-megabase pair genome of F. velutipes KACC42780 using a next generation sequencing (NGS) approach. Then, HiSeq2000 sequencing system was used for comparing gene expression of F. velutipes genome at three different developmental stages (mycelium, primordium, and fruit body). Ninety one percents (10,116 genes) of the 10,999 predicted genes are expressed in at least one developmental stage. In addition, analysis of expressed genes in three different developmental stages showed that only 0.25–1.5% (28–165) of the total expressed genes (10,013) were uniquely expressed in a single developmental stage, whereas 83.6% (9,198) was shared in all stages.

In the present study, the genetic diversity of 69 Ganoderma species from various regions was determined by different molecular markers, including the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA, a partial β-tubulin gene, and mitochondrial small-subunit ribosomal (SSU) rDNA gene as well as randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The size of the ITS rDNA regions and mitochondrial SSU rDNA gene from different Ganoderma species varied from 625 to 673 bp and 656 to 2,040bp, respectively, and those of the partial β-tubulin gene sequence were 419 bp. Phylogenetic analysis based on the ITS region, the partial β-tubulin gene, and the mitochondrial SSU rDNA gene reveal that Ganoderma species are largely divided into two groups. Interestingly, most of the Ganoderma lucidum strains could be classified into 1 group, while other Ganoderma species divided into several groups (4 or 5 groups) in phylogenetic tree. One fragment unique to G. lucidum was selected from the RAPD profile and then sequenced. One primer pair (designated as KGS-F and KGS-R) based on this specific fragment was designed to amplify a 559 bp DNA fragment within the sequenced region. A single band with the expected size of 559 bp was observed from G. lucidum, except for G. lucidum strains from China, Canada, and Taiwan. This specific marker for G. lucidum from RAPD analysis, also supported by the phylogenetic analysis of the ITS, partial β-tubulin gene, and mitochondrial SSU rDNA sequences, will be useful for the PCR-based identification of G. lucidum in research applications as well as in the market.

Ganoderma have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years in Korea, China and Japan as well as in other regions of the world. Ganoderma species is known to grow on hardwoods, conifers, palms, old and declining trees, decay dead wood and stumps. Several species is cause serious diseases of plantation and other economically important tropical crops. It also has been reported to prevent and treat immunological diseases, including tumorigenesis, control of blood glucose levels, modulation of the immune system, hepatoprotection, bacteriostasis, and more. In the present study, we examined the effects of various Ganoderma species, including Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma neo-japonicum on nitric oxide inhibition activities, β-hexosaminidase secretions, and DPPH free radical scavenging capacities to compare the anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, and antioxidant effects.

The latest aerospace technology is important for the stable flight of a launch vehicle, but weather conditions on the day of launch are also one of the essential factors for successful launch campaign. If a launch vehicle is directly struck while preparing to take off from the launch pad on the day of launch or the electronic device are damaged by induced current during flight of the launch vehicle, this means launch failure and can lead to enormous national loss. Therefore, for a successful launch campaign, it is necessary to analyze the lightning detection characteristics of the Naro Space Center. In this study, the seasonal factors of the lightning that occurred over the Naro Space Center from 2003 to 2017, the influence of the polarity, and the correlation with the lightning intensity was confirmed. As a result, there was a high probability of intensive occurrence of multiple lightning strikes in summer, and a high proportion of positive (+) lightning strikes in winter. Lastly, in the distribution of the number of lightning strikes, an average of 2.0 to 2.5 negative (-) lightning strikes occurs in the coastal regions of the South and West Seas when one flash happens.

Successful launch requires state-of-the-art launch vehicle technology and constant test operations, However, the meteorological threat to the launch vehicle flight trajectory is also an important factor for launch success. Atmospheric stability above the Naro Space Center at the this time is very important, especially because the initial flight operation can determine the success of the launch. Moreover, during the flight of launch vehicle with rapid pressure and thrust into the atmosphere, convection activity in the atmosphere may create environmental conditions that cause severe weather threats such as thunderstorms. Hence, studies of atmospheric instability characteristics over the Naro Space Center are a necessary part of successful launch missions. Therefore, the main aims of this study were to (1) verify the atmospheric stability index and convection activity characteristics over the Naro Space Center using radiosonde data observed from 2007 to 2018 by the Naro Space Center, (2) analyze changes in the atmospheric stability index according to monthly and seasonal changes, and (3) assess how the calculated atmospheric stability index is related to actual thunderstorm occurrence using statistical analysis. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the atmospheric characteristics above the Naro Space Center through the distribution chart of the atmospheric stability index during summer, when convection activity is highest. Finally, we assessed the relationship between lightning occurrence and unstable atmospheric conditions, through predictability analysis performed using the lightning observation data of the Korea Meteorological Administration.

Exposure to ionizing radiation is regarded as a kind of abiotic stresses that can change the expression of genes in living organisms. This study aimed on investigating the variations in gene expressions induced by two different types of irradiations with different doses, which were low linear energy transfer (LET) gamma rays (100, 200, and 400 Gy) and high LET ion-beams (20, 40, and 80 Gy) on rice. RNA sequencing was carried out using the Illumina HiSeq-2500 platform. The average amount of reads were 4.8 Gb per individual, and 5 to 8% of the reads were removed after quality control. More than 90% of the RNA-seq reads were mapped to the rice reference genome sequence (IRGSP-1.0). A total of 247 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by comparison of the gene expression levels between the wildtype and the irradiated individuals. The 247 DEGs were divided into five modules and 27 intra-modular hub genes were found using the weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) method. The MEturquiose module had the most number of genes with 75 related to carbohydrate and small molecule metabolic processes. The co-expression network reconstructed using ARACNE (algorithm for reconstruction of accurate cellular networks) showed specific up- or down-regulation of the genes in each module according to the types and doses of radiation. This study will contribute to understanding the gene expression responses to ionizing irradiation.