• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.299-305
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• 2000

Degradation behavior of the three commercial biodegradable polymers, namely poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) Sky-Green/sup R/ (SG) and Mater-Bi/sup R/ (MB) was investigated using bacteria isolated from activated sludge and farm soil. Three PHB degrading bacteria, three SG degrading bacteria and one MB degrading bacteria were isolated. The PHB degrading bacteria were identified to be Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum and Micrococcus diversus, while Pseudomonas vesicuraris, Pasteurlla multocida and Flavobacterium odoratum were identified as SG degrading bacteria. As for MB, Pseudomonas vesicuraris was isolated. The shake flask test for 28 days indicated that the rate of biodegradation of PHB, SG and MB in terms of weight loss were about 44∼69% 25∼32% and 29% respectively. The surface morphology of PHB, SG andMB films before and after degradation by microorganisms in an activated sludge soil was observed under SEM, demonstrating that the film surface had a very porous structure, and that microorganisms colonized heavily on the film surface. TOC and pH variation as a result of abiotic hydrolysis, or microbial growth in the absence of the polymers were compared to those due to degradation by F. oryzihabitans. Abiotic hydrolysis of PHB was three times as fast as that of SG and MB. Addition of yeast extract to the basal liquid medium accelerated the biodegradation of the polymers. Biodegradation of PHB was always faster than that of SG and MB irrespectively of the presence of yeast extract in the basal liquid medium.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.259-264
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• 2001

Toxicological studies of two potential biological control agents, the entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema carpocapsae) and the symbiotic bacteria (Xenorhabdus nematophilus) were conducted against two beneficial insects and one mammal species. Two microbial agents varied in their toxicities between two insect species: an ant, Pristomyrmex pungens, and silkworm, Bombyx mori. In oral toxicity test, the symbiotic bacteria resulted in significant lethal [half lethal concentration of $1.4$\times$10^3$colony-forming units (cfu)/ml] on the ants, while they gave little lethal effect (half lethal concentration of more than $10^{8}$ cfu/ml) on the silkworms. The nematodes, however, gave significant lethal effect [half lethal concentration of 4 infected juveniles (IJs)/ml] on the silkworms, while they did little lethal effect (half lethal concentration of 150,000 IJs/ml) on the ants in topical assays. Both the nematodes and the bacteria did not give lethal effect to the albino rats, Rattus norvegicus, when they were fed orally into the rats. Also, any of these microbial agents were not detected in the internal organs of the treated rats.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.26 no.2 s.71
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• pp.99-106
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• 1987

Three post-harvest fields each in four rice growing areas, Iri, Naju, Jinju and Taegu were randomly selected and surveyed during December 1986 to examine sclerotial density of Rhizoctonia solani overwintering in the field. Surface soil of $0.09m^2$ area was sampled in each field with three replications and sieved to collect sclerotia. Germiability and pathogenicity of collected sclerotia were examined in the laboratory. Number of sclerotia $({\times}10^6)/ha$ in Iri, Naju, Jinju, and Taegu was estimated from the sample as 2.7, 1.2, 0.7 and 0.6, respectively. Based on sample variance with simple random sampling in each area, number of sampling required for estimating average sclerotial density with the precision of 10% apart from a chance of 1 in 20 was calculated to 41, 132, 232, and 395 for Iri, Naju, Jinju and Taegu, respectively. Percentage of germination of sampled sclerotia on potato sucrose agar (PSA) ranged from 42 to 78% depending on the area, and averaged 60%. About 49% of the germinated sclerotia were pathogenic to a rice cultivar Jinheung that was used to test pathogenicity of the sclerotia. Proportion of viable sclerotia that have both germiability and pathogenicity was thus estimated to 0.29 of total sclerotia collected. R. solani cultures obtained from the sclerotia could be distinguished into three groups based on colony morphology on PSA. Size and number of sclerotia formed on PSA differed between group but were not associated with pathogenicity to Jinheung.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.202-205
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• 2010

