• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.142-154
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• 2010

The protein-bound innerpolysaccharides (IPS) produced by suspended mycelial cultures of Inonotus obliquus have promising potentials as an effective antidiabetic as well as an immunostimulating agents. To enhance IPS production, intensive strain improvement process should be carried out using large amount of UV-mutated protoplasts. During the whole strain-screening process, the stage of solid growth-culture was found to be the most time-requiring step, thus preventing rapid screening of high-yielding producers. In order to reduce the cell growth period in the solid growth-stage, therefore, solid growth-medium was optimized using the statistical methods such as (i) Plackett-Burman and fractional factorial designs (FFD) for selecting positive medium components, and (ii) steepest ascent (SAM) and response surface (RSM) methods for determining optimum concentrations of the selected components. By adopting the medium composition recommended by the SAM experiment, significantly higher growth rate was obtained in the solid growth-cultures, as represented by about 41% larger diameter of the cell growth circle and higher mycelial density. Sequential optimization process performed using the RSM experiments finally recommended the medium composition as follows: glucose 25.61g/L, brown rice 12.53 g/L, soytone peptone 12.53 g/L, $MgSO_4$ 5.53 g/L, and agar 20 g/L. It should be noted that this composition was almost similar to the medium combinations determined by the SAM experiment, demonstrating that the SAM was very helpful in finding out the final optimum concentrations. Through the use of this optimized medium, the period for the solid growth-culture could be successfully reduced to about 8 days from the previous 15~20 days, thus enabling large and mass screening of high producers in a relatively short period.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.5 s.94
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• pp.376-382
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• 2005

Avermectin (AVM) $B_{1a}$ produced by Streptomyces avermitilis via polyketide pathway is a secondary metabolite with powerful anthelmintic and insecticidal activities, thus being used as an efficient agent in the field of agriculture and animal health. It has been reported that a precursor for AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthesis was isoleucine and the biosynthetic pathway of AVM $B_{1a}$ was closely similar to that of fatty acid. Based on understanding of the biosynthetic pathway of AVM $B_{1a}$, we intended to screen various mutants resistant against O-methyl threonine (OMT), an isoleucine-anti metabolite, and/or mutants resistant against p-fluoro phenoxy acetic acid (pFAC), an inhibitor of fatty acid biosynthesis. It was inferred that these mutants could produce AVM $B_{1a}$ more efficiently, due to the acquired capability of not only overproducing isoleucine intracellularly but also channelling metabolized carbon-sources into the polyketide pathway, thus leading to enhanced biosynthesis of AVM $B_{1a}$. The resulting mutant (PFA-1 strain) resistant against 100 ppm of pFAC was able to produce approximately 42 fold higher amount of AVM $B_{1a}$ compared to the parallel mother strain (4,200 vs. 100 units/l). In addition, through the process of continuous strain improvement program carried out by gradually increasing the OMT concentration, it was possible to obtain a more attractive mutant with greater AVM $B_{1a}$ production capacity (9,000 units/l). Notable was that significantly higher producer (12,000 units/l) could be selected through further screening of the resistant mutants, this time, to even higher concentration of PFAC. Meanwhile, through the analysis of AVM Bla production histograms (i.e., number of strains according to their AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthetic ability) for the earlier strains in comparison with the high producers having the characteristics of resistance to OMT and pFAC, it was found that production stability of the high-yielding producers were remarkably improved, as demonstrated by the fact that larger proportion of the mutated strains had greater capability of AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthesis ($71\%$ in the range between 5,000 and 7,000 units/L; $47\%$ in the range between 6,000 and 7,000 units/l). Based on these consequences, it was concluded that the rational screening strategy based on the understanding of the biosynthetic pathway of AVM $B_{1a}$ was very effective in obtaining high-yielding mutants with the features of enhanced production stability.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1174-1179
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• 2014

