• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.428-436
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• 2016

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been increased and become a public health concern worldwide. Many bacterial infections can be sequentially treated with different types of antibiotics. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the changes in survival, antibiotic susceptibility, mutant frequency, ${\beta}$-lactamase activity, biofilm formation, and gene expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae after exposure to sequential antibiotic treatments of ciprofloxacin and meropenem. Treatments include control (CON; no addition), 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition (1/2CIP), 2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition (2CIP), initial 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition followed by 1/2 MIC meropenem (8 h-incubation) and 2 MIC ciprofloxacin (16 h-incubation) (1/2CIP-1/2MER-2CIP), initial 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition followed by 1/2 MIC meropenem (8 h-incubation) and 2 MIC meropenem (16 h-incubation) (1/2CIP-1/2MER-2MER), and initial 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition followed by 2 MIC ciprofloxacin(8 h-incubation) and 2 MIC meropenem(16 h-incubation) (1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER). No growth of K. pneumoniae was observed for the 2CIP throughout the incubation period. The numbers of planktonic cells varied with the treatments (7~10 log CFU/ml), while those of biofilm cells were not significantly different among treatments after 24-h incubation, showing approximately 7 log CFU/ml. Among the sequential treatments, the least mutant frequency was observed at the 1/2CIP-1/2MER-2CIP (14%). Compared to the CON, 1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER decreased the sensitivity of K. pneumoniae to piperacillin, cefotaxime, and nalidixic acid. The highest ${\beta}$-lactamase activity was 22 nmol/min/ml for 1/2CIP-1/2MER-2CIP, while the least ${\beta}$-lactamase activity was 6 nmol/min/ml for 1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER. The relative expression levels of multidrug efflux pump-related genes (acrA, acrB, and ramA) were increased more than 2-fold in K. pneumoniae exposed to 1/2CIP-1/2MER-2MER and 1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER. The results suggest that the sequential antibiotic treatments could change the antibiotic resistance profiles in K. pneumoniae.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1078-1089
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• 2017

Biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus is one of its mechanisms of drug resistance. Anti-biofilm screening of 106 compounds from marine-derived fungi displayed that 12 compounds inhibited S. aureus biofilm formation by >50% at the concentration of $100{\mu}g/ml$, and only secalonic acid D (SAD) and B inhibited by >90% at $6.25{\mu}g/ml$ without inhibiting cell growth after 24-h incubation. Meanwhile, it was found that the double bond between C-1 and C-10 of citrinin derivatives and the C-C connection position of two chromone monomers may be important for their anti-biofilm activities. Moreover, SAD slightly facilitated biofilm eradication and influenced its architecture. Furthermore, SAD slowed the cell growth rate in the preceding 18-h incubation and differentially regulated transcriptional expression of several genes, such as agr, isaA, icaA, and icaD, associated with biofilm formation in planktonic and biofilm cells, which may be the reason for the anti-biofilm activity of SAD. Finally, SAD acted synergistically against S. aureus growth and biofilm formation with other antibiotics. These findings indicated that various natural products from marine-derived fungi, such as SAD, could be used as a potential biofilm inhibitor against S. aureus.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1487-1497
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• 2016

Bacterial cell to cell communication strategies called quorum sensing (QS) using small diffusible signaling molecules (auto-inducers) govern the expression of various genes dependent on their population density manner. As a consequence of synthesis and response to the signaling molecules, individual planktonic cells synchronized group behaviors to control a diverse array of phenotypes such as maturation of biofilm, production of extra-polymeric substances (EPS), virulence, bioluminescence and antibiotic production. Many studies indicated that biofilm formations are associated with QS signaling molecules such as acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) mainly used by several Gram negative bacteria. The biofilm maturation causes undesirable biomass accumulation in various surface environments anywhere water is present called biofouling, which results in serious eco-technological problems. Numerous molecules that interfere the bacterial QS called quorum quenching (QQ), have been discovered from various microorganisms, and their functions and mechanisms associated with QS have also been elucidated. To resolve biofouling problems related to various industries, the novel approach based on QS interference has been emerged attenuating multi-drug resisting bacteria appearance and environmental toxicities, which may provide potential advantages over the conventional anti-biofouling approaches. Therefore this paper presents recent information related to bacterial quorum sensing system, quorum quenching enzymes that can control the QS signaling, and lastly discuss the anti-biofouling approaches using the quorum quenching.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.4328-4334
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• 2015

