• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.560-564
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to investigate the anti-Bacillus cereus activity of actinonin. Actinonin inhibited the growth of B. cereus in a dose dependent manner. The growth-inhibitory activity of actinonin was evaluated using a broth micro-dilution method, and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and agar disk diffusion tests. B. cereus showed high susceptibility to actinonin in a concentration-dependent manner and MIC was determined to be $0.192{\mu}g/mL$. Additionally, 1 and 2 mM actinonin induced formation of B. cereus inhibition zones. In addition, as compared to B. cereus alone, B. cereus added with $10{\mu}M$ actinonin showed a lower level of cytotoxicity in HeLa cells in vitro. Thus, this study revealed that actinonin could be a potential source of a natural antimicrobial agent or a pharmaceutical component against B. cereus.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.582-588
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• 1993

In order to investigate the effects of food materials toward the growth of Bifidobacterium spp. and Clostridium perfringens which have great influences on the intestinal physiology of human, 162 kinds of foodstuffs and foods were collected. Among their extracts, 31 samples showed the inhibitory effects against the growth of B. bifidum and C. perfringens by agar diffusion method. Especially, the methanol extracts of Caltha palustris, Deonjang, onion, mustard and potato inhibited the growth of C. perfringens, while they did not remarkably inhibit other intestinal bacteria including Bifidobacterium spp. By the cultivation of faecal inoculum in the 1 %(v/v) extract broths of Caltha palustris, onion and mustard, population of Bifidobacterium spp. increased by 10 order and that of C. perfringens decreased. ${\beta}$-glucuronidase activities and indole amounts in the cultures of onion and mustard extracts were lower than those of the control culture and ${\beta}-glucosidase$ activities were not detected in the cultures of onion and Doenjang extracts.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.69-73
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the antibacterial activity Xanthium strumarium L. extract against bacteria causing eye disease and to examine the possibility as a natural preservative on behalf of synthetic preservatives which are added to the contact lens solution. Methods: Antibacterial activity of Xanthium strumarium L. extract against the bacteria causing eye disease was assessed using agar diffusion method, and determined by whether clear zone was formed around paper disc and in terms of the size(mm) of clear zone.Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were used in the study. Results: Xanthium strumarium L. extract provided activity against Staphylococcus aureus KCCM 40050 in a concentration of $1000{\mu}g/20{\mu}l$with an clear zone of 11.5 mm. Moreover, Xanthium strumarium L. extract showed an activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa KCCM 11803 in a concentration of $1000{\mu}g/20{\mu}l$with an clear zone of 9.0 mm, and against Pseudomonas fluorescens KCCM 40223 with an clear zone of 7.0 mm. Conclusions: Antibacterial activity of Xanthium strumarium L. extract against the bacteria causing eye disease was proved. This result suggests that Xanthium strumarium L. extract can be a potential natural preservative, which is added to contact lens solution.

• Journal of Korean Dental Science
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2012

Purpose: To examine the antibacterial effectiveness of silver nanoparticles (SNP) mixed with commercial orthodontic adhesives. Materials and Methods: SNP was prepared by dissolving silver perchlorate in an organic solvent and reducing it with ultraviolet radiation. SNP was then mixed with four commercial orthodontic adhesives (Light Bond, Blugloo, Transbond XT, and Fuji Ortho LC) (0.05 wt %), which were then formed into disc-shape specimens ($8.0mm{\times}3.0mm$). Commercial orthodontic adhesives containing no SNP were used as the control groups. Specimens of the four experimental and four control groups were incubated with streptococcus mutans and the medium turbidity was assessed at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours after incubation. The agar diffusion test was also performed to examine the growth inhibition zone of these groups. The data were statistically analyzed using a Wilcoxon rank sum test and t-test with a Bonferroni's correction (P<0.05). Result: The SNP containing groups had a superior antibacterial effect compared to the control groups. In the agar diffusion test, the control groups without SNP did not produce an inhibition zone, whereas the SNP containing groups showed inhibition zone of 10~13 mm. Conclusion: The incorporation of SNP into orthodontic adhesives can inhibit cariogenic bacterial growth.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.272-279
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• 2018

