• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.163-166
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• 2011

For reduction of side effects by anti-fungal agents, a less toxic anti-fungal substance or a synergistic substance with a new mechanism is needed. The anti-yeast substance (AYS) originated from Rahnella aquatilis strain AY2000 is like to be a heterogeneous protein. The AYS inhibited the growth of Candida albicans in culture broth, and AYS-treated cells were arrested in each phase during cell cycle. Among AYS-treated cells, the population of the cells belonging to sub-G1 phase was not increased during cell cycle. Therefore, AYS has rather yeaststatic than yeastcidal effect to C. albicans. Moreover, with combination of itraconazole or fluconazole, AYS had a synergistic anti-yeast activity against Saccharomyces cerevisiae based on the analysis of fractional inhibitory concentration index.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2008

Rahnella aquatilis strain AY2000 produces an anti-yeast substance (AYS), however activity of the AYS has a declining tendency during storage. To investigate what has been decreased activity of the AYS, the AYS was treated with various physicochemical agents in this paper. The activity of AYS was decreased by heat treatment. Thiol reagent such as $\beta$-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol was also another factor decreasing the activity of AYS. However, pH, EDTA, and NaCl were not factors decreasing the activity of AYS. Use of methanol to precipitate the AYS was also decreased the activity of AYS. The activity of AYS was not lost after Sepharose S-400 gel filtration. However, the AYS activity was completely lost, when a polysaccharide and a unknown substance (230 nm absorption) among components of the AYS was separated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. MIC of the AYS against S. cerevisiae was usually determined at $7.8-15.6{\mu}g/ml$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1597-1604
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• 2006

To screen for an anti-yeast substance (AYS), many bacteria were isolated from soil and a strain AY2000 was selected. The strain AY2000 was identified as Rahnella aquatilis by morphology, biochemical properties, and 16S r-RNA nucleotide sequence analyses. The strain AY2000 showed anti-yeast activity against Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, whereas R. aquatilis ATCC33071 as a type strain did not show the activity against the yeasts under the same condition. The growth of yeast cell was significantly inhibited by AYS produced by the strain AY2000, as shown by optical density and MTT assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the AYS against S. cerevisiae and C. albicans at $28^{\circ}C\;was\;20{\mu}g/ml\;and\;60{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. The MIC of AYS against hyphae of C. albicans at $37^{\circ}C\;was\;600{\mu}g/ml$. Scanning electron microscopic analysis revealed that yeast cells treated with AYS had an irregular form with a wrinkled and rough surface.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.361-364
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• 2009

Rahnella aquatilis strain AY2000 produces an anti-yeast substance (AYS), however activity of the AYS tends to be decreased by heat. To investigate whether trehalose can protect AYS activity against heat, comparative studies on the AYS with and without trehalose were performed. After heat treatment at high temperatures ($50^{\circ}C-70^{\circ}C$), the AYS with trehalose had higher activity than the AYS without trehalose had. In case of AYS with trehalose (0.3-0.9M), activity of the AYS could be determined at ranging from $7.8\;{\mu}g/mL$ to $31.3\;{\mu}g/mL$ on S. cerevisiae by MTT method. Consequently, activity of the AYS after heating was well maintained by trehalose.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.693-699
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• 2001

An intracellular levansucrase gene, lscR from Rahnella aquatilis ATCC 15552, was cloned and its nucleotide sequence was determined. Nucleotide sequence analysis of this gene revealed a 1,238 bp open reading frame coding for a protein of 415 amino acids. The levansucrase was expressed by using a T7 promoter in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and the enzyme activity was detected in the cytoplasmic fraction. The optimum pH and temperature of this enzyme for levan formation was pH 6 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of the lscR gene showed a high sequence similarity (59-89%) with Gram-negative levansucrses, while the level of similarity with Gram-positive enzymes was less than 42%. Multiple alignments of levansucrase sequences reported from Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria revealed seven conserved regions. A comparison of the catalytic properties and deduced amino acid sequence of lscR with those of other bacterial levansucrases strongly suggest that Gram-negative and Gram-positive levansucrases have an overall different structure, but they have a similar structure at the active site.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.230-235
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• 2003

A 1.25 kb DNA fragment including the lscR gene, which encodes a levansucrase of Rahnella aquatilis ATCC 15552, was subcloned into a high-expression vector, pET-29b, and the recombinant enzyme was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Most of the levansucrase activity was detected in the cytoplasmic fraction after induction with isopropyl ${\beta}-D-thiogalactoside$. The recombinant enzyme with a tag of six histidine residues at the C-terminus was purified 146-fold by affinity and gel-filtration chromatographies. The molecular mass of the purified LscR was approx. 49 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature of this enzyme for levan formation was pH 6.0 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The optimum substrate concentration for levan formation was 300 mM sucrose. Levan formation was increased by the increase of the enzyme concentrations. Maxium yield of levan formation at optimum substrate concentration, pH, and temperature after 24 h of reaction was approximately 80%.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2010

