• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 1997

Microorganisms capable of producing biosurfactant were isolated from oil-contaminated soils and seawater. Among them, the selected strain SW1 was identified as Pseudomonas sp. by taxonomical characteristic tests, and so tentatively named Pseudomonas sp. SWI. The optimal temperature and initial pH for biosurfactant production were TEX>30^{\circ}C.$ and 7.0, respectively. The optimal medium composilion for the production of biosurfactant by Pseudomonas sp. SW1 were hexadecane of 2.0%, yeast extract of 0.04%, $K_{2}HPO_4$ of 0.02%, $KH_2PO_4$ of 0.03% and $MgSO_4$ center dot $7H_2O$ of 0.04%, respectively. Under the above conditions, minimum wrface tension was 32 mN/m after incubation of 2 days. The biosurfactant was produced during initial stationary phase in the optimal medium. Pseudotnonas sp. SWl utilized various hydrocarbons such as Bunker oils, n-alkanes and branched alkanes as a sole carbon source.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.279-284
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• 2000

Simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and degradation of phenol was observed in batch and bench-scale continuous stirred tank reactors using Rhodococcus sp. CP01 isolated from leachate. The strain CP01, which was capable of utilizing phenol as a sole source of carbon and energy, completely reduced added hexavalent chromium (0.25 mM) to its trivalent form during 60 hr batch assay under optimal conditions (pH 7.0 and 1,000 mg/L of phenol concentration). The rates of Cr(VI) reduction and phenol degradation were estimated as 4.17 $\mu$M Cr(VI) and 38.4 mg phenol.$L^{-1}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$, respectively. The continuous culture experiment was conducted for 46 days using synthetic feed containing different levels of chromate (0.0625 to 0.25 mM) and phenol(1,000 to 4,000 mg/L). With a hydraulic retention time of 100 hr, Cr(VI) reduction efficiency was mostly 100% for influent Cr(VI) and phenol concentrations of 0.125 mM and 3,000 mg/L, respectively. During quasi-steady-state operation, specific rate of Cr(VI) reduction was calculated as 0.34 mg Cr(VI).g $protein^{-1}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$ which was comparable to reported values obtained by using glucose as growth substrate. The results suggest the potential application of biological treatment for detoxification of wastewater contaminated simultaneously with Cr(VI) and pheonol.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.15-31
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• 1991

A total of 90 surface sediment samples, collected from the continental margin area bordering east and southeast coast of Korea, were subject to the geochemical analyses with the aim of filling the gap in our knowledge of this environment. The analyzed items included the major elements (Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, K, Na, p and Mn), organic carbon, and some trace metals (Ba, Co, Cu, Sr and Zn). The sediment grain-size exerted a predominant influence on the contents of most elements, with the exceptions of Ca, K, Sr and Ba. The Ca and Sr contents, being closely interrelated each other, were mainly controlled by the calcium carbonate content. The K content, on the other hand, appeared to be influenced by both illite and feldspar. The Ba content showed a certain relationship with that of K, suggesting a common source of these two elements; potassium feldspar. The R-mode factor analysis result also reaffirmed the above-mentioned controlling factors on the sediment geochemistry. The grain-size dependency of trace metals obscures their areal distribution pattern from the total contents. However, with the metal/aluminum ratios we could differentiate the subtle difference in the metal enrichment. Hence, sediments of the southern coastal area appear to receive some anthropogenic inputs of metals, though the effect is still negligible.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.232-237
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• 1998

A bacterial strain producing high levels of an extracellular ${eta}$-mannanase and intracellular ${eta}$-mannosidase and ${alpha}$-galactosidase was isolated from soil. The strain isolated was identified as a strain of Sporolactobacillus sp. and designated as Sporolactobacillus sp. M20l. Synthesis of ${eta}$-mannanase by Sporolactobacillus sp. M20l was induced by sucrose, maltose, or locust bean gum. The highest induction rate was obtained with 2% locust bean gum added to the culture medium as a sole carbon source. On the other hand, induction of ${eta}$-mannosidase was observed only with locust bean gum. The optimal media for the enzyme production were established as follows: for ${eta}$-mannanase; 2% locust bean gum, 0.5% peptone, 0.2% KH$_2$PO$_4$, 80 mg/l MgSO$_4$, and 8 mg/l ZnSO$_4$ (pH 6.0), and for ${eta}$-mannosidase; 2% locust bean gum, 0.5% yeast extract, 0.2% KH$_2$PO$_4$, 80 mg/l MgSO$_4$, and 8 mg/l ZnSO$_4$ (pH 5.0). The optimal culture temperatures for production of ${eta}$-mannanase and ${eta}$-mannosidase were found to be 37$^{\circ}C$ and 3$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. Under the optimal culture conditions, the production of ${eta}$-mannanase and ${eta}$-mannosidase reached the highest levels of 10.6 units/ml and 1.35 units/ml after 30 h and 24 h cultivation, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.104-111
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• 2007

