• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 1976

Growth inhibition and morphological alteration of Bacillus megaterium NRRL B-1368 in aflatoxin-containing TGY liquid media and its growth restoration in normal media were investigated. Crude aflatoxins $(B_1\;22.7%,\;B_2\;1.6%,\;G_1\;3.6\;%\;and\;G_2\;0.2%)$ at concentrations of more than $20{\mu}g/ml$ inhibited the growth of the microorganism and prevented the formation of septum, resulting in abnormal elongation and disturbance of cell division. The aberrant cells, however, grew normally by septum formation and cell division upon returning to aflatoxin-free culture media. It was, therefore, assumed that aflatoxin affects the function of mesosome related to septum formation in bacteria.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1625-1630
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• 2008

A microorganism capable of producing high level of poly-3-hydoxybutyrate (PHB) from xylose was isolated from soil. The isolated strain J-65 was identified as Bacillus megaterium based on the morphological, biochemical and molecular biological characteristics. The optimum temperature and pH for the growth of B. megaterium J-65 were $37^{\circ}C$ and 8.0, respectively. The optimum medium composition for the cell growth was 2% xylose, 0.25% $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, 0.3% $Na_2HPO_4{\cdot}12H_2O$, and 0.1% $KH_2PO_4$. The optimum condition for PHB accumulation was same to the optimum condition for cell growth. Copolymer of ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyric and ${\beta}$-hydroxyvaleric acid was produced when propionic acid was added to shake flasks containing 20 g/l of xylose. Fermenter culture was carried out to produce the high concentration of PHB. In batch culture, cell mass was 9.82 g/l and PHB content was 35% of dry cell weight. PHB produced by B. megaterium J-65 was identified as homopolymer of 3-hydoxybutyric acid by GC and NMR.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 2000

A Baczllus circdans KCTC3004 $\alpha$-amylase gene contained in a recombinant plasmid pAL850 was transferred into a new shuttle vector plasmid pALSIlI by ligating linearlzed DNAs of pUC19 and pUB110. B. subtilis RM125 and B. megatenurn ATCC14945 transfonned with pALS111 produced the $\alpha$-amylase substantially Most of the enzyme was produced during the exponential growth period. The maxiinurn activities of the $\alpha$-amylase produced by the Bucillus transformants were compared with that of the B. circulans gene donor strain. The B. subtilis RM125(pALS111) enzyme showed the actlvicy 95 times higher than that of the gene donor cells, followed by the B, nzegaterium ATCC14945(pALSlll) enzyme with activity 34 limes higher than that of the gene donor cells. While E coli secreted about 10% of the produced enzyme, B. subtilis excreted the enzyme inlo the medium wholly and B. megaterirun about 98% ofthe total product. The plasmid pALSI11 was quite stable inB. nzegaterium (92%), inoderately stable in B. subtilis (76%), but was unstable in E. coli (38%). The SDS-PAGE and zymogram of this enzyme produced in E. coli(pALS111), B. subtilis( pALS111) or B. megateril~m (pALS111) indicated a molecular weight of 55,000. The enzymes overproduced in three different host cells hydrolyzed starch to produce mainly maltoaiose and mallooligosaccharides.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.1006-1015
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• 1997

Whole soybean meju was fermented with four Bacillus strains for 45 hr in its model system. The pH range of the product was $7.98{\sim}8.68$, the contents of amino nitrogen and ammoniacal nitrogen were $286{\sim}439\;mg%,\;0.11{\sim}0.23%$, respectively and that of reducing sugar ranged $0.65{\sim}2.24%$. During fermentation, the enzyme activities increased up to $30{\sim}40\;hr$ of fermentation and slightly decreased after 45 hr. Stachyose was special sugar components for B. licheniformis and raffinose was for B. natto. The components of the organic acid showed distinctive patterns among four products and the patterns of amino acids and fatty acids were almost similar to those of other reports. The main and common odor concentrates of meju were pyrazine components, 3-methyl-1-butanol, acetic acid and ethanol. Chunggukjang, mixed with B. natto and B. licheniformis showed more acceptabilities than other combinations. Soybean paste, mixed with B. megaterium and B. subtilis, soysauce, mixed with B. megaterium and A. oryzae showed excellent acceptability, respectively.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.761-769
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• 2004

This study was investigated the occurrence of sclerotinia rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum at the major perilla cultivating area, Gangdong-dong, Gangseo-gu, Busan in 1998. The incidence of this disease ranged from 8.1 to 28.3% at Gangdong-dong area during the growing seasons. Symptoms of the disease initially appeared damping-off of infected stems and soft-rot on the leaves of perilla. Under the relatively high humidity, abundant white mycelia of the pathogen formed on the lesion developed into black sclerotia later and the infected leaves were finally fell down. Sixteen isolates, Sl-S16, isolated from diseased lesions showing typical symptoms, and pathogenicity was tested using mycerlial disks. Among them, S2 isolate showing the most strong pathogenicity was selected and identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on the basis of morphological and cultural characteristics. For biological control, an antagonistic bacteria, N4 isolate which effectively inhibited not only mycelial growth of S2 isolate but also suppress sclerotinia rot on the pot assay, was selected and identified as Bacillus megaterium according to Bergey's manual and API system., Wettable powder type, N4 formulation using B. megaterium N4 isolate was developed and estimated its control effect on perilla crops in a plastic house. As a results, N4 formulation which applied before 3 days inoculation of pathogen was effectually controlled Sclerotinia rot as the control value of 98.0%, was more effective than chemical fungicide, benomyl showing the control value of 78.0%. This is the first report of wettable powder formulation as a biocontrol agent using B. megaterium N4 against Sclerotinia rot caused by S. sclerotiorum on perilla.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.574-584
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• 1998

