• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2001

The aim of this study was to examine how plant terpenoids, as natural growth substrates or inducers, would affect the biodegradation of PCB congeners. Various PCB degraders that could grow on biphenyl and several terpenoids were tested for their PCB degradation capabilities. Degradation activities of the PCB congeners, 4,4-dichlorobiphenyl (4,4-DCBp) and 2,2-dichlorobiphenyl (2,2-DCBp), were initially monitored through a resting cell assay technique that could detect their degradation products. The PCB degraders, Pseudomonas ((S)-(-) limonene, p-cymene and $\alpha$-terpinene) whereas Arthrobacter sp. B1B could not grow on the terpenoids as a sole carbon source. The B1B strain grown on biphenyl exhibited good degradation activity for 4,4-DCBp and 2,2-DCBp, while the activity of strains P166 and T104 was about 25% that of the B1B strain, respectively. Concomitant GC analysis, however, demonstrated that strain T104, grown on (S)-(-) limonene, p-cymene and $\alpha$-terpinene, could degrade 4,4-DCBp up to 30%, equivalent to 50% of the biphenyl induction level. Moreover, strain T104 grown on (S)-(-) limonene, could also degrade 2,2-DCBp up to 30%. This indicates that terpenoids, widely distributed in nature, could be utilized as both growth and/or inducer substrate(s) for PCB biodegradation in the environment.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 1997

For the effective production of functional oligosaccharides(DP 3-5) from inulin in chicory extracts, the acid hydrolysis and enzymatic endo-inulinase reaction were compared. Acid hydrolysis was unfavorable ; the content of oligosacharides in total sugar increased to 26.0% for 12 min at $55^{\circ}C$ and 24.6% at 6 min at $65^{\circ}C$ and showed little change for 30 min. The content of high DP(DP 6) decreased from 83.5 to 49.5% and 23.0% for 30 min, repectively. Glucose, fructose and sucrose increased to 24.6% and 50.3%, respectively. Hydrolysis of chicory extracts with purified endo-inulinase from Arthrobacter sp. S37 was carried out at $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.5 for 44 hrs. The content of high DP($DP{\geq}6$) in total sugar decreased from 83.5 to 23.0% and that of inulobiose(F2) and DP 3-5 increased to 66.1%. Glucose, fructose and sucrose were not produced. The hydrolysis of chicory extracts without DP 1 and DP 2 with crude or with purified enzyme were also carried out. In contrast to the hydrolysate of crude enzyme, that of purified endo-inulinase did not contain glucose, fructose, sucrose, F2 and 1-kestose(GF2). The content of oligosaccharides in the hydrolysate of the purified endo-inulinase were 79.2%, composed mainly of inulotriose(F3), inulotetraose(F4) and inulopentaose(F5), which shows that the enzymatic hydrolysis using purified endo-inulinase from Arthrobacter sp. S37 is the best method for oligosaccharides production from inulin in chicory extracts.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.5_6
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• pp.360-360
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• 2000

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.240-246
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• 2014

A semi-pilot biofilter inoculated with the microbes consortium of Bacillus cereus DAH-1056 and Arthrobacter sp. KDE-0311 was operated under various operating conditions in order to treat malodorous waste air containing both hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. When both hydrogen sulfide and ammonia contained in malodorous waste air were treated simultaneously by semi-pilot biofilter inoculated with Thiobacillus sp. IW and return-sludge, the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia were ca. 80% and ca. 50%, respectively. On the other hand, in this study, the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia were ca. 90% and ca. 60%, respectively. Therefore, the removal efficiencies of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia were enhanced by ca. 13% and 20%, respectively, compared to the semipilot biofilter inoculated with Thiobacillus sp. IW and return-sludge. In addition, in this study, the maximum elimination capacities of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia were enhanced by ca. 15% ($8g/m^3/h$) and 10~17% ($3{\sim}5g/m^3/h$), respectively. In this study, it was observed either that in case of even a same inlet load of hydrogen sulfide, a higher concentration of hydrogen sulfide causes more difficulties in treating ammonia containing in waste air than a lower one, or that in case of even a same inlet load of ammonia, a lower concentration of ammonia results in higher removal efficienciy and elimination capacity than a higher one. Even though hydrogen sulfide and ammonia were treated simultaneously by a biofilter in this study, the maximum elimination capacity of hydrogen sulfide in this study exceeded or was similar to that in previous study of biofilter treating only hydrogen sulfide. In addition, this study showed the higher maximum elimination capacity of ammonia than other previous investigation of biofilter treating hydrogen sulfide and ammonia simultaneously.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.26-33
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• 2003

