• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1056-1061
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• 2018

This article reports an agar-degrading marine bacterium and characterizes its agarase. The agar-degrading marine bacterium, KC-1, was isolated from seawater on the shores of Sacheon, in Gyeongnam province, Korea, using Marine Broth 2216 agar medium. To identify the agar-degrading bacterium as Agarivorans sp. KC-1, phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence was used. An extracellular agarase was prepared from a culture medium of Agarivorans sp. KC-1, and used for the characterization of enzyme. The relative activities at 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and $70^{\circ}C$ were 65, 91, 96, 100, 77, and 35%, respectively. The relative activities at pH 5, 6, 7, and 8 were 93, 100, 87, and 82%, respectively. The extracellular agarase showed maximum activity (254 units/l) at pH 6.0 and $50^{\circ}C$ in 20 mM of Tris-HCl buffer. The agarase activity was maintained at 90% or more until 2 hr exposure at $20^{\circ}C$, $30^{\circ}C$ and $40^{\circ}C$, but it was found that the activity decreased sharply from $60^{\circ}C$. A zymogram analysis showed that Agarivorans sp. KC-1 produced 3 agar-degrading enzymes that had molecular weights of 130, 80, and 69 kDa. A thin layer chromatography analysis suggested that Agarivorans sp. KC-1 produced extracellular ${\beta}$-agarases as it hydrolyzed agarose to produce neoagarooligosaccharides, including neoagarohexaose (21.6%), neoagarotetraose (32.2%), and neoagarobiose (46.2%). These results suggest that Agarivorans sp. KC-1 and its thermotolerant ${\beta}$-agarase would be useful for the production of neoagarooligosaccharides that inhibit bacterial growth and delay starch degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.434-440
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• 2013

This study was conducted to screen the characteristics and alginate-degrading activity of marine bacterium isolated from brown seaweed (Sargassum thunbergii). The results of 16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis the strain the genus Vibrio and the strain was subsequently named Vibrio sp. PKA 1003. The optimum culture conditions for the growth of Vibrio sp. PKA 1003 were at pH 7, 3% NaCl, $25^{\circ}C$, and 6% alginic acid, with a 48-hour incubation time. A crude enzyme preparation from Vibrio sp. PKA 1003, showed its highest levels of alginate-degradation activity when cultured at pH 9, $30^{\circ}C$, and 6% alginic acid, with a 63-hour incubation time. Thin layer chromatography analyses confirmed that the crude enzyme released monomers or oligomers from sodium alginate, and results from trypsin treatment showed that the alginate degrading activity depends on this enzyme produced by Vibrio sp. PKA 1003. These results suggest that Vibrio sp. PKA 1003 and its alginate-degrading crude enzyme is useful for the production of alginate oligosaccharides.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2017

Microbes in forest are very important due to not only to enhance soil fertility but also maintain a healthy ecosystem by supplying the energy available to living organisms by producing various kinds of enzymes related to degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. In order to isolate a lignocellulosic biomass degrading bacterial strain from the Jurassic park located in Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, We used the Luria-Bertani-Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) agar trypan blue method containing 0.4 % carboxymethyl cellulose and 0.01 % trypan blue. As a result, we isolated a bacterial strain showing both activity on the CMC and xylan. To identify the isolated strain, 16S rRNA sequencing and API kit analysis were used. The isolated strain turned out to belong to Bacillus species and then named Bacillus sp. GJY. In the CMC zymogram analysis, it showed that one active band of about 28kDa in size is present. Xylan zymogram analysis also showed to have one active band of about 25kDa in size. The optimal growth temperature of Bacillus sp. GJY was $37^{\circ}C$. The maximal activities of CMCase and xylanase were 12 hour after incubation. The optimal pH and temperature for CMCase were 5.0 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively, whereas the optimal pH and temperature for xylanase was 4.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. Both activities for CMCase and xylanase showed to be thermally stable at 40and $50^{\circ}C$, while both activities rapidly decreased at over $60^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 2020

