• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.319-327
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• 2022

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a multi-functional compound with broad applications for food industry. GABA producing bacteria were isolated from cabbage kimchi. Among them, B737 was the best GABA producer when culture supernatants were analyzed by TLC. B737 was identified as Levilactobacillus brevis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Its glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) gene was cloned by PCR and the nucleotide sequence determined. B737 GAD consisting of 485 amino acids is the largest in size among GADs reported from LAB so far. gadB from L. brevis B737 was overexpressed in Escherichia. coli BL21(DE3) using pET26b(+).pET26b(+). The recombinant GAD was purified and its size was 55 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Maximum GAD activity was observed at pH 5 and 40℃ and the activity was dependent on pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. K_m and V_max of recombinant GAD were 6.2 ± 0.06 mM and 0.34 ± 0.002 mM/min, respectively. L. brevis B737 can be used as a starter for fermented foods with high GABA contents.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.274-276
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• 2011

Distinction of Bacillus cereus from other closely related bacilli is challenging and new efficient methods are continually demanded. From our previous work on RAPD profiles of bacilli, we found a possibility that B. cereus strains could be distinguished from other bacilli. In this work, RAPD-PCR profiles of B. cereus strains were obtained using a 10-mer (S30) as a primer, and a B. cereus specific 0.91-kb band was produced from all tested strains. The RAPD-PCR procedure also successfully detected B. cereus from spiked cheonggukjang when B. cereus cells were present at more than $10^2$/g sample.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.439-446
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• 2020

Two Bacillus strains, K3 and K208, both demonstrating strong fibrinolytic activities were isolated from Kimchi, a traditional Korean preparation of fermented vegetables. Isolates were subjected to various molecular biology based identification methods including RAPD-PCR and identified as B. subtilis and B. velezensis, respectively. Tryptic soy broth (TSB) was found to best maintain both the growth and the fibrinolytic activity of these strains. Culture supernatants were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and fibrin zymography, and the results indicate that a 40 and 27 kDa band seem to be responsible for the fibrinolytic activities of these two isolates and the 27 kDa band was subsequently identified as the mature form of AprE, the major fibrinolytic enzyme. Thus the aprE genes were cloned and the translated amino acid sequences demonstrated 99.3% identity with each other, and 86.5% identity with BsfA, a fibrinolytic enzyme from B. subtilis ZA400 also isolated from Kimchi, and AprE2, a fibrinolytic enzyme from B. subtilis CH3-5 isolated from Cheonggukjang, a traditional Korean fermented soy. Given this B. subtilis K3 and B. velezensis K208 may be promising starter cultures in the production of fermented foods.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.377-389
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• 2021

This study analyzed whether depression and social support had a mediating effect between income status and life satisfaction of middle-aged and elderly people with disabilities using data from the 15th year of the Korea Welfare Panel data. As a result of the analysis, first, the income status of the middle-aged and disabled was depressed(B=.241, p<.001), social support(B=-.167, p<.001), and life satisfaction(B=-.277, p<.001) was confirmed to have a direct effect. Second, the mediating effect of depression and social support was verified on the influence between the income status of middle-aged and disabled people between life satisfaction. Third, it was confirmed that depression and social support had a multi-mediating effect between the income status and life satisfaction of middle-aged and disabled people. Therefore, an income support system that supports middle-aged and disabled people to live at an appropriate level should be prepared. In addition, in order to increase the life satisfaction of middle-aged and disabled people, it is necessary to intervene in mental health support services that can actively cope with depression and to expand the social support network.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.579-588
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• 2015

Fungi of the genus Pestalotiopsis have drawn attention for their capability to produce an array of bioactive secondary metabolites that have potential for drug development. Here, we report the determination of a polyketide derivative compound, pestalotiollide B, in the culture of the saprophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora NK17. Structural information acquired by analyses with a set of spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques suggests that pestalotiollide B has the same skeleton as the penicillide derivatives, dibenzodioxocinones, which are inhibitors of cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP), and as purpactins A and C', inhibitors of acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT). Strain NK17 can make a fairly high yield of pestalotiollide B (i.e., up to 7.22 mg/l) in a constitutive manner in liquid culture. Moreover, we found that a putative histone deacetylase gene, designated as hid1, played a role in the biosynthesis of pestalotiollide B. In the hid1 null mutant, the yield of pestalotiollide B increased approximately 2-fold to 15.90 mg/l. In contrast, deletion of gene hid1 led to a dramatic decrease of conidia production of the fungus. These results suggest that hid1 is a modulator, concerting secondary metabolism and development such as conidiation in P. microspora. Our work may help with the investigation into the biosynthesis of pestalotiollide B and the development for new CETP and ACAT inhibitors.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2014

Oligopeptidase B (OpdB) is a serine peptidase widespread among bacteria and protozoa that has emerged as a virulence factor despite its function has not yet been precisely established. By using an OpdB-overexpressing Escherichia coli strain, we found that the overexpressed peptidase makes the bacterial cells specifically less susceptible to several proline-rich antimicrobial peptides known to penetrate into the bacterial cytosol, and that its level of activity directly correlates with the degree of resistance. We established that E. coli OpdB can efficiently hydrolyze in vitro cationic antimicrobial peptides up to 30 residues in length, even though they contained several prolines, shortening them to inactive fragments. Two consecutive basic residues are a preferred cleavage site for the peptidase. In the case of a single basic residue, there is no cleavage if proline residues are present in the $P_1$ and $P_2$ positions. These results also indicate that cytosolic peptidases may cause resistance to antimicrobial peptides that have an intracellular mechanism of action, such as the proline-rich peptides, and may contribute to define the substrate specificity of the E. coli OpdB.

