• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.87-95
• /
• 2022

Methicillin resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a gram-positive bacterium, the most commonly isolated bacterial human pathogen. JiYu-san is one of the natural products used to treat diseases in the folk recipe. In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of EtOH 70% extracts of JiYu-san (JYS) against MRSA. The antibacterial activity of JYS against MRSA strain was evaluated using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), checkerboard dilution test, and time-kill assay. The effect of JYS on the immune mechanism of MRSA was confirmed through cell membrane permeability tests and energy metabolism tests, and the antibacterial activity mechanism was performed using qRT-PCR and western blot. As a result, in the antibacterial test of JYS, the MIC was measured to be 1.9~1000 ㎍/mL, and synergistic or showed a partial synergistic effect. In addition, JYS showed antibacterial activity in a combination test with DCCD or TX-100. In a study on the mechanism of action of antibacterial activity, it was found that JYS suppressed MRSA resistance genes and proteins. These results suggest that JYS has antibacterial activity and provides great potential as a natural antibiotic by modulating the immune mechanism against MRSA.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.1061-1073
• /
• 2022

Receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL) is known to play a major role in bone metabolism and the immune system, and its recombinant form has been expressed in bacterial systems for research since the last two decades. However, most of these recombinant forms are used after purification or directly using living cells. Here, there were cell extracts of recombinant Lactococcus lactis expressing mouse RANKL (mRANKL) used to evaluate its biological activity in mice. Mice were divided into three groups that were fed phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), wild-type L. lactis IL1403 (WT_CE), and recombinant L. lactis expressing mRANKL (mRANKL_CE). The small intestinal transcriptome and fecal microbiome were then profiled. The biological activity of mRANKL_CE was confirmed by studying RANK-RANKL signaling in vitro and in vivo. For small intestinal transcriptome, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the mRANKL_CE group, and no DEGs were found in the WT_CE group. In the PBS vs. mRANKL_CE gene enrichment analysis, upregulated genes were enriched for heat shock protein binding, regulation of bone resorption, and calcium ion binding. In the gut microbiome analysis, there were no critical changes among the three groups. However, Lactobacillus and Sphingomonas were more abundant in the mRANKL_CE group than in the other two groups. Our results indicate that cell extracts of mRANKL_CE can play an effective role without a significant impact on the intestine. This strategy may be useful for the development of protein drugs.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.37-43
• /
• 2024

Purpose: The inflammatory response due to inflammatory cytokines, bacterial pathogens, and the altered lipoprotein metabolism in patients with periodontitis indicates that infection with periodontal anaerobic bacteria may influence atherogenesis in vitro and in vivo. We aimed to explore the effect of periodontitis concerning clinical and ultrasound markers of early atherosclerosis. Methods: In this case-control study, a total of 30 systemically healthy adults (15 with periodontitis and 15 without periodontitis) over 40 years of age were studied. Periodontitis was determined by measuring the clinical attachment level (CAL) and radiographic bone loss (RBL). Conventional cardiovascular risk factors, including body mass index, serum levels of total cholesterol (TCH), triglycerides (TG), and high-density and low-density lipoprotein (HDL and LDL, respectively) cholesterol were evaluated. Carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured using ultrasonography. Results: The mean values of the CAL and carotid IMT were 5.02±0.9 mm and 0.084±0.01 cm vs. 1.6±0.61 mm and 0.072±0.02 cm in the periodontitis and healthy groups, respectively, reflecting statistically significant differences (P=0.001 and P=0.037, respectively). There were statistically significant differences in the serum levels of TCH, TG, and LDL between the 2 groups (P=0.017). The CAL and RBL were positively associated with carotid IMT and serum cholesterol levels, except for HDL, whereas tooth loss was not associated with any markers (P<0.05). Compared to the healthy group, participants with periodontitis exhibited 2.09 times higher odds (95% confidence interval, 1.22-3.59) of having subclinical atherosclerosis. Conclusions: The presence of periodontitis increased the risk of atherosclerosis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.12
• /
• pp.4527-4542
• /
• 2023

