• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.2_spc
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• pp.317-331
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• 2022

The aim of the present investigation is to determine the nutritional composition of various insects and their potential uses as alternative protein sources in animal diets. The feeding industry requires production systems that use accessible resources, such as feed resources, and concentrates on the potential impacts on production yield and nutritional quality. Invertebrate insects, such as black soldier flies, grasshoppers, mealworms, housefly larvae, and crickets, have been used as human food and as feed for nonruminants and aqua culture while for ruminants their use has been limited. Insects can be mass-produced, participating in a circular economy that minimizes or eliminates food- and feed-waste through bioconversion. Although the model for formula-scale production of insects as feed for domestic animals has been explored for a number of years, significant production and transformation to being a conventional protein resource remains to be deeply investigated. This review will focus on the nutritional composition of various insects and their potential use as alternative protein sources, as well as their potential use to promote and support sustainable animal production. Furthermore, nutritional compositions, such as high protein, lauric acid omega 6, and omega 3, and bioactive compounds, such as chitin, are of great potential use for animal feeding.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.387-397
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• 2023

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is a heme-containing enzyme that catalyzes hydroxylation reactions with various substrate molecules. Steroid hydroxylases are particularly useful for effectively introducing hydroxyl groups into a wide range of steroids in the pharmaceutical industry. This study reports a newly identified CYP steroid hydroxylase (BaCYP106A6) from the bacterium Bacillus sp. and characterizes it using an in vitro enzyme assay and structural investigation. Bioconversion assays indicated that BaCYP106A1 catalyzes the hydroxylation of progesterone and androstenedione, whereas no or low conversion was observed with 11β-hydroxysteroids such as cortisol, corticosterone, dexamethasone, and prednisolone. In addition, the crystal structure of BaCYP106A6 was determined at a resolution of 2.8 Å to investigate the configuration of the substrate-binding site and understand substrate preference. This structural characterization and comparison with other bacterial steroid hydroxylase CYPs allowed us to identify a unique Arg295 residue that may serve as the key residue for substrate specificity and regioselectivity in BaCYP106A6. This observation provides valuable background for further protein engineering to design commercially useful CYP steroid hydroxylases with different substrate specificities.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.39-45
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• 2001

Extremophiles are unique microorganisms that are adapted to survive in ecological niches such as high or low temperatures, extremes of pH, high salt concentrations and high pressure. These unusual microorganisms have unique biochemical features which can be exploited for use in the biotechnological industries. Due to the high biodiversity of extremophilic archaea and bacteria and their existence in various biotopes a variety of biocatalysts with different physicochemical properties have been discovered. The extreme molecular stability of their enzymes, membranes and the synthesis of unique organic compounds and polymers make extremophiles interesting candidates for basic and applied research. Some of the enzymes from extremophiles, especially hyperthermophilic marine microorganisms (growth above $85^{\circ}C$), have already been purified in our laboratory. These include the enzyme systems from Pyrococcus, Pyrodictium, Thermococcus and Thermotoga sp. that are involved in polysacharide modification and protein bioconversion. Only recently, the genome of the thermoalkaliphilic strain. Anaerobranca gottschalkii has been completely sequenced providing a unique resource of novel biocatalysts that are active at high temperature and pH. The gene encoding the branching enzyme from this organism was cloned and expressed in a mesophilic host and finally characterized. A novel glucoamylase was purified from an aerobic archaeon which shows optimal activity at $90^{\circ}C$ and pH 2.0. This thermoacidophilic archaeon Picrophilus oshimae grows optimally at pH 0.7 and $60^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, we were able to detect thermoactive proteases from two anaerobic isolates which are able to hydrolyze feather keratin completely at $80^{\circ}C$ forming amino acids and peptides. In addition, new marine psychrophilic isolates will be presented that are able to secrete enzymes such as lipases, proteases and amylases possessing high activity below the freezing point of water.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.930-939
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• 2024

