• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.401-409
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• 2023

Nigrospora (Xylariales, Apiosporaceae) consists of species of terrestrial plant endophytes and pathogens. Nigrospora has also been reported in marine environments such as mangroves, sea fans, and macroalgae. However, limited research has been conducted on Nigrospora associated with macroalgae. Here, we isolated Nigrospora species from three types of algae (brown, green, and red algae) from Korean islands (Chuja, Jeju, and Ulleung) based on phylogenetic analyses of multigenetic markers: the internal transcribed spacers (ITS), beta-tubulin (BenA), and translation elongation factor 1 (TEF1-α). A total of 17 Nigrospora strains were isolated from macroalgae and identified as nine distinct species. The majority of Nigrospora species (seven) were found on brown algae, followed by red algae (three), and then green algae (two). To our understanding, this study represents the first account of N. cooperae, N. covidalis, N. guilinensis, N. lacticolonia, N. osmanthi, N. pyriformis, and N. rubi occurring in marine environments. Additionally, this study provides the first report of the occurrence of N. cooperae, N. covidalis, N. guilinensis, N. lacticolonia, and N. osmanthi in South Korea. This study will provide valuable insights for future research exploring the functions of fungi in macroalgal communities.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.151-152
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• 2001

Chitin, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine ($\beta$-1,4 linked 2-acetamido-D-glucose), is a cellulose-like biopolymer present richly in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and in cell walls of fungi, insects and yeast. Chitosan is derived from chitin by deacetylation, to different degrees, in the presence of alkali. [l]. Recent studies for chitin and chitosan have been concentrated in bioactivities such as antitumor activity, immuno-enhancing effects, enhancing protective effects against infection with some pathogens in mice, and antimicrobial activeity [2]. (omitted)

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.247-254
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• 2007

Marine bacteria, actionmycetes and fungal strains were isolated from continental slope sediment of the Bay of Bengal and studied for fatty acid profile to investigate their involvement in the benthic food-web. Fifteen different saturated and unsaturated fatty acids from bacterial isolates, 14 from actinomycetes and fungal isolates were detected. The total unsaturated fatty acids in bacterial isolates ranged from 11.85 to 37.26%, while the saturated fatty acid ranged between 42.34 and 80.74%. In actinomycetes isolates, total unsaturated fatty acids varied from 27.86 to 38.85% and saturated fatty acids ranged from 35.29 to 51.25%. In fungal isolates unsaturated fatty acids ranged between 44.62 and 65.52% while saturated FA ranged from 20.80 to 46.30%. The higher percentages of unsaturated fatty acids from the microbial isolates are helpful in anticipating the active participation in the benthic food-web of Bay of Bengal.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.620-628
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• 2015

A fungal strain, R9, was isolated from the South Atlantic sediment sample and identified as Aspergillus fumigatus. An antifungal protein, AfAFP_R9, was purified from the culture supernatant of Aspergillus fumigatus R9. AfAFP_R9 was identified to be restrictocin, which is a member of the ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), by MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS. AfAFP_R9 displayed antifungal activity against plant pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria longipes, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Paecilomyces variotii, and Trichoderma viride at minimum inhibitory concentrations of 0.6, 0.6, 1.2, 1.2, and 2.4 μg/disc, respectively. Moreover, AfAFP_R9 exhibited a certain extent of thermostability, and metal ion and denaturant tolerance. The iodoacetamide assay showed that the disulfide bridge in AfAFP_R9 was indispensable for its antifungal action. The cDNA encoding for AfAFP_R9 was cloned from A. fumigatus R9 by RT-PCR and heterologously expressed in E. coli. The recombinant AfAFP_R9 protein exhibited obvious antifungal activity against C. gloeosporioides, T. viride, and A. longipes. These results reveal the antifungal properties of a RIP member (AfAFP_R9) from marine-derived Aspergillus fumigatus and indicated its potential application in controlling plant pathogenic fungi.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.541-550
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• 2022

Filamentous marine fungi have proven to be a plentiful source of new natural products. Chaetomium, a widely distributed fungal genus in the marine environment, has gained much interest within the scientific community. In the last 20 years, many potential secondary metabolites have been detected from marine-derived Chaetomium. In this review, we attempt to provide a comprehensive summary of the natural products produced by marine-derived Chaetomium species. A total of 122 secondary metabolites that were described from 2001 to 2021 are covered. The structural diversity of the compounds, along with details of the sources and relevant biological properties are also provided, while the relationships between structures and their bioactivities are discussed. It is our expectation that this review will be of benefit to drug development and innovation.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.420-428
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• 2022

Plastic wastes have a negative impact on marine environments; however, they can be used as carbon sources and habitats by certain microbes. Microbes in the marine plastisphere can migrate worldwide through the ocean and cause serious environmental problems when they encounter suitable environments. Therefore, efforts to investigate the microbes inhabiting the marine plastisphere are increasing. In the present study, fungal strains were isolated from plastic wastes buried in Korean sea sands and mudflats and identified using molecular and morphological analyses. Five species were identified that were previously unrecorded from South Korea: Cladosporium funiculosum, Neosetophoma poaceicola, Neosetophoma rosigena, Parasarocladium gamsii, and Trichoderma fomiticola. Their molecular phylogenies and morphological characteristics are described in this study.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.15-25
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• 2011

