• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.481-489
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• 2005

Lonicerae Flos has antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus, streptococci, pneumococci, Bacillus dysenterii, Salmonella typhi, and paratyphoid. It is an antiviral agent. The herb has a cytoprotective effect against $CCl_{4}-induced$ hepatic injury. It has antilipemic action, interfering with lipid absorption from the gut. Nowadays this herb is used mainly in the treatment of upper respiratory infections, such as tonsillitis and acute laryngitis. It is also used in the treatment of skin suppurations, such as carbuncles, and to treat viral conjunctivitis, influenza, pneumonia, and mastitis. Lonicerae Flos is dried flower buds of Lonicera japonica, L. hypoglauca, L. confusa, or L. dasystyla. But, for the most part, we use whole plant of Lonicera japonica, as a flower bud of it. And, little is known of the original copy of effects of whole plant, except for the 'Bon-Cho-Gang-Mok', which is written the effects of flower of Lonicera japonica are equal to effects of leaves and branch of it. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of flower and whole plant of Lonicera japonica on the regulatory mechanism of cytokines, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX-2) for the immunological activities in Raw 264.7 cells. In Raw 264.7 cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mimic inflammation, flower and whole plant of Lonicera japonica water extracts inhibited nitric oxide production in a dose-dependent manner and abrogated iNOS and COX-2. Flower and whole plant of Lonicera japonica water extract did not affect on cell viability. To investigate the mechanism by which flower and whole plant of Lonicera japonica water extract inhibits iNOS and COX-2 gene expression, we examined the on phosphorylation of inhibitor ${\kappa}B{\alpha}$ and assessed production of $TNF-{\alpha}$, $interleukin-1{\beta}$ $(IL-1{\beta})$ and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Results provided evidence that flower and whole plant of Lonicera japonica inhibited the production of $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and activated the phosphorylation of inhibitor ${\kappa}B{\alpha}$ in Raw 264.7 cells activated with LPS. These findings suggest that flower and whole plant of Lonicera japonica can produce anti-inflammatory effect, which may play a role in adjunctive therapy in Gram-negative bacterial infections, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.615-622
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to evaluate microbial contamination of melons in Korea. A total of 123 samples including melon fruits, leaves, seeds, soils, and irrigation water were collected from farms and markets to detect total aerobic bacteria, coliform, Escherichia coli, and pathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus. Samples were collected from Iksan and Nonsan farms to monitor bacterial levels on pre-market melons. The total aerobic and coliform bacteria on melon cultivation were between 0.43 and 6.65 log CFU $g^{-1}$, and 0.67 and 2.91 log CFU $g^{-1}$, respectively. Bacillus cereus, a fecal coliform, was detected in soils and melon leaves from Iksan farm at 2.95, 0.73 log CFU $g^{-1}$, respectively, and in soils from Nonsan farm at 3.16 log CFU $g^{-1}$. Market melon samples were collected to assay bacterial load on melon being sold to consumers. The contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria in agricultural markets, big-box retailers, and traditional markets were 4.82, 3.94, 3.99 log CFU $g^{-1}$, respectively. The numbers of coliform in melon on the markets ranged from 0.09 to 0.49 log CFU $g^{-1}$. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected in any samples. The count of total aerobic bacteria on melon seeds ranged from 0.33 to 3.34 log CFU $g^{-1}$. This study found that irrigation water, soil, manure and various farm work activities including post-harvest processes were latent sources of microbial contamination. These results suggest that hygienic management and monitoring of soil, water, and agricultural material should be performed to reduce microbial contamination in melon production.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.74-83
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• 2016

