7) The OT analysis confirmed these results The proportion of pa

7). The OT analysis confirmed these results. The proportion of patients exhibiting a virological response in an OT analysis was similar over time (Fig. 4). The proportion of patients who developed grade 3–4 adverse events during 48 weeks of treatment was not statistically significantly different between the arms (SQV/r arm, six

of 57 patients; 11%; ATV/r arm, 12 of 61 GSK-3 inhibition patients; 20%; P=0.2). Only three of these grade 3–4 adverse events were judged by investigators to be study drug related: hyperbilirubinaemia in two patients and skin rash in another patient. None of the 16 serious adverse events (SQV/r arm, n=8; ATV/r arm, n=8) was judged to be study drug Caspase activity related. One patient in the SQV/r arm died during the trial, the death being categorized as sudden death; an autopsy was not performed. Mild-to-moderate loose stools and diarrhoea occurred more frequently in the SQV/r arm (SQV/r arm, n=30; ATV/r arm, n=8), but grade 3–4 gastrointestinal complaints were not reported. Unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia (grade 2–4) occurred significantly more frequently in the ATV/r arm (SQV/r arm, n=3; ATV/r arm, n=31). We demonstrated noninferiority of the SQV/r-based regimen with respect to changes in TC. Once-daily SQV/r 2000/100 mg and ATV/r 300/100 mg, when

combined with TDF/FTC as initial therapy for HIV-1 infection, had comparable modest effects on TC. In addition, neither of the regimens resulted in significant increases in LDL cholesterol, apoB or TG. This may suggest that both study regimens exert little additional influence on patients’ cardiovascular risk. Findings of observational studies suggest that, although PIs as a class are associated with an increased risk of MI, this is not the case for SQV [30,31]. Data concerning ATV are PTK6 more sparse, but one case–control study reported that neither SQV nor ATV was significantly associated

with an increased risk of myocardial infarction [32]. Of note, one patient on SQV/r died of sudden death. This may be relevant in light of the recent FDA warning that SQV in healthy volunteers was associated with electrocardiographic QT and PR interval prolongation [33]. Unfortunately, no electrocardiograms were performed in this trial and further details concerning the circumstances of death were not available in our patient. Although there was a numerically greater reduction in insulin sensitivity assessed by HOMA in the ATV/r arm than in the SQV/r arm, this did not reach statistical significance, possibly because of our limited sample size. Of note, a previous hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp study showed no significant changes in glucose disposal rate after 4 weeks for either treatment [19]. Neither of the regimens was associated with limb fat atrophy or loss of SAT.

This effect is blocked by the histone deacetylase inhibitor, tric

This effect is blocked by the histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A, suggesting that selleck compound down-regulation may be caused by histone deacetylation at the hMLH1 locus.85 Koshiji et al. reported that hypoxia (1% O2 for 16 h) down-regulates transcription of MSH2 and MSH6 in the MLH1-negative cell line, HCT116.86 This effect is p53-dependent and HIF1-dependent. They demonstrated that transcriptional repression of MSH2 and MSH6 by hypoxia is mediated by reduction of the Sp1-MYC complex, which promotes MSH2/MSH6 transcription under normoxic conditions. Because HIF1 competes with MYC in forming a complex with Sp1, stabilization of HIF1 by hypoxia results in the reduction of the Sp1-MYC complex.86

Koshiji’s work was followed by that of Bindra and Glazer, who demonstrated that both MSH2 and MLH1 are transcriptionally down-regulated by prolonged severe hypoxia (0.01% O2 for 48 h) in human cancer cell lines from different tissues and in normal human cell lines.102 In contrast to Koshiji’s work, they observed a correlation between down-regulation of MYC and MSH2/MLH1 transcriptions in hypoxic cells. They found that the occupancies of both MSH2 and MLH1 promoters by MYC were replaced by MAX, MAD1 and MNT in hypoxic cells. They also demonstrated that down-regulation of MSH2/MLH1 is HIF-independent. Based on

these results they proposed the model that repression of MSH2/MLH1 by hypoxia is mediated through a HIF-independent, MYC/MAX network.102 The discrepancy between Koshiji’s and Bindra’s studies might be explained by the difference in oxygen concentrations selleck chemicals they used (1% versus 0.01%, respectively). Interestingly, Silibinin however, Shahrzad et al. showed that no significant decrease in the MSH2 protein level was observed in HCT116 under hypoxic conditions (<0.1% O2 for 24 h).90 These results suggest that expression of MMR genes may be differentially