• Mycobiology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.582-588
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• 2021

The interaction of mating pheromone and pheromone receptor from the B mating-type locus is the first step in the activation of the mushroom mating signal transduction pathway. The B mating-type locus of Lentinula edodes is composed of Bα and Bβ subloci, each of which contains genes for mating pheromone and pheromone receptor. Allelic variations in both subloci generate multiple B mating-types through which L. edodes maintains genetic diversity. In addition to the B mating-type locus, our genomic sequence analysis revealed the presence of a novel chromosomal locus 43.3 kb away from the B mating-type locus, containing genes for a pair of mating pheromones (PHBN1 and PHBN2) and a pheromone receptor (RCBN). The new locus (Bα-N) was homologous to the Bα sublocus, but unlike the multiallelic Bα sublocus, it was highly conserved across the wild and cultivated strains. The interactions of RcbN with various mating pheromones from the B and Bα-N mating-type loci were investigated using yeast model that replaced endogenous yeast mating pheromone receptor STE2 with RCBN. The yeast mating signal transduction pathway was only activated in the presence of PHBN1 or PHBN2 in the RcbN producing yeast, indicating that RcbN interacts with self-pheromones (PHBN1 and PHBN2), not with pheromones from the B mating-type locus. The biological function of the Bα-N locus was suggested to control the expression of A mating-type genes, as evidenced by the increased expression of two A-genes HD1 and HD2 upon the treatment of synthetic PHBN1 and PHBN2 peptides to the monokaryotic strain of L. edodes.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.76-81
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• 2008

The objective of this study is to evaluate the microbial safety of raw pork used to produce Korean pork jerky. The raw pork samples harbored large populations of microorganisms. In particular, mesophilic bacteria were found to be most numerous $(3.9{\times}10^2-3.9{\times}10^5cfu/g)$ in the samples. Spore-forming bacteria and coliforms were not detected below detection limit. Yeast and molds were detected at $3.8{\times}10^1-5.1{\times}10^2cfu/g$ in the raw pork. Ten samples of raw pork were analyzed for the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Bacillus cereus was isolated from samples B and J and Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from sample B. The B. cereus isolates from raw pork samples were identified with 99.8% agreement and S. aureus isolate was identified with 97.8% agreement according to the API CHB 50 kit.

• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.115-121
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• 2023

The fungal strain KNUF-22-18B, belonging to Cucurbitariaceae, was discovered from a stink bug (Hygia lativentris) during the investigation of insect microbiota in Chungnam Province, South Korea. The colonies of the strain KNUF-22-18B were wooly floccose, white to brown in the center on oatmeal agar (OA), and the colonies were buff, margin even, and colorless, reverse white to yellowish toward the center on malt extract agar (MEA). The strain KNUF-22-18B produced pycnidia after 60 days of culturing on potato dextrose agar, but pycnidia were not observed on OA. On the contrary, N. keratinophila CBS 121759^T abundantly formed superficial pycnidia on OA and MEA after a few days. The strain KNUF-22-18B produced chlamydospores subglobose to globose, mainly in the chain, with a small diameter of 4.4-8.8 ㎛. At the same time, N. keratinophila CBS 121759^T displayed a globose terminal with a diameter of 8-10 ㎛. A multilocus phylogeny using the internal transcribed spacer regions, 28S rDNA large subunit, b-tubulin, and RNA polymerase II large subunit genes further validated the uniqueness of the strain. The detailed description and illustration of the proposed species as Neocucurbitaria chlamydospora sp. nov. from Korea was strongly supported by molecular phylogeny.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.85-92
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• 2011

The role of RCDs(Residual Current Protective Device) that are installed before the load is very important for preventing electric shock and electrical fire. However, although fault rate of RCD is increasing due to deterioration and long period usage, the RCD is permanently used without a checking of performance evaluation and it causes the electrical accident. In this paper, the amount of airborne chloride is researched in domestic costal area and the accelerated life test is conducted using a salt water spray tester in order to decide the life time of RCD. Aa a result of an accelerated life test, the MTTF(Mean Time To Failure) of RCD is 110.81 hours and B10 life time of RCD is 45.81 hours for the all samples. when an accelerated life test result is applied to within 2 km costal area, the life time of RCD is predicted about 5 years.