Ju-Hyun Nam

Dynamic proteomic profile of potato tuber during its in vitro development.

Potato tuberization is a complicated biochemical process, which is dependent on external environmental factors. Tuber development in potato consists of a series of biochemical and morphological processes at the stolon tip. Signal transduction proteins are involved in the source-sink transition during potato tuberization. In the present study, we examined protein profiles under in vitro tuber-inducing conditions using a shotgun proteomic approach involving denaturing gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 251 proteins were identified and classified into 9 groups according to distinctive expression patterns during the tuberization stage. Stolon stage-specific proteins were primarily involved in the photosynthetic machinery. Proteins specific to the initial tuber stage included patatin. Proteins specific to the developing tuber stage included 6-fructokinase, phytoalexin-deficient 4-1, metallothionein II-like protein, and malate dehydrogenase. Novel stage-specific proteins identified during in vitro tuberization were ferredoxin-NADP reductase, 34 kDa porin, aquaporin, calmodulin, ripening-regulated protein, and starch synthase. Superoxide dismutase, dehydroascorbate reductase, and catalase I were most abundantly expressed in the stolon; however, the enzyme activities of these proteins were most activated at the initial tuber. The present shotgun proteomic study provides insights into the proteins that show altered expression during in vitro potato tuberization.

Proteomic analysis of reproduction proteins involved in litter size from porcine placenta

A gel-free and label-free quantitative proteomic approach based on a spectral counting strategy was performed to discover prolificacy-related proteins. Soluble proteins of porcine placenta from small litter size group (SLSG) and large litter size group (LLSG) were extracted and subsequently applied to in-solution tryptic digestion followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Six and thirteen proteins were highly expressed in SLSG and LLSG, respectively. Of the dominantly expressed proteins, we chose prolificacy-related proteins such as puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase (PSA) and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4). Western blot analysis confirmed that the processed form (70 kDa) of PSA was more expressed and RBP4 (23 kDa) was dominantly expressed in LLSG. These results indicate that PSA and RBP4 are representative proteins involved in porcine fertility traits, and this finding may help to increase litter size of pigs. Graphical abstract A gel-free and label-free quantitative proteomic approach was carried out to explore prolificacy-related proteins from porcine placenta.

Phosphorus Removal Characteristics by Bacteria Isolated from Industrial Wastewater

Background: The removal of phosphate(P) in the wastewater is essential for the prevention of eutrophication in the river and stream. This study was initiated to evaluate the P removal by three strains of bacteria isolated from industrial wastewater. The three strains of bacteria, A1, A2, and A3, isolated were identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain CUPS 3, Rhodococcus erythropolis strain Sco-C01, Bacillus sp. 3434BRRJ, respectively. METHODS AND RESULTS: The experiments evaluating the effects of temperature, P concentration, aeration, and carbon sources on P removal by Bacillus sp. 3434BRRJ were performed in the following conditions: temperature, 15, 25 and ; P concentrations, 20, 30, and 40 mg/L; oxygen condition, aerobic, anaerobic/aerobic conditions; carbon sources, glucose, acetate and mixture of glucose and acetate. As a result, the best optimum conditions for P removal by Bacillus sp. 3434BRRJ were as follows: temperature, ; P concentration, 20 mg/L; carbon sources, mixture of glucose and acetate; oxygen concentration, anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The P removal efficiencies by Bacillus sp. 3434BRRJ, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain CUPS, and Rhodococcus erythropolis strain Sco-C01 were 99%, 50%, 20%, respectively. CONCLUSION: As a result, the best optimum conditions for P removal by Bacillus sp. 3434BRRJ selected and used in this study were as follows: temperature, ; P concentration, 20 mg/L; carbon sources, mixture of glucose and acetate; oxygen concentration, anaerobic and aerobic conditions.

Determination of free amino acids of porcine serum responsible for the meat quality by 1 H NMR and HPLC analyses

The objective of this study was to determine alternative meat-quality factors in porcine sera. We investigated serum metabolites from high pH group (HpHG) and low pH group (LpHG) on the basis of pH 24 h of post-mortem muscle (pH 24h ). The pH 24h correlated well with the water holding capacity (WHC) of porcine meat, whereas a strongly negative correlation was observed between pH 24h and serum sodium level. For serum metabolites obtained by 1 H NMR spectra and PicoTag TM based HPLC, principal components analysis showed clear differences between the HpHG and the LpHG. The 1 H NMR spectra of serum metabolites at 600 MHz showed that free amino acids such as alanine, leucine, phenylalanine, and valine were qualitatively higher in the HpHG than in the LpHG. The relative abundance of three amino acids was quantitatively verified by HPLC: Phenylalanine and valine (P<0.01) and leucine (P<0.05). These free amino acids in porcine serum are considered as suitable indicators of meat quality in Berskshire pigs. Key words: Porcine meat quality, muscle pH, principal components analysis, serum metabolites, free amino acids.

Non-Synonymous SNP in the ApoR Gene Associated with Pork Meat Quality

Two novel non-synonymous SNPs in the 2nd and 3rd exons of the porcine ApoR gene are reported. One was identified as a novel SNP significantly associated with multiple traits of pork meat quality. The data can provide a useful resource for developing a marker in the genetic improvement of pigs.