• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.369-375
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• 2018

Mycoplasma genitalium has 367 conserved genes and the smallest genome among mono-culturable prokaryotes. Conservative metabolic pathways were examined among M. genitalium and 14 prokaryotes, one hyperthermophilic exosymbiotic archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans and 13 intracellular eubacteria of plants or insects, with fewer conserved genes than M. genitalium. They have 11 to 71 metabolic pathways, however complete metabolic pathways ranged from 1 to 24. Totally, metabolic pathway hole is very high due to the lack of 45.8% of the enzymes required for the whole metabolic pathways and it could be suggested that the shared metabolic pathway with the host's enzyme would work or the essential substances are host dependent. The number of genes necessary for mass transfer through the cell membrane is also very low, and it may be considered that the simple diffusion or the protein of the host will function in the cell membrane of these prokaryotes. Although the tRNA charging pathway was distributed in all 15 prokaryotes, each has 5-20 tRNA charging genes. This study would give clues to the understanding of the metabolic pathways of intracellular parasitic bacteria of plant and endosymbiotic bacteria of insects, and could provide basic data for prevention of crop damage, development of insect pests and human medicines.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 2020

This study was conducted to investigate both plant growth-promoting and plant disease- controlling activities of bacterial strains isolated from soil. All the isolated strains were able to grow at various temperatures. All the strains, except ANG40, showed antagonistic effects against various phytopathogenic fungi. This antagonism can be ascribed to the production of siderophores and antibiotic substances. In addition, all the strains showed abilities such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and siderophore production. These results suggest that nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron can be converted into forms that can be easily absorbed by the plants for their growth. Analysis of the growth-promoting properties revealed that ANG51 produced 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) both of which are related to ethylene production. In contrast, the other strains were found to have only IAA-producing ability. Therefore, this study suggests that Pseudomonas geniculata ANG3, Exiguobacterium acetylicum ANG40, and Burkholderia stabilis ANG51, which were selected through analysis of comparative advantages for both plant growth promotion and disease-controlling activity, may be used as biological agents.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.603-613
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• 2019

This study was carried out to examine the antagonistic effect against phytopathogenic fungi of isolated strains from soil samples collected from Busan, Changwon, and Jeju Island: Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum, Corynespora cassiicola, Fusarium sp., Rhizoctonia solani, Phytophthora capsici, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. According to results of our studies, isolated strains showed an antagonistic effect against phytopathogenic fungi. Such an antagonistic effect against phytopathogenic fungi is seen due to the production of siderophores, antibiotic substances, and extracellular amylase, cellulase, protease, and xylanase enzyme activities. Extracellular enzymes produced by isolated strains were significant, given that they inhibited the growth of phytopathogenic fungi by causing bacteriolysis of the cell wall of plant pathogenic fungi. This is essential to break down the cell wall of plant pathogenic fungi and thus help plant growth by converting macromolecules, which cannot be used by the plant for growth, into small molecules. In addition, they are putative candidates as biological agents to promote plant growth and inhibit growth of phytopathogenic fungi through nitrogen fixation, indole-3-acetic acid production, siderophore production, and extracellular enzyme activity. Therefore, this study suggests the possibility of using Bacillus subtilis ANGa5, Bacillus aerius ANGa25, and Bacillus methylotrophicus ANGa27 as new biological agents, and it is considered that further studies are necessary to prove their effect as novel biological agents by standardization of formulation and optimization of selected effective microorganisms, determination of their preservation period, and crop cultivation tests.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.104-110
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• 2011

Actinomycetes, Gram positive soil bacteria, are valuable microorganisms which produce useful secondary metabolites including antibiotics, antiparasitic substances, anti-cancer drugs, and immunosuppressants. Although a major family of actinomycetes, known as streptomycetes, has been intensively investigated at the molecular level for several decades, a potentially valuable and only recently isolated non-streptomycetes rare actinomycetes (NSRA) family has been poorly characterized due to lack of proper genetic manipulation systems. Here we report that a PCR-based genome screening strategy was performed with approximately 180 independently isolated actinomycetes strains to isolate potentially valuable NSRA strains. Thanks to this simple PCR-based genome screening strategy we were able to identify only seven NSRA strains, followed by 16S rRNA sequencing for confirmation. Through further bioassays, one potentially valuable NSRA strain (tentatively named Nocardiopsis species MMBL010) was identified which possessed both antifungal and antibacterial activities, along with the presence of polyketide synthase and non-ribosomal peptide synthase genes. Moreover, Nocardiopsis species MMBL010, which was intrinsically recalcitrant to genetic manipulation, was successfully transformed via E. coli-driven conjugation. These results suggest that PCR-based genome screening, followed by the establishment of an E. coli-driven conjugation system, is an efficient strategy to maximize potentially valuable compounds and their biosynthetic genes from NSRA strains isolated from various environments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.733-739
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• 2015

