• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.687-697
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• 2023

Identification of novel, electricity-producing bacteria has garnered remarkable interest because of the various applications of electricigens in microbial fuel cell and bioelectrochemical systems. Shewanella marisflavi BBL25, an electricity-generating microorganism, uses various carbon sources and shows broader sugar utilization than the better-known S. oneidensis MR-1. To determine the sugar-utilizing genes and electricity production and transfer system in S. marisflavi BBL25, we performed an in-depth analysis using whole-genome sequencing. We identified various genes associated with carbon source utilization and the electron transfer system, similar to those of S. oneidensis MR-1. In addition, we identified genes related to hydrogen production systems in S. marisflavi BBL25, which were different from those in S. oneidensis MR-1. When we cultured S. marisflavi BBL25 under anaerobic conditions, the strain produced 427.58 ± 5.85 µl of biohydrogen from pyruvate and 877.43 ± 28.53 µl from xylose. As S. oneidensis MR-1 could not utilize glucose well, we introduced the glk gene from S. marisflavi BBL25 into S. oneidensis MR-1, resulting in a 117.35% increase in growth and a 17.64% increase in glucose consumption. The results of S. marisflavi BBL25 genome sequencing aided in the understanding of sugar utilization, electron transfer systems, and hydrogen production systems in other Shewanella species.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.219-224
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: Soil bacteria play important roles in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling during the non-growing season. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of soil management and chemical properties on the utilization of carbon sources by soil bacteria in paddy fields. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Biolog EcoPlate was used for analyzing community-level carbon substrate utilization profiles of soil bacteria. Soils were collected from the following three types of areas: plain, interface and mountain areas, which were tested to investigate the topology effect. The results of canonical correspondence analysis and Kendall rank correlation analysis showed that soil C/N ratio and NH₄⁺ influenced utilization of carbon sources by bacteria. The utilization of carbohydrates and complex carbon sources were positively correlated with NH₄⁺ concentration. Cultivated paddy fields were compared with adjacent abandoned fields to investigate the impact of cultivation cessation. The level of utilization of putrescine was lower in abandoned fields than in cultivated fields. Monoculture fields were compared with double cropping fields cultivated with barley to investigate the impact of winter crop cultivation. Cropping system altered bacterial use of carbon sources, as reflected by the enhanced utilization of 2-hydroxy benzoic acid under monoculture conditions. CONCLUSION: These results show that soil use intensity and topological characteristics have a minimal impact on soil bacterial functioning in relation to carbon substrate utilization. Moreover, soil chemical properties were found to be important factors determining the physiological profile of the soil bacterial community in paddy fields.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.297-303
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• 2016

Global warming due to greenhouse gases is an issue of great concern today. Fossil fuel power plants, especially coal-fired thermal power plants, are a major source of carbon dioxide emission. In this work, carbon capture and utilization using sodium hydroxide was studied experimentally. Application for flue gas of a coal-fired power plant is considered. Carbon dioxide, reacting with an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, could be converted to sodium bicarbonate ($NaHCO_3$). A bench-scale unit of a reactor system was designed for this experiment. The capture scale of the reactor system was 2 kg of carbon dioxide per day. The detailed operational condition could be determined. The purity of produced sodium bicarbonate was above 97% and the absorption rate of $CO_2$ was above 95% through the experiment using this reactor system. The results obtained in this experiment contain useful information for the construction and operation of a commercial-scale plant. Through this experiment, the possibility of carbon capture for coal power plants using sodium hydroxide could be confirmed.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.248-253
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• 2004

To scrutinize the physiological diversity by BIOLOG microplate, the carbon source utilization patterns of 168 strains of oligotrophic bacteria and 132 strains of psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from Lake Baikal during 2000 and 2002 were investigated. Eighty-six percent (56 strains) of oxidase test positive group (GN-NENT group) and 89 % (92 strains) of oxidase test negative group (GN-ENT group) among oligotrophic bacteria, and 82% (85 strains) of oxidase test negative group among psychrotrophic bacteria were able to utilize $\alpha$-D-glucose as a sole-carbon-source, and 93% (26 strains) of oxidase test positive group among psychrotrophic bacteria were able to utilize bromosuccinic acid as a sole-carbon-source. However, most strains except few oligotrophic bacteria with oxidase test negative group were not able to utilize $\alpha$-D-lactose as a sole-carbon-source. Most dominant genus among 300 strains was Pseudomonas (49 strains). Other dominant genera belonged to Salmonella, Serratia, Buttiauxella, Pantoea, Yersinia, Brevundimonas, Hydrogenophaga, Photorhabdus, Sphingomonas, and Xenorhabdus. Our results by BIOLOG identification system were able to provide basic data to determine community-level carbon source utilization patterns and to accomplish the efficient and reliable identification for microbial community structure in Lake Baikal.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 1997