We determined a method to determine marine planktonic organism viability using Evan's blue, Aniline blue, and 5-choromethyfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA). The Evan's blue and Aniline blue methods produced bright blue light for dead phytoplankton and zooplankton and were the best dyes to detect dead cells. The staining efficiency of Evan's blue and Aniline blue were ${\geq}90%$ of the original field sample. However, it was difficult to test the efficiency of a ship's ballast water treatment system because detection of living cells. In contrast, the CMFDA method, which is based on measuring cell esterase activity using a fluorimetric stain, was the best dye to detect live cells of almost all phytoplankton species, and staining efficiency was 70%. The CMFDA method is similar to the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) staining method. Therefore, we estimated viability of phytoplankton species using a double-staining method by combining CMFDA and FDA to determine optimum staining efficiency. As a result, the frequency of dying cells based on the double-staining method was 95%, which was significantly higher than that of single CMDFA staining. Our results suggest that a CMDFA + FDA assay is more effective to determine survival of marine plankton and that this method was applicable to investigate the efficacy of a ship's ballast water treatment system.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.158-170
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• 2016

We investigated the occurrence of the dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium in the nineteen Korean coastal sites from July to October 2013. Alexandrium-like planktonic cells were microscopically observed only in four out of the 19 sampling sites. From the samples containing Alexandrium-like cells 22 clonal cultures of Alexandrium species were established by single cell or single chain isolation method. Taxonomic identity of the 4 different strains ascertained by the robust analyses of morphological and molecular genetic characteristics were confirmed to be A. catenella, A. affine, A. fraterculus and an unidentified Alexandrium sp. for which strain WEB-Alex-01 was assigned. It was ascertained that in spite of hot summer diverse Alexandrium species attaining up to four were distributed in the study area, in contrast with the long empirical recognition that the emergence of Alexandrium species is restricted to cooler seasons like spring or autumn in Korean coastal waters. Morphology and genetic characteristics of Alexandrium sp. strain WEB-Alex-01 are different from any other previously reported Alexandrium species from Korean seas, which implies that further studies on taxonomic, physiological, ecological and toxicological properties of the newly recorded Alexandrium species are needed.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.233-241
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• 2012

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a technique that involves the activation of photosensitizer by light in the presence of tissue oxygen, resulting in the production of reactive radicals capable of inducing cell death. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of PDT on Streptococcus mutans in planktonic conditions, previously treated with different photosensitive concentrations of erythrosine, using halogen and LED curing unit as a light source. And we compared the effects of PDT on six strains of S. mutans isolated from oral cavity and reference strain. As a result, S. mutans was susceptible to the combination of hand held photopolymerizer (HHP) and erythrosine. The higher concentration of erythrosine in the presence of light irradiation induced greater effects in reduction of viability of S. mutans. Isolated S. mutans showed a significant reduction in bacterial counts of the groups submitted to PDT compared to the control groups. And they appeared to be similar or slightly lower antimicrobial effect compared with reference strain. However, the difference was not significant (p < 0.05). In conclusion, PDT using erythrosine as a photosensitizing agent and HHP as a light source could be an efficient option for diseases caused by S. mutans.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.224-236
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• 2015

We conducted the algicidal activity screening tests using 10 L microcosm to investigate the possibility of the field application of naphthoquinone derivative Nq 4-6 compound as an algicide. We determined its application range to assess its algicidal effects on the phytoplankton and to evaluate the response of the planktonic community and the water environment to this chemical. From results of the microcosm experiments, Nq 4-6 compound showed high algicidal activity on the centric diatoms such as Stephanodiscus hantzschii and Cyclotella meneghiniana, but it had no effect on other phytoplankton. The abundance of S. hantzschii continuously increased in the control, but its cell density decreased 1 day after the Nq 4-6 treatment. In particular, Nq 4-6 showed algicidal activity of 94.4% against S. hantzschii 7 days after the treatment. The dominance index of phytoplankton community was lower in the treatment than in the control. The diversity index, richness index and evenness index of phytoplankton community was higher in the treatment. Environmental factors and biological factors did not show specific changes after the Nq 4-6 compound treatment. Therefore, the results of this study demonstrates that Nq 4-6 is an effective agent for the control of S. hantzschii blooms, and that the microcosm tests play a crucial role when assessing field application.