• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.201-210
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• 1965

Leuconostoc mesenteroides P-60, Lactobacillus arabinosus 17-5, Streptococcus faecalis R have been successfully used for the quantitative determination of sixteen amino acids in Undaria pinnatifida (Harvey) Suringar hydrolysate by alkaline and hydrolysis for succesive two hours from two to twelve hours, by means of microbiological assay. And thiamine and riboflavin were fluorometrically determinated by thiochrome and lumiflavin in powder (80mesh) of Undaria pinnatifida (Harvey) Suringar. The results were as follows: 1) Arginine contents was the highest in hydrolysate for two hours, but longer the hydrolysis, the more content Undaria pinnatifida was decreased. 2) The adequate contents of other amino acids were obtained by hydrolysis for six hours. 3) Growth check and improve of Lactobacillus were not identified in determination by microbiological assay for Undaria pinnatifida. 4) The following values were obtained in Undaria pinnatifida hydrolysate six hours: asparatic acid 466, arginine 230, lysine 317, histidine 74, isoleucine 242, methionine 202, phenylalanine 256, proline 231, threonine 231, tyrosine 161, valine 415, glycine 302, leucine 414, glutamic acid 625, cystine (5 hrs.) 53 and tryptophan (8 hrs.) 90mg per nitrogen one gram. 5) Protein score was 81 (limiting factor was isoleucine) and essential amino acids pattern was of satisfactory results. And methionine contained was higher than FAO value or milk value. 6) Sulphur contained amino acids (methionine plus cystine) contained in Undaria pinnatifida were 225mg/N-g. That was satisfactory results. 7) Absorption spectrum of wave length were not different 1% HAc from buffer-sol. (pH 6.8) in dilution for determination of riboflavin. Both methods might be suitable. 8) Thiamine and riboflavin contained in Undaria pinnatifida were ($B_1,\;82.51{\pm}1.1){\gamma}/N-g\;and\;(B_2,\;115.29{\pm}1.5){\gamma}/N-g.$.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.96-103
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• 2010

Oligosaccharyltransferase (OTase) catalyzes the transfer of a lipid-linked oligosaccharide (LLO) to the nascent polypeptide. Most eukaryotes have an OTase composed of a multisubunit protein complex. However, the kinetoplastid Leishmania major and the bacterium Campylobacter jejuni have only a single subunit for OTase activity, Stt3p and PglB, respectively. In this study, a new in vitro assay for OTase was developed by using a fluorescent peptide containing N-glycosylation sequon, Asn-Xaa-Thr/Ser, where Xaa can be any amino acid residue except Pro. L. major Stt3p and C. jejuni PglB as a model OTase enzyme demonstrated the formation of glycopeptides from a fluorescent peptide through OTase activities. For separation and measurement of the glycopeptides produced by the OTases, Tricine-SDS-PAGE, a lectin column and fluorospectrophotometer, and HPLC were applied. Comparison of these assay methods for analyzing a fluorescent glycopeptide showed HPLC analysis is the best method for separation of glycopeptides and nonglycosylated peptides as well as for quantify the peptides than other methods.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.255-255
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• 2002