Mushroom laccases play a crucial role in lignin depolymerization, one of the most critical challenges in lignin utilization. Importantly, laccases can utilize a wide range of substrates, such as toxicants and antibiotics. This study isolated a novel laccase, named HeLac4c, from endophytic white-rot fungi Hericium erinaceus mushrooms. The cDNAs for this enzyme were 1569 bp in length and encoded a protein of 523 amino acids, including a 20 amino-acid signal peptide. Active extracellular production of glycosylated laccases from Saccharomyces cerevisiae was successfully achieved by selecting an optimal translational fusion partner. We observed that 5 and 10 mM Ca²⁺, Zn²⁺, and K⁺ increased laccase activity, whereas 5 mM Fe²⁺ and Al³⁺ inhibited laccase activity. The laccase activity was inhibited by the addition of low concentrations of sodium azide and ⳑ-cysteine. The optimal pH for the 2,2'-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt was 4.4. Guaiacylglycerol-β-guaiacyl ether, a lignin model compound, was polymerized by the HeLac4c enzyme. These results indicated that HeLac4c is a novel oxidase biocatalyst for the bioconversion of lignin into value-added products for environmental biotechnological applications.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.143-148
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• 2016

This study investigated the lignan content, total phenol content, and antioxidant activities [2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC)] of fermented sesame by cultivars. The results showed that the lignan contents of fermented and non-fermented sesame ranged from 2.35~6.58 mg/g and 2.17 to 6.58 mg/g, respectively. The highest total phenol contents of fermented and non-fermented sesame were 51.90 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g and 25.94 mg GAE/g, respectively. DPPH radical scavenging and ORAC value ranged from 37.95 to 82.57% and from 172.34 to $1,067.80{\mu}M$ TE/g in non-fermented sesame and fermented sesame, respectively. Fermented sesame had higher lignan content, total phenol content and antioxidant activities. than those of non-fermented sesame. Fermented sesame subjected to bioconversion showed increased lignan content and high antioxidant activity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1208-1217
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• 2019

Saposhnikovia has been used as a traditional medicinal herb in Asia because of the reported anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic rhinitis, pro-whitening, anti-atopy, anti-allergy, and anti-dermatopathy effects of the phytochemical compounds it contains. In this study, we investigated the antioxidant effects of a Saposhnikovia extract after fermentation by Lactobacillus plantarum BHN-LAB 33. Saposhnikovia powder was inoculated with L. plantarum BHN-LAB 33 and fermented at $37^{\circ}C$ for 72 hr. After fermentation, the total polyphenol content of the Saposhnikovia extract increased by about 14%, and the total flavonoid content increased by about 9%. The superoxide dismutase-like activities, DPPH radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging, reducing power activity, and tyrosinase inhibition activity also increased after fermentation by approximately 70%, 80%, 45%, 39%, and 44%, respectively. The results confirmed that fermentation of a Saposhnikovia extract by L. plantarum BHN-LAB 33 is an effective way to increase the antioxidant effects of the extract. The bioconversion process investigated in this study may have the potential to produce phytochemical-enriched natural antioxidant agents with high added value from Saposhnikovia matrices. These results can also be applied to the development of improved foods and cosmetic materials.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1012-1028
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• 2023

