• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.508-514
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• 2009

This study investigated the production of catalase from Bul-kyo soil bacteria through fermentation process. Isolation and selection of bacteria was performed through chemical and physiological analysis. Catalases were produced from bacteria which belong to 3 different species (Bacillaceae bacterium BKBChE-1, Bacillus sp. BKBChE-2, Bacillus flexus BKBChE-3) confirmed by using 16S rDNA sequence method. The catalases were found to be stable in the temperature range of $30^{\circ}C-60^{\circ}C$ for BKBChE-1, BKBChE-2 and BKBChE-3 and also in the pH range of 9.0-12.0 for BKBChE-1 and BKBChE-3. Long-term stability of the catalases was about 20 days at $4^{\circ}C$. However, BKBChE-2 has kept its activity over 30 days at $4^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 1993

Plasmid DNAs were detected from the mitochondrial fraction of four strains of whiterot fungus, Pleurotus ostreatus. The size of the plasmids were 10.2 and 7.2 kb in strain NFFA 2, 10.2 kb in NFFA 4001, 11.2 kb in NFFA 4501, and 10.2 and 11.2 kb in KFCC 11635. The two strains,NFFA 2ml and NFFA 2m2, which are mutant derivatives of NFFA 2, did not contain any plasmids. The cleavage by proteinase K indicated that these plasmids have DNA ends associated with proteins. In digestion with proteinase K all the plasm ids remained resistant to lambda exonuclease which hydrolyzes DNA from 5' ends and were sensitive to exonuclease III which hydrolyzes DNA from 3' ends. This suggests that the plasmids are linear double-stranded DNA and the terminal proteins are covalently linked to 5' ends of plasm ids. In order to find relationship between these plasmids, hybridization of plasm ids by each separate plasmid DNA was done. The result indicated that the plasmids can be classified into at least 3 groups. Plasmids of group I were present in all the P ostreatus. More mitochondrial plasmids were detected in P cornucopiae. P ,florida, P pulmonarius, P sajor-caju, and P spodoleucus. The size of plasmids ranged between 7.2 kb and 14 kb. All the species except P cornucopiae contained plasmids of approximately 10 kb which hybridized with the 10.2 kb plasmid (group I) of P ostreatus NFFA 2.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.668-675
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• 2005

A full-length cDNA encoding taxadiene synthase (designated as TmTXS), which catalyzes the first committed step in the Taxol biosynthetic pathway, was isolated from young leaves of Taxus media by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA of TmTXS had a 2586 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 862 amino acid residues. The deduced protein had isoelectric point (pI) of 5.32 and a calculated molecular weight of about 98 kDa, similar to previously cloned diterpene cyclases from other Taxus species such as T. brevifolia and T. chinenisis. Sequence comparison analysis showed that TmTXS had high similarity with other members of terpene synthase family of plant origin. Tissue expression pattern analysis revealed that TmTXS expressed strongly in leaves, weak in stems and no expression could be detected in fruits. This is the first report on the mRNA expression profile of genes encoding key enzymes involved in Taxol biosynthetic pathway in different tissues of Taxus plants. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that TmTXS had closest relationship with taxadiene synthase from T. baccata followed by those from T. chinenisis and T. brevifolia. Expression profiles revealed by RT-PCR under different chemical elicitor treatments such as methyl jasmonate (MJ), silver nitrate (SN) and ammonium ceric sulphate (ACS) were also compared for the first time, and the results revealed that expression of TmTXS was all induced by the tested three treatments and the induction effect by MJ was the strongest, implying that TmTXS was high elicitor responsive.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.68-75
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• 2006

In higher plants, P450s participate in the biosynthesis of many important secondary metabolites. Here we reported for the first time the isolation of a new cytochrome P450 cDNA that expressed in a stem-specific manner from Camptotheca acuminata (designated as CaSS), a native medicinal plant species in China, using RACE-PCR. The full-length cDNA of CaSS was 1735 bp long containing a 1530 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 509 amino acids. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that CASS contained a heme-binding domain PFGXGRRXCX and showed homology to other plant cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and hydroxylases. Southern blotting analysis revealed that there was only one copy of the CaSS present in the genome of Camptotheca acuminata. Northern blotting analysis revealed that CaSS expressed, in a tissue-specific manner, highly in stem and lowly in root, leaf and flower. Our study suggests that CaSS is likely to be involved in the phenylpropanoid pathway.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.83-87
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• 2006

A new commercial strain "Gumbit" of golden oyster mushroom was developed by hyphal anastomosis. It was improved with hybridization between monokaryotic strain derived from ASI 2295 and ASI 2703. The optimum temperature of mycelial growth and fruiting body development were $25{\sim}30^{\circ}C$ and $19{\sim}24^{\circ}C$, respectively. The pileus was golden to brilliant yellow color. Commercial strain "Gumbit" was not as prolific as the more commonly cultivated Pleurotus ostreatus in the conversion of substrate mass to mushrooms. However, cultivator can save money for mushroom growing on high-temperature season as like summer in Korea. Since picking individual mushrooms is tedious and often damages the fragile fruiting bodies compared with other species of oyster mushrooms.