controlled by different mechanisms according to the concentration of oxygen and duration of hypoxia. In support of this notion, Nakamura et al. have shown that the gene products of HIF1 inducible genes, DEC1 and DEC2 (differentiated embryo chondrocytes 1 and 2), down-regulate transcription of MLH1 through the repressor functions of these proteins.89 They observed down-regulation of MLH1 at mRNA and protein levels in hypoxic cells (1% O2 for 6, 12, 24, 48 or 72 h). This down-regulation is associated with up-regulation of DEC1 and DEC2. They found DEC1 and DEC2 binding sites (E-box) within the MLH1 promoter region, and that the binding of DEC1 and DEC2 to the sites represses the promoter activity of MLH1. They further showed that silencing of HIF1 or DEC2 by corresponding siRNAs in hypoxic cells canceled down-regulation of MLH1. Based on these results, they concluded that down-regulation of MLH1 by hypoxia is mediated by an HIF1-dependent increase of DEC1 and DEC2 proteins.89 Rodriguez-Jimenez et al.

[5] Anticoagulation

in older patients poses unique challe

[5] Anticoagulation

in older patients poses unique challenges because they are simultaneously at higher risk for recurrent thromboembolism and major bleeding, including catastrophic intracranial haemorrhage.[6-8] Older patients may be at increased risk for anticoagulant-related bleeding because of the increased prevalence of comorbidity and polypharmacy, increased vascular Enzalutamide and endothelial fragility, dietary inadequacies and increased sensitivity to warfarin.[9, 10] The limitations of warfarin necessitate regular monitoring of the International Normalised Ratio (INR) and dose adjustment. The efficacy and safety of warfarin therapy is strongly linked to the proportion of time that patients spend in the target INR range (time in therapeutic range; TTR).[11, 12] Unfortunately, many patients who are prescribed warfarin and managed in community settings, including those residing in aged-care facilities (ACFs), spend a considerable proportion of their time outside of the therapeutic range.[2, 13, 14] Barriers to optimal INR control in ACFs may include

difficulties arranging for pathology providers to visit the ACF, the time taken for the general practitioner (GP) to be notified of the INR result and the time taken for the GP to adjust the warfarin dose, if required, and alert or visit the ACF to implement changes.[15] Point-of-care (POC) coagulometers, Trametinib mw which measure the prothrombin time from capillary whole blood and provide an INR reading within minutes, are becoming increasingly popular. They can be used by patients to enable self-monitoring of

warfarin and in primary care settings as an alternative to traditional laboratory determination of the INR. Use of such devices can benefit both patients and primary care physicians in managing anticoagulation therapy.[16, 17] The combination Cell press of POC monitoring and telemedicine may assist in improving access to regular INR monitoring and the communication of results in primary care. The use of telemedicine systems provides an opportunity to reduce labour-intensiveness and improve clinical outcomes for chronic diseases.[18] The aim of this study was to develop and fully evaluate a pilot system that integrated monitoring of clinical parameters or therapeutic outcomes, using portable POC testing devices, with electronic communication of the results from ACFs to GPs and electronic feedback from GPs to the ACFs, utilising national information communication technology (ICT) standards. We conducted a prospective before-and-after proof-of-concept study to compare the INR control achieved with POC INR monitoring and electronic communication to and from GPs with the control achieved in the 12 months immediately preceding the study using conventional management (laboratory INR with physician dose adjustment).

, 2009) More recently, mutant SOD1 models have been generated in

, 2009). More recently, mutant SOD1 models have been generated in zebrafish (Lemmens et al., 2007) and Caenorhabditis elegans (Witan et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2009a), suitable for genetic and small compound screening (Fig. 1). Almost all SOD1 mutations selleck chemical behave as autosomal dominant traits, and phenotype–genotype correlations have been described (Cudkowicz et al., 1998; Regal et al., 2006; Siddique & Siddique, 2008). One mutation, D90A, is recessive in populations of Scandinavian origin

but dominant in others (Andersen et al., 1995; Robberecht et al., 1996). The mechanism underlying the resistance of certain populations to monoallelic expression of this mutation (or the susceptibility of others) is of high interest but hitherto unknown. Not surprisingly, dysfunction of the axon, containing CHIR-99021 molecular weight 99% of the motor neuron cytoplasm,

