• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.191-195
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• 2011

The measurement and prediction of bacterial transport of bacteria in aquatic systems is of fundamental importance to a variety of fields such as groundwater bioremediation ascending urinary tract infection. The motility of pathogenic bacteria is, however, often missing when considering pathogen translocation prediction. Previously, it was reported that flagellated E. coli can translate upstream under low shear flow conditions. The upstream swimming of flagellated microorganisms depends on hydrodynamic interaction between cell body and surrounding fluid flow. In this study, we used a breathable microfluidic device to image swimming E. coli at a glass surface under low shear flow condition. The tendency of upstream swimming motion was expressed in terms of 'A' value in parabolic equation ($y=Ax^2+Bx+C$). It was observed that high shear flow rate increased the 'A' value as the shear force acting on bacterium increased. Shorter bacterium turned more tightly into the flow as they swim faster and experience less drag force. The result obtained in this study might be relevant in studying the fate and transport of bacterium under low shear flow environment such as irrigation pipe, water distribution system, and urethral catheter.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1487-1493
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• 2011

E. tarda, a fish pathogen, can survive in seawater under relatively high salt conditions as well as in fish under physiological salt conditions. Bacterial growth under different salt concentrations may influence the expression of genes involved in bacterial structure and physiology. The growth rate of E. tarda culture in high salt (3.5% NaCl) was similar to that in low salt (1.0% NaCl, physiological salt concentration). Interestingly, the strain moved much faster in low salt conditions than in high salt conditions. Electron microscopic observation demonstrated that the bacterial cells grown in high salt had less or no flagellation. Obvious flagellation was observed in the parental strain E. tarda CK41 grown in low-salt condition. Two putative genes coding flagellin were identified in the E. tarda genome sequences. The amino acid sequence comparison of each gene revealed 93% identities. A flagellin gene was PCR amplified and cloned into a cloning vector. Using an E. coli protein expression system, a part of flagellin protein was overexpressed. Using the purified protein, an anti-flagellin antibody was raised in the rabbit. Immunoblot analyses with flagellin specific antibody demonstrated that E. tarda CK41 expressed falgellin in low salt conditions, which is consistent with the results seen in motility assay and microscopic observation. This is the first report of salt regulated flagella expression in E. tarda.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2002

Gliding motility is defined as the movement of nonflagellated cells in the direction of its long axis on a solid surface and found in many phylogenetically diverse bacteria. Genetic, biochemical, ultrastructural, and behavioral studies have provided a wealth of information related to the mechanism of possible gliding apparatuses. Social motility of Myxococcus xanthus and the gliding of Synechocystis appear to rely on the function of type IV pili, similar to twitching motility of pseudomonas aeruginosa and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In contrast, adventurous motility of M. xanthus and the gliding of filamentous cyanobacteria and Flavobacterium are not dependent on the pili. Instead, they appear to employ novel motility mechanisms that are currently being unveiled.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.627-637
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• 2018

Motility and chemotaxis are crucial for disease development in many motile pathogens, including spirochetes. In many bacteria, motility is provided by flagella rotation, which is controlled by a chemotaxis-signal-transduction system. Thus, motility and chemotaxis are inextricably linked. Spirochetes are a unique group of bacteria with distinctive flat-wave morphology and corkscrew-like locomotion. This unusual motility pattern is believed to be important for efficient motility within the dense tissues through which these spirochetes preferentially disseminate in a host. Unlike other externally flagellated bacteria-where flagella are in the ambient environment-the flagella of spirochetes are enclosed by the outer membrane and thus are called periplasmic flagella or endoflagella. Although motilityand chemotaxis-associated genes are well studied in some bacteria, the knowledge of how the spirochete achieves complex swimming and the roles of most of the putative spirochetal chemotaxis proteins are still elusive. Recently, cutting-edge imaging methods and unique genetic manipulations in spirochetes have helped to unravel the mystery of motility and chemotaxis in spirochetes. These contemporary advances in understanding the motility and chemotaxis of spirochetes in a host's persistence and disease process are highlighted in this review.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.497-504
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• 2015

In this paper, we study the propulsive behavior related to the flagellar motion of bacteria using a spring model. A commercial program was used to conduct simulations, and we verified the numerical technique by setting an additional rotating domain and conducting a parametric study. The numerical results are in good agreement with slender-body theory, although overall, they are not in agreement with resistive-force theory. We confirm the effect of the rotational velocity, pitch, helical radius, fluid viscosity, and, in particular, the distance from the wall on the propulsion of the spring.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.523-529
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• 2010

