• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2005

Enterococcus faecium MJ-14, having strong antilisterial activity, was isolated from Korean fermented food, Meju. MJ-14 showed the same phenotypic characteristics, but different sugar utilization, as reference strain, E. faecium KCCM12118. It could utilize D-xylose, amygdaline, and gluconate, whereas E. faecium KCCM12118 could not. Optimal condition for bacteriocin production by E. faecium MJ-14 was at $37^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. Bacteriocin activity appeared in mid exponential phase and increased rapidly up to stationary phase. Activity was significantly promoted in MRS broth containing 3.0% glucose, 1.5% lactose, 2.0% peptone, or 1.5% tryptone. Bacteriocins effectively inhibited Enterococcus faecalis and Listeria spp. of Gram-positive bacteria, and Helicobacter pylori of Gram-negative bacteria, but did not inhibit yeasts and molds. They were stable against heat (for 30 min at $100^{\circ}C$), pH (3.0-9.0), long-term storage (for 60 days at 4 or $-20^{\circ}C$), and enzymatic digestion by catalase, proteinase K, papain, lysozyme, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and lipase, etc. Bacteriocin activity was completely inhibited by protease and pepsin, and 50% by ${\alpha}$-amylase. Studies on PCR detection of enterocin structural genes revealed bacteriocins are identical to enterocins A and B.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.674-683
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• 2012

A new strain, SD12, was isolated from tannery waste polluted soil and identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa on the basis of phenotypic traits and by comparison of 16S rRNA sequences. This bacterium exhibited broad-spectrum antagonistic activity against phytopathogenic fungi. The strain produced phosphatases, cellulases, proteases, pectinases, and HCN and also retained its ability to produce hydroxamate-type siderophore. A bioactive metabolite was isolated from P. aeruginosa SD12 and was characterized as 1-hydroxyphenazine ((1-OH-PHZ) by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral analysis. The strain was used as a biocontrol agent against root rot and wilt disease of pyrethrum caused by Rhizoctonia solani. The stain is also reported to increase the growth and biomass of Plantago ovata. The purified compound, 1-hydroxyphenazine, also showed broad-spectrum antagonistic activity towards a range of phytopathogenic fungi, which is the first report of its kind.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.513-519
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• 2010

Marine bacterium producing pigment was isolated from the solar saltern of Mijo-myeon, Namhae, Korea. Based on phenotypic characteristics and 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the strain was identified as Kocuria sp., which produced a yellow pigment. The pigment showed UV absorption maximum at 469nm. The bacterial strain grew well on Marine broth 2216 culture medium. Productivity of the pigment reached the maximum value after 44 hours at $30^{\circ}C$, 2% NaCl and pH 6.0. The pigment was produced best when supplied by 1% lactose as a carbon source and 1% beef extract as a nitrogen source. The result of the color stability study showed that pigment extracted from the strain by ethanol was stable at $-20-25^{\circ}C$ and also showed higher stability over 70% for 14 days in light conditions at $25^{\circ}C$. The pigment extract was also stable for all metal ions tested, except for $FeCl_2$.

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2008

A total of 2,765 accessions were used as the initial set having both seed coat color and 100-seed weight data. As a result of molecular profiling using six SSR markers followed by stratification based on their usages, 335 accessions(12.1%) were selected by clustering based on UPGMA. Since 75 out of 335 accessions were mixed in phenotypic traits as a result of characterization, 260 accessions were finally set as a core set. This core set revealed nearly the same diversity compared with the other results on morphological traits of Korean soybean landraces. In total, 115 alleles(19.2 alleles per locus) were detected in the initial set and 79 alleles(13.2 alleles per locus) were detected in the core set. All 30 major alleles were present in the initial set and in the core set as well. In allele coverage, the core set was 71.4% of the initial set. These comparisons of number of alleles, gene diversity and coverage indicated that the core set represented the entire set well.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.243-250
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• 2003

Eight numerically dominant 4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) butyric acid (2,4-DB)-degrading bacteria and three pairs of bacteria showing syntrophic metabolism of 2,4-DB were isolated from soils, and their phylogenetic and phenotypic characteristics were investigated. The isolates were able to utilize 2,4-DB as a sole source of carbon and energy, and their 2.4-DB degradative enzymes were induced by the presence of 2.4-DB. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequences indicated that the isolates were related to members of the genera, Variovorax, Sphingomonas, Bradyrhizobium, and Pseudomonas. The chromosomal DNA patterns of the isolates obtained by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) amplification of repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) sequences were distinct from each other. Four of the isolates had plasmids, but only one strain, DB 1, rad a transmissible 2,4-D degradative plasmid. When analyzed with PCR using primers targeted to the tfdA, B, and C genes, only strains DB2 and DB9a produced DNA bands of the expected sizes with the tfdA and C primers, respectively. All of the isolates were able to degrade 2,4-D as well as 2,4-DB, suggesting that the degradation pathways of these compounds were closely related to each other, but respiratory activities of many isolates adapted to 2,4-DB metabolism were quite low with 2,4-D.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2004

