• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 2016

Clostridium novyi (C. novyi) is a gram positive, non-capsulated, motile, obligatory anaerobe that produces endospores. Both C. novyi type A and B produce a bacteriophage encoded lethal alpha toxin which belongs to a family of large clostridial cytotoxins. These large clostridial cytotoxins of C. novyi bind to the uncharacterized receptors on host vascular endothelial cells, which leads to the loss of integrity of the vascular endothelium with subsequent edema, refractory hypotension, organ failure, and sudden death. A total of 13 sudden death cases were submitted to Chonbuk National University-Veterinary Diagnostic Center between June and October, 2015. The samples, mainly liver, were collected in sterile vials after necropsy and processed within 12~24 hours for diagnosis, isolation and identification of C. novyi. All of the 4 gram positive samples showed amplification by PCR. Out of 4 positive samples, 3 were detected to be C. novyi type B and 1 was detected as C. novyi type A. Based on the 16S rDNA sequence analysis, 1 case (150564) showed 99% similarity with C. novyi type A while other 3 cases (150388, 150557 and 150775) presented 99% similarity with C. novyi type B. Based on the results, C. novyi was found to be prevalent in Korean pig farms and causes sudden death to finishing pigs or sows during summer season. Thus, C. novyi should be considered for differential diagnosis on sudden death cases during the summer season.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.401-410
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• 2004

Soil samples from five different areas in Korea were collected during 2001/02 and examined for presence of the genus Clostridium. Direct immuno-fluorescent assay (IFA) examination showed that Clostridium septicum, Cl. novyi and Cl. chauvoei were detected in the soil of specific areas in Korea. Sixteen species of Clostridium were isolated and cultivated from the soil samples. Cl. peifringens was detected in all sampling locations, while the other species were not. The in vitro activity of 14 antibiotic agents was determined against 421 clostridia isolated from the soil contaminated with animal feces in Korea. Trovafloxacin was effective against all isolates of the genus Clostridium except one isolate of Cl. subterminale, two of Cl. tetani, and three of Cl novyi with $MIC_{50}$ $8- 16\mu$g $ml^{-1}$. Thirteen species of Clostridium were resistant to vancomycin except for Cl. perfringens, Cl. sporogenes, and Cl. subterminale. Imipenem and trovafloxacin showed high antimicrobial activities (>95%) against all strains in the clostridia investigated. Therefore, antibiotic agents such as imipenem and trovafloxacin are the most suitable agents for polymicrobial infection as broad-spectrum monotherapy.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.157-164
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• 2014

Clostridium chauvoei is the etiologic agent of blackleg, a high mortality rated disease infection mainly cattle. In the present study, the partial sequences of 16S rRNA and flagellin gene of C. chauvoei isolated in Jeonbuk, Korea were determined and compared with those of reference strain. Oligonucleotide primers were designed to amplify a 811 bp fragment of 16S rRNA gene and 1229 bp fragment of flagellin gene. Sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA gene showed high homology to the reference strains ranging 82.3% to 100%, while flagellin gene were different from published foreign clostridia, showing 98.7% to 72.0% nucleotide sequence homology. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene revealed the close phylogenetic relationship of C. chauvoei and C. septicum in cluster I, which includes C. carnis, C. tertium, C. quinii, C. celatum, C. perfringens, C. absonum, C. botulinum B. Phylogentic analysis also revealed that flagellin gene formed a single cluster with C. chauvoei, C. septicum, C. novyi A, C. novyi B, C. tyrobutylicum, C. acetobutylicum. The genetic informations obtained from this study could be useful for the molecular study of C. chauvoei.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.256-262
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to investigate microbial contamination in water purifiers from two universities (A and B) in Chungcheong region and to evaluate about the harmfulness of the isolated bacteria to the human. The degree of microbiological contamination of six water purifiers at university A was investigated three times from July 2018 to September 2019, and nine water purifiers at university B were investigated in 2023. The isolated bacteria were biochemically identified using an API kit and Vitek-2 system, and then the bacteria were identified to the species level using MALDI-TOF MS. In addition, the possibility of human infection of the isolated bacteria was evaluated through a literature search. In July 2018 and September 2019, the number of bacteria isolated inside the faucet was below the acceptable standard for hot water, but exceed for cold water in all water purifiers. In January and September 2019, bacteria exceeding the acceptable standards were isolated nine times from the cold water of six water purifies (a total of 12 water purifiers). Bacteria identified by MALDI-TOF MS included anaerobic bacteria (Clostridium novyi, Clostridium themopalmarium etc.), Gram-positive bacilli (Microbacterium testaceum, Arthrobacter woluwensis etc.), and Gramnegative bacilli (Acinetobacter nosocomialis, Comamonas kerstersii etc.), which are difficult identify by biochemical methods. In conclusion, bacteria exceeding the acceptable standard were isolated from the cold water of most of the water purifiers. Most of the isolated bacteria were low-pathogenic bacteria from natural environment, but opportunistic bacteria that can cause infection in humans were also isolated from some water purifiers.