is among the earliest manifestations of the mutant SOD1-induced degenerative process. This dysfunction appears as retraction of motor axons from neuromuscular junctions resulting in denervation and muscle weakness (Fischer et al., 2004). The pivotal significance of the axonal compartment explains the finding that preserving the cell body by interfering with the later stages of the degenerative process is insufficient to affect the clinical disease (Gould et al., 2006; Dewil et al., 2007a). A toxic gain-of-function of the mutant protein underlies motor neuron toxicity, as these rodent models retain their endogenous SOD1 activity and SOD1-deficient mice have no overt phenotype of motor neuron degeneration (Reaume et al., 1996).

The expression level of the SOD1 mutant protein for a given mutation determines disease severity, higher levels yielding a more aggressive phenotype. This has been well documented for the G93A-mutant SOD1 mouse model (Alexander et al., 2004; Fig. 2). The mechanism through which mutant SOD1 induces motor neuron degeneration remains Amino acid incompletely understood, even nearly two decades after their discovery, but most probably involves several (interacting) pathways rather than a single pathogenic mechanism. SOD1 is an important enzyme in the defence against superoxide anions, most of which are inadvertent reaction products in the mitochondria due to incomplete efficiency (‘leakiness’) of oxidative phosphorylation. Many studies have reported the presence of oxidative damage to proteins, lipids or DNA in patients with familial or sporadic ALS as well as in several mutant SOD1 mice (Barber & Shaw, 2010). It remains uncertain whether these changes are primary or secondary in nature. Two oxidation-modified proteins are particularly worth mentioning. SOD1 itself was found to be heavily oxidized (Andrus et al., 1998); this may at least contribute to the newly acquired toxic property of the protein (Ezzi et al., 2007).

The channels forward scatter (FSC), side scatter and fluorescent

The channels forward scatter (FSC), side scatter and fluorescent channels FL1 17-AAG chemical structure (530/30 BP) and FL2 (661/16 BP) were used for detection.

Threshold was set for SSC and compensation was not used. The carrier liquid used was 0.22 μm filtered MilliQ water. Samples were measured for 30 s at low flow speed (12 ± 3 μL min−1) with event counts below 3000 s−1. In our hands, the plasmid-free P. putida KT2440 wild-type strain is a rather weak biofilm former in minimal medium citrate-fed flow cell experiments, whereas earlier reports indicated stronger biofilm formation (Tolker-Nielsen et al., 2000), especially with different carbon sources or under coculture conditions (Hansen et al., 2007). After 2 days, small microcolonies MK-2206 solubility dmso were found, but after 7 days, these had either died or detached, and hardly any adherent biomass was found (Fig. 1 and Table 1). Carriage of the TOL plasmid considerably enhanced biofilm formation: all TOL biofilms consisted of multiple cell layers after 2 days, with single microcolonies measuring up to 50 μm in height and 25 μm in diameter. After 7 days, some microcolonies measured up to 100 μm in height, suggesting that detachment had not affected KT2240 (TOL) biofilms (Fig. 1 and Table 1). All differences in biovolume and average thickness between plasmidless and TOL-carrying strains were significant (P<0.0001). In addition, P. putida forms poor air–liquid interface biofilms

(Ude et al., 2006). Here, again, the TOL-carrying strain formed slimy, coherent pellicles at the air–liquid interface of liquid cultures, even with shaking at moderate speed, whereas the plasmid-free strain did not form coherent pellicles

(Supporting Information, Fig S1). After prolonged incubation, the liquid cultures of the TOL strain became increasingly viscous [KT2440: 1.6 centistoke (cSt) (cSt=mm2 s−1) vs. KT2440 (TOL) 6.6 cSt], suggesting that extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were produced. We dismiss the possibility that enhanced biofilm and pellicle formation is due to a growth enhancement associated with Gefitinib TOL plasmid carriage per se. First, plasmid carriage, under nonselective conditions – as used here – typically results in growth impairment, rather than in enhancement, and we have – specifically for these two strains –documented a slight reduction in intrinsic growth kinetics due to plasmid carriage (Seoane et al., 2010). Second, detailed monitoring of total cell densities in both static (Table 2) and shaken (data not shown) cultures indicates very similar profiles and final cell densities of approximately 108 after 1 day and 109 from day 3 onward. Only with genetic modification (e.g. by loss of a genomic EAL domain-encoding gene, or expression of a heterologous GGDEF domain-encoding gene) does P. putida form persistent biofilms or perceivable pellicles (Gjermansen et al., 2006; Ude et al., 2006).

