• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.759-766
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• 2008

Among more than a hundred colonies of fungi isolated from soil samples, DY-52 has been screened as an extracellular chitin deacetylase (CDA) producer. The isolate was further identified as Mortierella sp., based on the morphological properties and the nucleotide sequence of its 18S rRNA gene. The fungus exhibited maximal growth in yeast peptone glucose (YPD) liquid medium containing 2% of glucose at pH 5.0 and $28^{\circ}C$ with 150 rpm. The CDA activity of DY-52 was maximal (20 U/mg) on the 3rd day of culture in the same medium. The CDA was inducible by addition of glucose and chitin. The enzyme contained two isoforms of molecular mass 50 kDa and 59 kDa. This enzyme showed a maximal activity at pH 5.5 and $60^{\circ}C$. In addition, it had a pH stability range of 4.5-8.0 and a temperature stability range of $4-40^{\circ}C$. The enzyme was enhanced in the presence of $Co^{2+}$ and $Ca^{2+}$. Among various substrates tested, WSCT-50 (water-soluble chitin, degree of deacetylation 50%), glycol chitin, and crab chitosan (DD 71-88%) were deacetylated. Moreover, the CDA can handle N-acetylglucosamine oligomers $(GlcNAc)_{2-7}$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.105-108
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• 2018

Beef was dry aged for 40-60 days under controlled environmental conditions in a refrigerated room with a relative humidity of 75%-80% and air-flow. To date, there is little information on the microbial diversity and characteristics of dry aged beef. In this study, we explored the effect of change in meat microorganisms on dry aged beef. Initially, the total bacteria and LAB were significantly increased for 50 days during all dry aging periods. There was an absence of representative foodborne pathogens as well as coliforms. Interestingly, fungi including yeast and mold that possess specific features were observed during the dry aging period. The 5.8S rRNA sequencing results showed that potentially harmful yeasts/molds (Candida sp., Cladosporium sp., Rhodotorula sp.) were present at the initial point of dry aging and they disappeared with increasing dry aging time. Interestingly, Penicillium camemberti and Debaryomyces hansenii used for cheese manufacturing were observed with an increase in the dry aging period. Taken together, our results showed that the change in microorganisms exerts an influence on the quality and safety of dry aged beef, and our study identified that fungi may play an important role in the palatability and flavor development of dry aged beef.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.163-170
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• 2014

The potential ability of Button mushroom compost (BMC) to solubilize heavy metals was estimated with metal contaminated soils collected from abandoned mines of Boryeong area in South Korea. The bacterial strains in BMC were isolated for investigating the mobilization of metals in soil or plant by the strains and identified according to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. When metal solubilization potential of BMC was assessed in a batch experiment, the BMC was found to be capable of solubilizing metals in the presence of metals (Co, Pb and Zn) and the results showed that inoculation of BMC could increase the concentrations of water soluble Co, Pb and Cd by 35, 25 and 45% respectively, than those of non-inoculated soils. BMC-assisted growth promotion and metal uptake in sunflower (Helianthus annuus) was also evaluated in a pot experiment. In comparison with non-inoculated seedlings, the inoculation led to increase the growth of H. annuus by 27, 25 and 28% respectively in Co, Pb and Zn contaminated soils. Moreover, enhanced accumulation of Co, Pb and Zn in the shoot and root systems was observed in inoculated plants, where metal translocation from root to the above-ground tissues was also found to be enhanced by the BMC. The apparent results suggested that the BMC could effectively be employed in enhancing phytoextraction of Co, Pb and Zn from contaminated soils.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.765-775
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• 2018

Using MCF7 breast cancer cells, we tested the anticancer activity of metabolites from 130 strains of myxobacteria newly isolated in South Korea. Of these, three strains whose metabolites had high anticancer activity and low cell toxicity were selected and identified by their fruiting body morphology, cell morphology, and 16S rRNA sequence. Strains KYC4030 and KYC4048 were determined to be Myxococcus fulvus, whereas strain KYC4081 was identified as Corallococcus coralloides. We found that metabolites of M. fulvus KYC4048 demonstrated no toxicity in normal cells but specifically induced cancer cell death by suppressing the expression of WNT2B. This discovery highlights the value of assessing the metabolic and biomedical potential of myxobacteria, even those that are already known but were isolated from new areas, and the possible use of metabolites from M. fulvus KYC4048 in cancer treatment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.2090-2099
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• 2015

Recently, the cardiovascular disease has been widely problematic in humans probably due to fibrin formation via the unbalanced Western style diet. Although direct (human plasmin) and indirect methods (plasminogen activators) have been available, bacterial enzyme methods have been studied because of their cheap and mass production. To detect a novel bacterial fibrinolytic enzyme, 111 bacterial strains with fibrinolytic activity were selected from kimchi. Among them, 14 strains were selected because of their stronger activity than 0.02 U of plasmin. Their 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that they belong to Bacillus, Leuconostoc, Propionibacterium, Weissella, Staphylococcus, and Bifidobacterium. The strain B. subtilis ZA400, with the highest fibrinolytic activity, was selected and the gene encoding fibrinolytic enzyme (bsfA) was cloned and expressed in the E. coli overexpression system. The purified enzyme was analyzed with SDS-PAGE, western blot, and MALDI-TOF analyses, showing to be 28.4 kDa. Subsequently, the BsfA was characterized to be stable under various stress conditions such as temperature (4-40oC), metal ions (Mn²⁺, Ca²⁺, K²⁺, and Mg²⁺), and inhibitors (EDTA and SDS), suggesting that BsfA could be a good candidate for development of a novel fibrinolytic enzyme for thrombosis treatment and may even be useful as a new bacterial starter for manufacturing functional fermented foods.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1072-1081
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• 2020

Screening suitable strains with high temperature adaptability is of great importance for reducing the cost of temperature control in microalgae cultivation, especially in summer. To obtain high temperature-tolerant diatoms, water samples were collected in summer from 7 different regions of China across the Northeast, North and East. A total of 731 water samples was collected and from them 131 diatom strains were isolated and identified based on the 18S rRNA sequences. Forty-nine strains out of the 131 diatoms could survive at 30℃, and 6 strains with relatively high biomass and lipid content at high temperature were selected and were found to be able to grow at 35℃. Cyclotella sp. HB162 had the highest dry biomass of 0.46 g/l and relatively high triacylglycerol (TAG) content of 237.4 mg/g dry biomass. The highest TAG content of 246.4 mg/g dry biomass was obtained in Fistulifera sp. HB236, while Nitzschia palea HB170 had high dry biomass (0.33 g/l) but relatively low TAG content (105.9 mg/g dry biomass). N. palea HB170 and Fistulifera sp. HB236 presented relatively stable growth rates and lipid yields under fluctuating temperatures ranging from 28 to 35℃, while Cyclotella HB162 maintained high lipid yield at temperatures below 25℃. The percentage of saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids in all the 6 strains was 84-91% in total lipids and 90-94% in TAGs, which makes them the ideal feedstock for biodiesel.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 2012

Biocontrol microbes have mainly been screened among large collections of microorganisms $via.$ nutrient-rich $in$ $vitro$ assays to identify novel and effective isolates. However, thus far, isolates from only a few genera, mainly spore-forming bacilli, have been commercially developed. In order to isolate field-effective biocontrol microbes, we screened for more than 200 oligotrophic bacterial strains, isolated from rhizospheres of various soil samples in Korea, which induced systemic resistance against the soft-rot disease caused by $Pectobacterium$ $carotovorum$ SCC1; we subsequently conducted in $planta$ bioassay screening. Two oligotrophic bacterial strains were selected for induced systemic disease resistance against the $Tobacco$ $Mosaic$ $Virus$ and the gray mold disease caused by $Botrytis$ $cinerea$. The oligotrophic bacterial strains were identified as $Pseudomonas$ $manteilii$ B001 and $Bacillus$ $cereus$ C003 by biochemical analysis and the phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA sequence. These bacterial strains did not exhibit any antifungal activities against plant pathogenic fungi but evidenced several other beneficial biocontrol traits, including phosphate solubilization and gelatin utilization. Collectively, our results indicate that the isolated oligotrophic bacterial strains possessing induced systemic disease resistance could provide useful tools as effective biopesticides and might be successfully used as cost-effective and preventive biocontrol agents in the field.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2012

Endophytic bacterial communities of tidal flat plants antagonistic to oomycete plant pathogens were studied by the isolation of 256 root colonizing endophytic bacteria from surface-disinfected root tissues of six plants ($Rosa$ $rugosa$, $Suaeda$ $maritima$, $Vitex$ $rotundifolia$, $Carex$ $scabrifolia$, $Glehnia$ $littoralis$ and $Elymus$ $mollis$) growing in a tidal flat area of Namhae Island, Korea. To understand the antagonistic potential, an $in$ $vitro$ antagonistic assay was performed to characterize and identify strains that were antagonistic to the oomycete plant pathogens $Phytophthora$ $capsici$ and $Pythium$ $ultimum$ from the total population. Nine percent of the total number of isolated bacteria exhibited in vitro inhibitory activity against target plant pathogenic oomycetes. Taxonomic and phylogenetic placement of the antagonistic bacteria was investigated by analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences. The sequence analysis classified the antagonistic strains into four major classes of the domain bacteria ($Firmicutes$, ${\alpha}-Proteobacteria$, ${\gamma}-Proteobacteria$ and $Actinomycetes$) and 10 different genera. Further production of secondary metabolites, hydrolytic enzymes and plant growth promoting traits were determined for the putative new species of antagonistic endophytic bacteria. These new strains could not be identified as known species of ${\alpha}-Proteobacteria$, and so may represent novel bacterial taxa. The unexpected high antagonistic bacterial diversity associated with the tidal flat plants may be indicative of their importance in tidal flat plants as a promising source of novel antimicrobial compounds and biocontrol agents.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1156-1167
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize lead (Pb)-solubilizing bacteria from heavy metal-contaminated mine soils and to evaluate their inoculation effects on the growth and Pb absorption of Brassica juncea. The isolates were also evaluated for their plant growth-promoting characteristics as well as heavy metal and salt tolerance. A total of 171 Pb-tolerant isolates were identified, of which only 15 bacterial strains were able to produce clear haloes in solid medium containing PbO or $PbCO_3$, indicating Pb solubilization. All of these 15 strains were also able to dissolve the Pb minerals in a liquid medium, which was accompanied by significant decreases in pH values of the medium. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the Pb-solubilizing strains belonged to genera Bacillus, Paenibacillus, Brevibacterium, and Staphylococcus. A majority of the Pb-solubilizing strains were able to produce indole acetic acid and siderophores to different extents. Two of the Pb-solubilizing isolates were able to solubilize inorganic phosphate as well. Some of the strains displayed tolerance to different heavy metals and to salt stress and were able to grow in a wide pH range. Inoculation with two selected Pb-solubilizing and plant growth-promoting strains, (i.e., Brevibacterium frigoritolerans YSP40 and Bacillus paralicheniformis YSP151) and their consortium enhanced the growth and Pb uptake of B. juncea plants grown in a metal-contaminated soil. The bacterial strains isolated in this study are promising candidates to develop novel microbe-assisted phytoremediation strategies for metal-contaminated soils.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.337-345
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• 2015

To investigate the causes of emaciation in cultured olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus in Korea. We performed histological examinations and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a new primer set. In most cases, the most severe emaciation was observed in the abdominal area Using PCR on extracted livers, kidneys, spleens, gills, brains, and intestines, we found that areas around the kidneys and intestines were as almost always positive. In significantly emaciated fish, PCR was positive in all internal organs except the gills. In addition, the homology of 812-bp nucleotide sequences of the 28S rRNA gene was more than 99% in emaciated fish. Partial homology with Myxobolus spp. and Cystodiscus axonis, whose data were obtained from GenBank was 86% and 88%, respectively. Histological examinations detected spores in kidneys and intestines but not in other organs. We also performed cohabitation experiments to determine whether infections could be exchanged among species or only within species. Uninfected olive flounder and red sea bream, Pagrus major, cohabitating with emaciated olive flounder showed 100% and 0% cumulative mortality, respectively. Thus the cause of emaciation in cultured olive flounder of Korea is likely due to a new parasite.