• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.391-397
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• 2014

Acid mine drainage occurrence is a serious environmental problem by mining industry; it usually contain high levels of metal ions, such as iron, copper, zinc, aluminum, and manganese, as well as metalloids of which arsenic is generally of greatest concern. It causes mine impacted soil pollution with mining and smelting activities, fossil fuel combustion, and waste disposal. In the present study, three bacterial strains capable of producing urease were isolated by selective enrichment of heavy metal contaminated soils from a minei-mpacted area. All isolated bacterial strains were identified Sporosarcina pasteurii with more than 98% of similarity, therefore they were named Sporosarcina sp. KM-01, KM-07, and KM-12. The heavy metals detected from the collected mine soils containing bacterial isolates as Mn ($170.50mg\;kg^{-1}$), As ($114.05mg\;kg^{-1}$), Zn ($92.07mg\;kg^{-1}$), Cu ($62.44mg\;kg^{-1}$), and Pb ($40.29mg\;kg^{-1}$). The KM-01, KM-07, and KM-12 strains were shown to be able to precipitate calcium carbonate using urea as a energy source that was amended with calcium chloride. SEM-EDS analyses showed that calcium carbonate was successfully produced and increased with time. To confirm the calcium carbonate precipitation ability, urease activity and precipitate weight were also measured and compared. These results demonstrate that all isolated bacterial strains could potentially be used in the bioremediation of acidic soil contaminated by heavy metals by mining activity.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 2001

Many Staphylococcus aureus strains produce enterotoxins causing food poisoning. Staphylococcal enterotoxins are classified by serological criteria into five major groups - subtype A to E. It is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to detect staphylococcal enterotoxins in the clinical laboratory. In this study, we fried to detect the enterotoxin genes of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from clinical specimens and Kimbap - rice rolled in a sheet of laver - using multiplex PCR technique. A total of 77 strains of Staphylococcus aureus from clinical specimens and 78 strains from Kimbap were isolated. Among clinical isolates of S. aureus, 60 strains (78.0%) were identified as producing enterotoxins. A total offs strains (91.6%) in the 60 staphylococcal enterotoxin producing strains were enterotoxin subtype C. In case of kimbap: 43 (55.1%) strains were detected to produce enterotoxins and 39 (90.6%) enterotoxin producing strains were subtype A.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.203-207
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• 2009

A homoisoflavanone, 7,4'-dihydroxyhomoisoflavanone (1) and a flavanone, (2S)-7,4'-dihydroxy-5-methoxyflavanone (2), were isolated from the rhizomes of Anemarrhena asphodeloides, together with 4,4'-dihydroxychalcon (3), 2'-O-methylphlorethin (4), 1,3-bis-di-p-hydroxyphenyl-4-penten-1-one (5), and 2,4'-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (6) on the basis of spectroscopic and physicochemical analyses including 1Dand 2D- NMR techniques as well as by comparison of their data with the published values. Compounds 1 - 4 were isolated for the first time from this plant source. Among isolates, compound 2 exhibited moderate inhibitory effect on the differentiation of pre-adipocyte 3T3-L1 cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.482-490
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• 2018

Candida albicans infections are often problematic to treat owing to antifungal resistance, as such infections are mostly associated with biofilms. The ability of C. albicans to switch from a budding yeast to filamentous hyphae and to adhere to host cells or various surfaces supports biofilm formation. Previously, the ethanol extract from Paeonia lactiflora was reported to inhibit cell wall synthesis and cause depolarization and permeabilization of the cell membrane in C. albicans. In this study, the P. lactiflora extract was found to significantly reduce the initial stage of C. albicans biofilms from 12 clinical isolates by 38.4%. Thus, to assess the action mechanism, the effect of the P. lactiflora extract on the adhesion of C. albicans cells to polystyrene and germ tube formation was investigated using a microscopic analysis. The density of the adherent cells was diminished following incubation with the P. lactiflora extract in an acidic medium. Additionally, the P. lactiflora-treated C. albicans cells were mostly composed of less virulent pseudohyphae, and ruptured debris was found in the serum-containing medium. A quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that P. lactiflora downregulated the expression of C. albicans hypha-specific genes: ALS3 by 65% (p = 0.004), ECE1 by 34.9% (p = 0.001), HWP1 by 29.2% (p = 0.002), and SAP1 by 37.5% (p = 0.001), matching the microscopic analysis of the P. lactiflora action on biofilm formation. Therefore, the current findings demonstrate that the P. lactiflora ethanol extract is effective in inhibiting C. albicans biofilms in vitro, suggesting its therapeutic potential for the treatment of biofilm-associated infections.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.129-135
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• 2015

Purpose: This study investigated the long-term clinical outcomes of patients with $p22^{phox}$-deficient chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) on Jeju Island and retrospectively evaluated the effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) prophylaxis. Methods: The medical records of 15 patients with CGD were retrospectively reviewed. The efficacy of IFN-${\gamma}$ prophylaxis was evaluated by comparing the frequency of severe infections before and after starting continuous prophylaxis with IFN-${\gamma}$. Results: At the time of the analysis, 14 patients were alive, with a median age of 14.3 years. The diagnosis of CGD was made at a median age of 2.4 years, and the median age at onset of severe infection was 0.3 years. Thirteen of the 15 patients had their first severe infection within the first year of life. The overall incidence of severe infection was 1.36 infections per patient-year; pneumonia, suppurative lymphadenitis, and skin and subcutaneous abscesses were the most common infections. Aspergillus species were the most frequently isolated microorganisms, present in 15.8% of isolates. IFN-${\gamma}$ did not significantly change the rate of severe infection. The survival rate for patients after 2 years of age was 93%; there was a prolonged survival plateau beyond the age of 2. Conclusion: Compared with cases of X-linked CGD reported in other studies, patients with CGD on Jeju Island did not show obviously different clinical manifestations, but they had a significantly higher survival rate. Further studies with a substantially longer period of observation, and with more patients under intensive surveillance are necessary to elucidate the prophylactic efficiency of IFN-${\gamma}$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1123-1132
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• 2013

