• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.299-306
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• 2021

Pollination is an essential process for plants to carry on their generation. Pollination is carried out in various ways depending on the type of plant species. Among them, pollination by insect pollinator accounts for the most common. However, these pollinators have be decreasing in population density due to environmental factors. Therefore, use of artificial pollination is increasing. However, there is a lack of information on microorganisms present in the artificial pollens. We showed the composition of bacteria structure present in the artificial pollens of apple, kiwifruit, peach and pear, and contamination of high-risk pathogens was investigated. Acidovorax spp., Pantoea spp., Erwinia spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Xanthomonas spp., which are classified as potential high-risk pathogens, have been identified in imported pollens. This study presented the pollen-associated bacterial community structure, and the results are expected to be foundation for strengthening biosecurity in orchard industry.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1179-1185
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• 2018

Recently, Sargassum horneri, the marine weed inhabiting the shoreline, beach, and littoral sea area, has caused serious damage to intensive aquaculture farms particularly those around Jeju Island, South Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the diversity of microorganisms in Sargassum horneri and to provide basic data on ecological problems by identifying microbial functions. A total of 88 isolates were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum accounting for 88%, including class ${\alpha}-proteobacteria$, six genera, and ten species. The dominating genus, Pseudobacter, accounted for 40% in Pseudorhodobacter, 20% in Paracoccus, and the remaining at 10% each were Rhizobium, Albirhodobacter, Skermanella, and Novosphingobium. Class ${\beta}-proteobactera$ included five genera and ten species. Genus Hydrogenophaga accounted for 50%, while genus Azoarcus accounted for 20%, and the remaining Oxalicibacterium, Duganella, and Xenophilus were 10% each. Class ${\gamma}-proteobacteria$ with 13 genera and 57 species, accounted for 74% in phylum Proteobacteria, 23% in Shewanella, 19% in Cobetia, 12% in Pseudomonas, 4% each in Vibrio and Serratia, and 2% each in Rheinheimera, Raoultella, Pantoea, Acinetobacter, Moraxella, and Psychrobacter genera. In addition, Actinobacteria with two species of Nocardioides genera accounted for 50%, and Bacteroidetes accounted for 33%, with three genera and five species that included Lacihabitans and Mariniflexile. The remaining Dyadobacter, Cellulophaga, and Ferruginibacter genera each accounted for 11%.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2017

Among different types of spoilage, microbial contamination can cause feed decomposition, which results in decreases in feed intake and productivity, infection, and breeding disorder. During the storage time, various microbes have a chance to inoculate with depreciation of feed and to infect the animals. We investigated bacteria that inhabit diverse feed ingredients and complete feed which have been stored for a few months. We isolated and identified 30 genera and 62 species of bacteria. Among these 62 species, 21 species were of non-pathogenic bacteria, 18 species were of pathogenic bacteria, 9 species were of opportunistic pathogens, and 14 species were of unknown bacteria. Pantoea allii and 24 species showed proteolytic enzyme activity. We also confirmed that 6 species including Pseudomonas psychrotolerans showed ${\alpha}$-amylase activity, and 29 species including Burkholderia vietnamiensis showed cellulase activity. Microbacterium testaceum and 3 species showed resistance to Ampicillin, Kanamycin, Streptomycin, Gentamicin, Carbenicillin, and Erythromycin ($50{\mu}g/mL$). Using mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor L.) as a model for pathogenicity, we confirmed that 8 species including Staphylococcus xylosus had pathogenicity for mealworm larvae. Especially, Enterobacter hormaechei, Staphylococcus xylosus, and Staphylococcus hominis were reported as being pathogenic for humans. This research suggests that hygienic management of animal feed is essential because beneficial and harmful bacteria can inhabit animal feed differently during storage and distribution.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.170-179
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• 2017

Tea is the most popular beverage in the world. In fact, there are mainly three different kinds of tea (Green tea, black tea, and post-fermented tea). Post-fermented tea is produced by the microbial fermentation process using sun-dried green tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) as the raw material. Chungtaejeon was a traditional tea introduced in the age of the ancient three states and is the only "Ddeok-cha or Don-cha" culture in the world that survived on the southwestern shore of Republic of Korea. In this study, the structures of the bacterial community involved in the production of oriental traditional post-fermented tea (Chungtaejeon) were investigated using 16S rRNA gene analysis. The 16S rRNA gene analysis of dominant microbial bacteria in post-fermented tea confirmed the presence of Pantoea sp., and Klebsiella oxytoca. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the taxonomic affiliation of the dominant species in the post-fermented tea was ${\gamma}$-proteobacteria. As a result of the microbial community size analysis, it was confirmed that the size of the microbial communities of Chungtaejeon was the largest compared to other teas

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2010

To screen for potential biocontrol agents against postharvest disease of garlics caused by Penicillium hirsutum, a total of 1292 isolates were isolated from the rhizoshere or rhizoplane of Allium species. Among them, S59-4 isolate was selected as a potential biocontrol agent by in vivo wounded garlic bulb assay. The isolate was identified as Pantoea agglomerans (Pa59-4) through Biolog system. Pa59-4 did not inhibit the mycelial growth of P. hirsutum in dual-culture with P. hirsutum on tryptic soy agar. In order to elucidate mode of action of Pa59-4 on biological control, nutrient competition between Pa59-4 and P. hirsutum was investigated by the simple method using tissue culture plates with cylinder inserts containing defusing membrane reported by Janisiewicz et al. (2000). The results showed that Pa59-4 effectively suppressed spore germination and mycelial growth of blue mold in the low concentration (0.5%) of garlic juice, but it did not suppress those of blue mold in the high concentration (5%) of garlic juice. This result suggests that the mechanism in biocontrol of garlic blue mold by Pa 59-4 may be involved in nutrient competition with P. hirsutum on garlic bulbs.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.404-412
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• 2021

