• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1976-1982
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• 2007

In the current studies, we characterized the degradation of a hot mixture of benzene and toluene (BT) gases by a thermophilic biofilter using polyurethane as a packing material and high-temperature compost as a microbial source. We also examined the effect of supplementing the biofilter with yeast extract (YE). We found that YE substantially enhanced microbial activity in the thermophilic biofilter. The degrading activity of the biofilter supplied with YE was stable during long-term operation (approximately 100 d) without accumulating excess biomass. The maximum elimination capacity ($1,650\;g{\cdot} m^{-3}{\cdot} h^{-1}$) in the biofilter supplemented with YE was 3.5 times higher than that in the biofilter without YE ($470\;g{\cdot} m^{-3}{\cdot} h^{-1}$). At similar retention times, the capacity to eliminate BT for the YE-supplemented biofilter was higher than for previously reported mesophilic biofilters. Thus, thermophilic biofiltration can be used to degrade hydrophobic compounds such as a BT mixture. Finally, 168 rDNA polymerase chain reaction-DGGE (PCR-DGGE) fingerprinting revealed that the thermophilic bacteria in the biofilter included Rubrobacter sp. and Mycobacterium sp.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.387-394
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• 2008

The toxicity of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) and formaldehyde (FA) on the indigenous microbial community in forest soil was studied. MTBE, TBA and FA with different concentrations were added into microcosms containing forest soil samples. After 10 and 30 days, total viable cell number and dehydrogenase activity in the microcosms were evaluated. Bacterial communities in the microcosms were also analyzed using a denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Dehydrogenase activity and total viable cell number were decreased according to the increase of MTBE, TBA and FA concentrations (P<0.05). FA toxicity was the highest, but TBA toxicity was the lowest. The results of principal component analysis using DGGE fingerprints showed that the microbial communities contaminated MTBE, TBA and FA were grouped by exposure time not exposure concentration. Dominant species in the microcosms were as follows: Photobacterium damselae sub sp. and Bacillus sp. KAR28 for MTBE; Mycobacterium sp. and Uncultured Clostridium sp. for TBA; and Uncultured Paenibacillaceae bacterium and Anxynobacillus, Flavithermus for FA.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.900-905
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• 2009

We analyzed succession of the bacterial communities during composting of animal manure in three individual facilities. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) targeting for the bacterial 16S rRNA gene were used to clarify the changes of bacterial community throughout each composting process. Our study revealed that the bacterial community structures differed during the composting process. The bacterial community in composting of facility A showed little change throughout the process. In the compost sample from facility B, its community had a small shift as the temperature increased. In compost from facility C, the temperature dynamically changed; it was shown that various bacterial communities appeared and disappeared as follows: in the initial phase, the members of phylum Bacteroidetes dominated; in the thermophilic phase, some bacteria belonging to phylum Firmicutes increased; towards the end, the community structure consisted of three phyla, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. This study provides some information about the bacterial community actually present in field-scale composting with animal manure.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.459-465
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• 2013

A sequencing batch reactor was operated under different pH conditions to see the influence of pH to microbial community in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems. Long term influences of different steady-state pH conditions on the microbial community composition were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The shift in populations from polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) to Alphaproteobacteria was observed when pH was changed from 7.5 to 7.0. Alphaproteobacteria with the typical morphological traits of tetrad-forming organisms (TFOs) eventually became dominant members. The alphaproteobacterial TFOs were the phenotype expected for glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs), which accumulate large amount of glycogen into the cell. The results strongly suggested that low operational pH condition encourages the appearance of the GAOs in EBPR process, significantly reducing the EBPR capacity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1035-1043
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• 2012

The ammonia-oxidizing bacterial (AOB) communities in three membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were monitored for 2 months after an acclimation period in order to investigate the influence of sludge age and medium type on AOB changeability and its connection with nitrification effectiveness. One MBR with a sludge age of 4 days was fed with a synthetic medium, whereas the other two with sludge ages of 8 and 32 days were fed with landfill leachate. The research revealed that landfill leachate can be effectively treated in an MBR with a higher sludge age for longer periods of time and that this improvement in performance was correlated with an increase in AOB biodiversity. Interestingly, the medium type has a stronger influence on AOB biocenosis formation than the sludge age.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2009

