• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.675-681
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• 1994

[ $F_0$ ]-values of the canned tuna in cottonseed oil (CTCO) were investigated under different sterilizing conditions to optimize the energy consumption and microbiological safety. The $F_0$-values were measured using a microcomputer based technique. The exact cold point was not the volumetric center of the cans, and it was located in the center of meat mass in can which had ca. $6\%$ of head space. Location of the test cans in retort showed no remarkable influence on the $F_0$-values when the cans were jumble loaded. The process time before sterilization should be shortened as much as possible to prevent the contamination of microorganisms. Thermophilic spore forming bacteria found from raw and precooked tuna were Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus pasteurii, and the most heat resistant was Bacillus subtilis. The rational $F_0$-value for the CTCO obtained from the preservation test was regarded as 6min.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.243-252
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• 2002

To develop indicators for soil health evaluation, biological characteristics of native soils from the different parent materials were studied. Survival rate of fluorescent Pseudomonas in soils was the lowest as 0.1% while those of thermophilic Bacillus and alkaliphilic bacteria were over the 90% by the soil drying stress. There was positive relationship between soil microbial biomass and organic carbon exudated from the microbial biomass by the treatment. The average air-drying effect of soils was 39.7% with ranges of 9.7~95.0%. The propagules of mesophilic Bacillus and Gram negative bacteria were increased by the re-wetting of dried soils. Soil pH affected positively to the recovering rate of microbial number. Average recovering rate of microbes was 65.3%, and there was positive relationship between microbial biomass recovery and fluorescent Pseudomonas population.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2002

An enzymatic reaction for the production of D-alanine from D-aspartic acid and pyruvate as substrates by a thermostable D-amino acid aminotransferase (D-AAT) was investigated at various conditions In the temperature range of 40-70$\^{C}$ and pH range of 6.0-9.5. The D-AAT was produced with recombinant E. coli BL21, which hosted the chimeric plasmid pTLK2 harboring the D-AAT from the novel thermophilic Bacillus sp. LK-2. The enzyme reaction was shown to follow the Ping Pong Bi Bi mechanism. The K$\_$m/ values for D-aspartic acid and pyruvate were 4.38 mar and 0.72 mM, respectively. It was observed that competitive inhibition by D-alanine, the product of this reaction, was evident with the inhibition constant K$\_$i/ value of 0.1 mM. A unique feature of this reaction scheme is that the decorboxylation of oxaloacetic acid, one of the products, spontaneously produces pyruvate. Therefore, only a catalytic amount of pyruvate is necessary for the enzyme conversion reaction to proceed. A typical time-course kinetic study skewed that D-alanine up to 88 mM could be produced from 100 mM of D-aspartic acid with a molar yield of 1.0.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.730-738
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• 2016

est19 is a gene from Bacillus sp. K91 that encodes a new esterase. A comparison of the amino acid sequence showed that Est19 has typical Ser-Gly-Asn-His (SGNH) family motifs and could be grouped into the SGNH hydrolase family. The Est19 protein was functionally cloned, and expressed and purified from Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The enzyme activity was optimal at 60℃ and pH 9.0, and displayed esterase activity towards esters with short-chain acyl esters (C₂-C₆). A structural model of Est19 was constructed using phospholipase A1 from Streptomyces albidoflavus NA297 as a template. The structure showed an α/β-hydrolase fold and indicated the presence of the typical catalytic triad Ser49-Asp227-His230, which were further investigated by site-directed mutagenesis. To the best of our knowledge, Est19 is a new member of the SGNH hydrolase family identified from thermophiles, which may be applicable in the industrial production of semisynthetic β-lactam antibiotics after modification.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.121-133
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• 2017

A small amount of milk is sold as 'untreated' or raw in the US; the two most commonly used heat-treatments for milk sold in retail markets are pasteurization (LTLT, low-temperature long time; HTST, high-temperature short time) and sterilization (UHT, ultra-high temperature). These treatments extend the shelf life of milk. The main purpose of heat treatment is to reduce pathogenic and perishable microbial populations, inactivate enzymes, and minimize chemical reactions and physical changes. Milk UHT processing combined with aseptic packaging has been introduced to produce shelf-stable products with less chemical damage than sterile milk in containers. Two basic principles of UHT treatment distinguish this method from in-container sterilization. First, for the same germicidal effect, HTST treatments (as in UHT) use less chemicals than cold-long treatment (as in in-container sterilization). This is because Q10, the relative change in the reaction rate with a temperature change of $10^{\circ}C$, is lower than the chemical change during bacterial killing. Based on Q10 values of 3 and 10, the chemical change at $145^{\circ}C$ for the same germicidal effect is only 2.7% at $115^{\circ}C$. The second principle is that the need to inactivate thermophilic bacterial spores (Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens, etc.) determines the minimum time and temperature, while determining the maximum time and temperature at which undesirable chemical changes such as undesirable flavors, color changes, and vitamin breakdown should be minimized.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.34-45
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• 2012

A thermophilic Bacillus stearothermophilus F1 produces an extremely thermostable serine protease. The F1 protease sequence was used to predict its three-dimensional (3D) structure to provide better insights into the relationship between the protein structure and biological function and to identify opportunities for protein engineering. The final model was evaluated to ensure its accuracy using three independent methods: Procheck, Verify3D, and Errat. The predicted 3D structure of F1 protease was compared with the crystal structure of serine proteases from mesophilic bacteria and archaea, and led to the identification of features that were related to protein stabilization. Higher thermostability correlated with an increased number of residues that were involved in ion pairs or networks of ion pairs. Therefore, the mutants W200R and D58S were designed using site-directed mutagenesis to investigate F1 protease stability. The effects of addition and disruption of ion pair networks on the activity and various stabilities of mutant F1 proteases were compared with those of the wild-type F1 protease.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.925-934
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• 2010

