• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.485-492
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• 2024

Sea cucumbers contain more than 50% protein in their solid content, and they also possess various bioactive substances such as saponins and mucopolysaccharides. This study analyzed the activities of various enzymes derived from Bacillus and lactic acid bacteria and determined to degrade the components of sea cucumbers. Among the analyzed strains, B. subtilis K26 showed the highest activities in protease and xylanase and relatively high activity in cellulase. Accordingly, samples of sea cucumber and water were mixed in equal proportions, sterilized, and then fermented by inoculating them with B. subtilis K26. Following this, a higher amino acid content was observed between 1.5 and 7.5 hr, a lower residual solid content in this time, and a lesser fermentation odor. The saponin content in fermented sea cucumber powder extracted with butanol was measured to be 1.12 mg/g. The chondroitin sulfate content was evaluated to be 5.11 mg/g in raw sea cucumber. The total polyphenol content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activities were 6.95 mg gallic acid equivalent/g, 3.69 mg quercetin equivalent/g, and 3.69 mg quercetin equivalent/g in raw sea cucumber, respectively. Moreover, the DNA damage protective effect of fermented sea cucumber extract was found to be concentration-dependent, with a very strong effect at very low concentrations. Overall, we suggest that sea cucumber fermented with B. subtilis K26 has a high potential as a food for inhibiting oxidation, enhancing immunity, and improving muscle function in the human body thanks to its high free amino acid content.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.140-146
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• 2009

Cyclosporin, an immunosuppressant, is a representative group of biologically active secondary metabolites produced by the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum. The amount and ratio of cyclosporin derivatives in the culture broth are an important factors for the production of cyclosporin A and the purification in the industrial process. Therefore, we studied the effect of amino acids and complex organic nitrogen sources using Tolypocladium inflatum mutants on the productivity of cyclosporin A and the ratio of cyclosporin derivatives. Overproducing mutant YHC-004 having seven times higher productivity than mother strain's could be obtained through the artificial mutation by UV irradiation. The concentration and kind of organic nitrogens and amino acids shows the profound effect on the productivity of cyclosporin A and ratio of cyclosporin derivatives. As a result, it was possible to raise the productivity and the ratio of cyclosporin A up to 3,430 mg/L and 93% respectively, but on the other hand the other cyclosporin derivatives decreased less than 2% in the culture broth.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.250-256
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• 2004

In this work we have cultivated several B. cereus strains in a complex LB medium in order to study the production of phospholipase C (PLC), and among them B. cereus 318 showed the highest productivity of PLC. Some components, i.e., 5 g/L glucose, 5 g/L yeast extract, 5 g/L peptone, 0.5∼1.0 g/L K$_2$HPO$_4$, 0.02∼0.04 g/L ZnSO$_4$$.$7H$_2$O and 3 g/L NaHCO$_3$ were found to be optimal for the high production of PLC by B. cereus 318. Optimal culture temperature and pH were found to be 30$^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.5 for the PLC production, respectively. Optimum reaction temperature and pH of the PLC produced by B. cereus 11 and 318 were 45$^{\circ}C$ and pH 4.0, while they were 50$^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 for the PLC by B. cereus 559. The PLC produced by B. cereus was activated by Mn$\^$2+/, Co$\^$2+/ and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), but its activity was inhibited by Cu$\^$2+/ and partially by glycerol, isopropanol and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.160-168
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• 1999

Butyrate is one of the short-chain fatty acids that are present in the colon of mammals in millimolar concentration as a result of microbial anaerobic fermentation of dietary fiber, undigested starch, and proteins. In this study, sodium butyrate was examined in HT29 cell, human colonic cancer cell line, on cell viability, alkaline phosphatase activity, PLC-${\gamma}$1 expression and complex sphingolipid biosynthesis. Treatment with butyrate showed that the decrease of cell adhesion and viability was time-dependent. Sodium butyrate also induced to increase the activity of alkaline phosphatase which is a differentiation marker enzyme and decrease the expression of PLC-${\gamma}$1. Biosynthesis of sphingomyelin and galactosylceramide by butyrate treatment were decreased so fast but ceramide was increased 680dpm/mg protein% more than untreated group on first day and then decreased fast. In addition, acid ceramidase and neutral ceramidase activity were inhibited early stage by sodium butyrate. These results suggest that sodium butyrate causes cell differentiation or cell growth arrest of HT29 cell accompanied by early increase of ceramide content and alkaline phosphatase activity and decrease of galactosylceramide content and PLC-r1 expression.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.726-737
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• 2017

