• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 2006

Since there could be more and rather various diazotrophs in rhizosphere of wild crops than those in rhizosphere of cultivars, some wild gramineous crops grown in Korea were collected for isolating nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Six diazotrophs were purified from their roots using nitrogen-free media. The isolated bacteria were partially identified as 4 genera by 16S rDNA sequence analysis: Stenotrophomonas sp., Bosea sp., Klebsiella sp., and Azorhizobium sp. By PCR amplification and sequence analysis, DNA fragments extracted from all isolates turned out to have an individual nifH homologous gene. Five isolates (KNUC163, KNUC165, KNUC169, KNUC170, and KNUC171) showed auxin activity and four isolates (KNUC163, KNUC166, KNUC170, and KNUC171) produced siderophores. Especially,3 strains of S. maltophilia showed both auxin and siderophore activities. In conclusion, the isolated nitrogen-fixing bacteria might have capabilities for plant growth promotion.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2003

For researching nitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with gramineous crops, we collected growing roots of rices, wheats, oats, barleys, ryes, and maizes at 19 sites of southern Korean peninsula. Endophytes and free living bacteria were isolated from those crop roots. Sixty-three isolates were classified on the basis of different morphology, size, color, host of colony, and the 16S rDNAs sequence. The analyses of PCR amplification for nifH gene and nitrogenase activity assay, revealed that all isolates contained nitrogen-fixing abilities. In addition, most of them have cellulase activity which is one of the common features of endophytic bacteria from plant.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.418-424
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• 2005

Photoheterotrophic evolution of molecular hydrogen by Rhodobacter sphaeroides is mediated by nitrogenase that is regulated transcriptionally and post-translationally by ammonium ion. Two PII-like proteins, GlnB and GlnK, play key roles in mediating inhibition and repression of nitrogenase in the presence of ammonium ion. glnB and glnK of R. sphaeroides were interrupted to abolish the ammonium ion effect controlling nitrogenase. Ammonium ion effect was still observed in mutant having an interruption in either glnB or glnK. However, the nitrogenase activity of glnB-glnK double mutant is not affected by ammonium ion. $H_2$ evolution was improved by increasing gene dosages of nitrogenase-coding genes, nifHDK in trans in glnB-glnK double mutant.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.862-870
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• 2010

Cyperus rotundus L. is a perennial herb that was found to be dominating an area in northeast Brazil previously contaminated with petroleum. In order to increase our knowledge of microorganism-plant interactions in phytoremediation, the bacterial community present in the rhizosphere and roots of C. rotundus was evaluated by culture-dependent and molecular approaches. PCR-DGGE analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene showed that the bacterial community in bulk soil, rhizosphere, and root samples had a high degree of similarity. A complex population of alkane-utilizing bacteria and a variable nitrogen-fixing population were observed via PCR-DGGE analysis of alkB and nifH genes, respectively. In addition, two clone libraries were generated from alkB fragments obtained by PCR of bulk and rhizosphere soil DNA samples. Statistical analyses of these libraries showed that the compositions of their respective populations were different in terms of alkB gene sequences. Using culturedependent techniques, 209 bacterial strains were isolated from the rhizosphere and rhizoplane/roots of C. rotundus. Dot-blot analysis showed that 17 strains contained both alkB and nifH gene sequences. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that these strains are affiliated with the genera Bosea, Cupriavidus, Enterobacter, Gordonia, Mycoplana, Pandoraea, Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, and Rhodococcus. These isolates can be considered to have great potential for the phytoremediation of soil with C. rotundus in this tropical soil area.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.259-264
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• 1991

Glutamine synthetase (GS) of Kkbsiellu pmumonzae was purified and identified it's properties. It was determined to be composed of 12 identical subunits and it's molecular weight was about 600,000. It's optimum pH and temperature were identified as pH 7.0 and $37^{\circ}C$ respectively, and also there was no considerable variation of activity between pH 5 and 8. When GS was incubated at $57^{\circ}C$ for 10 min, it's activity was decreased to half of maximum activity. It was observed that K. pneumoniae has adenylylation-deadenylylation system which regulates activity of GS according to the quality and quantity of nitrogen source like GS of E. coli Also it's GS was very similar to that of E. coli. in structure deduced from the immunodiffuslon experiment using anti-E. coli GS antibody.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.5 s.85
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• pp.723-727
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• 2007

Resistance to metronidazole in Helicobacter pylori results from inactivation of rdxA and frxA, the chromosomal genes for a nitroreductase that normally converts metronidazole from prodrug to bactericidal agent. Two types of metronidazole susceptible strains had been found distinguishable by their apparent levels of frxA expression. Most common in the populations we had studied were strains that required only rdxA inactivation to become resistant to moderate levels of metronidazole(type I strains). The second strain type required inactivation of both frxA and rdxA to become resistance to metronidazole(type II strains): this was linked to a relatively high level of frxA gene transcription in the type II strains. The fdxA gene regulated fdxA as well as rdxA gene. Thus, to study the function of fdxA as a regulatory gene we constructed a null mutant of fdxA in H. pylori genome and identified over-and under-expressed proteins by fdxA using two-dimensional(2-D) electrophoresis and MALDI-TOP-MS. There were four over-expressed proteins in fdxA mutant; nifU-like protein(HP0221), frxA(HP0642), nonheme ferritin(HP0653), and hypothetical protein(HP0902). Three under-expressed proteins were also identified in fdxA mutant, including 5'-methylthioadenosine/S-adenosylhomocysteine nucleosidase (HP0089), (3R)-hydroxymyristoyl ACP dehydratase(HP1376), and thioredoxin(HP1458).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.88.2-88.2
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• 2010

