• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.590-598
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• 2011

Bacterial assimilation of $CO_2$ into stable biomolecules using electrochemical reducing power may be an effective method to reduce atmospheric $CO_2$ without fossil fuel combustion. For the enrichment of the $CO_2$-fixing bacteria using electrochemical reducing power as an energy source, a cylinder-type electrochemical bioreactor with a built-in anode compartment was developed. A graphite felt cathode modified with neutral red (NR-graphite cathode) was used as a solid electron mediator to induce bacterial cells to fix $CO_2$ using electrochemical reducing power. Bacterial $CO_2$ consumption was calculated based on the variation in the ratio of $CO_2$ to $N_2$ in the gas reservoir. $CO_2$ consumed by the bacteria grown in the electrochemical bioreactor (2,000 ml) reached a maximum of approximately 1,500 ml per week. Time-coursed variations in the bacterial community grown with the electrochemical reducing power and $CO_2$ in the mineral-based medium were analyzed via temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) of the 16S rDNA variable region. Some of the bacterial community constituents noted at the initial time disappeared completely, but some of them observed as DNA signs at the initial time were clearly enriched in the electrochemical bioreactor during 24 weeks of incubation. Finally, Alcaligenes sp. and Achromobacter sp., which are capable of autotrophically fixing $CO_2$, were enriched to major constituents of the bacterial community in the electrochemical bioreactor.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.545-551
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• 2008

When cultivated aerobically, Aspergillus niger hyphae produced extracellular glucoamylase, which catalyzes the saccharification of unliquified potato starch into glucose, but not when grown under anaerobic conditions. The $K_m\;and\;V_{max}$ of the extracellular glucoamylase were 652.3 mg/l of starch and 253.3 mg/l/min of glucose, respectively. In mixed culture of A. niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, oxygen had a negative influence on the alcohol fermentation of yeast, but activated fungal growth. Therefore, oxygen is a critical factor for ethanol production in the mixed culture, and its generation through electrolysis of water in an electrochemical bioreactor needs to be optimized for ethanol production from starch by coculture of fungal hyphae and yeast cells. By applying pulsed electric fields (PEF) into the electrochemical bioreactor, ethanol production from starch improved significantly: Ethanol produced from 50 g/l potato starch by a mixed culture of A. niger and S. cerevisiae was about 5 g/l in a conventional bioreactor, but was 9 g/l in 5 volts of PEF and about 19 g/l in 4 volts of PEF for 5 days.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• 제43권5호
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• pp.451-455
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• 2005

In this study, whole cells and a crude enzyme of Candida peltata were applied to an electrochemical bioreactor, in order to induce an increment of the reduction of xylose to xylitol. Neutral red was utilized as an electron mediator in the whole cell reactor, and a graphite-Mn(IV) electrode was used as a catalyst in the enzyme reactor in order to induce the electrochemical reduction of $NAD^+$ to NADH. The efficiency with which xylose was converted to xylitol in the electrochemical bioreactor was five times higher than that in the conventional bioreactor, when whole cells were employed as a biocatalyst. Meanwhile, the xylose to xylitol reduction efficiency in the enzyme reactor using the graphite-Mn (IV) electrode and $NAD^+$ was twice as high as that observed in the conventional bioreactor which utilized NADH as a reducing power. In order to use the graphite-Mn(IV) electrode as a catalyst for the reduction of $NAD^+$ to NADH, a bioelectrocatalyst was engineered, namely, oxidoreductase (e.g. xylose reductase). $NAD^+$ can function in this biotransformation procedure without any electron mediator or a second oxidoreductase for $NAD^+/NADH$ recycling

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권12호
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• pp.1665-1671
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• 2009

Anaerobic digestion sludge was cultivated in an electrochemical bioreactor (ECB) to enrich the hydrogenotrophic methanogens. A modified graphite felt cathode with neutral red (NR-cathode) was charged with electrochemical reducing power generated from a solar cell. The methane and carbon dioxide collected in a Teflon bag from the ECB were more than 80 ml/l of reactant/day and less than 20 ml/l of reactant/day, respectively, whereas the methane and carbon dioxide collected from a conventional bioreactor (CB) was around 40 ml/l of reactant/day, respectively. Moreover, the maximal volume ratios of methane to carbon dioxide (M/C ratio) collected in the Teflon bag from the ECB and CB were 7 and 1, respectively. The most predominant methanogens isolated from the CB on the $20^{th}$, $80^{th}$, and $150^{th}$ days of incubation were hydrogenotrophs. The methanogenic diversity analyzed by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) of the 16S rDNA variable region was higher in the ECB than in the CB. The DNA extracted from the TGGE bands was more than 95% homologous with hydrogenotrophic methanogens in the ECB, but was an aceticlastic methanogen in the CB. In conclusion, the ECB was demonstrated as a useful system for enriching hydrogenotrophic methanogens and increasing the M/C ratio of the gas product.