The removal of toxic Cr(VI) by microorganisms is a promising approach for Cr(VI) pollution remediation. In the present study, four indigenous bacteria, named LY1, LY2, LY6, and LY7, were isolated from Cr(VI)-contaminated soil. Among the four Cr(VI)-resistant isolates, strain LY6 displayed the highest Cr(VI)-removing ability, with 100 mg/l Cr(VI) being completely removed within 144 h. It could effectively remove Cr(VI) over a wide pH range from 5.5 to 9.5, with the optimal pH of 8.5. The amount of Cr(VI) removed increased with initial Cr(VI) concentration. Data from the time-course analysis of Cr(VI) removal by strain LY6 followed first-order kinetics. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain LY6 was identified as Pseudochrobactrum asaccharolyticum, a species that had never been reported for Cr(VI) removal before. Transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis further confirmed that strain LY6 could accumulate chromium within the cell while conducting Cr(VI) removal. The results suggested that the indigenous bacterial strain LY6 would be a new candidate for potential application in Cr(VI) pollution bioremediation.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.316-320
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• 2008

Ten compounds, (+)-pinoresinol (1), (-)-balanophonin (2), gallicin (3), vanillin (4), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (5), coniferaldehyde (6), betulinic acid (7), ursolic acid (8), 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (9), and malic acid (10), were isolated from a EtOAc-soluble fraction of the seeds of Cornus officinalis. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods as well as by comparison with reported values. Compounds 1, 2, and 4-7 were isolated from this species for the first time. All the isolates (1-10) were subjected to an in vitro bioassay to evaluate their inhibitory activity against advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formation. Among these, compounds 2 and 3 showed the significant inhibitory activity on AGEs formation with $IC_{50}$ values of 27.81 and 18.04${\mu}M$, respectively.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.25 no.4 s.83
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• pp.276-290
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• 1997

Eleven species of Pythium were identified from 125 isolates collected from leaf blight lesions on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), and zoysiagrasses (Zoysia japonica Steud., and Z. matrella (L.) Merr.) at 35 golf courses in Korea in $1990{\sim}1996$. The identified species included P. aphanidermatum, P. arrhenomanes, P. catenulatum, P. graminicola, P. myriotylum, P. oligandrum, P. periplocum, P. rostratum, P. torulosum, P. ultimum var. ultimum, and P. vanterpoolii. Mycological characteristics of sporangia, oogonia, antheridia, and oospores observed on the sucrose-asparagine bentgrass leaf culture medium were described for each species. Of the species, P. arrhenomanes, P. catenulatum, P. gmminicola, P. oligandrum, P. periplocum, P. rostratum, P. torulosum and P. vanterpoolii were reported for the first time in Korea. P. myriotylum, P. rostratum, P. torulosum and P. vanterpoolii showed characteristic colony patterns on the potato-carrot agar medium, which can be used as criteria for species identification of Pythium.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2016

In the present study, fast and robust methods for the next generation sequencing (NGS) were developed for analysis of PRRSV full genome sequences, which is a positive sensed RNA virus with a high degree of genetic variability among isolates. Two strains of PRRSVs (VR2332 and VR2332-R) which have been maintained in our laboratory were used to validate our methods and to compare with the sequence registered in GenBank (GenBank accession no. EF536003). The results suggested that both of strains had 100% coverage with the reference; the VR2332 had the coverage depth from minimum 3 to maximum 23,012, for the VR2332-R from minimum 3 to maximum 41,348, and 22,712 as an average depth. Genomic data produced from the massive sequencing capacities of the NGS have enabled the study of PRRSV at an unprecedented rate and details. Unlike conventional sequence methods which require the knowledge of conserved regions, the NGS allows de novo assembly of the full viral genomes. Therefore, our results suggested that these methods using the NGS massively facilitate the generation of more full genome PRRSV sequences locally as well as nationally in regard of saving time and cost.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1985

Three strains (JC1, JC2, and HY1) of aerobic carbon monoxide (CO)-utilizing Acinetobacter were isolated from soil through CO-enrichment culture technique. All of them were Gram-negative, nonmotile, and rod-shated but they were changed to spherical form at the end of logarithmic phase. They were resistant to penicillin and able to frow at $42^{\circ}C$. The guanine plus cytosine contents of the DNAs ranged from 43 to 44.5 mol%. Oxidase was not present in all cells. The colonies were smooth and whitish yellow. Heterotrophic growth occurred on several sugars, organic acids, amino acids, and alcohols. The doubling times under and atmosphere of 30% CO and 70% air at $30^{\circ}C$ were 19h, 25h, and 35h, respectively, for JC1, JC2, and HY1, JC1 was studied in more detail. The cells were grown optimally in a mineral medium (pH 6.8) under a gas mixture of 30% CO and 70% air at $30^{\circ}C$. Growth of the cells with CO did not depend on molybdenum. It was able to grow with 100 ppm of CO in air as a sole source of carbon and energy.