• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.205-212
• /
• 2002

This study was conducted to develop a method for direct determination of phagocytic activities in human circulatic systems and to measure the phagocytic activities in human leukocytes from the alcoholics, since phagocytic activity was considered to be very important in human immune mechanism at early stage for the health care of the alcoholics. The subjects for this study were 130 among which 95 males and 3 females were diagnosed as alcoholism and 32 was healthy blood donors. A thin layer of heat-killed Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I was placed on a plastic dish and reacted with whole blood to measure the phagocytic plaque formation by human leukocytes. In order to determine the health conditions of the subjects, some clinical laboratory tests, such as white blood cell counts, hemoglobin contents (Hgb), mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells(MCV), serum electrophoresis, B and T-lymphocytes, T-lymphocyte subtypes and phytohemagglutination test were also implemented. Compared to the non-alcoholism, new and old alcoholic inpatients showed statistically significant differences on levels of Hgb and MCV (p<0.05), but showed that T and B-lymphocyte numbers decreased and Helper T cell/Suppressor T cell ratio ($1.6{\pm}0.8$%) increased. Compared to non-alcoholism, phagocytic plaque activities of leukocytes from alcoholic patients decreased significantly and an unusual pattern in phagocytic plaque was observed, showing a strange body and chain shaped phagocytosis. Based upon these results, it is concluded that a phagocytic-plaques of Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I by leukocytes was very simple and useful method for the early immunological determination of phagocytic activities in alcoholic patients without requiring any special equipments.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.248-253
• /
• 1998

Bacteriophage N4, a lytic phage specific for Esherichia coli K12 strain encodes single-stranded DNA-binding protein, N4SSB (bacteriophage N4-coded single-stranded DNA-binding protein). N4SSB protein is originally identified as a protein required for N4 DNA replication. N4SSB protein is also required for N4 late transcription, which is catalyzed by E. coli ${\sigma}^{70}$ RNA polymerase. N4 late transcription does not occur until N4SSB protein is synthesized. Recently it is reported that N4SSB protein is essential for N4 DNA recombination. Therefore N 4SSB protein is a multifunctional protein required for N4 DNA replication, late transcription, and N4 DNA recombination. In this study, a variety of mutant N4SSB proteins containing internal deletions or substitutions were constructed to define and characterize domains important for N4 DNA replication, late transcription, and N4 DNA recombination. Test for the ill vivo activity of these mutant N4SSBs for N4 DNA replication, late transcription, and N4 DNA recombination was examined. The results suggest that C-terminal 7 amino acid residues are important for the activity of N4SSB. Three lysine residues, which are contained in this region play important roles on N4SSB activity.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.97-102
• /
• 2017

Catechol type siderophore different from 2, 3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) was produced from Acinetobacter sp. B-W grown in medium containing L-glutamic acid as both carbon and nitrogen sole sources at $28^{\circ}C$. Optimal concentration of glutamic acid for siderophore production was 3% and production of siderophore was decreased above 3% glutamic acid. In previous report, siderophore, 2, 3-DHB was produced from strain B-W grown in medium containing glucose as carbon source and glutamic acid as nitrogen source. Rf value of siderophore produced from strain B-W grown in medium glutamic acid as both carbon and nitrogen sole sources at $28^{\circ}C$ was 0.32, while 2, 3-DHB was 0.84 in butanol-acetic acid-water (12:3:5) as developing solvent. Antioxidative activity of 2, 3-DHB was not detected in that siderophore produced from glutamic acid. Catechol nature of siderophore was detected by Arnow test. Although in iron-limited media optimal cell growth was identified at $36^{\circ}C$, significant quantities of siderophore were produced only at $28^{\circ}C$. Biosynthesis of siderophore was strongly inhibited by growth at $36^{\circ}C$. Production of siderophore was completely inhibited by $10{\mu}M\;FeCl_3$.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.266-271
• /
• 2018

