• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.1416-1426
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• 2022

The need to discover new types of antimicrobial agents has grown since the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that threaten human health. The world's oceans, comprising complex niches of biodiversity, are a promising environment from which to extract new antibiotics-like compounds. In this study, we newly isolated Pseudomonas sp. NIBR-H-19 from the gut of the sea roach Ligia exotica and present both phenotypes and genomic information consisting of 6,184,379 bp in a single chromosome possessing a total of 5,644 protein-coding genes. Genomic analysis of the isolated species revealed that numerous genes involved in antimicrobial secondary metabolites are predicted throughout the whole genome. Moreover, our analysis showed that among twenty-five pathogenic bacteria, the growth of three pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus hominis and Rhodococcus equi, was significantly inhibited by the culture of Pseudomonas sp. NIBR-H-19. The characterization of marine microorganisms with biochemical assays and genomics tools will help uncover the biosynthesis and action mechanism of antimicrobial metabolites for development as antagonistic probiotics against fish pathogens in an aquatic culture system.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.432-448
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• 2022

Planthopper infestation in rice causes direct and indirect damage through feeding and viral transmission. Host microbes and small RNAs (sRNAs) play essential roles in regulating biological processes, such as metabolism, development, immunity, and stress responses in eukaryotic organisms, including plants and insects. Recently, advanced metagenomic approaches have facilitated investigations on microbial diversity and its function in insects and plants, highlighting the significance of microbiota in sustaining host life and regulating their interactions with the environment. Recent research has also suggested significant roles for sRNA-regulated genes during rice-planthopper interactions. The response and behavior of the rice plant to planthopper feeding are determined by changes in the host transcriptome, which might be regulated by sRNAs. In addition, the roles of microbial symbionts and sRNAs in the host response to viral infection are complex and involve defense-related changes in the host transcriptomic profile. This review reviews the structure and potential functions of microbes and sRNAs in rice and the associated planthopper species. In addition, the involvement of the microbiota and sRNAs in the rice-planthopper-virus interactions during planthopper infestation and viral infection are discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.283-290
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• 2008

Baculoviruses have been used to control some serious lepidopteran pests. However, their narrow target insect spectrum and slow efficacy are main limitations to be used in various applications. This study introduces a technique to overcome these limitations by inhibiting insect immune defence to enhance the viral pathogenicity. Polydnaviruses are an insect DNA virus group and symbiotic to some ichneumonid and braconid endoparasitoids. Cotesia plutellae bracovirus (CpBV) is a braconid polydnavirus and encodes several immunosuppressive genes. We selected seven CpBV genes and recombined them to wild type Autographa California multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcNPV). A bioassay of these seven recombinants indicated that most recombinants had similar or superior efficacy to wild type AcNPV against beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, and diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. Recombinant AcNPV with CpBV-ELP was the most potent in terms of lethal time by shortening more than 2 days compared to wild type AcNPV. This recombinant was further proved in its dose-dependent pathogenicity and its efficacy by spray application on S. exigua infesting cabbage cultivated in pots. We discussed the efficacy of CpBV-ELP recombinant AcNPV in terms of suppressing antiviral activity of target insects.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.505-514
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• 2020

The symbiotic nature of the relationship between algae and marine bacteria is well-studied among the complex microbial interactions. The mutual profit between algae and bacteria occurs via nutrient and vitamin exchange. It is necessary to analyze the genome sequence of a bacterium to predict its symbiotic relationships. In this study, the genome of a marine bacterium, Pseudoruegeria sp. M32A2M, isolated from the south-eastern isles (GeoJe-Do) of South Korea, was sequenced and analyzed. A draft genome (91 scaffolds) of 5.5 Mb with a DNA G+C content of 62.4% was obtained. In total, 5,101 features were identified from gene annotation, and 4,927 genes were assigned to functional proteins. We also identified transcription core proteins, RNA polymerase subunits, and sigma factors. In addition, full flagella-related gene clusters involving the flagellar body, motor, regulator, and other accessory compartments were detected even though the genus Pseudoruegeria is known to comprise non-motile bacteria. Examination of annotated KEGG pathways revealed that Pseudoruegeria sp. M32A2M has the metabolic pathways for all seven vitamin Bs, including thiamin (vitamin B1), biotin (vitamin B7), and cobalamin (vitamin B12), which are necessary for symbiosis with vitamin B auxotroph algae. We also identified gene clusters for seven secondary metabolites including ectoine, homoserine lactone, beta-lactone, terpene, lasso peptide, bacteriocin, and non-ribosomal proteins.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 1993

Genes for dinitrogenase reductase (nifH) and dinitogenase a subunit (nifD) were found to be located on 7.9 kb of EcoRI, 6.5 kb of Sail, 7.3 kb of HindlII and 4.4 kb of Pstl fragments of the genomic blot of Rhizobium sp. SNU003. a symbiotic strain from root nodule of Canavalia lineata. Nine recombinant phage nif-clones were selected from the genomic library constructed by using EMBL-3 BamHI arms of bacteriophage lambda. Among them. Rnif-6 had insert DNA of 15.3 kb. in which 7.6 kb of BamHI!SacI fragment contained nifHD region. Therefore, the 7.6 kb fragment was subcloned into pUC19 and partial restriction map was constructed. As the results, nifH and nifD were found to be located continuously on 4.5 kb of BamHI/BglIl in the genome of Rhizobium sp. SNU003 strain.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1410-1416
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• 2015

