• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.261-271
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• 2007

Phytoremediation is an economic and environmentally friendly technique to remediate contaminated-soil. In this study, the effects of plants, rhizobacteria and physicochemical factors on phytoremediation have been reviewed. For successful phytoremediation, the selection of plants is primarily important. To remediate soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon, raygrass (Lolium multiflorum lam), white mustard, vetch (Vicia villosa), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), legumes, poplar, and Pine (Pinus densiflora) were mainly applied, and the removal efficiency of petroleum hydrocarbon were ranged 68 to 99%. Corn (Zea mays), raygrass (Lolium multiflorum lam), vetch (Vicia villosa), mustard, clover (Trifolium repens), and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) were used for the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and their removal efficiencies were 50-98%. Rhizobacteria play significant roles for phytoremediation because they can directly participate in the degradation of contaminant as well as promoting plants growth. The following rhizobacteria were preferred for phytoremediation: Azospirillum lipoferum, Enterobactor cloacae, Azospirillum brasilense, Pseudomonas putida, Burkholderia xenovorans, Comamonas testosterone, Pseudomonas gladioli, Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus megaterium, and Bacillus subtilis. Pysicochemical factors such as pH, temperature, nutrient, electron acceptor, water content, organic content, type of contaminants are consequential limiting factors for phytoremediation.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.387-394
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• 2009

This study was carried out to screen and identify the chitinase and chitosanase producing microorganisms from the feces of calves medicated DFM sincluding chitin in order to do the immune fortification of Korean Native calves. Ten isolates were grown in the medium containing chitin and chitosan that had more than $10^5$ cfu/g in feces. Among these 10 strains, 2 strains (HANDI 110 and HANDI 309) had the chitinase activities and 2 strains (HANWOO and HANYOO) had the chitosanase activities in calves' feces. They showed no reaction in hemolysis tests by utilizing chitin and chitosan. The results from morphological, physicochemical and genetical identification indicated the HANDI 110 as a strain of Escherichia fergusonii, HANDI 309 was identified as a strain of Acinetobacter parvus, HANWOO was identified as a strain of Comamonas koreensis, and HANYOO as a strain of Chryseobacterium indologenes.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.273-278
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• 2007

The cell numbers of heterotrophic bacteria inhabiting the surface and bottom sea water harvested from the 5 stations in the marine ranching ground of Tongyeong coastal waters in $2003{\sim}2007$ were examined, and species composition of the heterotrophic bacterial population and dominant species were analyzed as well. Sea water samples collected in summer season contained much higher number of heterotrophic bacteria than those harvested in winter, spring and autumn seasons due to the higher sea water temperature. However the cell number of heterotrophic bacteria did not show a significant dependence on the location of the sampling stations. The cell number of heterotrophic bacteria in the surface sea water harvested in October 2003 and in September 2004 was not discernibly different from that in the bottom sea water and sometimes the former was even fewer than the latter because of the typhoon and localized torrential downpour. The number of heterotrophic bacteria decreased every year. The main bacterial species were Pseudomonas fluorescens TY1, Pseudomonas stutzeri TY2, Acinetobacter lwoffii TY3, Sphingomonas paucimobilis TY4, Burkholderia mallei TY5, Pasteurella haemolytica TY6, Pasteurella multocida TY7, Comamonas acidovorans TY8, Actinobacillus ureae TY9 and Chryseobacterium indologenes TY10. P. fluorescens TY1 and A. lwoffii TY3 were found to be the dominant species.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 2001

The effect of phenol on the change of bacterial community in the effluent water from a wastewater treatment plant was analyzed by PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The fragments of 16S rDNA were amplified by PCR with bacterial primers, where one of the primers was biotinylated at the 5'-end. After digestion with restriction enzymes, HaeIII and AluI, the biotinylated terminal restriction tragments (T-RFs) of the digested products were selectively isolated by using streptavidin paramagnetic particles. The single-stranded DNA of T-RFs was separated by electrophoresis on a polyacrylamide gel and detected by silver staining technique. When 10 standard strains were analyzed by our method, each strain had a unique T-RF which corresponded to the calculated size from the known sequences of RDP database. The T-RFLP fingerprint generated from the effluent water was very complex, and the predominant T-RFs corresponded to members of the genus Acinetobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas. In addition, the perturbation of bacterial community was observed when phenol was added to the sample at the final concentration of 250 $l^{-1}$. The number of T-RFs increased and the major bacterial population could be assigned to the genus Acinetobacter, Comamonas, Cytophaga and Pseudomonas. A intense band assigned to the putative genera of Acinetobacter and Cytophaga was eluted, amplified, and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the T-RF showed close relationship with the sequence of Acinetobacter junii.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.99-109
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• 2016

