• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.375-380
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• 2000

The preliminary screening of several cyanobacteria, using mice bioassay, reveale the production of a hepatotoxin by the cyanobacterium Scytonema sp. strain BT 23 isolated from soil. An intraperitoneal injection of the crude toxin (LD50 56 mg/kg body wt) from this strain caused the death of the mice within 40 min, and the anmals showed slinical signs of mice within 40 min, and the animals showed clinical signs of hepatotoxicity. The toxin was purified and partially characterized. The active fraction appears to be nonpolar in nature and shows absorption peaks at 240 and 285 nm. The purified toxin had an LD50 of TEX>$100<\mu\textrm{g}/kg$ body wt and the test mice died within 40 min of toxin administration. The toxin-treated mice showed a 1.65-fold increase in liver weight at 40 min and the liver color chnged to dark red due to intrahepatic hemorrhage and pooling of blood. Furthermore, the administration of the toxin to test mice induced a 2.58, 2.63, and 2.30-fold increse in the activity of the serum enzymes alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase, respectively. Further experiments with the 14C-labeled toxin revealed a maximum accumulation of the toxin in the liver. The clinical symptoms in the mice were similar to those produced by microcystin-L.R. These results suggest that hepatotoxins may also be produced in non bloom-forming planktonic cyanobacteria.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1617-1621
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• 2007

The 21 Kimchi samples collected by a contest for the best Kimchi homemaker in Jeonju were analysed to find major microbial composition and the correlation between sensory scores and the microbial properties, which include total microbial numbers, dominant strain number, subdominant strain number, yeast strain numbers, and floral diversity. The most common microbial composition of the Kimchi samples was Leuconostoc mesenteroides as dominant strain, and Lactobacillus sakei as subdominant strain, the pattern of which was also observed in all three Kimchi samples with the highest sensory scores, but not in all three Kimchi samples with the lowest sensory scores. However none of the other examined properties showed any significant correlation to sensory scores. This result means that the taste of fermented Kimchi depends mainly on the composition of bacterial species and that of Leuconostoc mesenteroides as dominant strain and Lactobacillus sakei as subdominant strain is the best for good taste. Yeast strains were found in the range of $3.8{\sim}4.6log\;CFU/g$ from 8 Kimchi samples and all the strains were identified to be Saccharomyces servazzii. However, fungi were not detected from any of the Kimchi. samples.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.61-64
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• 1988

To investigate the antibiotic constituents of Korean basidiomycetes the carpophores of the wood-rotting basidiomycetes were collected from several locations of Korea, and from them 17 mycelial strains were isolated on potato-dextrose-agar plates supplemented with tetracycline ($20\;{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. The isolated strains were shake-cultured in glucosepeptone-yeast extract medium and then the antibacterial activities of the culture filtrates were assessed by disc-plate method. Among them, 12 strains (70.6%) were active, and basidiomycete strain LMCB-109 (Daedalea quercina) and LMCB-116 showed potent activities against all the six bacterial target organisms including Serratia marcescens.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.428-437
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• 2007

The potential for humic substances to serve as terminal electron acceptors in microbial respiration and the effects of humic substances on microbial azoreduction were investigated. The dissimilatory azoreducing microorganism Shewanella decolorationis S12 was able to conserve energy to support growth from electron transport to humics coupled to the oxidation of various organic substances or $H_2$. Batch experiments suggested that when the concentration of anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQS), a humics analog, was lower than 3 mmol/l, azoreduction of strain S12 was accelerated under anaerobic condition. However, there was obvious inhibition to azoreduction when the concentration of the AQS was higher than 5 mmol/l. Another humics analog, anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQDS), could still prominently accelerate azoreduction, even when the concentration was up to 12 mmol/l, but the rate of acceleration gradually decreased with the increasing concentration of the AQDS. Toxic experiments revealed that AQS can inhibit growth of strain S12 if the concentration past a critical one, but AQDS had no effect on the metabolism and growth of strain S12 although the concentration was up to 20 mmol/l. These results demonstrated that a low concentration of humic substances not only could serve as the terminal electron acceptors for conserving energy for growth, but also act as redox mediator shuttling electrons for the anaerobic azoreduction by S. decolorationis S12. However, a high concentration of humic substances could inhibit the bacterial azoreduction, resulting on the one hand from the toxic effect on cell metabolism and growth, and on the other hand from competion with azo dyes for electrons as electron acceptor.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.85-92
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• 1984

To isolate antibiotic-producing microorganisms from Korean soils, microbes were isolated from the soil samples and screened for antibacterial activity. A strain which was isolated from the soil sample collected in Choong Chung Book Do had a high antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria. The examination of morphological and physiological characteristics of that strain according to the International Streptomyces Project methods showed that it was one of Streptomyces species. After the antibacterial constituent of the strain was produced in submerged culture method, it was isolated and purified by XAD-2 and CM-Sephadex column chromatography. And it was found to be one of quinone type antibiotics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.757-763
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• 2006

