• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.181-187
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• 1997

Filamentous cyanobacteria are an ecologically important group of bacteria because they are able to provide both organic carbon fixed nitrogen that can support the nutritional requirements for other microorganisms. Because of their prokaryotic nature, they can also be used as potentially powerful model systems for the analysis of oxygenic photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. Gene transfer is an indispensable procedure for genetic analysis of filamentous cyanobacteria. Electroporation was used to introduce foreign DNA into cyanobacterial cells. In experiments designed to optimize the electroporation technique, the effects of the field strength (amplitude of pulse) and time constant (duration of pulse), DNA concentration and host restriction/modification of DNA on the efficiency of electro-transformation were investigated. The results of this research revelaed that a high voltage pulse of short duration was effective for the electro-transformation of Anabaene sp. M131. The maximal number of transformants was obtained at 6 kV/cm with a pulse duration of 5 msec. The efficiency of electro-transformation was also sensitive to concenetration of DNA; even small amounts of DNA (0.01 .mu.g/ml) were able to gie a large number of transformants (1.0 * 10$\^$3/ cfu/ml).

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2014

K/BxN serum can transfer arthritis to normal mice owing to the abundant autoantibodies it contains, which trigger innate inflammatory cascades in joints. Little is known about whether gut-residing microbes affect host susceptibility to autoantibody-mediated arthritis. To address this, we fed C57BL/6 mice with water containing a mixture of antibiotics (ampicillin, vancomycin, neomycin, and metronidazol) for 2 weeks and then injected them with K/BxN serum. Antibiotic treatment significantly reduced the amount of bacterial genomic DNA isolated from fecal samples, in particular a gene encoding 16S ribosomal RNA derived from segmented filamentous bacteria. Arthritic signs, as indicated by the arthritic index and ankle thickness, were significantly attenuated in antibiotic-treated mice compared with untreated controls. Peyer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes from antibiotic-treated mice contained fewer IL-17-expressing cells than those from untreated mice. Antibiotic treatment reduced serum C3 deposition in vitro via the alternative complement pathway. IL-$17^{-/-}$ congenic C57BL/6 mice were less susceptible to K/BxN serum-transferred arthritis than their wild-type littermates, but were still responsive to treatment with antibiotics. These results suggest that gut-residing microbes, including segmented filamentous bacteria, induce IL-17 production in GALT and complement activation via the alternative complement pathway, which cause the host to be more susceptible to autoantibody-mediated arthritis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.589-593
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• 2002

Improvement of hygienic quality of powdered raw grains and vegetables by gamma irradiation was investigated. Five products of powdered raw grains and vegetables were collected in a local market and analysed. The total viable cell counts of Bacillus were 10$^4$~10$^{7}$ cfu/g, filamentous fungi l0$^2$~10$^3$cfu/g, coliform 10$^1$~10$^4$cfu/g, enteric bacteria on SS agar plate 10$^1$~10$^3$cfu/g. Coliform, enteric bacteria on SS agar plate and filamentous fungi were eliminated by 3 kGy of gamma irradiation. The D values of coliform, enteric bacteria on SS agar plate, Bacillus, and filamentous fungi were 0.68~0.80 kGy, 0.59~0.74 kGy, 1.84~2.18 kGy and 0.36~0.57 kGy, respectively. It was considered that optimal irradiation dose for radappertization was about 25 kGy, while 3~5 kGy of gamma irradiation was effective for radicidation.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.390-407
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• 2024

Kuflu cheese, a popular variety of traditional Turkish mold-ripened cheeses, is characterized by its semi-hard texture and blue-green color. It is important to elucidate the microbiota of Kuflu cheese produced from raw milk to standardize and sustain its sensory properties. This study aimed to examine the bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous mold communities in Kuflu cheese using high-throughput amplicon sequencing based on 16S and ITS2 regions. Lactococcus, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus were the most dominant bacterial genera while Bifidobacterium genus was found to be remarkably high in some Kuflu cheese samples. Penicillium genus dominated the filamentous mold biota while the yeasts with the highest relative abundances were detected as Debaryomyces, Pichia, and Candida. The genera Virgibacillus and Paraliobacillus, which were not previously reported for mold-ripened cheeses, were detected at high relative abundances in some Kuflu cheese samples. None of the genera that include important food pathogens like Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria were detected in the samples. This is the first experiment in which the microbiota of Kuflu cheeses were evaluated with a metagenomic approach. This study provided an opportunity to evaluate Kuflu cheese, which was previously examined for fungal composition, in terms of both pathogenic and beneficial bacteria.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.96-101
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• 2018

The release of nanoscale membrane-bound vesicles is common in all three domains of life. These vesicles are involved in a variety of biological processes such as cell-to-cell communication, horizontal gene transfer, and substrate transport. Prokaryotes including bacteria and archaea release membrane vesicles (MVs) (20 to 400 nm in diameter) into their extracellular milieu. In spite of structural differences in cell envelope, both Gram-positive and negative bacteria produce MVs that contain the cell membrane of each bacterial species. Archaeal MVs characteristically show surface-layer encircling the vesicles. Filamentous fungi and yeasts as eukaryotic microbes produce bilayered exosomes that have varying electron density. Microbes also form intracellular vesicles and minicells that are similar to MVs and exosomes in shape. Electron and fluorescence microscopy could reveal the presence of DNA in MVs and exosomes. Given the biogenesis of extracellular vesicles from the donor cell, in situ high-resolution microscopy can provide insights on the structural mechanisms underlying the formation and release of microbial extracellular vesicles.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.121-124
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• 1980

