• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1339-1346
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• 2015

The aim of this study is to increase production of carotenoids in recombinant Escherichia coli by Archaea chaperonin. The carotenoids are a widely distributed class of structurally and functionally diverse yellow, orange, and red natural pigments. These pigments are synthesized in bacteria, algae, fungi, and plants, and have been widely used as a feed supplement from poultry rearing to aquaculture. Carotenoids also exhibit diverse biological properties, such as strong antioxidant and antitumor activities, and enhancement of immune responses. In the microbial world, carotenoids are present in both anoxygenic and oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria and algae and in many fungi. We have previously reported cloning and functional analysis of the carotenoid biosynthesis genes from Paracoccus haeundaensis. The carotenogenic gene cluster involved in astaxanthin production contained seven carotenogenic genes (crtE, crtB, crtI, crtY, crtZ, crtW and crtX genes) and recombinant Escherichia coli harboring seven carotenogenic genes from Paracoccus haeundaensis produced 400 μg/g dry cell weight (DCW) of astaxanthin. In order to increase production of astaxanthin, we have co-expressed chaperone genes (ApCpnA and ApCpnB) in recombinant Escherichia coli harboring the astaxanthin biosynthesis genes. This engineered Escherichia coli strain containing both chaperone gene and astaxanthin biosynthesis gene cluster produced 890 μg/g DCW of astaxanthin, resulting 2-fold increased production of astaxanthin.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1399-1407
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• 2015

Klebsiella pneumoniae is found in the normal flora of the skin, mouth, respiratory tract, urinary tract, and intestines in human. However, the stain is opportunistic pathogen, which is the causative agent of community acquired pneumonia. Corn silk has been known to be effective for antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria, including K. pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Shigella spp., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, et al. In this study we focused on the antimicrobial properties of con silk water extract of K. penumoniae. K. pneumoniae isolates K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883 and broad-spectrum β-lactamase (BSBL), exteded-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL), carbapenemase-producers. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were determined by the disk diffusion method. Searches for bla genes were performed by PCR amplication and direct sequencing. MacConkey agar plate medium was prepared using the corn silk extracts (50% or 100%) instead of distilled water for antimicrobial activity test. The microbial growth inhibitory potential of K. pneumoniae was determined by using the MacConkey agar plate spreading method, and the plate was incubated 18 hr at 37℃. Genes encoding β-lactamases including SHV-1 (n=8), SHV-2a (n=8), SHV-5 (n=2), SHV-11 (n=2), SHV-12 (n=18), TEM-1 (n=10), CTX-M-3 (n=2), CTX-M-14 (n=2), CTX-M-15 (n=1), GES-5 (n=5), KPC-2 (n=6), KPC-3 (n=4), and NDM-1 (n=2) were detected. The corn silk extract showed significantly antimicrobial activity against K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883, but BSBLs, ESBLs, and carbapenemase producers were not. Therefore, corn silk extract is thought to be able to assist in the prevention and rapid recovery of infectious disease caused by K. pneumoniae.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.823-830
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• 1999

The suppressing effects of crude extracts of three Korean teas, persimmon leaf tea extract (PLTE), green tea extract (GTE) and oolong tea extract (OTE), were studied on the induction of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells. When cells were treated with tea extract after mitomycin C (MMC) treatment, the frequency of MMC-induced SCEs were decreased at the high concentration $(1000\;{\mu}g/mL)$ of PLTE in the presence of S9 mix and at low concentrations $(20{\sim}80\;{\mu}g/mL)$ of PLTE in the absence of S9 mix, Whereas GTE and OTE showed suppressing effects on the MMC-induced SCEs at low concentrations $(10{\sim}20\;{\mu}g/mL)$ for OTE and $160\;{\mu}g/mL$ for GTE only in the presence of S9 mix. MMC-induced SCEs were decreased by post-treatment with each tea extracts with S9 mix in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. These results suggest that PLTE, GTE and OTE could have bio antimutagenic activities, and also suggest that PLTE might have unknown antimutagenic components which would be responsible for the inhibitory effect against direct acting mutagenicity.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1174-1181
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• 2003