One hundred and eighty two lactic acid bacteria, isolated mainly from kimchi, including reference strains were examined for their ability to utilize 95 carbon sources. The test strains were assigned to 5 major, 1 minor and 12 single-membered clusters based on the $S_{SM}$, UPGMA algorithm (at similarity of $80{\%}$). These aggregate clusters were equivalent to the genus Leuconostoc (aggregate cluster M and N), the genus Lactobacillus (aggregate cluster Q and R), and the genera Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc (aggregate cluster O and P) according to the database of the Biolog system. This study demonstrates that rapid identification and classification of isolates originating from kimchi can be achieved on the basis of such carbon source utilization tests.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.10-14
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• 1997

The database of metabolic fingerprints generated using the GIolog system of lactic acid bacteria isolated from kimchi, described by Lee et al. (8), was used for the identification of 75 Leuconostoc isolates. The test strains were isoalted using a selective isolation medium specific for the genus Leuconostoc and examined for their ability to oxidize carbon sources using the Biolog system. The results show that the 75 test strains were identified to the known Leuconostoce clusters. It is suggested that the Biolog system can be applied for rapid identification of lactic acid bacteria isolated from kimchi.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.403-410
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• 2020

The difficulty of securing freshwater sources is increasing with global climate change. On the other hand, seawater is less affected by climate change and regarded as a stable water source. For utilizing seawater as freshwater, seawater desalination technologies should be employed to reduce the concentration of salts. However, current desalination technologies might accelerate climate change and create problems for the ecosystem. The desalination technologies consume higher energy than conventional water treatment technologies, increase carbon footprint with high electricity use, and discharge high salinity of concentrate to the ocean. Thus, it is critical to developing green desalination technologies for sustainable desalination in the era of climate change. The energy consumption of desalination can be lowered by minimizing pump irreversibility, reducing feed salinity, and harvesting osmotic energy. Also, the carbon footprint can be reduced by employing renewable energy sources to the desalination system. Furthermore, the volume of concentrate discharge can be minimized by recovering valuable minerals from high-salinity concentrate. The future green seawater desalination can be achieved by the advancement of desalination technologies, the employment of renewable energy, and the utilization of concentrate.

• Vacuum Magazine
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.16-26
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• 2015

Carbon nanomaterials including nanocrystalline diamond and graphene films are expected to play a core role in $21^{st}$ century industries due to their amazing physicochemical properties. To achieve their practical utilization and industrialization, the development of their mass production technologies is strongly required. Recently, a surface wave excited plasma (SWP) which is produced using microwaves has been attracting special attentions as a candidate for the mass production technology of carbon nanomaterials. SWP can allow a low-temperature large-area plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system. Here, this article introduces the promising SWP-CVD technology. Plasma characteristics in a SWP will be introduced in detail to help understanding how to use and control a SWP as a plasma source for CVD applications.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.364-373
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• 2013

It has been known that most regulation of pathogenicity factor (rpf ) genes in xanthomonads regulates virulence in response to the diffusible signal factor, DSF. Although many rpf genes have been functionally characterized, the function of rpfE is still unknown. We cloned the rpfE gene from a Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) Korean race KACC10859 and generated mutant strains to elucidate the role of RpfE with respect to the rpf system. Through experiments using the rpfE-deficient mutant strain, we found that mutation in rpfE gene in Xoo reduced virulence, swarm motility, and production of virulence factors such as cellulase and extracellular polysaccharide. Disease progress by the rpfE-deficient mutant strain was significantly slowed compared to disease progress by the wild type and the number of the rpfE-deficient mutant strain was lower than that of the wild type in the early phase of infection in the inoculated rice leaf. The rpfE mutant strain was unable to utilize sucrose or xylose as carbon sources efficiently in culture. The mutation in rpfE, however, did not affect DSF synthesis. Our results suggest that the rpfE gene regulates the virulence of Xoo under different nutrient conditions without change of DSF production.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.10-22
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• 2022

Forest biomass energy is based on scientific evidence in response to carbon neutrality and the climate crisis, international consensus, and environmental-geographic characteristics of each nation. In this study, the authors aimed to analyze macroscopic forest biomass energy policies for ten major countries. They categorized them into six detailed categories (Sustainable utilization, Cascading Uutilization, Replacement of fossil fuel/Carbon intensive products, Utilization of forest by-products/residues as the source of energy, Contribution to carbon-neutral/climate change, and Biomass combined with CCS/CCUS ). In addition, the surveyed nations have developed a policy consensus on the active use of forest biomass with sustainable forest management except for the cascading utilization category. Furthermore, the authors evaluated the mid to long-term plans of the Korean government for improvements in the policy and legal aspects. As a result, the authors derived four major directions that South Korea should approach strategically in the future (1) secure financial resources for sustainable forest management and stimulating investment in the timber industry, (2) promote unified policies to establish a bio-economy, (3) enhancement of the forest biomass energy system, and (4) reorganization and promotion of strategy centered on the opinions of field experts in internal and external instability.