• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.734-741
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• 2022

Currently, around 40 million people worldwide are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection making HIV a critical global health risk. Present therapies for HIV infection consist of drug cocktails that target different steps of the HIV life cycle to prevent infection, replication, and release of the virus. Due to its mutating nature, drug resistance coupled with side-effects of long-term drug use, novel strategies, and pharmaceuticals to treat and manage HIV infection are constant needs and continuously being studied. Plants allocate a major repertoire of chemical diversity and are therefore regarded as an important source of new bioactive agents that can be utilized against HIV. Since the early 1990s, upon recommendations of the World Health Organization, numerous studies reported phytochemicals from different structural classes such as flavonoids, coumarins, tannins and terpenes with strong inhibitory effects against HIV infection. The present review gathered and presented recent research (2021-present) on plant extracts and phytochemicals that exhibit anti-HIV properties with the aim of providing insights into future studies where ethnomedical and underutilized plant sources may yield important natural products against HIV. Considering the relation and importance of HIV treatment with current viral infection risks such as SARS-CoV-2, screening plants for anti-HIV agents is an important step towards the discovery of novel antivirals.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.842-850
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• 2023

Pyrrolnitrin, pyrrolomycin, and pyoluteorin are functional halogenated phenylpyrrole derivatives (HPDs) derived from microorganisms with diverse antimicrobial activities. Pyrrolnitrin is a secondary metabolite produced from L-tryptophan through four-step reactions in Pseudomonas fluorescens, Burkholderia cepacia, Serratia plymuthica, etc. It is currently used for the treatment of superficial dermatophytic fungal infections, has high antagonistic activities against soil-borne and foliar fungal infections, and has many industrial applications. Since pyrrolnitrin is easily decomposed by light, it is difficult to widely use it outdoors. As an alternative, fludioxonil, a synthetically produced non-systemic surface fungicide that is structurally similar and has excellent light stability, has been commercialized for seed and foliar treatment of plants. However, due to its high toxicity to aquatic organisms and adverse effects in human cell lines, many countries have established maximum residue levels and strictly control its levels. Pyrrolomycin and pyoluteorin, which have antibiotic/antibiofilm activity against Gram-positive bacteria and high anti-oomycete activity against the plant pathogen Pythium ultimum, respectively, were isolated and identified from microorganisms. This review summarizes the biosynthesis and production of natural pyrrolnitrin derived from bacteria and the characteristics of synthetic fludioxonil and other natural phenylpyrrole derivatives among the HPDs. We expect that a plethora of highly effective, novel HPDs that are safe for humans and environments will be developed through the generation of an HPD library by microbial biosynthesis and chemical synthesis.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2005

