• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1518-1521
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• 2008

Bacteria sense their population density and coordinate the expression of target genes, including virulence factors in Gram-negative bacteria, by the N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs)-dependent quorum sensing (QS) mechanism. In contrast, several soil bacteria are able to interfere with QS by enzymatic degradation of AHLs, referred to as quorum quenching. A potent AHL-degrading enzyme, AiiA, from Bacillus thuringiensis has been reported to effectively attenuate the virulence of bacteria by quorum quenching. However, little is known about the role of AiiA in B. thuringiensis itself. In the present study, an aiiA-defective mutant was generated to investigate the role of AHA in rhizosphere competence in the root system of pepper. The aiiA mutant showed no detectable AHL￢-egrading activity and was less effective for suppression of soft-rot symptom caused by Erwinia carotovora on the potato slice. On the pepper root, the survival rate of the aiiA mutant significantly decreased over time compared with that of wild type. Interestingly, viable cell count analysis revealed that the bacterial number and composition of E. carotovora were not different between treatments of wild type and the aiiA mutant. These results provide evidence that AHA can play an important role in rhizosphere competentce of B. thuringiensis and bacterial quorum quenching to Gram-negative bacteria without changing bacterial number or composition.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.631-638
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• 1998

Studies were made to elucidate the cell growth and the production of camptothecin and its derivatives in cell cultures of Camptotheca acuminata. High resolution HPLC chromatograms to analyze camptothecin and 10-hydroxycamptothecin in lactone and carboxylate forms were obtained with a fluorescence detector. Calli inductions were optimized with the young stem of explant on Schenk and Hildebrandt (SH) medium supplemented with 5 mg/l $\alpha$-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), 0.2 mg/l 6-benzylamino purine (BAP), 2.0% sucrose, and 0.5% agar. The hybrid medium, a mixture of SH and Murashige and Skoog (MS) salts, was developed for homogeneous suspension cultures without large cell aggregates. The optimum phytohormone concentrations for successful suspension cultures were 1.0mg/l of 2,4-D and 0.5 mg/l of kinetin. The highest growth in suspension cultures was observed when 49.7% (w/w) of the cells was composed of small aggregates which were below 0.1 mm in diameter. Time course changes of cell growth and camptothecin production showed that camptothecin accumulation was started at the end of the growth phase and the maximum content was obtained 10 days after inoculation. Yeast extract elicitor increased camptothecin accumulation 4 times. Methyl jasmonate and jasmonic acid also increased camptothecin production 6 and 11 times, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1142-1149
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• 2009

Several bioactive metabolites, including pyrrolnitrin, N-acylhomoserine lactones, and polyhydroxyalkanoates were isolated from Burkholderia sp. O33. Effects of various nutrients, including sugars, gluconolactone, glycerol, tryptophan, chloride, and zinc were investigated in relation to the production of these metabolites. Logarithmic increase of pyrrolnitrin was observed between 2-5 days and reached a maximum at 7-10 days. Tryptophan concentration reached the maximum at 3 days, whereas 7-chlorotryptophan was gradually increased throughout the studies. Among various carbon sources, gluconolactone, trehalose, and glycerol enhanced pyrrolnitrin production, whereas strong inhibitory effects were found with glucose. Relative concentrations of pyrrolnitrin and its precursors were in the order of pyrrolnitrin$\gg$dechloroaminopyrrolnitrin or aminopyrrolnitrin throughout the experiments. Among three N-acylhomoserine lactones, the N-octanoyl analog was the most abundant quorum sensing signal, of which the concentrations reached the maximum in 2-3 days, followed by a rapid dissipation to trace level. No significant changes in pyrrolnitrin biosynthesis were observed by external addition of N-acylhomoserine lactones. Polyhydroxyalkanoates accumulated up to 3-4 days and decreased slowly thereafter. According to the kinetic analyses, no strong correlations were found between the levels of pyrrolnitrin, N-acylhomoserine lactones, and polyhydroxyalkanoates.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.631-636
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• 1988

Quality of five kinds of honey, from acacia, bush clover, chestnut, rape and polyflower sources, were evaluated by physicochemical methods in respect to some chemical constituents. The average values for the tested honeys were: moisture, 19.5%; fructose, 33.74% , glucose. 35.03%; sucrose, 4.67%; hydroxymethylfurfural, 6.17mg,/kg; total nitrogen, 0.027%, proline, 23.67mg%; lactone, 4.09meq/kg; free acidity, 11.37meq /kg; and total acidity, 15.46meq/kg.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.180-188
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• 1997

Bacillus subtilis C9 was selected by measuring the oil film-collapsing activity and produced biosurfactant in a medium containing glucose as a sole carbon source. The biosurfactant emulsified hydrocarbons, vegetable oils and crude oil, and lowered the surface tension of culture broth to 28 dyne/cm. A biosurfactant, C9-BS produced by B. subtilis C9 was purified by ultrafiltration, extraction with chloroform and methanol, adsorption chromatography, and preparative reversed phase HPLC. Structural analyses, IR spectroscopy, FAB mass spectroscopy, amino acid composition, and NMR analyses, demonstrated that C9-BS was a lipopeptide comprising a fatty acid tail and peptide moiety. The lipophilic part consisting of $C_{14}\;or\;C_{15}$ hydroxy fatty acid was linked to the hydrophilic peptide part, which contained seven amino acids (Glu-Leu-Leu-Val-Asp-Leu-Leu) with a lactone linkage.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.764-770
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• 2006