This study was carried out to evaluate antimicrobial activity of isolated bacteria from various soils against two strains of Propionibacterium acnes causing acne vulgaris. Among several hundreds of bacterial strains, Paenibacillus elgii DS381, Paenibacillus elgii DS1515, Burkholderia gladioli DS518, and Streptomyces lienomycini DS620 showed high antimicrobial activities against the strains of P. acnes. All isolated bacteria showed 15.5 to 34.3 mm inhibition zone diameter in an agar well diffusion test, and especially DS620 showed the highest inhibition zone diameters (28.3~34.3 mm). Antibacterial substances were expected as lipopeptide (pelgipeptin and paenipeptin) from strains DS381 and DS1515, protease from DS518, and anthracycline antibiotic (daunomycinone) from DS620, and all these showed very low minimum inhibitory concentration [DS381 and DS1515 (0.078 mg/ml), DS518 (0.312 mg/ml), DS620 (0.000078 mg/ml)] against P. acnes. These antibacterial substances could completely kill P. acnes within 24 h in a time-kill assay. These results suggest that antibacterial substances produced by these bacteria may be utilized as useful antimicrobial agent against P. acnes and treatment medicine for acne vulgaris.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.449-455
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to evaluate antimicrobial effects of organic acid and some natural occurring antimicrobials against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from various origins (vegetables, peanut, pea leaf, kim-bab, person, perilla leaf, and animal) and to calculate their MIC and MBC values. Five organic acids (acetic, lactic, citric, malic, and propionic acid), three essential oils (carvacrol, thymol, and eugenol), and two other natural antimicrobials (nisin and cinnamic acid) were evaluated for their antimicrobial effects against 113 strains of S. aureus using combination treatments. Propionic acid (7%), nisin (1%), thymol (1%), carvacrol (1%) showed antimicrobial activities against S. aureus strains in agar disc diffusion test. And, carvacrol, thymol, and nisin were found to be the most effective with the lowest MIC values of 0.0313%, 0.0625%, and 0.0625% against S.aureus, respectively. Propionic acid (0.2313%) and citric acid (0.6000%) were the most effective among organic acids tested. Therefore, these five antimicrobials were selected for next combination treatments. Combination of propionic acid and citric acid were showed the strongest inhibitory effectiveness against S. aureus among combination treatments. These results suggest that organic acid such as propionic and citric acid, and natural occurring antimicrobial such as nisin, carvacrol, and thymol might be possibly used as preservatives for inhibiting S. aureus in foods.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.582-588
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• 2001

To control the growth of Salmonella on raw chicken supplied in food service, they were isolated and analysed for their physiological characteristics. Total viable microbe counts under the skin of the chicken amounted to 10% of numbers on their skin. Fifty one of Salmonella were isolated and identified from 75 chicken carcass samples. About 70% of the isolates showed resistance to more than four antibiotics, which indicated very high resistance among the strains ever reported in Korea. Lactic acid and trisodium phosphate(TSP) as sanitizing agent were applied to the Salmonella spp. isolates by agar diffusion method. The resistance by isolates to those sanitizing agents was compared with type strains of S. typhimurium ATCC 14028, S. typhimurium ATCC 12023, S. heidelberg and S. enteritidis. The isolates showed similar or less resistance to the type strains as for the lactic acid. However, as for trisodium phosphate known recently as a good sanitizer, 50% of the isolates showed more resistant compared with the type strains. Also, the treatment time and regeneration medium affected significantly the resistance of the isolates, which indicates that more careful test might be needed for TSP's practical application to raw chicken. Therefore, From the results, it is suggested that antibiotic treatment during breeding broiler and contamination after slaughtering should be minimized along with careful use of sanitizing agent in order to ensure more safe raw chicken supply.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.956-961
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• 2022

