• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 1997

Purpose : Escherichia coli O157 can produce diarrhea as well as hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. In many parts of North America, E. coli O157 often is the second or third most commonly isolated enteric bacterial pathogens. Recently, intakes of fast food, including hamburgers have increased in Korea. Therefore, E. coli O157 infection in Korea are likely to be increased. Methods : Stool samples from 317 pediatric diarrheal patients were analyzed by culture on sorbitol-MacConkey agar. Sorbitol-negative colonies were teated by E. coli O157 latex agglutination test. Results : Of the 317 specimens, one (0.3%) were E. coli O157:NM that not produced Shiga toxin. The 7 year old male patient who had complained of abdominal pain, vomiting and non-bloody diarrhea for 2 days. The patient was improved for 2 days after admission. Conclusions 1 Only one (0.3%) of all fecal samples were isolated E. coli O157 that not produced Shiga toxin. Therefore, routine stool culture for the isolation of E. coli O157 was not likely to be neccessary so far.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.343-349
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• 2009

Inhibitory effect of Escherichia coli O157 adhered to Caco-2 cells by the cells of Lactobacillus plantarum K11 and the cell-free culture supernatant (CFCS) and bacteriocin prepared from this strain was investigated. As the cell counts of viable L. plantarum K11 previously adhered to Caco-2 were increased, the rate of adhesion and adherent cell counts of E. coli O157 was lower. However, because the heated L. plantarum K11 rarely have the adhesion ability to Caco-2, the adhesion rate and adherent cell counts of E. coli O157 were high. In addition, the inhibitory effects of E. coli O157 adhesion by the CFCS and bacteriocin of L. plantarum K11 were dose-dependent manner. Therefore, the inhibition of adhesion of E. coli O157 to Caco-2 may result from the antimicrobial substances such as lactic acid and bacteriocin. Moreover the inhibitory activity of adhesion by the heated bacteriocin for 30 min at 100oC was similar to activity of non-treated bacteriocin, but the activity was disappeared by treatment with protease.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 1987

To determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in fecal E. coli and to investigate possible associations between antibiotic resistance and other plasmid-mediated virulence properties, antibiotic disk susceptibility tests for nine antibiotics were done on 141 strains of E. coli isolated from diarrheal children and well controls. Eighty two percent of the test strains were resistant to one or more antibiotics. Antibiotics to which the test strains were most resistant in descending order were ampicillin (85%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazol (60%), and cephalothin (55%). Seventy nine percent of these resistant strains were resistant to two or more antibiotics. All 141 test strains were sorted into enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), enteroadherent E. coli (EAEC) and non-pathogenic E. coli and the percentages of strains resistant to multiple antibiotics were compared. Among ETEC regardless of its source, multiple drug resistance was more frequent in strains producing heatstable enterotoxin (ST) only than in strains producing only heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) or both. In EAEC, multiple resistance was more frequently associated with strains isolated from diarrheal patients than with those from well controls. The major antibiotic resistance patterns possessed by multiple resistant enteropathogenic strains were $SXT^R$ $AM^R$, $CR^R$, and $SXT^R$ $AM^R$ $CR^R$. Of 28 ST- producing $SXT^R$ ETEC, 26(96%) were also resistant to ampicillin and 17 (61%) were resistant to cephalothin. The similar pattern was observed in EAEC and EPEC as well. This study has important implications for the treatment of E. coli diarrhea with antibiotics because it is possible that dissemination of virulence could occur under the force of selective antibiotic pressure. In addition, this study suggests that the in vivo efficacy of SXT in treating diarrheal illness be reevaluated.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 1985