In our previous studies, we have isolated bacteria from BTEX-contaminated sediment, which utilized BTEX as a sole carbon source and $NO_3$-N as an electron acceptor. For the possibility of field application, we have applied co-culture of those isolates in the BTEX-contaminated soil and evaluated their biodegradation efficiencies. To investigate the relationship between the isolates and indigenous microorganism in soil, changes of microbial community structure in soil samples with respect to time were monitored. To examine this, soil samples were artificially contaminated with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene. BTEX-degrading bacteria such as Pseudomonas stutzeri strain 15(DQ 202712), Klebsiells sp. strain 20(DQ 202715) and Citrobacter sp. strain A(DQ 202713) were injected into the soil samples in the ratio of 2:1:1. Our results showed that the highest BTEX biodegradation efficiency was achieved when both BTEX and $NO_3-N$ existed simultaneously. The change in soil microbial community structure was characterized by PCR-DGGE analysis comparing the relative DGGE band intensities. The band intensities of indigenous microorganisms in the soil were reduced by injecting co-culture of the three isolates. On the contrary, the relative band intensities of the isolates were increased. Among the three isolates, Pseudomonas stutzeri strain 15 rendered the highest band intensity. This indicates that the Pseudomonas stutzeri was the dominant microbial species found in the soil samples.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.203-212
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• 1985

Of 450 strains isolated from the soil microbes collected in various locations in Korea, a strain had a strong inhibitory activity against bacterial ${\alpha}-amylase$ and was named strain DMC-72 of the genus Streptomyces. The amylase inhibitory metabolite produced by this strain was purified by means of acetone precipitation, adsorption on Amberlite IRC-50 and SP-Sephadex C-25. The inhibitor was found to be a derivative of oligosaccharides by spectral and chemical data. The inhibitor was stable at the pH range of $1{\sim}13$ and at $100^{\circ}C$ for half an hour, also inhibited other amylases such as salivary ${\alpha}-amylase$, pancreatic ${\alpha}-amylase$, fungal ${\alpha}-amylase$ and glucoamylase. However, it showed no inhibitory activity against ${\alpha}-glucosidase$, ${\beta}-glucosidase$, dextranase, and ${\beta}-amylase$. The kinetic studies of the inhibitor showed that its inhibitory effects on starch hydrolysis by ${\alpha}-amylase$ were noncompetitive.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.984-991
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• 2005

Soil or seed applications of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been used to enhance growth of several crops as well as to suppress the growth of plant pathogens. In this study, we selected a PGPR strain, Paenibacillus polymyxa strain E681, out of 3,197 heat-stable bacterial isolates from winter wheat and barley roots. Strain E681 inhibited growth of a broad spectrum plant pathogenic fungi in vitro, and treatment of cucumber seed with E681 reduced incidence of damping-off disease caused by Pythium ultimum, Rhizoctonia solani, or Fusarium oxysporum. When inoculated onto seeds as vegetative cells or as endospores, E681 colonized whole cucumber root systems and root tips. Different temperatures such as $20^{\circ}C\;and\;30^{\circ}C$ did not affect root colonization by strain E681. This colonization was associated with a consistent increase in foliar growth of cucumber in the greenhouse. These results indicate that strain E681 is a promising PGPR strain for application to agricultural systems, particularly during the winter season.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.771-780
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• 2018

To develope a microbial weed control agent, HCN-producing bacteria were isolated, and their characteristics were investigated. A selected strain of WA15 was identified as Pseudomonas koreensis by morphological, cultural, biochemical and 16S rRNA gene analyses. The conditions for HCN production was investigated by a One-Variable-at-a-Time (OVT) method. The optimal HCN production conditions were tryptone 1%, glycine 0.06%, NaCl 1%, and an initial pH and temperature of 5.0 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The major component for HCN production was glycine. Under optimal conditions, HCN production was about 3 times higher than that of the basal medium. The WA15 strain had physiological activities, such as indoleacetic acid that was associated with the elongation of plant roots and siderophore and ammonification inhibiting fungal growth, and produced hydrolytic enzymes, such as cellulase, pectinase and lipase. The strain was able to inhibit the growth of phytopathogenic fungi, such as Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea and Fusarium oxysporum, by the synergistic action of volatile HCN and diffusible antimicrobial compounds. A microscopic observation of R. solani that was teated with the WA15 strain showed morphological abnormalities of fungal mycelia, which could explain the role of the antimicrobial metabolites that were produced by the WA15 strain. The volatile HCN produced by the WA15 strain was also found to have insecticidal activity against termites. Our results indicate that Pseudomonas koreensis WA15 can be applied as a microbial agent for weed control and also as a termite repellent. Furthermore, it could be applied as a microbial termiticidal agent to replace synthetic insecticides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.672-680
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• 2015

As a global regulatory gene in Streptomyces, afsR can activate the biosynthesis of many secondary metabolites. The effect of afsR on the biosynthesis of a phenazine metabolite, lomofungin, was studied in Streptomyces lomondensis S015. There was a 2.5-fold increase of lomofungin production in the afsR-overexpressing strain of S. lomondensis S015 N1 compared with the wild-type strain. Meanwhile, the transcription levels of afsR and two important genes involved in the biosynthesis of lomofungin (i.e., phzC and phzE) were significantly upregulated in S. lomondensis S015 N1. The optimization of metal chlorides was investigated to further increase the production of lomofungin in the afsR-overexpressing strain. The addition of different metal chlorides to S. lomondensis S015 N1 cultivations showed that CaCl₂, FeCl₂, and MnCl₂ led to an increase in lomofungin biosynthesis. The optimum concentrations of these metal chlorides were obtained using response surface methodology. CaCl₂ (0.04 mM), FeCl₂ (0.33 mM), and MnCl₂ (0.38 mM) gave a maximum lomofungin production titer of 318.0 ± 10.7 mg/l, which was a 4.1-fold increase compared with that of S. lomondensis S015 N1 without the addition of a metal chloride. This work demonstrates that the biosynthesis of phenazine metabolites can be induced by afsR. The results also indicate that metal chlorides addition might be a simple and useful strategy for improving the production of other phenazine metabolites in Streptomyces.