Antimicrobial activities, extraction yields and chemical compositions of the extract from the powder of vacuum dried Smilax china root on various solvents were investigated. Antimicrobial activities against. A rhizogenes, A. tumefaciens, C. utilis, S. cerevisiae, B. megaterium, B. subtilis and E. coli were measured by disc diffusion method. Methanol, chloroform, ethylacetate and butanol extracts exhibited potent antimicrobial activities against B. megaterium and B. subtilis. Also, methanol, ethylacetate and butanol extracts had the activities against A. rhizogenes, and chloroform and ethylacetate extracts against A. tumefacciens. The extraction yields were 13.10%, 8.71%, 2.73%, 0.83%, 0.54% and chemical compositions of their extracts were very different according to the kinds of solvents. The main chemical groups of ethylacetate, methanol, chloroform and butanol extracts were 45.99% phenolics, 36.10% acids, 29.13% phenolics and 18.96% phenolics, respectively.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.445-450
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• 2007

This studies were engaged to investigate the potential us of Curcuma aromatica Salab. as a food ingredients. The antimicrobial activity of Curcuma aromatica Salab. extract (CE) and effect on shelf life of the cooked rice were examined. The antimicrobial activity of CE showed apparently against Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis and B. megaterium. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CE was 0.15% for B. cereus md 0.2% for B. subtilis and B. megaterium. The antimicrobial activity of CE remained relatively high after heat treatments(30 min at 80 and $100^{\circ}C$, 15 min at $121^{\circ}C$). The shelf life of cooked rice containing above 0.05% CE increased more 1 or 2 days than that of control at $30^{\circ}C$, The texture of cooked rice was improved by addition of above 0.01% CE. The sensory quality of cooked rice with CE did not show significant difference between 0.00% and 0.05% in taste and overall acceptability but decreased above 0.10% in taste, color, flavor and overall acceptability.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.120-125
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• 2006

To isolate and identify histamine degrading bacteria from Kwamegi, bacteria were screened with restriction media containing histamine. Ten strains were selected through morphological and biochemical identification procedure followed by comparison with DNA sequence of 16 rRNA gene. And also, these strains were confirmed by the histamine degrading assay such as turbidity and enzymatic assay. The results of identification are as followings : Ewingella americana B791, Arthrobacter sp. R45S, Halomonas marisflava, Psychrobacter sp. 9B-7, Bacillus sp. LMC 21002, Psychrohacter cibarius BC-220, Bacillus megaterium KL-197 were identified showing homology of $99\%,\;95\%,\;98\%,\;99\%,\;99\%,\;99\%\;and\;98\%$, respectively. Three strains remain unidentified. Arthrobacter sp. R45S, H. marisflava, Bacillus sp. LMG 21002, B. megaterium KL-197 showed histamine degrading activity, whereas, Psychrobacter sp. 9B-7 only showed weak activity. Three unidentified strains also have histamine degrading activity. In contrast, E. american B791 and p. cibarius JG-220 did not show any significant activity of histamine degradation. The strains isolated from this study showed relatively fast growth rate and histamine degrading rate as compared to those from salted mackerel.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.855-862
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• 2006

Hexavalent chromium ($Cr^{6+}$) is a highly harmful pollutant, which can be detoxified and precipitated through reduction to $Cr^{3+}$. Bacillus megaterium TKW3 previously isolated from chromium-contaminated marine sediments was capable of reducing $Cr^{6+}$ in concomitance with metalloids ($Se^{4+}$, $Se^{6+}$, and $As^{5+}$). Notwithstanding approximately 50% inhibition, it was the first report of simultaneous bacterial reduction of $Cr^{6+}$ and $Se^{4+}$ (to elemental Se). No significant difference was observed among electron donors (glucose, maltose, and mannitol) on $Cr^{6+}$ reduction by B. megaterium TKW3. The reduction was constitutive and determined to be non-plasmid mediated. Peptide mass fingerprints (PMF) revealed a novel aerobic membrane-associated reductase with $Cr^{6+}$-induced expression and specific reductive activity (in nmol $Cr^{6+}$/mg protein/min) of 0.220 as compared with 0.087 of the soluble protein fraction. Respiratory inhibitor $NaN_3$ did not interfere with the reductase activity. Transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (TEM-EDX) analysis confirmed the aggregation of reduced chromium along the intracellular membrane region. Future identification of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of this reductase will facilitate purification and understanding of its enzymatic action.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.232-239
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• 1992

UDP_GlcNAc is metabolized to form vegetative cell wall, cortical peptidoglycans, and outermost layer consisting of galactosamine-6-phosphate ploysaccharide in life cycle of Bacillus megaterium. To obtain a better understanding of the UDP-GlcNAc regulation, we examined the activity of the common first enzyme for the synthesis of nucleotide precursors of peptidoglycans, enoylpyruvate transferase by newly developed method. Both the specific and the total activity decreased after the end of exponential growth followed by and increase from t5 but decreased again parallel to the appearance of the activity of UDP_GlcNAc-4-epimerase. Antibody specificity to anti-transferase IgG and the elution profile on DEAE-Sepharose revealed that B. megaterium has at least two enoylpyruvate transferase isozymes, and UDP_GlcNAc was metabolized to vegetative cell wall and cortical peptidoglycan by each isozme in exponential growth and in sporulation, respectively in life cycle.