In order to improve the sour taste and foul odor of fermented soymilk, bacteria were isolated from kimchi and identified. Of the 89 bacterial strains isolated from kimchi, 3 isolates produced fermented soymilk with a sour taste and foul odor. The selected bacterial strains R53, R83, and R84 were identified by morphological, biochemical, and 16S rRNA analyses as Weissella koreensis. The strain R83, which produced fermented soymilk having the mildest sour taste and foul odor, was selected for further investigation and named W. koreensis KO3. The optimum culture condition for the fermentation of soymilk by W. koreensis KO3 was at $30^{\circ}C$ for 12 h. When soymilk was fermented under the optimum culture conditions, the viable cell count reached up to $8.71{\times}10^8CFU/ml$ and pH and acidity reached as low as 6.02 and as high as 0.33%, respectively. Twenty-seven amino acids and their derivatives were detected in fermented soymilk. The amounts of serine, glycine, threonine, alanine, and aspartic acid, which contribute to a sweeter taste, increased during fermentation. Orinithine, which was not detected before fermentation, increased during fermentation. Sensory evaluation showed that W. koreensis KO3-fermented soymilk has improved bean, roasted nut, and sour flavors as well as an enhanced mouthfeel, appearance, preferability, and overall acceptability compared with those of standard fermented soymilk. With further study and development, soymilk fermented by W. koreensis KO3 could serve as a health-promoting food with favorable sensory qualities.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.358-367
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• 1983

Antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Klebsiella pneumoniae died readily after their addition to raw sewage, but they grew in sterilized sewage. The decline was not a result of antibiotic stresses, and because the bacteria were able to survive in large numbers for at least 15 days in solutions containing no organic nutrients, it was not a result of competition. Toxin production, bacteriophages, and Bdellovibrio did not cause the disappearance of the two bacterial species. A decline was also evident if the sewage was first passed through a $3-{\mu}m$ filter or treated with cycloheximide or cycloheximide plus nystatin, but protozoa developed under these conditions. Little or no decline occurred if the sewage was filtered and treated with the eucaryotic inhibitors before adding S. typhimurium or K. pneumoniae, and protozoa were not detected. S. typhimurium increased in abundance if cycloheximide, streptomycin, and erythromycin or large amounts of glucose were added to sewage. Tetrahymena thermophilus did not significantly reduce the population of S. typhimurium in buffer when the density of the bacterium was about $10^4/ml$. However, when more than $10^8$ Enterobacter agglomerans cells per ml were added to the buffer, T. thermophilus reduced the abundance of E. agglomerans and S. typhimurium to $10^6$ and 10/ml, respectively. The density of S. typhimurium was further decreased by a second increment of E. agglomerans cells. The disappearance of S. typhimurium and K. pneumoniae from sewage thus is the result of predation by protozoa. It is proposed that predators will eliminate a prey species from a natural environment when an alternate prey is present at concentrations above the threshold number for active feeing by the predator and when the rate of growth of the prey is less than the rate of predation.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.435-440
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• 2008

Bovine mastitis is an important disease causing serious economic loss in dairy production and food poison in public health. The major causative agents of bovine mastitis include Escherichia coli (E. coli), Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). These bacteria were found in milk and environmental condition such as feces, water, soil and so on. Recently, many cases of mastitis are derived from environmental contamination of micro-organisms, which important factors for the spread of this disease in farm. Ultraviolet irradiation (UV) has been used as disinfection for waste and water in clinical and industrial facilities. Moreover the UV irradiation has been used as useful bactericidal agents to remove bacterial biofilms in environmental condition. In this study, we determined the bacterial replication in different percentage of water content (PWC) in sterilized saw dust and feces complexes from farm, and results showed that slightly decreased growth pattern of E. coli and S. agalactiae but increased growth pattern of S. aureus in various PWC (200, 400 and 600%) until 144 h incubation. In the bacteriocidal effect of UV irradiation to bacteria in saw dust and feces complex, the results showed that bacteriocidal effect was depended on the UV irradiation time, irradiation distance and PWC. Especially the antibacterial activity of UV irratiation is stronger in low PWC (50%), long time irradiation (50 sec), and short distance (5 cm) than other condition of this study. Furthermore UV irradiation with stirring showed increased the bactericidal effect compared without stirring. These results suggested that bovine mastitis causing agents may survive long time in environmental condition especially saw dust and feces complexes in farm and can cause a various disease including mastitis. Moreover, these data can be used as basis for application and development of UV disinfection to control of bovine mastitis from environmental contaminated bacteria in dairy farm.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.237-242
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• 2015