This research was carried out to evaluate whether gamma ray is a useful tool for breeding new strains of mushrooms. For this research, 5 mutant groups, 20 strains of Hypsizigus marmoreus, 2 strains of Lyophyllum decastes, and 1 strain of Lyophyllum shimeji were used. Monokaryon spores from one variety of H. marmoreus were irradiated with 50~2,000 Gy of gamma ray. The propriety dose was 50~200 Gy for mutagenesis. Mutant monokaryon mycelia crossed each order to become dikaryon mycelia. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rDNA were amplified using PCR, and the products were sequenced. The sequences of the ITS regions (16 partial rDNA, complete ITS1, 5.8 rDNA and partial rDNA) were analyzed by PCR, and strains of H. marmoreus, L. decastes, and L. shimeji were auto-sequenced. The lengths of the sequenced ITSs were 1,052~1,143 nucleotides. Genetic matrices were calculated using Nei-Li's genetic distance coefficient based on ITS sequence. The dissimilarities were 0~3.35% in strains of H. Hypsizigus. In addition, a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on ITS sequences using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method. The phylogenetic tree revealed that 23 strains and 5 mutant groups were divided into 12 clusters; the mutant groups fell into different clusters. These results show that mushroom spores were mutated effectively by gamma ray; therefore, gamma ray could be a useful tool for breeding new strains of mushrooms.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.364-369
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• 2002

Streptomyces shows a eukaryotic characteristic that vegetative cell can grow into mycelial form and has morphological and physiological differentiation at a certain period during its life cycle. Streptomyces has been used for the production of many biologically active compounds, such as antibiotics and pronase. Production of second metabolites and differentiation of the vegetative cell share the certain period of its lift cycle. Therefore, second metabolites may affect the differentiation of the vegetative cell. One of the microbial hormone, called A-factor, regulates the production of second metabolites, sporulation and differentiation of the cells. Streptomyces griseus produces streptomycin as well as many different kinds of proteinase. As mentioned, period of proteinases production overlaps with the period of differentiation of the vegetative cells. Protease may play a important role for the differentiation of the cells. In this paper, function of the SGPD gene cloned from S. griseus IFO 13350 tested whether it affects for the differentiation of A-factor mutated S. griseus HH1 and S. griseus IFO13350. pWHM3 and pWHM3-sprD plasmid was transformed into S. griseus HH1 and S. griseus IFO13350. Chymotrypsin activity of the cultured medium of the transformants with pWHM3-sprD plasmid didn't show any change with that of the transformants with plasmid only. The transformants with pWHM3-sprD plasmid didn't show the increase of the production of actinorhodin as well as morphological change in S. griseus IFO 13350 and HH1, as well. The promoter sequences of the SGPA and SGPB gene which encode chymotrypsin-like protease, were compared with that of SGPD gene. Regulatory mechanism of gene expression of proteinase genes will be studied for the development of high production system for protease as well as the function of the proteases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 1999

Saccharomyces fermentati and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were isolated from a traditional kimchi, and then the Leu. mesenteroides was mutated to the acid-tolerant mutant Leu. mesenteroides M-l00. In the result of growth properties in MRS broth with various pHs adjusted with HCl and acid solution (latic acid:acetic acid=1:2), an acid-tolerant mutant Leu. mesenteroides M-100 showed more increased ability for growth than its wild strain at various temperatures. The strains were used as starters for the fermentation of kimchi. The experiments were performed with classified experimental groups (Group I, control kimchi; Group II, addition of YK-19 only; Group III, addition of M-100 only; Group IV, addition of mixture of M-100 and YK-19), and their pH, total acidity, reducing sugars content, organic acid productivity, organoleptic tests, and microfloral changes were compared. As a result, in pH and acidity, the optimal ripening period of Group IV was about 13.5 days (i.e. from the 8.5 to 22 days of fermentation). This result indicates that the optimal ripening period of Group IV was about 1.5 times longer than that of Group I. Furthermore, Group IV was edible to 28 days of fermentation. In addition, high contents of succinc acid was observed in Group IV. Group IV was also highly ranked on the organoleptic test. During the fermentation of kimchi, the number of Leuconostoc sp. in group I reduced after 7 days; however, the number of Leuconostoc sp. in Group II, III, and IV decresed after 14 days of fermentation. An especially high number of Leu. sp. was observed in Group IV, and this gave better flavor of kimchi than any other during the whole fermentation period. Citric acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, and lactic acid were detected in the kimchi, and a significant increase in the concentration of lactic acid during fermentation was observed in the all experimental groups.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.2125-2134
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• 2015

