• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.136-145
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• 2014

Background: This study aimed to develop a biocontrol system for ginseng root rot caused by Fusarium cf. incarnatum. Methods: In total, 392 bacteria isolated from ginseng roots and various soils were screened for their antifungal activity against the fungal pathogen, and a bacterial isolate (B2-5) was selected as a promising candidate for the biocontrol because of the strong antagonistic activity of the bacterial cell suspension and culture filtrate against pathogen. Results: The bacterial isolate B2-5 displayed an enhanced inhibitory activity against the pathogen mycelial growth with a temperature increase to $25^{\circ}C$, produced no pectinase (related to root rotting) an no critical rot symptoms at low [$10^6$ colony-forming units (CFU)/mL] and high ($10^8CFU/mL$) inoculum concentrations. In pot experiments, pretreatment with the bacterial isolate in the presumed optimal time for disease control reduced disease severity significantly with a higher control efficacy at an inoculum concentration of $10^6CFU/mL$ than at $10^8CFU/mL$. The establishment and colonization ability of the bacterial isolates on the ginseng rhizosphere appeared to be higher when both the bacterial isolate and the pathogen were coinoculated than when the bacterial isolate was inoculated alone, suggesting its target-oriented biocontrol activity against the pathogen. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the pathogen hyphae were twisted and shriveled by the bacterial treatment, which may be a symptom of direct damage by antifungal substances. Conclusion: All of these results suggest that the bacterial isolate has good potential as a microbial agent for the biocontrol of the ginseng root rot caused by F. cf. incarnatum.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.738-744
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• 2015

Tuberculosis is one of the most threatening infectious diseases to public health all over the world, for which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the etiological agent of pathogenesis. Ursolic acid (UA) has immunomodulatory function and exhibits antimycobacterial activity. However, the intracellular killing effect of UA has yet to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intracellular killing effect of UA during mycobacterial infection. The intracellular killing activity of UA was evaluated in the macrophage cell line THP-1 by the MGIT 960 system as well as by CFU count. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the level of nitric oxide (NO) were measured using DCF-DA and Griess reagent, respectively. Phagocytosis was observed by a fluorescence-based staining method, and the colony forming units were enumerated on 7H11 agar medium following infection. In addition, MRP8 mRNA expression was measured by qRT-PCR. UA significantly decreased the number of intracellular Mycobacterium through generation of ROS and NO. In addition, it profoundly activated the phagocytosis process of THP-1 cells during MTB-infection. Furthermore, our data demonstrated that UA activated the phagocytosis process in human monocyte cells through MRP8 induction. These data suggest that UA firmly contributes to the intracellular killing effect of macrophages during mycobacterial infection.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.469-477
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• 2000

Bisphenol-A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor, is a main building block of epoxy resin which is widely used as a coating agent in residential water storage tanks. Therefore, BPA leaching from the epoxy resin may have adverse effects on human health. The possibility of BPA leaching from three epoxy resins were tested with a modified KS D 8502 method at 20, 50, 75 and $100^{\circ}C$ in deionized water and the specified test water, respectively. BPA leached to the test water was identified using GC-MS and quantified with GC-FID after a sequential extraction and concentration. The results showed that BPA leaching has occurred in all three samples tested. The quantify of BPA leaching from unit area of epoxy resin coating was in the range of $10.677{\sim}273.120{\mu}g/m^2$ for sample A, 29.737~1734.045 for sample B and 52.857~548.778 for sample C depending on the test temperature, respectively. In general, the amount of BPA leaching increased as the water temperature increases. This result implies a higher risk of BPA leaching to drinking water during a hot summer season. In addition, microbial growth, measured by colony forming units, in epoxy coated water tanks was higher than that in a stainless steel tank suggesting that compounds leaching from epoxy resin may support the growth of microorganisms in a residential water holding tank.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.963-969
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• 1996