Pathogens, insects and weeds have significantly reduced agricultural productivity. Thus, to increase the productivity, synthetic agricultural chemicals have been overused. However, these synthetic compounds that are different from natural products cannot be broken down easily in natural systems, causing the destruction of soil quality and agricultural environments and the gradually difficulty in continuous agriculture. Now agriculture is faced with the various problems of minimizing the damage in agricultural environments, securing the safety of human health, while simultaneously increasing agricultural productivity. Meanwhile, plants produce secondary metabolites to protect themselves from external invaders and to secure their region for survival. Plants infected with pathogens produce antibiotics phytoalexin; monocotyledonous plants produce flavonoids and diterpenoids phytoalexins, and dicotylodoneous plant, despite of infected pathogens, produce family-specific phytoalexin such as flavonoids in Leguminosae, indole derivatives in Cruciferae, sesquitepenoids in Solanaceae, coumarins in Umbelliferae, making the plant resistant to specific pathogen. Growth inhibitor or antifeedant substances to insects are terpenoids pyrethrin, azadirachtin, limonin, cedrelanoid, toosendanin and fraxinellone/dictamnine, and terpenoid-alkaloid mixed compounds sesquiterpene pyridine and norditerpenoids, and azepine-, amide-, loline-, stemofoline-, pyrrolizidine-alkaloids and so on. Also plants produces the substances to inhibit other plant growths to secure the regions for plant itself, which is including terpenoids essential oil and sesquiterpene lactone, and additionally, benzoxazinoids, glucosinolate, quassinoid, cyanogenic glycoside, saponin, sorgolennone, juglone and lots of other different of secondary metabolites. Hence, phytoalexin, an antibiotic compound produced by plants infected with pathogens, can be employed for pathogen control. Terpenoids and alkaloids inhibiting insect growth can be utilized for insect control. Allelochemicals, a compound released from a certain plant to hinder the growth of other plants for their survival, can be also used directly as a herbicides for weed control as well. Therefore, the use of the natural secondary metabolites for pest control might be one of the alternatives for environmentally friendly agriculture. However, the natural substances are destroyed easily causing low the pest-control efficacy, and also there is the limitation to producing the substances using plant cell. In the future, effects should be made to try to find the secondary metabolites with good pest-control effect and no harmful to human health. Also the biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites have to be elucidated continuously, and the metabolic engineering should be applied to improve transgenics having the resistance to specific pest.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1032-1046
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to provide basic information on ecological forest management in Janggunbong, Bonghwa-Gun. Vegetation data were collected from Janggunbong, Bonghwa-Gun, from July, 2014 to October, 2015. We carried out an analysis of vegetation types on the physiognomically dominant species of 111 quadrates. In the natural forest area, the vegetation community was classified into Quercus mongolica, Betula schmidtii, Pinus densiflora, Quercus variabilis and Tilia amurensis. In the plantation area, the vegetation community was classified into Pinus koraiensis, Larix kaempferi, Fraxinus rhynchophylla and Betula platyphylla var. japonica. Based on the analysis of the importance value of the species in the slope area, it was seen that the tree layers of the natural forest were dominated by Quercus mongolica at 44.3, and Pinus densiflora at 12.1. The importance values of the subtree layer of the natural forest were found to be 27.6 for Quercus mongolica, and 12.4 for Fraxinus sieboldiana. Also, the importance values of the tree layers in the plantation areas were found to be 22.6 for Pinus koraiensis, 15.4 for Larix kaempferi, and 13.3 for Fraxinus rhynchophylla, while those of the subtree layers of the plantation area were found to be17.9 for Quercus variabilis, 14.1 for Parthenocissus tricuspidata, and 10.4 for Quercus mongolica in that order. Vine plants showed higher importance values in the plantation area than in the natural forest area. Species diversity in the valley area was 2.334 in the natural forest area, and 1.734 in the plantation area. That of natural forest area was 1.931, and that of plantation area was 1.927 in slope area. For management of the forest vegetation in Mt. Janggunbong, a distinct forest management plan, customized for each topography and physiognomical community unit should be made Particularly, the administration is required to consider strategies to reduce the higher importance value for vine plants in the plantation areas.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.556-560
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• 2015

This study was aimed at investigating the natural occurrence of caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline in tea leaves. Sample clean-up was based on a simple solid phase extraction (SPE) treatment, and simultaneous analysis was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This method showed good results in terms of linearity, recovery, precision, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantitation (LOQ). The caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline contents of tea leaves (n = 228) ranged from 5.4 to 58.2 mg/g, from not detected to 11.2 mg/g, and from not detected to 0.7 mg/g, respectively. The results obtained in this study can be used as fundamental data of caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline contents in tea leaves.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.271-277
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• 2007

Natural pigments have many applications like colouring agent, pigments, food additives, and antiseptics. At present, instead of synthetic pigments that have contributed to the development of industry, many kinds of natural pigments have been developed. The constituents of gardenia fruits, Gardenia jasminoides ELLIS, are traditionally known as herb medicine and natural dyes/pigments due to the customer is needs. The fruits produce yellow carotenoid pigments and iridoid compounds. The two main components in the yellow pigments are called crocin and crocetin. The extraction mode of yellow pigment from Gardenia is depended upon the extraction time, temperature, and volume of solvent. Red pigments or blue pigments formed from geniposide and amino acids have been reported a lot. Geniposide, the principal iridoid glucoside contained in gardenia fruit, was hydrolyzed to genipinic acid or genipin as a precursor for the pigment by enzymatic or chemical reaction. These red or blue pigments prepared with materials hydrolyzed of geniposide and amino acid and had properties governed by the electrostatic character of the amino acid. The pigments showed good stability to heat and pH but were gradually bleached by light while the other natural pigments are unstable in light, heat, acid, and base solution. The safety of the pigments was considered to be of little virulences in comparison to synthetic pigments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.202-210
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• 2020