The use of calcite-forming bacteria (CFB) in crack remediation and durability improvements in construction materials creates a permanent and environmentally-friendly material. Therefore, research into this type of application is stimulating interdisciplinary studies between microbiology and architectural engineering. However, the mechanisms giving rise to these materials are dependent on calcite precipitation by the metabolism of the CFB, which raises concerns about possible hazards to cement-based construction due to microbial metabolic acid production. The aim of this study was to determine target microorganisms that possibly can have bio-corrosive effects on cement mortar and to assess multi-functional CFBs for their safe application to cement structures. The chalky test was first used to evaluate the $CaCO_3$ solubilization feature of construction sites by fungi, yeast, bacterial strains. Not all bacterial strains are able to solubilize $CaCO_3$, but C. sphaerospermum KNUC253 or P. prolifica KNUC263 showed $CaCO_3$ solubilization activity. Therefore, these two strains were identified as target microorganisms that require control in cement structures. The registered patented strains Bacillus aryabhatti KNUC205, Arthrobacter nicotianae KNUC2100, B. thuringiensis KNUC2103 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KNUC2106, reported as multifunctional CFB (fungal growth inhibition, crack remediation, and water permeability reduction of cement surfaces) and isolated from Dokdo or construction site were unable to solubilize $CaCO_3$. Notably, B. aryabhatti KNUC205 and A. nicotianae KNUC2100 could not hydrolyze cellulose or protein, which can be the major constituent macromolecules of internal materials for buildings. These results show that several reported multi-functional CFB can be applied to cement structures or diverse building environments without corrosive or bio-deteriorative risks.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.605-616
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• 2004

Subinhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) refer to concentrations below minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). The antimicrobial agents may be present at relatively high concentration, at least higher than bacterial MIC and thereafter be deserted off a surface and function at sub-MICs, perhaps by interfering with bacterial metabolism. Consequently, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of growth, in the presence of sub-MICs of antimicrobial agents, on the cell surface properties and virulence factors of mutans streptococci and to investigate the efficacy of a chemical approach in vitro. Streptococcus mutans Ingbritt and Streptococcus sobrinus 6715-7 were used. Eight antimicrobial agents (Sanguinaria extract;SG, Chlorhexidine digluconate;CHX, Fluoride;F, Propolis;PP, Hydrogen peroxide;HP, Triclosan;TC, Sodium dodecyl sulfate;SDS Cetylpyridinium chloride; CC) were diluted serially in broth to determine MICs and to compare the growth rate, acid production, hydrophobicity, adhesion activity to saliva coated hydroxyapatite, glucan synthesis and cellular aggregation of experiment groups (in the presence of sub-MICs) with those of control (in the absence of antimicrobial agents). Sub-MICs of antimicrobial agents affected the growth of cells, hydrophobicity, and adhesion of bacteria to saliva coated hydroxyapatite and glucan synthesis. They also resulted in a significant reduction in pH after 12 hours (p<0.05). By cells pretreated with proteinase K, either the aggregation induced by antimicrobial agents was completely inhibited or the aggregation titers were markedly increased. According to the results of the present study, each antimicrobial agent at sub-MICs could affect similar as its known action mechanism and could continually inhibit cariogenic bacteria at such concentrations. Thus, the use of these antimicrobial agents would be one of the effective methods to prevent dental caries.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