Dihydrochalcomycin (GERI-155), produced by Streptomyces sp. KCTC-0041BP isolated from Korean soil, is a 16-membered macrolide antibiotic consisting of two deoxysugar moieties at C-5 and C-20 positions of a branched lactone ring. The cloning and sequencing of a gene cluster for dihydrochalcomycin biosynthesis revealed a 63-kb nucleotide region containing 25 open reading frames (ORFs). The products of all of these 25 ORFs playa role in dihydrochalcomycin biosynthesis and self-resistance against the compounds synthesized. At the core of this cluster lies a 39.6-kb polyketide synthase (PKS) region encoding eight modules in five giant multifunctional protein-coding genes (gerSI-SV). The genes responsible for the biosynthesis of deoxysugar moieties, D-chalcose and D-mycinose, and their modification and attachment were found on either side of this PKS region. The involvement of this gene cluster in dihydrochalcomycin biosynthesis was confirmed by disruption of the dehydratase (DH) domain in module 3 of the PKS gene and by metabolite analysis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.357-362
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• 2006

A growth inhibition assay using Chlorella sp. AG 10002 based on the OECD 201 standard test procedure was applied to the toxicity testing of endosulfan and its reported metabolites. Comparison of dry cell weight, optical density (OD) at 680 nm, and chlorophyll a concentration indicated that optical density at 680 nm of culture broth is convenient, rapid, and accurate method for cell growth. In this microalgae system, the $IC_{50}$ values of endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, endosulfan lactone, and endosulfan ether were determined as 9.45, 18.8, 18.2 and 37.5 mg/L, respectively. In a while, endosulfan diol did not show a significant toxicity up to 50 mg/L. Since endosulfan is liable at acidic or alkaline conditions, treatment of endosulfan in pH 3, 4, and 11 for 3 days resulted in reduced toxicity, as expected. These results suggested that the microalgae system is useful to evaluate various toxic chemicals and provide a new notion for bioremediation of endosulfan in aqueous systems.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.483-491
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• 2013

Objectives: Electronic cigarettes are battery powered devices that convert a nicotine-containing liquid into an inhalable vapor. The device aerosolizes nicotine so that it is readily entrained into the respiratory tract, from where it enters the bloodstream. Information on the safety of E-cigarettes is required. Methods: Seventeen articles on studies analyzing toxic substances in the liquid and gas phases of electronic cigarettes were reviewed. Results: Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, known to be carcinogenic agents in humans or animals, were detected in the liquid and gas phases. In addition, diethyl phthalate, acetone, ethanol, cresol, xylene, propylene, styrene, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, pentaethylene glycol cis-3-hexen-1-ol, methyl cinnamate and undecane were identified in the liquid and gas phases of E-cigarettes. Propylene glycol, glycerin, 1-methoxy-2-propanol, 1-hydroxy-2- propanone, acetic acid, 1-menthone, 2,3-butanediol, menthol, carvone, maple lactone, benzyl alcohol, 2-methyl-2-pentanoic acid, ethyl mantel, ethyl cinnamate, myosamine, benzoic acid, 2,3-bipyridine, cotinine, hexadecanoic acid, and 1'1-oxybis-2-propanol were detected in the vapors of E-cigarettes. Conclusion: The hazardous compounds identified in the liquid and gas phases of E-cigarettes should be controlled for the lowest concentrations in the raw materials and production procedures.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.33 no.4 s.131
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• pp.395-398
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• 2002

A chemical investigation of Peucedanum praeruptorum has resulted in the isolation of 3 khellactone derivatives, which have inhibitory effects on melanogenesis in Bl6 mouse melanoma cell lines. The khellactone derivatives were isolated from the crude extract of the roots of Pecedanum praeruptorum by a combination of adsorption chromatography and HPLC. The structlues of isolated compounds were identified as 3',4'- diangeloyl-cis-khellactone, 3'-angeloyl- 4'- senecioyl-cis-khel- lactone and,3', 4'-disenecioyl-cis-khellactone by $^1H\;NMR$, $^{13}C\;NMR$ and mass spectral studies and by comparisons of spectral data with reported literatures.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.925-928
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• 2003

Four guaia-12,6-olide type sesquiterpene lactones, aguerin B (1), 8$\alpha$-acetoxyzaluzanin C (2), cynaropicrin (3), and deacylcynaropicrin (4), were isolated from the flowers of Hemisteptia Iyrata Bunge. It is the first report on the isolation of compounds 1-4 from Hemisteptia species. All the isolates (1-4) were examined for their cytotoxic activity against SK-OV-3, LOX-IMVI, A549, MCF-7, PC-3, and HCT-15 human cancer cell lines.