• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2014

One hundred forty four bacterial colonies which were able to degrade crude oil were isolated from soil samples that were contaminated with oil in Daejeon area. Among them, one bacterial strain was selected for this study based on its emulsification activity, growth rate and surface tension activity, and this selected bacterial strain was identified as Pseudomonas sp. HN37 through physiological- biochemical tests and analysis of its 16S rRNA sequence. Pseudomonas sp. HN37 utilize the several aliphatic hydrocarbons, 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid and 2,4-dichlorophooxyacetic acid as a sole carbon source. And this bacterial strain showed a high resistance to antibiotics such as ampicillin and chloramphenicol, as well as heavy metals such as Ba, Cr, Li and Mn. Also, it was found that the optimal pH and temperature for the cell growth, surface tension, and emulsification activity of Pseudomonas sp. HN37 were pH 6.0-9.0 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The emulsification and surface tension activity was reached the maximum to 1% (V/V) crude oil and 1% (W/V) NaCl concentration. The surface tension of the culture broth was decreased from 62 to 27 dyne/cm after fifteen hours of inoculation in LB media.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.59-63
• /
• 2012

Bovine serum contains various nutrients and growth factors that can be potentially used in biological experiments, drug manufacturing process and food industry. However, almost all the bovine blood has been wasted during slaughter process in Korea, thus there is a high demand for alternative uses of the wasted sera. In order to produce high quality and safe sera, it is necessary to screen zoonotic pathogens as well as other microbial contaminants to prevent any downstream contamination. The present research has been undertaken to assess biological safety of Hanwoo sera by determining microbiological contamination during slaughtering and handling processes. Serological tests have been performed to detect bacteria, mycoplasma and virus contamination in total of 52 Hanwoo sera. No sera were found to be contaminated with mycoplasma or virus, but only two sera were found to be contaminated with Bacillus thuringiensis. The present result shows that Hanwoo sera obtained from slaughtering process are biologically safe and have potentials to be developed as a biological reagent. Moreover, the methods employed in our study may provide basic standard for microbiological screening methods once wasted Hanwoo sera gain industrial values.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.222-229
• /
• 2009

A Pseudomonas strain SG3 producing biosurfactant and showing antifungal and insecticidal activities was isolated from agricultural soil severely contaminated with machine oils. The antagonistic bacterium inhibited mycelial growth of all of the tested fungal pathogens. The fermentation broth of SG3 also effectively suppressed the development of various plant diseases including rice blast, tomato gray mold, tomato late blight, wheat leaf rust, barley powdery mildew and red pepper anthracnose. An antifungal substance was isolated from the fermentation broth of SG3 by ethyl acetate partitioning, silica gel column chromatography and preparative HPLC under the guide of bioassay. The chemical structure of the antifungal substance was determined to be rhamnolipid B by mass and NMR spectral analyses. The antifungal biosurfactant showed a potent in vivo antifungal activity against gray mold and late blight on tomato plants. In addition, rhamnolipid B inhibited mycelial growth of B. cinerea causing tomato gray mold and zoospore germination and mycelial growth of P. infestans causing tomato late blight. Pseudomonas sp. SG3 producing rhamnolipid B could be used as a new biocontrol agent for the control of plant diseases occurring on tomato plants.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.320-327
• /
• 2004

Three hundreds thirty two bacterial colonies which were able to degrade crude oil were isolated from soil sam­ples that were contaminated with oil in Daejeon area. Among them, one bacterial strain was selected for this study based on its higher oil degrading ability, and this selected bacterial strain was identified as Acinetobactor sp. B2 through physiological-biochemical tests and analysis of its 16S rRNA sequence. Acinetobactor sp. B2 was able to utilize various carbohydrates but did not utilize trehalose and mannitol as a sole carbon source. Acinetobactor sp. B2 showed a weak resistance to antibiotics such as kanamycin, streptomycin, tetracycline and spectinomycin, but showed a high resistance up to mg/ml unit to heavy metals such as Ba, Li, Mn, AI, Cr and Pb. The optimal growth temperature of Acinetobactor sp. B2 was $30^{\circ}C.$ The lipase produced by Acinetobactor sp. B2 was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Toyopearl 650M ion exchange chromatography and Sephadex gel filtration chromatography. Its molecular mass was about 60 kDa and condition for the optimal activity was observed at $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 10, respectively. The activation energy of lipase for the hydrolysis of p­nitrophenyl palmitate was 2.7 kcal/mol in the temperature range of 4 to $37^{\circ}C,$ and the enzyme was unstable at the temperature higher than $60^{\circ}C.$ The Michaelis constant $(K_m)\;and\;V_{max}$ for p-nitrophenyl palmitate were 21.8 uM and $270.3\;{\mu}M\;min^{-1}mg^{-1},$ respectively. This enzyme was strongly inhibited by 10 mM $Cd^{2+},\;Co^{2+},\;Fe^{2+},\;Hg^{2+},$ EDTA and 2-Mercaptoethalol.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
• /
• v.24 no.1 s.76
• /
• pp.8-16
• /
• 1996

The ${\alpha}-amylase$ of Alternaria alternata was purified through ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. One single band was obtained in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimum pH for enzyme activity was 5.0 and the enzyme activity was maintained at $3.6{\sim}7.0$pH range. The optimum temperature for ${\alpha}-amylase$ activity was $40^{\circ}C$ and 71% of the activity was still maintained until 30 min after heating at $80^{\circ}C$. The ${\alpha}-amylase$ was slightly activated by $Mn^{2+},\;Zn^{2+}\;and\;Sn^{2+}$, but inhibited by $Ba^{2+},\;Pb^{2+},\;Co^{2+}\;and\;Ag^{1+}$. The $Hg^{2+}\;and\;Ag^{2+}$ slightly inhibited the activity of the enzyme at concentrations of $10^{-3}\;and\;10^{-4}M$. The Michaelis constant $(K_m)$ to soluble starch was $6.50{\times}10^{-2}M$ and inhibition constant $(K_i)$ by the 1mM EDTA was $8.0{\times}10^{-2}M$. The inhibition of this enzyme by EDTA was competitive one.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.189-196
• /
• 1982