Lactobacillus sp., Acetobacter sp. and yeast were the most dominant organisms in the EM stock culture and subculture product. Lactic acid bacteria and yeast were able to grow in the fermentation process utilizing seawater. EM treatment of higher concentrations using EM stock culture and EM clay balls (1% or 4%) contributed to an early removal of malodor and an increase of DO in the polluted sediments, indicating an odor-removing activity of EM. The EM treatment of higher concentrations (1% or 4%) somewhat appeared to modify the microbial communities within the sediments, which was confirmed by existence of a few unique fragments from the stock culture based on PCR-DGGE. It still remains to be elucidated that EM cultures were directly involved in the malodor removal and potential sediment bioremediation.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2013

The bacterial community structure in a biological reactor fed influent from a wastewater treatment system was investigated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and in situ hybridization. Sludges were collected from three biological reactors (aerobic, oxic, and anoxic tanks) at the M wastewater treatment facility (WTF). The influent of the MWTF consisted of mixed tannery wastewater (40~65%) and seafood wastewater (35~60%). The treatment processes resulted in a removal efficiency for BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand) of 83.6~98.2% and 72.8~84.6%, respectively for tannery wastewater than for seafood wastewater resulted in greater survival of biomass in the biological reactors and a higher removal of BOD, COD, and T-N of about 8~18%. In contrast, addition of greater amounts of seafood wastewater decreased the amount of biomass in the bioreactors due to the increasing concentration of chromium from that wastewater and it also. The dominant bacterial species during the high seafood wastewater input period were Burkholderia cepacia (JX901049) and an uncultured bacterium (JF247555), while Pseudomonas geniculata (HQ256559) was dominant during the high tannery wastewater input period. Flavobacteriumsp. BF.107 (FM173271) and Hyphomicrobium zavarzinii (Y14306) were dominant under anoxic conditions.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.3-7
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• 2010

To better understand the ecology of tetrade forming organisms (TFOs) floating in a large amount of dairy wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent (sequencing batch reactor [SBR]) during the inefficient phosphorus (P) removal process of an enhanced biological P removal system, the TFOs from the effluent of a full scale WWTP were separated and attempts made to culture the TFOs in presence/absence of oxygen. The intact TFOs only grew aerobically in the form of unicellular short-rods. Furthermore, to identify the intact TFOs and unicellular short-rods the DNAs of both were extracted, analyzed using their denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)-profiles and then sequenced. The TFOs and unicellular short-rods exhibited the same banding pattern in their DGGE-profiles, and those sequencing data resulted in their identification as Acinetobacter sp. The intact TFOs appeared in clumps and packages of tetrade cells, and were identified as Acinetobacter sp., which are known as strict aerobes and efficient P-removers. The thick layer of extracellular polymeric substance surrounding Acinetobacter sp. may inhibit phosphate uptake, and the cell morphology of TFOs might subsequently be connected with their survival strategy under the anaerobic regime of the SBR system.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.349-352
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• 2003

Recent studies have shown that some of the PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl)-degraders are able to effectively degrade PCB in the presence of monoterpenes, which act as inducers for the degradation pathway. Rhodococcus sp. T104, an effective PCB degrader, has been shown to induce the degradation pathway by utilizing limonenes, cymenes, carvones, and pinenes as sole carbon sources which can be found in the natural environment. Moreover, the strain T104 proved to possess three separate oxidation pathways of limonene, biphenyl, and phenol. Of these three, the limonene can also induce the biphenyl degradation pathway. In this work, we report the presence of three distinct genes for aromatic oxygenase, which are putatively involved in the degradation of aromatic substrates including biphenyl, limonene, and phenol, through PCR amplification and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The genes were differentially expressed and well induced by limonene, cymene, and plant extract A compared to biphenyl and/or glucose. This indicates that substrate specificity must be taken into account when biodegradation of the target compounds are facilitated by the plant natural substrates.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.892-894
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• 2008

During dongchimi fermentation at 5 and $25^{\circ}C$, the pH lowered slowly and reached 4.03 at $5^{\circ}C$ after 30 days, whereas it lowered dramatically and reached 3.59 at $25^{\circ}C$ after 2 days. The predominant bacteria were Leuconostoc (Leu.) mesenteroides at $25^{\circ}C$ until day 2 which changed into Lactobacillus (Lb.) plantarum at day 3, analyzed by a culture dependent method with partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing, whereas Leu. mesenteroides occupied predominantly at $5^{\circ}C$ until day 7. In a culture-independent method using a polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) with partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing, Lb. algidus was predominant at $5^{\circ}C$ until day 7 and Lb. plantarum occupied predominantly at $25^{\circ}C$ until day 3, which is different from the results of the culture based method, indicating the both methods need to be combined for accuracy. Based on the culture-dependent method, Leu. mesenteroides might be responsible for the early and mid-phase of dongchimi fermentation.