Plant Chloroplast have several advantages as an expression platform of biopharmaceuticals over conventional expression platforms such as mammalian cells, yeast and bacteria. First, plants do not serve as a host for mammalian infectious virus and have endotoxin like bacteria which can cause anaphylactic shock. In addition, high copy number of chloroplast genome allows for chloroplast transformants to reach the high level of expression of heterologous genes. Moreover, the integration of transgenes into specific region of chloroplast genomes makes chloroplast transformants unaffected by positional effect which can be frequently observed from nuclear transformants, resulting in loss of transgene expressions. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a kind of innate immunity which is found from bacteria to humans. Unlike conventional antibiotics, very less dosage of AMPs can have catastrophic effect on bacterial survival. Further, the repeated use of AMPs does not trigger the development of bacterial resistance. Moricin, one of the AMPs, was isolated from Bombyx mori, a silkworm moth. The C-terminal of moricin consists largely of basic amino acids, and the N-terminal has an α-helix structure. Moricin was chosen and expressed in a SUMO/SUMOase without leaving any unwanted amino acids which could potentially affect the anti-bacterial activity of the moricin. The transformation vector used in this study has already been created in this lab for the expression in both prokaryotic systems such as E. coli and chloroplast. The expressed moricin was purified using Ni columns and SUMOase, and the antibacterial activity of the purified moricin was confirmed using an agar diffusion assay.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1399-1407
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• 2015

Klebsiella pneumoniae is found in the normal flora of the skin, mouth, respiratory tract, urinary tract, and intestines in human. However, the stain is opportunistic pathogen, which is the causative agent of community acquired pneumonia. Corn silk has been known to be effective for antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria, including K. pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Shigella spp., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, et al. In this study we focused on the antimicrobial properties of con silk water extract of K. penumoniae. K. pneumoniae isolates K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883 and broad-spectrum β-lactamase (BSBL), exteded-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL), carbapenemase-producers. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were determined by the disk diffusion method. Searches for bla genes were performed by PCR amplication and direct sequencing. MacConkey agar plate medium was prepared using the corn silk extracts (50% or 100%) instead of distilled water for antimicrobial activity test. The microbial growth inhibitory potential of K. pneumoniae was determined by using the MacConkey agar plate spreading method, and the plate was incubated 18 hr at 37℃. Genes encoding β-lactamases including SHV-1 (n=8), SHV-2a (n=8), SHV-5 (n=2), SHV-11 (n=2), SHV-12 (n=18), TEM-1 (n=10), CTX-M-3 (n=2), CTX-M-14 (n=2), CTX-M-15 (n=1), GES-5 (n=5), KPC-2 (n=6), KPC-3 (n=4), and NDM-1 (n=2) were detected. The corn silk extract showed significantly antimicrobial activity against K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883, but BSBLs, ESBLs, and carbapenemase producers were not. Therefore, corn silk extract is thought to be able to assist in the prevention and rapid recovery of infectious disease caused by K. pneumoniae.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1242-1248
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• 2017

Several medicinal plants are ethnomedically used in Korea as agents for treating infection, anti-inflammation, and pain relief. However, beyond typical inhibitory effects on cell growth, little is known about the potential anti-biofilm activity of these herbs, which may help to prevent cavities and maintain good oral health. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activities of the methanol extracts of 37 Korean medicinal plants against dental pathogens Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans, which synergize their virulence so as to induce the formation of plaque biofilms in the oral cavity. The antimicrobial activities were investigated by broth dilution and disk diffusion assay. The anti-biofilm and antioxidant activities were evaluated based on the inhibitory effect against glucosyltransferase (GTase) and the DPPH assay, respectively. Among 37 herbs, eight plant extracts presented growth and biofilm inhibitory activities against both etiologic bacteria. Among them, the methanol extracts (1.0 mg/ml) from Camellia japonica and Thuja orientalis significantly inhibited the growth of both bacteria by over 76% and over 83% in liquid media, respectively. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of these methanol extracts were determined to be 0.5 mg/ml using a disk diffusion assay on solid agar media. Biofilm formation was inhibited by more than 92.4% and 98.0%, respectively, using the same concentration of each extract. The present results demonstrate that the medicinal plants C. japonica and T. orientalis are potentially useful as antimicrobial and anti-biofilm agents in preventing dental diseases.