• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.319-325
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate the soil compositions, methane production, the number of methanogens, and the community structure of methanogens in rice paddy soils and dry field farming soils in the summer and autumn seasons. As a result of the analysis of soil compositions, any regular tendency to increase or decrease has not been found in most soil samples due to the change of seasons. It has also been found that more methanogens exist in the rice paddy soil that utilize organic farming practices and emptiness farming practices than in the dry field farming soil. The fewer numbers of methanogens utilizing the acetate have been found than those of the methanogens utilizing the hydrogen or the formate. In an experiment of methane production, the methanes increased for two weeks when the acetate was added, but they continued to increase for seven weeks more when the formate and the hydrogen were added. In the phylogenetic analysis using the mcrA gene, the methanogens had diverse clusters in the rice paddy soil, whereas the methanogens were concentrated only in a few clusters in the dry field farming soil.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1416-1423
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• 2013

The metabolomic profile of the anaerobic fungus Piromyces sp. F1, isolated from the rumen of goats, and how this is affected by the presence of naturally associated methanogens, was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The major metabolites in the fungal monoculture were formate, lactate, ethanol, acetate, succinate, sugars/amino acids and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate, whereas the co-cultures of anaerobic fungi and associated methanogens produced citrate. This is the first report of citrate as a major metabolite of anaerobic fungi. Univariate analysis showed that the mean values of formate, lactate, ethanol, citrate, succinate and acetate in co-cultures were significantly higher than those in the fungal monoculture, while the mean values of glucose and ${\alpha}$-ketoglutarate were significantly reduced in co-cultures. Unsupervised principal components analysis revealed separation of metabolite profiles of the fungal mono-culture and co-cultures. In conclusion, the novel finding of citrate as one of the major metabolites of anaerobic fungi associated with methanogens may suggest a new yet to be identified pathway exists in co-culture. Anaerobic fungal metabolism was shifted by associated methanogens, indicating that anaerobic fungi are important providers of substrates for methanogens in the rumen and thus play a key role in ruminal methanogenesis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1665-1671
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• 2009

Anaerobic digestion sludge was cultivated in an electrochemical bioreactor (ECB) to enrich the hydrogenotrophic methanogens. A modified graphite felt cathode with neutral red (NR-cathode) was charged with electrochemical reducing power generated from a solar cell. The methane and carbon dioxide collected in a Teflon bag from the ECB were more than 80 ml/l of reactant/day and less than 20 ml/l of reactant/day, respectively, whereas the methane and carbon dioxide collected from a conventional bioreactor (CB) was around 40 ml/l of reactant/day, respectively. Moreover, the maximal volume ratios of methane to carbon dioxide (M/C ratio) collected in the Teflon bag from the ECB and CB were 7 and 1, respectively. The most predominant methanogens isolated from the CB on the $20^{th}$, $80^{th}$, and $150^{th}$ days of incubation were hydrogenotrophs. The methanogenic diversity analyzed by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) of the 16S rDNA variable region was higher in the ECB than in the CB. The DNA extracted from the TGGE bands was more than 95% homologous with hydrogenotrophic methanogens in the ECB, but was an aceticlastic methanogen in the CB. In conclusion, the ECB was demonstrated as a useful system for enriching hydrogenotrophic methanogens and increasing the M/C ratio of the gas product.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2013

The diversity and distribution of methanogenic archaea in a four-compartment anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) treating sugar refinery wastewater were investigated by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). At an organic loading rate of 5.33 kg $COD/m^3{\cdot}day$, the ABR could perform steadily with the mean chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 94.8% and the specific $CH_4$ yield of 0.21 l/g $COD_{removed}$. The $CH_4$ content in the biogas was increased along the compartments, whereas the percentage of $H_2$ was decreased, indicating the distribution characteristics of the methanogens occurred longitudinally down the ABR. A high phylogenetic and ecological diversity of methanogens was found in the ABR, and all the detected methanogens were classified into six groups, including Methanomicrobiales, Methanosarcinales, Methanobacteriales, Crenarchaeota, Arc I, and Unidentified. Among the methanogenic population, the acid-tolerant hydrogenotrophic methanogens including Methanoregula and Methanosphaerula dominated the first two compartments. In the last two compartments, the dominant methanogenic population was Methanosaeta, which was the major acetate oxidizer under methanogenic conditions and could promote the formation of granular sludge. The distribution of the hydrogenotrophic (acid-tolerant) and acetotrophic methanogens in sequence along the compartments allowed the ABR to perform more efficiently and steadily.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.515-521
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• 2004

