• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.310-316
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• 2022

In this study, we compared the microbial reduction effects of drying, hot water, and microwave sterilization in scourers and dishcloths to suggest a most suitable sterilization method. Three scourer types (silver, copper, and mesh) were used, and three dishcloth types (silver, bamboo, and cotton) were used. Drying time dependent reduction in Escherichia coli was high in silver and copper scourers, but minimal bacterial reduction was obtained against Bacillus cereus in all scourers and dishcloths. In scourers, E. coli was not detected after ≥30 s of hot water sterilization at 77℃, and B. cereus was not detected after ≥60 s of hot water sterilization at 100℃. In dishcloths, E. coli was not detected after hot water sterilization at 77℃ for ≥30 s, but B. cereus was detected after hot water sterilization at 100℃ for ≥60 s. In scourers, E. coli was not detected after microwave sterilization at 700 W for 3 min, but B. cereus was detected. In dishcloths, E. coli was not detected after microwave sterilization with 700 W for ≥1 min, but B. cereus was detected in the cotton dishcloth even after sterilization for 3 min. In conclusion, the use of antimicrobial scourers (silver and copper) and dishcloths (silver and bamboo) are not sufficient to reduce the microbial contamination. The guideline provided by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety suggesting dishcloth sterilization via hot water at 100℃ for 30 s was also found to be insufficient. Based on our research, we suggest that the most effective methods of microbial management are submerging scourers in hot water at 100℃ for ≥1 min, and sterilizing dishcloths for ≥3 min using a 700 W microwave.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.91-109
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• 2022

The ocean is a significant sink for atmospheric anthropogenic CO₂, absorbing one-third of the total CO₂ emitted by human activities. In return, oceans have experienced significant declines in seawater pH and the aragonite saturation state also called ocean acidification. This study evaluates the distribution of aragonite saturation state, an indicator to assess the potential threat from ocean acidification, by combining newly obtained data from the west coast of South Korea with previous datasets covering the Yellow Sea, East Sea, northern South China Sea, and southeast coast of South Korea. In general, offshore waters absorb atmospheric CO₂; however, most of the collected water samples show aragonite oversaturation. On the southeast coast, the aragonite saturation state was significantly affected by river discharge and associated variables, such as freshwater input with nutrients, seasonal stratification, biological carbon fixation, and bacterial remineralization. In summer, hypoxia and mixing with relatively acidic freshwater made the Jinhae and Gwangyang Bays undersaturated with respect to aragonite, possibly threatening marine organisms with CaCO₃ shells. However, widespread aragonite undersaturation was not observed on the west coast, which receives considerable river water discharge. In addition, occasional upwelling events may have worsened the ocean acidification in the southwestern part of the East Sea. These results highlight the importance of investigating site-specific ocean acidification processes in coastal waters. Along with the above-mentioned seasonal factors, the dissolution of atmospheric CO₂ and the deposition of atmospheric acidic substances will continue to reduce the aragonite saturation state in Korean waters. To protect marine ecosystems and resources, an ocean acidification monitoring program should be established for Korean waters.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.971-978
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• 2022

Sulfur-oxidizing, ammonium-oxidizing, and nitrogen-oxidizing media were used to isolate bacteria to degrade malodor gas effectively in piggery manure or soil. Twelve different strains were isolated: Paenibacillus amylolyticus, Rhodococcus jostii, Rhodococcus qingshengii, Rhodococcus opacus, Alcaligenes faecalis, Alcaligenes faecalis, Kastia adipate, Kastia adipata, Microbacterium oxydans, Halomonas campisalis, Acinetobacter oleivorans, and Micrococcus luteus. By inoculating each strain in the piggery liquid manure by 1%, the pH in most strain treatments was maintained at 8.0. Total bacterial counts were maintained at 7.3~7.9 log CFU/ml until 15 days, and then they dropped dramatically down to 5.1~5.5 log CFU/ml. On the 30th day, the treatment group inoculated with Rhodococcus opacus SK2659 showed a relatively high level of ammonium nitrogen removal, which was 39% of that of the control group. When Rhodococcus opacus SK2659 was inoculated, H2S concentration after 100 days was 3.23% compared with the control (no inoculation), suggesting that Rhodococcus opacus SK2659 is an excellent strain for removing malodor gas. The gas production of the treatments was lower than that of the control. The total accumulated amount of gas production in most strain treatments was a quarter of the gas production compared to the control throughout the experimental periods. Acinetobacter oleivorans SK2675 showed the lowest level at 12.39% compared to the control in gas production. In conclusion, the use of mixture strains, such as Rhodococcus opacus SK2659 and Acinetobacter oleivorans SK2675 isolated in this study could increase the efficacy of malodor gas reduction in the biological treatment of piggery manure.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.225-231
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• 2022

