• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2013

We prepared culture extracts of 174 Corallococcus and 207 Myxococcus strains isolated in Korea, and compared their antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The percentage of strains showing antifungal activity was lower in Corallococcus (7.5% [13 of the 174 strains]) than in Myxococcus (51.7% [107 of the 207 strains]). However, the percentage of strains exhibiting antibacterial activity was higher in Corallococcus (12.1% [21 strains]) than in Myxococcus (1% [2 strains]). The culture extracts of 6 Corallococcus strains inhibited both P. aeruginosa and S. aureus and displayed similar high-performance liquid chromatography chromatograms, although the shapes of their fruiting bodies were dissimilar. The rate of production of antibacterial substances was the highest when the strains were cultured in CYS medium for more than 6 days.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.335-337
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• 2006

Glycerol-spore formation of wild myxobacteria isolated in Korea has been tested. One third of the wild myxobacterial isolates belonged to the genus Myxococcus and Corallococcus produced a large number of glycerol-spores in the presence of glycerol or dimethyl sulfoxide. However, two third of the other wild myxobacterial isolates belonged to the genus Myxococcus and Corallococcus produced a negligible number of spores under the same condition. In addition, the myxobacteral isolates belonged to the other genus, such as Stigmatella, Archangium, and Cystobacter, failed to produce a noticeable number of glycerol-spores.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2008

As an effort to search new bacterial biocontrol agents against pepper anthracnose, we screened myxobacteria, which might inhibit the growth of Colletotrichum acutatum, the agent of that plant disease. When 93 myxobacterial strains including 59 Myxococcus spp. and 34 Corallococcus spp. were tested against C. acutatum ACYSJ001 on agar plates, 10 strains identified as the genus Myxococcus significantly obstructed the growth of C. acutatum, whereas the majority of strains belonging to the genus Corallococcus did not demonstrate any counteractive effect. Such results have indicated that the strains of the genus Myxococcus have a high potential to play roles of biocontrol agents for control of pepper anthracnose. These also have revealed that the strains of the genus Myxococcus could be used as excellent microbial resources for screening novel antifungal substances.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.218-223
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• 2004

Myxobacteria are Gram-negative soil bacteria known to be a rich source of potentially useful secondary metabolites. We have isolated 204 strains of bacteriolytic myxobacteria from soil samples collected in Korea and determined their 16S rRNA sequences. Sequence analysis of the partially determined 16S rRNA sequences has suggested that 132 isolates (65% of total isolates) belong to the genus Myxococcus and 59 isolates (29% of total isolates) belong to the genus Corallococcus. Meanwhile, 4 isolates appear to be Archangium spp. and the other 4 isolates appear to be Stigmatella spp. Genera of the remained 5 isolates have not been identified because their 16S rRNA sequences are distantly related to those of known myxobacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.765-775
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• 2018

Using MCF7 breast cancer cells, we tested the anticancer activity of metabolites from 130 strains of myxobacteria newly isolated in South Korea. Of these, three strains whose metabolites had high anticancer activity and low cell toxicity were selected and identified by their fruiting body morphology, cell morphology, and 16S rRNA sequence. Strains KYC4030 and KYC4048 were determined to be Myxococcus fulvus, whereas strain KYC4081 was identified as Corallococcus coralloides. We found that metabolites of M. fulvus KYC4048 demonstrated no toxicity in normal cells but specifically induced cancer cell death by suppressing the expression of WNT2B. This discovery highlights the value of assessing the metabolic and biomedical potential of myxobacteria, even those that are already known but were isolated from new areas, and the possible use of metabolites from M. fulvus KYC4048 in cancer treatment.