• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.375-386
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• 2022

In the present study, four distinctly colored bacterial isolates that show intense pigmentation upon brief ultraviolet (UV) light exposure are chosen. The strains are identified as Micrococcus luteus (Milky yellow), Cryseobacterium pallidum (Yellow), Cryseobacterium spp. (Golden yellow), and Kocuria turfanensis (Pink) based on their morphological and 16S rDNA analysis. Moderate salinity (1.25%), 25-37℃ temperature, and pH of 7.2 are found to be the most favorable conditions of growth and pigment production for all the selected isolates. The pigments are extracted using methanol: chloroform (1:1) and the purity of the pigments are confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Further, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV-Visible spectroscopy indicate their resemblance with carotenoids and flexirubin family. The antioxidant activities of the pigments are estimated, and, all the pigments have shown significant antioxidant efficacy in 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The UV protective property of the pigments is determined by cling-film assay, wherein, at least 25% of UV sensitive Escherichia coli survive with bio-pigments even after 90 seconds of UV exposure compared to control. The pigments also hold a good sun protective factor (SPF) value (1.5-4.9) which is calculated with the Mansur equation. Based on these results, it can be predicted that these bacterial pigments can be further developed into a promising antioxidant and UV-protectant for several biomedical applications.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.397-409
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• 2010

Herein, we compared the production rate of UV-absorbing compounds (mycosporine-like amino acids) and carotenoids in two phytoplankton species--Phaeocystis pouchetii and Porosira glacialis--which are the dominant species in Polar Regions under artificial UV radiation conditions. P. pouchetii exposed to UVR and PAR evidenced reductions in the carbon fixation rate, and was not significantly influenced by differing light conditions. However, the concentrations of UV-absorbing compounds and photo-protective pigments of P. pouchetii were increased with increasing exposure time, but P. glacialis maintained constant levels during the UVR exposure experiment. The production rates of MAAs showed a reverse phase between the two phytoplankton species. The carbon fixation rate of P. pouchetii cells was inhibited by exposure to UV radiation, but the production rates of MAAs in P. pouchetii were increased under UV radiation exposure. The carbon fixation rate and production rate of MAAs in P. glacialis were simultaneously inhibited under UV radiation exposure conditions. These results provide us with new information regarding the processes involved in the production of UV-absorbing compounds and photoprotective pigments in two phytoplankton species.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1999

Numerous observations revealed strong evidence of increased middle ultraviolet radiation or UV-B (280 ~ 320 nm) at the earth's surface resulting from stratospheric ozone depletion. UV is the waveband of electromagnetic radiation which is strongly absorbed by nucleic acids and proteins, thus causing damage to living systems. It has been recorded in the East Sea, Korea that solar UV-B impinging on the ocean surface penetrates seawater to significant depths. Recent researches showed that exposure to UV-B for as short as 2h at the ambient level (2.0 Wm$^{-2}$) decreased macroalgal growth and photosynthesis and destroyed photosynthetic pigments. These may suggest that UV-B could be an important environmental factor to determine algal survival and distribution. Some adaptive mechanisms to protect macroalgae from UV-damage have been found, which include photoreactivation and formation of UV-absorbing pigments. Post-illumination of visible light mitigated UV-induced damage in laminarian young sporophytes with blue the most effective waveband. The existence of UV-B absorbing pigments has been recognized in the green alga, Ulva pertusa and the red alga, Pachymeniopsis sp., which is likely to exert protective function for photosynthetic pigments inside the thalli from UV-damage. Further studies are however needed to confirm that these mechanisms are of general occurrence in seaweeds. Macroalgae together with phytoplankton are the primary producers to incorporate about 100 Gt of carbons per year, and provide half of the total biomass on the earth. UV-driven reduction in macroalgal biomass, if any, would therefore cause deleterious effects on marine ecosystem. The ultimate impacts of increasing UV-B flux due to ozone destruction are still unknown, but the impression from UV studies made so far seems to highlight the importance of setting up long-term monitoring system for us to be able to predict and detect the onset of large -scale deterioration in aquatic ecosystem.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2011