One hundred and twenty seven strains of Gram-negative rods (72 E. coli, 45 Klebsieila pneumoniae, 8 Enterobacter spp. and 2 Pseudomonas aeruginosa) isolated from bovine mastitis were examined for resistance to ampicilin, carbenicillin and cefazolin, ${\beta}$-lactamase activity and transferable ${\beta}$-lactamase plasmids. Stains resistant to ampicillin were 13.9% in E. coli, 93.3% in Klebsiella pneumoniae, 87.5% in Enterobacter. spp. and all in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Resistance of E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter spp. to ampicillin was due to the ${\beta}$-lactamases, but all Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibited a high level of the non-enzymic resistance. Transferable plasmid-mediated ${\beta}$-lactamase synthesis was demonstrated in 61.9% of Klebsiella pneumoniae, 50% of E. coli and 42.9% of Enterobacter spp. The same ${\beta}$-lactamase plasmids specified different resistance levels to various ${\beta}$-lactam antibiotics in different recipients.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.60 no.7
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• pp.221-226
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• 2017

Purpose: Escherichia coli sequence type (ST) 131, a multidrug-resistant clone causing extraintestinal infections, has rapidly become prevalent worldwide. However, the epidemiological and clinical features of pediatric infections are poorly understood. We aimed to explore the characteristics of ST131 Escherichia coli isolated from Korean children with urinary tract infections. Methods: We examined 114 uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) isolates from children hospitalized at Chung-Ang University Hospital between 2011 and 2014. Bacterial strains were classified into STs by partial sequencing of seven housekeeping genes (adk, fumC, gyrB, icd, mdh, purA, and recA). Clinical characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibility were compared between ST131 and non-ST131 UPEC isolates. Results: Sixteen UPEC isolates (14.0%) were extended-spectrum ${\beta}-lactamase$ (ESBL)-producers; 50.0% of ESBL-producers were ST131 isolates. Of all the isolates tested, 13.2% (15 of 114) were classified as ST131. There were no statistically significant associations between ST131 and age, sex, or clinical characteristics, including fever, white blood cell counts in urine and serum, C-reactive protein, radiologic abnormalities, and clinical outcome. However, ST131 isolates showed significantly lower rates of susceptibility to cefazolin (26.7%), cefotaxime (40.0%), cefepime (40.0%), and ciprofloxacin (53.3%) than non-ST131 isolates (65.7%, 91.9%, 92.9%, and 87.9%, respectively; P<0.001 for all). ESBL was more frequently produced in ST131 (53.3%) than in non-ST131 (8.1%) isolates (P<0.01). Conclusion: ST131 E. coli isolates were prevalent uropathogens in children at a single medical center in Korea between 2011 and 2014. Although ST131 isolates showed higher rates of antimicrobial resistance, clinical presentation and outcomes of patients were similar to those of patients infected with non-ST131 isolates.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1552-1558
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• 2020

With an increase in the consumption of non-heated fresh food, foodborne shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has emerged as one of the most problematic pathogens worldwide. Endolysin, a bacteriophage-derived lysis protein, is able to lyse the target bacteria without any special resistance, and thus has been garnering interest as a powerful antimicrobial agent. In this study, rV5-like phage endolysin targeting E. coli O157:H7, named as LysECP26, was identified and purified. This endolysin had a lysozyme-like catalytic domain, but differed markedly from the sequence of lambda phage endolysin. LysECP26 exhibited strong activity with a broad lytic spectrum against various gram-negative strains (29/29) and was relatively stable at a broad temperature range (4℃-55℃). The optimum temperature and pH ranges of LysECP26 were identified at 37℃-42℃ and pH 7-8, respectively. NaCl supplementation did not affect the lytic activity. Although LysECP26 was limited in that it could not pass the outer membrane, E. coli O157: H7 could be effectively controlled by adding ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and citric acid (1.44 and 1.14 log CFU/ml) within 30 min. Therefore, LysECP26 may serve as an effective biocontrol agent for gram-negative pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.222-227
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• 2017