A part of Aspergillus oryzae koji was replaced with Bacillus sp. koji to improve the quality of kochujang, and the resulting effects on enzyme activities, microbial characteristics, and physicochemical properties were investigated during fermentation. The activity of amylase was higher in the kochujang prepared with Asp. oryzae koji. The activity of protease increased as the ratio of Bacillus. sp. koji increased. Viable cell counts of yeast and bacteria of the kochujang increased with increasing ratio of Bacillus sp. koji. The Hunter a-values of the Bacillus sp. koji kochujang were higher, and the degree of increase in the total color difference $({\Delta}\;E)$ was lower in the Bacillus sp. koji group. Consistency and water activity of the kochujang prepared with Bacillus sp. koji was higher, and the pH and titratable acidity of the kochujang also changed slightly. As the ratio of Asp. oryzae koji increased, sugar content decreased. However, the ethanol content of the kochujang did not significantly change. Amino nitrogen content of the kochujang increased, while ammonia nitrogen content decreased as the ratio of Bacillus sp. koji increased. After 12 weeks of fermentation, the result of sensory evaluation showed that C kochujang (75% of Asp. oryzae koji replaced by Bacillus sp.) was more acceptable (p<0.05) than the other groups in taste, color, flavor, and overall acceptability.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.174-180
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• 1981

As the amount of pesticides consumption increases in agriculture, the side effects of pesticides on soil microorganisms have become an essential part in safety evaluation of pesticide for continued soil fertility. In order to establish the method of safety assessment of pesticides in Korea, a series of tests were carried out. Among the paddy pesticides Fujione (Isoprothiolane, fungicide), Ortran (Acephate, insecticide), and Machete (Butachlor, herbicide) were chosen and the effects of above three pesticides on Korean paddy soil microorganisms were studied. The measurements of pesticide effects on the cycling of carbon ($CO_2$ production), nitrogen fixation ($C_2H_2$ reduction), nitrification, and dehydrogenase activity were carried out. These measurements were complemented by evaluation of pesticide effects on viable microbial numbers. Although Fujione reduced the fungi numbers and inhibited nitrogen cycling activities somewhat, no significant adverse effects were show by any of the tested pesticides in our study.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.169-177
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• 2005

This study focuses on investigating roles of microorganisms in decontamination of reed rhizosphere in Sunchon Bay, Korea, which is considered one of the marsh and mud environment severely affected by human activities such as agriculture and fisheries. In general, the bay is known to play the role of the buffering zone to reduce the sudden impact or change by environmental stresses. In our initial efforts to elucidate the microbial functions in decontamination process in reed rhizosphere, pure bacteria capable of degrading aromatic hydrocarbons were isolated from reed (Phragmites communis) rhizosphere of Sunchon bay by enrichment culture using either benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, or xylene (BTEX) as a sole source of carbon and energy. Measurement of the rates of BTEX degradation and cell growth during the incubation in BTEX media under several temperature conditions demonstrated maximized degradation of BTEX at $37^{\circ}C$ in both strains. Both strains were also resistant to all the heavy metals and antibiotics tested in this study, as well as they grew well at $42^{\circ}C$. Identification of the isolates based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, and a variety of phenotypic and morphologic properties revealed that the two strains capable of BTEX catabolism were among Microbacterium sp., and Rhodococcus sp. with over $95{\%}$ confidence, designated Microbacterium sp. EMB-1 and Rhodococcus sp. EMB-2, respectively This result suggested that in the rhizosphere of reed, one of major salt marsh plants they might play an important roles in decontamination process of reed rhizosphere contaminated with petroleum such as BTEX.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.11-11
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• 2015