Effect of plasmid curing of Acinetobacter sp. B-W on the production of siderophore from glutamic acid as both carbon and nitrogen sole sources was investigated. Plasmid cured mutant of strain B-W lost the ability to produce siderophore from glutamic acid at $28^{\circ}C$. Transformant E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$ harboring 20 kb plasmid, that was isolated from wild type of strain B-W produced siderophore from glutamic acid as both carbon and nitrogen sole sources at $28^{\circ}C$, but, not at $36^{\circ}C$. Production of siderophore from glutamic acid by transformant E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$ was completely inhibited by $10{\mu}M\;FeCl_3$. In previous report, catechol nature of siderophore produced from glutamic acid by strain B-W was detected by Arnow test. The siderophore produced from glutamic acid by transformant E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$ was also catechol type. Rf value of siderophore produced from transformant E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$ grown in medium glutamic acid as both carbon and nitrogen sole sources at $28^{\circ}C$ was 0.32 in butanol-acetic acid-water (12:3:5) as developing solvent. Rf value of the siderophore was the same with that of wild type of strain B-W. Thus a single plasmid of 20 kb seemed to be involved in the production of siderophore from glutamic acid.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.257-264
• /
• 2017

Pseudomonas veronii MS1 and P. migulae MS2 have several mechanisms of copper resistance and plant growth promoting capability, and also can alleviate abiotic stress in plant by hydrolysis of a precursor of stress ethylene, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) by ACC deaminase. In 4-week pot test for tomato growth in soil contained 700 mg/kg Cu, inoculation of MS1 and MS2 significantly increased root and shoot lengths, wet weight and dry weight of tomato plants compared to those of uninoculated control. The inoculated tomato plants contained less amounts of proline that can protect plants from abiotic stress, and malondialdehyde, an oxidative stress marker than those of control. ACC synthase genes, ACS4 and ACS6, and ACC oxidase genes, ACO1 and ACO4, both involved in ethylene synthesis, were strongly expressed in Cu stressed tomato, whereas significantly reduced in tomato inoculated with MS1 and MS2. Also, a gene encoding a metal binding protein metallothionein, MT2 showed similar expression pattern with above genes. All these results indicated that these rhizobacteria could confer Cu resistance to tomato plant under Cu stress and allowed a lower level of Cu stress and growth promotion.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.194-200
• /
• 2007

In order to enhance the functionality and storage period of traditional fermented foods, the strain CH-14, which To enhance the quality of traditional fermented foods, and to lengthen acceptable storage periods, a bacterial strain, CH-14, showing potent enzyme activities and antibacterial capabilities, was isolated and characterize4 The bacterium wn Gram-positive, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, formed endospores, expressed flagella, was rod-shaped, and had dimensions of 0.5 0.7m and 3.5 4.2m. The bacterium CH-14 was identified as Bacillus subtilis using Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, and an API 50 CHL Carbohydrate Test Kit. An optimum growth medium contained 2% (w/v) cellobiose as a carbon source, a mixture of 0.5% (w/v) yeast extract and 0.5% (w/v) peptone as nitrogen sources, and 0.05% (w/v) $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$. The optimal culture temperature and the optimal initial pH were in the ranges of 30 $45^{\circ}C$ and 4.5 10.0, respectively. Maximum production of the antibacterial substance occurred after 24h of culture. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the antibacterial substance were 5mg bacterial dry weight/mL against E. coli and P. mirabilis, and 10 mg/mL against S. aureus, S. enteritidis and V. parahaemolyticus.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.169-177
• /
• 1987

Effect of microbiological product manure (Bio-com) on the growth and yield of vegetables and on physico-chemical properties of soil. Leaf lettuce and Garland Chrysanthemum were taken for test plants. A Jungdong (Series) silty loam soil was used for pot experiments. The results are summarized as following: 1. Treatment with Bio-com stimulated plant growth that were increased in the number of leaf, leaf area, plant height and root length both for Leaf lettuce and Garland Cyrysanthemum. 2. Yield increase of 123-1170% was obtained from Bio-com treatments compared to N.P.K.+manure treatment. Application of 2250 kg/10a of Bio-com gave the highest yield. 3. Fertilizer effect of Bio-com appeared much earlier than that of manure. 4. Plant content of $K_2O$ was highest when treated with Bio-com. Plants absorbed considerably more N, $P_2O_5$ and MgO. 5. Content of N, $P_2O_5$ in Garland Chrysanthemum were higher when treated with Bio-com. 6. Content of $P_2O_5$ in soil was at the highest level. Soil pH, content of exchangeable soil Ca and Mg were also high with Bio-com fertilization.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.235-241
• /
• 2022