The findings of this study confirmed the alteration of β-glucosidase activity, nutritional constituents, isoflavones, antioxidant activities, and digestive enzyme inhibition activities in soybeans during solid-state fermentation times with mycelia of Tricholoma matsutake. After nine days, the highest activity level was observed for β-glucosidase (3.90 to 38.89 unit/g) and aglycones (163.03 to 1,074.28 ㎍/g). The sum of isoflavones showed a significant decrease (3,489.41 to 1,325.66 ㎍/g) along with glycosides (2,753.87 to 212.43 ㎍/g) for fermentation, while fatty acids showed a slight increase and amino acids showed a marked increase. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents showed a corresponding increase according to fermentation times (5.58 to 15.09 GAE mg/g; 0.36 to 1.58 RE mg/g). Antioxidant and enzyme inhibition activities also increased; in particular, the highest level of scavenging activities was observed for ABTS (up 60.13 to 82.08%), followed by DPPH (up 63.92% to 71.98%) and hydroxyl (up 36.01 to 52.02%) radicals. Of particular interest, α-glucosidase (6.69 to 83.49%) and pancreatic lipase inhibition (1.22 to 77.43%) showed a marked increase. These results demonstrated that fermentation of soybeans with the mycelia of T. matsutake enhanced the nutritional and functional constituents, and the biological activities of soybeans. Thus, this fermentation technology can be used to produce a novel functional materials from soybeans.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.388-394
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• 2017

This study investigated the stability of ethanolic extract from fermented Cirsium setidens Nakai (FCSN) in order to develop functional materials during different storage conditions. We evaluated pectolinarin and pectolinarigenin contents, total phenol content and antioxidant activity (DPPH radical scavenging activity and FRAP assay) of ethanolic extract from FCSN obtained by bioconverison at various temperatures (4, 25 and $50^{\circ}C$) and pHs (4.0, 7.0 and 10.0). Our results show that the pectolinarin, pectolinarigenin, and total phenol contents in ethanolic extract from FCSN were decreased during the storage periods. Moreover, the DPPH radical scavenging activity did not significantly change at $4^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$. Pectolinarin and pectolinarigenin contents, total phenol content and DPPH radical scavenging activity of ethanolic extract from FCSN at acidic pH (pH 4.0) and neutral pH (pH 7.0) were higher than those at the alkaline pH range. These results indicate that the optimum storage condition of the ethanolic extract from FCSN was $4^{\circ}C$ and pH 4.0~7.0 range.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.92-100
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• 2017

Acetoin (AC) is a volatile platform compound with various potential industrial applications. AC contains two stereoisomeric forms: (3S)-AC and (3R)-AC. Optically pure AC is an important potential intermediate and widely used as a precursor to synthesize novel optically active materials. In this study, chiral (3R)-AC production from meso-2,3-butanediol (meso-2,3-BD) was obtained using recombinant Escherichia coli cells co-expressing meso-2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase (meso-2,3-BDH), NADH oxidase (NOX), and hemoglobin protein (VHB) from Serratia sp. T241, Lactobacillus brevis, and Vitreoscilla, respectively. The new biocatalyst of E. coli/pET-mbdh-nox-vgb was developed and the bioconversion conditions were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, 86.74 g/l of (3R)-AC with the productivity of 3.61 g/l/h and the stereoisomeric purity of 97.89% was achieved from 93.73 g/l meso-2,3-BD using the whole-cell biocatalyst. The yield and productivity were new records for (3R)-AC production. The results exhibit the industrial potential for (3R)-AC production via whole-cell biocatalysis.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.131-135
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• 2013

Jaeumganghwa-tang (JGT) is a traditional herbal medicine used for chronic bronchitis and inflammatory diseases. The variation in the amount of bioactive components of JGT and its fermentation JGT with ten species of microorganism was investigated via high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Simultaneous qualitative and quantitative analysis of eight bioactive compounds; 5- hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), paeoniflorin, nodakenin, hesperidin, nodakenetin, palmatine, berberine and glycyrrhizin were achieved by comparing their retention times ($t_R$) and UV spectra with those of the standard compounds. In the result, the paeoniflorin amount was 6.95 mg/g that as a main compound in JGT. The amount of nodakenetin was the highest in the fermented-JGT with Lactobacillus fermentum KFRI 145 ($0.47{\pm}0.01mg/g$), which was increased by 2,250% compared to that in non-fermented JGT ($0.02{\pm}0.00mg/g$). In the fermented JGT using Lactobacillus acidophilus KFRI 162, most components were increased than non-fermented JGT, except paeoniflorin and hesperidin.