• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.334-342
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• 2013

Proteases and protease inhibitors play key roles in most physiological processes, including cell migration, cell signaling, and cell surface and tissue remodeling. Among these, the matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) pathway is one of the most efficient biosynthetic pathways for controlling the activation of enzymes responsible for protein degradation. This also indicates the association of MMPs with the maturation of spermatozoa. In an attempt to investigate the effect of MMP activation and inhibitors in cultures with various hormones during sperm capacitation, we examined and monitored the localization and expression of MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP-2 and TIMP-3), as well as their expression profiles. Matured spermatozoa were collected from cultures with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and Lutalyse at 1 h, 6 h, 18 h, and 24 h. ELISA detected the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-2, and TIMP-3 in all culture media, regardless of medium type (FSH-supplemented fertilization Brackett-Oliphant medium (FFBO), LH-supplemented FBO (LFBO), or Lutalyse-supplemented FBO (LuFBO)). TIMP-2 and TIMP-3 expression patterns decreased in LFBO and LuFBO. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity in FBO and FFBO progressively increased from 1 h to 24 h but was not detected in LFBO and LuFBO. The localization and expression of TIMP-2 and TIMP-3 in sperm heads was also measured by immunofluorescence analysis. However, MMPs were not detected in the sperm heads. MMP and TIMP expression patterns differed according to the effect of various hormones. These findings suggest that MMPs have a role in sperm viability during capacitation. In conjunction with hormones, MMPs play a role in maintaining capacitation and fertilization by controlling extracellular matrix inhibitors of sperm.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1085-1089
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• 2006

The objectives of this study were to confirm a location of the calpastatin (CAST) gene in chromosome 2 and to detect associations of genetic variations with economic traits in the porcine CAST gene as a candidate gene for growth and meat quality traits in pigs. Calpastatin is a specific endogenous inhibitor of calpains. The calpain protease system is ubiquitous, and is involved in numerous growth and metabolic processes. Three single nucleotide variations were identified within a 1.6 kb fragment of the porcine CAST gene and these polymorphisms were used for genetic linkage mapping. Linkage and QTL mapping were performed with the National Livestock Research Institute (NLRI) reference families using eight microsatellites and SNP makers in the CAST gene. The porcine CAST gene was mapped adjacent to the markers, SW395 and SW1695 on SSC2 with LOD scores of 15.32 and 8.50, respectively. According to the QTL mapping, a significant association was detected at 82 cM between SW395 and CAST-Hinf I for weight at the age of 30 weeks. In addition, an association study was performed with the $F_2$ animals of NLRI reference families for Hinf I, Msp I and Rsa I polymorphisms in the CAST gene. Two polymorphisms, CAST-Rsa I and CAST-Hinf I, showed significant correlation for growth traits at p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1110-1115
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• 2005

To study the effect of feeding lactic acid producing bacteria on the performance of cattle calves, twenty four, day old male crossbred cattle calves (Bos indicus${\times}$Bos taurus), were distributed into two groups of 12 animals each. The animals were fed on calf starter containing wheat bran and green berseem ad libitum and milk as per requirement upto 8 weeks of age. The diet of calves of Group 2 was supplemented with 500 ml culture of Lactobacillus acidophilus-15. Total duration of the experiment was 31 weeks. There was no significant difference in intake and digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and crude protein (CP) between the groups. The rumen pH, protozoa numbers, concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFA), ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3-N$), trichloroacetic acid precipitable nitrogen (TCA-ppt N) and activity of microbial enzymes (carboxymethylcellulase, xylanase, amylase and protease) were not affected due to probiotic supplementation. Average live weight gain of the calves was improved (about 10%) and feed:gain ratio was reduced (about 5%) in the animals given Lactobacillus culture. The data indicated that crossbred calves could be reared on a diet devoid of cereal grain and addition of Lactobacillus culture in the diet resulted in an added advantage in growth performance of the animals.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1393-1400
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• 2009

A bacteriocin-producing strain PI80 was isolated from the gut of Penaeus indicus (Indian white shrimp) and identified as Streptococcus phocae PI80. The bacteriocin was purified from a culture supernatant to homogeneity as confirmed by Tricine SDS-PAGE. Reverse-phase HPLC analysis revealed a single active fraction eluted at 12.94 min, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis showed the molecular mass to be 9.244 kDa. This molecular mass does not correspond to previously described streptococcal bacteriocins. The purified bacteriocin was named phocaecin PI80 from its producer strain, as this is the first report of bacteriocin production by Streptococcus phocae. The bacteriocin exhibited a broad spectrum of activity and inhibited important pathogens: Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and V. fischeri. The antibacterial substance was also sensitive to proteolytic enzymes: trypsin, protease, pepsin, and chymotrypsin, yet insensitive to catalase, peroxidase, and diastase, confirming that the inhibition was due to a proteinaceous molecule (i.e., the bacteriocin), and not due to hydrogen peroxide or diacetyl. Phocaecin PI80 moderately tolerated heat treatment (up to $70^{\circ}C$ for 10 min) and resisted certain solvents (acetone, ethanol, and butanol). A massive leakage of $K^+$ ions from E. coli $DH5\alpha$, L. monocytogenes, and V. parahaemolyticus was induced by phocaecin PI80, as measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICPOES). Therefore, the results of this study show that phocaecin PI80 may be a useful tool for inhibiting L. monocytogenes in seafood products that do not usually undergo adequate heat treatment, whereas the cells of Streptococcus phocae PI80 could be used to control vibriosis in shrimp farming.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.282-291
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• 1999

Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from Kimchi and screened for bacteriocin. A total of 99 strains showed antimicrobial activity when grown on solid media, yet only 10 showed antimicrobial activity in liquid media. Strain H-559, identified as Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, exhibited the strongest inhibitory activity and was active against pathogenic bacteria including Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus as well as other lactic acid bacteria. The antimicrobial substance produced by L. lactis subsp. lactis H-559 was confirmed to be a bacteriocin by the treatment of $\alpha$-chymotrypsin, and protease type Ⅸ and ⅩIV. The bacteriocin activity remained stable between pH 2.0 and pH 11.0 and during heating for 10 min at $100^{\circ}C$. The bacteriocin production started in the exponential phase and stopped in the stationary phase. L. lactis subsp. lactis H-559 showed the highest bacteriocin activity at a culture temperature of $25^{\circ}C$, and an inverse relationship between the bacteriocin productivity and mean growth rate at different culture temperatures was observed. The mean growth rate and bacteriocin productivity of L. lactis subsp. lactis H-559 increased as the initial pH of the media increased.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.126-130
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• 2011

In the course of search for multifunctional microbial inoculants, three Bacillus strains (BS11-1,BS11-2,BS11-3) with biological control and biofertilizing effects were selected. In this study, their ability for solubilization of insoluble phosphate, production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, and hydrolytic enzymes, and antagonism against phytopathogenic fungi were estimated. All strains produced IAA and siderophore depending on culture time and produced a visible clear zone on agar plate containing 0.5% carboxylmethyl cellulose as a carbon source. Also, these strains exhibited antifungal activities against phytopathogenic fungi, Botrytis cinerea, Cylindrocarpon destructans, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Phytophthora capsici.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.319-324
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• 1986

After intraspecific fusion of Lactobacillus casei protoplasts, the recombinants have been studied for their lactose utilization, protease activity and phage resistance. L. casei C-M phenotypes constituted 46% of the fused cells when tested against phages, and L. casei 3-M phenotypes 42% of the fused cells, and 12% of the recombinants developed the resistance to both parent types of phages. The acid production and proteolytic activity of recombinants evidenced the similar trends. There was no difference in Hind III digests of plasmid DNA between parent cells and recombinants, but the reconlbinant cells were found to possess only one type of plasmid, either of 1. casei C-M or of L. casei 3-M.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1495-1502
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• 2014

Metarhizium anisopliae is a widely studied model to understand the virulence factors that participate in pathogenicity. Proteases such as subtilisin-like enzymes (Pr1) and trypsin-like enzymes (Pr2) are considered important factors for insect cuticle degradation. In four M. anisopliae strains (798, 6342, 6345, and 6347), the presence of pr1 and pr2 genes, as well as the enzymatic activity of these genes, was correlated with their virulence against two different insect pests. The 11 pr1 genes (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K) and pr2 gene were found in all strains. The activity of individual Pr1 and Pr2 proteases exhibited variation in time (24, 48, 72, and 96 h) and in the presence or absence of chitin as the inductor. The highest Pr1 enzymatic activity was shown by strain 798 at 48 h with chitin. The highest Pr2 enzymatic activity was exhibited by the 6342 and 6347 strains, both grown with chitin at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Highest mortality on S. exigua was caused by strain 6342 at 48 h, and strains 6342, 6345, and 6347 caused the highest mortality 7 days later. Mortality on Prosapia reached 30% without variation. The presence of subtilisin and trypsin genes and the activity of these proteases in M. anisopliae strains cannot be associated with the virulence against the two insect pests. Probably, subtilisin and trypsin enzyme production is not a vital factor for pathogenicity, but its contribution is important to the pathogenicity process.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.176-185
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• 2016

Yeonsan Ogae has been known as supporting health and high efficacy of treatment. In recent days, as the efficacy of functional peptides has known, the optimization of oligo peptides production and its characteristics from Ogae legs has been performed. Response surface method was used to perform the optimizaion of enzyme hydrolysis. The range of processes was temperature ( 40, 50 and $60^{\circ}C$), pH( pH 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 ), and enzyme( 1, 2 and 3% ). The degree of hydrolysis, amino acids, molecular weight of products were analyzed. The optimum process of enzyme hydrolysis were determined as temperature $58^{\circ}C$, pH 7.5, and enzyme concentration 3%. At optimum conditions, the degree of hydrolysis after 2 h reaction was 75-80%. The amino acid and were 168.131 mg/100 g, respectively. The molecular weight of products by using MALDI-TOF was ranged from 300 to 1,000 Da.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 2001

The effect of gamma-irradiation on the microbiological and general quality changes of the kochujang(Korean hot pepper paste) was studied. Kochujang was prepared, irradiated at 5, 10 and 20 kGy, and then stored at $25^{\circ}C$ for twelve weeks. The results showed that the Bacillus were decreased by 5 log cycles with dose of 20 kGy with 3.94 kGy of $D_{10}$ value. Yeast and Lactobacillus cells were nearly eliminated by 10 kGy. The formation of $NH_2-nitrogen$ and reducing sugar, enzyme activity, acid production and browning were not affected by gamma irradiation. Therefore, it was considered that the kochujang treated with gamma irradiation maintained better microbial quality than that of the control with storage.