IrrE is a highly conserved global regulator in the Deinococcus genus and contributes to survival from high doses of UV radiation, ionizing radiation, and desiccation. Drad-IrrE and Dgob-IrrE from Deinococcus radiodurans and Deinococcus gobiensis I-0 each share 66% sequence identity. However, Dgob-IrrE showed a stronger protection phenotype against UV radiation than Drad-IrrE in the D. radiodurans irrE-deletion mutant (ΔirrE), which may be due to amino acid residues differences around the DNA-binding HTH domain. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to generate a Drad-IrrE A184S single mutant, which has been characterized and compared with the ΔirrE mutant complemented strain with Drad-irrE, designated ΔirrE-E. The effects of the A184S mutation following UV radiation and mitomycin C (MMC) shock were determined. The A184S mutant displayed significantly increased resistance to UV radiation and MMC shock. The corresponding A184 site in Dgob-IrrE was inversely mutated, generating the S131A mutant, which exhibited a loss of resistance against UV radiation, MMC shock, and desiccation. qPCR analysis revealed that critical genes in the DNA repair system, such as recA, pprA, uvrA, and ddrB, were remarkably induced after UV radiation and MMC shock in the ΔirrE-IE and A184S mutants. These data suggested that A184S improves the ability against UV radiation and MMC shock, providing new insights into the modification of IrrE. We speculated that the serine residue may determine the efficiency of DNA binding, leading to the increased expression of IrrE-dependent genes important for protection against DNA damage.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2002

In order to evaluate the antifungal activity of bacteria against plant pathogenic fungi, 8 bacteria were isolated from mushroom compost hot spring, seaweed, and forest soil and mutants from them were induced by $LD_{95}$ gamma radiation($^{60}Co$). Bacillus circulans K1, Burkholderia gladioli K4 and Bacillus subtilis YS1 showed wide antifungal spectrum against 12 kinds of plant pathogenic fungi. From the radiation sensitivity test, B. gladioli K4 was very sensitive to gamma radiation and its $D_{10}$ value was 0.11 kGy. Antifungal activities of B. circulans Kl-1004 and B. subtilis YS1-1009, which were induced by the radiation of $^{60}Co$ increased against Botryosphaeria dothidea. The mutant strains, B. subtilis YS1-1006 and B. subtilis YS1-1009 were resistant to tebuconazole and copper hydroxide. SAR535, SAR5108, and SAR5118 mutated from Streptomyces sp. SAR01 were antifungal activity deficient mutants against 5 kinds of plant pathogenic fungi compared to wild strain, so that they could be supposed to be model strains far studying antifungal mechanism. It is suggested that various functional types of mutants could be induced by gamma radiation and applied usefully.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.121-129
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• 2015

Alginates are found in marine brown seaweeds and in extracellular biofilms secreted by some bacteria. Previously, we reported an oligoalginate lyase from Sphingomonas sp. MJ-3 (MJ3-Oal) that had an exolytic activity and protein sequence homology with endolytic polymannuronate (polyM) lyase in the N-terminal region. In this study, the MJ3-Oal was tested for both exolytic and endolytic activity by homology modeling using the crystal structure of Alg17c from Saccharophagus degradans 2-40T. The tyrosine residue at the $426^{th}$ position, which possibly formed a hydrogen bond with the substrate, was mutated to phenylalanine. The FPLC profiles showed that MJ3-Oal degraded alginate quickly to monomers as a final product through the oligmers, whereas the Tyr426Phe mutant showed only exolytic alginate lyase activity. $^1H$-NMR spectra also showed that MJ3-Oal degraded the endoglycosidic bond of polyM and polyMG (polymannuronate-guluronate) blocks. These results indicate that oligoalginate lyase from Sphingomonas sp. MJ-3 probably catalyzes the degradation of both exo- and endo-glycosidic bonds of alginate.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.3 s.70
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• pp.479-485
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• 2005