For rapid and sensitive measurement of antiviral activities, application of a recombinant virus containing firefly luciferase gene was attempted. Recombinant human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) containing luciferase gene driven by HCMV late gene pp28 promoter (HCMV/pp28-luc) was used to test the antiviral activities of three known compounds and the result was compared with results from the conventional plaque assay for measuring the production of infectious viruses. When human fibroblast cells were infected with HCMV/pp28-luc, luciferase activity was observed at 2 days after infection and reached maximum at 6 days after infection, whereas the production of infectious virus was maximal at 4 days after infection. The antiviral activities of ganciclovir, acyclovir, and papaverine were measured in HFF cells infected with HCMV/PP28-luc and the luciferase activity was compared with the infectious virus titers. Luciferase activity decreased as the concentration of ganciclovir or papaverine increased, while there was a slight decrease in luciferase activity with acyclovir. The level of the decrease in Luciferase activity was comparable to the level of decrease in the production of infectious virus. Therefore, the antiviral assay using recombinant virus HCMV/pp28-luc resulted in sensitivity similar to the conventional plaque assay with a significant reduction in assay time.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) method of detecting noroviruses in artificially and naturally contaminated shellfish. We used 58 fecal samples that tested positive for noroviruses with electron microscopy (EM) to develop an NASBA assay for these viruses. Oligonucleotide primers targeting the polymerase coding region were used to amplify the viral RNA in an isothermal process that resulted in the accumulation of RNA amplicons. These amplicons were detected by hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide probes that were highly specific for genogroup I (GI) and genogroup II (GII) of noroviruses. The expected band of 327bp appeared in denaturing agarose gel without any nonspecific band. The specific signal for each amplicon was obtained through Northern blotting in many repeats. All fecal samples of which 46(79.3%) belonged to GII and 12(20.6%) belonged to GI were positive for noroviruses by EM and by NASBA. Target RNA concentrations as low as 5pg/ml were detected in fecal specimens using NASBA. When the assay was applied to artificially contaminated shellfish, the sensitivity to nucleic acid was 100pg/1.5g shellfish tissue. The potential use of this assay was also confirmed in naturally contaminated shellfish collected from different ponds in Guangzhou city of China, of which 24 (18.76%) out of 128 samples were positive for noroviruses; of these, 19 (79.6%) belonged to GII and 5 (20.4%) belonged to GI. The NASBA assay provided a more rapid and efficient way of detecting noroviruses in fecal samples and demonstrated its potential for detecting noroviruses in food and environmental samples with high specificity and sensitivity.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.179-185
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• 2007

In this study, we used the method of guanidin isothiocyanate and boiling with Chelex-100 resin to extract genomic DNA of Ralstonia solanacearum from soil. It is more efficient than general protocols to remove inhibitory compounds in soil and R. solanacearum on. Then, we applied polymerase chain reaction and DNA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to identify and detect pathogen. The fliC gene of R. solanacearum was selected for specific detection of pathogen and primer sets were designed. Among the primer sets, two specific and sensitive primer sets, RsolfliC(forward: 5-GAACGCCAACGGTGCGAACT-3 and reverse; 5-GGCGGCCTTCAGGGAGGTC-3, designed by J. $Sch\ddot{o}nfeld$ et al.) and RS_247 (forward: 5-GGCGGTCTGTCGGCRG-3 and reverse; 5-CGGTCGCGTTGGCAAC-3 designed by this study), were designed to perform nested PCR. Nested PCR primer was labeled with biotin for hybridization between nested PCR product and probe to analyze with DNA ELISA.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.537-545
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• 2005

Even though neutralizing antibodies against the Hantaan virus (HTNV) has been proven to be critical against viral infections, the cellular immune responses to HTNV are also assumed to be important for viral clearance. In this report, we have examined the cellular and humoral immune responses against the HTNV nucleocapsid protein (NP) elicited by virus infection or DNA vaccination. To examine the cellular immune response against HTNV NP, we used $H-2K^b$ restricted T-cell epitopes of NP. The NP-specific $CD8^+$ T cell response was analyzed using a $^{51}Cr-release$ assay, intracellular cytokine staining assay, enzyme-linked immunospot assay and tetramer binding assay in C57BL/6 mice infected with HTNV. Using these methods, we found that HTNV infection elicited a strong NP-specific $CD8^+$ T cell response at eight days after infection. We also found that several different methods to check the NP-specific $CD8^+$ T cell response showed a very high correlation among analysis. In the case of DNA vaccination by plasmid encoding nucleocapsid gene, the NP-specific antibody response was elicited $2\~4$ weeks after immunization and maximized at $6\~8$ weeks. NP-specific $CD8^+$ T cell response reached its peak 3 weeks after immunization. In a challenge test with the recombinant vaccinia virus expressing NP (rVV-HTNV-N), the rVV-HTNV-N titers in DNA vaccinated mice were decreased about 100-fold compared to the negative control mice.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.76-78
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• 2002

