• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.279-284
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• 2000

Simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and degradation of phenol was observed in batch and bench-scale continuous stirred tank reactors using Rhodococcus sp. CP01 isolated from leachate. The strain CP01, which was capable of utilizing phenol as a sole source of carbon and energy, completely reduced added hexavalent chromium (0.25 mM) to its trivalent form during 60 hr batch assay under optimal conditions (pH 7.0 and 1,000 mg/L of phenol concentration). The rates of Cr(VI) reduction and phenol degradation were estimated as 4.17 $\mu$M Cr(VI) and 38.4 mg phenol.$L^{-1}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$, respectively. The continuous culture experiment was conducted for 46 days using synthetic feed containing different levels of chromate (0.0625 to 0.25 mM) and phenol(1,000 to 4,000 mg/L). With a hydraulic retention time of 100 hr, Cr(VI) reduction efficiency was mostly 100% for influent Cr(VI) and phenol concentrations of 0.125 mM and 3,000 mg/L, respectively. During quasi-steady-state operation, specific rate of Cr(VI) reduction was calculated as 0.34 mg Cr(VI).g $protein^{-1}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$ which was comparable to reported values obtained by using glucose as growth substrate. The results suggest the potential application of biological treatment for detoxification of wastewater contaminated simultaneously with Cr(VI) and pheonol.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.334-341
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• 2011

The free residual chlorine of tap water samples, collected from 266 faucets on the water pipe network in Daegu City, was between 0.1 and 0.79 mg/L. On microorganic tests, general bacteria and the coliform goup were not detected and thus the tap water was turned out to be fit to drink. In particular, samples of which free residual chlorine was 0.1 mg/L and over were cultured in R2A agar media at $25^{\circ}C$ for 7 days, and as a result heterotrophic bacteria were detected in 65.9% of samples; (1). The closer tap water got to the faucet from the stilling basin, the lower residual chlorine concentration became but the more the bacterial count became. And, more bacteria were detected in the R2A agar medium than in the PCA medium. (2). In the case of separated strains, most colonies were reddish or yellowish. 16S rRNA sequence was identified as Methylobacterium sp. and Williamsia sp., and yellow strain was identified as Sphingomonas sp., Sphingobium sp., Novosphingobium sp., Blastomonas sp., Rhodococcus sp. and Microbacterium sp. White strain was identified as Staphylococcus sp. (3). Sterilized tap water in polyethylene bottles was inoculated with separated strain and was left as it was for 2 months. As a result, bio-film was observed in tap water inoculated with Methylobacterium sp. and Sphingomonas sp. It was found that heterotrophic bacteria increased when free residual chlorine was removed from tap water in the water pipe network. Thus, there is a need to determine a base value for heterotrophic bacteria in order to check the cleanliness of tap water in the water pipe network.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.92-96
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• 2011

Rhodococcus sp. strain DK17 possesses three megaplasmids (380 kb pDK1, 330 kb pDK2, and 750 kb pDK3). The alkylbenzene-degrading genes (akbABCDEF) are present on pDK2 while the phthalate operons which are duplicated are present on both pDK2 (ophA'B'C'R') and pDK3 (ophABCR). DK17 with an optimal temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ showed no growth at $37^{\circ}C$. When transferred to $30^{\circ}C$, however, the $37^{\circ}C$ culture began to grow immediately, indicating that $37^{\circ}C$ is not lethal but stressful for DK17 growth. In addition, when exposed to $37^{\circ}C$ even for a short time, a part of DK17 cells lost the ability to degrade o-xylene (a model compound of alkylbenzenes). When two hundred colonies were randomly selected for colony PCR for pDK2-specific akbC, ophC', or pDK3-specific ophC, a total of 29 colonies were found to have lost at least one of the three genes. PFGE analysis clearly showed that all the mutants have different megaplasmid profiles from that of DK17 wild type, which are divided into five different cases: Type I (10 mutants, pDK2 loss and acquisition of a new ~700 kb plasmid), Type II (9 mutants, pDK2 loss), Type III (8 mutants, pDK3 loss and acquisition of a new ~400 kb plasmid), Type IV (1 mutant, pDK3 loss), and Type V (1 mutant, pDK2 and pDK3 loss and acquisition of the ~400 kb and ~700 kb plasmids). The above results showing that growth temperature changes can induce physical changes in bacterial genomes suggest that environmental changes in habitats including temperature fluctuations affect significantly the evolution of bacteria.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.279-284
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• 2018