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of mechanical irrigation in combination with mouthwash of antimicrobial agents on salivary bacterial counts. Materials and Methods: This study was performed with a randomized study employing a panel of 40 healthy volunteers (20 males and 20 females) between the age of 26 and 32 years. Volunteers were randomly put in one of four treatment groups. In the first group, 0.2 mL of non-stimulatory saliva was collected from every subjective person. Then, saliva was collected after rinsing with chlorhexidine (CHX) for 1 minute. In the second group, non-stimulatory saliva was collected, and then saliva was collected after rinsing with CHX and irrigation with saline. In the third and fourth groups, the same procedures as the first and second groups were performed with povidone iodine (PVI) instead of CHX. All of these samples were cultured for 48 hours aerobically. The reduction rates of colony-forming units (CFU) were calculated for each group. The reduction rate between each group was tested statistically using student t-test. Results: Using CHX in combination with saline irrigation showed a significant decrease of the salivary bacterial CFU when compared with only using CHX.(P<0.01) And using PVI with saline irrigation showed a little decrease of the CFU when compared with only using PVI, but there was no statistical significance.(P>0.01) Conclusion: It was concluded that the CHX or PVI used with saline irrigation made the salivary bacterial counts reduced more than when CHX or PVI was used alone as an oral antiseptic agent.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.419-424
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• 2009

To provide the basis of biosensor based on the lux genes from bioluminescent bacteria of Photobacterium leiognathi and Vibrio harveyi, we test the expression of lux genes in several strains of Escherichia coli. The expression of the recombinant plasmid of PlXba.pT7-3, containing all lux genes requiring for light emission without adding substrate, in E. coli 43R was so strong to see the blue-green light in single colony as well as in the alginate immobilized cell. In addition, the light intensity was decreased by adding heavy metal ion such as cadmium and zinc ions. These result raise the possibility that a biosensor can be developed using the lux genes system.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.261-267
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• 2012

Coastal sand dunes are important for ecosystems due to the variety of rare species that can be found in this kind of habitat, and the beautiful landscapes they create. For environmental remediation, a potential strategy is phytoremediation using the symbiotic relationship of plants and microbes in the rhizosphere, which has proven ecologically sound, safe, and cost effective. Ninety-five colonies were isolated from the rhizosphere soil (RS) or rhizoplane (RP) of Rorippa islandica, Rumex crispus, Artemisia princeps var. orientalis, Lilium sp Stellaria media, and Gramineae. These colonies were then tested for plant growth promoting activities (PGPAs) such as 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity, and siderphores synthesis ability. In addition, salt tolerance was evaluated at 4% and 8% salt concentrations. It was observed that amongst the test subjects about 50% of the strains had a high resistance to salinity. Many of them could produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) IAA (in RS 13.9% and in RP 7.6%), exhibited ACC deaminase activity (55.8% in RS and 36.6% in RP), and could synthesize siderphores (62.7% in RS and 50% in RP). Correlation coefficient analyses were carried out for the three kinds of plant growth promoting abilities (PGPA) and salt tolerance. A positive correlation was found between an ability to synthesize siderphores and ACC deaminase activity (r=0.605, p<0.037). Similarly, positive correlations were noted between salt tolerance and ACC deaminase activity (r=0.762, p<0.004, r=0.771), and salt tolerance and an ability to synthesize siderphores (r=0.771, p<0.003).

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.445-453
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• 2016

Eighty-four strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from Korean fermented foods for the production of fermented apple juice. Among these strains, the JBE245 strain that showed rapid growth and food functionality was selected and identified as Lactobacillus plantarum. This strain reached the stationary phase after 24 h fermentation at $30^{\circ}C$ with $1.5{\times}10^8$ colony forming unit (CFU)/mL of viable cells, and maintained its viability levels even after 14 days of storage. During fermentation, the ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitory activity (40.4%), total polyphenol content (583.6 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/mL), and 2,2-diphenyl-l-picryl-hydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (52%) were increased. As judged by a sensory test, the overall preference for the fermented juice (4.22) was comparable to that for the unfermented juice (4.72), indicating that fermentation does not significantly affect the sensory characteristics of apple juice. Consequently, the fermented beverage containing L. plantarum JBE245 and apple juice is a promising functional health food.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2014