Microscopical studies of Leucothrix sp. and its histological effect on the gill tissue of Penaeus japanicus have been made. Infection of Leucothrix sp. results in color change of the gills of the shrimp which is mainly due to the brown or black pigments of the filamentous bacteria. Higher degree of the infections makes necrosis and serious histological changes of the gill tissue and this infection affects the respiratory activity of the shrimp.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.249-253
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• 2015

Microorganisms specifically groups of bacteria exhibiting physiological activities of production of acids are a major cause of concern because of their ability to induce corrosion in oil field pipelines and metal systems involved in water handling. Water Injection Stations as a means of secondary recovery from existing oil producing reservoirs, are often employed in most upstream oil and gas industries to ensure replenishment of voidage, maintenance of reservoir pressure and optimization of crude emulsion throughput. In the present study, scanning electron microscopy of macroscopic orange coloured slime formations sampled from leaking valves on the flow-lines of a Water Injection Stations of Oil India Limited revealed the presence of filamentous bacterial mats in association with diatoms. The species composition of the acidic slime formations from the sampled locations reveal the possible role of acid producing iron oxidizing bacteria (IOB) like Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans in association with Gomphonema sp. in creating conditions for bio-corrosion.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.275-280
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• 2001

Typically, manganese (II) ions are incompletely removed from water as $MnO_2$ on increasing the pH of the water to 10. The water then has to be neutralized before it can be used. We propose a new and effective method for removing Mn (II) from water using a new combination of symbiotic microbes consisting of manganese-oxidizing bacteria and filamentous algae. The microbes rapidly oxidize Mn(II) to Mn (IV) at a neutral pH with no organic matter required as a nutrient and $MnO_2$is precipitated immediately. This differs from the use of heterotrophic manganese-oxidizing bacteria where organic nutrients are required. Our results suggest that this method will be useful in developing new systems for removal of manganese(II) ions from industrial and mining wastewater and drinking water. In addition, there are other possibilities such as recycling of dry batteries which are presently discarded without treatment

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.475-486
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• 2005

Fungal secondary metabolites constitute a wide variety of compounds which either playa vital role in agricultural, pharmaceutical and industrial contexts, or have devastating effects on agriculture, animal and human affairs by virtue of their toxigenicity. Owing to their beneficial and deleterious characteristics, these complex compounds and the genes responsible for their synthesis have been the subjects of extensive investigation by microbiologists and pharmacologists. A majority of the fungal secondary metabolic genes are classified as type I polyketide synthases (PKS) which are often clustered with other secondary metabolism related genes. In this review we discuss on the significance of our recent discovery of chalcone synthase (CHS) genes belonging to the type III PKS superfamily in an industrially important fungus, Aspergillus oryzae. CHS genes are known to playa vital role in the biosynthesis of flavonoids in plants. A comparative genome analyses revealed the unique character of A. oryzae with four CHS-like genes (csyA, csyB, csyC and csyD) amongst other Aspergilli (Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus fumigatus) which contained none of the CHS-like genes. Some other fungi such as Neurospora crassa, Fusarium graminearum, Magnaporthe grisea, Podospora anserina and Phanerochaete chrysosporium also contained putative type III PKSs, with a phylogenic distinction from bacteria and plants. The enzymatically active nature of these newly discovered homologues is expected owing to the conservation in the catalytic residues across the different species of plants and fungi, and also by the fact that a majority of these genes (csyA, csyB and csyD) were expressed in A. oryzae. While this finding brings filamentous fungi closer to plants and bacteria which until recently were the only ones considered to possess the type III PKSs, the presence of putative genes encoding other principal enzymes involved in the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis (viz., phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamic acid hydroxylase and p-coumarate CoA ligase) in the A. oryzae genome undoubtedly prove the extent of its metabolic diversity. Since many of these genes have not been identified earlier, knowledge on their corresponding products or activities remain undeciphered. In future, it is anticipated that these enzymes may be reasonable targets for metabolic engineering in fungi to produce agriculturally and nutritionally important metabolites.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.91-98
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• 1991

In this paper, the microscopic results of granular sludge from the two-phase UASB reactors are presented, particularly on the acidogenic phase where the distillery waste water is directly delivered. Distillery wastewater as a feed contained SS of 3.6~10.6 g/l and COD of 17.3~30.4 g/l. A 12.5 l and a 4.7 l UASB reactors were used for acidogenic and methanogenic phases, repectively. Morphological studies on the granular sludge consortia were made with both scanning and transmission electron microscopies. It was interesting enough to find the different colored and shaped granules at the acidogenic on the 90th day and at the methanogenic phase on the 120th day. The acidogenic granular sludge mainly consisted of acidogenic bacteria, such as long chains of large rods, short plump rods, and various size of cocci. Whereas the filamentous bacteria of Methanothrix spp. prevail in the methanogenic granule, with dirverse bacteria entrapped therein.