Membrane biofouling is a critical operational problem that hinders the rapid commercialization of MBRs. Quorum quenching (QQ) has been investigated widely to control membrane biofouling and is accepted as a promising anti-fouling strategy. Various QQ strategies based on bacterial and enzymatic agents have been identified and applied successfully. Whereas, this study aimed to compare indigenously isolated QQ strain i.e., Enterobacter cloaca with well reported Rhodococcus sp. BH4. Both bacterial species were immobilized in polymeric beads and introduced to two different MBRs keeping the overall beads to volume ratio as 1%. Efficiencies of these strains were monitored in terms of prolonging the membrane filtration cycle of MBR, release of extra-cellular polymeric substances, membrane resistivity measurements and mineralization of signal molecules and permeate quality. Indigenous strain (Enterobacter cloaca) was added to $QQ-MBR_E$ while Rhodococcus sp. BH4 was introduced to $QQ-MBR_R$. QQ bacterial embedded beads showed enhanced filtration cycles up to 1.4 and 2.3 times for $QQ-MBR_E$ and $QQ-MBR_R$ respectively as compared to control MBR (C-MBR). Soluble EPS concentration of 52 mg/L was observed in C-MBR while significantly lower EPS concentration of 20 and 10 mg/L was witnessed in $QQ-MBR_E$ and $QQ-MBR_R$, respectively. Therefore, substantial reduction in biofouling showed the effectiveness of indigenous strain.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.269-271
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• 2004

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.668-676
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• 2001

Pseudomonas sp. strain SY5 is a PCB-degrading bacterium [24] that includes two different enzymes (BphC1 and BphC2) encoding 2,3-dihdroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase and BphD encoding 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoate hydrolase. The bphC1 and bphC2 genes were found to consist of 897 based encoding 299 amino acids and 882 bases encoding 294 amino acids, respectively, whereas the bphD gene consisted of 861 bases encoding 287 amino acids. According to a homology search, a 50% and 39% similarity between the bphC1 and bphC2 genes at the nucleotide and amino acid level was shown, respectively. The bphC1 gene showed a 38% and 45% similarity at the amino acid level to Alcaligenes eutrophus A5 and Rhodococcus rhodochrous, respectively, whereas, bphC2 showed a 95% and 43% similarity, respectively. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of the bphD product of Pseudomonas sp. SY5 with that of A. eutrophus A5, Pseudomons sp. KKS102, and LB400 showed a sequence identity of 92, 92, and 79%, respectively. Strain SY5 was originally isolated from municipal sewage containing recalcitrant organic compounds an found to have a high degradability of various aromatic compounds [23]. The current study found that strain SY5 had two extradiol-type dioxygenases, which did not hybridize with each other as they had a low similarity, yet a similar structure of evolutionarily conserved amino acids residues for catalytic activity between BphC1 and BphC2 was observed.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2001