We investigated the relation between the presence of geosmin in water and the bacterial community structure within the granular activated carbon (GAC) system of water treatment plants in South Korea. GAC samples were collected in May and August of 2014 at three water treatment plants (Sungnam, Koyang, and Yeoncho in Korea). Dissolved organic carbon and geosmin were analyzed before and after GAC treatment. Geosmin was found in raw water from Sungnam and Koyang water treatment plants but not in that from Yeoncho water treatment plant. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the 16S rRNA clone library indicated that the bacterial communities from the Sungnam and Koyang GAC systems were closely related to geosmin-degrading bacteria. Based on the phylogenetic tree and multidimensional scaling plot, bacterial clones from GAC under the influence of geosmin were clustered with Variovorax paradoxus strain DB 9b and Comamonas sp. DB mg. In other words, the presence of geosmin in water might have inevitably contributed to the growth of geosmin degraders within the respective GAC system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1995-1999
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• 2006

Pseudomonas sp. K82 cultured in p-hydroxybenzoate induces protocatechuate 4,5-dioxygenase (PCD 4,5) for p-hydroxybenzoate degradation. In this study, a 6.0-kbp EcoR1 fragment containing p-hydroxybenzoate degradation genes was cloned from the genome of Pseudomonas sp. K82. Sequence analysis identified four genes, namely, pcaD, pcaA, pcaB, and pcaC genes known to be involved in p-hydroxybenzoate degradation. Two putative 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenases and one putative oxidoreductase were closely located by the p-hydroxybenzoate degradation genes. The gene arrangement and sequences of these p-hydroxybenzoate degradation genes were similar to those of Comamonas testosteroni and Pseudomonas ochraceae. PcaAB (PCD4,5) was overexpressed in the expression vector pGEX-4T-3, purified using a GST column, and confirmed to have protocatechuate 4,5-dioxygenase activity. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of overexpressed PCD4,5 were identical with those of purified PCD4,5 from Pseudomonas sp. K82.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.21 no.3 s.54
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• pp.283-289
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• 2006

In recent years, there has been an increase in consumer demand for bottled waters. There is a perception that consumption of natural mineral water represents a healthy life style and that these products are relatively safe. In this study, the microbiological quality of 39 samples of bottled water, purchased from retail store in Korea, was investigated during the 2005. Applying pour plate method, the 1 mL of water samples were analyzed for the presence and enumeration of total general bacteria and Pseudomonas spp.. Nineteen samples representing 9 brands of bottled water contained general bacteria ($1.54{\times}10^2$ CFU/mL). In addition four samples contained Pseudomonas spp. and Camamonas acidovorans. The susceptibility of the strains tested against 25 antimicrobial agents, Pseudomonas fluorescens were resistant to Lincomycin, Amoxacilin/Clavulanic acid and Cefazolin (> $100{\mu}g/mL$). Also Comamonas acidovorans were intermediate to Cephalothin and resistant to Cefoperazone.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.383-390
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• 2005

The diversity of the denitrifying bacterial populations in Daejeon Sewage Treatment Plant was examined using a culture-dependent approach. Of the three hundred and seventy six bacterial colonies selected randomly from agar plates, thirty-nine strains that showed denitrifying activity were selected and subjected to further analysis. According to the morphological and biochemical properties, the thirty nine isolates were divided into seven groups. This grouping was supported by an unweighted pair group method, using an arithmetic mean (UPGMA) analysis with fatty acid profiles. Restriction pattern analysis of 16S rDNA with four endonucleases (AluI, BstUI, MspI and RsaI) again revealed seven distinct groups, consistent with those defined from the morphological and biochemical properties and fatty acid profiles. Through the phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rDNA partial sequences, the main denitrifying microbial populations were found to be members of the phylum, Proteobacteria; in particular, classes Gammaproteobacteria (Aeromonas, Klebsiella and Enterobacter) and Betaproteobacteria (Acidovorax, Burkholderia and Comamonas), with Firmicutes, represented by Bacillus, also comprised a major group.

• 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.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2010

The phenolic compounds are a major contaminant class often found in industrial wastewaters and the biological treatment is an alternative tool commonly employed for their removal. In this sense, monitoring microbial community dynamics is crucial for a successful wastewater treatment. This work aimed to monitor the structure and activity of the bacterial community during the operation of a laboratory-scale continuous submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR), using PCR and RT-PCR followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and 16S rRNA libraries. Multivariate analyses carried out using DGGE profiles showed significant changes in the total and metabolically active dominant community members during the 4-week treatment period, explained mainly by phenol and ammonium input. Gene libraries were assembled using 16S rDNA and 16S rRNA PCR products from the fourth week of treatment. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of clones from the 16S rDNA library revealed a high diversity of taxa for the total bacterial community, with predominance of Thauera genus (ca. 50%). On the other hand, a lower diversity was found for metabolically active bacteria, which were mostly represented by members of Betaproteobacteria (Thauera and Comamonas), suggesting that these groups have a relevant role in the phenol degradation during the final phase of the SMBR operation.