• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1890-1896
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• 2006

Lumostatic operation for cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis was assessed to test the scale-up strategy of photobioreactors. Lumostatic operation is a method of maintaining a proper light condition based on the specific light uptake rate ($q_e$), by cells. Lumostatic operations were performed in 0.4-, 2-, 10-, and 30-1 scale bubble column photobioreactors and the results were compared with cultures illuminated with constant light intensity. Significant differences were observed in the maximal cell concentrations obtained from 0.4-, 2-, 10-, and 30-1 scale photobioreactors under constant light intensity, yielding the maximal cell concentrations of $2.8{\times}10^5$, $2.2\times10^5$, $1.5\times10^5$, and $1.1\times10^5$ cells/ml, respectively. The maximal cell concentration in a 0.4-1 photobioreactor under lumostatic operation was $4.3\times10^5$ cells/ml. Furthermore, those in 2-, 10-, and 30-1 scale photobioreactors were about the same as that in the 0.4-1 photobioreactor. The results suggest that lumostatic operation with proper $q_e$ is a good strategy for increasing the cell growth of Haematococcus pluvialis compared with a constant supply of light energy. Therefore, lumostatic operation is not only an efficient way to achieve high cell density cultures with minimal power consumption in microalgal cultures but it is also a perfect parameter for the scale-up of photobioreactors.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.522-528
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• 2003

The growth responses of Phellodendron amurense root-derived materials against seven intestinal bacteria were examined, using an impregnated paper disk agar diffusion method and spectrometric method under $O_2$-free condition. The biologically active constituent of the P. amurense root extract was characterized as berberine chloride ($C_{20}H_{18}NO_{41}Cl$) using various spectroscopic analyses. The growth responses varied depending on the bacterial strain, chemicals, and dose tested. At 1 mg/disk, berberine chloride strongly inhibited the growth of Clostridium perfringens, and moderately inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Streptococcus mutans without any adverse effects on the growth of three lactic acid-bacteria (Bifidobacterium bifidum, B. longum, and Lactobacillus acidophilus). The structure-activity relationship revealed that berberine chloride exhibited more growth-inhibiting activity against C. perfringens, E. coli, and S. mutans than berberine iodide and berberine sulfate. These results, therefore, indicate that the growth-inhibiting activity of the three berberines was much more pronounced as chloridated analogue than iodided and sulphated analogues. As for the morphological effect caused by 1 mg/disk of berberine chloride, most strains of C. perfringens were damaged and killed, indicating that berberine chloride showed a strong inhibition against C. perfringens. As naturally occurring growth-inhibiting agents, the P. amurense root-derived materials described could be useful as a preventive agent against diseases caused by harmful intestinal bacteria such as clostridia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.503-508
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• 2011

A ${\beta}$-glucosidase from Phoma sp. KCTC11825BP isolated from rotten mandarin peel was purified 8.5-fold with a specific activity of 84.5 U/mg protein. The purified enzyme had a molecular mass of 440 kDa with a subunit of 110 kDa. The partial amino acid sequence of the purified ${\beta}$-glucosidase evidenced high homology with the fungal ${\beta}$- glucosidases belonging to glycosyl hydrolase family 3. Its optimal activity was detected at pH 4.5 and $60^{\circ}C$, and the enzyme had a half-life of 53 h at $60^{\circ}C$. The $K_m$ values for p-nitrophenyl-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside and cellobiose were 0.3 mM and 3.2 mM, respectively. The enzyme was competitively inhibited by both glucose ($K_i$=1.7 mM) and glucono-${\delta}$-lactone ($K_i$=0.1 mM) when pNPG was used as the substrate. Its activity was inhibited by 41% by 10 mM $Cu^{2+}$ and stimulated by 20% by 10 mM $Mg^{2+}$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.226-231
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• 2006