• 공업화학
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.532-537
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• 2022

The need for obtaining treated wastewater that meets high quality standards for discharge or reuse necessitates the use of highly efficient wastewater treatment techniques. In the present study, experiments have been carried out to reduce the concentration level of biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total dissolved solids (TDS) from the wastewater sample. Treatment of sample of a real municipal wastewater collected from a sewage treatment plant (STP) was carried out in an electrochemical membrane bioreactor (EMBR). The EMBR was operated continuously for five days, and readings were taken at regular intervals. This paper has experimental results conducted in EMBR that indicate reduction of BOD, COD, and TDS levels of up to 32.25%, 29.25%, and 31.93%, respectively. Further, it was observed that a current of magnitude of 0.00752 mA was generated due to the metabolic activities of bacteria present in municipal wastewater, which gradually decreased day by day due to the decay of bacteria.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.52-57
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• 2007

수소-이산화탄소(5:1) 혼합가스 순환장치를 장착한 반응기를 이용하여 독립영양형 메탄생산세균을 농화하였으며, 생산된 메탄의 농도는 10%미만이었다. 30일 이상 농화배양한 후 16S-rDNA 동질성을 이용하여 반응기에서 생장하고 있는 세균을 분석한 결과 수소를 단일 에너지 원으로 이용하는 Methanobacterium curvum와 Methanobacterium oryzae로 확인되었다. 농화된 세균을 hollow-fiber수소 공급장치를 장착한 반응기에 배양하여 메탄의 농도를 30%까지 향상하였다. 그러나 농화된 세균을 hollow-fiber 수소 공급장치와 미량의 수소를 생산하고 전기화학적 환원성 환경을 유도할 수 있는 장치를 장착한 복합형 반응기에 적용한 결과 메탄의 생산성은 50%가지 향상하였다. 이러한 결과는 독립영양형 메탄생산세균을 농화 또는 대량 배양하기 위해서 hollow-fiber 수소 공급장치와 전기화학적 환원력을 복합적으로 이용하는 것이 유리하다는 것을 보여주는 것이다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권8호
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• pp.836-844
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• 2009

A denitrification bacterium was isolated from riverbed soil and identified as Ochrobactrum sp., whose specific enzymes for denitrification metabolism were biochemically assayed or confirmed with specific coding genes. The denitrification activity of strain G3-1 was proportional to glucose/nitrate balance, which was consistent with the theoretical balance (0.5). The modified graphite felt cathode with neutral red, which functions as a solid electron mediator, enhanced the electron transfer from electrode to bacterial cell. The porous carbon anode was coated with a ceramic membrane and cellulose acetate film in order to permit the penetration of water molecules from the catholyte to the outside through anode, which functions as an air anode. A non-compartmented electrochemical bioreactor (NCEB) comprised of a solid electron mediator and an air anode was employed for cultivation of G3-1 cells. The intact G3-1 cells were immobilized in the solid electron mediator, by which denitrification activity was greatly increased at the lower glucose/nitrate balance than the theoretical balance (0.5). Metabolic stability of the intact G3-1 cells immobilized in the solid electron mediator was extended to 20 days, even at a glucose/nitrate balance of 0.1.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권7호
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• pp.666-674
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• 2009

