• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.233-254
• /
• 2024

The microorganisms that live under extreme conditions on Earth are known as extremophiles. They possess an extraordinary capability to endure extreme conditions, including salinity, temperature variations, pH, desiccation, and nutrient scarcity, among others. These organisms, including a vast array of bacteria, eukarya, and archaea, have evolved specialized structural and functional adaptations that make them capable of thriving in extremely selective environments in such a way that they showcase remarkable adaptations that push the limits of what we consider habitable. This capability results in valuable compounds with great potential for developing novel pharmaceuticals and biotechnological innovations. The present review paper aims to summarize current knowledge on the diversity of extremophilic microorganisms and the adaptive strategies employed to face such a range of extreme conditions. Particular attention will be given to temperature, salinity, pH, and desiccation adaptation. The review also highlights their potential applications, specifically focusing on pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.569-586
• /
• 2017

We inoculated a spent mushroom substrate from Flammulina velutipes (SMSF) with a microbial additive and assessed the effects on chemical composition, ruminal fermentation parameters, and total-tract nutrient digestibility. In Exp. 1, three cannulated Hanwoo steers were used in an in situ trial to determine the degradation kinetics of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP). In Exp. 2, three Hanwoo steers were randomly assigned to experimental diets according to a $3{\times}3$ Latin square for a 3-week period (2 weeks for adaptation and 1 week for sample collection). Experimental diets included the control diet (3.75 kg/d formulated concentrate mixture + 1.25 kg/d rice straw), SMSF diet (3.19 kg/d formulated concentrate mixture + 1.25 kg/d rice straw + 0.56 kg/d SMSF), and inoculated SMSF (ISMSF) diet (3.19 kg/d formulated concentrate mixture + 1.25 kg/d rice straw + 0.56 kg/d ISMSF). The chemical composition of ISMSF did not differ from that of SMSF. Microbial additive inoculation decreased pH (P<0.05) and improved preservation for SMSF. The percentages of DM, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) in ISMSF were slightly lesser than those in SMSF. Ruminal fermentation characteristics and total-tract nutrient digestibility were not affected by diet. Overall, microbial additive inoculation improved preservation for SMSF and may allow improved digestion in the rumen; however, the total digestible nutrients (TDN) of SMSF and ISMSF diets were slightly lesser than the control diet. The ISMSF can be used as an alternative feedstuff to partially replace formulated concentrate feed.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.76-83
• /
• 2010

We(Hansol EME Co. Ltd.) proceeded anaerobic digestion test for domestic food wastewater applying to two operating method for increasing of OLR. The methods are as follows. One was the rapidity operating method which was increasing the OLR continuously and rapidly and the other was the terraced operating method which was increasing the OLR having adaptation period for each step. As a result of this tests, the ratio of VFA/Alkalinity of the process was very unstable under the rapidity operating method then the volume of produced biogas was dramatically decreased. However the process was shown stable performance under the terraced operating method maintaining the ratio of VFA/Alkalinity less than 0.4. Also, the process was performing the biogas recovery of $0.8Nm^3/kgVS_{rem}/d$ and the VS removal ratio of 85%. T-RFLP analysis about the community of bacteria and methanogen is also conducted to check the change of the microbial community according to the methods of OLR increasing operation. The microbial community was changed by the methods of OLR increasing operation according to the result of T-RFLP analysis. Although the anaerobic digestion test was executed by same pilot plant, the reactivity and the tolerance of microbial community for surrounding environment could be considerably changed by the operating method for the process.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2014.10a
• /
• pp.11-11
• /
• 2014