Despite the plant microbiota plays an important role in plant health, little is known about the potential interactions of the flower microbiota with pathogens. In this study, we investigated the microbial community of apple blossoms when infected with Erwinia amylovora. The long-read sequencing technology, which significantly increased the genome sequence resolution, thus enabling the characterization of fire blight-induced changes in the flower microbial community. Each sample showed a unique microbial community at the species level. Pantoea agglomerans and P. allii were the most predominant bacteria in healthy flowers, whereas E. amylovora comprised more than 90% of the microbial population in diseased flowers. Furthermore, gene function analysis revealed that glucose and xylose metabolism were enriched in diseased flowers. Overall, our results showed that the microbiome of apple blossoms is rich in specific bacteria, and the nutritional composition of flowers is important for the incidence and spread of bacterial disease.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.232-238
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• 2012

Kumjungsansung-Makgeolli$^{(R)}$ is a traditional Korean rice wine that is fermented from traditional nuruk and rice. In this study, we performed the PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis targeting the 16S and 28S rRNA genes to characterize bacterial and fungal diversity during Makgeolli fermentation. The predominant bacteria in the PCR-DGGE profile during Makgeolli fermentation were Lactobacillus spp. (Lactobacillus curvatus, L. kisonensis, L. plantarum, L. sakei, and L. gasseri), Pediococcus spp. (P. acidilactici, P. parvulus, P. agglomerans, and P. pentosaceus), Pantoea spp. (P. agglomerans and P. ananatis), and Citrobacter freundii; these were identified on the base of analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. The dominant bacterium during Makgeolli fermentation was L. curvatus. The predominant fungi in PCR-DGGE profile during Makgeolli fermentation were Pichia kudriavzevii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Asidia idahoensis, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, and Torulaspora delbrueckii, and these were identified on the basis of analysis of 28S rRNA gene sequences. The dominant fungal species during Makgeolli fermentation changed from P. kudriavzevii at 0-2 days incubation to S. cerevisiae at 3-6 days incubation. This study suggests that PCR-DGGE analysis could be a suitable tool for the understanding of microbial diversity and structure during Makgeolli fermentation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.529-537
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• 2020

This study was carried out to confirm changes in the microbial community and physicochemical characteristics of Korean traditional Makgeolli during fermentation by yeast as a fermentation starter. We demonstrate that the microbial community during fermentation affects the quality of Makgeolli. At the species level, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Weissella confusa, Pantoea vagans, and Lactobacillus graminis were dominant on fermentation mix, after 1-2 days, in the control group without yeast treatment. Acid production in the control group was higher than that in the yeast-treated group. P. pentosaceus was dominant throughout the fermentation process, and the proportion of P. vagans remarkably decreased following yeast addition. Considering quality characteristics, the alcohol content rapidly increased after yeast addition, and the lactic acid content was lower in the yeast-treated group than in the control. These results suggest that the rapid increase in alcohol at the start of fermentation inhibits the growth of lactic acid-producing bacteria. The addition of yeast may contribute to the reduction in the high amount of lactic acid, which can be one of the causes of changes in Makgeolli quality.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.551-560
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• 2018

Bellflower root (Platycodon grandiflorum), which belongs to the Campanulaceae family, is a perennial grass that grows naturally in Korea, northeastern China, and Japan. Bellflower is widely consumed as both food and medicine owing to its high nutritional value and potential therapeutic effects. Since foodborne disease outbreaks often come from vegetables, understanding the public health risk of microorganisms on fresh vegetables is pivotal to predict and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. We investigated the microbial communities on the bellflower root (n = 10). 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing targeting the V6-V9 regions of 16S rRNA genes was conducted via the 454-Titanium platform. The sequence quality was checked and phylogenetic assessments were performed using the RDP classifier implemented in QIIME with a bootstrap cutoff of 80%. Principal coordinate analysis was performed using the weighted Fast UniFrac distance. The average number of sequence reads generated per sample was 67,192 sequences. At the phylum level, bacterial communities from the bellflower root were composed primarily of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria in March and September samples. Genera Serratia, Pseudomonas, and Pantoea comprised more than 54% of the total bellflower root bacteria. Principal coordinate analysis plots demonstrated that the microbial community of bellflower root in March samples was different from those in September samples. Potential pathogenic genera, such as Pantoea, were detected in bellflower root samples. Even though further studies will be required to determine if these species are associated with foodborne illness, our results indicate that the 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing approach can be used to detect pathogenic bacteria on fresh vegetables.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.283-287
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• 2003

This study was performed to identify the microorganisms from air conditioners and to investigate hygiene management on air conditioners. Eight species of bacteria were isolated and identified from twenty samples of coolers in air conditioners; Pantoea sp., Bacillus circulans, Bacillus pumilus, Corynebacterium, Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Ochrobacterum anthropi, Micrococcus sp., and non fermented bacilli (NFB). One thousand and three hundreds twenty-two persons who used air conditioners in their houses were investigated about the state of hygiene management in their air conditioners. One thousand and one hundred thirty eight persons (86%) of the total investigated persons ventilated their air conditioners and 1,128 persons (85%) of them cleaned their air conditioners. However, 864 persons (66%) of them did not clean filters and 1,089 persons (82%) did not clean the heat exchangers, both of which air conditioners could be easily contaminated by microorganisms. From these results, we could conclude that the contaminants, bacteria as mentioned the above, in air conditioners could cause human disease such as respiratory infections if the number of bacteria increase in air conditioners. Thus, the removal of contaminants and the improved hygiene of the air conditioners can prevent human diseases caused by the released bacteria during the use of air conditioners.