Since industrialization, the production and utilization of various chemicals has contributed to improving the quality of our lives, but the subsequent discharge of massive waste is inevitable, and environmental pollution is becoming more serious every day. Exposure to chemicals as a result of environmental pollution is having a negative effect on human health and the ecosystem, and cleaning up the polluted environment that can affect our lives is a very important issue. Toxic aromatic compounds have been detected frequently in soil, groundwater, and wastewater because of the extensive use of oil products, and phenol, which is used to produce synthetic resins, textiles, and dyes, is one of the major pollutants, along with insecticides and preservatives. Phenol can cause dyspnea, headache, vomiting, mutation, and carcinogenesis. Phenol-degrading bacterium DWB-1-8 was isolated from the activated sludge of textile wastewater; this strain was identified as Comamonas testosteroni by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The optimal culture conditions for the cell growth and degradation of phenol were 0.7% K₂HPO₄, 0.6% NaH₂PO₄, 0.1% NH₄NO₃, 0.015% MgSO₄·7H₂O, 0.001% FeSO₄·7H₂O, an initial pH of 7, and a temperature of 30℃. The strain was also able to grow by using other toxic compounds, such as benzene, toluene, or xylene (BTX), as the sole source of carbon.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 2016

Perchlorate (ClO₄⁻) is an emerging pollutant detected in surface water, soil, and groundwater. Previous studies provided experimental evidence of autotrophic ClO₄⁻ removal with elemental sulfur (S⁰) particles and activated sludge, which are inexpensive and easily available, respectively. In addition, ClO₄⁻ removal efficiency was shown to increase when an enrichment culture was used as an inoculum instead of activated sludge. PCR-DGGE was employed in the present study to investigate the microbial community in the enrichment culture that removed ClO₄⁻ autotrophically. Microorganisms in the enrichment culture showed 99.71% or more ClO₄⁻ removal efficiency after a 7-day incubation when the initial concentration was approximately 120 mg ClO₄⁻/l. Genomic DNA was isolated from the enriched culture and its inoculum (activated sludge), and used for PCR-DGGE analysis of 16S rRNA genes. Microbial compositions of the enrichment culture and the activated sludge were different, as determined by their different DGGE profiles. The difference in DGGE banding patterns suggests that environmental conditions of the enrichment culture caused a change in the microbial community composition of the inoculated activated sludge. Dominant DGGE bands in the enrichment culture sample were affiliated with the classes β-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Spirochaetes. Further investigation is warranted to reveal the metabolic roles of the dominant populations in the ClO₄⁻ degradation process, along with their isolation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1207-1214
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• 2017

Schisandrae Fructus (SF), the fruit of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., is widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a number of chronic diseases. SF extracts have been recently reported to attenuate the inflammatory responses in SW1353 human chondrocyte cells in in vitro and monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced cartilage degradation in in vivo osteoarthritis (OA) models. However, their protective and therapeutic potentials against OA in primary culture chondrocytes and animal models remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of the ethanol extract of SF on the activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), biomarkers for diagnosis of OA, on interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}-induced$ primary cultured rat cartilage chondrocytes and MIA-induced osteoarthritis in a rat model. Our data indicated that SF treatment significantly reduced the mRNA expression and enzyme activity of MMP-1, -3 and -13 in $IL-1{\beta}-induced$ primary cultured rat cartilage chondrocytes. The chondro-protective effects of SF were then analyzed in a rat OA model using a single intra-articular injection of MIA in the right knee joint. According to our results, the elevated levels of MMP-1 and -3 were markedly ameliorated by SF administration. Collectively, these findings indicate that SF could be a candidate for the treatment of OA.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.415-425
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• 2013

This study compared the characteristics of five Bacillus strains capable of aerobic and anaerobic growth, CBW3, CBW4, CBW9, CBW14 and EBW10. They were isolated and selected from a polychaete, Perinereis aibuhitensis, which is known as a good degrader of organic compounds in marine wetland. Based on a 16S rRNA sequence, CBW3 and CBW14 were found to share more than 99.8% similarity with B. nanhaiensis, B. arsenicus and B. barbaricus. CBW4, CBW9 and EBW10 shared 92.7%, 99.8%, and 99.8% similarity with B. anthracis, B. algicoa and B. thuringiensis, respectively. The temperature, salinity, and pH ranges of the cell growth of the Bacillus strains were $4-45^{\circ}C$, 0-17%, and pH 5-pH 9, respectively. All Bacillus strains were found to exhibit enzyme activities for the degradation of casein and starch. Notably, strain EBW10 exhibited the enzyme activities for all the tested macromolecules, DNA, casein, starch, cellulose, and four kinds of Tweens, which suggests the possibility that it had protease, amylase, cellulose, and lipase. All five Bacillus strains had alkaline phosphatase activities, and the strains CBW3, CBW4, and EBW10 also had acid phospatase. Strains CBW3 and EBW10 exhibited the enzyme activities both for esterase (C4) and esterase lipase (C8). The analysis of fatty acids revealed that in all strains, major fatty acids were anteiso $C_{15:0}$ and iso $C_{15:0}$.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