In this study, the conditions of dry heat treatment (21 days at 65℃, 16 days at 70℃, 10 days at 75℃, and 7 days at 80℃) were investigated to inactivate Bacillus cereus ATCC 12480, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC SSA81, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 43894, and Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028 on alfalfa seeds, without affecting the rate of germination of seeds. Alfalfa seeds were inoculated at levels of 6-7 log CFU/g and treated with dry heat at 65℃, 70℃, 75℃, and 80℃; thereafter, the rate of seed germination was determined. The rate of germination was set at 70%, according to the market standards. The bacteria were inactivated when B. cereus was treated with dry heat for 21 days at 65℃, 18 days at 70℃, 14 days at 75℃, and 4 days at 80℃; L. monocytogenes was treated for 21 days at 65℃, 18 days at 70℃, 12 days at 75℃, and 7 days at 80℃; S. aureus was treated for 18 days at 65℃, 18 days at 70℃, 11 days at 75℃, and 4 days at 80℃; E. coli O157:H7 was treated for 21 days at 65℃, 18 days at 70℃, 12 days at 75℃, and 6 days at 80℃; and Sal. Typhimurium was treated for 24 days at 65℃, 22 days at 70℃, 14 days at 75℃, and 7 days at 80℃. For all bacteria, the D-value (R² = 0.5656-0.7957) significantly decreased when the temperature increased from 65℃ to 80℃ (P<0.05). Since dry heat treatment of alfalfa seeds at 80℃ for 7 days affects their germination rate, dry heat treatment at 75℃ for 14 days is the most effective way to ensure their safety. This study suggests a potential method of bacterial inactivation using dry heat treatment to increase the microbiological safety of sprouts.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2022

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of adding the microbial inoculants to silage for reducing mycotoxins in rice straw silage. When a single agent of L. plantarum and a mixed agent of L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae were added in rice straw silage contaminated mycotoxins, it had an effect on silage fermentation and fiber degradation as well as mycotoxin reduction. Among the mycotoxins, only ochratoxin A and zearalenone were found in the test sample. Ochratoxin A and zearalenone showed a decreasing trend with the addition of silage inoculants compared to the control groups (38.11±2.22 and 633.67±50.30 ㎍/kg), and there was a significant difference at the mixed agents; 27.78±2.28 and 392.72±25.04 ㎍/kg, respectively (p<0.05). The pH was lower in the single agent and the mixed agent compared to the control (p<0.05). The concentration of lactic acid was higher in the single agent (11.73±0.31 mM) than in the control group (8.18±0.93 mM), and the highest concentration was 16.01±0.88 mM in the mixed agent (p<0.05). Acetic acid and propionic acid were found to be significantly lowered with the addition of silage inoculants (p<0.05). Total VFA was also lower at the addition of silage inoculants than the control group (p<0.05). The rumen in situ dry matter degradation of NDF and ADF was maintained at the highest levels of the mixed agent during the culture period, followed by the single agent and the control group at the lowest level. NDF and ADF degradation showed a significant difference at all time points after 12 and 24 hours of culture, respectively (p<0.05). The study results showed that the silage inoculants had the positive effects on quality increasing of rice straw silage; fermentative charateristics, fiber degradation and mycotoxins reduction. Ochratoxin A and zearalenone were greater reduction by adding bacterial inoculants of silage. Therefore it is considered that L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae will improve the quality and stability with remediation of mycotoxin in silage.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-38
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• 2023

The fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora (Ea) is a devastating disease of Rosaceae plants, including commercially important apple and pear trees. Since the first report in Korea in May 2015, it has been spreading to neighboring regions gradually. Host plants can be infected by pollinators like bees, rainfall accompanied by wind, and cultural practices such as pruning. Many studies have revealed that wild Rosaceae plants such as Cotoneaster spp., Crataegus spp., Pyracantha spp., Prunus spp., and Sorbus spp. can be reservoirs of Ea in nature. However, wild Rosaceae plants in Korea have not been examined yet whether they are susceptible to fire blight. Therefore, the susceptibility to fire blight was examined with 25 species in 10 genera of wild Rosaceae plants, which were collected during 2020-2022, by artificial inoculation. Bacterial suspension (10⁸ cfu/ml) of Ea type strain TS3128 was inoculated artificially in flowers, leaves, stems, and fruits of each plant species, and development of disease symptoms were monitored. Moreover, the presence of Ea bacteria from inoculated samples were checked by conventional polymerase chain reaction. Total 14 species of wild Rosaceae plants showed disease symptoms of fire blight, and Ea bacteria were detected inside of inoculated plant parts. These results suggest that wild Rosaceae plants growing nearby commercial apple and pear orchards in Korea can be Ea reservoirs, and thus they should be monitored regularly to minimize the damage by Ea infection and spreading.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.158-168
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• 2023

Natural products have been used to mitigate the effects of cancer and infectious diseases, as they feature diverse bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Here, we chose 10 natural products that are well-known as pulmonary enhancers and investigated their bactericidal effects on Streptococcus pneumoniae. In the disk diffusion assay, the growth of S. pneumoniae was significantly regulated by G. fructus treatment regardless of extraction method used. We first adopted spraying as a novel delivery method for G. fructus. Interestingly, mice exposed to G. fructus three times a day for 2 weeks were resistant to S. pneumoniae intranasal infection (shown both through body weight loss and survival rates compared to the control group). Moreover, we confirmed that exposure to G. fructus regulated the colonization of the bacteria despite the sustained inflammation in the lung after exposure to S. pneumoniae, indicating that migrated inflammatory immune cells may involve a host defense mechanism against pulmonary infectious diseases. While a similar number of granulocytes (CD11b⁺Ly6C⁺Ly6G⁺), neutrophils (CD11b⁺Ly6C^intLy6G⁺), and monocytes (CD11b⁺Ly6C^intLy6G^-) were found between groups, a significantly increased number of alveolar macrophages (CD11b⁺CD11c^hiF4/80⁺) was detected in BAL fluids of mice pre-exposed to G. fructus at 5 days after S. pneumonia infection. Taken together, our data suggest that this usage of G. fructus can induce protective immunity against bacterial infection, indicating that facial spray may be helpful in enhancing the defense mechanism against pulmonary inflammation and in evaluating the efficacy of natural products as immune enhancers against respiratory diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2023

