• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 1989

Three species of lactobacilli (L. casei, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus) were tested for their antibacterial activity. They all were antagonistic to growth of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Salmonella enteritidis in associative cultures in YS-medium (0.1 % yeast extract + skimmilk). Sal. enteritidis was more sensitive to the inhibition than was E. coli. Control cultures of E. coli and Sal. enteritidis were pH 5.08 and 5.70 in 72 hrs of incubation and the associative cultures were pH 3.35-4.48. The increases in pH resulting from growth of the lactobacilli in the associative cultures appeared to be sufficient and mainly responsible for the antagonistic actions exerted on the pathogens.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.366-374
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• 2012

Recently pathogenic E. coli is one of the main foodborne pathogens resulting in many patients in Korea. To understand the characteristics of pathogenic E. coli outbreaks in Korea, the epidemiological investigation reports of pathogenic E. coli outbreak in 2009 (41 reports) and in 2010 (27 reports) were collected in the web site of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reviewed and analysed in this study. The main places of the pathogenic E. coli outbreaks were food catering service area (64.8%) and restaurants (25.0%). The main type of the pathogens were EPEC (44.7%) and ETEC (34.2%). EAEC and EHEC was responsible for 10.5 and 9.2%, respectively. Eight of 68 outbreak cases were caused by more than 2 types of pathogenic E. coli which implicates the complicated contamination pathways of pathogenic E. coli. The incidence rate of pathogenic E. coli was $33.6{\pm}30.5%$ and the main symptoms were diarrhea, stomach ache, nausea, vomiting, and fever etc. The two identified food sources were identified as frozen hamburger pattie and squid-vegetable mixture. To improve the food source identification by epidemiological investigation, food poisoning notification to the agency should not be delayed, whole food items attributed the outbreak should be collected and detection method of the various pathogenic E. coli in food has to be improved. In conclusion, the characteristics between the EHEC outbreaks in the western countries and the EPEC or ETEC outbreaks in Korea needs to be distinguished to prepare food safety management plan. In addition, the development of the trace back system to find the contamination pathway with the improved detection method in food and systemic and cooperative support by the related agencies are necessary.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.278-283
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• 2003

Feasibility tests on using liposomes for detecting food-borne pathogenic bacteria were studied with E. coli 0157:H7 as a model analyte. lmmunoliposomes, whose surface was conjugated with anti-E. coli 0157:H7 IgG and which encapsulated the marker dye, sulforhodamine B, were used for the detection label. Among the feasibility tests, the first test was to use a test-strip on which antibodies to anti-E. coli O157:H7 IgG were immobilized. In this format, immunoliposomes that did not bind to E. coli O157:H7 in sample were captured and then exhibited a visible signal which was inversely related with the number of E. coli O157:H7 in sample. The second test was a direct liposome assay followed by immunomagnetic separation. In this format, immunoliposomes which were bound to E. coli O157:H7 were lysed with detergent and produced a signal which was proportionally related with the number of E. coli O157:H7 in sample. The results from both formats indicate that liposomes can be utilized as a detection label.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.975-987
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• 2016

Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) is a representative probiotic. In particular, L. plantarum is the first commensal bacterium to colonize the intestine of infants. For this reason, the initial settlement of L. plantarum can play an important role in determining an infant's health as well as their eventual health status as an adult. In addition, L. plantarum combats pathogenic infections (such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), one of the early pathogenic colonizers in an unhealthy infant gut) by secreting antimicrobial substances. The aim of this research was to determine how L. plantarum combats E. coli infection and why it is a representative probiotic in the intestine. Consequently, this research observed that E. coli releases uracil. L. plantarum specifically recognizes E. coli-derived uracil, which increases the growth rate and production of antimicrobial substance of L. plantarum. In addition, through the inhibitory activity test, this study postulates that the antimicrobial substance is a protein and can be considered a bacteriocin-like substance. Therefore, this research assumes that L. plantarum exerts its antibacterial ability by recognizing E. coli and increasing its growth rate as a result, and this phenomenon could be one of the reasons for L. plantarum settling in the intestine of infants as a beneficial bacterium.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.271-281
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• 2021

Pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) is one among the most important agents of diarrhea in calves. From January to December 2021, 108 isolates from feces of calves with diarrhea were investigated for enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), and enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) using real-time PCR. In addition, the genes for F5, F17 and F41 fimbriae were detected by PCR. The most frequently isolated pathotypes were EPEC/STEC (29 isolates), and ETEC/EPEC/STEC (29 isolates). ETEC/EPEC, and ETEC/STEC were also found in 10 isolates. EPEC, STEC, and ETEC were detected in 13, 11, and 6 respectively. EAEC, and EIEC was not detected. Antimicrobial resistance test was carried out by agar disc diffusion method with 14 antimicrobials. Among 108 pathogenic E. coli isolates, 107 isolates were resistant to at least one of 14 antibiotics used in this study, 99 (91.7%) were resistant to two or more antimicrobials, and a single remarkable isolate was resistant to 14 antimicrobials. The isolates were primarily resistant to penicillins, streptomycin, tetracycline, ceftiofur, Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, Kanamycin, and Ciprofloxacin. The high rate of resistance in pathogenic E. coli, sometimes to multiple drugs, may complicate future options for treating human infections. These results may bu used for diagnosis and therpeitic purposes in calves with diarrhea.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2012

Objectives: With the goal of quantifying the risk of children contracting gastroenteritis while playing at interactive waterscape facilities and evaluating the adequacy of current water quality regulations, risk assessment was performed with Escherichia coli as pathogen. Methods: Abundances of E. coli in the waters of interactive water features in South Korea were acquired from survey reports. A gamma distribution describing the volume of water swallowed by children during swimming activities was adopted. Exposure rate and risk were calculated by Monte Carlo simulation and dose-response models for various pathogenic E. coli. Results: E. coli was detected in 25 out of 40 facilities, with range of ~1,600 CFU/100 ml. The abundance fitted an exponential distribution. Simulated exposures ranged ${\sim}1.9{\times}10^{10}$ CFU, varying greater along E. coli abundance than the volume of water. Risk of children being infected by enterohemorrhagic E. coli was high, with range of ~0.85. When E. coli abundance was <200 CFU/100 ml, which is the current government threshold, the risk decreased to <0.43. Although the guideline successfully reduced the risk of adults being infected by a less virulent E. coli strains (<0.03), the risk for children could not be quantified due to lack of dose-response models for those pathogens for children. Conclusions: Under the current guideline, children are at risk of being infected if water is contaminated with by enterohemorrhagic E. coli. For other E. coli strains, the risk appears to be considerably less. The result warrants need for developing dose-response models for children for each pathogenic E. coli strain.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.543-552
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• 2020