According to the World Water Development Report 2015 released by the United Nations, drinking water is expected to decrease by 40% by 2030. This does not mean that the amount of water decreases, but rather that the water source is contaminated due to environmental pollution. Because microbes are deeply related to water quality, the analysis of microbe is very important for water quality management. While the most common method currently used for microbial analysis is microscopic examination of the shape and feature after cell culture, as the gene analysis technology advances, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) can be applied to the microscopic microbiological analysis, and the application method has been studied. Among them, a reverse transcription (RT) step enables the analysis of RNA by RT-PCR. Integrated cell culture (ICC)-qPCR shortens the test time by using it with microbial culture analysis, and viability qPCR can reduce the false positive errors of samples collected from natural water source. Multiplex qPCR for improved throughput, and microfluidic qPCR for analysis with limited amount of sample has been developed In this paper, we introduce the case, principle and development direction of the qPCR method applied to the analysis of microorganisms.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.256-263
• /
• 2007

We performed the biochemical characteristics, molecular epidemiologocal analysis, and drug susceptibility test on V. vulnificus isolated from environmental sources in Incheon. For this study, 233 strains were isolated from seawater, sediment, shellfish. V. vulnificus isolates were divided into 15 biochemical groups, which were positive for ONPG and Amygdalin test. Among the 209 strains, 206 (98.6%) strains and 110 (52.6%) strains revealed positive for vvhA and viuB gene, and the viuB gene detection rates of V. vulnificus from seawater, shellfish and sediment were 48%, 48.5% and 61.6%, respectively. From disc diffusion test on 175 isolates, most of strains were sensitive to Imipenem (100.0%), Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (98.9%), Tetracycline, Ciprofloxacin (98.3%), Ampicillin/sulbactam (97.1%), Ohloramphenicol (96.6%), Cefepime (94.9%) and Ceftriaxone (94.8%), multi-drug resistance rates was 31.5% of seawater, 34.4% of sediment and 29.2% of shellfish. PFGE was performed on 233 V. vulnificus isolates with the objective of investigating the extent of genetic diversity of these isolates in our region. We could find that at least 126 different PFGE patterns were generated according by 90% of similarity and 13 clusters by 58% of similarity. The major cluster was type I (44.6%) during the most of the year, and type J was frequent pattern in June and October. There were 9 distinct PFGE types in July, 8 types in August, 7 types in June, 6 types in September, 5 types in October 3 types in May and 1 type in March.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.240-245
• /
• 2012

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium that causes serious infection, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Also, P. aeruginosa possessing carbapenem-resistant metallo-${\beta}$-lactamases (MBL) has been reported with increasing frequency in Korea. We therefore analyzed the level of multidrug-resistant clinical P. aeruginosa isolated from a secondary hospital in Korea in 2010. A total of 92 isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from Sahmyook Medical Center in 2010. Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was determined by analysis of the minimum inhibitory concentration test; the inhibitor-potentiated disk diffusion (IPD) test was performed for MBL detection. RAPD-PCR was used for genotyping to rapidly characterize P. aeruginosa strains isolated from clinical patients. The percentages of non-susceptible isolates were as follows: 40.2% to ceftazidime, 58.7% to meropenem, 56.5% to gentamicin, 46.7% to tobramycin, 62.0% to ciprofloxacin and 97.8% to chloramphenicol. The 29 multidrug-resistant strains were screened by the IPD test: of the 21 PCR-positive isolates, 19 were IPM-1 producers and 2 were VIM-2 producers. Among the 19 IMP-1-producing P. aeruginosa isolates, 16 isolates showed similar patterns, and three different banding patterns were observed. The proportion of IMP-1-producing multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa from clinical isolates steadily increased in this secondary hospital in Korea in 2010. This study provides information about the antimicrobial-resistant patterns and genotype of multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa isolated from clinical isolates in Korea, 2010.