We isolated and identifed culturable Arctic bacteria that have inhabited around Korean Arctic Research Station Dasan located at Ny-Alsund, Svalbard, Norway $(79^{\circ}N,\;12^{\circ}E)$. The pure colonies were inoculated into nutrient liquid media, genomic DNA was extracted, and phylogenetic analysis was performed on the basis of 16S rDNA sequences. Out of total 227 strains, 198 strains were overlapped or unidentified, and 43 bacteria were finally identified: 31 strains belonged to Pseudomonas, 7 strains Arthrobacter, two Flavobacterium sp., an Achromobacter sp., a Pedobacter sp., and a Psychrobacter sp. For isolation of diverse bacteria, we need more effective transport method than 3M petri-films, which were used for convenience of transportation that was restricted by volume. We also need to use other culture media than nutrient media. We expect these Arctic bacteria can be used for screening to develop new antibiotics or industrial enzymes that are active at low temperature.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.804-810
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• 1999

There is a possibility that carvone, a monoterpene from spearmint (Mentha spicata), could induce the bph degradative pathway and genes in Alcaligenes eutrophus H850, which is a known Gram-negative PCB degrader with a broad substrate specificity that was thoroughly investigated with Arthrobacter sp. BIB, a Gram-positive PCB degrader. The strains BIB and H850 were unable to utilize and grow on the plant terpene [(R)-(-)-carvone] (50ppm) to be recognized as a sole carbon source. Nevertheless, the carvone did induce 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase (encoded by bphC) in the strain B lB, as observed by a resting cell assay that monitors accumulation of a yellow meta ring fission product from 4,4'-dichlorobiphenyl (DCBp). The monoterpene, however, did not appear to induce the meta cleavage pathway in the strain H850. Instead, an assumption was made that the strain might be using an alternative pathway, probably the ortho-cleavage pathway. A reverse transcription (RT)-PCR system, utilizing primers designed from a conserved region of the bphC gene of Arthrobacter sp. M5, was employed to verify the occurrence of the alternative pathway. A successful amplification (182bp) of mRNA transcribed from the N-terminal region of the bphC gene was accomplished in H850 cells induced by carvone (50ppm) as well as in biphenyl-growth cells. It is, therefore, likely that H850 possesses a specific PCB degradation pathway and hence a different substrate specificity compared with B1B. This study will contribute to an elucidation of the dynamic aspects of PCB bioremediation in terms of roles played by PCB degraders and plant terpenes as natural inducer substrates that are ubiquitous and environmentally compatible.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.101-110
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• 2021

Interactions between microalgae and heterotrophic bacteria are common in natural environments. This study investigated the effect of heterotrophic bacteria on the activity of the photosynthetic eukaryotic alga Chlorella sp. MF1907 when cocultured. A total of 31 heterotrophic bacterial isolates belonging to different genera were cocultured with MF1907. Interactions of the alga with Agromyces, Rhodococcus, Sphingomonas, Hyphomicrobium, Rhizobium, and Pseudomonas were positive, while those with Burkholderia, Paraburkholderia, Micrococcus, Arthrobacter, Mycobacterium, Streptomyces, Pedobacter, Mucilaginibacter, Fictibacillus, Tumebacillus, Sphingopyxis, and Erythrobacter were negative (p < 0.05). A turnover experiment demonstrating a switch from heterotrophic to autotrophic activity of MF1907 was performed using 16 isolates exhibiting apparent effects (positive, negative, or neutral). Compared with the results of the coculture experiment, eight isolates exhibited the same outcomes, while the others did not. Consistently, Pseudomonas and Agromyces showed a remarkable positive effect on MF1907 activity, and Burkholderia, Streptomyces, and Erythrobacter had a marked negative effect. Our results suggest that it may be possible to use the isolates for controlling populations of microalgae in natural and engineered environments.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.49-58
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• 2012

