• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 1996

Streptococcus mutans has been implicated as primary causative agents of dental caries by insoluble glucan (IG) in human and experimental animals. An attempt was made to search for the ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase that degrades IG produced by S. mutans. ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase was detected in the culture supernatant of microorganisms, which are isolated from soils on agar medium containing IG as a sole carbon source. This Streptomyces sp. hydrolysed IG produced by immobilized S. mutans and was named as Y9373. This enzyme required ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucan (IG) as an inducer. The optimum conditions for enzyme production were studied. The enzyme was purified by 30~70% $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ precipitation, anion exchange chroma tography on DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration on Sepadex G-75. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of 7840.0 U/mg protein giving 32.1-fold purification and final yield of 0.53%. The molecular weight was estimated to be about 22.5 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme reaction were 6.5 and 37$^{\circ}C$, respectively and the enzyme was relatively stable at the temperature below 60$^{\circ}C$. The activity of purified enzyme was enhanced by adding $Co^{2+},\;Mn^{2+}\;and\;Mg^{2+}$ into the medium, whereas inhibited by adding $Hg^{2+},\;Zn^{2+}$ and SDS. The $K_m\;and\;V_{max}$ value of ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase for IG were estimated to be 2.50 mM and 0.0431 mM/min, respectively. The thin layer chromatographic analysis of hydrolysates from IG with ${\alpha}$-1,3 glucanase showed that glucose was the main product of reaction. This enzyme activity was about 14 times higher than marketing dextranase as preventive agent against artificial dental caries by S. mutans in TH medium including 5% sucrose after 30 minutes.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.230-231
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• 2004

The mycelia of Sparassis crispa DSMZ 5201 were cultivated at $24^{\circ}C$ for 15 days in yeast-malt extract-glucose broth (pH 4.0) and the filtrate was used as crude enzyme solution to determined the extracellular enzyme activity. The specific activity of $\alpha$-amylase was 44.27 unit/protein. The specific activities of protease, CMCase, $\beta$-glucosidase, chitinase, exo-$\beta$-l,4-glucanase were relatively high. However, a very little activity of xylanase was found.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2010

The effect of Acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) and Rahnella aquatilis Ra39 against apple fire blight disease caused by Erwinia amylovora were tested as a possible alternative to streptomycin. In vitro studies, no inhibition effect against the pathogen was found when ASM was tested. Under greenhouse conditions, application of R. aquatilis Ra39 with the highly susceptible M26 rootstock resulted in a marked disease suppression. Application of ASM and strain Ra39 caused a high decrease of the disease, 82% and 58% respectively; this was correlated with a reduction of the growth of the pathogen within host plants up to 64% and 49.5% respectively. Further studies in the field under artificial infection condition during full bloom revealed that application of ASM and R. aquatilis Ra39 with Gala variety resulted in a control effect up to 21 and 29% respectively. In physiological studies, enhanced activities of PR-proteins (chitinase and $\beta$-1, 3-glucanase) were detected, which are well known as biochemical markers for systemic acquired resistance. Application of ASM to apple shoots caused the highest chitinase activity followed by strain Ra39. The enzyme activity was increased after 2, 4 and 6 days from application. In addition, ASM-treatment caused the higher $\beta$-1, 3-glucanase activity than strain Ra39. Maximum enzyme activity was recorded after 6 days from application and then decreased after 8 and 10 days from application.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 1988

Enzymatical properties of Streptomyces sp. S-45 producing chitinase and ${\beta}$-1.3-glucanase isolated from soil were investigated. Chitinase activity was 3.01(U/ml) and ${\beta}$-1.3-glucanase activity was 2.49(U/ml). The optimum medium for mycolytic enzyme production of strain was composed of 0.7% colloidal chitin, 0.3% glucose, 0.5% asparagine, 0.2% peptone, 0.01% NaCl, 0.01% $K_2HPO_4$ and 0.01% $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ in intial pH 7.0. The optimal condition for mycolytic enzyme activities were: pH 6.5-7.0, $45-50^{\circ}C$. Enzyme activities were activated by metal ion as $10^{-2}M\;Co^{{+}{+}}$, $Cu^{{+}{+}}$, $Mn^{{+}{+}}$, $Al^{{+}{+}{+}}$ and $10^{-3}M\;Sn^{{+}{+}}$ but $Ag^{{+}{+}}$, $Hg^{{+}{+}}$ inhibited.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.1132-1138
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• 2006

Three types of xylanases (EC 3.2.1.8) were detected in the strain Aspergillus niger A-25, one of which, designated as XynIII, also displayed ${\beta}-(l,3-1,4)-glucanase$ (EC 3.2.1.73) activity, as determined by a zymogram analysis. XynIII was purified by ultrafiltration and ion-exchange chromatography methods. Its apparent molecular weight was about 27.9 kDa, as estimated by SDS-PAGE. The purified XynIII could hydrolyze birchwood xylan, oat spelt xylan, lichenin, and barley ${\beta}-glucan$, but not CMC, avicel cellulose, or soluble starch under the assay conditions in this study. The xylanase and ${\beta}-(l,3-1,4)-glucanase$ activities of XynIII both had a similar optimal pH and pH stability, as well as a similar optimal temperature and temperature stability. Moreover, the effects of metal ions on the two enzymatic activities were also similar. The overall hydrolytic rates of XynIII in different mixtures of xylan and lichenin coincided with those calculated using the Michaelis-Menten model when assuming the two substrates were competing for the same active site in the enzyme. Accordingly, the results indicated that XynIII is a novel bifunctional enzyme and its xylanase and ${\beta}-(l,3-1,4)-glucanase$ activities are catalyzed by the same active center.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.409-415
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• 2007