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are induced in most living cells by mild heat treatment, ethanol, heavy metal ions and hypoxia. In yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mild heat pretreatment strongly induces Hsp104 and thus provide acquired thermotolerance. The ability of hsp104 deleted mutant $({\triangle}hsp104)$ to acquire tolerance to extreme temperature is severely impaired. In providing thermotolerance, two ATP binding domains are indispensible, as demonstrated in ClpA and ClpB proteases of E. coli. The mechanisms by which Hsp104 protects cells from severe heat stress are not yet completely elucidated. We have investigated regulation of mitochondrial metabolic pathways controlled by the functional Hsp104 protein using $^{13}C_NMR$ spectroscopy and observed that the turnover rate of TCA cycle was enhanced in the absence of Hsp104. Production of ROS, which are toxic to kill cells radiply via oxidative stress, was also examined by fluorescence assay. Mitochondrial dysfunction was manifested in increased ROS levels and higher sensitivity for oxidative stress in the absence of Hsp104 protein expressed. Finally, we have identified mitochondrial complex I and Ferritin as binding protein(s) of Hsp104 by yeast two hybrid experiment. Based on these observations, we suggest that Hsp104 protein functions as a protector of oxidative stress via either keeping mitochondrial integrity, direct binding to mitochonrial components or regulating metal-catalyzed redox chemistry.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.135-135
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• 2008

Various biosensors were evaluated for identifying and detecting foodborne pathogens in a rapid and effective manner. First, five strains of Escherichia coli and six strains of Salmonella were identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and a statistical program. For doing this, lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) and outer membrane proteins (OMPs) were extracted from a cell wall of each bacterial strain. As a result, each strain was identifed at the level of 97% for E. coli and 100% for Salmonella. Second, E. coli O157:H7, S. Enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes were identified by multiplex PCR products from four specific genes of each bacteria using a capillary electrophoresis (CE). Also, ground beef for E. coli O157:H7, lettuce for S. Enteritidis, and hot dog for L. monocytogenes were used to determine the possibility of detecting pathogens in foods. Foods inoculated with respective pathogen were cultivated for six hours and multiplex PCR products were obtained and assessed. The minimum detection levels of tested bacteria were <10 cells/g, <10 cells/g, and $10^4$ cells/g for E. coli O157:H7, S. Enteritidis, and L. monocytogenes, respectively. Third, it was possible to detect S. Typhimurium in a pure culture and lettuce by a bioluminescence-based detection assay using both recombinant bacteriophage P22::luxI and a bioluminescent bioreporter. In addition, bacteriophage T4 was quantitatively monitored using E. coli including luxCDABE genes.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.24-31
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• 2000

In order to find out SoxR-reducing system in E. coli, we generated Tn10-insertion mutants and screened for constitutive expression of SoxS in a soxS-lacZ fusion strain. One mutation was mapped in rseB, a gene in rseABC (Regulation of SigmaE) operon. The constitutive soxS-expressing phenotype was due to the polar effect on the downstream gene, rseC. RseC is likely to function as a component of SoxR reduction system because SoxR was kept in oxidized form to activate soxS expression in rseC mutant. RseC is an integral membrane protein with an N-terminal cysteine-rich domain in the cytoplasm. The functionally critical cysteines were determined by substitution mutagenesis. The truncated N-terminal domain of RseC reduced the soxS transcription by $50\%$ as judged by in vitro transcription assay. Currently RseC is believed to be a reducing factor for SoxR. However, the mechanism for the reduction needs further investigation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.328-333
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• 2014

Folate is a water-soluble vitamin B that is required for the synthesis of amino acids and nucleic acids. It plays an important role in cell division and cell growth in several living organisms. The purpose of this study was to screen strong folate-synthesizing bacteria and to optimize their culture conditions for folate production. Folate production was quantified by microbiological assays by using folate-dependent strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus KCTC 3237. Folate derivatives were identified by LC-MS/MS. Of the 65 strains of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli tested, L. plantarum Fol 708 demonstrated the greatest ability to produce folate. Its optimal pH for folate production was 5.5 in a pH-controlled, lab-scale fermenter. Coculturing L. plantarum Fol 708 with L. brevis GABA 100 in a milk medium enhanced the level of folate produced in comparison to culturing L. plantarum Fol 708 alone.