• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.206-215
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• 2020

Trichoderma reesei is the major filamentous fungus used to produce cellulase and there is huge interest in promoting its ability to produce higher titers of cellulase. Among the many factors affecting cellulase production in T. reesei, the mycelial phenotype is important but seldom studied. Herein, a close homolog of the Neurospora crassa COT1 kinase was discovered in T. reesei and designated TrCOT1, which is of 83.3% amino acid sequence identity. Functional disruption of Trcot1 in T. reesei by RNAi-mediated gene silencing resulted in retarded sporulation on potato dextrose agar and dwarfed colonies on minimal medium agar plates containing glucose, xylan, lactose, xylose, or glycerol as the sole carbon source. The representative mutant strain, SUS2/Trcot1i, also displayed reduced mycelia accumulation but hyperbranching in the MM glucose liquid medium, with hyphal growth unit length values decreased to 73.0 ㎛/tip compared to 239.8 ㎛/tip for the parent strain SUS2. The hyperbranching phenotype led to slightly but significantly increased cellulase secretion from 24 to 72 h in a batch culture. However, the cellulase production per unit of mycelial biomass was much more profoundly improved from 24 to 96 h.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.922-929
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• 2007

The complete oxidation of ammonia to nitrate is a distinctive two-step process divided into the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite(nitritation) by Nitrosomonas and the oxidation of nitrite to nitrate(nitratation) by Nitrobacter. The nitrogen removal via nitrite accumulation offers several advantages such as saving costs for aeration, saving carbon source and finally reduction of sludge discharge. In this work a suspended bioreactor coupled with membrane filtration(MBR) was used to find the process conditions of nitrite build-up. The MBR enables to reach sufficient nitrifying bacteria in the bioreactor, although the autotrophic bacteria can be easily washed out due to their lower growth rate. The dissolved oxygen concentration $c'_{O2}$ and ammonia concentration $c_{NH3}$ in the reactor were varied and investigated as parameters for nitrite accumulation. As a result the higher ammonia concentration in the reactor is very effective for starting nitrite build-up and the effect was strengthened in combination with lower dissolved oxygen concentration. With lower $c'_{O2}<0.3$ $mgL^{-1}$ $O_2$ and high $c_{NH3}=6.3\sim14.9$ $mgL^{-1}$ $NH_3N$ the 74% of the nitrite accumulation was achieved. Specially, it was found that the nitrite accumulation could occur not only in biofilm reactor as many references showed but also in the membrane bioreactor carried out in this study.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.488-494
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• 1993

A photosynthetic bacterium strain P17 having high growth rate and assimilating ability of organic acids was isolated from several soil samples, which was identified as Rhodospirillum rubrum. Cultural conditions of the strain P17 were examined for the production of starter culture used in the treatment of organic waste water. The addition of organic acids mixture as carbon source containing 0.2% Na-acetate, 0.1% Na-propionate and 0.2% Na-lactate and 0.1% of yeast extract as growth factor stimulated the cell growth. The maximal cell production was obtained at $30^{\circ}C$, pH 7.0, 2,500 lux of illumination and $50{\sim}100\;rpm$ of agitation. Under the optimal conditions of batch and fed-batch culture systems in a Jar fermentor, 5.17 g/l and 7.93 g/l of cells were obtained after S days of cultivation, respectively. In continuous culture system, the cell productivity was 0.206 g/l/h at a dilution rate of 0.21 $h^{-1}$. When R. rubrum P17 was cultivated in a soybean curd waste water, initial COD level(3,240 mg/l) of the waste water was reduced to 250 mg/l after 4 days of cultivation.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.495-500
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• 1992

For the production of 6-hydroxynicotinic acid from nicotinic acid, bacteria capable of assimilating nicotinic acid as a sole carbon, nitrogen and energy source were isolated from soils. Among them, SH-007, newly isolated strain having the best acitivity of nicotinic acid hydroxylase was selected and identified as Pseudomonas sp. The specific acitivity of nicotinic acid hydroxylase of Pseudomonas sp. was highest when the strain was cultured at $30^{\circ}C$ for 24 hrs in the medium (pH 7.5) containing 2 g nicotinic acid, 1 g $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, and 0.5 g peptone per liter. The addition of 1.5 g/l of nicotinic acid into the 24 hrs incubated culture medium resulted in the 12% higher specific acitivity of nicotinic acid hydroxylase than that of the non-added control after further 18 hrs incubation. In the 6-hydroxynicotinic acid production through the reaction with resting cells, 2.22 g/l of 6-hydroxynicotinic acid was produced from 2 g/l of nicotinic acid after incubation of 3 hrs under optimum conditions, which correpsonds to 98.2% of theoretical 6-hydroxynicotinic acid yield.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.77-85
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• 1992