Overall, evidence suggests that BldG serves as a master switch fo

Overall, evidence suggests that BldG serves as a master switch for both stress-response and developmental gene expression based on its association with multiple anti-sigma factors in S. griseus. Streptomyces and related bacteria

harbor a large number of RNA polymerase sigma factors. For example, Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), the model microorganism for genetic manipulation, harbors four major and 60 minor sigma factors (including 50 factors involved in extracytoplasmic function and nine in stress-response) (Bentley et al., 2002; Hahn et al., 2003). Streptomyces TGF-beta inhibitor griseus, the streptomycin producer used in this study, retains four major and 48 minor sigma factors (Ohnishi et al., 2008). The presence of these varied sigma factors suggests divergences in the gene expression in this microorganism, and these divergences enable the microorganism to adapt to various environmental and physiological conditions. We studied the role of stress-response sigma factors in S. griseus (streptomycin

signaling pathway producer) with regard to the link between the stress response and morphological and physiological differentiation. In our previous study (Takano et al., 2003), we had characterized an rshA-sigH operon encoding a stress-response sigma factor σH and its antagonist (anti-σH factor) RshA. In that study, the insertion of rshA into a high-copy-number plasmid (pIJ702-rshA) caused marked repression of aerial mycelium formation (Fig. 1a, left) and streptomycin production in S. griseus IFO13350 (the wild-type strain). Therefore, we assumed that this marked phenotypic change was caused by the sequestration of σH and alternative sigma factors by the excess RshA. However, a triple knockout mutant for σH and two σH paralogs (σF and σN) showed the wild-type phenotype (Takano et al., 2007). This finding indicated that

these sigma factors are not directly involved in the control of morphological development and secondary metabolism and suggested that RshA binds to another protein regulating PTK6 the expression of developmental genes. In this study, we identified BldG, an anti-sigma factor antagonist, to be such a protein associating RshA. BldG has been characterized for its essential role in the developmental control in S. coelicolor A3(2) (Bignell et al., 2000, 2003). The evidence suggests that the cross-talk between BldG and RshA controls the activity of σH and related stress-response sigma factors in S. griseus. Strains, plasmids, and growth conditions used in this study were as described previously (Takano et al., 2007), except that TA cloning of PCR-generated DNA fragments was done with the help of pMD19 (Takara Shuzo). An integration plasmid pKU463, a derivative of pKU493aad (Komatsu et al., 2010) carrying kanamycin resistance, was obtained from H. Ikeda at Kitasato University. The construction of pIJ702-rshA has been described previously (Takano et al., 2003).

Importantly, in our patients who received a darunavir-containing

Importantly, in our patients who received a darunavir-containing regimen, we observed a sustained and steady increase in trunk fat tissue, with a median increase of 1 kg over the 96-week study period. Indeed, this fat accumulation, which represented a 12% increase

in the monotherapy arm, was consistent with peripheral fat gain within this group. Therefore, it could be hypothesized that there is an overall increase in fat content, which is slowed by the maintenance of NRTIs in triple-drug strategies. Several factors may explain fat accumulation in the trunk. PIs were associated, in the Caspase inhibitor reviewCaspases apoptosis late 1990s, with central adiposity in long-term HIV-infected patients [29]. In our study, the vast majority of patients were receiving a PI regimen at entry to the study and all received darunavir/r during the study. However, when we looked at the potential impact of prior antiretroviral drug history, we could not

find any impact of drug class on fat accumulation. To varying degrees, the majority of PIs have been associated with metabolic disturbances and lipodystrophy syndrome. Recently, Ferrer et al. [30] reported that a switch from lopinavir/r to atazanavir/r was associated with an increase in subcutaneous and visceral trunk fat. Several studies have also shown that lipohypertrophy is 5-FU nmr not restricted to patients receiving a PI [11, 28, 31]. In the study mafosfamide by Cameron et al., which evaluated a maintenance strategy where patients received standard triple therapy with efavirenz or lopinavir/r monotherapy, trunk fat content increased similarly in patients receiving efavirenz or lopinavir/r combined with NRTIs [11]. In the ACTG 5142 study, which investigated metabolic outcomes over 96 weeks in patients treated with