Anaerobic digestion has many advantages over the more conventional aerobic treatment processes such as low levels of excess sludge production, low space (area) requirements, and the production of valuable biogas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of organic loading rate of anaerobic digestion on thermophilic($55^{\circ}C$) and mesophilic($35^{\circ}C$) conditions. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) method was also used to study the microbial community in the reactors. The stabilizing time in mesophilic anaerobic reactors was shorter as approximately 20 days than 40 days in the thermophilic anaerobic reactors. The amount of methane production rate in anaerobic reactors was independent of the concentrations of supplied substrates and the amount of methanogens. When the microbial diversity in the mesophilic and thermophilic reactors, which had been treated with acetate-based artificial wastewater, were compared, it was found that methanogenesis was carried out by microbial consortia consisting of bacteria and archaea such as methanogens. To investigate the activity of bacterial and archaeal populations in all anaerobic reactors, the amount of acetate was measured. Archaea were predominant in all reactors. Interestingly, Methanothrix-like methanogens appeared in mesophilic anaerobic reactors with high feed substrate concentrations, whereas it was not observed in thermophilic anaerobic reactors.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1721-1725
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro effects of coconut materials on ruminal methanogenesis and fermentation characteristics, in particular their effectiveness for mitigating ruminal methanogenesis. Fistulated Holstein cows were used as the donor of rumen fluid. Coconut materials were added to an in vitro fermentation incubated with rumen fluid-buffer mixture and timothy substrate for 24 h incubation. Total gas production, gas profiles, total volatile fatty acids (tVFAs) and the ruminal methanogens diversity were measured. Although gas profiles in added coconut oil and coconut powder were not significantly different, in vitro ruminal methane production was decreased with the level of reduction between 15% and 19% as compared to control, respectively. Coconut oil and coconut powder also inhibited gas production. The tVFAs concentration was increased by coconut materials, but was not affected significantly as compared to control. Acetate concentration was significantly lower (p<0.05), while propionate was significantly higher (p<0.05) by addition of the coconut materials than that of the control. The acetate:propionate ratio was significantly lowered with addition of coconut oil and coconut powder (p<0.05). The methanogens and ciliate-associated methanogens in all added coconut materials were shown to decrease as compared with control. This study showed that ciliate-associated methanogens diversity was reduced by more than 50% in both coconut oil and coconut powder treatments. In conclusion, these results indicate that coconut powder is a potential agent for decreasing in vitro ruminal methane production and as effective as coconut oil.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1409-1419
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• 2016

The effect of pH on propionate degradation in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor containing propionate as a sole carbon source was studied. Under influent propionate of 2,000 mg/l and 35℃, propionate removal at pH 7.5-6.8 was above 93.6%. Propionate conversion was significantly inhibited with stepwise pH decrease from pH 6.8 to 6.5, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.5, and then to 4.0. After long-term operation, the propionate removal at pH 6.5-4.5 maintained an efficiency of 88.5%-70.1%, whereas propionate was hardly decomposed at pH 4.0. Microbial composition analysis showed that propionate-oxidizing bacteria from the genera Pelotomaculum and Smithella likely existed in this system. They were significantly reduced at pH ≤5.5. The methanogens in this UASB reactor belonged to four genera: Methanobacterium, Methanospirillum, Methanofollis, and Methanosaeta. Most detectable hydrogenotrophic methanogens were able to grow at low pH conditions (pH 6.0-4.0), but the acetotrophic methanogens were reduced as pH decreased. These results indicated that propionate-oxidizing bacteria and acetotrophic methanogens were more sensitive to low pH (5.5-4.0) than hydrogenotrophic methanogens.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.364-370
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• 1996

Sediments collected from the Jungnang-cheon and its tributaries were used to enumerate anaerobic bacteria by most probable number (MPN) methods. A simple method was developed to detect ferrous ion in the culture fluid in order to count the number of iron ion reducers, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and methanogens were detected by the presence of FeS precipitate in the culture or methane in the head space, respectively. The numbers of iron reducer was in the range of 10$^{7}$ - 10$^{8}$ /g in the sediment of the stream containing higher organic content than the tributaries. The sediments of tributaries were analyzed to contain iron reducers less than 10$^{7}$ cells/g. With one exception the numbers of SRB and methanogens were less than 10$^{3}$ cells/g in the sediment. From these results it is concluded that organics in the sediment support the growth of iron reducers, which out-compete SRB and methanogens.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.508-511
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• 2000

In situ hybridization with fluorescent oligonucleotides(FISH) was used to detect and localize microorganisms in the granules of lab-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket(UASB) reactors. An UASB reactor was seeded with mesophilically-grown($35^{\circ}\;C$) granular sludge, and thermophilically($55^{\circ}\;C$) operated by feeding with a synthetic wastewater. Sections of the granules were hybridized with 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes for Eubacteria, Archaeabacteria, and specific phylogenetic groups of methanogens. FISH clearly showed the layed structure of thermophilic granules, which was consisted of outer bacterial cells and inner archaeal cells. Methanoseata-, Methanosarcina-like cells were also found to be localized inside the granules. These results demonstrated FISH was useful in studying the spatial organizations of methanogens and in situ morphologies and metabolic functions in thermophilic granular sludges.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.117-121
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• 2002

A numerical model that describes the reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethene(PCE) to ethene via cis-dichloroethene(CDCE) was developed. The model included two separated dehalogenator groups : one for PCE transformation to cDCE via TCE and the other for cDCE dehalogenation to ethene via VC, competitive inhibition between different chloroethene electron accepters, and competition for H$_2$ between dechlorination and methanogens. Model simulations suggest first, that PCE dechlorinators are better competitive with methanogens than cDCE dechlorinators. Second, not only the initial relative population size of dehalogenators and H$_2$-utilizing methanogens but also electron donor delivery strategies used greatly affects the degree of dehalogenation. As a result, all of factors in the above must be considered in order to achieve economical and successful bioremediation of contaminated soil and groundwater with chlorinated solvents.