• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권9호
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• pp.1518-1521
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• 2008

Bacteria sense their population density and coordinate the expression of target genes, including virulence factors in Gram-negative bacteria, by the N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs)-dependent quorum sensing (QS) mechanism. In contrast, several soil bacteria are able to interfere with QS by enzymatic degradation of AHLs, referred to as quorum quenching. A potent AHL-degrading enzyme, AiiA, from Bacillus thuringiensis has been reported to effectively attenuate the virulence of bacteria by quorum quenching. However, little is known about the role of AiiA in B. thuringiensis itself. In the present study, an aiiA-defective mutant was generated to investigate the role of AHA in rhizosphere competence in the root system of pepper. The aiiA mutant showed no detectable AHL￢-egrading activity and was less effective for suppression of soft-rot symptom caused by Erwinia carotovora on the potato slice. On the pepper root, the survival rate of the aiiA mutant significantly decreased over time compared with that of wild type. Interestingly, viable cell count analysis revealed that the bacterial number and composition of E. carotovora were not different between treatments of wild type and the aiiA mutant. These results provide evidence that AHA can play an important role in rhizosphere competentce of B. thuringiensis and bacterial quorum quenching to Gram-negative bacteria without changing bacterial number or composition.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권10호
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• pp.1746-1754
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• 2016

Recently, spherical beads entrapping quorum quenching (QQ) bacteria have been reported as effective moving QQ-media for biofouling control in MBRs for wastewater treatment owing to their combined effects of biological (i.e., quorum quenching) and physical washing. Taking into account both the mass transfer of signal molecules through the QQ-medium and collision efficiencies of the QQ-medium against the filtration membranes in a bioreactor, a cylindrical medium (QQ-cylinder) was developed as a new shape of moving QQ-medium. The QQ-cylinders were compared with previous QQ-beads in terms of the QQ activity and the physical washing effect under identical loading volumes of each medium in batch tests. It was found that the QQ activity of a QQ-medium was highly dependent on its specific surface area, regardless of the shape of the medium. In contrast, the physical washing effect of a QQ-medium was greatly affected by its geometric structure. The enhanced anti-biofouling property of the QQ-cylinders relative to QQ-beads was confirmed in a continuous laboratory-scale MBR with a flat-sheet membrane module.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권6호
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• pp.937-945
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• 2020

N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-mediated quorum sensing (QS) plays a major role in development of biofilms, which contribute to rise in infections and biofouling in water-related industries. Interference in QS, called quorum quenching (QQ), has recieved a lot of attention in recent years. Rhodococcus spp. are known to have prominent quorum quenching activity and in previous reports it was suggested that this genus possesses multiple QQ enzymes, but only one gene, qsdA, which encodes an AHL-lactonase belonging to phosphotriesterase family, has been identified. Therefore, we conducted a whole genome sequencing and analysis of Rhodococcus sp. BH4 isolated from a wastewater treatment plant. The sequencing revealed another gene encoding a QQ enzyme (named jydB) that exhibited a high AHL degrading activity. This QQ enzyme had a 46% amino acid sequence similarity with the AHL-lactonase (AidH) of Ochrobactrum sp. T63. HPLC analysis and AHL restoration experiments by acidification revealed that the jydB gene encodes an AHL-lactonase which shares the known characteristics of the α/β hydrolase family. Purified recombinant JydB demonstrated a high hydrolytic activity against various AHLs. Kinetic analysis of JydB revealed a high catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_M) against C4-HSL and 3-oxo-C6 HSL, ranging from 1.88 x 10⁶ to 1.45 x 10⁶ M^-1 s^-1, with distinctly low K_M values (0.16-0.24 mM). This study affirms that the AHL degrading activity and biofilm inhibition ability of Rhodococcus sp. BH4 may be due to the presence of multiple quorum quenching enzymes, including two types of AHL-lactonases, in addition to AHL-acylase and oxidoreductase, for which the genes have yet to be described.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권11호
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• pp.1574-1582
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• 2014

Bacteria recognize changes in their population density by sensing the concentration of signal molecules, N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs). AHL-mediated quorum sensing (QS) plays a key role in biofilm formation, so the interference of QS, referred to as quorum quenching (QQ), has received a great deal of attention. A QQ strategy can be applied to membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for advanced wastewater treatment to control biofouling. To isolate QQ bacteria that can inhibit biofilm formation, we isolated diverse AHL-degrading bacteria from a laboratory-scale MBR and sludge from real wastewater treatment plants. A total of 225 AHL-degrading bacteria were isolated from the sludge sample by enrichment culture. Afipia sp., Acinetobacter sp. and Streptococcus sp. strains produced the intracellular QQ enzyme, whereas Pseudomonas sp., Micrococcus sp. and Staphylococcus sp. produced the extracellular QQ enzyme. In case of Microbacterium sp. and Rhodococcus sp., AHL-degrading activities were detected in the whole-cell assay and Rhodococcus sp. showed AHL-degrading activity in cell-free lysate as well. There has been no report for AHL-degrading capability in the case of Streptococcus sp. and Afipia sp. strains. Finally, inhibition of biofilm formation by isolated QQ bacteria or enzymes was observed on glass slides and 96-well microtiter plates using crystal violet staining. QQ strains or enzymes not only inhibited initial biofilm development but also reduced established biofilms.