Fungal pathogens have huge impact on health and economic wellbeing of human by causing life-threatening mycoses in immune-compromised patients or by destroying crop plants. A key determinant of fungal pathogenesis is their ability to undergo developmental change in response to host or environmental factors. Genetic pathways that regulate such morphological transitions and adaptation are therefore extensively studied during the last few decades. Given that epigenetic as well as genetic components play pivotal roles in development of plants and mammals, contribution of microbial epigenetic counterparts to this morphogenetic process is intriguing yet nearly unappreciated question to date. To bridge this gap in our knowledge, we set out to investigate histone modifications among epigenetic mechanisms that possibly regulate fungal adaptation and processes involved in pathogenesis of a model plant pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. M. oryzae is a causal agent of rice blast disease, which destroys 10 to 30% of the rice crop annually. Since the rice is the staple food for more than half of human population, the disease is a major threat to global food security. In addition to the socioeconomic impact of the disease it causes, the fungus is genetically tractable and can undergo well-defined morphological transitions including asexual spore production and appressorium (a specialized infection structure) formation in vitro, making it a model to study fungal development and pathogenicity. For functional and comparative analysis of histone modifications, a web-based database (dbHiMo) was constructed to archive and analyze histone modifying enzymes from eukaryotic species whose genome sequences are available. Histone modifying enzymes were identified applying a search pipeline built upon profile hidden Markov model (HMM) to proteomes. The database incorporates 22,169 histone-modifying enzymes identified from 342 species including 214 fungal, 33 plants, and 77 metazoan species. The dbHiMo provides users with web-based personalized data browsing and analysis tools, supporting comparative and evolutionary genomics. Based on the database entries, functional analysis of genes encoding histone acetyltransferases and histone demethylases is under way. Here I provide examples of such analyses that show how histone acetylation and methylation is implicated in regulating important aspects of fungal pathogenesis. Current analysis of histone modifying enzymes will be followed by ChIP-Seq and RNA-seq experiments to pinpoint the genes that are controlled by particular histone modifications. We anticipate that our work will provide not only the significant advances in our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms operating in microbial eukaryotes but also basis to expand our perspective on regulation of development in fungal pathogens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.23 no.12
• /
• pp.1587-1593
• /
• 2010

Pastures of the Apennines of Central Italy contribute to feed resources of high altitude (above 1,300 m sea level) grazing systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of faecal extract from the yak (Bos grunnienes) as an alternative microbial inoculum to rumen fluid for estimation of digestibility of several forage species. Forage samples produced at high altitude were tested in this study: four legumes (Lathyrus sativus L., Lotus corniculatus L., Onobrychis viciaefolia L. and Trifolium pratense L.), three forbs (Achillea millefolium L., Potentilla reptans L. and Teucrium flavum L.) and one grass (Brachipodyum pinnatum L.) were incubated with yak rumen fluid or faecal extract. A large variability in chemical composition was observed among the species collected. Rumen liquor and faecal samples were collected from adult healthy yak. The $Daisy^{II}$ incubator was used to evaluate the nutrient digestibility of forages using rumen liquor as control and faecal extract as alternative microbial inoculum sources. Filter bags containing samples of browse species were added to the four digestion vessels along with their respective inoculum and then incubated for 48 h and dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral and detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility was determined. There was a significant relationship between estimates, indicating that faecal liquor has the potential to be used instead of rumen fluid for estimation of in vitro digestibility of plants. It is concluded that the $Daisy^{II}$ incubator results are appropriate for the determination of in vitro digestibility of nutrients using faecal liquor to define the potential for adaptation of yak to new pastures.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.665-670
• /
• 1997

The digestibility (apparent) of P and other nutrients from the RSM, SBM and 2 batches of maize, wheat and barley was investigated in two experiments with 24 castrated male growing pigs. The effect of supplemental microbial phytase (1,000 U/kg) was also evaluated. The diets contained 25% RSM (Exp. 1) or 40% SBM (Exp. 2) and had no inorganic P. In each period of digestive trial, after 9 days of adaptation, faeces were collected for 5 days. The digestibility of P contained in the RSM and SBM was calculated by difference method. The P digestibility in maize, wheat, barley was on average 20, 34 and 36%, respectively. The digestibility of P in the RSM and SBM estimated from maize-based diets were 19 and 24 %, respectively. Kind of cereal grain had significant (p < 0.05) influence on the digestibility of P which was lower in the diets based on maize than wheat or barley. The digestibility of P significantly increased with the supplemental microbial phytase (on an average of 17%). Moreover, inclusion of enzyme into the diets positively affected digestibility of other nutrients, namely the protein and organic matter.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.117-125
• /
• 2006

A microorganism capable of degrading toluene was isolated from crude oil contaminated soil and identified as Pseudomonas fluorescence. The effects of environmental factors on the degradation of toluene were investigated. The optimum temperature for toluene degradation was $30^{\circ}C$ and the maximum specific cell growth and toluene degradation rates were $0.76hr^{-1}$ and $0.36hr^{-1}$, respectively. Although the wild cells were not able to degrade toluene at $10^{\circ}C$ and $40^{\circ}C$, the cells adapted to toluene at $30^{\circ}C$ degraded 100mg/L of toluene completely at $10^{\circ}C$ and 80% of the toluene at $40^{\circ}C$. The wild cells were not able to degrade more than 200mg/L of toluene but the toluene-adapted cells degraded up to 300mg/L of toluene. Although the optimum pH was 7.0, the degradation rates were not much different in the range of 5.5 to 9.0. When nitrate was used as a nitrogen source instead of ammonium, the adaptation period became longer by 2~10 hours and the cell growth yield became lower by 45%. The toluene degradation rates after adaptation period, however, were almost same in both cases. The observations in this study will be used in the future biofilter design and operation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.379-385
• /
• 2018

