A human polyomavirus, JC virus (JCV) is ubiquitous in humans and infects children asymptomatically. It persists in renal tissue and is excreted progeny in urine. DNAs from urine samples of 100 healthy Korean individuals were screened for the presence of JCV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Twenty of the samples were positive for JCV. JCV DNA was found in one individual (4%) in the 1-19-year group, two individuals (9%) in the 20-39-year group, ten individuals (38%) in the 40-59-year group, seven individuals (28%) in the over 60-year group. The prevalence of JC viral DNA was the highest in the 40-59-year-old Korean population. To investigate genotypes of JCV in Korea, the genotypes were determined by DNA sequence analysis of the regulatory region (333 bp) and the VT-intergenic region (656 bp) of DNA from the 20 JCV isolates. We have identified three distinctive JCV strains in the regulatory region and ten distinctive JCV strains in the VT-intergenic region of DNA from the 20 isolates. Based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and phylogenetic analysis of the VT-intergenic region of JCV, two distinct subtypes, CY and type 2A (MY), were found to be prevalent in this Korean population. CY and type 2A of JCV were identified in 13 individuals (65%) and four individuals (20%), respectively. Interestingly, type 1, which was distributed mostly in Europe, was found in 3 (15%) isolates from healthy Korean individuals.

, respectively. The DNA G+C content was 38.1 mol% and the major respiratory quinone was MK-7. The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C 15 : 0 (38.6 %), C 15 : 0 2-OH (20.3 %) and C 15 : 0 (10.7 %). Growth was observed at 25-42 6C (optimum 30-37 6C) and at pH 6.5-9.5 (optimum pH 6.5-8.0). On the basis of polyphasic analysis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data, strain Haldis-1 T represents a novel genus and species within the family Cryomorphaceae in the (Bowman et al., 2003;Lau et al., 2005;O'Sullivan et al., 2005). Molecular phylogenetic studies have found that phylotypes related to the family Cryomorphaceae are associated with phytoplankton blooms (Pinhassi et al., 2004;Grossart et al., 2005). In the process of investigating bacterial communities in abalone (Haliotis discus) under aquaculture for food, a novel Gram-stain-negative bacterium producing yelloworange pigments was isolated and investigated using a polyphasic approach.Strain Haldis-1 T was isolated from abalone flesh samples collected off the southern coast of Wando (34 u 189 N 126 u 459 E) in Korea by using a standard serial dilution plating method and incubation on marine agar 2216 (MA; Difco) at 25 u C for 5 days. Subcultivation was routinely performed on LB agar at 30 u C for 3 days under aerobic conditions and the strain was stored at 280 u C in marine broth (MB; Difco) supplemented with 15 % (v/v) glycerol for preservation.Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of strain Haldis-1 T was carried out as described by Lane (1991). The almost fulllength (1480 nt) 16S rRNA gene sequence was compared with sequences from GenBank using the BLAST program (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/) to determine an approximate phylogenetic affiliation, and aligned with sequences of closely related organisms by using the CLUSTAL W software program (Thompson et al., 1994). Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed by using the neighbour-joining, maximum-likelihood and maximum-parsimony algo-The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain Haldis-1 T is FJ424814.

Composite adrenal medullary tumors, composed of both pheochromocytoma and ganglioneuroma, are extremely rare, as are pheochromocytomas masquerading as acute relapsing pancreatitis. We recently experienced a case of a 48-year-old male with both these phenomena. The patient complained of an acute onset of intense abdominal discomfort. At the same time, pancreatic enzymes were increased in concentration. An abdominal computed tomographic scan revealed an enlarged pancreas and a 3-cm left adrenal incidentaloma. Biochemical and 131I-MIBG scintigraphic findings were compatible with a pheochromocytoma. Yet, he had no clinical manifestations suggesting pheochromocytoma. An adrenalectomy was performed and a composite adrenal medullary tumor of pheochromocytoma and ganglioneuroma was confirmed during a pathologic examination. This case illustrates two points: 1) acute abdominal intense discomfort and hyperamylasemia may be unusual presentations of pheochromocytomas; and 2) the possibility of the pheochromocytoma, albeit rare, should be considered when a relapsing pancreatitis of uncertain etiology develops.

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The human polyomavirus JC virus (JCV) is the etiologic agent of the fatal demyelinating central nervous system disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), which occurs in 4–7% of AIDS patients. Two Korean AIDS patients with PML were assayed for JCV, and the virus was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Using immunohistochemical analysis, we also examined the distribution of JCV antigen in the brains of the patients. The JCV genome was detected in peripheral lymphocytes, brain and cerebrospinal fluid from these Korean PML patients. Although type 2 is the most common genotype in Asia, the genotype of the JCV in these two AIDS patients was characterized as type 1, which is of European origin. We found that JCV antigen was selectively detected in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes of the brains from these patients. Compared to the prototype type 1 (Mad-1), two different nucleotides (G→C) in the KOR-1 strain identified here were found at positions 2488 and 2490 of the major capsid protein VP1 gene. In summary, this is the first report of PML in Korean AIDS patients; it is also the first isolation of JCV type 1 in PML in East Asians.