Seventy two samples of feedstuff were collected from commercial channels all over Korea. As a study on the moisture contents, microflora and mycotoxin production of each sample investigated. Moisture content of the samples was $11.2{\sim}15%$. Total counts of the samples were $1.8{\times}10^{2}{\sim}2.4{\times}10^{6}$ per gram. The Coli-form group were counted from 9 to $6.3{\times}10^{5}$ per gram which composed mainly of Enterobacter and Klebsiella, whereas Escherichia coli was minor ones. The contamination of many feeds was not remarkable, and only some broiler feeds was contaminated largely with Escherchia coli. Fungi were below detectable limit in 45% of the samples and the most contaminated sample had $4.5imes}10^{5}/g fungi counts.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.444-450
• /
• 2011

Perchlorate ($ClO_4^-$) is a contaminant found in surface water and soil/ground water. Autotrophic perchlorate-reducing bacteria (PRB) use hydrogen gas ($H_2$) as an electron donor to remove perchlorate. Since iron corrosion can produce $H_2$, feasibility of autotrophic perchlorate-removal using zero-valent iron (ZVI) was examined in this study using activated sludge that is easily available from a wastewater treatment plant. Batch test showed that activated sludge microorganisms could successfully degrade perchlorate in the presence of ZVI. The perchlorate biodegradation was confirmed by molar yield of $Cl^-$ as perchlorate was degraded. Scanning electron microscope revealed that rod-shaped microorganisms on the surface of iron particles used for the autotrophic perchlorate-removal, suggesting that iron particles could serve as supporting media for the formation of biofilm as well. DGGE analyses revealed that microbial profile of the inoculum (activated sludge) was different from that of biofilm sample obtained from the ZVI-added enrichment culture used for $ClO_4^-$-degradation. A major band of the biofilm sample was most closely related to the class Clostridia.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.92-97
• /
• 2014

Perchlorate ($ClO_4^-$) is an emerging contaminant of soil/groundwater and surface water. $ClO_4^-$ has been shown to inhibit iodide uptake into the thyroid gland and cause a reduction in thyroid hormone production. $ClO_4^-$ is highly soluble and very stable in water. Biodegradation by $ClO_4^-$-reducing bacteria (PRB) is considered the most important factor in natural attenuation of $ClO_4^-$. Rivers in an industrial complex have potential to be contaminated with $ClO_4^-$ discharged from point or non-point sources. In this study, water samples were taken from the rivers running through the Gumi industrial complexes and used for batch test to analyze $ClO_4^-$-degradation potential of river microorganisms. The results of 83-h batch culture showed that $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency of all samples was 0.77% or less without addition of an external electron ($e^-$) donor. However $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency was higher when an $e^-$ donor (acetate, thiosulfate, $S^0$, or $F^0$) was added into the batch culture, showing up to 100% removal efficiency. The removal efficiency was various depending on type of $e^-$ donor and site of sampling. When acetate was used as an $e^-$ donor, the highest $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency was observed among the $e^-$ donors used in this study, suggesting that activity of heterotrophic PRB was dominant. The results of this study provide basic information on natural attenuation of $ClO_4^-$ by river microorganisms. The information can be useful to prepare a strategy to enhance efficiency of $ClO_4^-$ biodegradation for in situ bioremediation.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.589-595
• /
• 2011

This work focused on screening and characterizing antibiotic-producing actinomycetes to develop new antibiotics that can overcome the growing resistance of disease-causing microbes. One-hundred actinomycetes strains were isolated from soil samples from Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea using various kinds of actinomycetes isolation media, including a starch casein agar medium and potato dextrose agar (PDA). Among them, strain BCNU 1030 was determined to show strong antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Biochemical, physiological, and 16S rRNA sequence analyses indicated that strain BCNU 1030 belonged to the genus Streptomyces. Strain BCNU 1030 exhibited antibiotic activity against a wide range of bacteria, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of BCNU 1030 dichloromethane extract was determined to be $0.78\;{\mu}g/ml$ for MRSA CCARM 3090. Therefore, Streptomyces sp. BCNU 1030 has potential for anti-MRSA drug development.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.676-681
• /
• 2013

Perchlorate (${ClO_4}^-$) is an emerging contaminant found in surface water and soil/groundwater. Microbial removal of perchlorate is the method of choice since perchlorate-reducing bacteria (PRB) can reduce perchlorate to harmless end-products. A previous study [3] showed experimental evidence of autotrophic perchlorate removal using elemental sulfur granules and activated sludge. The granular sulfur is a relatively inexpensive electron donor, and activated sludge is easily available from a wastewater treatment plant. A batch test was performed in this study to further investigate the effect of various environmental parameters on the perchlorate degradation by sludge microorganisms when elemental sulfur was used as electron donor. Results of the batch test suggest optimum conditions for autotrophic perchlorate degradation by sludge microorganisms. The results also show that sulfur-oxidizing PRB enriched from activated sludge removed perchlorate better than activated sludge. Taken together, this study suggests that autotrophic perchlorate removal using elemental sulfur and activated sludge can be improved by employing optimized environmental conditions and enrichment culture.