The effects of Bifidobacterium longum HY8001 supplement intake on the fecal microflora and fecal bacterial enzyme activity were studied in ten healthy human volunteers, before, during and after intake (respectively for 3 weeks). During intake of B. longum HY8001 supplement, fecal, $\beta$-glucuronidase and nitroreductase activities significantly decreased 44.6%(p<0.005) and 32.3%(p<0.01), respectively. Although numbers of major bacterial groups of fecal microflora were not affected by B. longum HY8001 intake for 3 weeks, the number of Bifidobacterium was significantly increased (p<0.05). This result indicates that intake of B. longum HY8001 might be potentially beneficial for the prevention and inhibition of colon cancer and improvement of human intestinal microflora composition.

From each sediments collected at Chudong(static) and Hoenam(streaming) site of Lake Daechung on May 18(before rainy season) and on August 24 in 1998(after rainy season), different strains of Actinomycetes were isolated and identified to genus level. For comparison, the genus diversity of Actinomycetes in control soils such as grass land around lake, lake shore, and shallow(5-10cm) lake was also investigated. In consequence, the isolation of Streptomyces from the sediments of Lake Daechung was the most copious(41 strains) at the streaming site before rainy season and the least(27 strains) at the static site before rainy season, which were 2.4- and 1.6-fold larger than the average(17 strains) of control soils, respectively. In addition, the isolation of rare Actinomycetes from the sediments of Lake Daechung was the most copious(23 strains) at the streaming site before rainy season and the least(12 strains) at the static site after rainy season, which were 3.2-and 1.6-fold larger than the average(17 strain) of controls, respectively. Therefore, it is considered that lake sediments exhibit higher diversity of Streptomycete as well as rare Actinomycetes than general soils, and thereby can be utilized as useful sources to isolate diverse Actinomycetes.

In order to use heat shock promoter for the detection of toxic substances, dnaK promoter was amplified from E. coli genomic DNA by using a polymerase chain reaction(PCR) followed by sequencing and sub-cloning into the multi-cloning site of the plasmid, pUCD615. The pUCD615 is a broad-host-range vector containing promoterless lux operon originated from V.fischeri. The recombinant plasmid was transfered to E. coli DH5$\alpha$ through electroporation. The recombinant E. coli showed several patterns of bioluminescent responses to ethanol stress. The bioluminescent E. coli also showed responses to other toxic substances including FeK3(CN)6, CdCl2, p-nitrophenol and HgCl2. The increases of RLU(Relative Light Unit) were observed at 100ppm of FeK3(CN)6, 10ppm and 100ppm and 100ppm of CdCl2, 1ppm of 10ppm of p-nitrophenol and at 1ppm of HgCl2.

By using autoradiography and phosphate medium, high phosphate accumulating bacteria were isolated from the soil of protected cultivation area and activated sludge. Selected strain, PO8, was gram-negative, rod/spherial(0.5~0.6$\times$1.0~1.2${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in size) and non-motile. PI4, another selected strain, was gram-negative, rod(0.4~0.5$\times$1.5~1.6${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in size) and motile. It also had flagella. According to their morphological, physiological and biochemical properties, the stains were identified as Acinetobacter lwoffi PO8 and Chromobacterium lividum PI4, respectively. A. lowoffi PO8 and C. lividum PI4 cultured in the P-1 medium containing 150ppm phosphate were able to uptake high phosphate up to 92% and 85%, respectively after 24 hours at 3$0^{\circ}C$ during liquid culture.

Overproduction of L-ornithine by mutant strains isolated from Brevibacterium detoglutamicum BK1046 was investigated. The strain was a L-ornithine auxotroph and exhibited culture instability during fermentation. Through a sequential screening effort, a highly stable strain with lless revertant formation was finally selected and designated B. ketoglutamicum BK52 (KCTC0141BP). It prouduced L-ornithine at a high concentration (above 9 g/L) independent of subculture or cultivation time, and also had a very low tendency of revertant formation. In a long-term storage, this strain maintained its cell stability and productivity of L-ornithine to a reasonable range.

