• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 1997

The measurement of cell death constant in Anabaena flos-aquae was tested by the Live/Dead BacLight Viability kit(Molecular Probes Co., Seatle, WA). When the Live/Dead BacLight Viability kit was applied to Anabaena flos-aquae, the cells with intact cell membranes(live cells) stained fluorescent green, while the cell with damaged membranes(dead cells) stained fluorescent red and the background remained virtually nonfluorescent. The rations of live : dead cells in the cell suspension were controlled artifically and Live/Dead BacLight Viability kit was applied to them. The ratios of green:red fluorescent cells in the cell suspension were the same as those of live : dead cells controlled artifically. It was also approved by the fluorescence emission. The cell death constant was measured in the P-limited Anabaena flos-aquae chemostal culture in the N-fixing and $KNO_3-supplied$ conditions. The culture in N-fixing chemostat had a dead cell proportion of 1.2% at the growth rate of 0.7/day and increased to 2.6% at the growth rate of 0.3/day. The cell death constant of N-fixing culture was 0.008/day.There was a same trend in the $KNO_3-supplied$ chemostat culture. The proportion of dead cell was 1.6% of dead cell proportion at the growth rate of 0.7/day and increased to 4.3% at the growth rate of 0.3/day.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.918-922
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• 2001

In a previous study, we have isolated a number of lactobacilli from Korean women, and one of them (KLB46) was identified as Lactobacillus crispatus by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. For the ecological treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) cell suspension of L. crispatus KLB46 was instillated into BV patients. L. crispatus KLB46 was found to persist for several days in cell suspension with no nutrients. In this study, in order to assess the influence of starvation on physiological activity, we compared the viability and culturability of KLB46 following suspension in various buffer solutions. A pair of in situ fluorescent dye was used to assess viability (i.e. membrane integrity) and the culturability was examined by plate count assay. A rapid epifluorescence staining method using the LIVE/DEAD Bacterial Viability Kit $(BacLight^{TM})$ was applied to estimate both viable and total counts of bacteria in cell suspension. $BacLight^{TM}$ is composed of two nucleic acid-binding stains ($SYTO\;9^{TM}$ and propidium iodide). $SYTO\;9^{TM}$ penetrates all bacterial membranes and stains the cells green while propidium iodide only penetrates cells with damaged membranes, therefore the combination of the two stains produces red fluorescing cells. Optimal staining conditions for $BacLight^{TM}$ were found to be with 0.0835M $SYTO\;9^{TM}$ and 0.05M propidium iodide for 15 min incubation at room temperature in dark. When cells were microscopically examined during 140 hours of starvation, the culturability decreased markedly while the viability remained relatively constant, which suggests that large fraction of KLB46 cells became viable but non-culturable (VBNC) upon starvation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 2008

VBNC (Viable but nonculturable) state is an adaptive response of cells in adverse environments, which lead cell not grow on routine nutrient agar. In this study, we induced VBNC in Escherichia coli using copper and verify the characterization of it. After treatment of copper, we didn't detect any cells via plate cultivation, namely, colony forming unit (CFU) was zero. However, we identified the existence of VBNC by staining live cells with Live/Dead BacLight bacterial viability kit and counting them through flow cytometry. Then we isolated genomic DNA and RNA from VBNC-induced cells and analyzed the stability of them. Degradation of RNA is more severe than that of DNA and RNA is degraded as specific fragments. In addition, we showed the morphology of VBNC cell by Bio-Transmission Electron Microscope (Bio-TEM). VBNC cell showed impaired periplasmic space and inner and outer membrane were separated and the amount of cytosol were significantly decreased.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.639-644
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• 2008

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the number of live and dead bacteria attached to, or within, the stratified squamous epithelium lining the tissue side of the gingival sulcus. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 patients was examined and classified into healthy or diseased sites according to inflammatory status of the gingival tissue. The surface of stratified squamous epithelium was removed by gentle scraping of the gingival sulcus with curettes. The cells were processed in the laboratory by density-gradient centrifugation to separate the epithelial cells from the loose bacteria and debris. The LIVE/$DEAD^{(R)}$ $BacLight^{TM}$ Bacterial Viability Kit was applied and the specimens were observed by an epifluorescent microscope and the number of bacteria was counted. Results: Live and dead bacteria were stained to green and red, irrespectively. Generally, the number of total bacteria in the diseased sites was significantly higher than in the healthy sites. The mean number of detected bacteria in the diseased sites was $58.6{\pm}36.0$ (red bacteria $10.4{\pm}9.2$ / green bacteria $48.2{\pm}30.5$), while it was $1.5{\pm}1.7$ in the healthy sites (red bacteria $0.1{\pm}0.3$ / green bacteria $1.4{\pm}1.5$). The percentage of red bacteria was $17.5{\pm}11.2%$ in the diseased sites and $2.0{\pm}5.8%$ in the healthy sites. Conclusion: The total number of bacteria in the diseased sites was significantly higher than that of the healthy sites. The ratio and the number of red bacteria were also significantly higher in the diseased sites.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2012

In this study, multiparametric flow cytometry (FCM) was installed to enumerate the diagnosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145 and Escherichia coli K12 (IFO 3301). The nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) were double stained by a LIVE/DEAD bacLight viability kit, involving green SYTO 9 and red propidium iodide (PI), based on the permeability of two chemicals according to the integrity of plasma membrane. As the results showed, the gate for dead bacteria was defined as the range of $0.2{\times}10^0$ to $6.0{\times}10^1$ photo multiplier tube (PMT) 2 fluorescence (X-axis) and $2.0{\times}10^0$ to $2.0{\times}10^2$ PMT 4 fluorescence (Y-axis), and the gate for live bacteria was defined as the range of $6.0{\times}10^0$ to $6.0{\times}10^2$ PMT 2 fluorescence (X-axis) and $2.0{\times}10^0$ to $4.0{\times}10^2$ PMT 4 fluorescence (Y-axis). In the comparison of the number of the tested bacteria detected by FCM (viability assessment) and plate culture (cultivability assessment), the number of bacteria detected by FCM well represented the number of bacteria that was detected by the colony forming unit (CFU) counting method when bacteria were exposed to isopropyl alcohol and silver/copper cations. Consequently, it is concluded that the application of FCM to monitor the functional effect of disinfectants on the physiological status of target bacteria can offer more rapid and reliable data than the plate culture colony counting method.