efavirenz or lopinavir/r plus two NRTIs vs. an NRTI-sparing regimen with lopinavir/r plus efavirenz, trunk fat was significantly increased from 8.2 kg at entry to 10.4 kg by week 96, with no difference between PI and non-PI treatments [31]. The centralized blinded use of DEXA and quality control is important in fat distribution evaluation in order to reduce disparities in measurements. However, there are several limitations to our study. First, DEXA scans have the advantage of overall quantification of limb and trunk fat contents, but only the addition of a computed tomography (CT) scan with an L4 slice allows differentiation between visceral and subcutaneous compartments within the trunk fat content [32]. Indeed, we cannot rule out the possibility that the overall increase in trunk fat was partially attributable to increased subcutaneous abdominal fat.

The task instructions were held constant throughout each block of

The task instructions were held constant throughout each block of 20 trials. There were up to two targets and ‘fake targets’ in each trial. In order to analyse all possible aspects of spatial attentional modulation, we asked participants to attend

to contiguous and non-contiguous parts of visual space. For the undivided attention conditions, participants were instructed to attend to both stimuli in either the contiguous right hemifield (‘attend right’) or the left hemifield (‘attend selleck compound left’). In order to obtain cortical responses during divided attention, participants had to attend to the inner right and outer left stimuli (‘split left’) or the inner left and outer right stimuli (‘split right’). For each of the divided attention conditions, 160 trials were run; for the conditions in which participants had to attend within a visual NVP-BKM120 concentration hemifield, 140 trials were run. Target presentation was limited to durations of up to 19 frames, i.e. for a maximum duration of approximately 317 ms. Given the flickering nature of the checkerboards (see Video S1 for an example of the task with target durations set

to 350 ms) and the large distance between the stimuli in the divided condition (approximately 10.5°), it is highly unlikely that a high rate of target–pair detections would be achieved with a strategy of attending to one of the stimuli and shifting attention to the second stimulus as soon as a possible target is detected. One hundred and sixty-eight-channel scalp EEG recordings were amplified and digitised at 512 Hz by the use of ActiveTwo systems (Biosemi, Amsterdam, Netherlands) with an analog low-pass filter at 103 Hz. The acquisition of the data occurs relative to an active two-electrode reference, which drives the average potential of the participant as close as possible to the reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter box (for a description of the Biosemi active electrode system referencing and grounding conventions, see www.biosemi.com/faq/cms&drl.htm). Eye movements were recorded with an EyeLink 1000 system (SR Research, Mississauga,

Ontario, Canada). Even though participants rested the head on a comfortable Etoposide in vitro chinrest, the eye-tracker was set to head-free mode. In this setting, the eye-tracker corrects for head movements and remains very accurate even with changing head position. Eye position was recorded at 500 Hz and synchronised with the EEG recording by the use of triggers at the onset of each trial. Every eight blocks, the eye-tracker was re-calibrated by the use of a nine-point grid. The raw eye-tracking data were filtered by use of a fourth-order Butterworth low-pass filter with a 15-Hz cut-off to eliminate rarely occurring high-frequency errors. Owing to calibration error, the eye-tracker may represent the participant’s horizontal gaze position up to 1° to the left or right of the intended position.

The probability of hospitalization was significantly lower among

The probability of hospitalization was significantly lower among TRC (34/446 or 7.6%) compared to DC (154/1,182 or 13.0%). Salmonellosis was the most common reason for hospitalization in both groups (12/34 TRC or 35.3% and 62/154 DC or see more 40.3%). TRC and DC were not statistically different by gender but they were by age and disease (Table 5). In comparison to DC, TRC had relatively more cases in the

15- to 24-year-age group (18.8% vs 10.4%) and less in the 60+ year age group (9.6% vs 13.7%). More than 33% of the total cases were TRC for 6 of the 12 reportable diseases included in the study: amebiasis, cyclosporiasis, giardiasis, hepatitis A, shigellosis, and typhoid and paratyphoid fever. The criterion for disease-specific comparisons (30 or more TRC) was met for Campylobacter enteritis, giardiasis, and non-typhoidal salmonellosis. Among the Campylobacter enteritis cases, Campylobacter coli was statistically more

