• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.85-91
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• 2000

Aspergillus oryzae is a filamentous fungus classified in the group Aspergillaceae Ascomycetes. It is an important microorganism for industrial production of enzymes and fermented food productions. It secrets large quantities of proteins or enzymes into the culture medium which makes this organism appealing for the production of heterologous proteins. Recently Electric field-mediated transformation method, electroporation, has been applied to fungal transformation. In this study, fungal transformation was carried out by bypassing the protoplast isolation step, decreasing the culturing time and non-protoplast transformation for the increment of transformation efficiency. Transformants were obtained with electroporation in optimal condition 2,500 voltage, 1,540 ohm and 0.50 capacitance. More than 1,000 transform ants were obtained with 6-10 hrs cultured mycelia without enzyme treatment, called non-protoplast transformation.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.647-649
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• 2006

Mevinolin, a fungal metabolite, is a potent inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-methyl-3-glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate-controlling enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis. In this investigation, the optimum factors for mevinolin production by Monascus pilosus IFO 480 in soymeal fermentation were studied. The highest yield of mevinolin, 2.82 mg mevinolin per g dry weight, without citrinin (a toxic fungal secondary metabolite) was obtained after 21 days of fermentation at $30^{\circ}C$ at 65% moisture content, particle size 0.6-0.9 mm, and initial substrate pH of 6.0. Mevinolin was present in the fermentation substrate predominantly in the hydroxycarboxylate form (open lactone, 92.1-97.3%), which is currently being used as a hypocholesterolemic agent.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.105-111
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• 2019

Many of the fungicides and antibiotics currently available against plant pathogens are of limited use due to the emergence of resistant strains. In this study, we examined the effects of diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPIC), an inhibitor of the superoxide producing enzyme NADPH oxidase, against fungal and bacterial plant pathogens. We found that DPIC inhibits fungal spore germination and bacterial cell proliferation. In addition, we demonstrated the potent antibacterial activity of DPIC using rice heads infected with the bacterial pathogen Burkholderia glumae which causes bacterial panicle blight (BPB). We found that treatment with DPIC reduced BPB when applied during the initial flowering stage of the rice heads. These results suggest that DPIC could serve as a new and useful antimicrobial agent in agriculture.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2017

A greenhouse experiment was conducted for evaluation of ecological effects of transgenic melon plants in the rhizospheric soil in terms of soil properties, enzyme activities and microbial communities. Organic matter content of soil under transgenic melon plants was significantly higher than that of soil with non-transgenic melon plants. Significant variations were observed in organic matter, total P and K in soil cultivation with transgenic melon plants. There were also significant variations in the total numbers of colony forming units of fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria between soils treated with transgenic and non-transgenic melon plants. Transgenic and non-transgenic melon significantly enhanced several enzymes activities including urease, acid phosphatase, alkalin phosphatase, arysulphtase, ${\beta}$ glucosidase, dehydrogenase, protease and catalase. Soil polyphenoloxidase activity of $T_1$ transgenic melon was lower than that of $T_0$ transgenic melon and a non-melon plant during the same period. The first generation transgenic melon plants ($T_0$) showed significantly greater (p<0.05) effect on the activitiy of arylsulfatase, which increased from $2.540{\times}10^6CFU\;g^{-1}$ (control) to $19.860{\times}10^6CFU\;g^{-1}$ ($T_0$). These results clearly indicated that transgenic melon might change microbial communities, enzyme activities and soil chemical properties.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.104-110
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• 1991

The glucoamylase of Schwanniomyces castellii was purified to homogeneity from the culture filtrate. the purified enzyme was a glycoprotein with a molecular mass of about 145 KDa, which was monomeric protein with an isoelectric point of 4.3. The pH and temperature optima were 5.5 and 40.deg.C, respectively. The enzyme was fairly stable up to 50.deg.C and at acid pH range (pH 4.5-6.0). The apparent Km of the enzyme toward soluble starch, isomaltose and pullulan were 3.84, 0.51 and 13.7 mg/ml, respectively. The analysis of amino acid composition on this enzyme was found to be acidic protein like other fungal glucoamylase. The amino acid sequence of N-terminal peptide consisted of Ala-Pro-Ala-Asp-Gly-Ile-Gly-Asp-X-Ala-X-Ala.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.241-246
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• 1981

A fungal strain which produced high levels of acid protease and amylase was isolated from the atmosphere for application to the manufacture of digestive enzme preparation. This study was carried out to elucidate its microbiological characteristics, environmental conditions for production of the enzymes, and relationships between the enzyme activity and acidity. 1. The isolate was identified as a fungal strain which belonged to Aspergillus niger by the manual of Rafer and Fennel, and was found to be a strain producing high levels of acid protease and amylase. 2. The optimal pH of tile enzymes produced by the strain were: protease, 2.0;, ${\alpha}-amylase$, 4 to 5; and glucoamylase, 3 to 5. 3. The optimal culture conditions for production of the enzymes were: protease (at pH 2.5), 2 to 3 days incubation on wheat bran at $30^{\circ}C$; ${\alpha}-amylase$ and glucoamylase(at pH 3.0), 3 days incubation at $30^{\circ}C$. 4. The production of acid protease and glucoamylase was increased approximately by 20 percent when 2 percent of corn starch was added to the wheat bran medium. 5. The addition of 0.3 percent ammonium sulfate to the wheat bran medium resulted in enhancing the enzyme production, especially of acid prctease.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1555-1563
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• 2008