This report looks at an agar-degrading marine bacterium and characterization of its agarase. Agar-degrading marine bacterium JS-1 was isolated with Marine agar 2216 media from seawater from the seashore of Sojuk-do, Changwon in Gyeongnam Province, Korea. The agar-degrading bacterium was named as Agarivorans sp. JS-1 by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The extracellular agarase was prepared from the culture media of Agarivorans sp. JS-1 and used for characterization. Relative activities at 20℃, 30℃, 35℃, 40℃, 45℃, 50℃, 55℃, and 60℃ were 70%, 74%, 78%, 83%, 87%, 100%, 74%, and 66%, respectively. Relative activities at pH 5, 6, 7, and 8 were 91%, 100%, 90%, and 89%, respectively. Its extracellular agarase showed maximum activity (207 units/l) at pH 6.0 and 50℃ in 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer. The residual activity after heat treatment at 20℃, 30℃, and 50℃ for 30 minutes was 90%, 70%, and 50% or more, respectively. After a 2-hour heat treatment at 20℃, 30℃, 35℃, 40℃, and 45℃, the residual activity was 80%, 68%, 65%, 63%, and 57%, respectively. At 50℃ and above, after heat treatment for 30 minutes, the residual activity was below 60%. Thin layer chromatography analysis suggested that Agarivorans sp. JS-1 produces extracellular β-agarases as they hydrolyze agarose to produce neoagarooligosaccharides such as neoagarohexaose (20.6%), neoagarotetraose (58.5%), and neoagarobiose (20.9%). Agarivorans sp. JS-1 and its thermotolerant β-agarase would be useful in the production of neoagarooligosaccharides, showing functional activity such as inhibition of bacterial growth and delay of starch degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the effects of gender, age, underlying disease, duration after onset of symptoms, preoperative invasive procedures, bacterial culture of joint fluid, and stage of infection by the Gachter classification on the prognosis of patients with infectious knee arthritis who underwent arthroscopic surgery. Materials and Methods: From June 2014 to December 2016, 51 patients who underwent arthroscopic surgery for infective knee arthritis were enrolled in this study. The average follow-up period was 14.2±2.1 months (range, 12-20 months). The subjects were 27 men (52.9%) and 24 women (47.1%), with an average age of 55.1±17.6 years (range, 13-84 years). A preoperative evaluation of the joint aspiration with a count of more than 50,000 leukocytes and a polymorphonuclear leukocyte count of 95% or more was performed. All patients underwent arthroscopic surgery and postoperative continuous joint irrigation. Results: The initial mean value of the C-reactive protein decreased from 9.55±6.76 mg/dl (range, 1.51-31.06 mg/dl) to a final mean of 0.74±1.26 mg/dl (range, 0.08-6.77 mg/dl); the mean duration of C-reactive protein normalization was 27.6±18.9 days (range, 8-93 days). Among the 51 patients who received arthroscopic surgery and antibiotics, 44 patients (86.3%) with infectious knee arthritis completed treatment with improved clinical symptoms, such as fever, pain, and edema, and the C-reactive protein decreased to less than 0.5 mg/dl. Finally, 5 cases were treated with two or more arthroscopic operations, and 2 cases were converted to arthroplasty after prosthesis of antibiotic-loaded acrylic cement. Conclusion: The duration of surgery after the onset of symptoms and the stage according to the Gächter classification are important prognostic factors for predicting the successful treatment of infectious knee arthritis. On the other hand, the other factors were not statistically significant. Nevertheless, patients with bacteria cultured from the joint fluids appear to reflect the treatment period because the period of normalization of the C-reactive protein is shorter than that of the control group.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.475-481
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• 2019

The soybean cultivar 'Neulchan' was developed for production of soy-paste and tofu. SS91501-9-1-1 and SS96205 (F₂) were crossed in 1998, and F₃ to F₇ were selected by the pedigree method. A preliminary yield trial (PYT) and an advanced yield trial (AYT) were conducted from 2006 to 2008, and a regional yield trial (RYT) in nine regions was conducted from 2009 to 2011. In the RYT, 'Neulchan' was stable in variable environments and generated high yield. 'Neulchan' was determinate with white flower, light brown pod color, yellow spherical seed, and yellow hilum. Its flowering date and maturity date were Jul. 30 and Oct. 9, respectively. The plant height was shorter than that of 'Daewonkong' (a standard cultivar). 'Neulchan' had the same node number (14), higher first-pod height (12 cm), and lighter seed weight (21.7 g/100-seed weight) than those of 'Daewonkong' (14, 11, and 24.2 g/100-seed weight, respectively). 'Neulchan' had high resistance to bacterial pustule, and its resistance to soybean mosaic virus was similar to that of 'Daewonkong'. The yield and color of 'Neulchan' tofu were similar to those of 'Daewonkong' tofu, but the hardness was lower than that of 'Daewonkong' tofu. The soybean malt scent, fermented soybean yield, and γ-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) of 'Neulchan' were 3, 215%, and 24.6 mg/g, respectively. Its yield in adaptable regions was 307 kg/10a, higher than that of 'Daewonkong'. 'Neulchan' was expected to be cultivated and used widely for soy-paste and tofu production. (Registration No. 4904).