The effect of Acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) and Rahnella aquatilis Ra39 against apple fire blight disease caused by Erwinia amylovora were tested as a possible alternative to streptomycin. In vitro studies, no inhibition effect against the pathogen was found when ASM was tested. Under greenhouse conditions, application of R. aquatilis Ra39 with the highly susceptible M26 rootstock resulted in a marked disease suppression. Application of ASM and strain Ra39 caused a high decrease of the disease, 82% and 58% respectively; this was correlated with a reduction of the growth of the pathogen within host plants up to 64% and 49.5% respectively. Further studies in the field under artificial infection condition during full bloom revealed that application of ASM and R. aquatilis Ra39 with Gala variety resulted in a control effect up to 21 and 29% respectively. In physiological studies, enhanced activities of PR-proteins (chitinase and $\beta$-1, 3-glucanase) were detected, which are well known as biochemical markers for systemic acquired resistance. Application of ASM to apple shoots caused the highest chitinase activity followed by strain Ra39. The enzyme activity was increased after 2, 4 and 6 days from application. In addition, ASM-treatment caused the higher $\beta$-1, 3-glucanase activity than strain Ra39. Maximum enzyme activity was recorded after 6 days from application and then decreased after 8 and 10 days from application.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1232-1238
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• 2004

To investigate the production and characteristics of thermostable levan sucrase from Rahnella aquatilis ATCC 33071, the levan sucrase gene from R. aquatilis was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli without induction system. Expression of levansucrase gene in E. coli had no notable or detrimental effect on the growth of host strain, and the recombinant levan sucrase exhibited levan synthesis activity. Levansucrase was secreted to the periplasm in E. coli, and addition of $0.5\%$ glycine yielded further secretion of levansucrase to the growth medium and resulted in an increase of total levansucrase activity. Furthermore, the cellular levansucrase was evaluated for the production of levan by using toluene­permeabilized whole-cells. The levansucrase was thermostable at $37^{\circ}C$. The molecular size oflevan was $1{\times}\;10^{6}$ Da, as determined by HPLC, and the degree of polymerization of levan varied with incubation temperatures: Low incubation temperature was preferable for the production of high-molecular size levan. The present study demonstrated that the mass production of levan and levan oligosaccharides can be achieved by glycine supplementation to the growth medium or by toluene­permeabilized whole-cells.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.396-402
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• 2006

[ ${\beta}-Galactosidase$ ] is extensively employed in the manufacture of dairy products, including lactose-reduced milk. Here, we have isolated two gram-negative and rod-shaped coldadapted bacteria, BS 1 and HS 39. These strains were able to break down lactose at low temperatures. Although two isolates were found to grow well at $10^{\circ}C$, the BS 1 strain was unable to grow at $37^{\circ}C$. Another strain, HS-39, evidenced retarded growth at $37^{\circ}C$. The biochemical characteristics and the results of 16S rDNA sequencing identified the BS 1 isolate as Rahnella aquatilis, and showed that the HS 39 strain belonged to genus Buttiauxella. Whereas the R. aquatilis BS 1 strain generated maximal quantities of ${\beta}-galactosidase$ when incubated for 60h at $10^{\circ}C$, Buttiauxella sp. HS-39 generated ${\beta}-galactosidase$ earlier, and at slightly lower levels, than R. aquatilis BS 1. The optimum temperature for ${\beta}-galactosidase$ was $30^{\circ}C$ for R. aquatilis BS-1, and was $45^{\circ}C$ for Buttiauxella sp. HS-39, thereby indicating that R. aquatilis BS-1 was able to generate a cold-adaptive enzyme. These two cold-adapted strains, and most notably the ${\beta}-galactosidase$ from each isolate, might prove useful in some biotechnological applications.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.493-499
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• 1996

Lactan gum produced by Rahnella aquatilis is a high viscous, anionic polysaccharide and has shear thinning behaviour. Lactan gum yield and cencentration was greater on disaccharide such as lactose and sucrose than on monosaccharides such as glucose and galactose. When initial carbon source concentration was 45g/l of sucrose of lactose, the microorgnisms produced 28 g/l and 27 g/l of lactan, respectively with a yield more than 60%. $\beta$-Galactosidase, hydrolyzing lactose into galactose and glucose, was induced by lactose or galactose. When initial corbon source was 45 g/l of mixed carbon I (glucose:galactose=1:1), lactan gum concentaration was higher than that from 45 g/l of monosaccharide (glucose pf galactose) but was similar to the result from 45 g/l of lactose. Therefore, lactose hydrolysis reaction by $\beta$-galactosidase does not seem to be a rate determining step in lactan gum biosynthesis. When initial carbon source was 45 g/l of mixed carbon II (glucose:fructose=1:1). total carbon source consumption rate was slower than that from sucrose, but glucose consumption rate was faster than that from fructose.