• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.86-94
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• 2008

Lake Shiwha, an artificial lake located near metropolitan Seoul, offers a unique water environment and has been suspected to have high levels of chemical and microbiological contaminations. Lake Shiwha was originally connected to the sea but currently has four major surface water inputs from agricultural, municipal, industrial areas and in addition an occasional inflow from the sea. The objectives of this study are to investigate the relative contribution of microbial contaminants from each of the inflowing surface waters and to identify appropriate microbial indicator organisms in this unique water environment. We measured the levels of microbial contaminations in the four inflowing surface waters. A number of microbial indicator organisms including total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC), E. coli, Enterococci, somatic and male-specific coliphages were analyzed. Bacterial indicator microorganisms were detected and quantified by the $Colilert^{(R)},\;Enterolert^{(R)}$ kit. Surface water (50 l) was sampled by $ViroCap^{TM}\;5"$ cartridge filters and analyzed by the single agar layer method for detecting coliphages. The concentrations of TC, FC, E. coli, and Enterococci were 1543 CFU/100 ml${\sim}1.99{\times}10^6$ CFU/100 ml, 0 CFU/100 ml${\sim}202$ CFU/100ml, 0 CFU/100 ml${\sim}1.80{\sim}10^5$ CFU/100ml, 74 CFU/100 ml${\sim}3408$ CFU/100 ml, respectively. The male-specific and somatic coliphages were detected in three different inflowing surface waters. Isolated E. coli and Enterococci strains were further analyzed by 16s rDNA amplification and subsequent phylogenetic analysis from Jungwang-chun, Ansan-chun, Banwol-chun and penstock of inflowing surface water. Our results indicated that the concentrations of different fecal indicator microorganisms might not be highly correlated with each other. Multiple microbial indicator organisms should be used for monitoring microbial contamination and microbial source tracking methods.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to compare crop contamination between two irrigation methods using microbial-contaminated water. The effect of relative humidity on microbial survival of the three indicator microorganisms was also investigated. Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Clostridium perfringens ATCC 3624, and coliphage PRD1 were applied to irrigation water to grow cantaloupe, lettuce, and bell pepper. Half of the sixteen plots were subsurface drip irrigated (SDI) and the other half were furrow irrigated (FI). Two relative humidity levels were controlled at 15-65 % and 55-80 % for the dry and humid condition experiments, respectively. Samples of produce, surface soil, and subsurface soil at a depth of 10 cm were collected over a two-week period following the application of the study microorganisms. Overall, greater contamination of both produce and soil occurred in the FI plots. For the SDI plots, preferential water paths and resulting water appearance on the seed beds seemed to be responsible for produce contamination. Relative humidity levels did not appear to affect microbial survival in soil. PRD 1 showed lower inactivation rates than 5. coli in both dry and humid conditions. C. perfringens did not experience significant inactivation over the experimental period, suggesting this microorganism can be an effective indicator of fecal contamination.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 1978

The microbial and chemical changes, and characterization of the predominant acid-producing bacteria in the fermenting pig feces blended with corn meal at a ratio of 50：50 were studied. The fermentation was dominated by lactobacilli, which multiplied rapidly for the first 24 hours. The acid produced during the fermentation caused rapid pH drop to pH 4.5 and halted the growth of E. coli and yeast. The initial acid producing bacteria in the mixture was predominantly Streptococcus species, which were reduced in number rapidly. After 7 days of fermentation, three lactobacilli species were appeared L. acidophilus, L. fermenti, L. delbrueckii. Chemical changes during the fermentation were also studied. The lactic acid fermentation imparted a good tangy acid flavor to the corn-feces mixture by removing or covering the .fecal ordour and made the corn-feces mixture palatable for the animal as well as halted the unwanted microbial flora. We hope the lactic acid fermentation will replace the heat processing in the utilization of animal feces.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.369-375
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• 2015

