Korean Native Pig (KNP) has a uniform black coat color, excellent meat quality, white colored fat, solid fat structure and good marbling. However, its growth performance is low, while the western origin Yorkshire pig has high growth performance. To take advantage of the unique performance of the two pig breeds, we raised crossbreeds (KNP × Yorkshire to make use of the heterotic effect. We then analyzed the liver transcriptome as it plays an important role in fat metabolism. We sampled at two stages: 10 weeks and at 26 weeks. The stages were chosen to correspond to the change in feeding system. A total of 16 pigs (8 from each stage) were sampled and RNA sequencing was performed. The reads were mapped to the reference genome and differential expression analysis was performed with edgeR package. A total of 324 genes were found to be significantly differentially expressed (|log2FC| > 1 & q < 0.01), out of which 180 genes were up-regulated and 144 genes were down-regulated. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the samples clustered according to stages. Functional annotation of significant DEGs (differentially expressed genes) showed that GO terms such as DNA replication, cell division, protein phosphorylation, regulation of signal transduction by p53 class mediator, ribosome, focal adhesion, DNA helicase activity, protein kinase activity etc. were enriched. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the DEGs functioned in cell cycle, Ras signaling pathway, p53 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway etc. Twenty-nine transcripts were also part of the DEGs, these were predominantly Cys2His2-like fold group (C2H2) family of zinc fingers. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis showed that there were three highly interconnected clusters, suggesting an enrichment of genes with similar biological function. This study presents the first report of liver tissue specific gene regulation in a cross-bred Korean pig.

Cluster of differentiation (CD) 24 or heat stable antigen 24 (HSA) molecule is a mucin-type glycoprotein attached to the cell surface by glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor, promoting adhesive interactions between cells or in extracellular matrix. The aim of this study was to determine the not yet fully identified porcine CD24 gene and protein structure using computational analysis and to validate variants reported in exons of CD24 gene using direct sequencing. A total of 59 samples belonging to Yorkshire, Landrace, Berkshire, Jeju black pig and wild boar were used in the study. Human CD24 mRNA sequences were used as a reference and subjected to BLAST searches to retrieve the orthologous expressed sequence tags (ESTs) or cDNA sequences against NCBI and Ensemble databases. Assembled ESTs and retrieved cDNA sequences for the porcine CD24 gene were used for specific BLAST search to determine its genomic structure. We found porcine CD24 gene to consist of two exons and a relatively long intron. Second exon of porcine CD24 gene had a long 3’ untranslated region (UTR) and was very similar to that of human, mouse, rat, and sheep. The sequence homology of porcine CD24 protein was 65.38-84.62%, when analyzed with amino acid sequences of rat, mouse, human, cattle, and sheep CD24 protein. N-terminal signal sequence, O-glycosylation sites and GPI-anchoring signal sites were also predicted in pig, which showed these motifs to be evolutionary conserved across the species. Variant analysis in exonic regions of porcine CD24 among the multiple breeds showed that only second exon contained eight SNPs and three insertions in a 3’ UTR. Taken together, this study reports putative porcine CD24 gene and its protein structure using in silico approaches, which will be helpful for any further functional studies.

기존의 기술 진화 경로 연구는 주로 거시적 동향 분석 수준에서 이루어져 왔으 며 포괄적인 기술정책 방향 수립에는 시사점이 있었으나, 기업 기술 및 특허전략에는 활용 가치가 낮았다. 2000년대부터 논문 및 특허 등의 데이터를 활용해 미시적인 기술의 진화 경 로를 분석하고, 기업 기술전략에 적용하려는 연구가 증가하고 있다. 그러나 대부분 과거 진 화 경로의 서술에 그치고 있으며 기술의 진화 또는 파생-융합 등의 변화에 대한 분석은 전문 가의 정성적 판단에 상당부분 의존하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 특허 인용 네트워크를 구축해 미시적 기술의 진화 경로를 도출하고, 기술의 진화와 파생을 동적 기술트리를 통해 분석하는 방법론을 제시한다. 동적 기술트리 분석은 기술의 핵심요소를 체계화하고, 신기술 요소의 신 규성과 확장성을 평가해 차세대 기술진화와 파생에 대한 정량적 판단을 가능하게 한다. 이를 통해 차세대 신기술과 파생기술에 대하여 파악, 평가, 비교하고 나아가 예측의 토대를 구축 한 것이 본 연구의 의의이다. 본 연구의 결과는 기술 및 특허전략과 포트폴리오 구축의 신뢰성을 높일 수 있는 좋은 도구가 될 것이다. 본 연구에서 제안한 방법론을 이용하여 최근 전력 산업에서 기존 교류 송전의 대안으로 주목을 받고 있는 초고압 직류송전 시스템 기술을 대상 으로 실증분석을 수행하였다.