• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.405-413
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• 2010

Fig (Ficus carica L.) belongs to the mulberry tree (Moraceae) which is one of the oldest fruits in the world. It has been used as a digestion promoter and a cure for ulcerative inflammation and eruption in Korea. The present study investigated the antimicrobial activity of methanol (MeOH) extract of fig leaves against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated in clinic. The MeOH extract (MICs, 2.5 to 20 mg/mL; MBCs, 5 to 20 mg/mL) was demonstrated as antibacterial activity in isolates MRSA 1-20. The administration of the MeOH extract in combination with oxacillin or ampicillin induced a reduction of ${\geq}$4-8-fold in all tested bacteria, which was considered to be synergistic based on a FICI of ${\leq}$0.375-0.5. Furthermore, time-kill study was found that a combination of MeOH extract with oxacillin or ampicillin produced a more rapid decrease in the concentration of bacteria CFU/mL than MeOH extract alone. The results suggest that fig leaves could be employed as a natural antibacterial agent in MRSA infection care products.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2013

This study was performed to analyze in vitro and in vivo activities of LCB01-0183, a new oxazolidinone, against clinical isolates of bacteria. In vitro antibacterial activity of LCB01-0183 was tested by the two fold agar dilution method. In vivo activity of LCB01-0183 was determined against systemic infections in mice. LCB01-0183 showed most potent activity among the test compounds against clinical isolates of Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, the protective activity of LCB01-0183 was very effective against systemic infections in mice by oral or subcutaneous administration. In time kill study, LCB01-0183 showed a bacteriostatic activity during 24 hours. LCB01-0183 had potent in vitro and in vivo activity against Gram-positive bacteria including drug-resistant strains.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 2015

Antimicrobial agents or additives have commonly been used in domestic animals for the prevention and treatment of bacterial diseases. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the overgrowth of bacteria that is resistant to antimicrobial agents used by humans, and these might get disseminated to humans via the food. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of integrons, and characterized gene cassette arrays in Proteus mirabilis isolates obtained from chickens in Chungcheong province of Korea. Additionally, the correlation between gene cassette arrays and antimicrobial resistance rate was studied. A total of 26 Proteus mirabilis isolates were recovered from chickens in Chungcheong province in Korea. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disk diffusion method. PCR and DNA sequencing were performed to characterize the gene cassette arrays. In addition, we employed repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based PCR (REP-PCR) method for clonality analysis of P. mirabilis strains. Of the 26 P. mirabilis isolates tested, 14 (53.8%) isolates carried class 1 integrons, while class 2 and class 3 integrons were not detected in our study. The class 1 integrons harbored genes encoding resistance to aminoglycosides (aacCA5, aadA2, aadA5 and aadA7), trimethoprim (dfrA17, and dfrA32), lincosamides (linF) and erythromycin (ereA). In particular, the presence of class 1 integron had a significant correlatation to a high resistance rate of aminoglycoside and trimethoprim. We confirmed that class 1 integrons are widely disseminated in P. mirabilis isolates from chickens, contributing to the resistance to diverse antimicrobial agents in Korea. To prevent further spreading of antimicrobial resistant genes among P. mirabilis isolates, constant monitoring and clinical policing will become necessary.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.391-396
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• 2009

The chemical compositions, and antibacterial and antifungal effects of essential oils extracted from three coniferous species, Pinus densiflora, Cryptomeria japonica, and Chamaecyparis obtusa, were investigated. Gas chromatography mass analysis of the essential oils revealed that the major components and the percentage of each essential oil were 16.66% $\beta$-phellandrene and 14.85% $\alpha$-pinene in P. densiflora; 31.45% kaur-16-ene and 11.06% sabinene in C. japonica; and 18.75% bicyclo [2,2,1] heptan-2-ol and 17.41% 2-carene in Ch. obtusa. The antimicrobial assay by agar disc diffusion method showed that $2.2{\mu}g$ of Ch. obtusa oil inhibited most effectively the growth of Escherichia coli ATCC 33312 and Klebsiella oxytoca ATCC 10031, whereas the C. japonica oil gave weak antimicrobial activity. The minimal inhibitory concentration(MIC) values for bacterial strains were in the range of 5.45-21.8 mg/ml depending on essential oils, but most Gram-negative bacteria were resistant even at 21.8 mg oil/ml. P. densiflora oil showed the most effective antifungal activity and the MIC values for Cryptococcus neoformans B42419 and Candida glabrata YFCC 062CCM 11658 were as low as 0.545 and 2.18 mg/ml, respectively. Cryp. neoformans B42419 was the most sensitive to all essential oils in the range of 0.545-2.18 mg/ml. Our data clearly showed that the essential oils from the three conifers had effective antimicrobial activity, especially against fungi.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.151-157
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• 2004

Samples of milk were collected from 425 halves of 216 dairy goats in Chonnam province over a period of January through August 2003. Bacterial isolation was carried out on those samples, and their antimicrobial susceptibility was tested. Bacteria were isolated from 166 milk samples (39.1%), either singly (74.7%) or in combination (25.3%). Of the 220 isolates, Staphylococcus spp. was the most prevalent (82.6%), followed by Streptococcus spp. (2.7%), Corynebacterium spp. (1.8%), Enterococcus spp. (1.8%), and Pasteurella spp. (1.8%). Of the 11 species identified from the 182 isolates of Staphylococcus spp., the most frequent species identified were S. epidermidis (28.6%) followed by S. chromogens (14.8%), S. haemolyticus (12.6%), S. aureus (12.1%), S. capitis (8.2%), S. lentus (8.2%), S. hyicus (4.4%), S. simulans (4.4%), S. caprae (2.8%), S. hominis (2.8%) and S. warneri (1.1%). Antimicrobial sensitivity test revealed that most isolates were highly susceptible to 11 antimicrobial agents (96.4 ~ 80.9%), while most isolates were resistant to penicillin.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.101-105
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Campylobacter spp. from duck feces in northern area of the Gyeongnam province, Korea. Samples of 121 duck feces were taken from April to December 2014 for this survey. Samples were examined by bacteria isolation and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of Campylobacter spp. Campylobacter were isolated in 37 samples (30.6%). Among these samples, C. jejuni and C. coli were isolated in 35 samples and 2 samples, respectively. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test is performed to investigate antimicrobial resistance patterns of Campylobacter spp. C. jejuni were resistant to ciprofloxacin (85.7%), nalidixic acid(82.9%), tetracycline (77.1%), gentamicin (57.1%), azithromycin (40.0%), clindamycin (34.3%), erythromycin (22.9%), and florfenicol (8.6%). These data support a database of pollution and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. from duck feces and provide a basic information of reducing the secondary damage of antibiotic misuse.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.233-240
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• 2014

