• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.146-153
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• 2007

A mathematical competition model between normal flora and an invading pathogen was devised to allow analysis of bacterial infections in a host. The normal flora includes the various microorganisms that live on or within the host and act as a primary human immune system. Despite the important role of the normal flora, no mathematical study has been undertaken on models of the interaction between it and invading pathogens against a background of antibiotic treatment. To quantify key elements of bacterial behavior in a host, pairs of nonlinear differential equations were used to describe three categories of human health conditions, namely, healthy, latent infection, and active infection. In addition, a cutoff value was proposed to represent the minimum population level required for survival. The recovery of normal flora after antibiotic treatment was also included in the simulation because of its relation to human health recovery. The significance of each simulation parameter for the bacterial growth model was investigated. The devised simulation showed that bacterial proliferation rate, carrying capacity, initial population levels, and competition intensity have a significant effect on bacterial behavior. Consequently, a model was established to describe competition between normal flora and an infiltrating pathogen. Unlike other population models, the recovery process described by the devised model can describe the human health recovery mechanism.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.377-382
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• 2013

Enriching anammox bacteria (AMX) in a lab-scale granular sequencing batch reactor using local digester centrate, we observed the significant enrichment of the filamentous-like bacterial population. These bacteria were revealed as novel bacterial species (termed CHL) belonging to Chlorobi/Bacteroidetes phyla via Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE). Further, niche differentiation of AMX and CHL quantification was observed in granule and filament biomass, suggesting AMX was dominant in the granule and CHL was dominant in the filament. Therefore, it was confirmed the structural role of CHL was indeed to aid the granule formation of the AMX. In parallel, the physiological role of CHL was suspected to degrade biopolymers in the digester centrate using nitrate as an electron acceptor.

• Plant Disease and Agriculture
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 1999

Frost injury of crops is closely related to the epiphytic population dynamics of ice nucleation-active (INA) bacteria, and the injury can be reduced by decreasing the INA bacterial population. In order to predict the epiphytic population of INA bacteria on crops, a rapid and accurate detection method has to be developed. In the previous report, we produced some antibodies against INA proteins purified from the outer membrane of INA bacteria. However it was difficult to produce the antibodies because the purification procedures of the INA proteins were complicated, and the final yield was too low. We designed a specific peptide from the N-terminal region of INA protein by computer analysis and synthesized the peptide in vitro in this experiment. The peptide sequence was Asp-Ser-Por-Leu-Ser-Leu-His-Ala-Asp, that is corresponding to the highly conserved region in several INA proteins, with predicted beta turn, coiling, and hydrophilic region. A polyclonal anti-INA peptide antiserum produced specifically recognized INA bacteria as few as 10 colony-forming units (CFU) in the ELISA reactions and did not respond to other non-INA bacteria. Serological specificity of the anti-INA peptide antiserum will facilitate the forecasting of the INA bacterial population dynamics on crops.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.393-402
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• 2018

Rice world production is affected due to the growing impact of diseases such as bacterial panicle blight, produced by Burkholderia glumae. The pathogen-induced symptoms include seedling rot, grain rot and leafsheath browning in rice plants. It is currently recognized the entrance of this pathogen to the plant, from infected seeds and from environmental sources of the microorganism. However, it is still not fully elucidated the dynamics and permanence of the pathogen in the plant, from its entry until the development of disease symptoms in seedlings or panicles. In this work it was evaluated the infection of B. glumae rice plants, starting from inoculated seeds and substrates, and its subsequent monitoring after infection. Various organs of the plant during the vegetative stage and until the beginning of the reproductive stage, were evaluated. In both inoculation models, the bacteria was maintained in the plant as an endophyte between $1{\times}10^1$ and $1{\times}10^5cfu$ of B. $glumae.g^{-1}$ of plant throughout the vegetative stage. An increase of bacterial population towards initiation of the panicle was observed, and in the maturity of the grain, an endophyte population was identified in the flag leaf at $1{\times}10^6cfu$ of B. $glumae.g^{-1}$ fresh weight of rice plant, conducting towards the symptoms of bacterial panicle blight. The results found, suggest that B. glumae in rice plants developed from infected seeds or from the substrate, can colonize seedlings, establishing and maintaining a bacterial population over time, using rice plants as habitat to survive endophyticly until formation of bacterial panicle blight symptoms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.121.1-121
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• 2003

Dispersal of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, causing citrus bacterial canker disease on Unshiu orange was investigated at previously infested plots at Seogwipo in Jeju island of Korea. The bacterial pathogen overwintered in lesions started to multiply at tate May, and disease firstly observed one month after detection of phage from lesions. The disease gradually increased, however, it dispersed non-directionally to nearby plants from inoculum sources. Diseased plants were aggregated to form a cluster throughout the experiment. Population dynamics of phage on symtomless leaf surface and the disease severity were compared in the nursery, Increase of phage population on symptomless leaf surface preceded one month to that of the disease severity Population of phage increased constantly from late July to October, however, the disease severity decreased from late August to late October. It was assumed that the decrease of disease severity might be due to disease-induced defoliation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1704-1707
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• 2007

Monitoring of the phage-host system of Microlunatus phosphovorus indigenous in activated sludge was attempted. A laboratory-scale activated sludge process was operated for 5 weeks with synthetic wastewater. The phage-host system population in the process was monitored by plaque assay and FISH methods at every 3 days. During the process operation, the phage-host system populations were more or less steady, except for 1 week in the middle of the operation. In that period, initially M. phosphovorus decreased significantly and its lytic bacteriophages increased, and then M. phosphovorus increased back to its original level while its lytic bacteriophages decreased. This observation suggests that lytic bacteriophages should be considered as one of the biological factors affecting the bacterial population dynamics in activated sludge processes.

• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.392-398
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• 2020

This study was conducted to understand the dynamics of microbial communities of soil microorganisms, and their distribution and abundance in the indigenous microorganisms (IMOs) manipulated from humus collected from the forest near the crop field. The soil microorganisms originated from humus and artificially cultured microbial-based soil amendments were characterized by molecular and biochemical analyses. The bacterial population (2 × 10⁶~13 × 10⁶ CFU/g sample) was approximately 100-fold abundant than the fungal population (2 × 10⁴~8 × 10⁴ CFU/g sample). The 16S rDNA and ITS sequence analyses showed that the bacterial and fungal communities in humus and IMOs were mainly composed of Bacillus and Pseudomonas, and Trichoderma and Aspergillus species, respectively. Some of the bacterial isolates from the humus and IMOs showed strong inhibitory activity against soil-borne pathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. These bacteria also showed the siderophore production activity as well as phosphate solubilizing activity, which are requisite traits for biological control of plant pathogenic fungi. These results suggest that humus and IMOs could be a useful resource for sustainable agriculture.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.387-400
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• 2023

Ruminal protozoa, especially entodiniomorphs, engulf other members of the rumen microbiome in large numbers; and they release oligopeptides and amino acids, which can be fermented to ammonia and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) by amino acid-fermenting bacteria (AAFB). Studies using defaunated (protozoa-free) sheep have demonstrated that ruminal protozoa considerably increase intraruminal nitrogen recycling but decrease nitrogen utilization efficiency in ruminants. However, direct interactions between ruminal protozoa and AAFB have not been demonstrated because of their inability to establish axenic cultures of any ruminal protozoan. Thus, this study was performed to evaluate the interaction between Entodinium caudatum, which is the most predominant rumen ciliate species, and an AAFB consortium in terms of feed degradation and ammonia production along with the microbial population shift of select bacterial species (Prevotella ruminicola, Clostridium aminophilum, and Peptostreptococcus anaerobius). From an Ent. caudatum culture that had been maintained by daily feeding and transfers every 3 or 4 days, the bacteria and methanogens loosely associated with Ent. caudatum cells were removed by filtration and washing. An AAFB consortium was established by repeated transfers and enrichment with casamino acids as the sole substrate. The cultures of Ent. caudatum alone (Ec) and AAFB alone (AAFB) and the co-culture of Ent. caudatum and AAFB (Ec + AAFB) were set up in three replicates and incubated at 39℃ for 72 h. The digestibility of dry matter (DM) and fiber (NDF), VFA profiles, ammonia concentrations, pH, and microscopic counts of Ent. caudatum were compared among the three cultures. The co-culture of AAFB and Ent. caudatum enhanced DM degradation, VFA production, and Ent. caudatum cell counts; conversely, it decreased acetate: propionate ratio although the total bacterial abundance was similar between Ec and the Ec + AAFB co-culture after 24 h incubation. The ammonia production and relative abundance of C. aminophilum and P. anaerobius did not differ between AAFB alone and the Ec + AAFB co-culture. Our results indicate that Ent. caudatum and AAFB could have a mutualistic interaction that benefited each other, but their interactions were complex and might not increase ammoniagenesis. Further research should examine how such interactions affect the population dynamics of AAFB.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.56-63
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• 2009

Cell migration is one of the essential mechanisms responsible for complex biological processes. Intensive researches have begun to elucidate the mechanisms and search intriguing conditions for efficient control of cell migration. One general mechanism that is widely applicable for cells including Escherichia coli, amoebae and endothelial cell is chemotaxis. The single cell study for bacterial chemotaxis has an advantage over studies with the population of cells in providing a clearer observation of cell migration, which leads to more accurate assessments of chemotaxis. In this paper, we propose a three-dimensional model considering a single bacterium to study its chemotaxis. The semi-implicit Fourier spectral method is applied for high efficiency and numerical stability. The simulation results reveal rich dynamics of cell migration and provide quantitative assessments of bacterial chemotaxis with various chemoattractant gradient fields.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.2089-2093
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• 2017

The past decades have been a golden era during which great tasks were accomplished in the field of microbiology, including food microbiology. In the past, culture-dependent methods have been the primary choice to investigate bacterial diversity. However, using culturein-dependent high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes has greatly facilitated studies exploring the microbial compositions and dynamics associated with health and diseases. These culture-independent DNA-based studies generate large-scale data sets that describe the microbial composition of a certain niche. Consequently, understanding microbial diversity becomes of greater importance when investigating the composition, function, and dynamics of the microbiota associated with health and diseases. Even though there is no general agreement on which diversity index is the best to use, diversity indices have been used to compare the diversity among samples and between treatments with controls. Tools such as the Shannon-Weaver index and Simpson index can be used to describe population diversity in samples. The purpose of this review is to explain the principles of diversity indices, such as Shannon-Weaver and Simpson, to aid general microbiologists in better understanding bacterial communities. In this review, important questions concerning microbial diversity are addressed. Information from this review should facilitate evidence-based strategies to explore microbial communities.