Of the cadmium-tolerant 162 bacterial strains isolated from soils, river waters or active sludges of waste-water disposal plants in the Gyeongnam province a strain C1, which showed considerably higher growth rate in the agar plate containing 2000 ppm than any other strains isolated, was identified as a Pseudomonas putida or its similar strain when analyzed by taxonomical characteristics. Optimum pH and temperature for the growth of the P, putida were 7.0 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. This strain was resistant to antibiotics(ampicillin, chloramphenicol and streptomycin), and heavy metals(lithium, cupper, lead and zinc). This strain utilized salicylate, naphthalene or xylene as a sole carbon source. The rate of cadmium accumulation in P. putida cell was enhanced at low concentration of Cd in the growth media. The maximum cadmium absorption by this strain grown in 1 and l0ppm of Cd was respectively 78% and 60% 24 hrs after culture, but in 100 ppm Cd, 40% 48 hrs after culture. Addition of a non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100(0.1%) to the medium enhanced the accumulation of cadmium in the P. putida up to approximately 37%.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 2011

$Li_2MnSiO_4$/C was synthesized by solid state reaction and solution synthesis with sucrose for carbon source. The X-ray diffraction patterns of solid state reaction indicates small amount of impurities. By FE-SEM and HR-TEM, solution synthesis comprised several tens of nanometer comparing to 500~600 nm of $Li_2MnSiO_4$/C prepared by solid state reaction. The $Li_2MnSiO_4$/C prepared by solution synthesis show better electrochemical performance than solid state reaction. The first charge-discharge capacity are 236, 189 mAh/g respectively by solution synthesis. But its cycle performance was poor as yet and its capacity retention was 62% after 10 cycles.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.28-34
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• 2017

Biocatalytic modification of natural resources can be used to generate novel compounds with specific properties, such as higher viscosity and reactivity. The production of hydroxy fatty acids (HFAs), originally found in low quantities in plants, is a good example of the biocatalytic modification of natural vegetable oils. HFAs show high potential for application in a wide range of industrial products, including resins, waxes, nylons, plastics, lubricants, cosmetics, and additives in coatings and paintings. In a recent study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PR3 was used to produce 7,10-dihydroxy-8(E)-octadecenoic acid (DOD) from oleic acid. This present study focused primarily on the utilization of three natural nut oils obtained from the Philippines -pili nut oil (PNO), palm oil (PO), and virgin coconut oil (VCO)- to produce DOD by P. aeruginosa strain PR3. Strain PR3 produced DOD from PNO and PO only, with PNO being the more efficient substrate. An optimization study to achieve the maximum DOD yield from PNO revealed the optimal incubation time and medium pH to be 48 h and 8.0, respectively. Among the carbon sources tested, fructose was the most efficiently used, with a maximum DOD production of 130 mg/50 mL culture. Urea was the optimal nitrogen source, with a maximum product yield of 165 mg/50 mL culture. The results from this study demonstrated that PNO could be used as an efficient substrate for DOD production by microbial bioconversion.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.655-660
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• 2018

Internal combustion generation (ICG) is used to supply power to islands due to geographical characteristics, but there are some problems, such as considerable operating cost, salt pollution, and environmental pollution. For these islands, KEPCO pays a significant amount of operating deficit each year, especially for the fuel and servicing costs, which account for a large portion of this deficit. Integrated ICG (IICG) through an offshore cable between near islands is being considered to decrease servicing costs. Distributed generation (DG) is also being introduced on the islands because of the demand for a low-carbon society. In hybrid internal combustion generation (HICG), DG is introduced into IICG, which can be applied because the DG output is insufficient due to environmental characteristics, and the IICG is used as an auxiliary power source. Therefore, this paper proposes an algorithm to estimate the optimal DG capacity that can be introduced in accordance with the KEPCO operating deficit in the HICG. According to simulations, the optimal DG capacity depends on the fuel cost and load capacity. The validity of the proposed algorithm was confirmed for multiple islands with different peak loads.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.1255-1261
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• 2006