Cure characteristics of DGEBA(diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A)/dicy(dicyandiamide) system containing diuron(3-(3,4-dichloro phenyl) -1,1-dimethylurea) as an accelerator was investigated. The system has shelf life of six months because dicy is insoluble in liquid/solid resins at room temperature. It is generally known that dicy is an adequate curing agent for one component adhesive due to its highly latent property. With increasing the amount of added dicy, reaction heat of DGEBA/dicy system increased and degree of conversion was not varied. For DGEBA/dicy/diuron system, cure temperature decreased about $40^{\circ}C$ and cure reaction became fast by the addition of diuron which activates dicy. $T_g$ of the mixed resin decreased with the amount of accelerator. which was interpreated with molecular structure forming loose chain. Cure kinetics of DGEBA/dicy and DGEBA/dicy/diuron system were explained using Kamal's autocatalytic reaction model. The effect of acceleration was confirmed with that reaction model.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.393-399
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• 2008

We investigated the potential of fucoidan for its ability to provide protection from gamma rayinduced damage. In our results, the fucoidan significantly improved the counts of endogenous colony forming unit to $9.5 {\pm} 1.5$, from $5.5 {\pm} 2.5$ compared with un-treated irradiated control group at 10 day after 7 Gy whole body irradiation. After 2 Gy irradiation, fucoidan treatment attenuated the percent of tail DNA of splenocytes, parameters of DNA damage, from $30.17 {\pm} 1.7%$ to $13.67 {\pm} 2.81%$ 2.81% by comet assay and also accelerated the proliferation of splenocytes, compared with un-treated irradiated control group by 3Hthymidine incorporation assay. Furthermore, fucoidan decreased the number of apoptotic fragments per intestinal crypt by 31.8% at 1 days after 2 Gy irradiation. These results indicated that the fucoidan significantly improved the hematopoietic recovery, prevented the DNA damage in immune cells and enhanced their proliferation, which had been suppressed by ionizing radiation. in addition, fucoidan rescued intestinal cells from radiation-induced apoptosis. Thus, this study raises the possibility of using fucoidan as adjuvant therapeutic agent after radiotherapy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.188-192
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• 2006

The microstructures and mechanical properties of continuously porous $SiC-Si_3N_4$composites fabricated by multi-pass extrusion were investigated at different Si levels added. Si-powder with different weight percentages (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) was added to the SiC powder to make the raw mixture powders, with $6wt%Y_2O_3-2wt%Al_2O_3$ as sintering additives, carbon ($10-15{\mu}m$) as a pore-forming agent, ethylene vinyl acetate as a binder and stearic acid ($CH_3(CH_2)_{16}COOH$) as a lubricant. In the continuously porous $SiC-Si_3N_4$ composites, $Si_3N_4$ whiskers like the hairs of nostrils were frequently observed on the wall of the pores. In this study, the morphology of the $Si_3N_4$ whiskers was investigated with the silicon addition content. In the composites containing of 10 wt% Si, a large number of $Si_3N_4$ whiskers was found at the continuous pore regions. In the sample to which 15 wt% Si powder was added, maximum values of about 101 MPa bending strength and 57.5% relative density were obtained.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2000

Several chemical washing procedures were applied to Zn and Cd contaminated soil. Batch and column tests were performed to determine the metal extraction efficiency as a function of pH and concentration. Washing efficiencies by water and NaOH are very low but those by HCI, EDTA and Oxalic acid are high. The most efficient washing occurs in case of using HCI because heavy metal is ionized easily at the condition of low pH. EDTA and Oxalic acid are also effective to extract Zn and Cd because they have a high complexation affinity for heavy metals forming active surface complexes. More Zn is released than Cd is and release trend is increased as pH is decreased and concentration of washing solution is increased. When heavy metal contaminated soil is remediated, HCI and EDTA are more effective to remove Zn than others are. Meanwhile HCI and Oxalic acid are more effective to remove Cd than others are.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.127-131
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• 1974