• ALGAE
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.213-231
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• 2013

Amphidinium massartii Biecheler is an epiphytic and toxic dinoflagellate. Prior to the present study, A. massartii has been reported in the waters off the Mediterranean, Australian, USA, and Canadian coasts. We isolated Amphidinium cells from the coastal waters of Jeju Island, Korea and their morphology and rDNA sequences indicated that they were A. massartii. Herein, we report for the first time the occurrence of A. massartii in the waters of the temperate region in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The large subunit (LSU) rDNA sequences of the Korean strains were 0.7% different from those of an Australian strain of A. massartii CS-259, the closest species, but were 4.1-5.8% different from those of the other Australian strains and the USA strains of A. massartii and from those of Amphidinium sp. HG115 that was isolated from subtropical Okinawan waters. In phylogenetic trees based on LSU, internal transcribed spacer, small subunit rDNA, and cytochrome b sequences, the Korean strains belonged to the A. massartii clade, which was clearly divergent from the A. carterae clade. The morphology of the Korean A. massartii strains was similar to that of the originally described French strain and recently described Australian strain. However, we report for the first time here that scales were observed on the surface of the flagella. In conclusion, the Korean A. massartii strains have unique rDNA sequences, even though they have a very similar morphology to that of previously reported strains. This report extends the known range of this dinoflagellate to the temperate waters of the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2005

Lipase-producing bacteria (S3) were isolated from intertidal flat at Saemanguem. A isolated strain was identified as Psychrobacter species by physiological and fermentational characterization as well as 16S rRNA analysis. The strain was then named as Psychrobacter sp. S3. P. sp. S3 grew most rapidly at $30^{\circ}C$, but grew well even at $10^{\circ}C$ and its lipase activity was most high when cultivated at $20^{\circ}C$. Lipase S3 had optimum temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ for the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl caproate and had more than $80^{\circ}C$ activity even at $10^{\circ}C$. The activation energy was calculated to be 1.5 kcal/mol, which showed that it was a typical cold-adapted enzyme. It was an alkaline enzyme with optimum pH of $9.0\~9.5$. It could hydrolyze various length of triglycerides. Among them, it hydrolyzed most rapidly $C_4,\;C_{14},\; C_{16}-length$ triglycerides. When added to tributyrin-agarose gel, lipase S3 hydrolyzed tributyrin most rapidly at 30 and $40^{\circ}C$, but it could hydrolyze well even at $4^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.241-244
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• 2013

Nitrate is one of the major nutrients in plants, and nitrate fertilizer often overused for the high yields of crops. Nitrate deposit in soil became one of the major reasons causing salt stress. Specially, salt stress is a serious problem in the soils of plastic film or glass houses. In this study, six microorganisms have been isolated from the wet soils near the disposals of livestock farms and their nitrate uptake activities were investigated. These bacteria were able to remove nitrate as high as 1,000-3,000 ppm (10-50 mM). The strain PCE3 showed the highest nitrate uptake activity and it removed more than 3,700 ppm. In order to identify these bacteria, genes of 16S rRNA were sequenced and analyzed. Phylogenetic trees were constructed with the neighbor-joining methods. Among these bacteria, strain PCE3 was identified as Bacillus species. When the growth and nitrate uptake activities were measured, both were maximal at $37^{\circ}C$ and optimal pH was pH 7-9. Bacillus sp. PCE3 removed nitrate up to 40-60 mM (2,500-3,700 ppm) depending on the nitrate concentration in media. Therefore, Bacillus sp. PCE3 can be a good candidate for the microbial remediation of nitrate-deposited soils in glass and plastic film houses.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.130-135
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• 2002

Species of Genus Trichoderma are commercially applied as biological control agents against fungal Pathogens. A powerful biocontrol agent, Trichoderma sp. SJG-99721 was isolated from 305 isolates by morphological characters, chitinase activities and antifungal activities against Phytophthora capsiei. The isolate was identified as Trichoderma harzianum from various features such as growth rate at $27^\circ{C}$, significant growth ratio of $27^\circ{C}$ to $17^\circ{C}$, amount of aerial mycelium, types of branching: system, and disposition patterns of phialide and phialospore. Trichoderma harzianum SJG-99721 have been shown to act as a powerful biological agent against fungal phytopathogens; Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani, Phytophthora cryptogea, Phytophthora capsiei, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Mycoshaerella melonis, Alternaria sotani, Fusarium oxysporum, Collectotrichum gloesporioodes, Alternaria alternata, Phythium ultimum, Phytophthora drechsleri, Pyricularia grisea.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.396-403
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• 2014

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) is an economically valuable pharmaceutical crop in Korea. In order to find promising biocontrol agents for soil-borne fungal pathogens which infect ginseng roots, we have isolated actinomycete, BK185 from soil. The isolate was investigated for the antifungal activity against to ginseng rot pathogens prior to testing genetic and chemical properties. The strain was identified as Streptomyces sp. using phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence. The most closely related species was S. sporoclivatus and S. geldanamycininus with high similarities (>99%). The isolate, BK185 showed positive reaction for PCR detection targeting biosynthetic gene clusters of PKS (Type-I polyketide synthase) and NRPS (Non-ribosomal polypeptide synthetase) genes. Major metabolite from the BK185 was analyzed by The LC/MS and identified to geldamycin, which was known to contained broad antibacterial, antifungal or anticancer activities. The results provide evidences that the strain, BK185 can be promising biocontrol agent for ginseng organic farming.