Carotenoids are isoprenoids with a long polyene chain containing 3 to 15 conjugated double bonds, which determines their absorption spectrum. They typically consist of a $C_{40}$ hydrocarbon backbone often modified by different oxygen-containing functional groups, to yield cyclic or acyclic xanthophylls. Much work has also been focused on the identification, production, and utilization of natural sources of carotenoid (plants, microorganisms and crustacean by-products) as an alternative to the synthetic pigment which currently covers most of the world markets. Nevertheless, only a few carotenoids (${\beta}-carotene$, lycopene, astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and lutein) can be produced commercially by fermentation or isolation from the small number of abundant natural sources. The market and demand for carotenoids is anticipated to increase dramatically with the discovery that carotenoids exhibit significant anti-carcinogenic activities and play an important role in the prevention of chronic diseases. The increasing importance of carotenoids in the feed, nutraceutical food and pharmaceutical markets has renewed by efforts to find ways of producing additional carotenoid structures in useful quantities. Because microorganisms and plants synthesize hundreds of different complex chemical carotenoid structures and a number of carotenoid biosynthetic pathways have been elucidated on a molecular level, metabolic and genetic engineering of microorganisms can provide a means towards economic production of carotenoid structures that are otherwise inaccessible. The aim of this article is to review our current understanding of carotenoid formation, to explain the perceived benefits of carotenoid in the diet and review the efforts that have been made to increase carotenoid in certain microorganisms.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.52-59
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• 2005

The study was targeted to saccharify foodwastes with the cellulolytic and amylolytic enzymes obtained from culture supernatant of Trichoderma harzianum FJ1 and analyze the kinetics of the saccharification in order to enlarge the utilization in industrial application. T. harzianum FJ1 highly produced various cellulolytic (filter paperase 0.9, carboxymethyl cellulase 22.0, ${\beta}$-glucosidase 1.2, Avicelase 0.4, xylanase 30.8, as U/mL-supernatant) and amylolytic (${alpha}$-amylase 5.6, ${\beta}$-amylase 3.1, glucoamylase 2.6, as U/mL-supernatant) enzymes. The $23{\sim}98\;g/L$ of reducing sugars were obtained under various experimental conditions by changing FPase to between $0.2{\sim}0.6\;U/mL$ and foodwastes between $5{\sim}20\%$ (w/v), with fixed conditions at $50^{\circ}C$, pH 5.0, and 100 rpm for 24 h. As the enzymatic hydrolysis of foodwastes were performed in a heterogeneous solid-liquid reaction system, it was significantly influenced by enzyme and substrate concentrations used, where the pH and temperature were fixed at their experimental optima of 5.0 and $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. An empirical model was employed to simplify the kinetics of the saccharification reaction. The reducing sugars concentration (X, g/L) in the saccharification reaction was expressed by a power curve ($X=K{\cdot}t^n$) for the reaction time (t), where the coefficient, K and n. were related to functions of the enzymes concentrations (E) and foodwastes concentrations (S), as follow: $K=10.894{\cdot}Ln(E{\cdot}S^2)-56.768,\;n=0.0608{\cdot}(E/S)^{-0.2130}$. The kinetic developed to analyze the effective saccharification of foodwastes composed of complex organic compounds could adequately explain the cases under various saccharification conditions. The kinetics results would be available for reducing sugars production processes, with the reducing sugars obtained at a lower cost can be used as carbon and energy sources in various fermentation industries.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2014

