• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.126-132
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aims to provide basic data regarding the bacterial total plate count in the atmospheric environment for related studies. Methods: Total plate count and the identification of culturable bacteria in the atmospheric environment in Incheon took place in 2015 using periodic survey. Correlationship analysis was performed between the number of culturable bacteria and environmental elements. In addition, an estimation of novel bacterial species was undertaken using the similarities and phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA gene. Results: The total plate count of culturable bacteria was on average $176CFU/m^3$, and did not exceed $610CFU/m^3$ in the atmospheric environment. Periodic monthly measuring of total plate count was highest in June at $293CFU/m^3$, while the lowest was in July at $125CFU/m^3$. Furthermore, as a result of the identification of culturable bacteria, the genera Arthrobacter and Kocuria were dominant, while novel bacterial taxa that belong to the genera Chryseobacterium and Herbiconiux were separated. Conclusion: The total number of culturable bacteria from the atmospheric environment in Korea is on average $176CFU/m^3$. In addition, the genera Arthrobacter and Kocuria dominate. The presence of novel bacterial taxa are expected in the atmospheric environment, such as belonging to the genera Chryseobacterium and Herbiconiux.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2005

Molecular ecological studies of microbial communities revealed that only tiny fraction of total microorganisms in nature have been identified and characterized, because the majority of them have not been cultivated. A concept, metagenome, represents the total microbial genome in natural ecosystem consisting of genomes from both culturable microorganisms and viable but non-culturable bacteria. The construction and screening of metagenomic libraries in culturable bacteria constitute a valuable resource for obtaining novel microbial genes and products. Several novel enzymes and antibiotics have been identified from the metagenomic approaches in many different microbial communities. Phenotypic analysis of the introduced unknown genes in culturable bacteria could be an important way for functional genomics of unculturable bacteria. However, estimation of the number of clones required to uncover the microbial diversity from various environments has been almost impossible due to the enormous microbial diversity and various microbial population structure. Massive construction of metagenomic libraries and development of high throughput screening technology should be necessary to obtain valuable microbial resources. This paper presents the recent progress in metagenomic studies including our results and potential of metagenomics in plant pathology and agriculture.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.180-185
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• 2002

The direct viable count (DVC) and plate count (PC) methods was used to measure the number of bacteria in potable groundwater samples collected from bottled water from the market, mineral water, and edible groundwater near the urban areas and the stock farming congested areas. As a result, the number of living bacteria by DVC was comprised 30~80% of the total direct count (TDC), whereas the number of living bacteria by PC was around l~30% of DVC. Such results show that viable but non-culturable (VBNC) bacteria exist in the potable groundwater with high percentages. On the other hand, upon measuring the value from the conventional nutrient broth (NB), $10^-2$ fold diluted nutrient broth (DNB), and R2A broth, the values from the DNB and R2A showed 2~50 times higher than the conventional NB medium. These results indicate that oligotrophic bacterial groups which can multiply in the low nutrient broth abundantly exist in the oligotrophic environment like potable groundwater.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.868-876
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• 2015

This study was conducted to measure the concentrations of total culturable bacteria (TCB) and to identify the bacteria in thirty public facilities (7 elderly-care facilities, 4 hypermarkets, 4 university hospitals, 7 child care facilities, 4 subway stations and 4 bus terminals) in Seoul and Gyeonggi-Do Province. Although all concentrations measured in these study facilities did not exceed the national maintenance standard, it is believed that elderly-, child-care facilities should be high priority facilities to improve the indoor air quality and it is important to study the health effects and the airborne bacteria concentration of public facilities including non-culturable bacteria or allergen.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.61-80
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• 2013

Quantification of viable forms of microbial community (bacteria and fungi) using culture-dependent methods was done in order to characterize the indoor air quality (IAQ). Role of those factors, which may influence the concentration of viable counts of bacteria and fungi, like ventilation, occupancy, outdoor concentration and environmental parameters (temperature and relative humidity) were also determined. Volumetric-infiltration sampling technique was employed to collect air samples both inside and outside the schools. As regard of measurements of airborne viable culturable microflora of schools during one academic year, the level of TVMCs in school buildings was ranged between 803-5368 cfu/$m^3$. Viable counts of bacteria (VBCs) were constituted 63.7% of the mean total viable microbial counts where as viable counts of fungi (VFCs) formed 36.3% of the total. Mean a total viable microbial count (TVMCs) in three schools was 2491 cfu/$m^3$. Outdoor level of TVMCs was varied from 736-5855 cfu/$m^3$. Maximum and minimum VBCs were 3678-286 cfu/m3 respectively. Culturable fungal counts were ranged from 268-2089 cfu/$m^3$ in three schools. Significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) was indicated that indoor concentration of viable community reliant upon outdoor concentration. Temperature seemed to have a large effect (p < 0.05, p < 0.01) on the concentration of viable culturable microbial community rather than relative humidity. Consistent with the analysis and findings, the concentration of viable cultural counts of bacteria and fungi found indoors, were of several orders of magnitude, depending upon the potential of local, spatial and temporal factors, IO ratio appeared as a crucial indicator to identify the source of microbial contaminants.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Concentration and identification of airborne bacteria in the regulated public facilities were examined with the six-stage cascade impactor. Geometric mean total and respirable concentrations of airborne bacteria were $404cfu/m^3$ and $194cfu/m^3$ in hospital, $931cfu/m^3$ and $358cfu/m^3$ in kindergarten, $294cfu/m^3$ and $134cfu/m^3$ in day-care center, and $586cfu/m^3$ and $254cfu/m^3$ in postpartum nurse center, respectively. As a result, culturable total and respirable concentrations of airborne bacteria were significantly highest in kindergarten and lowest in day-care center (p<0.05). The ratio of respirable to total concentration of airborne bacteria in the investigated public facilities was ranged from 30% to 40% but there was no significant difference among them (p>0.05). The mean I/O ratio of culturable total and respirable concentrations were 0.58 and 0.66 in hospital, 0.71 and 0.83 in kindergarten, 0.28 and 0.41 in day-care center, and 0.63 and 0.78 in postpartum nurse center, respectively. Day-care center showed the lowest I/O ratio of culturable total and respirable concentration of airborne bacteria (p<0.05) but a significant difference was not found among other facilities. Indoor concentration of airborne bacteria did not correlated significantly with indoor temperature and relative humidity (p>0.05) but had a significant positive correlation with $CO_2$ and surrounding condition (p<0.05). Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp., and Bacillus spp. were dominant genera and amounted to over 95% of total airborne bacteria identified in the investigated public facilities. Size distributions of four dominant genera did not observed inconsistently regardless of type of public facility.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.26-33
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• 2003