Several white-rot fungi are able to produce extracellular lignin-degrading enzymes such as manganese peroxidase (MnP), lignin peroxidase (LiP), and laccase. In order to enhance the production of laccase and MnP using Trametes versicolor KCTC 16781 in suspension culture, the effects of major medium ingredients, such as carbon and nitrogen sources, on the production of the enzymes were investigated. The decolorization mechanism in terms of biodegradation and biosorption was also investigated. Among the carbon sources used, glucose showed the highest potential for the production of laccase and MnP. Ammonium tartrate was a good nitrogen source for the enzyme production. No significant difference in the laccase production was observed, when glucose concentration was varied between 5 g/l and 30 g/l. As the concentration of nitrogen source increased, a lower MnP activity was observed. The optimal C/N ratio was 25 for the production of laccase and MnP. When the concentrations of glucose and ammonium tartrate were simultaneously increased, the laccase and MnP activities increased dramatically. The maximum laccase and MnP activities were 33.7 U/ml at 72 h and 475 U/ml at 96 h, respectively, in the optimal condition. In this condition, over 90% decolorization efficiency was observed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1375-1382
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• 2019

Phenylalanine hydroxylase from Chromobacterium violaceum (CvPAH) is a monomeric enzyme that converts phenylalanine to tyrosine. It shares high amino acid identity and similar structure with a subunit of human phenylalanine hydroxylase that is a tetramer, resulting in the latent application in medications. In this study, semirational design was applied to CvPAH to improve the catalytic ability based on molecular dynamics simulation analyses. Four N-terminal truncated variants and one single point variant were constructed and characterized. The D267P variant showed a 2.1-fold increased thermal stability compared to the wild type, but lower specific activity was noted compared with the wild type. The specific activity of all truncated variants was a greater than 25% increase compared to the wild type, and these variants showed similar or slightly decreased thermostability with the exception of the $N-{\Delta}9$ variant. Notably, the $N-{\Delta}9$ variant exhibited a 1.2-fold increased specific activity, a 1.3-fold increased thermostability and considerably increased catalytic activity under the neutral environment compared with the wild type. These properties of the $N-{\Delta}9$ variant could advance medical and pharmaceutical applications of CvPAH. Our findings indicate that the N-terminus might modulate substrate binding, and are directives for further modification and functional research of PAH and other enzymes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1288-1298
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• 2019

Bacterial ATP synthases drive ATP synthesis by a rotary mechanism, and play a vital role in physiology and cell metabolism. Corynebacterium glutamicum is well known as an industrial workhorse for amino acid production, and its ATP synthase operon contains eight structural genes and two adjacent genes, cg1360 and cg1361. So far, the physiological functions of Cg1360 (GenBank CAF19908) and Cg1361 (GenBank CAF19909) remain unclear. Here, we showed that Cg1360 was a hydrophobic protein with four transmembrane helices (TMHs), while no TMH was found in Cg1361. Deletion of cg1360, but not cg1361, led to significantly reduced cell growth using glucose and acetic acid as carbon sources, reduced F1 portions in the membrane, reduced ATP-driven proton-pumping activity and ATPase activity, suggesting that Cg1360 plays an important role in ATP synthase function. The intracellular ATP concentration in the ${\Delta}cg1360$ mutant was decreased to 72% of the wild type, while the NADH and NADPH levels in the ${\Delta}cg1360$ mutant were increased by 29% and 26%, respectively. However, the ${\Delta}cg1361$ mutant exhibited comparable intracellular ATP, NADH and NADPH levels with the wild-type strain. Moreover, the effect of cg1360 deletion on L-valine production was examined in the L-valine-producing V-10 strain. The final production of L-valine in the $V-10-{\Delta}cg1360$ mutant reached $9.2{\pm}0.3g/l$ in shake flasks, which was 14% higher than that of the V-10 strain. Thus, Cg1360 can be used as an effective engineering target by altering energy metabolism for the enhancement of amino acid production in C. glutamicum.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.813-819
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• 2019