In this study, aniline dioxygenase genes responsible for initial catabolism of aniline in Burkholderia sp. HY1 and Delftia sp. HY99 were cloned and the amino acid sequences were comparatively analyzed, which already have been reported as bacteria utilizing aniline as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen, B. sp. HY1 was found to have at least a plasmid, and the plasmld-cured strain, B. sp. HY1-PC obtained using mitomycin C was tested with wild type strain to investigate whether the former maintained the degradability for aniline. This proved that the aniline oxygenase gene from B. sp. HY1 was located in chromosomal DNA, not in plasmid DNA. Aniline dioxygenase small subunits from B. sp. HY1 and D. sp. HY99 were found, based on 146 amino acids, to share 79% similarity. Notably, ado2 genes from B. sp. HY1 and D. sp. HY99 which were found to be terminal dioxygenase of aniline dioxygenase small subunit showed 99% similarity in the deduced amino acid sequences with tdnA2 of Frateuria sp. ANA-18 and danA2 of D. sp. AN3, respectively. Besides, enzyme assay and amino acid sequence analysis of catechol dioxygenase supported the previous report that B. sp. HY1 might occupy ortho-cleavage pathway using catechol 1,2-dioxygenase, while D. sp. HY99 might occupy catechol 2,3-dioxygenase for meta-cleavage pathway.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.335-339
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• 2010

A diesel-degrading bacterium, Gordonia sp. SD8, was isolated from soil contaminated with petroleum, and its diesel degradation was characterized in a soil as well as a liquid culture system. SD8 could grow in the mineral salt medium supplemented with diesel as a sole carbon and energy source. The maximum specific growth rate ($0.67{\pm}0.05\;d^{-1}$) and diesel degradation rate ($1,727{\pm}145$ mg-TPH $L^{-1}\;d^{-1}$) of SD8 showed at 20,000 mg-TPH $L^{-1}$ and $30^{\circ}C$, and then this bacterium could degrade high strength of diesel of 40,000 mg-TPH $L^{-1}$. The residual diesel concentration in the inoculated soil with SD8 was 3,724 mg-TPH kg-dry $soil^{-1}$ after 17 days, whereas the diesel concentration in the non-inoculated soil was $8,150{\pm}755$ mg-TPH kg-dry $soil^{-1}$. These results indicate that Gordonia sp. SD8 can serve as a promising microbial resource for the bioremediaion of contaminated soil with petroleum hydrocarbons including diesel.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.407-412
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• 2014

A number of Saccharomycopsis fibuligera strains that can hydrolyse and utilize starch as a carbon source were isolated from nuruk, a traditional Korean starter for rice wine fermentation, and their specific growth rates on starch-containing medium were compared to choose the prominent strain. S. fibuligera strain MBY1320 showed a higher growth rate at $42^{\circ}C$ than that of strain S. fibuligera KCTC7806, indicating that S. fibuligera MBY1320 has more thermo-tolerant machinery for starch hydrolysis and utilization than KCTC7806. Although the activity of ${\alpha}$-amylase at $30^{\circ}C$ was significantly lower for S. fibuligera MBY1320 than KCTC7806 (3,812.5 U vs. 14,878.5 U), S. fibuligera MBY1320 showed a much higher glucoamylase activity at $42^{\circ}C$ than S. fibuligera KCTC7806 (5,048.9 U vs. 13,152.3 U). Thus, a new S. fibuligera strain, with a higher starch-hydrolysing activity at elevated temperatures than that of other types of strain, this study reports.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.324-330
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• 2014