This study's aim was to isolate microorganisms producing agarase with a high activity, with possible applications in improving the performance of the pretreatment processes for bioethanol production. Marine algaes were collected from the south coast of Korea, from which three kinds of microorganisms were isolated. After a 4-day culture of these strains at $25^{\circ}C$, crude enzymes were obtained from culture supernatant or cell-free extract by ammonium sulfate precipitation and membrane dialysis. Agarase activity was observed in these crude enzymes. Notably higher specific activity was observed in the crude enzyme obtained from the culture supernatant rather than that from the cell-free extract. This indicates that a secreted enzyme has a much greater activity than a cellular enzyme. Crude enzymes from the GNUM08122 strain were inferred to have ${\alpha}$-agarase activity because release of p-nitrophenol was observed, possibly due to the cleavage of p-nitrophenyl-${\alpha}$-D-galactopyranoside. The 16S rRNA sequence of GNUM08122 showed a close relationship to Pseudoalteromonas issachenkonii KMM 3549 (99.8%) and Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis IMA 14160 (99.7%), which led us to assign it to the genus Pseudoalteromonas. Biochemical and physiological study revealed that this strain can grow well at $40^{\circ}C$ under a wide range of pH (pH 4~8) in high-salt conditions (10% NaCl).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.898-904
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• 2021

Locusta migratoria is a widespread locust species in many parts of the world and is considered an alternative source for the production of protein for value-added ingredients. We previously identified putative antimicrobial peptides derived from L. migratoria through an in silico analysis of its transcriptome. However, its anti-inflammatory effect has not been studied. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory activities of the antimicrobial peptide locustacin (KTHILSFFPSFLPLFLKK-NH₂) derived from L. migratoria on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Locustacin (50, 100, and 200 ㎍/ml) significantly reduced the production of nitric oxide (NO) in LPS-stimulated macrophages without any cytotoxicity. Locustacin also inhibited the mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory mediators, such as inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2, in contrast to the presence of LPS alone. Locustacin decreased the release of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β, and their gene expression in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, locustacin (100 and/or 200 ㎍/ml) inhibited phosphorylation levels of extracellular signal regulated kinase, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Locustacin also suppressed the degradation of inhibitory kappa B alpha, which was considered to be an inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). Collectively, these results demonstrate that locustacin can exert anti-inflammatory effects through the inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation, activation of NF-κB, and downstream inflammatory mediators in LPS-stimulated macrophage cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.402-409
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• 2019

Korean red ginseng made from steaming and drying fresh ginseng has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine due to its effects on the immune, endocrine, and central nerve systems and its anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanism responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of a formulated Korean red ginseng extract (RGE) in response to lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a cell wall component of gram-positive bacteria. RGE inhibited LTA-induced nitric oxide (NO) secretion and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in BV-2 microglial cells, without affecting cell viability. RGE also inhibited nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) p65 and degradation of $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$. In addition, RGE increased the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in a dose-dependent manner, and the inhibitory effect of RGE on iNOS expression was abrogated by small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of HO-1. Moreover, RGE induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factor that regulates HO-1 expression. Furthermore, the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors suppressed RGE-mediated expression of HO-1, and RGE enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), p38, and c-JUN N-terminal kinases (JNKs). These results suggested that RGE suppressed the production of NO, a proinflammatory mediator, by inducing HO-1 expression via PI-3K/Akt- and MAPK-dependent signaling in LTA-stimulated microglia. The findings indicate that RGE could be used for the treatment of neuroinflammation induced by grampositive bacteria and that it may have therapeutic potential for various neuroinflammation-associated disorders.