Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are widely used genetic markers with applications in human disease diagnostics, animal breeding, and evolutionary studies, but existing genotyping methods can be labor-intensive and costly. The aim of this study is to develop a simple and rapid method for identification of a single nucleotide change. Methods: A modified Polymerase Chain Reaction Amplification of Multiple Specific Alleles (PAMSA) and high resolution melt (HRM) analysis was performed to discriminate a bovine polymorphism in the NCAPG gene (rs109570900, 1326T > G). Results: The inclusion of tails in the primers enabled allele discrimination based on PCR product lengths, detected through agarose gel electrophoresis, successfully determining various genotypes, albeit with some time and labor intensity due to the use of relatively costly high-resolution agarose gels. Additionally, high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis with tailed primers effectively distinguished the GG genotype from the TT genotype in bovine muscle cell lines, offering a reliable way to distinguish SNP polymorphisms without the need for time-consuming AS-PCR. Conclusions: Our experiments demonstrated the importance of incorporating unique mismatched bases in the allele-specific primers to prevent cross-amplification by fragmented primers. This efficient and cost-effective method, as presented here, enables genotyping laboratories to analyze SNPs using standard real-time PCR.

Recently, with the development of genetic technology, interest in environmental DNA (eDNA) to study biodiversity according to molecular biological approaches is increasing. Environmental DNA has many advantages over traditional research methods for biological communities distributed in the environment but highly depends on the established base sequence database. This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the habitat status and classification at the genus level, which is mainly used in eDNA (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, COI, and CYTB), focusing on Korean registration taxon groups (phytoplankton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and fish). As a result, phytoplankton and zooplankton showed the highest taxa proportion in 18S rRNA, and macroinvertebrates observed the highest ratio in the nucleotide sequence database in COI. In fish, all genes except 18S rRNA showed a high taxon ratio. Based on the Korean registration taxon group, the gene construction of the top 20 genera according to bio density observed that most of the phytoplankton were registered in 18S rRNA, and the most significant number of COI nucleotide sequences were established in macroinvertebrates. In addition, it was confirmed that there is a nucleotide sequence for the top 20 genera in 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and CYTB in fish. These results provided comprehensive information on the genes suitable for eDNA research for each taxon group.

The demand for novel strains has been rising in the domestic market to increase the production of sclerotia from Wolfiporia hoelen. To improve strain breeding efficiency, we investigated whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB2) gene, which may be linked to the mating type locus, are useful for distinguishing monokaryons from dikaryons in Korean W. hoelen strains. We designed a specific primer set to efficiently amplify a region of RPB2 using PCR with the genomic DNA of 12 cultivated strains and 31 wild strains of W. hoelen collected from Korea. Nucleotide sequences of the PCR-amplified RPB2 genes were determined and analyzed for the presence of SNPs among the 43 W. hoelen strains. Previously reported SNP loci were detected in the RPB2 gene of all W. hoelen strains tested. However, these previously reported SNP loci could not be applied to differentiate monokaryons from dikaryons in approximately one-third of Korean wild strains with homozygous genotypes. Three additional SNPs in the RPB2 gene, which may improve the ability to distinguish monokaryons from dikaryons, were identified by searching through the multiple sequence alignments of the 43 W. hoelen strains. The applicability of these three novel SNPs, together with the previously known SNPs, in the RPB2 gene to W. hoelen strain breeding was verified by examining the hybrid strains and their parental strains.

미토콘드리아 시토크롬 c 산화효소 1 (COX1) 유전자 염기서열(658 bp)을 사용하여, 콩 포장에서 채집된 어리팥나방(Matsumuraeses falcana)과 팥나방(Matsumuraeses phaseoli)의 종을 실험실 집단의 종들과 비교하여 동정하였다. COX1 염기서열 분석에서, 어리팥나방 47개체 로부터 10개의 하플로타입이 발견되었고, 종내 유전적 거리는 0.15~0.46%이었다. 이중 하프로타입 A형이 약 70%로 우점형이었다. 팥나방의 30개체로부터는 모두 동일한 하나의 서열만이 확인되었고, 어리팥나방과의 종간 유전적 거리는 4.11~4.61%이었다. 두 종의 COX1 염기서열을 번역한 아미노산 서열은 모두 동일하여 동의적 염기서열 변이(동의치환, 同義置換, synonymous substitution)를 확인할 수 있었다. 포장 조사에 서 두 종의 유충이 콩의 잎과 꼬투리를 가해하였고, 한 포장에서 동시에 발생하였다. 전체 포장에서 어리팥나방의 평균 밀도는 팥나방보다 약 1.5 배 높았다. 이 결과는 콩이 두 종의 동일 기주임을 명백하게 제시하였다. 별도로 이 속의 유충 기생파리로서 Elodia flavipalpis (파리목: 기생파리 과)가 발견되었고, COX1 서열로 동정되었다.