Meat from black pigs (BP) is in high demand compared with that from modern white pig (WP) breeds such as Landrace pigs owing to its high quality. However, the growth rate of black pigs is slower than that of white pig breeds. We investigated differences in the fecal microbial composition between white and black pigs to explore whether these breeds differed in the composition of their gut microbial communities. The swine gut microbiota was investigated using Illumina's MiSeq-based sequencing technology by targeting the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Our results showed that the composition of the gut microbiota was significantly different between the two pig breeds. While the composition of the WP microbiota shifted according to the growth stage, fewer shifts in composition were observed for the BP gut microbiota. In addition, the WP gut microbiota showed a higher Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio compared with that of BP. A high ratio between these phyla was previously reported as an obesity-linked microbiota composition. Moreover, the WP microbiota contained a significantly higher abundance of cellulolytic bacteria, suggesting a possibility of higher fiber digestion efficiency in WP compared to BP. These findings may be important factors affecting growth performance and energy-harvesting capacities in pigs. Our findings of differences in the gut microbiota composition between the two breeds may provide new leads to understand growth rate variation across pig breeds.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2017

This study was conducted to develop an agent-based computing platform enabling simulation of on-farm produce contamination by enteric foodborne pathogens, which is herein called PPMCS (Preharvest Produce Microbial Contamination Simulator). Also, fecal contamination of preharvest produce was simulated using PPMCS. Although Agent-based Modeling and Simulation, the tool applied in this study, is rather popular in where socio-economical human behaviors or ecological fate of animals in their niche are to be predicted, the incidence of on-farm produce contamination which are thought to be sporadic has never been simulated using this tool. The agents in PPMCS including crop, animal as a source of fecal contamination, and fly as a vector spreading the fecal contamination are given their intrinsic behaviors that are set to be executed at certain probability. Once all these agents are on-set following the intrinsic behavioral rules, consequences as the sum of all the behaviors in the system can be monitored real-time. When fecal contamination of preharvest produce was simulated in PPMCS as numbers of animals, flies, and initially contaminated plants change, the number of animals intruding cropping area affected most on the number of contaminated plants at harvest. For further application, the behaviors and variables of the agents are adjustable depending on user's own scenario of interest. This feature allows PPMCS to be utilized in where different simulating conditions are tested.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.999-1005
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• 2015

Bacillus-based feed additive was evaluated for its efficacy on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal gas emission, and the consumption of time and amount of water for cleaning the pen of growing finishing pigs. A total of 120 growing pigs ($23.59{\pm}1.41kg$) were used in a 16-wk feeding trial. Pigs were randomly distributed into 1 of 2 treatments on the basis of body weight and sex. There were 12 replicate pens per treatment, with 5 pigs (3 barrows and 2 gilts) per pen. Dietary treatments were CON which was basal diet, and T1 which was CON+62.5 ppm microbial feed additive that provided $1.47{\times}10^8cfu$ of Bacillus organisms per gram of supplement. During the weeks 0 to 6, average daily gain (ADG) in T1 treatment was higher (p<0.05) than CON, but no improvement in average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed efficiency (G:F) was noted. During 6 to 16 weeks, no difference (p>0.05) was noted in growth performance. However, ADG was improved (p<0.05) and overall ADFI tended (p = 0.06) to improve in T1 compared with CON. At week 6, the co-efficient of apparent total tract digestibility (CATTD) of dry matter (DM) nitrogen (N) was increased (p<0.05) in T1 compared with CON. Fecal $NH_3$ emission was decreased (p<0.05) in T1 compared with CON, at the end of 6th and 15th weeks. The time and water consumed for washing the pens were decreased (p<0.05) in T1 compared with CON. In conclusion, supplementation with Bacillus-based feed additive could improve the overall growth performances, increase the CATTD of DM and decrease the fecal $NH_3$ content and the time and water consumed in washing the pens for growing-finishing pigs.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.289-297
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• 2011