Batch experiments using indigenous and commercialized adventive microorganisms were performed to investigate the feasibility of the biodegradation process for the diesel contaminated soil, which was taken in US Military Camp 'Hialeah', Korea. TPH concentration of the soil was determined as 3,819 mg/kg. Four indigenous microorganisms having high TPH degradation activity were isolated from the soil and by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, they were identified as Arthrobacter sp., Burkholderia sp., Cupriavidus sp. and Bacillus sp.. Two kinds of commercialized solutions cultured with adventive microorganisms were also used for the experiments. Various biodegradation conditions such as the amount of microorganism, water content and the temperature were applied to decide the optimal bioavailability condition in the experiments. In the case of soils without additional microorganisms (on the natural attenuation condition), 35% of initial TPH was removed from the soil by inhabitant microorganisms in soil for 30 days. When the commercialized microorganism cultured solutions were added into the soil, their average TPH removal efficiencies were 64%, and 54%, respectively, which were higher than that without additional microorganisms. When indigenous microorganisms isolated from the contaminated soil were added into the soil, TPH removal efficiency increased up to 95% (for Bacillus sp.). According to the calculation of the average biodegradation rates for Bacillus sp., the remediation goal (87% of the removal efficiency: 500 mg/kg) for the soil would reach within 24 days. Results suggested that TPH removal efficiency of biodegradation by injecting indigenous microorganisms is better than those by injecting commercialized adventive microorganisms and only by using the natural attenuation.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.449-455
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• 2000

Pseudomonas sp. strain DJ-12 is a bacterial isolate capable of degrading 4-chlorobiphenyl (4CBP) as a carbon and energy source. The catabolic degradation of 4CBP by the strain DJ-12 was studied along with the genetic organization of the genes responsible for the crucial steps of the catabolic degradation. The catabolic pathway was characterized as being conducted by consecutive reactions of the meta-cleavage of 4CBP, hydrolytic dechlorination of 4-chlorobenzoate (4CBA), hydroxylation of 4-hydroxybenzoate, and meta-cleavage of protocatechuate. The pcbC gene responsible for the meta-cleavage of 4CBP only showed a 30 to 40% homology in its deduced amino acid sequence compared to those of the corresponding genes from other strains. The amino acid sequence of 4CBA-CoA dechlorinase showed an 86% homology with that of Pseudomonas sp. CBS3, yet only a 50% homology with that of Arthrobacter spp. However, the fcb genes for the hydrolytic dechlorination of 4CBA in Pseudomonas sp. DJ-12 showed an uniquely different organization from those of CBS3 and other reported strains. Accordingly, these results indicate that strain DJ-12 can degrade 4CBA completely via meta-cleavage and hydrolytic dechlorination using enzymes that are uniquely different in their amino acid sequences from those of other bacterial strains with the same degradation activities.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.109-111
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• 2010

Recent studies have described various microorganisms that can degrade PAH, however, there are currently limited methods available to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms. To screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms, a sublimation method (Alley, Jeremy F. and Lewis R. Brown. 2000. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66, 439-442) was modified to produce a simple screening system. In our results, there were several bacterial species capable of pyrene degradation including genera, Coryenbacterium, Gordonia, Rhodococcus, and Streptomyces, which have been screened from 350 bacterial isolates of commercial gasoline and oil-spilled sediment by the sublimation method. The main advantage of this method is that it (i) safely deposits an even, thin and visible layer of PAH onto the agar surface without the use of solvents and (ii) the quantity of PAH sublimed onto the agar can be easily controlled. Overall, this sublimation method may be an effective and simple technique to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms.