• Mycobiology
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.155-161
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• 2016

The most economically important species used in a wide range of fermentation industries throughout Asia belong to Aspergillus section Flavi, which are morphologically and phylogenetically indistinguishable, with a few being toxigenic and therefore a major concern. They are frequently isolated from Korean fermentation starters, such as nuruk and meju. The growing popularity of traditional Korean alcoholic beverages has led to a demand for their quality enhancement, therefore requiring selection of efficient non-toxigenic strains to assist effective fermentation. This study was performed to classify the most efficient strains of Aspergillus section Flavi isolated from various types of traditional wheat nuruk, based on a polyphasic approach involving molecular and biochemical evaluation. A total of 69 strains were isolated based on colony morphology and identified as Aspergillus oryzae/flavus based on internal transcribed spacer and calmodulin gene sequencing. Interestingly, none were toxigenic based on PCR amplification of intergenic regions of the aflatoxin cluster genes norB-cypA and the absence of aflatoxin in the culture supernatants by thin-layer chromatography analysis. Saccharification capability of the isolates, assessed through ${\alpha}-amylase$ and glucoamylase activities, revealed that two isolates, TNA24 and TNA15, showed the highest levels of activity. Although the degrees of variation in ${\alpha}-amylase$ and glucoamylase activities among the isolates were higher, there were only slight differences in acid protease activity among the isolates with two, TNA28 and TNA36, showing the highest activities. Furthermore, statistical analyses showed that ${\alpha}-amylase$ activity was positively correlated with glucoamylase activity (p < 0.001), and therefore screening for either was sufficient to predict the saccharifying capacity of the Aspergillus strain.

• Journal of Species Research
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.1-14
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• 2017

As a subset study to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea in 2014, a total of 34 bacterial strains assigned to the phylum Actinobacteria were isolated from various environmental samples collected from activate sludge, biotite, freshwater, gut of marine organisms, mud flat, sediment, soil, spent mushroom compost and sea water. On the basis of high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and a tight phylogenetic association with the closest species, it was revealed that each strain was assigned to independent and previously described bacterial species, with the exception of one isolate. There is no official report that these 34 species included in the phylum Actinobacteria have been described in Korea: 6 species of 5 genera in the order Corynebacteriales, 1 species of 1 genus in the order Frankiales, 2 species of 2 genera in the Micromonosporales, 14 species of 10 genera in Micrococcales, 2 species of 2 genera in the Propionibacteriales, 1 species of 1 genus in the Pseudonocardiales, 4 species of 2 genera in the Streptomycetales, 2 species of 2 genera in the Streptosporangiales and 1 species of 1 genus in the Solirubrobacterales. Gram reaction, cell and colony morphology, pigmentation, physiological characteristics, isolation sources and strain IDs are described in the section of species description.

• Journal of Species Research
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.141-153
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• 2017

During an investigation of the biodiversity of bacterial species in Korea, we discovered many indigenous prokaryotic species. A total of 39 bacterial strains in the class Alphaproteobacteria were isolated from various environmental samples collected from marine organisms, sea water, fresh water, tap water, mud flats, activated sludge, mineral water, tidal flats, soil and decayed plants. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.7%) and formation of robust phylogenetic clades with the most closely related species, it was determined that each strain belonged to each independent and predefined bacterial species. There is no official report that any of these 39 Alphaproteobacteria species have been described in Korea. Specifically, 18 species in 11 genera in the order Sphingomonadales, 11 species in 10 genera in the order Rhizobiales, two species in two genera in the order Caulobacterales, six species in six genera in the order Rhodobacterales and two species in two genera in the order Rhodospirillales were found in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are described in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.119-128
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• 2017

Within a comprehensive, widescale investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, 29 bacterial strains in the phylum Bacteroidetes were isolated from diverse environmental habitats that included soil, plant roots, natural caves, tidal flats, freshwater from lakes, and seawater. Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (>99.1%) and the formation of robust phylogenetic clades with the closest type species, each strain likely belonged to an independent and predefined bacterial species. There are no publications or official reports of the isolation of these 29 species in Korea. Our study provides strong evidence that seven species in three genera in the order Cytophagales, 15 species in 13 genera in the order Flavobacteriales and seven species in five genera in the order Sphingobacteriales, all within the phylum Bacteriodetes, are new reports of bacterial species in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are described in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.129-140
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• 2017

During a comprehensive investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total 31 bacterial strains assigned to the class Alphaproteobacteria were isolated from diverse environmental habitats including freshwater, seawater, brackish water, ginseng soil, plant roots, natural caves, and tidal flats. Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities(>99.1%) and formation of robust phylogenetic clades with the closest type species, each strain was assigned to an independent and predefined bacterial species. Because there were no published or official reports regarding the isolation of these 31 species in Korea, this study identified three species in two genera in the order Caulobacterales, 12 species in 10 genera in the order Rhodobacterales, three species in two genera in the order Rhizobiales, two species in two genera in the order Rhodospirillales and 11 species in seven genera, all in the order Sphingomonadaceae within the Alphaproteobacteria are reported as new alphaproteobacterial species in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are described in the species description section.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권10호
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• pp.4271-4274
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• 2014

The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key step during embryonic morphogenesis and plays an important role in drug resistance and metastasis in diverse solid tumors. We previously reported that 48 h treatment of anti-cancer drug doxorubicin could induce EMT in human gastric cancer BGC-823 cells. However, the long term effects of this transient drug treatment were unknown. In this study we found that after 48 h treatment with $0.1{\mu}g/ml$ doxorubicin, most cells died during next week, while a minor population of cells survived and formed colonies. We propagated the surviving cells in drug free medium and found that these long term cultured drug survival cells (abbreviated as ltDSCs) retained a mesenchymal-like cell morphology, and expressed high levels of EMT-related molecules such as vimentin, twist and ${\beta}$-catenin. The expression of chromatin reprogramming factors, Oct4 and c-myc, were also higher in ltDSCs than parental cells. We further demonstrated that the protein level of p300 was upregulated in ltDSCs, and inhibition of p300 by siRNA suppressed the expression of vimentin. Moreover, the ltDSCs had higher colony forming ability and were more drug resistant when compared to parental cells. Our results suggested that an epigenetic mechanism is involved in the EMT of ltDSCs.

• 한국응용곤충학회지
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.183-190
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• 1981

작물시험장, 충남농촌진흥원 및 일반농가에서 수집한 40개 참깨종자표본의 종자전염진균을 Blotter 법으로 조사하였던 바 Alternaria sesami, A. sesamicola, A. tenuis, A. longissima, Cercospora sesami, Cephalosporium sp., Corynespora cassiicola, Fusarium equiseti, F. moniliforme, F. oxysporum, F. semitectum, Macrophomina phoseolina 그리고 Myrothecium roridum이 검출되었다. 그 중 A. sesami, A. sesamicola, A. tenuis, C. cassiicola가 많은 비율로 검출되었다. 참깨 종자내의 감염부위를 알아본 결과, C. cassiicola가 가장 깊숙이 배에까지 감염되어 있었으며 Chlorine으로 종자표면소독을 하였을 경우에도 완전히 제거되지 않았다. 이균에 이병된 종자를 살균토양에 파종하였을 경우 심한 발아저해와 유묘고사를 초래하였다. C. cassiicola의 종자상에서의 생육상과 배양기상에서의 배양적성질 및 포자의 형태를 기술하였다. 병원성을 조사하기 위하여 배양균의 포자현탁액을 참깨에 분무접종한 결과, C. cassiicola는 참깨의 잎과 줄기에 또는 자색의 병반을 나타내며 이것이 급격히 확대되어 고사하였다. A. sesami, A. sesamicola, A. longissima, C. sesami도 참깨 잎에 반점 또는 blight의 병징을 나타내었으나, A. tenuis은 병원성이 없었다. 토양접종실험의 결과, F. oxysporum과 M. phaseolina는 강한 병원성을 나타내어 심한 종자부패와 유묘고사를 초래하였다.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.487-496
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• 1995

Previous studies have demonstrated that not all A. actinomycetemcomitans produced significant level of leukotoxic factor and its leukotoxicity have associated with serotype and genetic variation. Our aim was to investigate on the interrelationship between serotype and leukotoxicity of an A. actinomycetemcomitans consisting of 13 clinically well characterized. Korean isolates and to evaluate if particular virulent clonal types of A. actinomycetemcomitans are associated with periodontal disease. For this study, 13 strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans from 6 patients with periodontal disease were isolated and identified by using a selective medium(tryptic soy agar supplemented with 10% serum, $75{\mu}g$ of bacitracin and $5{\mu}g$ of vancomycin per ml) in 10% C02 incubator for 3days with routine Gram staining, colony morphology and biochemical test..For serotyping, antisera were prepared from reference strains of 5 serotypes. (ATCC 29523,Y4, SUNY aB 67, IDH 781, IDH 1705) and then ammonium sulfate precipitation, immunoabsorption and indirect immunofluoroscent procedures were done. For analysis of leukotoxicity, sonic extract of A. actinomycetemcomitans exposed to PMN, and trypan blue was stained for counting the cell viability. Finally Southern blot analyses of genomic DNA digested with the restriction enzyme Tag I was done and the Southern blots were hybridized with the 530bp fragment, termed delta 530, originating from the ltx promoter of strain 652 and deleted from strain JP2. Also ltxA-3.1 and SC2 probe from strain JP2 were hybridized with genomic DNA fragments. Results reveal that strains isolated showed approximately equal proportions of 3 serotypes(b, d, e) and serotype b was not detected. 2 patients harbored 2 different serotypes in the same disease site. The prevalence of leukotoxic strain was 23% and there was no relationship between serotype, leukotoxicity and clinical observations. Especially virulent clonal types of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitan (JP2 strain) could not found. Further studies are necessary on the genetic polymorphism of leukotoxin and its relations to clinical status.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.374-385
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• 2013

Environmental stresses induce several plant pathogenic bacteria into a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state, but the basis for VBNC is largely uncharacterized. We investigated the physiology and morphology of the copper-induced VBNC state in the plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum in liquid microcosm. Supplementation of $200{\mu}M$ copper sulfate to the liquid microcosm completely suppressed bacterial colony formation on culture media; however, LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability staining showed that the bacterial cells maintained viability, and that the viable cells contain higher level of DNA. Based on electron microscopic observations, the bacterial cells in the VBNC state were unchanged in size, but heavily aggregated and surrounded by an unknown extracellular material. Cellular ribosome contents, however, were less, resulting in a reduction of the total RNA in VBNC cells. Proteome comparison and reverse transcription PCR analysis showed that the Dps protein production was up-regulated at the transcriptional level and that 2 catalases/peroxidases were present at lower level in VBNC cells. Cell aggregation and elevated levels of Dps protein are typical oxidative stress responses. $H_2O_2$ levels also increased in VBNC cells, which could result if catalase/peroxidase levels are reduced. Some of phenotypic changes in VBNC cells of R. solanacearum could be an oxidative stress response due to $H_2O_2$ accumulation. This report is the first of the distinct phenotypic changes in cells of R. solanacearum in the VBNC state.

• KSBB Journal
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.191-200
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• 1992

토양 시료로부터A. tumefaciens를 분리 동정하고 이를 옥수수의 형질전환에 이용하기 위하여 binary vector를 이용하여 형질전환시킨 후 옥수수의 중배축 조직과 공존배양을 실시하였다. Schroth의 선택배지에서 선별된 colony들은 단일 형태를 나타내었다. 분리 균주는 해바라기 유식물의 잎조직에 종양을 형성하였으며, 거대 plasmid를 가지고 있었는데 이는 대조균주인 C58이나 Ach5의 plasmid와는 다른 종류였다. 분리균주들에 의해 형성된 tumor의 형태 및 균주의 생리, 생화학적 특성들에 의하여 공시균주를 A. tumefaciens biovar 1으로 동정하였으며 nopaline 형으로 추정하였다. 분리 균주중 AK204를 사용하여 옥수수 조직을 형질전환시키기 위하여 선택maker를 가지고 있는 binary vector(pGA642)를 균주내로 전이 시켰다. 이로 인하여 형질전환된 AK204를 옥수수 중배축 조직과 공존배양하므로서 옥수수 조직세포를 형질전환 시킨 결과, 1차적으로 Km에 저항성을 띠는 형질전환체를 선발할 수 있었으며, 그들의 가용성 단백질의 PAGE pattern이 변화되었음을 확인하였다.