The present microbial reinforcement of rock and soil exhibits limitations, such as uneven reinforcement effectiveness and low calcium carbonate generation rate, resulting in limited solidification strength. This study introduces electroosmosis as a standard microbial grouting reinforcement technique and investigates its solidification effects on microbial-reinforced uranium tailings. The most effective electroosmosis effect on uranium tailings occurs under a potential gradient of 1.25 V/cm. The findings indicate that a weak electric field can effectively promote microbial growth and biological activity and accelerate bacterial metabolism. The largest calcium carbonate production occurred under the gradient of 0.5 V/cm, featuring a good crystal combination and the best cementation effect. Staged electroosmosis and electrode conversion efficiently drive the migration of anions and cations. Under electroosmosis, the cohesion of uranium tailings reinforced by microorganisms increased by 37.3% and 64.8% compared to those reinforced by common microorganisms and undisturbed uranium tailings, respectively. The internal friction angle is also improved, significantly enhancing the uniformity of reinforcement and a denser and stronger microscopic structure. This research demonstrates that MICP technology enhances the solidification effects and uniformity of uranium tailings, providing a novel approach to maintaining the safety and stability of uranium tailings dams.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.37 no.8
• /
• pp.1428-1439
• /
• 2024

Objective: Compared to Mimas pigeons, Shiqi pigeons exhibit greater tolerance to coarse feeding because of their abundant gut microbiota. Here, to investigate the potential of utilizing intestinal flora derived from Shiqi pigeons, the intestinal flora and body indices of Mimas squabs were evaluated after fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from donors. Methods: A total of 90 one-day-old squabs were randomly divided into the control group (CON), the low-concentration group (LC) and the high-concentration group (HC): gavaged with 200 μL of bacterial solution at concentrations of 0, 0.1, and 0.2 g/15 mL, respectively. Results: The results suggested that FMT improved the body weight of Mimas squabs in the HC and LC groups (p<0.01), and 0.1 g/15 mL was the optimal dose during FMT. After 16S rRNA sequencing was performed, compared to those in the CON group, the abundance levels of microflora, especially Lactobacillus, Muribaculaceae, and Megasphaera (p<0.05), in the FMT-treated groups were markedly greater. Random forest analysis indicated that the main functions of key microbes involve pathways associated with metabolism, further illustrating their important role in the host body. Conclusion: FMT has been determined to be a viable method for augmenting the weight and intestinal microbiota of squabs, representing a unique avenue for enhancing the economic feasibility of squab breeding.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.369-378
• /
• 2018

Objective: The impact of forage feeding strategy on growth performance, ruminal fermentation and nutrient digestibility in post-weaning calves was investigated. Methods: Forty-five female Holstein calves (body weight [BW] = $79.79{\pm}0.38kg$) were enrolled in the 35-d study at one week after weaning and randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments. All diets were fed as total mixed ration containing 60% (dry matter [DM] basis) of basal starter feed and 40% (DM basis) of forage, but varied in composition of forage source including i) alfalfa (40% DM, AH); ii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+oat hay (13.3% DM; OH); iii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+corn silage (13.3% DM; WS). Results: Dry matter intake was not different among treatment groups (p>0.05). However, BW (p<0.05) and average daily gain (p<0.05) of calves fed AH and OH were greater than WS-fed calves, whereas heart girth was greater in OH-fed calves than those fed AH and WS (p<0.05). Ruminal fermentation parameters including proportion of butyric acid, acetated-to-propionate ratio, concentration of total volatile fatty acid, protozoal protein, bacterial protein, and microbial protein in rumen were the highest in OH (p<0.05) and the lowest in WS. Compared with the AH and WS, feeding oat hay to postweaning calves increased crude protein digestibility (p<0.05), and decreased duration of diarrhea (p<0.05) and fecal index (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our results suggested that partially replacing alfalfa hay with oat hay improved ruminal fermentation, nitrogen utilization, and reduced incidence of diarrhea in post-weaning dairy calves.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.46-51
• /
• 2010

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an essential lipid-soluble component of membrane-bound electron transport chains. CoQ10 is involved in several aspects of cellular metabolism and is increasingly being used in therapeutic applications for several diseases. Despite the recent accomplishments in metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for CoQ10 production, the production levels are not yet competitive with those by fermentation or isolation. So we tested several microorganisms obtained from the KCTC of Biological Resource Center to find novel sources of strain-development for CoQ10-production. Then we selected two strains, Paracoccus denitrificans (KCTC 2530) and Asaia siamensis (KCTC 12914), and tested to optimize the CoQ10 production conditions. Among the carbon sources tested, CoQ10 production was the highest when fructose was supplied about 4% concentration. Yeast extract produced the highest CoQ10 production about 2% concentration. The highest CoQ10 production was obtained at pH 6.0 for P. denitrificans and pH 8.0 for A. siamensis. And two strains showed the highest CoQ10 production at $30^{\circ}C$, but the highest DCW was obtained at $37^{\circ}C$. In the fed-batch culture, P. denitrificans yielded $14.34{\pm}0.473$ mg and A. siamensis yielded $12.53{\pm}0.231$ mg of final CoQ10 production.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.3-15
• /
• 2008

