• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1655-1658
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• 2008

Cyanobacteria, blue-green algae, are a rich source of bioactive secondary metabolites with many potential applications. The ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic system plays an important role in selective protein degradation and regulates cellular events including apoptosis. Cancer cells are more sensitive to the proapoptotic effects of proteasome inhibition than normal cells. Thus, proteasome inhibitors can be potential anticancer agents. Cyanobacteria have been shown to be a rich source of highly effective inhibitors of proteases. A proteasome inhibitor was screened from an extract of the culture of Scytonema hofmanni on the basis of its inhibitory activity, which led to the isolation of nostodione A with an $IC_{50}$ value of 50${\mu}M$. Its structure was determined by spectroscopic methods such as $^{1}H$-NMR and ESI-MS spectral analyses.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.375-380
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• 2000

The preliminary screening of several cyanobacteria, using mice bioassay, reveale the production of a hepatotoxin by the cyanobacterium Scytonema sp. strain BT 23 isolated from soil. An intraperitoneal injection of the crude toxin (LD50 56 mg/kg body wt) from this strain caused the death of the mice within 40 min, and the anmals showed slinical signs of mice within 40 min, and the animals showed clinical signs of hepatotoxicity. The toxin was purified and partially characterized. The active fraction appears to be nonpolar in nature and shows absorption peaks at 240 and 285 nm. The purified toxin had an LD50 of TEX>$100<\mu\textrm{g}/kg$ body wt and the test mice died within 40 min of toxin administration. The toxin-treated mice showed a 1.65-fold increase in liver weight at 40 min and the liver color chnged to dark red due to intrahepatic hemorrhage and pooling of blood. Furthermore, the administration of the toxin to test mice induced a 2.58, 2.63, and 2.30-fold increse in the activity of the serum enzymes alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase, respectively. Further experiments with the 14C-labeled toxin revealed a maximum accumulation of the toxin in the liver. The clinical symptoms in the mice were similar to those produced by microcystin-L.R. These results suggest that hepatotoxins may also be produced in non bloom-forming planktonic cyanobacteria.

• ALGAE
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.91-114
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• 2008

Fifty seven taxa of Cyanobacteria and 15 taxa of Chlorophyta were recorded from the exterior of buildings and rock surfaces of monuments in different regions in India. Four cyanobacteria, e.g. Chroococcidiopsis kashayi, Pseudophormidium indicum, Plectonema puteale and Scytonema geitleri, and the green alga Trentepholia abietina var. tenue occur on the sub-aerial habitats throughout the year. In addition, five other green algae: Chlorococcum infusionum, Scenedesmus arcuatus, Trentepholia aurea, Gloeocystis polydermatica and Printzina effusa, and 18 other cyanobacteria taxa of the genera Chroococcus (5), Asterocapsa (1), Cyanosarcina (2), Gloeocapsa (7), Gloeothece (2) and Scytonema (1) occur on the sub-aerial surfaces enduring extreme temperature and desiccation during summer months of the tropics. During the rainy season, the warm and humid climatic regime coupled with availability of moisture supported an additional ten green algae and 29 cyanobacteria in eight and 17 genera, respectively. The green algal genera Klebsormidium, Stichococcus and Trebouxia, which are dominant in temperate regions, did not occur on the sub-aerial habitats in India, however, species of Gloeocapsa, Chroococcus, Chroococcidiopsis, Phormidium, Leptolyngbya, Nostoc, Scytonema, Chlorella and Trentepholia showed global occurrence in similar habitats.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1202-1206
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• 2016

Unicellular cyanobacterial strains of Subsections I and II and filamentous cyanobacterial strains of Subsection III have been shown to be polyphyletic, heterocystous strains of Subsections IV and V, both of which were previously reported to be monophyletic. In this study, the small subunit ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) sequences of 13 strains of cyanobacteria - one strain, Oscillatoria nigro-viridis PCC7112, of the Subsection III, 6 strains including genus Anabaena, Nostoc, Tolypothrix, Calothrix and Scytonema of the Subsection IV, and 6 strains including genus Hapalosiphon, Fischerella and Chlorogloeopsis of the Subsection V - were determined. The phylogenetic analysis of cyanobacteria was carried out using the 16S rRNA sequences. The results of the phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA sequences, based on Neighbour-joining, maximum-parsimony, and maximum-likelihood methods, indicated that the members of Subsection IV were not monophyletic but polyphyletic. In addition, the phylogenetic results strongly indicated that the genus Scytonema in Subsection IV could be a common ancestor of heterocystous cyanobacteria in Subsection IV and V. Furthermore, the phylogenetic analyses revealed that the genus Anabaena could be phylogenetically diverse and that cyanobacterial strains in Subsection IV might be polyphyletic, whereas those in Subsection V could be monophyletic, as reported before. The results for the genus Anabaena indicate that it should be reclassified.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2003