A total of sixty-six samples of Nuruk, a fermention starter used to make the Korean traditional rice wine, Makgeolli, were collected from central and southern regions of Korea in 2013 and 2014. We classified two groups of the Nuruk samples, "commercial" and "home-made", according to the manufacturing procedure and purpose of use. Commercial Nuruks were made in a controlled environment where the temperature and humidity are fixed and the final product is supplied to Makgeolli manufacturers. Home-made Nuruks were made under uncontrolled conditions in the naturally opened environment and were intended for use in the production of small amounts of home-brewed Makgeolli. We obtained more than five hundred isolates including filamentous fungi and yeasts from the Nuruk samples followed by identification of fungal species. Also we stored glycerol stocks of each single isolate at $-70^{\circ}C$. We identified the species of each isolate based on the sequences of ITS regions amplified with two different universal primer pairs. We also performed morphological characterization of the filamentous fungi and yeast species through observations under the microscope. We investigated the major fungal species of commercial and home-made Nuruks by counting the colony forming units (CFU) and analyzing the occurrence tendency of fungal species. While commercial Nuruks contained mostly high CFU of yeasts, home-made Nuruks showed relatively high occurrence of filamentous fungi. One of the representative Nuruk manufacturers used both domestic wheat bran and imported ones, mainly from US, as raw material. Depending on the source of ingredient, the fungal diversity was somewhat different. Another commercial Nuruk sample was collected twice, once in 2013 and again in 2014, and showed different diversity of fungal species in each year. Nuruks obtained from the southern regions of Korea and Jeju island showed high frequency of yeast such as Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Pichia species as well as unique filamentous fungus, Monascus species. S. fibuligera was easily found in many Nuruk samples with high CFU. The major filamentous fungi were Aspergillus, Lichtheimia, Mucor and Penicillium species. In order to further our understanding of the isolates and their potential industrial applications, we assayed three enzymes, alpha amylase, glucoamylase and acid protease from 140 isolates out of about five hundred isolates and selected about 10 excellent strains with high enzyme activities. With these fungal isolates, we will perform omics analyses including genomics, transcriptomics, metabolic pathway analyses, and metabolomics followed by whole genome sequencing of unique isolates associated with the basic research of Nuruk and that also has applications in the Makgeolli making process.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.669-677
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to develop a functional drink using maca extract, and to evaluate the latter's antioxidative activity during storage. Maca extract was added in five different content percentages (0, 8, 16, 24, and 32%), and the physicochemical properties were investigated. The pH of the control drink was lower than that of the drink to which maca extract was added. The $^{\circ}Brix$ increased with the increasing amount of maca extract. The Hunter L value decreased while the yellowness (b) value increased as the maca extract level increased. The results of the consumer acceptance test showed that no significant differences in overall acceptability were observed between the control and the 8%-, 16%-, and 24% maca-added drinks. Therefore, it is suggested that up to 24% maca extract can be added to drinks without depressing the quality. The changes in the total polyphenol content, DPPH radical, superoxide anion radical activity, and tyrosinase inhibitory effect were monitored during storage at 4 and $37^{\circ}C$ for four weeks. The results showed that there was a gradual decrease in the total polyphenol content and antioxidant activities after four-week storage, and the drinks containing maca extract exhibited a smaller decrease in antioxidant activity than did the control drink. Moreover, microbial growth was not shown during the same periods.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 1993

Marine organisms were investigated to identify the marine actinomycetes that produced noble bioactive compounds. Microorganism counts range from $2.1{\times}10^3\;to\;1.2{\times}10\;CFU/g$ of marine organisms. Actinomycetes constituted 0.01 to $0.5\%$ of culturable microbial community. We identified the marine actinomycetes that produced novel bioactive compounds. During the course of screening for bioactives from the marine microorganisms, we found that the strain in sponge had antimicrobial activities. From the morphological, cultural and various physiological characteristics, this strain was identified for Actinomycetes No. 101. The optimal compositions of culture medium for Actinomycetes No. 101 were starch 30g/l as carbon source, casamino acid 10g/l as nitrogen source. The optimal pH of medium and fermentation temperature were $6.5{\sim}7.0$ and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. Fermentation has been conducted in the marine broth at $30^{\circ}C$ for 72 hour. The yield of fermentation got about 3g as dry weight(per liter of broth). The distribution of antimicrobial activity of Actinomycetes No. 101 was screened by paper disc. The extract of cultured cell and broth inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, but the inhibition action was week against yeast and mold.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.622-628
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• 2013

Diallyl trisulfide (DATS), one of the major organosulfur components of garlic (Allium sativum), has various biological effects such as anti-microbial and anti-cancer activities. However, the molecular mechanisms of growth inhibition related to cell cycle arrest are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of DATS on cell cycle progression in U937 human leukemia cells. Treatment with DATS in U937 cells resulted in inhibition of cell viability through G2/M arrest and apoptosis. DATS-induced G2/M arrest was associated with up-regulation of cyclin B1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1). DATS also significantly increased levels of phospho-histone H3, which is a mitosis-specific marker, indicating that DATS induced mitotic arrest but not G2 arrest in U937 cells. DATS treatment also generated the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in U937 cells; however, pretreatment with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, significantly attenuated DATS-induced mitotic arrest and apoptosis. Taken together, our data indicate that DATS exhibits anti-cancer effects through mitotic arrest and apoptosis in a ROS-dependent manner.