The aim of this study was to examine how plant terpenoids, as natural growth substrates or inducers, would affect the biodegradation of PCB congeners. Various PCB degraders that could grow on biphenyl and several terpenoids were tested for their PCB degradation capabilities. Degradation activities of the PCB congeners, 4,4-dichlorobiphenyl (4,4-DCBp) and 2,2-dichlorobiphenyl (2,2-DCBp), were initially monitored through a resting cell assay technique that could detect their degradation products. The PCB degraders, Pseudomonas ((S)-(-) limonene, p-cymene and $\alpha$-terpinene) whereas Arthrobacter sp. B1B could not grow on the terpenoids as a sole carbon source. The B1B strain grown on biphenyl exhibited good degradation activity for 4,4-DCBp and 2,2-DCBp, while the activity of strains P166 and T104 was about 25% that of the B1B strain, respectively. Concomitant GC analysis, however, demonstrated that strain T104, grown on (S)-(-) limonene, p-cymene and $\alpha$-terpinene, could degrade 4,4-DCBp up to 30%, equivalent to 50% of the biphenyl induction level. Moreover, strain T104 grown on (S)-(-) limonene, could also degrade 2,2-DCBp up to 30%. This indicates that terpenoids, widely distributed in nature, could be utilized as both growth and/or inducer substrate(s) for PCB biodegradation in the environment.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.307-314
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• 2008

To explore the optimal conditions for the removal of $H_{2}S$ gas by biofiltration, various conditions, including inlet $H_{2}S$ concentration, flow rate, moisture, and cell number, were examined. Heterotrophic bacteria were isolated from the compost of the animal excreta. A strain that effectively removed $H_{2}S$ was selected and identified as Rhodococcus rhodochrous B261 by analysis of its 16S rDNA sequence. A cell number of $10^{7}\;cfu/g^{-}compost$ was sufficient to dominate the microbiota, and an effective removal was observed at $H_{2}S$ gas concentrations below 220 mg/L. The moisture content of 33-38% was suitable for activation of the microbial activity and delaying the desiccation. Higher flow rates resulted in lower removal rates of the $H_{2}S$ gas. Under the conditions of $10^7\;cfu/g^{-}compost$, $H_{2}S$ gas concentrations of 220 mg/L, and moisture content of 33-38%, the inlet $H_{2}S$ gas concentrations of 120 and 400 mg/L were completely removed for 34 and 12 days, respectively. The amount of sulfur removed was $2.99{\times}10^{-9}H_{2}S-S/cell$, which was suggested as the amount of sulfur removed by a single cell. The biofilter consisting of the compost and R. rhodochrous B261 could be suitable for a long-term biofilteration for the removal of $H_{2}S$ and other malodorous compounds.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.188-193
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• 2004

Xanthobacter flavus strain UE15 was isolated in wastewater obtained from the Ulsan industrial complex, Korea. This strain functions as a 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) degrader, via a mechanism of hydrolytic dechlorination, under aerobic conditions. The UE15 strain was also capable of dechlorinating other chloroaliphatics such as 2-chloroacetic acid and 2-chloropropionic acid. The dhlA gene encoding 1,2-DCA dechlorinase was cloned from the genomic DNA of the UE15 strain, and its nucleotide sequence was determined to consist of 933 base pairs. The deduced amino acid sequence of the DhlA dechlorinase exhibited 100％ homology with the corresponding enzyme from X. autotrophicus GJ10, but only 27 to 29％ homology with the corresponding enzymes from Rhodococcus rhodochrous, Pseudomonas pavonaceae, and Mycobacterium sp. strain GP1, which all dechlorinate haloalkane compounds. The UE15 strain has an ORF1 (1,356 bp) downstream from the dhlA gene. The OFR1 shows 99％ amino acid sequence homology with the transposase reported from X. autotrophicus GJ10. The transposase gene was not found in the vicinity of the dhlA in the GJ10 strain, but rather beside the dhlB gene coding for haloacid dechlorinase. The dhlA and dhlB genes were confirmed to be located at separate chromosomal loci in the Xanthobacter flavus UE15 strain as well as in X. autotrophicus GJ10. The dhlA and transposase the UE15 strain were found to be parenthesized by a pair of insertion sequences, 181247, which were also found on both sides of the transposase gene in the GJ10 strain. This unique structure of the dhlA gene organization in X. flavus strain UE15 suggested that the dechlorinase gene, dhlA, is transferred with the help of the transposase gene.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.35-38
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• 2004