The objective of the this study was to investigate the binding capacity and removal ability of lactic acid bacterial strains obtained from Korean soybean paste for mutagenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) formed during cooking of protein-rich food at high temperature. Among 19 strains identified by carbohydrate fermentation and 16S rRNA sequencing, the live cell or cell-free culture supernatant of Lactobacillus acidophilus D11, Enterococcus faecium D12, Pediococcus acidilactici D19, L. acidophilus D38, Lactobacillus sakei D44, Enterococcus faecalis D66, and Lactobacillus plantarum D70 inhibited the mutagenesis caused by either 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b] indole (Trp-P-1) or 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b] indole (Trp-P-2) in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. The bacterial cells of the isolated strains showed greater binding activity than the pure cell wall, exopolysaccharide, and pepetidoglycan. The carbohydrate moieties of the cell wall or protein molecules on the cell surface have a significant role in binding Trp-P-1 and Trp-P-2, since protease, heating, sodium metaperiodate, or acidic pH treatments significantly (P<0.05) reduced the binding efficacy of the tested bacteria. Addition of metal ions or sodium dodecyl sulfate decreased the binding ability of E. faecium D12, L. acidophilus D38, and E. faecalis D66. Therefore, the binding mechanisms of these strains may consist of ion-exchange and hydrophobic bonds. Especially, the high mutagen binding by L. acidophilus D38 and L. plantarum D70 may reduce the accumulation or absorption of Trp-P-1 and Trp-P-2 in the small intestine via increased excretion of a mutagen-bacteria complex.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.179-185
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• 2007

A new technology that utilizes a microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed to generate electricity directly from the oxidation of organic matters such as carbohydrates or complex organics in wastewater. Fermentation of these organic matters results in production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), alcohols, $CO_2$ and $H_2$. We investigated the electricity-producing potential of the VFAs and actual food processing wastewater using a two-chambered MFC. The electrons produced by acetate degradation were proportional to acetate concentration in the medium. Acetate concentration and generated power were linearly correlated at a low range or acetate concentration (< 8 mg/L), but at above 8 mg/L of acetate the power produced was maintained at 0.1 mW. When butyrate was added to the anode acclimated to acetate, there was a lag period of 30 hr for electricity generation. However, when propionate was added to the same anode bottle, lag periods were not existed. The wastewater from baby food processing generated the maximum power density of $81{\pm}7\;mW/m^2$ of electricity and exhibited the Coulombic efficiencies of 27.1% and 40.5% based on TCOD and SCOD, respectively. Sugars in the food processing wastewater were reduced within 50 h from 230 mg/L < 30 mg/L.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.300-305
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• 2005

A transcriptionally active fragment $(P_{19})$ isolated by utilizing the promoter-probe shuttle vector pSK1Cat was analyzed. By subcloning analysis, the 180 bp region $(P_{180})$ responsible for the activity was determined. Transcriptional fusion of the C. glutamicum metX gene to $P_{180}\;(P_{180}-metX)$ resulted in a 24-fold increase in MetX activity in a complex medium, while a 13-fold increase was observed with the $P_{tac}$ promoter. Additionally, the expression conferred by $P_{180}$ was not affected by methionine added to the growth medium, suggesting that the $P_{180}$ clone is useful for the deregulated expression of biosynthetic genes in C. glutamicum during amino acid fermentation. Introduction of $P_{180}-metX$ into a lysine-producing C. glutamicum resulted in the production of methionine to 0.8 g/l.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.15-27
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• 2021

Objectives : The processing of Pinelliae Tuber and Arisaematis Rhizoma is a crucial step to reduce the severe acrid irritation mainly due to the needle-like crystals (raphides). Ginger, alum and bile juice have been used as adjuvant materials for the processing. Methods : Bibliographic research on ancient processing and experimental processing was performed to investigate the toxicity reduction mechanisms of the processing with ginger, alum and bile juice. Results : Ginger has been a major adjuvant for the processing of Pinelliae Tuber, followed by alum and bile juice since Song (宋) and Myeong (明) dynasties, and Arisaematis Rhizoma has been mainly used as Damnamseong (膽南星). The raphides consisting of calcium oxalate, lectin, agglutinin and polysaccharides can induce acrid irritation and the inflammatory reactions. The lipophilic components in the ginger denatured the structure of raphides and 6-gingerol-contained ginger extract attenuated the inflammatory reaction. The calcium ion (Ca²⁺) of calcium oxalate was substituted to the aluminium ion (Al³⁺) of the alum, which damaged the calcium oxalate structure. Lectin attached to the surface of raphides was dissolved in alum solution and consequently its structure was denatured. The cholate in the bile juice formed the complex with the oxalate anion or the calcium cation. Moreover, the enzymes activated by Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium during the fermentation promoted the fragmentation of oxalate. Conclusion : The adjuvant materials damaged the raphides by denaturing or degrading the calcium oxalate, resulting in the reduction of acrid irritation. Further experimental studies would support the toxicity reduction mechanism of the processing.