An $\alpha$-D-galactosidase ($\alpha$-D-galactoside galactohydrolase, EC 3. 2. 1. 22) from earthworm was purified by affinity chromatography using N-$\varepsilon$-aminocaproyl-$\alpha$-D-galactopyranosylamine coupled to sepharose and its properties were examined. The specific activity of the purified enzyme, tested with p-nitrophenyl-$\alpha$-D-galactopyranoside as substrate, was 314 units/mg protein, representing an 122-fold purification of the original crude extract. The final preparation obtained from by Sephadex G-25 chromatography showed a single band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight was determined to be 48,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified galactosidase was showed maximum activity at pH 4.5 and 4$0^{\circ}C$, and was stable in the pH and temperature ranges from 4.0 to 5.5 and 30 to 5$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme activity was inhibited by Zn2+, Hg2+ and Co2+. When the purified $\alpha$-galactosidase treated to guar gum for 6 hour, gel-promoting property was increased. It was clear that enzymatic elimination of galactose from guar gum by purified $\alpha$-galactosidase would lead to a significant increase in gelation ability.

We have developed a new process for the production of new structure oligosaccharides using the mixed-culture fementation of Lipomyces starkeyi KSM22 and leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512FMCM.L.starkeyi KSM22 produces a novel DXAMase(an enzyme containing both dextranase and amylase activities). It hydrolyzes the soluble starch and dextran. The hydrolyzates were used as acceptors for dextransucrase of L.mesenteroides to synthesize the new oligosaccharides(NOS). In fermentation, as the concentration of sucrose was increased from 9%(w/v) to 15%(w/v), the yields of dextran(sum of dextran I, MW=66kD, and dextran II, MW=21kD) was increased from 12.7% to 42.5%, and NOS was increased from 3.9% to 5.2% of the theoretical, respectively. The NOS of dp(degree of polymerization) 5 and over was increased from 33.1% to 58.3% of the total NOS. The NOS showed heat resistant up to 12$0^{\circ}C$ and was stable at pHs ranged from 2 to 6. The NOS decreased the pH changes in the culture of S. mutans, and also showed inhibitory effects on the growth of S. aureus or S. typhimurium.

Leaves of Aloe vera Linne and bloods of domestic animal were composted in a soild state fermentation reactor (SSFR) by using microbial additive including a bulking and moisture controlling agent. From solid-culture of microbial additive, 10 species of bacteria and 10 species of fungi were isolated and, their enzyme activities including amylase, carboxy methyl cellulase CMCase, lipase and protease were detected. Optimum fermentation conditions of Aloe leaves and domestic animal bloods in SSFR were obtained from the studies of response surface analysis employing microbial additive content, initial moisture content, and fermentation temperature as the independent variables. The optimum conditions for SSFR using Aloe leaves were obtained at 9.45$\pm$73%(w/w) of microbial additives, 62.73$\pm$4.54%(w/w) of initial moisture content and 55.32$\pm$3.14$^{\circ}C$ of fermentation temperature while those for SSFR using domestic animal bloods were obtained at 10.25$\pm$2.04%, 58.68$\pm$4.97% and 57.85$\pm$5.$65^{\circ}C$, respectively. Composting process in SSFR was initially proceeded through fermentation and solid materials were decomposed within 24 hours by maintaining higher moisture level, and maturing and drying steps are followed later. After the fermentation step, the concentrations of solid phase inorganic components were increased while that of organic components were decreased. Also, concentrations of total organic carbon(TOC), peptides, amino acids, polysaccharides, and low fatty acids in water extracts were increased. As fermentation in composting process depends on initial C/N ratios in water extracts of two samples were increased because of increased water-soluble TOC. From these results, it was revealed that solid state fermentation reactor using microbial additives can be used in composting process of organic wastes with broad C/N ratio.