Recently, several research groups have been investigating the motion of flagellated bacteria, with the aim of examining the feasibility of using bacterial chemotaxis as an efficient power source for microactuators. In this study, microparticle-tracking velocimetry ($\mu$-PTV) is used for investigating the motion of fluorescent microbeads propelled by bacterial chemotaxis. Flagellated bacteria, Serratia marcescens, are spontaneously attached to the surface of the fluorescent polystyrene (PS) microbeads in an aqueous culture. The microbeads thus treated are injected into the test medium, which contains the solidified chemoattractant L-aspartate. With time, the particles slowly move toward the zone in which the L-aspartate concentration is high. This study shows that chemotaxis of flagellated bacteria can be applied as an efficient power source for microactuators.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.299-305
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• 2013

Paenibacillus is a gram-positive, spore-forming aerobes that was previously classified as a Bacillus species. Paenibacillus sp. CK214 was highly motile on LB agar plates and showed typical colonial morphology of Paenibacillus. However, its motility was defective in the absence of glucose. Electron microscopic observation revealed that the cells of CK214 cultured on LB agar plates were peritrichously flagellated but not flagellated in the presence of glucose. Flagellar filaments were purified by centrifugation after shearing off from the CK214 cells with vigorous pipetting. The purified protein was composed of a single flagellin with an apparent molecular size of 29 kDa. Recognition of the protein by anti-Edwardsiella tarda flagellin protein antibody demonstrates that the protein is a flagellin protein. A decreased level of flagellin protein was detected in CK214 cells grown under glucose-supplemented media.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.140-147
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• 2002

We investigated the temporal variations in the heterotrophic dinoflagellates (hereafter HTD), tintinnid ciliates(TC), and naked ciliates(NC) from August to November 1999 in the coastal waters off the southern Saemankeum areas where a huge red tide dominated by Cochlodinium polykrikoides/Gymnodinium impudicum was first observed in 1998. We took water samples from 2-5 depths of 4 stations in each of the 5 cruises and then measured the species composition and abundances of HTD, TC, and NC The maximum species numbers and densities of HTD, TC, and NC(11, 12, and 10 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were observed when the density of diatoms was highest (August 10), while the lowest values (1.0, 0.5, and 2.4 cells $m\ell$$^{-1}$ , respectively) were found when the red tide dominated by C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum took placed (October 18). On August 10 and November 11 when diatoms dominated the abundance of phytoplankton, the correlation coefficients between TC, NC and diatoms were relatively high. However, On September 16 and October 18 when autotrophic+mixotrophic dinoflagellates(ATD+MTD) were abundant, the correlation coefficients between HTD and ATD+MTD were relatively high. The large HTD Noctiluca scintillans was the most dominant heterotrophic protists during the C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum red tide on October 18. N. scintillans has been known to feed on the prey cells when the swimming speeds of C. polykrikikoides/G. impudicum markedly reduced at the decline stage of the red tide. Therefore, N. scintillans could be effective grazers on C. polykrikoides/G. impudicum. The maximum densities of HTD, TC, and NC in the study area were fairly lower than those obtained in the waters off Kohung-Yeosu areas in the summer-fall, 1997. The results of the present study provide the basis of understanding predator-prey relationships between dominant phytoplankton and heterotrophic protists and the roles of the protist grazers in bloom dynamics in the waters off the western Korea.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.357-366
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• 2015

Quorum sensing (QS) is involved in the process of cell-to-cell communication and as a gene regulatory mechanism, which has been implicated in bacterial pathogenicity. Bacteria use this QS system to control a variety of physiological processes. In this study, pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel extract (PPE) was first screened for its ability to inhibit QS in bio-reporter strains (Chromobacterium violaceum and C. violaceum CV026). Next, the ability of PPE to inhibit swimming motility and biofilm formation was examined in Y. enterocolitica. Additionally, changes in the expression of specific genes involved in the synthesis of the N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs; yenI and yenR) and in the flagellar regulon (fliA, fleB and flhDC) were evaluated by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. The results show that PPE specifically inhibited and reduced QS-controlled violacein production by 78.5% in C. violaceum CV026, and decreased QS-associated biofilm formation and swimming motility in Y. enterocolitica without significantly affecting bacterial growth. These inhibitory effects were also associated with the down-regulation of gene expression involved in the synthesis of AHLs and in motility. Our results suggest that PPE could be a potential therapeutic agent to prevent enteropathogens in humans, as well as highlight the need to further investigate the in vivo properties of PPE for clinical applications.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.743-748
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• 2012

This study presents the effects of micro-geometries on the swimming behavior of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. First, we have measured parameters of single-cell motility including cell speed, run duration time, and tumble angle under two dimensional space. The results are used to calculate motility coefficients in the width of microchannels ranging from 10 to $100{\mu}m$. Since the single-cell motility parameters measured depend on the interaction of flagella with the microchannel wall, the duration time of the running cell in restricted geometries is distinctively different. Therefore, the motility of bacteria is decreased by restricted geometries. This study suggests that microfluidic approach is useful tool for the analysis of bacterial motility under the restricted space and rapid analytical tool.