Skin is a physical barrier against diverse injury and damages. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation causes detrimental skin injuries such as inflammation and cell death. The value of natural pigments could be applied to many usages including cosmetics. This study was conducted to examine the protective effect of natural pigments extracted from mulberry, balsam pear, purple-colored sweet potato, pehmannia root, gardenia fruit, and black rice against UV-induced cell death in HaCaT cells, human keratinocyte cell lines. In the present study, the exposure of 50 mJ/$cm^2$ UV-B for 24 hr induced cell death in HaCaT cells, which was prevented by the pretreatment of extracts of mulberry, balsam pear, purple-colored sweet potato, rehmannia root, gardenia fruit, and black rice. In addition, the exposure of 50 mJ/$cm^2$ UV-B for 24 hr also increased lipid peroxide (LPO) formation, compared to control in HaCaT cells, which was prevented by the pretreatment of extracts of mulberry, balsam pear, purple-colored sweet potato, rehmannia root, gardenia fruit, and black rice. In conclusion, the extracts of mulberry, balsam pear, purple-colored sweet potato, rehmannia root, gardenia fruit, and black rice prevented the UV-B-induced cell apoptosis via the inhibition of oxidative stress in HaCaT cells.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2001

The deteriorative effect of ultraviolet-B(UV-B) radiation on photosynthesis was assessed by the simultaneous measurement of O$_2$ evolution and chlorophyll(Chl) fluorescence in green pepper. UV-B was given at the intensity of 1 W$.$m$\^$-2/, a dosage often encountered in urban area of Seoul in Korea, to detached leaves. Both Pmax and quantum yield of O$_2$ evolution was rapidly decreased, in a parallel phase, with increasing time of UV-B treatment. Chl fluorescence parameters were also significantly affected. Fo was increased while both Fm and Fv were decreased. Photochemical efficiency of PSII(Fv/Fm) was also declined, although to a lesser extent than Pmax. Both qP and NPQ were decreased similarly with increasing time of UV-B treatment. However, PS I remained stable. The addition of lincomycin prior to UV-B treatment accelerated the decline in Fv/Fm to some extent, suggesting that D1 protein turnover may play a role in overcoming the harmful effect of UV-B. The amount of photosynthetic pigments was less affected than photosynthetic response in showing decline in Chl a and carotenoids after 24 h-treatment. Presumptive flavonoid contents, measured by changes in absorbance at 270 nm , 300 nm and 330nm, were all increased by roughly 50% after 8 h-treatment. Among antioxidant enzymes, activities of catalase and peroxidase were steadily increased until 12h of UV-B treatment whereas ascorbate perxidase, dehydroascorvate reductase and glutathione reductase did not show any significant change. The results indicate that deteriorative effect of UV-B on photosynthesis precedes the protection exerted by pigment synthesis and antioxidant enzymes.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.341-350
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• 2015

Skin carrys out protective role against harmful outer environment assaults including ultraviolet radiation, heavy metals and oxides. Especially, ultraviolet-B (UVB) light causes inflammatory reactions in skin such as sun burn and erythma and stimulates melanin pigmentation. Furthermore, the influx of UVB into skin cells causes DNA damage in keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts, inhibition of extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis which leads to a decrease in elasticity of skin and wrinkle formation. It also damages dermal connective tissue and disrupts the skin barrier function. Prolonged exposure of human skin to UVB light is well known to trigger severe skin lesions such as cell death and carcinogenesis. Haloarcula vallismortis is a halophilic microorganism isolated from the Dead Sea, Its growth characteristics have not been studied in detail yet. It generally grows at salinity more than 10%, but the actual growth salinity usually ranges between 20 to 25%. Because H. vallismortis is found mainly in saltern or salt lakes, there could exist defense mechanisms against strong sunlight. One of them is generation of additional ATP using halorhodopsin which absorbs photons and produces energy by potential difference formed by opening the chloride ion channel. It often shows a color of pink or red because of their high content of carotenoid pigments and it is considered to act as a defense mechanism against intense UV irradiation. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effect of the halophilic microorganism, H. vallismortis, extract was investigated. It was found that H. vallismortis extract had protective effect on DNA damage induced by UV irradiation. These results suggest that the extract of halophilic bacterium, H. vallismortis could be used as a bio-sunscreen or natural sunscreen which ameliorate the harmful effects of UV light with its anti-inflammatory and DNA protective properties.