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) induces severe respiratory impairment with a reported mortality rate of ~36% in humans. The absence of clinically available MERS-CoV vaccines and treatments to date has resulted in uncontrolled incidence and propagation of the virus. In vaccine design, fusion with the IgG Fc domain is reported to increase the immunogenicity of various vaccine antigens. However, limited reports have documented the potential negative effects of Fc fusion on vaccine antigens. To determine whether Fc fusion affects the immunogenicity of MERS-CoV antigen, we constructed a Fcassociated MERS-CoV spike protein (eS770-Fc, 110 kDa), whereby human IgG4 Fc domain was fused to MERS-CoV spike protein (eS770) via a Gly/Pro linker using baculovirus as the expression system. For comparative analyses, two eS770 proteins lacking the IgG4 Fc domain were generated using the IdeS protease ($eS770-{\Delta}Fc$) or His tag attachment (eS770-His) and the immunogenicity of the above constructs were examined following intramuscular immunization in mice. Contrary to expectations, non-Fc spike proteins ($eS770-{\Delta}Fc$, eS770-His; 90 kDa) showed higher immunogenicity than the Fc fusion protein (eS770-Fc). Moreover, unlike non-Fc spike proteins, eS770-Fc immunization did not elicit neutralizing antibodies against MERS-CoV. The lower immunogenicity of Fc-fused eS770 was related to alterations in the structural conformation of the spike protein. Taken together, our results indicate that IgG Fc fusion reduces the immunogenicity of eS770 by interfering with the proper folding structure.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.188-192
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• 2004

The main aim of this study was to investigate the sterilization effects of microwave-induced argon plasma at atmospheric pressure on paper materials contaminated with fungi. Plasma-treated filter papers showed no evidence to an unaided eye of burning or paper discoloration due to the plasma treatment. All fungi were perfectly sterilized in less than 1 sec, regardless of strains. These results indicate that this sterilization method for paper materials is easy to use, requires significantly less time than other traditional methods and different plasma sterilization methods, and is also nontoxic.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.222-229
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• 1994

In order to develop a method of economical production and to reduce energy-consumption in fuel alcohol production, we investigated the fermentation characters of two newly selected thermotolerant yeasts. The RA-74-2 showed stable and superior fermentability between 30 and $40^{\circ}C$ in 20% glucose media in comparison to the industrial strains. The optimum concentration of glucose for economical fermentation at $40^{\circ}C$ was 15-18%, and organic nitrogen was necessary for a satisfactory fermentation. The optimum pH was 4.0 and aeration was adversed for high temperature fermentation. Agitation was an important factor at $40^{\circ}C$ and the addition of magnesium ion 0.2% was required in this experiment. When the inoculum was increased, ethanol productivity as well as the speed of fermentation increased. On the other hand RA-912, which can grow at $48^{\circ}C$, showed similar fermentability between 30-$45^{\circ}C$ in 20% glucose media As the concentration of substrate decreased, fermentation ratio increased at $45^{\circ}C$ (45%, 65%, 95% fermentation ratio in 20%, 15%, 10% glucose media, respectively). Also, requirement of organic nitrogen and magnesium ion in RA-912 was similar in RA-74-2. The optimum pH for fermentation was 5.0, and the effects of agitation were enhanced at $37^{\circ}C$ than at $45^{\circ}C$. As the inoculum was increased, fermentation speed became more enhanced but the ethanol productivity was less affected. RA-912 showed fermentability with various substrates. Among the substrates used, inulin was the most promising substrate for the high-temperature fermentation. When 14.5% inulin was used as the substrate, 93% and 55% fermentation ratios were shown at $37^{\circ}C$ and $45^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1077-1084
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• 2009

A genomic library was constructed to clone a xylanase gene (Mxyn10) from Demequina sp. JK4 isolated from a deep sea. Mxyn10 encoded a 471 residue protein with a calculated molecular mass of 49 kDa. This protein showed the highest sequence identity (70%) with the xylanase from Streptomyces lividans. Mxyn10 contains a catalytic domain that belongs to the glycoside hydrolase family 10 (GH10) and a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) belonging to family 2. The optimum pH and temperature for enzymatic activity were pH 5.5 and $55^{\circ}C$, respectively. Mxyn10 exhibited good pH stability, remaining stable after treatment with buffers ranging from pH 3.5 to 10.0. The protein was not significantly affected by a variety of chemical reagents, including some compounds that usually inhibit the activity of other related enzymes. In addition, Mxyn10 showed activity on cellulose. These properties mark Mxyn10 as a potential enzyme for industrial application and saccharification processes essential for bioethanol production.