• 미생물학회지
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• 제50권2호
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• pp.128-136
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• 2014

Acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) 분해효소인 lactonase는 높은 기질 특이성을 지니기 때문에 경제적이고 효율적인 쿼럼 저해 기술로 이용될 가능성을 지니고 있다. 본 연구에서는 Chromobacterium violaceum CV026과 Agrobacterium tumefaciens NTL4를 바이오센서로 이용하여 biofouling이 일어난 역삼투막 시료로부터 쿼럼 센싱과 관련된 생물막 형성을 억제하는 6종의 균주를 분리 연구하였다. 분리된 균주는 모두 Bacillus 속으로 동정되었으며, AHL 분자의 acyl 사슬 길이나 치환 종류에 상관 없이 쿼럼 저해활성을 보여주었다. 균주들은 Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1에 의한 생물막 형성을 46.7-58.3% 정도 감소시켰으며 이 때 저해물질은 열처리에 민감한 특성을 보여주었다. 분리 균주 중 RO1S-5를 이용하여 N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C12 AHL)과 반응시킨 결과, 상응하는 acyl homoserine (3-oxo-C12-HS)이 생성되는 것을 LC-MS로 확인하여 쿼럼 저해가 lactonase 활성에 의한 것임을 규명하였다. AHL 물질에 대한 높은 특이성 등을 감안할 때 분리 균주 RO1S-5는 생물막 형성과 관련된 질병이나 산업공정 중 발생하는 biofouling을 해결하는데 유용하게 쓰일 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.552-560
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• 2017

Quorum quenching (QQ) bacteria entrapped in a polymeric composite hydrogel (QQ medium) have been successfully applied in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for effective biofouling control. However, in order to bring QQ technology closer to practice, the physical strength and lifetime of QQ media should be improved. In this study, enforcement of physical strength, as well as an extension of the lifetime of a previously reported QQ bacteria entrapping hollow cylinder (QQ-HC), was sought by adding a dehydration procedure following the cross-linking of the polymeric hydrogel by inorganic compounds like $Ca^{2+}$ and boric acid. Such prepared medium demonstrated enhanced physical strength possibly through an increased degree of physical cross-linking. As a result, a longer lifetime of QQ-HCs was confirmed, which led to improved biofouling mitigation performance of QQ-HC in an MBR. Furthermore, QQ-HCs stored under dehydrated condition showed higher QQ activity when the storage time lasted more than 90 days owing to enhanced cell viability. In addition, the dormant QQ activity after the dehydration step could be easily restored through reactivation with real wastewater, and the reduced weight of the dehydrated media is expected to make handling and transportation of QQ media highly convenient and economical in practice.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.548-556
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• 2022

Quorum quenching 활성을 나타내는 acylase 효소는 생물막 형성에 중요한 영향을 미친다. 본 연구에서는 acylase 처리 조건(acylase 처리 시기 및 기간)이 다종 생물막(multispecies biofilm) 형성에 미치는 영향을 규명하였다. 서로 다른 속(genus)에 속하는 9종의 박테리아로 구성된 컨소시엄을 사용하여 acylase 처리 조건에 따른 10가지 episode에서 다양한 acylase 농도(1, 5, 10, 20, 50 mg·l^-1)에 따라 5일 동안 생물막을 형성시켰다. 각 농도별로 5일 동안 acylase를 처리한 조건에서 acylase의 농도가 증가함에 따라 생물막 형성은 억제되었다(linear regression, Y = -0.05· x + 2.37, p < 0.05, R² = 0.88). 모든 acylase 농도 조건에서 acylase를 생물막이 형성된 후에 처리한 경우(L1-L4)에 비해서 생물막 형성 시작 단계에 처리한 경우(B1-B4) 생물막 형성이 더 효과적으로 억제되었다(p < 0.05). ANOVA 결과에 따르면 acylase 10 mg·l^-1 이상 농도에서 acylase 처리 기간(period)은 acylase 처리 시기(application timings, beginning or later)에 상관없이 생물막 형성에 영향을 미쳤다(p < 0.05). 각 농도별 처리 시기(L1-L4 또는 B1-B4)에서 처리 기간과 생물막 형성 사이의 선형 회귀 분석 결과에 따르면 acylase 10 mg·l^-1 이상 농도에서 acylase 처리 기간이 증가함에 따라 생물막 형성은 억제되었다(p < 0.05, 20 mg·l^-1 농도의 L1-L4 제외). 시간에 따른 생물막 형성 결과에 따르면 모든 10가지 episode에서 생물막은 시간에 따라 점차 증가했으며(p < 0.05), 배양 시간과 생물막 형성 사이의 선형 회귀 분석 기울기 값은 acylase를 생물막 형성 시작 단계에 처리했을 때 더 낮게 나타났다(p < 0.05). 본 연구 결과는 생물막 형성 억제에 대한 acylase의 처리 시기 및 기간의 중요성을 시사한다.