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate sugarcane bagasse as roughage in lactating cow on feed intake, digestibility, ingestive behavior, milk production and composition, and microbial protein synthesis. Methods: Ten Girolando cows at initial body weight of $450{\pm}25.6kg$ and at $143.7{\pm}30.7days$ in milk were assigned in two $5{\times}5$ Latin square designs. Five 21-day experimental periods were adopted ($1^{\circ}$ to 14-day: diets adaptation period; $15^{\circ}$ to 21-day: data collection and sampling period). The diets consisted of four different levels of sugarcane bagasse (45%, 50%, 55%, and 60%) and a control diet, commonly adopted in the region, based on spineless cactus (25% sugarcane bagasse), formulated to meet 12 kg/d milk yield. Results: The dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and total digestible nutrients intakes and DM and OM digestibilities observed for 45% and 50% bagasse inclusion were similar to control diet, while that 55% and 60% bagasse inclusion were lower. Cows fed control diet, and bagasse diets of 45%, and 50% levels had the nutritional requirements attended, that guaranteed 12 kg/d of milk yield. The crude protein intake and digestibility of cows fed 45%, 50%, and 55% of bagasse inclusion were similar to control diet. The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake and digestibility differ for all bagasse diets related to control diet, while the non-fiber carbohydrates intake and digestibility for cows fed 45% of bagasse were similar for control diet. The intakes and digestibilities of nutrients decreased linearly in function of bagasse inclusion; NDF and indigestible NDF intakes did not vary. The ruminating time, feeding and rumination efficiency, microbial protein synthesis and milk yield decreased linearly with sugarcane bagasse inclusion. Conclusion: Sugarcane bagasse decreases milk production; however, its inclusion level in between 45% to 50% associated to concentrate could replace diets based on spineless cactus for crossbred dairy cow's producing 12 kg/d of milk.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.209-215
• /
• 2012

The performance and removal efficiencies of a pilot scale biofilter were estimated by using ammonia and hydrogen sulfide as the odorous gases. Expanded polyurethane foam coated with powdered activated carbon and zeolite was used as a biofilm supporting medium in the biofilter. Odorous gases from the sludge thickener of a municipal wastewater treatment plant were treated in the biofilter for 10 months and the inlet ammonia and hydrogen sulfide concentrations were 0.1-1.5 and 2-20 ppmv, respectively. The removal efficiencies reached about 100% at the empty bed retention time (EBRT) of 3.6-5 seconds except for the adaptation periods. The pressure drop of the biofilter caused by the gas flow was also low that the maximum attained was 31 mm $H_2O$ during the operation. Its stability was confirmed in the long term due to the fact that the biofilter and the polyurethane medium had a minimum plugging and compression. The microbial community on the medium is critical for the performance of the biofilter especially the distribution of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and sulfur oxidizing bacteria (SOB). The distribution of Nitrosomonas sp. (AOB) and Thiobacillus ferroxidans (SOB) was confirmed by FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) analysis. The longer the operation time, the more microbial population observed. Also, the medium close to the gas inlet had more microbial population than the medium at the gas outlet of the biofilter.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.440-447
• /
• 2009

Domestic ruminant animals are reared in diverse production systems, ranging from extensive systems under semi-arid and tropical conditions with poor feed resources to intensive systems in temperate and cold areas with high quality feed. Nitrogen (N) recycling between the body and gut of ruminants plays a key role in the adaptation to such diverse nutritional conditions. Ammonia and microbial protein produced in the gut and urea synthesized in the liver are major players in N-recycling transactions. In this review, we focus on the physiological factors affecting urea production and recycling. Sheep and buffalo probably have higher abilities to reabsorb urea from the kidney compared with cattle. This affects the degree of urea-N recycling between the body and gut at both low and high N intakes. The synthesis and gut entry of urea also differs between cattle bred for either dairy or beef production. Lactating dairy cows show a higher gut entry of urea compared with growing cattle. The synthesis and recycling of urea dramatically increases after weaning, so that the functional development of the rumen exerts an essential role in N transactions. Furthermore, high ambient temperature increases urea production but reduces urea gut entry. An increase in total urea flux, caused by the return to the ornithine cycle from the gut entry, is considered to serve as a labile N pool in the whole body to permit metabolic plasticity under a variety of physiological, environmental and nutritional conditions.