A freshwater bloom-forming cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa, and local soil isolate Scytonema sp. strain BT 23 were demonstrated to contain biotoxic secondary metabolites with pesticidal and mosquito larvicidal activities. A purified toxic constituent from M aeruginosa showed an absorption maximum at 230 nm and its toxicity symptoms, Rf value on TLC, and retention time observed ill an HPLC analysis were similar to those of the hepatotoxic heptapeptide microcystin-LR. The bioactive constituent of the Scytonema sp. was less polar in nature and exhibited two peaks at 240 and 285 m. When applied to two cruciffrous pests, Pieris brassicae and Plutella flostella, the crude extracts and toxic principles from the two cyanobacteria showed significant antifeedant activity in a no-choice bioassay, and at higher concenuations exhibited contact toxicity to the insect larvae. The purified toxin from M. aeruginosa was found to be more effective and produced 97.5 and $92.8\%$ larval mortality in the two pests, fo11owing 2 h of toxin treatment at a concentration of $25{\mu}g$ Per leaf disc (2.5 cm dia.). Meanwhile, similar treatment with the purified toxin from Sytonema sp. stain BT 23 only produced 73 and $78\%$ mortality in the two pests. The cyanobacterial constituents also showed significant activity against Culex and Anopheles larvae. The M. aeruginosa toxin ($20{\mu}g\;ml^-1$) caused 98.2 and $88.1\%$ mortality in the Culex and Anopheles larvae, respectively, while the purified toxin from the Sytonema sp. was less toxic and only produced a 96.3 and $91.2\%$ mortality, respectively, at a much higher concentration ($40{\mu}g\;ml^-1$). Accordingly, the current results point to certain hitherto unknown biological properties of cyanobacterial biotoxins.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.215-215
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• 2009

• ALGAE
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.283-294
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• 2012

The physico-chemical and environmental factors of stoneworks were examined from March 2009 to October 2010, and aerial algae living on 24 stoneworks in Korea were identified. Fifty aerial algae were found in 24 stoneworks. Of the 50 taxa, 30 taxa were cyanophytes, 16 taxa were bacillariophytes, 3 taxa were chlorophytes, and 1 taxon was a xanthophyte. Nine species, including Aphanocapsa rivularis, which is known to only live in aquatic conditions, inhabited both aquatic and aerial environments. Synechococcus aeruginosus, Scytonema coactile var. thermalis, S. coactile var. minor, Stigonema ocellatum f. ocellatum, and Oscillatoria boryana were newly recorded in Korea. As a result of a correlation analysis between algae and the physico-chemical and ecological environmental factors, the taxa were divided into the bryophyte group, the humidity group, and the dry group. Although the bryophyte group was included within the humidity group, it was separated from the dry group. Taxa in the bryophyte group including Nostoc commune which was distributed in more humid areas than those in the humidity group. However, dry group taxa including Chroococcus pallidus were distributed in lower humidity than that of the two other groups. Correlations among other environmental factors were tested to identify other factors that could substitute for humidity and light intensity. As a result, tree distance, water distance, and plant coverage were replaceable environmental factors.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.305-312
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• 2014

A number of coated grains (spherical to elongated ones in shape) were collected from a small stream, Dijon, France. They were characterized by typical concentric lamination surrounding broken twigs, and were thus identified as concentric precipitation on plant twigs. Within carbonate coatings of the plant twigs, two morphological groups including, eukaryotic green algae (Vaucheria sp.) and cyanobacteria (Scytonema sp. and Rivularia sp.) were detected, which form carbonate crystals that are surrounding their filaments. The filaments could have triggered carbonate precipitation by photosynthetic removal of $CO_2$ causing the increase of alkalinity of the water, and by supporting their sheaths as nucleation sites. Such encrusted twigs were found from 70 meters downstream, in which temperature and pH were measured as $11.1^{\circ}C$ and 8.18, respectively. These water chemistries ($11.1^{\circ}C$ and pH 8.18), with the aid of microbial photosynthesis, were likely to provide a suitable condition for carbonate precipitation on the twigs.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.439-441
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• 2002

Cyanobacteria are the dominant micro flora in rice-fields, contributing significantly to fertility as a natural biofertilizer. Recent studies show a continuous depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the consequent increase in solar UV-B (280-315 nm) radiation reaching the Earth's surface. UV-B radiation causes reduction in growth, survival, protein content, heterocyst frequency and fixation of carbon and nitrogen in many cyanobacteria. UV -B induced bleaching of pigments, disassembly of phycobilisomal complexes, thymine dimer formation and alterations in membrane permeability have also been encounterd in a number of cyanobacteria. However, certain cyanobacteria produce photoprotective compounds such as water soluble colorless mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) and the lipid soluble yellow-brown colored sheath pigment, scytonemin, to counteract the damaging effects of UV-B. Cyanobacteria, such as Anabaena sp., Nostoc commune, Scytonema sp. and Lyngbya sp. were isolated from rice fields and other habitats in India and screened for the presence of photoprotective compounds. A circadian induction of the synthesis of MAAs by UV -B was noted in a number of cyanobacteria. Polychromatic action spectra for the induction of MAAs in Anabaena sp. and Nostoc commune also show the induction to be UV-B dependent peaking at 290 nm. Another photoprotective compound, scytonemin, with an absorption maximum at 386 nm (also absorbs at 300, 278, 252 and 212 nm), was detected in many cyanobacteria. In conclusion, a particular cyanobacterium having photoprotective compounds may be a potent candidate as biofertilizer for crop plants.