• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.248-253
• /
• 1998

Bacteriophage N4, a lytic phage specific for Esherichia coli K12 strain encodes single-stranded DNA-binding protein, N4SSB (bacteriophage N4-coded single-stranded DNA-binding protein). N4SSB protein is originally identified as a protein required for N4 DNA replication. N4SSB protein is also required for N4 late transcription, which is catalyzed by E. coli ${\sigma}^{70}$ RNA polymerase. N4 late transcription does not occur until N4SSB protein is synthesized. Recently it is reported that N4SSB protein is essential for N4 DNA recombination. Therefore N 4SSB protein is a multifunctional protein required for N4 DNA replication, late transcription, and N4 DNA recombination. In this study, a variety of mutant N4SSB proteins containing internal deletions or substitutions were constructed to define and characterize domains important for N4 DNA replication, late transcription, and N4 DNA recombination. Test for the ill vivo activity of these mutant N4SSBs for N4 DNA replication, late transcription, and N4 DNA recombination was examined. The results suggest that C-terminal 7 amino acid residues are important for the activity of N4SSB. Three lysine residues, which are contained in this region play important roles on N4SSB activity.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.62-66
• /
• 2001

Detection of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac) on citrus fruits for exporting is usually made by bacteriophage test (BPT) to demonstrate the pathogen-free status. BPT has rather time-consuming and complicate procedures for dealing with massive samples to be inspected. In this study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to detect Xac on fruits, and compared with BPT. In ELISA, positive reactions occurred in the bacterial densities of $3\times10^5$ cells/ml or more. To detect the bacterial infection on citrus fruits with a density of lower than $3\times10^5$ cells/ml, the bacterial suspensions were mixed with fruit rinse water and incubated in broth medium. Ordinary peptone sucrose broth (PSB) was not a proper medium for increasing Xac density specifically enough to be detect by ELISA. On the other hand, modified PSB (MPSP) amended with Fe-EDTA (0.25 g/$\ell$) and 2.5% potato-dextrose broth sufficed to differentiate uninfected and infected citrus fruits by ELISA after 24 h incubation of the fruit rinse water. Using various citrus samples from infected and uninfected fields, efficiencies in detecting Xac on fruits were compared between ELISA and BPT. For infected fruits samples, ELISA detected Xac by 100%, while BPT by about 44%, indicating that the detection efficiency was improved by 23.5% by ELISA, compared to BPT. In addition, ELISA has simpler procedures for testing and is less time-consuming than BPT, suggesting that ELISA may be accurate and simple method to detect Xac on citrus fruits.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.160-170
• /
• 2024

Erwinia amylovora is a plant pathogen that causes fire blight on apples and pears. Bacteriophages, which are viruses that selectively infect specific species of bacteria and are harmless to animal cells, have been considered as biological control agents for the prevention of bacterial pathogens. In this study, we aimed to use bacteriophages that infect E. amylovora as biocontrol agents against fire blight. We isolated bacteriophages Fifi044 and Fifi318 infecting E. amylovora, and characterized their morphology, plaque form, and genetic diversity to use as cocktails for disease control. The stabilities of the two phages were investigated at various temperatures and pH values and under sunlight, and long-term storage experiment was conducted for a year. To evaluate whether the two phages were suitable for use in cocktail form, growth curves of E. amylovora were prepared after treating the bacterial cells with single phages and a phage cocktail. In addition, a disease control test was conducted using immature apples and in vitro cultured apple plantlets to determine the biocontrol effects of the phage cocktail. The two phages were morphologically and genetically different, and highly stable up to 50℃ and pH value from 4 to 10. The phages showed synergistic effect when used as a cocktail in the inhibition of host bacterial growth and the disease control. This study demonstrated that the potential of the phage cocktail as a biocontrol agent for commercial use.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.12
• /
• pp.2064-2070
• /
• 2018

Pseudomonas tolaasii 6264 is a representative strain that causes bacterial blotch disease on the cultivated oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus. Bacteriophages are able to sterilize the pathogenic P. tolaasii strains, and therefore, they can be applied in creating disease-free mushroom cultivation farms, through a method known as "phage therapy". For successful phage therapy, the characterization of phage-resistant strains is necessary, since they are frequently induced from the original pathogenic bacteria in the presence of phages. When 10 different phages were incubated with P. tolaasii 6264, their corresponding phage-resistant strains were obtained. In this study, changes in pathogenic, genetic, and biochemical characteristics as well as the acquired phage resistance of these strains were investigated. In the phylogenetic analyses, all phage-resistant strains were identical to the original parent strain based on the sequence comparison of 16S rRNA genes. When various phage-resistant strains were examined by three different methods, pitting test, white line test, and hemolytic activity, they were divided into three groups: strains showing all positive results in three tests, two positive in the first two tests, and all negative. Nevertheless, all phage-resistant strains showed that their pathogenic activities were reduced or completely lost.