2006년 2월 7일, Gemini North Observatory의 Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer (NIFS)를 사용해 타이탄의 K-band 분광영상을 얻었다. NIFS의 파장분해능은 R~5,000이었고, 타이탄 disk의 적도부분은 약 16 pixel로 분해되었다. 2.0 - 2.1 micron 영역에서 미지의 분광선이 관측됐는데, 그 분광 구조는 전형적인 slightly asymmetric-top molecule의 rotational-vibrational 밴드 구조와 유사하게 나타났다. 또한 N2-N2 Collision-Induced Absorption (CIA)과 H2-N2 dimer에 의한 흡수와 메탄(CH4)가스 흡수를 포함한 분광모델을 만들어 비교한 결과 이 파장영역에는 이러한 흡수선들의 영향이 적은 것으로 확인됐다. 따라서 해당 영역의 저분산 (R~2,000 - 3,400) 스펙트럼을 토대로 액체 또는 고체 상태의 탄화수소가 타이탄에 존재한다고 보는 최근 발표된 주장들은 (e.g., Brown et al. 2008, Nature, v. 454, p. 607; Adamkovics et al. 2009, Planetary and Space Science, v. 57, p. 1586) 보다 신중히 고려돼야 한다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1286-1298
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• 2005

The genus Paenibacillus is a new group of bacilli separated from the genus Bacillus, and most of species have been isolated from soil. In the present study, we collected 450 spore-forming bacilli from the roots of winter crops, such as barley, wheat, onion, green onion, and Chinese cabbage, which were cultivated in the southern part of Korea. Among these 450 isolates, 104 Paenibacillus-like isolates were selected, based on their colony shape, odor, color, and endospore morphology, and 41 isolates were then finally identified as Paenibacillus spp. by 16S rDNA sequencing. Among the 41 Paenibacillus isolates, 23 were classified as P. polymyxa, a type species of the genus Paenibacillus, based on comparison of the 16S rDNA sequences with those of 32 type strains of the genus Paenibacillus from the GenBank database. Thirty-five isolates among the 41 Paenibacillus isolates exhibited antagonistic activity towards plant fungal and bacterial pathogens, whereas 24 isolates had a significant growth-enhancing effect on cucumber seedlings, when applied to the seeds. An assessment of the root-colonization capacity under gnotobiotic conditions revealed that all 41 isolates were able to colonize cucumber roots without any significant difference. Twenty-one of the Paenibacillus isolates were shown to contain the nifH gene, which is an indicator of $N_{2}$ fixation. However, the other 20 isolates, including the reference strain E681, did not incorporate the nifH gene. To investigate the diversity of the isolates, a BOX-PCR was performed, and the resulting electrophoresis patterns allowed the 41 Paenibacillus isolates to be divided into three groups (Groups A, B, and C). One group included Paenibacillus strains isolated mainly from barley or wheat, whereas the other two groups contained strains isolated from diverse plant samples. Accordingly, the present results showed that the Paenibacillus isolates collected from the rhizosphere of winter crops were diverse in their biological and genetic characteristics, and they are good candidates for further application studies.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2007

The 44 endophytic bacterial strains were isolated from surface-sterilized root of rice cultivated in seven different locations of Chungcheong province, Korea. Each isolate was introduced into rice seedlings grown gnotobiotically by inoculating scissor-cut first true leaf with cell suspensions, and the colonization capacity of each isolate in root tissue was analyzed at 7 days after inoculation. Sixteen out of 44 isolates were re-isolated from root successfully with the frequency of $10^{3-5}$ CFU/g tissue. Interestingly, seven out of 16 isolates were identified as Burkholderia species. The identity between inoculated strains and re-isolates was confirmed by genomic finger-printing and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. By a confocal laser scanning microscopic observation it was revealed that KJ001 strain, one of the sixteen isolates tagged with gfp colonized in root tissue especially around xylem. Six out of seven Burkholderia strains obtained in this study showed antagonizing activities against seven different fungal pathogens, contain nifH gene, and five of them enhanced growth of cucumber over 30%. The isolates showed no hypersensitive response on tobacco leaves and no pathogenecity in rice. From these results it was found that the endophytic Burkholderia strains will be useful in agriculture to develop a biocontrol agent or a bio-fertilizer.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.210-217
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• 2020

Microseira wollei (Farlow ex Gomont) G.B.McGregor and Sendall ex Kennis, a mat-forming filamentous harmful cyanobacterium, has historically been found in the United States. Microseira wollei produces neurotoxins and hepatotoxins which affect declining water quality. In the present research, we report of unrecorded M. wollei with morphology, TEM anatomy, molecular phylogeny on the Korean population. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, Korean population were different by 0.02% (2 bp) to the Japanese population, 1.2-1.3% to the Australian population, and 2.5-3.7% to the United States populations. nifH gene sequences were 8.4-8.7% different to Australian ones and 3.5-3.8% to other population, however molecular phylogenetic analysis of M. wollei living in Korea revealed monophyly with the geographical populations of U.S.A., Australia, and other geographical populations. Since the mat of M. wollei has been reported to be maintained for several years in other countries, it is necessary further investigate the seasonal and regional distribution of this species in Korea.