• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.593-598
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• 1994

A bacterium KL-57 which exhibited biosurfactant activity was isolated. This bacterium was identified as Bacillus subtilis. The biosurfactant-producing gene of B. subtilis KL-57 was cloned into R subtilis MI113 by using plasmid pTB523. The plasmid DNA from the clone was found to carry a 18 kb PstI insert. The biosurfactant-producing gene was cleaved into 4 fragments by SmaI, 3 fragments by PvulI or EcoRl, 4 fragments by PvulI and EcoRI double digestion, 5 fragments by AccI, and 2 fragments by KpnI, HindIII or BamHI. By subcloning the 18 kb Pstl insert, a 2.3 kb EcoRl fragment conferred the biosurfactant producing activity on B. subtilis cells. The 2.3 kb had one HindIII cleave site. But Two fragments, which corresponds HindIII/EcoRl termini, exhibited no biosurfactant activity.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.346-351
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• 2010

The purpose of this work was to investigate the characteristics of a biosurfactant-producing bacterium isolated from crude-oil contaminated soils. During the incubation of strain HK-3 with 1% crude-oil, bacterial growth pattern, the amount of biosurfactant production, and pH changes were monitored. In order to examine the effect of supplemented carbons on the production of biosurfactant, cultivation of HK-3 cells in BH media with different carbons (e.g. glucose, dextrose, mannitol, citrate, or acetate) revealed that the production of biosurfactant reached the maximal level at the 72 h incubation with mannitol, which the area of clear zone was measured to approximately 7.64 $cm^2$. Identification test using the BIOLOG system, morphology study based on scanning electron microscopy and the 16S rRNA sequence-based phylogenetic analysis assigned strain HK-3 to a Pseudoalteromonas species, designated as Pseudoalteromonas sp. HK-3 which was registered in GenBank as [FJ477041].

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.320-324
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• 2004

The objective of this study was investigate the characteristic of biosurfactant produced from the isolated strain. The strain was isolated from soil samples and identified as Bacillus sp. TBM 911-5 by physiological characteristics and the partial nucleotide sequence analysis of 16S rDNA. We measured the surface tension every 6 hours for 80 hours. The surface tension of the culture filtrate of Bacillus sp. TBM 911-5 was decreased to 29 mN/m. Biosurfactant concentration was determined by diluting the culture filtrate until the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The biosurfactant emulsified hydrocarbons, vegetable oil and crude oil. Using soybean oil as substrate, the maximum emulsification activity and stability was obtained from the biosurfactant. The biosurfactant produced from Bacillus sp. TBM 911-5 had strong properties as an emulsifying agent and an emulsion-stabilizing agent.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.222-229
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• 2009

A Pseudomonas strain SG3 producing biosurfactant and showing antifungal and insecticidal activities was isolated from agricultural soil severely contaminated with machine oils. The antagonistic bacterium inhibited mycelial growth of all of the tested fungal pathogens. The fermentation broth of SG3 also effectively suppressed the development of various plant diseases including rice blast, tomato gray mold, tomato late blight, wheat leaf rust, barley powdery mildew and red pepper anthracnose. An antifungal substance was isolated from the fermentation broth of SG3 by ethyl acetate partitioning, silica gel column chromatography and preparative HPLC under the guide of bioassay. The chemical structure of the antifungal substance was determined to be rhamnolipid B by mass and NMR spectral analyses. The antifungal biosurfactant showed a potent in vivo antifungal activity against gray mold and late blight on tomato plants. In addition, rhamnolipid B inhibited mycelial growth of B. cinerea causing tomato gray mold and zoospore germination and mycelial growth of P. infestans causing tomato late blight. Pseudomonas sp. SG3 producing rhamnolipid B could be used as a new biocontrol agent for the control of plant diseases occurring on tomato plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1424-1433
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• 2019

DDT is a hydrophobic organic pollutant, which can be bio-accumulated in nature and have adverse consequences on the physical condition of humans and animals. This study investigated the relationship between the white-rot fungus Pleurotus eryngii and biosurfactant-producing bacterium Ralstonia pickettii associated with the degradation of DDT. The effects of R. pickettii on fungal development were examined using in vitro confrontation assay on a potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. R. pickettii culture was added to the P. eryngii culture at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 ml ($1ml{\approx}1.44{\times}10^{13}CFU$). After 7 d incubation, about 43% of the initial DDT ($12.5{\mu}M$) was degraded by the P. eryngii culture only. The augmentation of 7 ml of R. pickettii culture revealed a more highly optimized synergism with DDT degradation being approximately 78% and the ratio of optimization 1.06. According to the confrontational assay, R. pickettii promoted the growth of P. eryngii towards the bacterial colony, with no direct contact between the bacterial cells and mycelium (0.71 cm/day). DDD (1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethane), DDE (1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethylene), and DDMU (1-chloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethylene) were identified as metabolic products, indicating that the R. pickettii could enhance the DDT biodegradation by P. eryngii.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.177-185
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• 2017

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LM11 was isolated from the feces of larvae of the rhino beetle and showed strong antifungal activities against various phytopathogenic fungi by producing biosurfactants. In this study, our overall goal was to determine relationship between biosurfactants produced from the LM11 strain and its role in growth inhibition of phytopathogenic fungi. Production and expression levels of B. amyloliquefaciens LM11 biosurfactants were significantly differed depending on growth phases. Transcriptional and biochemical analysis indicated that the biosurfactants of the LM11 strain were greatly enhanced in late log-phase to stationary phase. Inhibitions of phytopathogenic mycelial growth and spore germination were directly correlated (P<0.001, R=0.761) with concentrations of the LM11 cell-free culture filtrates. The minimum inhibitory surface tension of the culture filtrate of the B. amyloliquefaciens LM11 grown in stationary phase to inhibit mycelial growth of the phytopathogenic fungi was 38.5 mN/m (P<0.001, R=0.951-0.977). Our results indicated that the biosurfactants of B. amyloliquefaciens LM11 act as key antifungal metabolites in biocontrol of plant diseases, and measuring surface tension of the cell-free culture fluids can be used as an easy indicator for optimal usage of the biocontrol agents.