Inhibition of over-oxidation of prednisolone in the fermentation has been studied by using vegetative cells as enzyme source. firstly, A. simplex (ATCC 6946) was demonst.ated to degrade p.ednisolone in the vegetative culture of the microorganism. Over 72％ of hydrocortisone was transformed into prednisoloneby 3 hours of the fermentation. However, the prednisolone produced was considerably oxidized forming over-oxidation product in 8hours of fermentation period with the intact cells. Secondly, in order to depress the over-oxidation and the breakdown of the steroid skeleton of prednisolone, chelating agents such as $\alpha$$\alpha$'-dipyridyl, o-phenanthroline and 8-hydroxyruinoline were added to the fermentation broth. Conseauently, the breakdown of prednisolone by the iutact cells was able to be remarkably retatded and an intermediate regarded as an oxidized product derived from prednisolone was accumulated, by the addition of $\alpha$$\alpha$'-dipytidyl in the fermentation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.391-396
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• 2018

It is well known that Korean red ginseng has various biological activities. However, there is little knowledge about the antiviral activity of Korean red ginseng and its ginsenosides. In this study, we addressed whether oral administration of ginsenoside-Rb2 and -Rg3 is able to protect against rotavirus (RV) infection. The protective effect of ginsenosides against RV infection was examined using an in vivo experiment model in which newborn mice (10-day-old) were inoculated perorally (p.o.) with $1.5{\times}10^6$ plaque-forming units/mouse of RV strain SA11. When various dosages of ginsenoside-Rb2 (25-250 mg/kg) were administered 3days, 2 days, or 1 day before virus challenge, treatment with this ginsenoside at the dosage of 75 mg/kg 3days before virus infection most effectively reduced RV-induced diarrhea. In addition, consecutive administration of ginsenoside-Rb2 (75 mg/kg) at 3 days, 2 days, and 1 day before virus infection was more effective than single administration on day -3. The consecutive administration of ginsenoside-Rb2 also reduced virus titers in the bowels of RV-infected mice. In an experiment to compare the protective activity between ginsenoside-Rb2 and its two hydrolytic products (20(S)- and 20(R)-ginsenoside-Rg3), 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg3, but not 20(R)-ginsenoside-Rg3, prevented RV infection. These results suggest that ginsenoside-Rb2 and its hydrolytic product, 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg3, are promising candidates as an antiviral agent to protect against RV infection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.5071-5076
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• 2014

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the aggressive cancers with a very poor prognosis. Several efforts have been made to identify and develop new agents for prevention and treatment of this deadly disease. In the present study, we examined the anticancer effect of luteolin on human CCA, KKU-M156 cells. Sulforhodamine B assays showed that luteolin had potent cytotoxicity on CCA cells with IC50 values of $10.5{\pm}5.0$ and $8.7{\pm}3.5{\mu}M$ at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Treatment with luteolin also caused a concentration-dependent decline in colony forming ability. Consistent with growth inhibitory effects, luteolin arrested cell cycle progression at the G2/M phase in a dose-dependent manner as assessed by flow cytometry analysis. Protein expression of cyclin A and Cdc25A was down-regulated after luteolin treatment, supporting the arrest of cells at the G2/M boundary. Besides evident G2/M arrest, luteolin induced apoptosis of KKU-M156 cells, demonstrated by a distinct sub-G1 apoptotic peak and fluorescent dye staining. A decrease in the level of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein was implicated in luteolin-induced apoptosis. We further investigated the effect of luteolin on JAK/STAT3, which is an important pathway involved in the development of CCA. The results showed that interleukin-6 (IL-6)-induced JAK/STAT3 activation in KKU-M156 cells was suppressed by treatment with luteolin. Treatment with a specific JAK inhibitor, AG490, and luteolin diminished IL-6-stimulated CCA cell migration as assessed by wound healing assay. These data revealed anticancer activity of luteolin against CCA so the agent might have potential for CCA prevention and therapy.