밀은 세계 3대 주요 작물이지만 우리나라는 대부분 수입에 의존하고 있으며, 자급률이 1%도 도달하지 못한 실정이다. 국내 밀 품종은 40여 종 이상으로 지속적으로 개발되고 있으며, 품종마다 용도와 농업적 특성이 달라 목표 형질에 맞는 적절한 품종을 선택하여 재배하는 것이 중요하다. 품종을 정확하고 빠르게 판별하기 위해선 분자 마커 기술이 필요하다. 분자 마커는 생육 환경과 시기에 영향을 받지 않고 다양한 품종을 신속하고 정확하게 구분할 수 있어 유전적 변이성, 농업 형질 등을 분석하기에 유용하다. 본 연구는 기존에 보고된 국내 밀 32품종에 대한 SCAR (Sequence Characterized Amplified Region) 판별 마커를 재검정하여 재현성이 높은 마커를 선별하였으며, 기존에 검정되지 않은 국내 밀 9품종에 추가 적용하여 비교분석하였다. 15개의 마커 세트 중 6개의 마커가 재현성과 정확도가 높은 것으로 확인되었고, 최종적으로 국내 41품종 중 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12번 마커를 이용하여 다홍, 금강, 밀성, 조은, 수강, 한백, 조광, 영광을 판별할 수 있었다. 또한, 4번 마커를 통한 증폭산물의 염기서열 분석을 통해 SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism)를 발굴하여 ‘올밀’에 대한 새로운 품종 판별 마커인 SdHRM1과 SdHRM2를 개발하여 HRM (High Resolution Melts) 분석을 시행하여 육안으로 판단하기 어려운 SNP를 정확하게 판별할 수 있었다. 품종간의 SNP를 활용한 품종 마커 기술은 다양한 농업형질에 적용할 수 있으며, 분자 육종 프로그램에 실질적인 도움이 되는데 큰 기여를 할 것으로 사료된다.

This study identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect the body weight of chickens. Analysis of body weight showed that the Cornish breed had the highest body weight, and the Korean native chicken (Gray Brown) had the lowest body weight. TSH is composed of an α-subunit and a β-subunit, and the TSH-β gene encoding the β-subunit has been reported to be associated with obesity. In chickens, it is located on chromosome 26 and is reported to be associated with growth. The calcium-sensing receptor gene (CaSR) plays a role in the regulation of extracellular calcium homeostasis and is responsible for calcium absorption in the urinary tract, which affects the eggshell quality in poultry. It was shown that TSH-β was strongly correlated with weight in Cornish and Korean native (Gray Brown) chickens, particularly in those with the CC trait. However, CaSR showed no association with body weight in poultry; it was associated with calcium and the eggshell. Thus, selection for TSH-β can be used to produce individuals with more favorable traits in terms of body weight.

2019년에 서남해안 지역인 고창군의 옥수수 밭 주변에서 성페로몬을 이용하여 열대거세미나방(Spodoptera frugiperda) 성충을 효과적으로 모니터 링하는 방법을 조사하였다. 총 함량이 300 또는 1000 ㎍인 2종류 성분 조성의 성페로몬 미끼[(100%) (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate and (2%) (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate]를 설치한 깔대기형 트랩과 델타형 트랩 중에서 열대거세미나방은 300 ㎍ 미끼의 깔대기형 트랩에서 8월 6일에 처음 잡혔고 가장 많이 포획되었다. 또한 깔대기형 트랩 모두에서 비표적 종인 뒷흰가는줄무늬밤나방(Mythimna loreyi)이 많이 포획되었다. 총 함량이 1000 ㎍인 위의 2종류 성분 조성과 4종류 성분 조성의 미끼[(100%) (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, (8%) (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate, (2%) (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate, and (1%) (Z)-9-dodecenyl acetate]를 설치한 날개형 트랩에서 열대거세미나방은 비슷한 수준의 낮은 포획수를 보였으나 뒷흰가는줄무늬밤나방은 4종류 성분 조성의 미끼에서 훨씬 더 많이 포획되었다. 성페로몬 트랩에 포획된 열대거세미나방 70마리의 미토콘드리아 시토크롬 옥시다제 1(CO1)의 부분 염기서열(1,004 bp)을 이용하여 계통수를 분석한 결과, 두 개의 종내 변이군으로 나눠졌으며 66마리가 CO1-RS로, 나머지 4마리는 CO1-CS로 분지되었다. 또한 두 개의 CO1 변이군과 기주식물계통(벼, 옥수수)에서 일관되게 차이가 있는 총 12개의 CO1 단일염기다형성(SNP)이 확인되었으며, 전체 73마리 중 4마리만 CO1-CS 그룹(옥수수계통 포함)과 동일한 패턴을 보였으며 나머지 69마리는 CO1-RS그룹(벼계통 포함)과 같았다.

