• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.666-674
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• 2016

The bacterial strains were screened as potential starters for fermenting low-salt doenjang (a Korean traditional fermented soybean paste) using Korean doenjang based on proteolytic and antipathogenic activities under 6.5-7.5% NaCl conditions. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that they all belonged to the genus Bacillus. Proteolytic and antipathogenic activities against Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Aspergillus flavus, as well as fibrinolytic, amylase, and cellulase activities of the 10 strains were quantitatively evaluated. Of these, strains D2-2, JJ-D34, and D12-5 were selected, based on their activities. The functional, phenotypic, and safety-related characteristics of these three strains were additionally investigated and strains D2-2 and D12-5, which lacked antibiotic resistance, were finally selected. Strains D2-2 and D12-5 produced poly-γ-glutamic acid and showed various enzyme activities, including α-glucosidase and β-glucosidase. Growth properties of strains D2-2 and D12-5 included wide temperature and pH ranges, growth in up to 16% NaCl, and weak anaerobic growth, suggesting that they facilitate low-salt doenjang fermentation. Strains D2-2 and D12-5 were not hemolytic, carried no toxin genes, and did not produce biogenic amines. These results suggest that strains D2-2 and D12-5 can serve as appropriate starter cultures for fermenting low-salt doenjang with high quality and safety.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2016

Two Bacillus strains, CJW15 and SSD8, with strong antibacterial activities were isolated from cheonggukjang. Both were identified as B. amyloliquefaciens strains after gene sequencing of rRNA and recA. CJW15 strongly inhibited the growth of B. cereus (ATCC14579), Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC19111), and Lactococcus lactis (ATCC11454). In comparison, SSD8 inhibited the growth of B. cereus (ATCC14579) and Enterococcus faecium (ATCC19953). The antibacterial activities of the two strains were not affected when exposed to a temperature of $100^{\circ}C$ for 15 min and were quite stable in acidic (pH 3) and alkaline (pH 12) pH conditions. Enzymatic treatments (trypsin, pepsin, proteinase K, and protease) had no effect on the activity of CJW15, but reduced the activity of SSD8 by half. Both isolates possess genes involved in the synthesis of lipopeptides (e.g. surfactin, fengycin, iturin, and iturin A), and genes encoding subtilin, a bacteriocin. Moreover, both isolates have fibrinolytic activities as well.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.300-307
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• 2015

For selecting Bacillus strains producing high-quality Cheonggukjang, 8 strains were isolated from the different Cheonggukjang samples. Seven of them exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of over 99.9% to Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis and one of them showed the similarity to B. licheniformis. All the strains showed positive activities for amylase, cellulase, protease and lipase, and 6 strains are positive for fibrinolytic activity. To confirm the safety of the strains isolated from the samples of Cheonggukjang which are manufactured by traditional method, strains were analyzed for the presence of seven toxin genes of Bacillus cereus and results were found negative. And 7 strains did not produce at all or merely produce both histamine and tyramine, the representative biogenic amines. Biogenic amine degradation analysis by HPLC revealed that, most of them exhibited tyramine degradation activity. For Cheonggukjang fermented by artificial inoculation of selected strains, fermentation property, sensory test, volatile basic nitrogen production and metabolic profiles by $^1H-NMR$ were tested. Seven strains were confirmed to make high-quality Cheonggukjang.