The health benefits associated with consumption of fresh produce have been clearly demonstrated and encouraged by international nutrition and health authorities. However, since fresh produce is usually minimally processed, increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables has also led to a simultaneous escalation of foodborne illness cases. According to the report by the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 10 people suffer from foodborne diseases and 420,000 die every year globally. In comparison to other processed foods, fresh produce can be easily contaminated by various routes at different points in the supply chain from farm to fork. This review is focused on the identification and characterization of possible sources of foodborne illnesses from chemical, biological, and physical hazards and the applicable methodologies to detect potential contaminants. Agro-chemicals (pesticides, fungicides and herbicides), natural toxins (mycotoxins and plant toxins), and heavy metals (mercury and cadmium) are the main sources of chemical hazards, which can be detected by several methods including chromatography and nano-techniques based on nanostructured materials such as noble metal nanoparticles (NMPs), quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic nanoparticles or nanotube. However, the diversity of chemical structures complicates the establishment of one standard method to differentiate the variety of chemical compounds. In addition, fresh fruits and vegetables contain high nutrient contents and moisture, which promote the growth of unwanted microorganisms including bacterial pathogens (Salmonella, E. coli O157: H7, Shigella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus) and non-bacterial pathogens (norovirus and parasites). In order to detect specific pathogens in fresh produce, methods based on molecular biology such as PCR and immunology are commonly used. Finally, physical hazards including contamination by glass, metal, and gravel in food can cause serious injuries to customers. In order to decrease physical hazards, vision systems such as X-ray inspection have been adopted to detect physical contaminants in food, while exceptional handling skills by food production employees are required to prevent additional contamination.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.263-275
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• 2023

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) is a species which returns to Korea for spawning and was produced as seed production at the Fisheries Resources Agency located in Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do to preserve the species. However, farmed chum salmon showed symptoms of bacterial infection. Therefore, in this study, bacteria were isolated to identify the causative agent from chum salmon in October 2021. The isolated bacteria were identified based on the sequences of 16S rDNA, rpoD (RNA polymerase sigma factor σ⁷⁰), and vapA (A-layer) genes. Also, salinity-growth curve, biochemical characterization, antibiotic susceptibility test, and pathogenicity analysis were performed in four strains. As a result, four isolated strains were identified as Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida. Additionally, the bacterial strains showed a decrease in growth as the salt concentration increased in the medium. All of the isolated strains exhibited γ-hemolysis, and the same biochemical properties. In the antimicrobial susceptibility test, all strains showed an inhibition zone of 40 to 44 mm for oxolinic acid, flumequine, and florfenicol. Pathogenic factors were assessed by RT-PCR at the mRNA level, and found that the four strains expresses the outer membrane ring of T3SS (ascV), inner membrane ring of T3SS (ascC), vapA, enterotoxin (act), and lipase (lip) genes which are well known to significantly contribute to the pathogenicity of A. salmonicida. The results of this study can be used as basic data to prevent A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida occurring in sea-chum salmon in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.465-475
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• 2024

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum K9 is a probiotic strain that can be utilized from various bioactive substances isolated from Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae. In this study, a genetic analysis of L. plantarum K9 revealed the existence of a bacterial chromosome and three plasmids. The glycolysis pathway and pentose phosphate pathway were examined for their normal functioning via an analysis of the core metabolic pathways of L. plantarum K9. Since the key enzymes, fluctose-1,6-bisphospatase (EC: 3.1.3.11) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydratase (EC: 4.2.1.12)/2-keto-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate (KDPG) aldolase (EC: 4.2.1.55), of gluconeogenesis and the ED pathway were not identified from the L. plantarum K9 genome, we suggest that gluconeogenesis and the ED pathway are not performed in L. plantarum K9. Additionally, while some enzymes, related to fumarate and malate biosyntheses, involved in the TCA cycle were identified from L. plantarum K9, the enzymes associated with the remaining TCA cycle were absent, indicating that the TCA cycle cannot proceed. Meanwhile, based on our findings, we propose that the oxidative electron transport system performs class IIB-type (bd-type) electron transfer. In summary, we assert that L. plantarum K9 performs homolactic fermentation, executes gluconeogenesis and the pentose phosphate pathway, and carries out energy metabolism through the class IIB-type oxidative electron transport system. Therefore, we suggest that L. plantarum K9 has relatively high lactic acid production, and that it has excellent antibacterial activity, as a result, compared to other lactic acid bacterial strains. Moreover, we speculate that L. plantarum K9 has an oxidative electron transport capability, indicating that it is highly resistant to oxygen and suggesting that it has fine cultivation characteristics, which collectively make it highly suitable for use as a probiotic.