본 연구에 이용되는 국내 재래 흑염소는 유전적 자원을 보존하고 품종을 유지하기 위하여 소규모 집단에서 고도의 근친교배를 수행하고 있어 유전적 자질의 다양성이 저해되고 있을 것으로 우려되었다. 따라서 본 연구는 국내 재래흑염소 경상대계통 집단의 유전체 정보를 활용하여 재래흑염소 집단의 유전적 특성과 유효집단의 크기를 추정하고자 실시하였다. 국내 재래 흑염소의 유전체 정보는 Illumina Goat SNP 50k chip (illumina, inc., San Diego, CA)의 정보를 분석하여 연구에 이용하였다. 각 염색체의 인접 표지인자 와의 연관불평형 (Linkage Disequilibrium)은 0.225로 추정이 되었다. 또한, 표지인자 사이의 거리가 증가함에 따라 연관불평형의 값은 감소되는 것으로 나타났다. 국내 재래 흑염소의 유효집단크기는 최근의 세대로 오는 경우 감소하는 추세를 보였으며, 13세대에서 유효집단의 크기는 29두로 추정되었다. 재래 흑염소 경상대계통은 낮은 연관불평형 값과 유효집단 크기를 보여 유전적 자원의 다양성이 낮을 것으로 보이며, 이를 해결하기 위한 계획적인 교배와 품종 집단의 크기를 키우기 위한 대책이 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

To control an external parasitic mite, a honey bee line possessing high hygienic behavior (HHB) against an external parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, has been bred in South Korea and an assessment method has been necessitated to diagnose HHB line from the low hygienic behavior (LHB) line. Thus, in this study, we developed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers from whole genome sequencing of each 20 worker bees from HHB and LHB lines of A. mellifera ligustica (Hymenoptera: Apidae). An average of 319,445,977 sequence reads was mapped to the known A. mellifera reference genome (an average of 87.46%). In 2,316,128 and 3,266,756 SNPs from each HHB and LHB line, an average of 93.6% and was located in the intergenic spacers and introns, whereas, the remaining 6.4% was located in the genic region, respectively. Among them 20 SNPs that were fixed at each line possessing within-individual homozygosity were selected and each four SNPs were used to diagnose the two honey bee lines either by typical PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method or allele-specific PCR. The remaining six SNPs had the size difference, enabling relatively easy differentiation between the two honey bee lines on typical agarose gel and another remaining six SNPs only has sequence difference including SNP sites. Thus, these SNP markers can be used to diagnose the honey bee line with HHB from LHB line against V. destructor.

The honey bee, Apis mellifera ligustica (Hymenoptera: Apidae), strain with a high hygienic behavior (HHB) has been bred for several years in Korea, and a diagnosis system to distinguish it from low hygienic behavior (LHB) strain has been necessitated. Thus, complete mitogenome of the two strains were sequenced through Next-Generation Sequencing technique to detect SNPs. Comparison of the mitogenome sequences from the two strains of A. m. ligustica have detected 23 SNPs in 11 PCGs and these were further confirmed the presence of SNPs using each 10 individuals selected randomly from each strain, indicating that these SNP markers might be useful to diagnose the honeybee strains with the HHB. Therefore, mitogenome sequences are promising genome source to detect SNP markers, particularly for inbred female iso-lines.

Arabidopsis nucleoside diphosphate kinase 2 (AtNDPK2) is an upstream signaling molecule that has been shown to induce stress tolerance in plants. In this study, the AtNDPK2 gene, under the control of a stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter, was introduced into the genome of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) plants. The induction of the transgene expression mediated by methyl viologen (MV) and NaCl treatments were confirmed by RT-PCR and northern blot analysis, respectively. Under salt stress treatment, the transgenic tall fescue plants (SN) exhibited lower level of H2O2 and lipid peroxidation accumulations than the non-transgenic (NT) plants. The transgenic tall fescue plants also showed higher level of NDPK enzyme activity compared to NT plants. The SN plants were survived at 300 mM NaCl treatment, whereas the NT plants were severely affected. These results indicate that stress-inducible overexpression of AtNDPK2 might efficiently confer the salt stress tolerance in tall fescue plants.