Marine sponges are a rich source of highly diversified bioactive compounds. These medicinally valuable molecules represent extreme physiological and ecological functions in sponges, more presumably involving in the resistance to the feeding by other marine organisms like fish and fouling by barnacles, bacteria, fungi, etc. This feature of attaining resistance made sponges as successful poriferans that possess an impressive array of biological properties ranging from antimicrobial to anticancerous activities. The diversified bioactive principle of sponges might be due to their spacio-temporal distribution and although, the gateway for exploiting the sponges for isolating these distinct, potential molecules is open, suitable technical and methodological approaches are yet to be implemented in order to bring the sponges as successful pharmaceutical leads in the field of marine biotechnology. Despite of the identified difficulties of marine sponge research from past few decades, one should concentrate not only on the basic and applied technical/methodological considerations, but also on the novel strategies like in vitro sponge cell, fragment and whole sponge culture; sponge symbiont cell culture; in situ and ex situ sponge cultivation; and sponge bioreactors and metagenomic approaches, for the successful exploitation of marine sponges towards the novelty in sponge biotechnology. The present review narrates the pros and cons of the nowadays-marine sponge research by focusing on the suggestive ecobiotechnological approaches, based on the latest studies for feasible ecological exploitation and biotechnological application of sponges from the sea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.694-698
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• 2020

The consumption of Gwamegi, a semi-dried saury Cololabis saira, and its vegetable sides has increased owing to its availability online. Therefore, this study investigated the microbial contamination levels in Gwamegi and its accompanying vegetable sides bought online by measuring total viable bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and fungi. The total viable bacteria ranged from 3-5 log CFU/g. The fungi in Gwamegi and garlic were 3.4 and 3.9 log CFU/g, respectively. The positive rate of bacterial contamination was 100% (2-3 log CFU/g) in Gwamegi, cabbage Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis, and green chili Capsicum annuum, whereas the contamination positive rate was 80% and 60% (< 2 log CFU/g) in chives Allium ascalonicum L. and garlic A. sativum L., respectively. The positive rates of E. coli were 0%, 20%, 60%, and 40% in Gwamegi, green chili, cabbage, and chives, respectively. The contamination levels of E. coli were 1-2 log CFU/g. S. aureus was detected at < 1 log CFU/g in all raw materials. The data on microbial contamination levels may be used for microbial risk assessment of Gwamegi and vegetables for controlling the level of microbial contamination and securing microbiological safety.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.389-398
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• 2022

Endophytic fungi are promising sources for the production of podophyllotoxin-an important anticancer compound, replacing depleted medical plants. In this study, the endophytes associated with Dysosma difformis-an ethnomedicinal plant species were isolated to explore novel sources of podophyllotoxin. Fifty-three endophytic fungi were isolated and identified by morphological observation and ITS-based rDNA sequencing, assigning them to 27 genera in 3 divisions. Fusarium was found the most prevalent genus with a colonization frequency of 11.11%, followed by Trametes (9.26%) and Penicillium (7.41%). Phylogenetic trees were constructed for the endophytic fungi community in two collection sites, Ha Giang and Lai Chau, revealing the adaptation of the species to the specific tissues and habitats. Cytotoxic activity of endophytic fungal extracts was investigated on cancer cell lines such as SK-LU-1, HL-60, and HepG2, demonstrating strong anti-cancer activity of six isolates belonging to Penicillium, Trametes, Purpureocillium, Aspergillus, and Ganoderma with IC₅₀ value of lower than 10 ㎍/mL. The presence of podophyllotoxin was indicated in Penicillium, Trametes, Aspergillus and for the first time in Purpureocillium and Ganoderma via high-performance liquid chromatography, which implied them as a potential source of this anticancer compound.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.251-259
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• 2023

Immobilizing microalgae cells in a hyphal matrix can simplify harvest while producing novel mycoalgae products with potential food, feed, biomaterial, and renewable energy applications; however, limited quantitative information to describe the process and its applicability under various conditions leads to difficulties in comparing across studies and scaling-up. Here, we demonstrate the immobilization of both active and heat-deactivated marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (UTEX 466) using different loadings of fungal pellets (Aspergillus sp.) and model the process through kinetics and equilibrium models. Active P. tricornutum cells were not required for the fungal-assisted immobilization process and the fungal isolate was able to immobilize more than its original mass of microalgae. The Freundlich isotherm model adequately described the equilibrium immobilization characteristics and indicated increased normalized algae immobilization (g algae removed/g fungi loaded) under low fungal pellet loadings. The kinetics of algae immobilization by the fungal pellets were found to be adequately modeled using both a pseudo-second order model and a model previously developed for fungal-assisted algae immobilization. These results provide new insights into the behavior and potential applications of fungal-assisted algae immobilization.