The 994 throat swabs obtained from 688 adults and 306 children patients with respiratory diseases were examined for Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection by culture method. Antimicrobial susceptibilities of the resulting 123 M. pneumoniae isolates were evaluated by testing minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of erythromycin, minocycline, tetracycline, josamycin, sparfloxacin, ofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin by a broth micro-dilution method. The erythromycin resistant strains of M. pneumoniae was determined above $1.0{\mu}g/ml$ of MIC for erythromycin. The erythromycin resistant strains of M. pneumoniae was confirmed resistant gene mutation of the portions of genes 23S rRNA (domain II and V), and ribosomal protein 14 and L22 by PCR amplified and their nucleotide sequenses were compared to those of the susceptible strain M129. The isolation rate of M. pneumoniae was $12.9\%$ (89/688) for the adults and $11.1\%$ (34/306) for the children. The $MICs_{90}$ of the M. pneumoniae isolates were $0.12{\mu}g/ml$ for minocycline, $0.25{\mu}g/ml$ for sparfloxacin, $0.5{\mu}g/ml$ for ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and tetracycline, respectively, and $2.0{\mu}g/ml$ for josamycin and erythromycin, respectively. The isolation rate of erythromycin resistant M. pneumoniae from patients was $49.4\%\;(44/89)$ for the adults, $47.1\%\;(16/34)$ for children, and $48.8\%\;(60/123)$ for the total. No mutation could be detected in the ribosomal protein L22 region, but all strains were mutated in the ribosomal protein L4 as two point mutation M144V. Two point mutations in domain V of 23S rRNA were selected in the presense of erythromycin resistant M. pneumoniae isolates, such as one strain was G2057C mutant, two strains were A2059C mutants, three strains were C2611G mutants, four strains were A2058C mutants, five strains were A2058T mutants, twenty strains were A2059G mutants, and twenty-five strains were A2058G mutants, respectively. These results show that erythromycin was not the most active compound against M. pneumoniae infection in Korea and clinical studies of macrolides in human patients are demanded.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.273-281
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• 2004

A feeding trial was conducted with Euglena strains grown under different media. The effect of supplementation of Euglena on the performance, nutrient availability and fatty acid composition of breast muscle was studied. In experiment I, two hundred ten hatched broiler chicks (Ross) were assigned to seven dietary treatments for 5 weeks. Each treatment consisted of 3 replications with 10 birds each. Control diet was formulated to have $22\%$ CP and 3,150 kcal ME/kg for starter diet, $19\%$ CP and 3,200 kcal ME/kg for finisher diet. Euglena gracilis Z. (EG) was added to control diet at the plevel of 0.25, 0.5, $1.0\%$ and Euglena gracilis Z. bleached and DHA enriched (EGBD; a strain mutated by streptomycin and cultivated in DHA enriched medium) at the level of 0.5, 1.0, $2.0\%$ in the diet. In experiment 2, two hundred fifty hatched broiler chicks (Ross) were assigned to five dietary treatments: T1; Control, T2; T1 + Euglena gracilis Z. DHA enriched (EGD; cultivated in DHA enriched medium) $0.5\%$, T3; T1 + EGD $1.0\%$, T4; T1 + EGBD $0.5\%$, T5; T1 + EGBD $1.0\%$. The weight gain and feed consumption were measured weekly. Fatty acid composition of breast muscle was determined. In experiments I and 2, Euglena supplementation had no significant effects on weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. In experiment 1, EGBD treatments significantly increased DHA concentration but decreased concentration of linoleic acid and arachidonic acid in breast muscle. EGBD 2% treatment showed the highest DHA concentration (14.27%) which is 3.9 times of that of the control ($3.66\%$). In experiment 2, $1.0\%$ EGBD treatment showed highest EPA, lignoceric acid and DHA level in breast muscle (P<0.05). Also, EGD treatments significantly increased DHA and EPA concentration. It was concluded that EGBD and EGD can be supplemented to broiler diet to produce DHA enriched broiler meat.