We developed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and are establishing diagnostic systems to distinguish disease resistance- and susceptible-strains of honey bees using the SNPs. For development of SNP markers, whole genome was sequenced each from 20 individuals of “disease resistance-strain” and “susceptible-strain” of Apis mellifera ligustica using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencer. Approximately, 344 and 294 million sequence reads were mapped to the honeybee reference assembly (Amel_4.5) for each strain, respectively. Among the total 2,246,428 SNPs yielded, 33 were found to be fixed between the two strains with all homozygosity. Sixteen of them were casually amplified and sequenced from randomly selected each 10 individual of honey bees from each strain and presented strain specific SNPs. These ten SNPs were used to diagnose the two strains either by original size difference, caused by indel-accompanying SNP, typical PCR-RFLP, or AS PCR.

This study aimed to indentify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in exon region of the glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1 (GPD1) gene and to evaluate their associations with meat yield and quality traits in Hanwoo (Korean cattle). Two SNP markers, g.2766C>T and g.5105A>G were identified in the exons 5 and 8, respectively. Genotyping of the two SNPs was carried out using PCR-RFLP analysis in 309 Hanwoo steers to evaluate their associations with meat yield and quality traits. As a result, g.2766C>T in exon 5 was significantly associated with carcass weight (CW) and marbling score (MS). Animals with the CC genotype of g.2766C>T had heavier CW than those with the CA or AA genotype. Animals with the CC genotype of g.2766C>T also had higher MS than those with the CA or AA genotype. Additive effect was also observed with CW and MS traits. We constructed haplotypes by linkage disequilibrium analysis and analyzed association between haplotypes and meat yield and quality traits. Haplotype of GPD1 gene was associated with CW. As a result, animals with CA haplotype had heavier CW than TG haplotype. These findings suggest that the SNPs of bovine GPD1 gene may be a useful molecular marker for selection of meat yield and quality traits in Hanwoo.

This study tested the association between genotypes of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker, rs81437607 and capric acid (FA_C10_0) compositions in longissimus dorsi muscle in pigs. Eighteen fatty acid (FA) compositions were measured in a total of 974 F2 animals among 1,106 F2 progeny produced between Landrace and Jeju Black Pig (JBP). Among FA compositions tested, we identified a cluster of highly significant SNPs for capric acid compositions on 58 Mb position of Sus scrofa chromosome 12 (SSC12) using genome-wide association study (GWAS) with F2 genotypes from SNP panel analysis. GWAS results showed that the rs81437607 was the highest trait-related SNP marker with capric acid levels. Three genotypes (C/C, C/T and T/T) of rs81437607 marker were found in F2 population by further pyrosequencing. Association analysis results showed the significant differences between rs81437607 genotypes and capric acid compositions (P<0.05). The F2 pigs harboring rs81437607 C/C (0.119±0.002%) and C/T (0.116±0.002%) genotypes showed additively higher levels of capric acid content than those of T/T homozygotes (0.109±0.002%) (P=1.30×10-12). These results suggested that the genetic variations of rs81437607 may be helpful to find causative variants and assist as molecular genetic markers for improving the capric acid contents in longissimus dorsi muscle in pigs.

Pelargonium zonate spot virus (PZSV)는 group IV (+) ssRNA viruses, Bromoviridae에 속하는 식물 병원체로, 일반적으로 토마토, 국화, 아티초크 및 제라늄에 감염된다. 본 연구는 검역 현장에서 PZSV를 신속하고 특이적으로 진단 할 수 있는 PCR module을 개발하는 것을 목적으로 하였다. PZSV를 검출하기 위한 RT-PCR 프라이머 선발 결과, 각각 513 및 320 bp를 증폭하는2개 조합을 선발하으며, 더욱 높은 검출감도로 검출할 수 있을 뿐아니라 RT-PCR을 검증할 수 있는 nested PCR 프라이머 조합을 개발하였다. 또한, 제한효소 Xho I 부위를 삽입한 유전자변형-양성대조구 플라스미드를 설계하여, PCR module에서 대조구로부터 오염을 검증할 수 있도록 개발하였다. 본 연구에서 개발한 PCR module은 토마토, 국화, 아티초크 및 제라늄 등에서 PZSV를 간편, 신속 및 특이적으로 검출하여, 지속적으로 식물검역에 활용할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.