As the elderly population increases, it is becoming important to prevent and treat muscle loss caused by aging or disease. Steroidal androgen in the protein assimilation steroid (AAS) system is mainly used to induce muscle improvement, but it is well known that long-term or excessive doses of AAS result in various side effects, although they are prescribed for various muscle and weight loss treatments. Research is therefore underway to explore natural substances that promote muscle renewal with relatively few side effects. However, despite many studies on the improvement of skeletal muscle and the reduction of muscle disease using natural products, there is still a lack of significant clinical results and mechanism studies. The promotion of muscle regeneration through treatment with natural substances typically involves three mechanisms: positive control of the muscle modulating factor (MRF), activation of the protein synthesis mechanism, and inhibition of the protein breakdown mechanism. A study of plant extracts that are known to have muscle neoplasmic stimulation effects, such as black ginseng, plum, and nutmeg, as well as single substances derived from natural products, such as creatine, catechin, and several fatty acids, is therefore described. We also summarize the mechanisms that have been identified so far through which each of these extracts or single materials facilitates muscle regeneration and the signaling pathways that they mediate.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.439-448
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to develop eco-friendly, fundamental technology for vegetative restoration of barren lands using green rehabilitation material, for the stabilization of abandoned mine debris slopes and depository slopes composed of rock fragments. It is expected that such methods would help to improve the negative view of artificial slopes that remain following mining activity, while also contributing to slope stabilization and prevention of the loss of rock fragments and the dispersion of tailings. We tested the tensile strength and tear strength of various materials, including commonly used natural coir material, natural fibers, and synthetic textile materials with enhanced durability. In conclusion, there is the possibility that natural coir can be used as an eco-friendly material in vegetation restoration, while its durability in natural conditions can be improved by controlling the degree of knot convolution and by antibacterial treatment against biodegradation.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.307-317
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• 2019

To develop sustainable new natural anti-aging ingredients from Korean native plants, we investigated the cultivation potential of Nymphoides indica using the eco-friendly aquaponics system, and tested the anti-aging effects from N. indica extracts. N. indica could be grown in aquaponics system using floating leaved deep water culture method, and propagated through rhizome propagation. It was confirmed that the nitrate ($80{\mu}g/mL$), potassium ($63.5{\mu}g/mL$) and water temperature ($25^{\circ}C$) greatly affected the cultivation of the N. indica. In addition, synergistic effects were found when two major components (3,7-di-O-methylquercetin-4'-O-${\beta}$-glucoside & sweroside) were present at more than about $5{\mu}g/mL$. The extract had a significant effect on the recovery of skin cells damaged by environmental pollutant such as $benzo[{\alpha}]pyrene$, ammonium nitrate, formaldehyde. It also suppressed $PGE_2$, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and COX-2, and inhibited the production of MMP-1. Taken together, the results suggested that the standardized extracts of N. indica cultivated in the aquaponics has considerable potential as a new cosmetics ingredient with an anti-aging effect.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.248-257
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• 2003

The objective of this experiment was to search plant species with herbicidal activity in Korea. Two hundred native plants were collected and their methanol extracts were obtained. Herbicidal activity of methanol extracts were determined by seed bioassay using canola (Brassica napus L.) seedlings. Six plants such as Staphylea bumalda, Wistaria floribunda, Allium victorialis, Rumex crispus, Chionanthus retusa, and Ulmus parvifolia were highly herbicidal: their $GR_{50}$ values were < $1,000{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$. In addition, seventeen plants such as Galium spurium, Zelkova serrata, Campsis grandiflora, Eucommia ulmoides, Sorbus commixta, Deutzia glabrata, Cercis chinensis, Alnus hirsuta, Zanthoxylum schinifolium, Quercus acutissima, Robinia pseudoacacia, Gleditsia japonica, Kerria japonica, Ligustrum obtusifolium, Thuja orientalis, Chamaecyparis obtusa, and Pulsatilla koreana showed herbicidal activity: their $GR_{50}$ values were between 1,000 and $2,000{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$. However, 177 plants showed no herbicidal activity. Plants with herbicidal activity found in this study could be used for weed management and herbicidal compounds in such herbicidal plants could be used as lead compounds in the development of new herbicides.