The effects of operating pressure, lactate concentration, impurities, and pH on solution flux and lactate rejection in nanofiltration were investigated with model sodium lactate solutions (lactate 10~200g/L) as a model system. In the tested range of pressure(80~140 psig), the solution flux was observed to be proportional to the operating pressure and the rejection of lactate increased only slightly with the pressure. Both of the flux and the rejection decreased with lactate concentration, while the recovery rate of lactate increased. The effects of glucose and yeast extract as impurities on lactate rejection were negligible, but the flux decreased significantly with the addition of yeast extract. At low lactate concentrations, the rejection of lactate increased with pH due to the increased repulsion (Donnan exclusion effect) between lactate ions and membrane surface. But, at high lactate concentrations, the donnan effect was observed to be overwhelmed by the effect of sodium ions added to adjust the pH, and the rejection of lactate decreased with pH. When fermentation broth containing about 89g/L of lactate was nanofiltered, the flux and the rejection of lactate were 2.8L/$m^2$h and 5%, respectively at 120psig. Both of them were slightly lower than those with model solutions. The recovery rate was 2.6mol/$m^2$h.

A highly productive fed-batch fermentation process was developed for the production of L-ornithine by using a new stabilized strain, Breviabcterium ketoglutamicum BK52. Fed-batch cultures with a continuous feeding of the complex medium were conducted on various operating conditions. The optimal concentration of phosphate in the complex medium was 2.1g/L. The optimal feeding rate of L-arginine was 0.028g/L/hr. The optimal feeding point of the complex medium was determined to be at 40 OD of the cell mass. The final L-ornithine concentrations within 64hrs of cultivation in 5 and 50 liter fermenters were 73g/L and 71g/L, respectively. The maximum overall L-ornithine productivity was 1.14g/L/hr which was about 2 times higher than that of the conventional fed-batch culture with intermittent feeding. The overall productivity of the fermentation system is remarkably improved by employing the optimized conditions, and it offers a significant potential for industrial application.

This study was aimed to develop a value-added fermented products from rice and apple pomace using Bifidobacterium fermentation. The Bifidobacterium fermentation system of the mixture of rice and apple pomace was developed, and the physicochemical properties of the products were investigated. After 4 different bifidobacteria were compared for their fermentation capability and sensory properties of the fermented product, Bifidobacterium FBD-13 and FBD-22 were selected as appropriate strains for the fermentation of saccharified rice solution(SRS). The optimum inoculation level was 2% and the optimum fermentation time was 42 hrs. When wet apple pomace(WAP) was added to SRS, it contributed to the improvement of sensory properties of the fermented products and the optimum mixing ratio was 40% WAP and 60% SRS in weight. For the fermentation of the mixture of WAP and SRS, Bifidobacterium FBD-27 and FBD-22 were selected as suitable strains.

Pasteurella haemolytica is well known to cause severe pneumonia, consolidation and oedema of the lung, and fibrinous pleurisy under the stress and infection of virus in the cattle. In the course of our screening for antimicrobial agents against P.haemloytica, compound 51086 has been isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptimyces sp. 51086. The compound 51086 was purified by SiO2, Sephadex LH-20 and ODS column chromatographies and HPLC, subsequently. The structure of compound 51086 was determined as hygromycin A by combination of 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HMBC, and ESI-MS. This compound showed significant antibacterial activity against P.haemolytica and P.multocida.

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) for the detection of antibodies to Treponema pallidum(T.pallidum) was developed and evaluated. T.apllidum lysate was immobilized on the surface of microplate wells and horseradish peroxidase labeled human anti-T.pallidum lysate was immobilized on the surface of microplate wells and horseradish peroxidase labeled human anti-T.pallidum was prepared and used as a tracer. The performance of the competitive ELISA was evaluated by using different specimens. The competitive ELISA showed a sensitivity of 100% in a performance panel consisting of serum and plasma with anti-T.pallidum reactivity ranging from negative to strong positive by FTA-ABS test system and 120 plasma samples positive by TPHA. The specificity of the competitive ELISA was 100% in 1,200 plasma samples collected from healthy seronegative blood donors. These results suggest that the competitive ELISA provides an excellent assay method for the detection of antibodies to T.pallidum, and may be particularly useful for serological blood screening of syphilis.