The prevalence of Bacillus cereus was determined in salad and Kimbab obtained from commercial retailers. Among the 100 salad samples analyzed, 54 samples were negative for B. cereus, whereas the bacterial count was < 10 colony forming units (CFU)/g in 8 samples, < 100 CFU/g in 25 samples, < 1,000 CFU/g in 11 samples, and > 1,000 CFU/g in 2 samples. The mean (standard deviation) was 1.18 log CFU/g (${\pm}0.71$ log CFU/g). In Kimbab, B. cereus was isolated from 20 samples; the mean bacterial count was 1.01 log CFU/g (${\pm}0.71$ log CFU/g). On the basis of the monitoring data, a statistical sampling plan was determined with the NEW sampleplan program (ICMSF), which was used as an analytical tool. To identify the most suitable sampling plan, the microbial limits (m, M) and the maximum allowable number of sample units yielding unsatisfactory test results (c) were varied, but the number of samples units, n = 5, was fixed. Sampling plans showing an acceptable probability (Pa) over 0.95 were considered suitable. Two plans (A and B) were finally suggested. Parameters for plan A are n = 5, c = 0, m = 1,000, and M = 10,000 and for plan B are n = 5, c = 2, m = 100, and M = 1,000. Interestingly, the latter plan was identical to the microbial sampling plan used in New Zealand. Thus, it was concluded that the suggested plan can be used as a sampling plan that is in line with international standards.

• Journal of Apiculture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2019

Honey bees are a vital part of the food chain as the most important pollinators for a broad palette of crops and wild plants. The climate change and colony collapse disorder (CCD) phenomenon make it challenging to develop ICT solutions to predict changes in beehive and alert about potential threats. In this paper, we report the test results of the bee-counting system which stands out against the previous analogues due to its comprehensive components including an improved dual infrared sensor to detect honey bees entering and leaving the hive, environmental sensors that measure ambient and interior, a wireless network with the bluetooth low energy (BLE) to transmit the sensing data in real time to the gateway, and a cloud which accumulate and analyze data. To assess the system accuracy, 3 persons manually counted the outgoing and incoming honey bees using the video record of 360-minute length. The difference between automatic and manual measurements for outgoing and incoming scores were 3.98% and 4.43% respectively. These differences are relatively lower than previous analogues, which inspires a vision that the tested system is a good candidate to use in precise apicultural industry, scientific research and education.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.108-122
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• 2023

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol) and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), are the causal agent of Fusarium wilt disease of tomato and banana, respectively, and cause significant yield losses worldwide. A cost-effective measure, such as biological control agents, was used as an alternative method to control these pathogens. Therefore, in this study, six isolates of the Streptomyces-like colony were isolated from soils and their antagonistic activity against phytopathogenic fungi and plant growth-promoting (PGP) activity were assessed. The results showed that these isolates could inhibit the mycelial growth of Fol and Foc. Among them, isolate STRM304 showed the highest percentage of mycelial growth reduction and broad-spectrum antagonistic activity against all tested fungi. In the pot experiment study, the culture filtrate of isolates STRM103 and STRM104 significantly decreased disease severity and symptoms in Fol inoculated plants. Similarly, the culture filtrate of the STRM304 isolate significantly reduced the severity of the disease and symptoms of the disease in Foc inoculated plants. The PGP activity test presents PGP activities, such as indole acetic acid production, phosphate solubilization, starch hydrolysis, lignin hydrolysis, and cellulase activity. Interestingly, the application of the culture filtrate from all isolates increased the percentage of tomato seed germination and stimulated the growth of tomato plants and banana seedlings, increasing the elongation of the shoot and the root and shoot and root weight compared to the control treatment. Therefore, the isolate STRM103 and STRM104, and STRM304 could be used as biocontrol and PGP agents for tomato and banana, respectively, in sustainable agriculture.