Three typical biological solid wastes, namely, animal manure, garbage, and sewage sludge, were compared with regard to the composting process and the changes in microbial community structure. The effects of different bulking agents such as rice straw, vermiculite, sawdust, and waste paper were compared in manure compost. The differences in the microbial community were characterized by the quinone profile method. The highest mass reduction was found in garbage composting (56.8%), compared with manure and sludge (25% and 20.2%, respectively). A quinone content of $305.2\;{\mu}mol/kg$ was observed in the late stage of garbage composting, although the diversity index of the quinone profile was 9.7, lower than that in manure composting. The predominant quinone species was found to be MK-7, which corresponds to Gram-positive bacteria with a low G+C content, such as Bacillus. The predominance of MK-7 was especially found in the garbage and sludge composting process, and the increase in quinones with partially saturated long side-chains was shown in the late composting process of manure, which corresponded to the proliferation of Actinobacteria. The effects of different bulking agents on the composting process was much smaller than the effects of different raw materials. High organic matter content in the raw materials resulted in a higher microbial biomass and activity, which was connected to the high mass reduction rate.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.165-170
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• 2004

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different surface soil management practices on soil microflora in volcanic ash soils of citrus orchard. Soil samples were collected from citrus orchards of clean cultivation, grass sod, and grass mulch system in May and September 1997. Soil chemical properties, populations of various microorganisms, enzyme activities, microbial biomass C were analyzed. Average soil pH were 4.7, and average nitrogen and organic matter contents were 6 and $140.2g\;kg^{-1}$, respectively. Aerobic bacteria were distributed at $26,2-47.3{\times}10^6cfu\;g^{-1}$ level. Among the aerobic bacteria Pseudomonas spp., Rhizobium spp., and thermophilic Bacillus spp. were dominant in most of the investigated orchard soils. Density of actinomycetes were low at $1.8-84.6{\times}10^5cfu\;g^{-1}$ level. Fungi were distributed at $26.4-182.1{\times}10^5cfu\;g^{-1}$ level and the density was higher in grass mulch and sward sites. In september, phosphomonoesterase activity was high at $239.6{\mu}g\;PNP\;g\;soil^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ in clean cultivated citrus orchards. Soil cellulase activity were higher at $602.6{\mu}g\;GE\;g\;soil^{-1}$\;24\;h^{-1}$ in grass sward cultivation than any other soil management practices. Soil microbial biomass C was higher in grass mulch cultivated orchards.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.274-279
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• 2020

This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of the medium used on the composting step, comparing the excavator agitator with the self-propelled turner. The temperature of the outdoor composting medium tended to increase rapidly after flipping in the turner. The late composting medium temperature was maintained at the excavator treatment area (farm practice), and the late composting effect progressed. During the field composting stage, various microorganisms such as Bacillus spp., Actinomycetes, fluorescent Pseudomonas spp., and filamentous fungi were distributed in the medium, and the density of aerobic bacteria involved in the decomposition of the medium was increased. Under high-temperature composting conditions, blue fungi, and mesophilic actinomycetes were inhibited or killed. Thermophilic actinomycetes, which play an important role in decomposing organic matter, showed higher densities than those observed in farm practices in the self-propelled turner process. The length of rice straw was slightly shorter when the self-propelled turner was used, and the water content did not show any significant difference between treatments. The a and b values tended to increase as the inverter was turned over. The CN ratio of the composting broth was lowered from 23.1 to 16.2 for the 5th turnover in the context of farming practices, and from 23.3 to 16.9 in the context of the self-propelled turner. The yield of each treatment was increased by 20% in 1 period, 28% in 2 periods, and 26% in 3 periods; the overall yield was 23%.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.197-203
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• 1998

Although biological metabolism in soil is very important for evaluating the soil properties, most of researches have concerned mainly about physical and chemical sides. In this study, biological characteristics were examined to demonstrate the biota in the plastic film house soils. Contents of organic matter and phosphate in soil were increased with cultivation period. ECs of soil cultivated spinach and melon were $3.59dS\;m^{-1}$ and $3.46dS\;m^{-1}$ respectively: these values were higher than that of rose and flower, which were $1.23dS\;m^{-1}$ and $1.32dS\;m^{-1}$ respectively. The population of fluorescent Pseudomonas strains of the soil cultivated flowers: $113.8{\times}10^4{\sim}129.7{\times}10^4cfu\;g^{-1}$ was higher than that of leafy vegetables: $40.7{\times}10^4{\sim}97.9{\times}10^4cfu\;g^{-1}$ and fruiting vegetables: $25.0{\times}10^4{\sim}91.7{\times}10^4cfu\;g^{-1}$. However the number of Fusarium strains of the soil cultivated with flowers: $3.8{\times}10^2{\sim}4.0{\times}10^2cfu\;g^{-1}$ was lower than that of leafy vegetables: $4.3{\times}10^2{\sim}16.3{\times}10^2cfu\;g^{-1}$ and fruiting vegetables: $7.6{\times}10^2{\sim}30.0{\times}10^2cfu\;g^{-1}$. In relation to the cultivation period, the habitation density of aerobic bacteria, mesophilic Bacillus, thermophilic Bacillus, and fluorescent Pseudomonas strains was the highest in the soil cultivated over 11 years, but diversity index showed negative correlation with cultivation period. Microbial biomass C in these soils had positive correlation with each number of microorganisms including aerobic bacteria, actinomycetes, and strains of mesophilic Bacillus as well as the total number of these microorganisms.