Wolbachia is an obligate symbiotic bacteria that is ubiquitous in arthropods, with 25-70% of insect species estimated to be infected. Wolbachia species can interact with their insect hosts in a mutualistic or parasitic manner. Sequence types (ST) of Wolbachia are determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of housekeeping genes. However, there are some limitations to MLST with respect to the generation of clone libraries and the Sanger sequencing method when a host is infected with multiple STs of Wolbachia. To assess the feasibility of massive parallel sequencing, also known as next-generation sequencing, we used pyrosequencing for sequence typing of Wolbachia in butterflies. We collected three species of butterflies (Eurema hecabe, Eurema laeta, and Tongeia fischeri) common to Korea and screened them for Wolbachia STs. We found that T. fischeri was infected with a single ST of Wolbachia, ST41. In contrast, E. hecabe and E. laeta were each infected with two STs of Wolbachia, ST41 and ST40. Our results clearly demonstrate that pyrosequencing-based MLST has a higher sensitivity than cloning and Sanger sequencing methods for the detection of minor alleles. Considering the high prevalence of infection with multiple Wolbachia STs, next-generation sequencing with improved analysis would assist with scaling up approaches to Wolbachia MLST.

• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2020

The genus Termitomyces (Lyophyllaceae, Basidiomycota) is often associated with fungus-feeding termites (Macrotermitinae) due to their strong symbiotic relationships. The genus is widely found exclusively in certain regions of Africa and Asia. They are recognized as edible mushroom within Southeast Asia as well. But it is often misidentified based on morphology by the local communities especially in Malaysia for Chlorophyllum molybdites which is a highly poisonous mushroom. Thus, it is necessary to study the genus for Malaysia with the synergy of using both morphological and molecular identification. In this study, we aim to describe another new species as an addition to the genus Termitomyces found within Sabah, Malaysia. We generated two new sequences (nrLSU and mtSSU) for the new species and a total of 28 nrLSU and mtSSU sequences were retrieved from GenBank for the phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inferences. We identified that the new collection from Sabah province is a new species and named as Termitomyces gilvus based on the termites found in the mound. A phylogeny tree made from the concatenated genes of LSU and mtSSU suggests that T. gilvus is closely related to T. bulborhizus from China. According to our results, the combination of molecular and morphology proved to be a robust approach to re-evaluate the taxonomic status of Termitomyces species in Malaysia. Additional surveys are needed to verify the species diversity and clarify their geographic distribution.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 1988

The spectinomycin resistant strain of slow growing R. japonicum R-168 was selected to be participated in conjugation with E. coli WA803/pGS9. Tn5 was introduced from suicide vector pGS9 into R. japonicum R-168 $spr^{r}$ chromosome at the frequency of $1.0\times 10^{-5}-5.0\times 10^{-7}$ and the transconjugante were selected on the yeast extract-mannitol plate containing kanamycin ($50{\mu}$g/ml) and spectinomycin ($100{\mu}$g/ml) after 8-9 days incubation. All transconjugants we tested were found to contain Tn 5 DNA on their genome, which was confirmed by Southern hybridization experiments. R. japonicum RNa75, which had been selected through plant test, was found to be defective in symbiotic nitrogen fixing ability and the production of leghemoglobin in soybean nodules formed by the inoculation of this mutant. In addition, this mutant strain hardly developed nitrogenase activity asymbiotically in contrast with the wild type strain, indicating that some nitrogen fixing gene might be blocked in this strain and the production of leghemoglobin could be decreased by the interference in nitrogen fixing genes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1367-1378
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• 2020

The polyphagous eri silk moth, Samia ricini, is associated with various symbiotic gut bacteria believed to provide several benefits to the host. The larvae of S. ricini were subjected to isolation of gut bacteria using culture-dependent 16S rRNA generic characterization, metagenomics analysis and qualitative enzymatic assays. Sixty culturable aerobic gut bacterial isolates comprising Firmicutes (54%) and Proteobacteria (46%); and twelve culturable facultative anaerobic bacteria comprising Proteobacteria (92%) and Firmicutes (8%) were identified inhabiting the gut of S. ricini. The results of metagenomics analysis revealed the presence of a diverse community of both culturable and un-culturable gut bacteria belonging to Proteobacteria (60%) and Firmicutes (20%) associated with seven orders. An analysis of the results of culturable isolation indicates that these bacterial isolates inhabited all the three compartments of the gut. Investigation on persistence of bacteria coupled with metagenomics analysis of the fifth instar suggested that bacteria persist in the gut across the different instar stages. In addition, enzymatic assays indicated that 48 and 75% of culturable aerobic, and 75% of anaerobic gut bacterial isolates had cellulolytic, lipolytic and nitrate reductase activities, thus suggesting that they may be involved in food digestion and nutritional provision to the host. These bacterial isolates may be good sources for profiling novel genes and biomolecules for biotechnological application.