common among TRC (71% of all C coli cases) and Campylobacter jejuni was less common (20% of all C jejuni cases). Salmonella enteritidis (SE) was the most frequent serotype overall and was significantly Selleckchem JNK inhibitor more commonly found in TRC (57/117 or 48.72%) compared to all other serotypes combined (58/315 or 18.4%). TRC were younger than DC for giardiasis and campylobacteriosis, but not for non-typhoidal salmonellosis. The delay between onset and report was statistically longer among TRC compared to DC for Campylobacter enteritis (interquartiles: 7-10-17 and 6-8-11 CYTH4 d, respectively) and non-typhoidal salmonellosis (8-10.5-18 and 6-8-11 d, respectively), but not for giardiasis. For each disease, the duration of disease and percent hospitalized did not differ between TRC and DC. Comparisons of symptoms between TRC and DC among each disease showed only one statistically significant difference: bloody diarrhea was more frequent in DC compared to TRC among Campylobacter enteritis (40% vs 20%, respectively). This study clearly fulfills gaps identified with regard to travel-acquired enteric illness in Canada.14

It comprehensively describes TRC among 10 reportable diseases caused by enteropathogens in a Canadian community. The study also provides evidence of particular traveler profiles based on travel characteristics and age and indicates potential profile-associated risk in contracting illness abroad. Finally, it quantifies the burden of TRC in terms of cases and hospitalization. This study used surveillance data, which is one possible approach identified to estimate health risk related to travel outside the country of residence.24 More specifically, data were obtained through a sentinel site surveillance approach, demonstrating its efficiency compared to the other surveillance approaches currently in place in Canada.

The 20 fastest growing independent mycelia with distinct colony s

The 20 fastest growing independent mycelia with distinct colony shapes were selected from each parental strain. Mating was conducted by placing mycelial blocks (3 × 3 mm) from opposite strains on the same PDA plate 1 cm apart. Mating was confirmed by the formation of clamp connections under the microscope after incubation at 30 °C for 7 days. RAPD analysis has shown some

strain-specific DNA bands in the gel. To develop the unique DNA bands as the strain-specific DNA markers, the DNA bands were excised and extracted with a DNA gel extraction kit (Solgent Co., Korea). The extracted DNA was cloned into pGEM-T-easy cloning vector (Promega Co., USA). The insert DNA sequence was determined by a commercial DNA sequencing Natural Product Library service. The determined DNA sequences were deposited into GenBank (NCBI) with the accession numbers given in Table 1. Primer sets of 15 nucleotides in length were designed using the 5′- and 3′-ends of the determined sequences (Table 1). Target-specific

primer sets were employed for the detection OSI 906 of specific strains using the following conditions: 94 °C for 5 min; 30 cycles at 94 °C for 45 s, 60 °C for 45 s, and 72 °C for 2 min; 72 °C for 10 min. RAPD analyses with three random primers were conducted for the verification of nine H. marmoreus strains. The RAPD with primers OPS-1, OPS-10, and OPL-13 yielded 22, 16, and 21 distinct DNA bands, respectively, with the sizes ranging from 0.5 to 3.5 kbp (Fig. 1a). The DNA band pattern was clustered using the UPGMA method. The resulting dendrogram, which was a reflection of genetic background, showed that the H. marmoreus

strains could be clustered into three groups (Fig. 1b). The largest group consisted of Hm0-7, Hm1-1, Hm1-6, Hm2-7, Hm3-6, and Hm3-8. Hm1-1 and Hm1-6 were essentially the same strain. Strains Hm3-6 and Hm3-8 are Korean varieties based on the Japanese strain Hm0-7. Taiwanese Hm2-7 could be derived oxyclozanide from Hm0-7. Strains Hm0-4 and Hm2-10 were included in the second cluster. These strains were from a mushroom stock belonging to a commercial farm. Hm3-10 showed the most distinct DNA band pattern and thus formed an independent single-member group in the dendrogram. Hm3-10 was a wild strain collected from a mountain in the middle of Korea. Cultivation characteristics of the strains were investigated in terms of mushroom yield, culture period, and taste of fruiting bodies. The results are summarized in the Table 2. Strains Hm1-1, Hm1-6, and Hm3-6 showed the best results among the strains. The former two strains were identical in RAPD and therefore had the same characteristics. The wild strain Hm3-10, which exhibited a distinct genetic background in the RAPD analysis, showed reasonable cultivation characteristics except for poor fruiting body yield, suggesting a potential to be developed as a commercial strain. The morphology of fully grown Hm3-10 and Hm1-1 are shown in Fig. 1c and d, respectively.