An electrochemical bioreactor (ECB) composed of a cathode compartment and an air anode was used in this study to characterize the ethanol fermentation of Zymomonas mobilis. The cathode and air anode were constructed of modified graphite felt with neutral red (NR) and a modified porous carbon plate with cellulose acetate and porous ceramic membrane, respectively. The air anode operates as a catalyst to generate protons and electrons from water. The growth and ethanol production of Z. mobilis were 50% higher in the ECB than were observed under anoxic nitrogen conditions. Ethanol production by growing cells and the crude enzyme of Z. mobilis were significantly lower under aerobic conditions than under other conditions. The growing cells and crude enzyme of Z. mobilis did not catalyze ethanol production from pyruvate and acetaldehyde. The membrane fraction of crude enzyme catalyzed ethanol production from glucose, but the soluble fraction did not. NADH was oxidized to $NAD^+$in association with $H_2O_2$reduction, via the catalysis of crude enzyme. Our results suggested that NADH/$NAD^+$balance may be a critical factor for ethanol production from glucose in the metabolism of Z. mobilis, and that the metabolic activity of both growing cells and crude enzyme for ethanol fermentation may be induced in the presence of glucose.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.73-80
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• 2007

생물막 매개체를 도자기 격막으로 구획된 오수처리 반응기에 장착하고 직류 2volt의 전압을 부과하여 생물막 매개체가 산화 전위를 유지할 수 있게 유도하였다. 반면 대조실험을 위해 사용한 반응조의 생물막 매개체에는 전압을 부과하지 않았다 ABM-반응기와 CBM-반응기에서 배양시간에 따른 생물막의 구조, 생물량의 변화, 오수처리 효율 등을 측정하여 상호 차이를 비교하였다. 전자현미경으로 관찰한 ABM의 생물막은 CBM의 생물막에 비해 분산성이 크고 미생물이 과밀하게 성장하지 않았으나 CBM의 생물막은 배양 시간에 비례하여 지속적으로 성장하면서 생물막 매개체를 완전히 덮어 과밀 생물막을 형성하였다. ABM의 ORP는 CBM의 ORP 100 mV에 비해 매우 큰 차이를 보이는 800 mV를 유지하였으며, 반응액의 ORP 또한 ABM과 CBM의 영향을 받아 각각 550 mV와 400 mV를 유지하였다. ABM-반응기에서 오수처리 효율은 CBM-반응기에서 오수처리 효율의 약 2배 정도의 차이를 나타내었다. 이러한 결과로부터 생물막 매개체에 부과한 양전위의 전기 에너지는 생물막을 구성하는 미생물 과밀현상을 억제하고 매개체의 ORP를 높게 유지함으로서 미생물의 대사 활성을 촉진하고 결과적으로 오수내 함유된 유기물의 산화효율을 증가시키는 작용이 있는 것으로 확인되었다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제20권8호
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• pp.1230-1239
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• 2010

Five bacterial species, capable of degrading the recalcitrant organic compounds (ROCs) diethyleneglycol monomethylether (DGMME), 1-amino-2-propanol (APOL), 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), diethyleneglycol monoethylether (DGMEE), tetraethyleneglycol (TEG), and tetrahydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide (sulfolane), were isolated from an enrichment culture. Cupriavidus sp. catabolized $93.5{\pm}1.7$ mg/l of TEG, $99.3{\pm}1.2$ mg/l of DGMME, $96.1{\pm}1.6$ mg/l of APOL, and $99.5{\pm}0.5$ mg/l of NMP in 3 days. Acineobacter sp. catabolized 100 mg/l of DGMME, $99.9{\pm}0.1$ mg/l of NMP, and 100 mg/l of DGMEE in 3 days. Pseudomonas sp.3 catabolized $95.7{\pm}1.2$ mg/l of APOL and $99.8{\pm}0.3$ mg/l of NMP. Paracoccus sp. catabolized $98.3{\pm}0.6$ mg/l of DGMME and $98.3{\pm}1.0$ mg/l of DGMEE in 3 days. A maximum $43{\pm}2.0$ mg/l of sulfolane was catabolized by Paracoccus sp. in 3 days. When a mixed culture composed of the five bacterial species was applied to real wastewater containing DGMME, APOL, NMP, DGMEE, or TEG, 92~99% of each individual ROC was catabolized within 3 days. However, at least 9 days were required for the complete mineralization of sulfolane. Bacterial community diversity, analyzed on the basis of the TGGE pattern of 16S rDNA extracted from viable cells, was found to be significantly reduced in a conventional bioreactor after 6 days of incubation. However, biodiversity was maintained after 12 days of incubation in an electrochemical bioreactor. In conclusion, the electrochemical reduction reaction enhanced the diversity of the bacterial community and actively catabolized sulfolane.