An alkaliphilic bacterium, Bacillus sp. strain BK, was found to produce extracellular cellulase-free xylanolytic enzymes with xylan-binding activity. Since the pellet-bound xylanase is eluted with 2% TEA from the pellet of the culture, they contain a xylan-binding region that is stronger than the xylan-binding xylanase of the extracellular enzyme. The xylanases had a different molecular weight and xylan-binding ability. The enzyme activity of xylanase in the extracellular fraction was 6 times higher than in the pellet-bound enzyme. Among the enzymes, xylanase had the highest enzyme activity. When Bacillus sp. strain BK was grown in pH 10.5 alkaline medium containing xylan as the sole carbon source, the bacterium produced xylanase, arabinofuranosidase, acetyl esterase, and $\beta$-xylosidase with specific activities of 1.23, 0.11, 0.06, and 0.04 unit per mg of protein, respectively. However, there was no cellulase activity detected in the crude enzyme preparation. The hydrolysis of agricultural residues and kraft pulps by the xylanolytic enzymes was examined at 50$^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. The rate of xylan hydrolysis in com hull was higher than those of sugarcane bagasse, rice straw, com cop, rice husk, and rice bran. In contrast, the rate of xylan hydrolysis in sugarcane pulp was 2.01 and 3.52 times higher than those of eucalyptus and pine pulp, respectively. In conclusion, this enzyme can be used to hydrolyze xylan in agricultural residues and kraft pulps to breach and regenerate paper from recycled environmental resources.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.880-884
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• 2001

Rumen microbiology research has undergone several evolutionary steps: the isolation and nutritional characterization of readily cultivated microbes; followed by the cloning and sequence analysis of individual genes relevant to key digestive processes; through to the use of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) sequences for a cultivation-independent examination of microbial diversity. Our knowledge of rumen microbiology has expanded as a result, but the translation of this information into productive alterations of ruminal function has been rather limited. For instance, the cloning and characterization of cellulase genes in Escherichia coli has yielded some valuable information about this complex enzyme system in ruminal bacteria. SSU rRNA analyses have also confirmed that a considerable amount of the microbial diversity in the rumen is not represented in existing culture collections. However, we still have little idea of whether the key, and potentially rate-limiting, gene products and (or) microbial interactions have been identified. Technologies allowing high throughput nucleotide and protein sequence analysis have led to the emergence of two new fields of investigation, genomics and proteomics. Both disciplines can be further subdivided into functional and comparative lines of investigation. The massive accumulation of microbial DNA and protein sequence data, including complete genome sequences, is revolutionizing the way we examine microbial physiology and diversity. We describe here some examples of our use of genomics- and proteomics-based methods, to analyze the cellulase system of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 and explore the genome of Ruminococcus albus 8. At Illinois, we are using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vectors to create libraries containing large (>75 kbases), contiguous segments of DNA from R. flavefaciens FD-1. Considering that every bacterium is not a candidate for whole genome sequencing, BAC libraries offer an attractive, alternative method to perform physical and functional analyses of a bacterium's genome. Our first plan is to use these BAC clones to determine whether or not cellulases and accessory genes in R. flavefaciens exist in clusters of orthologous genes (COGs). Proteomics is also being used to complement the BAC library/DNA sequencing approach. Proteins differentially expressed in response to carbon source are being identified by 2-D SDS-PAGE, followed by in-gel-digests and peptide mass mapping by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry, as well as peptide sequencing by Edman degradation. At Ohio State, we have used a combination of functional proteomics, mutational analysis and differential display RT-PCR to obtain evidence suggesting that in addition to a cellulosome-like mechanism, R. albus 8 possesses other mechanisms for adhesion to plant surfaces. Genome walking on either side of these differentially expressed transcripts has also resulted in two interesting observations: i) a relatively large number of genes with no matches in the current databases and; ii) the identification of genes with a high level of sequence identity to those identified, until now, in the archaebacteria. Genomics and proteomics will also accelerate our understanding of microbial interactions, and allow a greater degree of in situ analyses in the future. The challenge is to utilize genomics and proteomics to improve our fundamental understanding of microbial physiology, diversity and ecology, and overcome constraints to ruminal function.