Microalgae are a renewable natural resource that requires only sunlight, carbon dioxide, phosphorus, and nitrogen for rapid growth. They produce a broad variety of basic chemical substances―such as vitamins, fatty acids and carotenoids―that have high added value potential for the pharmaceutical and food industries. The aim of this study was to develop axenic culture and to establish a cell growth assay for microalgae. A further experiment was carried out to determine the yield of astaxanthin derived from microalgae. The axenic culture was developed using a mixture of antibiotics [ampicillin (100 ${\mu}g/ml$), streptomycin (10 ${\mu}g/ml$), chloramphenicol (10 ${\mu}g/ml$), penicillin (10 ${\mu}g/ml$), neomycin (50 ${\mu}g/ml$), gentamycin (50 ${\mu}g/ml$), kanamycin (10 ${\mu}g/ml$), and nystatin (1.5 ${\mu}g/ml$)] and then used to extract a variety of useful components from the microalgae. The optimal concentration for the antibiotic mixture was 1-3 percent. A spectrophotometric cell growth assay was also established. Astaxanthin was extracted from Haematococus lacustris with a yield of $1.9{\times}10^{-3}{\mu}g/l$ per 1 ml of culture medium. In conclusion, the axenic culture method developed here allows extraction of high-quality astaxanthin and other useful components from microalgae.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.224-228
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• 2001

DA-5018, a recently synthesized capsaicin analog, appears to possess potent analgesic activity when administered topically. The objective of this study is to test the feasibility of the topical administration of this compound. Specifically, our goal was to identify vehicle system that permit a reasonable transdermal permeation of the compound in mice. Among the vehicles examined, isopropyl myristate (IPM) showed the largest in vitro permeability across the intact skin (83.6 ${\pm}$ 5.42${\mu}$l/$\textrm{cm}^2$/h ). However, due to the limited solubility of DA-5018 in IPM (0.53 mg/ml), the maximal flux from the IPM medium remained at only 44.3 ${\pm}2.87{\mu}$g/$\textrm{cm}^2$/hr. In order to increase the flux, addition of better solvents for DA-5018 was attempted, under the assumption that flux is the result of both solubility and permeability. Ethoxydiglycol (EG) and oleic acid (OA) were selected as examples of food solvents. The addition of IC or OA to IPM at a 1:1 volume ratio resulted in a comparable increase in the solubility of the compound (i.e., to 61.1 and 50.2 mg/ml for EG and OA, respectively). However, the addition of EG at a 1:1 volume ratio, for example, increased the flux 6.3 fold (i.e., $279{\mu}$g/$\textrm{cm}^2$/hr), while OA, at a 1:1 volume ratio, decreased the flux 5 fold (i.e., $9.26{\mu}$g/$\textrm{cm}^2$//hr). The mechanism of this discrepancy between EG and OA was investigated by measuring the permeabilty of DA-5018 across the stratum corneum-removed skin of the mouse, under the hypothesis that the viable skin layer may serve as a barrier for the permeation of lipophilic substances such as DA 5018. The permeability of DA-5018, from the medium of EG or OA, across the viable skin differed greatly for EG ($0.41{\mu}$l/$\textrm{cm}^2$/hr) and OA ($0.086{\mu}$l/$\textrm{cm}^2$/hr), suggesting that a higher permeability across the viable skin layer is needed for the second solvents. The maximum flux across the intact skin was achieved for DA-5018 when EG was added to IPM at a 1:1 volume ratio. Thus, the use of a binary system appears to be the best approach for realizing the transdermal delivery of DA-5018 at a reasonable rate.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.157-163
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• 2006