• Particle and aerosol research
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.173-182
• /
• 2019

Since airborne viruses have been known to aggravate indoor air quality, studies on the development of anti-viral air filter increase recently. In this study, the pressure drop and anti-viral efficiency of TiO₂ coated ceramic ball filter were evaluated. After the filter being inserted into a commercial room air cleaner, chamber test with aerosolized bacteriophage MS2 was performed. The porosity of TiO₂ coated ceramic ball filter was 0.85, and pressure drop was about 13 Pa for 1 m/s of air velocity. The anti-viral efficiency was about 93% when the reaction time was 25 minutes in a 1 ㎥ chamber.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.49-55
• /
• 2000

Lysogenic conversion of Staphylococcus aureus to loss of ${\beta}-hemolysin$ production by serological group F phages is always associated with gain in staphylokinase production. In this study, the new phages belonging to serotype F were detected during the course of isolation of phages from Staph aureus of bovine origin and some characteristics of the new phages isolated were investigated. The new phages, ${\phi}470$ and ${\phi}499$, isolated from Staph aureus producing ${\beta}-hemolysin$ and staphylokinase(${\beta}^+\;K^+$) were found to convert ${\beta}^+\;K^+$ strain to ${\beta}^+K\;^+$, Staph aureus strains lysogenized by this serotype F single-converting phage ${\phi}470$ or ${\phi}499$ could be again lysogenized with serotype F double-converting phage ${\phi}506$. The frequency of lysogenization of indicator strains by serotype F single-converting phage was 100%, whereas the frequency for serotype F double-converting phage ${\phi}506$ varied from 4.2% to 97.6% according to the indicator strains. The indicator strain lysogenized with phage ${\phi}470$ was resistant to phage ${\phi}499$, and vice versa, but not to phage ${\phi}506$. Therefore, phage ${\phi}470$ and ${\phi}499$ were shown to be identical by immunity test.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.88-98
• /
• 2018

In this study, we isolated and characterized a bacteriocin-producing strain and two bacteriophages (P4, A3), showing antimicrobial effects against Clostridium perfringens, from chicken and swine feces by the spot-on-the lawn antagonism method. The selected strain was identified as Streptococcus hyointestinalis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The bacteriocin from the isolated strain exhibited strong inhibitory activity against four strains of C. perfringens and all the tested strains of Listeria monocytogenes, and the bacteriocin were highly heat- and pH-stable even at pH 2, pH 10 and $121^{\circ}C$ for 15 min. We also evaluated the combined effects of the isolated bacteriocin and phages. Combining the phage treatments and bacteriocin resulted in a synergetic effect compared with the phage or the bacteriocin alone. In addition, during the probiotic test, the bacteriocin-producing S. hyointestinalis B19 strain reduced the population of C. perfringens significantly. Treatment with S. hyointestinalis B19 and a cocktail of lytic bacteriophages eradicated the C. perfringens KCTC $3269^T$, completely. Consequently, the isolated bacteriocin and bacteriophages represent candidates for effective biocontrol of C. perfringens, and bacteriocin-producing S. hyointestinalis B19 is a potential probiotic candidate for use in domestic animals.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.109-112
• /
• 2020

To evaluate the safety of bacteriophages for application of sanitizer, endotoxin content and cell cytotoxicity of two Escherichia coli and four Staphylococcus aureus phages were determined. Endotoxin ratio was determined by the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay as a test for representative biological endotoxin content. The average endotoxin average content of the 9 log PFU/mL lysate was 18.6 EU/mL and that of the 10 log PFU/mL lysate was 5.9 EU/mL, suggesting that the phage lysate was not suitable for clinical applications, but suitable for food pathogen control applications. To confirm the cell cytotoxicity of the phage lysates, MTT assay was performed using Raw 264.7 cells treated with 9 log PFU/mL phages. Results of the assay indicated that the phage lysates did not significantly decrease the cell viability (p>0.05). These results indicated that bacteriophages would be suitable as a food safety sanitizer.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.555-565
• /
• 2021

Bacteriophages infecting Acidovorax citrulli, the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch, have been proven to be effective for the prevention and control of this disease. However, the occurrence of bacteriophage-resistant bacteria is one of hurdles in phage biocontrol and the understanding of phage resistance in this bacterium is an essential step. In this study, we aim to investigate possible phage resistance of A. citrulli and relationship between phage resistance and pathogenicity, and to isolate and characterize the genes involved in these phenomena. A phage-resistant and less-virulent mutant named as AC-17-G1 was isolated among 3,264 A. citrulli Tn5 mutants through serial spot assays and plaque assays followed by pathogenicity test using seed coating method. The mutant has the integrated Tn5 in the middle of a cupin protein gene. This mutant recovered its pathogenicity and phage sensitivity by complementation with corresponding wild-type gene. Site-directed mutation of this gene from wild-type by CRISPR/Cas9 system resulted in the loss of pathogenicity and acquisition of phage resistance. The growth of AC-17-G1 in King's B medium was much less than the wild-type, but the growth turned into normal in the medium supplemented with D-mannose 6-phosphate or D-fructose 6-phosphate indicating the cupin protein functions as a phosphomannos isomerase. Sodium dodecyl sulfa analysis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) extracted from the mutant was smaller than that from wild-type. All these data suggest that the cupin protein is a phosphomannos isomerase involved in LPS synthesis, and LPS is an important determinant of pathogenicity and phage susceptibility of A. citrulli.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.85-93
• /
• 2011

Edwardsiella tarda is a broadly infectious agent against freshwater and seawater fishes. In the present study, E. tarda specific phage was isolated from fish farms on the west coast of Korea, and the effect of environmental factors such as pH and water temperature on the phage activity was investigated. As a fish model, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was used and the interaction between E. tarda and phage was investigated. The phage activity, in pH test, appeared even higher in seawater than freshwater and was evenly constant up to $50^{\circ}C$. The phage and E. tarda were inoculated in tilapia and the phage activity and E. tarda viability were checked on the time intervals. As a result, the number of E. tarda in the group of E. tarda plus phage was constantly reduced to 24 hr post-inoculation compared to the control group without phage, whereas the phage activity was slightly increased in the experiment group. The results suggest that it might be possible to use phage to control the fish disease caused by E. tarda.