We isolated and identifed culturable Arctic bacteria that have inhabited around Korean Arctic Research Station Dasan located at Ny-Alsund, Svalbard, Norway $(79^{\circ}N,\;12^{\circ}E)$. The pure colonies were inoculated into nutrient liquid media, genomic DNA was extracted, and phylogenetic analysis was performed on the basis of 16S rDNA sequences. Out of total 227 strains, 198 strains were overlapped or unidentified, and 43 bacteria were finally identified: 31 strains belonged to Pseudomonas, 7 strains Arthrobacter, two Flavobacterium sp., an Achromobacter sp., a Pedobacter sp., and a Psychrobacter sp. For isolation of diverse bacteria, we need more effective transport method than 3M petri-films, which were used for convenience of transportation that was restricted by volume. We also need to use other culture media than nutrient media. We expect these Arctic bacteria can be used for screening to develop new antibiotics or industrial enzymes that are active at low temperature.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1781-1794
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• 2018

Objective: This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the overall effect of direct-fed microbial (DFM) or probiotic supplementation on the log concentrations of culturable gut microbiota in broiler chickens. Methods: Relevant studies were collected from PubMed, SCOPUS, Poultry Science Journal, and Google Scholar. The studies included controlled trials using DFM supplementation in broiler chickens and reporting log concentrations of the culturable gut microbiota. The overall effect of DFM supplementation was determined using standardized mean difference (SMD) with a random-effects model. Subgroups were analyzed to identify pre-specified characteristics possibly associated with the heterogeneity of the results. Risk of bias and publication bias were assessed. Results: Eighteen taxa of the culturable gut microbiota were identified from 42 studies. The overall effect of DFM supplementation on the log concentrations of all 18 taxa did not differ significantly from the controls (SMD = -0.06, 95% confidence interval [-0.16, 0.04], p = 0.228, $I^2=85%$, n = 699 comparisons), but the 18 taxa could be further classified into three categories by the direction of the effect size: taxa whose log concentrations did not differ significantly from the controls (category 1), taxa whose log concentrations increased significantly with DFM supplementation (category 2), and taxa whose log concentrations decreased significantly with DFM supplementation (category 3). Category 1 comprised nine taxa, including total bacterial counts. Category 2 comprised four taxa: Bacillus, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium butyricum, and Lactobacillus. Category 3 comprised five taxa: Clostridium perfringens, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, and Salmonella. Some characteristics identified by the subgroup analysis were associated with result heterogeneity. Most studies, however, were present with unclear risk of bias. Publication bias was also identified. Conclusion: DFM supplementation increased the concentrations of some beneficial bacteria (e.g. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus) and decreased those of some detrimental bacteria (e.g. Clostridium perfringens and Salmonella) in the guts of broiler chickens.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.437-443
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• 2013

The diversity of culturable non-actinobacterial (NA) bacteria associated with four species of South China Sea gorgonians was investigated using culture-dependent methods followed by analysis of the bacterial 16S rDNA sequence. A total of 76 bacterial isolates were recovered and identified, which belonged to 21 species of 7 genera, and Bacillus was the most diverse genus. Fifty-one percent of the 76 isolates displayed antibacterial activities, and most of them belonged to the Bacillus genus. From the culture broth of gorgonian-associated Bacillus methylotrophicus SCSGAB0092 isolated from gorgonian Melitodes squamata, 11 antimicrobial lipopeptides including seven surfactins and four iturins were obtained. These results imply that Bacillus strains associated with gorgonians play roles in coral defense mechanisms through producing antimicrobial substances. This study, for the first time, compares the diversity of culturable NA bacterial communities among four species of South China Sea gorgonians and investigates the secondary metabolites of gorgonian-associated B. methylotrophicus SCSGAB0092.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.181-186
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• 2003

This study was performed to analyze quantitatively the number of living bacteria in forest soil samples collected from Mt. Keryong using improved direct viable count (DVC) and plate count (PC) methods. The number of living bacteria by DVC comprised 18～44% of the total direct count (TDC), whereas the number of living bacteria by PC was less than 1% of TDC. These results showed that viable but non-culturable (VBNC) bacteria existed in the soil with high percentages. Besides, DVC was proved to make it possible to make a quantitative detection of the VBNC bacteria. On the other hand, upon measuring the value from the conventional nutrient broth (NB) and $10^{-2}$ folded diluted nutrient broth (DNB), the values from the DNB showed 5 to 10 times higher than those from the conventional NB medium. These results indicate that oligotrophic bacterial groups, which could multiply in the low nutrient broth, abundantly exist in the soil ecosystem. It would also be possible to apply this kind of method to other substrate to make a quantitative detection of soil bacterial groups.