For efficient prevention and treatment of enteric colibacillosis, understanding about latest virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli is essentially needed. The aim of this study was to survey antimicrobial resistance and determine the prevalence of fimbriae and enterotoxin genes among 118 pathogenic E. coli isolates obtained from Korean pigs with diarrhea between 2016 and 2017. The genes for the toxins and adhesins were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The susceptibility of the E. coli isolates to antimicrobials were tested using the standard Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The most prevalent fimbrial antigen was F18 (40.7%), followed by F4 (16.9%), and the most prevalent combinations of toxin genes were Stx2e (21.2%), STb:EAST-1 (19.5%), and STa:STb (16.9%), respectively. Among the pathotypes, enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) was the most predominant (67.8%), followed by Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC, 23.7%). We confirmed high resistance rates to chloramphenicol (88.1%), tetracycline (86.4%), streptomycin (86.4%), and ampicillin (86.4%). And the majorities of isolates (90.7%) showed multi-drug resistance which means having resistance to 3 or more subclasses of antimicrobials. Results of this study can be a source of valuable data for investigating the epidemiology of and control measures for enteric colibacillosis in Korean piggeries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.875-880
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the level of contamination of pathogenic Escherichia (E.) coli in 50 types of red pepper powders collected domestically. Pathogenic E. coli was confirmed using real-time PCR to confirm the 4 types of EAEC, EPEC, EHEC and ETEC. One sample out of 50 was contaminated with pathogenic E. coli. The type of pathogenic E. coli detected in the sample was EAEC. This study was also conducted to determine the effect of alcohol treatment on the reduction of E. coli populations in red pepper powder. The amount of E. coli in the control was $1.2{\times}10^6$ cfu/mL. The amount of E. coli in 10 minutes immersion treatment with 10% alcohol was $1.1{\times}10^6$ cfu/mL. In samples treated with over 20% alcohol, E. coli was not detected. This showed that 10 minutes of immersion in over 20% alcohol might be effective to reduce E. coli. This study was also conducted to determine the effect of UV irradiation on E. coli reduction. The number of E. coli in the control group was $5.0{\times}10^5$ cfu/mL. However, the number of E. coli in 45 min of the UV irradiated sample decreased to $1.0{\times}10^3$ cfu/mL, by $10^2$ cfu/mL. In contrast, E. coli was not detected in an over 60 min UV irradiated sample in $10^{-2}dilution$. This study showed that over 20% alcohol treatment and UV irradiation for 60 min was effective to control E. coli in red pepper powder.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2015

The present study was conducted to determine the full rpoB and eight house-keeping gene sequences of 78 and 35, respectively, avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) strains. Phylogenetic comparison with 66 E. coli and Shigella strains from GenBank and EMBL was also conducted. Based on the full rpoB sequence, 50 different rpoB sequence types (RSTs) were identified. RST 1 was assigned to a major RST that included 34.7% (50/144) of the analyzed strains. RST 2 to RST 50 were then assigned to other strains with higher nucleotide sequence similarity to RST 1 in order. RST 1, 11, and 23 were mixed with APEC along with human commensal and pathogenic strains while RST 2, 6, 9, 13-15, 22, 24, 25, 33, 34, 36, and 41 were unique to APEC strains. Only five APEC strains grouped into RST 32 and 47, which contained human pathogenic E. coli (HPEC). Thus, most of the APEC strains had genetic backgrounds different from HPEC strains. However, the minor APEC strains similar to HPEC should be considered potential zoonotic risks. The resolution power of multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) was better than RST testing. Nevertheless, phylogenetic analysis of rpoB was simpler and more economic than MLST.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.415-423
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• 2016

This study was carried out to obtain basic data for the industrial use of Weissella koreensis and Lactobacillus sakei. The antibacterial activity of supernatants obtained from W. koreensis and L. sakei were tested against pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli KCCM 11234, Salmonella enteritidis KCCM 3313, Salmonella enteritidis KCCM 12021, Salmonella typhimurium KCCM 40253, and Salmonella typhimurium KCCM 15. The supernatant of L. sakei showed antibacterial activity against E. coli KCCM 11234, S. enteritidis KCCM 12021, and S. typhimurium KCCM 15, while the supernatant of W. koreensis showed antibacterial activity against E. coli KCCM 11234 and S. enteritidis KCCM 12021. The effect of pH changes and heat treatment on antibacterial activity of the supernatants was examined using the sensitive pathogenic bacteria (E. coli KCCM 11234, S. enteritidis KCCM 12021 and S. typhimurium KCCM 15). Antibacterial activity against sensitive pathogenic bacteria was maintained under heat treatment at all temperatures, but there was no antibacterial activity associated with pH modification. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the antibacterial activity of the supernatants obtained from W. koreensis and L. sakei was a result of organic acids including, lactic, acetic, phosphoric, succinic, pyroglutamic, citric, malic, and formic acids. Therefore, the present study showed that the organic acids produced by L. sakei and W. koreensis exhibited a strong antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, in the food industry, these organic acids have the potential to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria and improve the quality of stored food.