Salmonella spp. are one of the most common bacteria that causes heavy losses in swine industry and have implications for public health. In this study, the correlation between Salmonella seroprev-alence on farms and the isolation rate from slaughtered pigs was analyzed and the antimicrobial resistance of the isolated Salmonella spp. was investigated. A total of 3,001 serum samples for ELISA were collected from 17 farms during two consecutive years (2012-2013). The mean values of ELISA OD% for each 8 age groups were as follows; gilt 27.83 (n=472), sow 23.75 (n=367), 150 days (d) of pig 16.53 (n=278), 130 d 11.87 (n=366), 100 d 9.46 (n=378), 20 d 9.17 (n=394), 70 d 6.56 (n=382), 40 d 3.72 (n=364). From July 2013 to January 2014, a total of 53 (8.0%) Salmonella strains were isolated from 665 slaughtered pigs shipped from those 17 farms. The mean values of ELISA OD% for each age groups serum samples that were collected in the second half of 2013 showed a positive correlation at 100 d (0.61, P<0.05), 130 d (0.45, P<0.1) with the isolation rate of Salmonella spp. in the slaughtered pigs. All the isolates were identified by a real-time PCR and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. As a result, the predominant serovar was S. Typhimurium (52.8%) and there were 15 strains showing their own antimicrobial resistance pattern. All strains were susceptible to amoxicillin, cefepime, ciprofloxacin and some of them were resistant to streptomycin and tetracycline (60%), ampicillin (53.3%), chloramphenicol (33.3%), respectively.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.543-547
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• 2007

Bovine mastitis is costly infectious disease of dairy cattle, being responsible for significant economic losses all over the world. Also, mastitis has troubled about resistance to antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to screen a novel antimicrobial strain from various sources (raw milk and feeds (from farm of Paju, Dangjin, and Hwasung), commercial milk, Korean traditional fermented foods, and chicken feces). The isolate was screened using triple agar layer method and deferred method was used for confirmation of antimicrobial effect. Seventy six of isolates were screened using triple agar layer method. In these strain, 42 isolates were shown a broad spectrum of autimicrobial activity against mastitis pathogens. Especially, fourteen isolates were shown over 20 mm inhibition zone against S. aureous ATCC 25923. These results suggest that these novel antimicrobial strains could be used for the alternative of antibiotics.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.476-481
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• 2017

Polyphenols are secondary metabolites produced by higher plants and have been used as antiallergic, anticancer, antihypertensive, antiinflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant agents. They are generally divided into flavonoids and non-flavonoids. The antimicrobial activity of flavonoids are stronger than that of non-flavonoids. The skeleton structures of flavonoids possessing antimicrobial activity are chalcone, flavan-3-ol (catechin), flavanone, flavone, flavonol and proanthocyanidin. The flavonols are shown antibacterial activity against several gram-positive bacteria (Actinomyces naeslundii, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella melaninogenica and Prevotella oralis). Among of non-flavonoids, caffeic acids, ferulic acids and gallic acids showed antimicrobial activity against gram-positive (Listeria monocytogenes and S. aureus) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). These are found to be more efficient against the E. coli, L. monocytogenes, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus than antibiotics such as gentamicin and streptomycin. The kaempferol and quercetin showed synergistic effect with ciprofloxacin and rifampicin against S. aureus and methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) acts synergistically with various ${\beta}-lactam$ antibiotics against MRSA. In particular, the epicatechin, epigallocatechin (EGC), EGCG and gallocatechin gallate from Korean green tea has antibacterial activity against MRSA clinical isolates and the combination of tea polyphenols and oxacillin was synergistic for all the clinical MRSA isolates.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.308-315
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• 2011

The purpose of this work was to examine the antimicrobial activity derived from the lactic acid bacterium, UK-3 isolated from the vaginas of women of childbearing age. Various physiological and biochemical properties of this strain were characterized. Both the BIOLOG system and phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA sequencing were utilized for identification, and the strain was designated as Lactobacillus plantarum UK-3, and registered in GenBank as [JK266589]. Growth rate, production of organic acids (e.g., lactic acid and acetic acid), and pH during growth were monitored. The maximum concentrations of lactic acid and acetic acid were approximately 684.11 mM and 174.26 mM, respectively, and pH changed from 7.0 to 3.7 after 72 h of incubation. High performance liquid chromatography was used to confirm lactic acid and acetic acid production. Significant antimicrobial activity of the concentrated supernatant was demonstrated against various Gram-positive (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Neisseria species., Listeria monocytogenes), Gram-negative bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis), and yeast (e.g., Candida albicans) by the plate diffusion method. As a result, the concentrated L. plantarum UK-3 cultures had lower acidity and inhibited the growth of all microorganisms tested, whereas the growth of L. acidophilus was not affected.