Different toxic wastes are disposed of in our surroundings and these will ultimately threaten the existence of living organisms. Biohydrometallurgy, which includes the processes of bioleaching and bioremediation through the activities of microorganisms such as bacterial or fungal species, is a technology that has the potential to overcome many environmental problems at a reasonable economic cost. Bioleaching were carried out for dissolution of metals from different materials using most important metal mobilizing bacteria such as Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Laptospirillum ferrooxidans. According to the reaction, bioleaching is parted as direct and indirect mechanism. In direct mechanism the bacteria oxidize the sulphides minerals by accepting electron and producing sulphuric acid in leaching media for their growth and metabolism. In other hand the indirect bioleaching is demonstrated as the oxidation of sulphides mineral by the oxidant like $Fe^{3+}$ produced by the iron oxidizing bacteria. Through this process, substantial amount of metal can be recovered from low-grade ores, concentrates, industrial wastes like sludge, tailings, fly ash, slag, electronic scrap, spent batteries and spent catalysts. This may be alternative technology to solve the high deposition of waste, which moves toward a healthy environment and green world.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.7
• /
• pp.1057-1066
• /
• 2007

Six male Gayal (Bos frontalis), approximately two years of age and with a mean live weight of $203{\pm}17$ kg ($mean{\pm}standard\;deviation$), were housed indoors in metabolism cages and fed bamboo (Sinarundinaria) leaves and twigs. After an adjustment period of 24 days of feeding the diet, samples of rumen liquor were obtained for analyses of bacteria in the liquor. The diversity of rumen bacteria was investigated by constructing a 16S rDNA clone library. A total of 147 clones, comprising nearly full length sequences (with a mean length of 1.5 kb) were sequenced and submitted to an on-line similarity search and phylogenetic analysis. Using the criterion of 97% or greater similarity with the sequences of known bacteria, 17 clones were identified as Ruminococcus albus, Butyrivibrio fibrosolvens, Quinella ovalis, Clostridium symbiosium, Succiniclasticum ruminis, Selenomonas ruminantium and Allisonella histaminiformans, respectively. A further 22 clones shared similarity ranging from 90-97% with known bacteria but the similarity in sequences for the remaining 109 clones was less than 90% of those of known bacteria. Using a phylogenetic analysis it was found that the majority of the clones identified (57.1%) were located in the low G+C subdivision, with most of the remainder (42.2% of clones) located in the Cytophage-Flexibacter-Bacteroides (CFB) phylum and one clone (0.7%) was identified as a Spirochaete. It was apparent that Gayal have a large and diverse range of bacteria in the rumen liquor which differ from those of cattle and other ruminants. This may explain the greater live weights of Gayal, compared to cattle, grazing in the harsh natural environments in which Gayal are located naturally.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.417-427
• /
• 2000

The substrate metabolism and bacterial population in an anaerobic digestion with the submerged separation membrane were investigated by using a laboratory-scale reactor at the hydraulic retention time(HRT) 1.0 and 0.5 day. The removal efficiencies of carbohydrate at the HRT 1.0 and 0.5 day were 99.8~99.9% and 98.0~99.6%, respectively. After the 58 days, the mixed liquor volatile suspended solids(MLVSS) concentration at the HRT 1.0 and 0.5 day were approximately 6,050 and 7,750 mg/L, respectively. According to the measurement by the most probable number(MPN) method, the numbers of acidogenic bacteria, $H_2$-utilizing and acetate-utilizing methc.nogenic bacteria were found to be $10^9$, $10^7{\sim}10^8$ and $10^6{\sim}10^8MPN/mL$, respectively. The composition of $CH_4$ in the produced gas was 46~50%. It is suggested that sulfate-reducing bacteria $10^7{\sim}10^8MPN/mL$ play an important role in producing $H_2$ and acetate in sulfate-depleted environment.