A supercritical fluid process, called aerosol solvent extraction system(ASES), is especially suitable to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries due to its environmentally-friendly, non-toxic and residual solvent-free properties. In particular, the application of the ASES process to the processing of thermo-labile bioactive compounds has received attention of many scientists and engineers because of its low-temperature operating conditions. Unstable substances such as Vitamin-C and Vitamin-A can be effectively protected from degradation during the preparation process, because the ASES process is free from oxygen and moisture. In this study, Vitamin-C was formulated with 2-hydroxypropyl-${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (HP-${\beta$-CD) for enhancement of Vitamin-C stability and bioavailability using the ASES process. To investigate the influence of the preparation process on the stability of Vitamin-C, Vitamin-C/HP-${\beta}$-CD inclusion complexes were prepared using both conventional solvent evaporation method and ASES process, and stored in a 50 mM phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.0 at $25^{\circ}C$ for 24 hours. From the experimental results, the stability of the Vitamin-C/HP-${\beta}$-CD inclusion complex prepared from the ASES process was found to be much higher than that of pure Vitamin-C and the Vitamin-C/HP-${\beta}$-CD inclusion complex prepared by the solvent evaporation method. The stability of Vitamin-C was observed to increase with the decrease of temperature at a constant pressure or with the increase of pressure at a constant temperature.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 2006

Vitamin-C is one of the typical bioactive substances widely used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. It is well known that the bioavailability of vitamin-C decreases with time because it is spontaneously oxidized in the presence of oxygen. In this study, vitamin-C inclusion complexes were prepared by formulating vitamin-C with 2-hydroxypropyl-${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (HP-${\beta}$-CD) to protect vitamin-C from being oxidized. Vitamin-C inclusion complexes were prepared by a solvent evaporation method using a rotary evaporator and various solvents of different dielectric constant such as ethanol, methanol and distilled deionized water to investigate the effect of solvent polarity on the stability of vitamin-C. To estimate the stability of inclusion complexes, samples were stored in a 50 mM phosphate buffer solution of pH 7.0 for 24 hours at $25{\pm}0.1^{\circ}C$ and the degradation rate of vitamin-C was calculated using a high performance liquid chromatography. The stability of vitamin-C was observed to improve with the increase of solvent polarity.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.667-692
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• 2015

The study examined the Korean medicine industry from the perspective of the innovation system theory of each business, while it concentrated on the conflict between traditional Korean medicine and Western medicine, which have a major influence on the innovation system of Korean medicine industry, rather than the innovation system itself. The Korean healthcare system is a dual system of Western and Korean medicine, yet the definitions of Western medical practices and Korean medical practices are ambiguous. Thus the distinction of dual system depends on judicial precedents, and the innovation of Korean medicine has been inhibited due to the excessive emphasis placed on the Western medical practice in both healthcare system and pharmaceutical system. First of all, the usage of most medical devices derived from the development of modern medical engineering is not permitted in the Korean medicine industry, on the basis that most of the medical devices were originated from the Western medicine field. Secondly, new drugs using natural substances, once approved by the drug administration, cannot be prescribed by the Korean medicine industry although they are developed based on Korean medicine. Thirdly, the major safety issues on herbal medicine are about hazardous materials in medicinal herbs and liver toxicity of prescribed herbal medicine. The problem of hazardous materials can be solved by appropriate quality and safety tests in the cultivation and importation process. Whereas the Korean medicine circles points out that the liver toxicity issue is only a unilateral condemnation by the Western medicine circles.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.21 no.6 s.90
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• pp.769-775
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• 2005

In this study we isolate substances to serve as dietary resources in order to replace the female hormone. Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is one of the most attractive hosts for large-scale production of eukaryotic proteins which have been proven safe as a dietary resource. We report on the estrogenicity of a mixture of silkworm pupa and herbs (Ginseng,Ulkeum, and Hasuo) using the immature rat uterotrophic assay in vivo. Silkworm pupa aqueousextract (KW) and silkworm oil extract (KO) induced effects on the immature rat uterotrophic assay. KO showed neither positive uterotrophic response nor inhibition on E2 induced effect, while KW and MK (mixture of KW and herbs) showed both of the effects. It is concluded that ethanol extracts from silkworm might be a good, therapeutic, natural product for hormone-deficient diseases.