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary enzyme mixture fortified with ${\beta}-glucanase$ on the growth performance, serum components and meat quality of broiler chicks. 31,800 Ross 208 male broiler chicks were randomly allotted into 2 groups, the control and 0.3% enzyme diet with ${\beta}-glucanase$ supplementation groups. Control group chicks were fed the control (corn-soybean meal based) diet and the treatment group chicks were fed the 0.3% enzyme mixture supplemented with ${\beta}-glucanase$. The growth performance, serum components and meat qualities such as pH, color, water holding capacity, cooking loss, and shearing force of meats were investigated. The results showed that the growth performance of chicks fed the 0.3% enzyme mixture diet were improved compared to that of the control group, as much as 5% in growth rate, 19% in average weight, 6.8% in performance index, and 5.5% in feed efficiency. Although, there were no significant differences in the muscle color degrees ($L^*a^*b^*$) and shearing force between the control group and experimental group, the water holding capacity and cooking loss of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of control group (p<0.05). The antibody titers in serum against the antigens of Newcastle disease and Infectious Bursal disease were higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Altogether, these suggest that the broiler diet containing 0.3% enzyme mixture fortified with ${\beta}-glucanase$ activity can improve the growth performance, immune reaction, and meat quality of broiler chicks.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.407-415
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• 2012

An endophytic bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis GS1, was isolated from bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and found to have maximal production of chitinase (4.3 units/ml) at 5 days after culture. This study investigated the ability of B. thuringiensis GS1 to induce resistance to Rhizoctonia solani KACC 40111 (RS) in cucumber plants. Chitinase activity was greatest in RS-treated plants at 4 days. ${\beta}$-1,3-Glucanase activity was highest in GS1-treated plants at 5 days. Guaiacol peroxidase (GPOD) activity increased continuously in all treated plants for 5 days. Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity in RS-treated plants was increased 1.5-fold compared with the control at 4 days. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity in RS-treated plants was increased 1.5-fold compared with the control at 3 days. At 5 days after treatment, activity staining revealed three bands with chitinase activity (Ch1, Ch2, and Ch3) on SDS-PAGE of cucumber plants treated with GS1+RS, whereas only one band was observed for RS-treated plants (Ch2). One GPOD isozyme (Gp1) was also observed in response to treatment with RS and GS1+RS at 4 days. One APX band (Ap2) was present on the native-PAGE gel of the control, and GS1- and GS1+RS-treated plants at 1 day. PPO bands (Po1 and Po2) from RS- and GS1+RS-treated plants were stronger than in the control and GS1-treated plants upon native-PAGE at 5 days. Taken together, these results indicate that the induction of PR proteins and defense-related enzymes by B. thuringiensis GS1 might have suppressed the damping-off caused by R. solani KACC 40111 in cucumber plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1699-1706
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• 2014

A lichenase gene (mt-lic) was identified for the first time through function-based screening of a soil metagenomic library. Its deduced amino acid sequence exhibited a high degree of homology with endo-${\beta}$-1,3-1,4-glucanase (having both lichenase and chitosanase activities), encoded by the bgc gene of Bacillus circulans WL-12. The recombinant lichenase overexpressed and purified from Escherichia coli was able to efficiently hydrolyze both barley ${\beta}$-glucan and lichenan. The enzyme showed maximal activity at a pH of 6.0 at $50^{\circ}C$, with Azo-barley-glucan as the substrate. The metal ions $Mn^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ enhanced the enzymatic activity, whereas the $Cu^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ ions inhibited the enzymatic activity. The $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values of the purified lichenase were determined to be 0.45 mg/ml and 24.83 U/min/mg of protein, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1359-1366
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• 2012

A strain of Streptomyces cavourensis subsp. cavourensis (coded as SY224) antagonistic to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides infecting pepper plants was isolated. SY224 produced lytic enzymes such as chitinase, ${\beta}$-1,3-glucanase, lipase, and protease in respective assays. To examine for antifungal activity, the treatments amended with the nonsterilized supernatant resulted in the highest growth inhibition rate of about 92.9% and 87.4% at concentrations of 30% and 10%, respectively. However, the sterilized treatments (autoclaved or chloroform treated) gave a lowered but significant inhibitory effect of about 63.4% and 62.6% for the 10% supernatant concentration, and 75.2% and 74.8% for the of 30% supernatant concentration in the PDA agar medium, respectively, indicative of the role of a non-protein, heat stable compound on the overall effect. This antifungal compound, which inhibited spore germination and altered hyphal morphology, was extracted by EtOAc and purified by ODS, silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 column, and HPLC, where an active fraction was confirmed to be 2-furancarboxaldehyde by GS-CI MS techniques. These results suggested that SY224 had a high potential in the biocontrol of anthracnose in pepper, mainly due to a combined effect of lytic enzymes and a non-protein, heat-stable antifungal compound, 2-furancarboxaldehyde.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.271-276
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• 2017

A highly thermostable ${\beta}-(1-4)-glucanase$ (NA23_08975) gene (fig) from Fervidobacterium islandicum AW-1, a native-feather degrading thermophilic eubacterium, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant FiG (rFiG) protein showed strong activity toward ${\beta}-{\small{D}}-glucan$ from barley (367.0 IU/mg), galactomannan (174.0 IU/mg), and 4-nitrophenyl-cellobioside (66.1 IU/mg), but relatively weak activity was observed with hydroxyethyl cellulose (5.3 IU/mg), carboxymethyl cellulose (2.4 IU/mg), and xylan from oat spelt (1.4 IU/mg). rFiG exhibited optimal activity at $90^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.0. In addition, this enzyme was extremely thermostable, showing a half-life of 113 h at $85^{\circ}C$. These results indicate that rFiG could be used for hydrolysis of cellulosic and hemicellulosic biomass substrates for biofuel production.