A marine bacterial strain producing agar-degrading enzymes was isolated from a mud flat in Jeboo-do (Korea) using a selective artificial sea water (ASW) agar plate containing agar as the sole carbon source. The isolate, designated as SH-1, was gram-negative, aerobic, and motile with single polar flagellum. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity analysis showed the isolate SH-1 had the highest homology (96.5%) to marine bacterium Neiella marina J221. Cells could grow at $28-37^{\circ}C$ but not at $42^{\circ}C$, and the agarase activity of the cell culture supernatant was higher when grown at $28^{\circ}C$ than when grown at $37^{\circ}C$. Cells could grow when concentrations of 1-5% (w/v) NaCl were added to the growth media with the best growth observed at 3% NaCl, and the agardegrading enzyme activity of the cell culture supernatant was best when grown at 3% NaCl-containing growth media under the conditions we examined. The crude enzyme prepared from 48-h culture broth of strain SH-1 exhibited an optimum pH and temperature for agar-degrading activity at 7.0 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively. Zymogram analysis of the crude supernatant and cell extract showed that strain SH-1 produced at least 3 agar-degrading enzymes with molecular weights of 15, 35, and 52 KD. Thinlayer chromatography (TLC) analysis also suggested that HS-1 produces ${\beta}$-agarase to degrade agarose to neoagarooligosaccharides.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.757-763
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• 2006

In our previous studies, we have isolated bacteria from BTEX-contaminated sediment, which utilized BTEX as a sole carbon source and $NO_3$-N as an electron acceptor. For the possibility of field application, we have applied co-culture of those isolates in the BTEX-contaminated soil and evaluated their biodegradation efficiencies. To investigate the relationship between the isolates and indigenous microorganism in soil, changes of microbial community structure in soil samples with respect to time were monitored. To examine this, soil samples were artificially contaminated with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene. BTEX-degrading bacteria such as Pseudomonas stutzeri strain 15(DQ 202712), Klebsiells sp. strain 20(DQ 202715) and Citrobacter sp. strain A(DQ 202713) were injected into the soil samples in the ratio of 2:1:1. Our results showed that the highest BTEX biodegradation efficiency was achieved when both BTEX and $NO_3-N$ existed simultaneously. The change in soil microbial community structure was characterized by PCR-DGGE analysis comparing the relative DGGE band intensities. The band intensities of indigenous microorganisms in the soil were reduced by injecting co-culture of the three isolates. On the contrary, the relative band intensities of the isolates were increased. Among the three isolates, Pseudomonas stutzeri strain 15 rendered the highest band intensity. This indicates that the Pseudomonas stutzeri was the dominant microbial species found in the soil samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1951-1964
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• 2016

1,4-Dioxane-degrading bacterial consortia were enriched from forest soil (FS) and activated sludge (AS) using a defined medium containing 1,4-dioxane as the sole carbon source. These two enrichments cultures appeared to have inducible tetrahydrofuran/dioxane and propane degradation enzymes. According to qPCR results on the 16S rRNA and soluble di-iron monooxygenase genes, the relative abundances of 1,4-dioxane-degrading bacteria to total bacteria in FS and AS were 29.4% and 57.8%, respectively. For FS, the cell growth yields (Y), maximum specific degradation rate ($V_{max}$), and half-saturation concentration ($K_m$) were 0.58 mg-protein/mg-dioxane, $0.037mg-dioxane/mg-protein{\cdot}h$, and 93.9 mg/l, respectively. For AS, Y, $V_{max}$, and $K_m$ were 0.34 mg-protein/mg-dioxane, $0.078mg-dioxane/mg-protein{\cdot}h$, and 181.3 mg/l, respectively. These kinetics data of FS and AS were similar to previously reported values. Based on bacterial community analysis on 16S rRNA gene sequences of the two enrichment cultures, the FS consortium was identified to contain 38.3% of Mycobacterium and 10.6% of Afipia, similar to previously reported literature. Meanwhile, 49.5% of the AS consortium belonged to the candidate division TM7, which has never been reported to be involved in 1,4-dioxane biodegradation. However, recent studies suggested that TM7 bacteria were associated with degradation of non-biodegradable and hazardous materials. Therefore, our results showed that previously unknown 1,4-dioxane-degrading bacteria might play an important role in enriched AS. Although the metabolic capability and ecophysiological significance of the predominant TM7 bacteria in AS enrichment culture remain unclear, our data reveal hidden characteristics of the TM7 phylum and provide a perspective for studying this previously uncultured phylotype.