Objectives: To estimate the microbial contaminant load discharged from livestock farms, we randomly selected livestock farmers of cattle, swine, and fowl and collected bacterial strains from domestic animals' feces and compost samples. Recently, as multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria and super bacteria showing resistance to a variety of antibiotics have been reported one after another, the ecological and health hazard of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is emerging as an important issue. Methods: Monitored indicator microorganism constituents were totak coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC), and aerobic bacteria. The multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria were identified from investigated indicator microorganisms by 16S rRNA sequencing. Results: By microbiological analysis, the largest population of aerobic bacteria ($1.5{\times}10^5$ CFU/g) was found in cattle fecal compost, and total coliforms ($1.1{\times}10^7$ CFU/g) and fecal coliforms ($1.0{\times}10^5$ CFU/g) were found primarily in swine fecal compost, while the lowest population was found in fowl fecal compost. Among the 67 strains separated from aerobic bacteria, five strains expressing high antibiotic resistance were selected in each sample. We found the multi-antibiotic resistant strains to be Shigella boydii, Staphylococcus lentus, Acinetobacter sp. and Brevibacterium luteolum. Conclusions: These results suggest that increasing numbers of multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment have a close relation to the reckless use of antibiotics with livestock.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.565-573
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• 2023

In light of the complex interactions between the host animal and its resident gut microbiomes, studies of these microbial communities as a means to improve cattle production are important. This study was conducted to analyze the intestinal microorganisms of Holstein (HT) and Jersey (JS), raised in Korea and to clarify the differences in microbial structures according to cattle species through next-generation sequencing. The alpha-diversity analysis revealed that most species richness and diversity indices were significantly higher in JS than in HT whereas phylogenetic diversity, which is the sum of taxonomic distances, is not significant. Microbial composition analysis showed that the intestinal microbial community structure of the two groups differed. In the both groups, a significant correlation was observed among the distribution of several microbes at the family level. In particular, a highly significant correlation (p<0.0001) among a variety of microbial distributions was found in JS. Beta-diversity analyis was to performed to statistically verify whether a difference exists in the intestinal microbial community structure of the two groups. Principal coordinate analysis and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering analysis showed separation between the HT and JS clusters. Meanwhile, permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) revealed that their microbial structures are significantly different (p<0.0001). LEfSe biomarker analysis was performed to discover the differenc microbial features between the two groups. We found that several microbes, such as Firmicutes, Bacilli, Moraxellaceae and Pseudomonadales account for most of the difference in intestinal microbial community structure between the two groups.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.265-270
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• 2012

Purpose: An analytic method to design excitation and emission filters of a multispectral fluorescence imaging system is proposed and was demonstrated in an application to poultry fecal inspection Methods: A mathematical model of a multispectral imaging system is proposed and its system parameters, such as excitation and emission filters, were optimally determined by linear discriminant analysis (LDA). An alternating scheme was proposed for numerical implementation. Fluorescence characteristics of organic materials and feces of poultry carcasses are analyzed by LDA to design the optimal excitation and emission filters for poultry fecal inspection. Results: The most appropriate excitation filter was UV-A (about 360 nm) and blue light source (about 460 nm) and band-pass filter was 660-670 nm. The classification accuracy and false positive are 98.4% and 2.5%, respectively. Conclusions: The proposed method is applicable to other agricultural products which are distinguishable by their spectral properties.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.627-635
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• 2006

Combined sewer overflow (CSOs) is a primary diffuse source degrading water quality of urban streams. In this study, CSOs caused by 5 different rainfall events at an urban watershed located in Daejeon city were monitored for the indicator microorganism concentrations. Event mean concentration (EMC) of the indicator microorganisms were: total coliform = $2.46{\times}10^6CFU/100mL$; fecal coliform = $1.01{\times}10^6CFU/100mL$; E.coli = $5.20{\times}10^5CFU/100mL$; and Fecal Streptococci = $6.08{\times}10^5CFU/100mL$. In addition, coliform concentrations were well correlated with suspended solid concentrations and the first flush effects were identified. Settling tests were carried out to estimate removal rate of indicator organisms by sedimentation from CSOs. As microorganisms are discharged in association with suspended solid, ten minutes of settlement can lower 44% of indicator microorganism leading.