A novel $\alpha$-amylase ($\alpha$-1,4-$\alpha$-D-glucan glucanohydrolase, E.C. 3.2.1.1), ScAmy43, was found in the culture medium of the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum grown on oats flour. Purified to homogeneity, ScAmy43 appeared as a 43 kDa monomeric enzyme, as estimated by SDS-PAGE and Superdex 75 gel filtration. The MALDI peptide mass fingerprint of ScAmy43 tryptic digest as well as internal sequence analyses indicate that the enzyme has an original primary structure when compared with other fungal a-amylases. However, the sequence of the 12 N-terminal residues is homologous with those of Aspergillus awamori and Aspergillus kawachii amylases, suggesting that the new enzyme belongs to the same GH13 glycosyl hydrolase family. Assayed with soluble starch as substrate, this enzyme displayed optimal activity at pH 4 and $55^{\circ}C$ with an apparent $K_m$ value of 1.66 mg/ml and $V_{max}$ of 0.1${\mu}mol$glucose $min^{-1}$ $ml^{-1}$. ScAmy43 activity was strongly inhibited by $Cu^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, and $Ba^{2+}$, moderately by $Fe^{2+}$, and was only weakly affected by $Ca^{2+}$ addition. However, since EDTA and EGTA did not inhibit ScAmy43 activity, this enzyme is probably not a metalloprotein. DTT and $\beta$-mercaptoethanol strongly increased the enzyme activity. Starting with soluble starch as substrate, the end products were mainly maltotriose, suggesting for this enzyme an endo action.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.333-338
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• 2007

Intracellular NADH:quinone reductase involved in degradation of aromatic compounds including lignin was purified and characterized from white rot fungus Trametes versicolor. The activity of quinone reductase was maximal after 3 days of incubation in fungal culture, and the enzyme was purified to homogeneity using ion-exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and gel filtration chromatographies. The purified enzyme has a molecular mass of 41kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE, and exhibits a broad temperature optimum between $20-40^{\circ}C$, with a pH optimum of 6.0. The enzyme preferred FAD as a cofactor and NADH rather than NADPH as an electron donor. Among quinone compounds tested as substrate, menadione showed the highest enzyme activity followed by 1,4-benzoquinone. The enzyme activity was inhibited by $CuSO_4,\;HgCl_2,\;MgSO_4,\;MnSO_4,\;AgNO_3$, dicumarol, KCN, $NaN_3$, and EDTA. Its $K_m\;and\;V_{max}$ with NADH as an electron donor were $23{\mu}M\;and\;101mM/mg$ per min, respectively, and showed a high substrate affinity. Purified quinone reductase could reduce 1,4-benzoquinone to hydroquinone, and induction of this enzyme was higher by 1,4-benzoquinone than those of other quinone compounds.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.301-307
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• 2019

The $11{\alpha}$-hydroxylation of $16{\alpha}$, 17-epoxyprogesterone (EP) catalyzed by Rhizopus nigricans is crucial for the steroid industry. However, lower conversion rate of the biohydroxylation restricts its potential industrial application. The $11{\alpha}$-steroid hydroxylase CYP509C12 from R. oryzae were reported to play a crucial role in the $11{\alpha}$-hydroxylation in recombinant fission yeast. In the present study, the CYP509C12 of R. oryzae (RoCYP) was introduced into R. nigricans using the liposome-mediated mycelial transformation. Heterologous expression of RoCYP resulted in increased fungal growth and improved intracellular reactive oxygen species content in R. nigricans. The $H_2O_2$ levels in RoCYP transformants were approximately 2-folder that of the R. nigricans wild type (RnWT) strain, with the superoxide dismutase activities increased approximately 45% and catalase activities decreased approximately 68%. Furthermore, the $11{\alpha}$-hydroxylation rates of EP in RoCYP transformants (C4, C6 and C9) were 39.7%, 38.3% and 38.7%, which were 12.1%, 8.2% and 9.4% higher than the rate of the RnWT strain, respectively. This paper investigated the effect of heterologous expression of RoCYP in R. nigricans, providing an effective genetic method to construct the engineered strains for steroid industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.732-737
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• 2015

We present here an in silico search of fungal sterol-esterase/lipase and bacterial depolymerase sequences from environmental metagenomes. Both enzyme types contain the α/β-hydrolase protein fold. Analysis of DNA conserved motifs, protein homology search, phylogenetic analysis, and protein 3D modeling have been used, and the efficiency of these screening strategies is discussed. The presence of bacterial genes in the metagenomes was higher than those from fungi, and the sequencing depth of the metagenomes seemed to be crucial to allow finding enough diversity of enzyme sequences. As a result, a novel putative PHA-depolymerase is described.