Molecular genetic markers were genotyped used to detect chromosomal regions which contain economically important traits such as growth traits in pigs. Three generation resource population was constructed from a cross between the Korean native boars and Landrace sows. A total of 193 F2 animals from intercross of F1 were produced. Phenotypic data on 7 traits, birth weight, body weight at 3, 5, 12, 30 weeks of age, live empty weight were collected for F2 animals. Animals including grandparents (F0), parents (F1), offspring (F2) were genotyped for 194 microsatellite markers covering from chromosome 1 to 18. Quantitative trait locus analyses were performed using interval mapping by regression under line-cross model. To characterize presence of imprinting, genetic full model in which dominance, additive and imprinting effect were included was fitted in this analysis. Significance thresholds were determined by permutation test. Using imprinting full model, four QTL with expression of imprinted effect were detected at 5% chromosome-wide significance level for growth traits on chromosome 1, 5, 7, 13, 14, and 16.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.458-463
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• 2022

We evaluated the antibiotic susceptibilities, hemolytic activities, and technological properties of 36 Staphylococcus xylosus strains and 49 S. pseudoxylosus strains predominantly isolated from fermented soybean foods from Korea. Most of the strains were sensitive to chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamycin, kanamycin, lincomycin, oxacillin, tetracycline, and trimethoprim. However, 23 strains exhibited potential phenotypic acquired resistance to erythromycin, lincomycin, and tetracycline. Based on breakpoint values for staphylococci from the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, >30% of the isolates were resistant to ampicillin and penicillin G, but the population distributions in minimum inhibitory concentration tests were clearly different from those expected for acquired resistance. None of the strains exhibited clear α- or β-hemolytic activity. S. xylosus and S. pseudoxylosus exhibited salt tolerance on agar medium containing 20% and 22% (w/v) NaCl, respectively. S. xylosus and S. pseudoxylosus strains possessed protease and lipase activities, which were affected by the NaCl concentration. Protease activity of S. pseudoxylosus was strain-specific, but lipase activity might be a characteristic of both species. This study confirms the potential of both species for use in high-salt soybean fermentation, but the safety and technological properties of strains must be determined to select suitable starter candidates.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1200-1220
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• 2023

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the most common types of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. DCM is characterized by left ventricle (LV) dilatation and systolic dysfunction without coronary artery disease or abnormal loading conditions. DCM is not a single disease entity and has a complex historical background of revisions and updates to its definition because of its diverse etiology and clinical manifestations. In cases of LV dilatation and dysfunction, conditions with phenotypic overlap should be excluded before establishing a DCM diagnosis. The differential diagnoses of DCM include ischemic cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, burned-out hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, and non-compaction. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is helpful for evaluating DCM because it provides precise measurements of cardiac size, function, mass, and tissue characterization. Comprehensive analyses using various sequences, including cine imaging, late gadolinium enhancement imaging, and T1 and T2 mapping, may help establish differential diagnoses, etiological work-up, disease stratification, prognostic determination, and follow-up procedures in patients with DCM phenotypes. This article aimed to review the utilities and limitations of CMR in the diagnosis and assessment of DCM.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2015

In filamentous fungi, velvet complex associated with the veA gene plays pivotal roles in development and secondary metabolism. In a model fungus Aspergillus nidulans, many proteins that can interact with VeA, including two methyltransferases VipB and VipC, have been isolated and characterized. In this study, we isolated homologs of the vipB and vipC genes in the human opportunistic pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus and named AfuvipB and AfuvipC. The AfuvipB gene, annotated as Afu3g14920 in the Aspergillus Genome Database (AspGD) database, consists of 1,510 bp interrupted with 10 introns yielding 336 amino acid-long putative methyltransferase protein. Similarly, AfuvipC, which is Afu8g01930, has 10 introns and encodes a polypeptide with 339 amino acids having a methyltransferase domain in the middle of the protein. To characterize the function of the genes in A. fumigatus, knock-out mutants were generated and the phenotypes were observed. Deletion of AfuvipB gene caused no obvious phenotypic change on point inoculation but showed smaller colony than wild-type when the mutant was subjected to culture on single spore-driven culture condition. However, AfuvipC deletion mutant demonstrated no phenotypic difference from wild type both in point inoculation and streaking cultures. These results indicate that the two methyltransfereases might have a redundant role and could be dispensable in normal culture conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.509-514
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of Korean isolates of Cronobacter spp. (Enterobacter sakazakii). A total of 43 Cronobacter spp., including 5 clinical isolates, 34 food isolates, 2 environmental isolates, and 2 reference strains (C. sakazakii ATCC 29004 and C. muytjensii ATCC51329) were used in this study. Korean isolates of Cronobacter spp. were divided into 11 biogroups according to their biochemical profiles and 3 genomic groups based on the analysis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. Biogroups 1 and 2 contained the majority of isolates (n=26), most of which were contained in 16S rRNA cluster 1 (n=34). Korean isolates of Cronobacter spp. showed diverse biochemical profiles. Biogroup 1 contained C. sakazakii GIHE (Gyeonggido Research Institute of Health and Environment) 1 and 2, which were isolated from babies that exhibited symptoms of Cronobacter spp. infection such as gastroenteritis, sepsis, and meningitis. Our finding revealed that Biogroup 1, C. sakazakii, is more prevalent and may be a more pathogenic biogroup than other biogroups, but the pathogenic biogroup was not represented clearly among the 11 biogroups tested in this study. Thus, all biogroups of Cronobacter spp. were recognized as pathogenic bacteria, and the absence of Cronobacter spp. in infant foods should be constantly regulated to prevent food poisoning and infection caused by Cronobacter spp.