This study aimed to explore the potential for food-industry application of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma (atmospheric pressure DBD plasma) as a non-thermal sterilization technology for microorganism. The effects of the key parameters such as power, oxygen ratio, exposure time and distance on Escherichia coli KCCM 21052 sterilization by the atmospheric pressure DBD plasma treatment were investigated. The experimental results revealed that increasing the power, exposure time or oxygen ratio and decreasing the exposure distance led to an improvement in the sterilization efficiency of E. coli. Furthermore, the atmospheric pressure DBD plasma (1.0 kW power, 1.0% (v/v) $O_2$, 5 min exposure time and 20 mm exposure distance) treatment was very effective for the sterilization of food-borne pathogenic bacteria. The sterilization rate of E. coli, Bacillus cereus KCCM 40935, Bacillus subtilis KCCM 12027, Bacillus thuringiensis KCCM 11429 and Bacillus atrophaeus KCCM 11314 were 72.3%, 74.6%, 88.5%, 84.7% and 91.3%, respectively.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.168-173
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• 1998

Gamma irradiated and non-irradiated Agrimonia pilosa Ledebour were extracted by 70% ethanol. The combined effects of the Agrimonia pilosa Ledebour extract and NaCl on survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in tryptic soy broth were investigated. E. coli O157:H7 decreased ca 1 log cycle by the addition of 2% sample extract, and the anthbacterial activity was increased as the concentration of sample extract was increased. The irradiation effect of the sample on antibacterial activity was not observed. On the treatment of NaCl alone, E. coli O157:H7 was inactivated (ca 3~4 log cycle reduction within 48 hr) in more than 7% NaCl. The higher inactivation(ca 5 log cycle reduction within 48 hr) occurred in the presence of 2% sample extract and 5% NaCl than in the addition of each alone. The extracted antibacterial substance was stable in the pH range of 4.0 to 7.0, heat treatment at 121$^\circ C$ for 15 min, and freezing at -18$^\circ C$ and thawing at 37$^\circ C$. There fore, the sample extract, would substantially increase the food-safety in terms of E. coli O157:H7.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.446-451
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• 2015

The market for green vegetable juice (GVJ) is growing owing to the increasing demand for healthy food; however data on the safety and quality of GVJ are poorly reported. The objective of this study was to investigate the change in microbial community in GVJ during storage and its contamination by E. coli O157:H7. The microbial community was analyzed via culturable and non-culturable methods at 5, 10, and $25^{\circ}C$ for different storage times. In the non-culturable method, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used. The initial bacterial concentration was $2.92{\times}10^5CFU/mL$, which exceeded the limit prescribed by the Korean Food Hygiene law. The results of the DGGE analysis indicated that the microbial community during storage was diverse and the spoilage lactic acid bacteria were prevalent at a later stage. Other bacteria such as Rahnella, Citrobacter, Pseudomonas, and Cyanobacteria were identified. Thus, the results strongly emphasize the need to pay attention to GVJ production safety, especially with respect to temperature control, in order to prevent the growth of foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and other spoilage bacteria.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.68-75
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• 2000

D-Tagatose is a potential bulking agent in food as a non-calorific sweetener. To produce D-tagatose from cheaper resources, plasmids harboring the L-arabinose isomerase gene (araA) from Escherichia coli was constructed because L-arabinose isomerase was previously suggested as an enzyme that mediates the bioconversion of galactose to tagatose as well as that of arabinose to ribulose. In the cultures of recombinant E.coli with pTC101, which harboring araA of E.coli, tagatose was produced from galactose in 9.9 % yield. The enzyme extract of E.coli containing pTC101 also converted galactose into tagatose in 96.4 % yield. For the economic production of D-tagatose, an L-arabinose isomerase of E.coli was immobilized using covalent binding on agarose. While the free L-arabinose isomerase produced tagatose with the rate of 0.48 mg/U$.$day, the immobilized one stably converted galactose into average 7.5 g/l$.$day of tagatose during 7 days with higher productivity of 0.87 mg/U$.$day. In the scaled up immobilized enzyme system, 99.9 g/l of tagatose was produced from galactose with 20 % equilibrium in 48 hrs. The process was stably repeated additional 2 times with tagatose production of 104.1 and 103.5 g/l.