• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.288-294
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• 1986

The effects of ginseng saponin and its related materials on aflatoxin production by Aspergillus parasiticus NRRL2999 in yeast extract sucrose (YES) medium were studied. Maximal production of aflatoxins by the mold in the medium occurred after 9 days at $28^{\circ}C$. When various concentrations of ginseng saponin were added to the medium aflatoxin productions were significantly reduced (p<0.05) compared to the control after 9 days at $28^{\circ}C$. 0.05% of saponin in the medium greatly decreased aflatoxin synthesis, and no aflatoxins were synthesized by the mold in the medium contained 5.0% of saponin. When various concentrations of saponin diol and triol were added to the medium both ingibitory and sitimulatory effects on alfatoxin production were resulted. Saponin fraction numbers of 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 decreased aflatoxin production, however the numbers of 3 and 7 stimulated the toxin production. 0.05% of adenosine, guanosine, caffeine and xanthosine in the media inhibited aflatoxin production (p<0.05), but adenine and cytosine increased the production. When 5.0% of saponin was added to the medium aflatoxins were not synthesized at all, but total lipid synthesis and mold growth were highly stimulated. Both the synthesis of total lipid and mold growth were reduced in case of aflatoxin synthesis stimulated.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.307-313
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• 2016

To develop a functional strawberry Makgeolli, we produced Makgeolli using strawberry as an additive and then investigated its physicochemical properties. Among 7 different alcohol-fermenting yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae JSK104 produced 17.4% ethanol on the 7th day of fermentation and was selected for use in the brewing of strawberry Makgeolli. Changes in physicochemical properties, numbers of yeast and lactic acid bacteria, and antihypertensive angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory activity were investigated during the fermentation of strawberry Makgeolli. The pH tended to decrease and the total acidity increased as the fermentation period elapsed. The ethanol content reached about 17% on the 7th day after fermentation, and the numbers of yeast and lactic acid bacteria reached a maximum on the 1st day of fermentation and then maintained a constant number. The antihypertensive angiotensin-converting enzyme activity reached a maximum after 5 days of fermentation and then was not significantly changed afterwards.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1617-1621
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• 2007

The 21 Kimchi samples collected by a contest for the best Kimchi homemaker in Jeonju were analysed to find major microbial composition and the correlation between sensory scores and the microbial properties, which include total microbial numbers, dominant strain number, subdominant strain number, yeast strain numbers, and floral diversity. The most common microbial composition of the Kimchi samples was Leuconostoc mesenteroides as dominant strain, and Lactobacillus sakei as subdominant strain, the pattern of which was also observed in all three Kimchi samples with the highest sensory scores, but not in all three Kimchi samples with the lowest sensory scores. However none of the other examined properties showed any significant correlation to sensory scores. This result means that the taste of fermented Kimchi depends mainly on the composition of bacterial species and that of Leuconostoc mesenteroides as dominant strain and Lactobacillus sakei as subdominant strain is the best for good taste. Yeast strains were found in the range of $3.8{\sim}4.6log\;CFU/g$ from 8 Kimchi samples and all the strains were identified to be Saccharomyces servazzii. However, fungi were not detected from any of the Kimchi. samples.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 1998

Results obtained from this research showed that the anaerobic contact process was applicable to pear waste with COD removal efficiencies of up to $95\%$ depending on conditions, provided ammonium and phosphate salts were added as well as other nutrients, present in the commercial fertilizer, Milorganite or in yeast extract. These latter materials were required in minimum concentrations of 5 and 1.5 g/L, respectively, in the feed independent of HRT and volatile solids loading rate, with part of the effect due to the mineral fraction. Digestion was satisfactory over the whole range of volatile solids loading rates and liquid retention time of 30 to 0.5 days tested, although treatment efficiency dropped off noticeably between 1 and 0.5 day liquid retention time because of poorer flocculation and separation of anaerobic bacteria. Settling of anaerobic bacteria including methane producing bacteria was related to settling of mixed liquor suspended solids only at 1 to 5 days liquid retention times, at other liquid retention times anaerobic microorganism settled markedly less efficiently than mixed liquor suspended solids. Further studies are being made to provide information of practical and basic interest. Data on the composition of the active fraction of yeast extract might solve many practical nutrient problems encountered with the anaerobic contact process and improve its economics. Further improvement in the flocculation and settling of anaerobic bacteria as well as other bacteria would improve overall performance and allow the use of shorter liquid retention times with dilute waste. Knowledge about the numbers of methane formers present would allow a degree of understanding and control of the process not presently attainable.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.2112-2118
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• 2017

Leuconostoc mesenteroides is used as a starter to produce high-quality kimchi products. In this study, an efficient and economical cabbage juice medium (CJM) was developed by process optimization of cabbage extraction and pasteurization and by compositional supplementation of various lacking nutrients. The pasteurized cabbage juice was determined to be a good medium candidate to cultivate L. mesenteroides, showing maximal cell numbers ($9.85{\times}10^8CFU/ml$) after 24 h. Addition of sucrose and yeast extract with soy peptone resulted in increment of bacterial cell counts in CJM, showing the supplementing effect of the lacking nutrients. Furthermore, addition of shell powder gave a protective effect on bacterial cells by preventing pH decline and organic acid accumulation in CJM, resulting in a 2-fold increase of bacterial counts. The optimized composition of CJM was 70% cabbage juice diluted with water, 0.5% (w/v) sucrose, 1% (w/v) yeast extract, 1% (w/v) soy peptone, and 1.5% (w/v) ark shell powder. The CJM developed in this study was able to yield a comparable level of bacterial counts with MRS medium and reduced the cost by almost 10-fold.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.304-312
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• 2013

The thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha is attracting interest as a potential strain for the production of recombinant proteins and biofuels. However, only limited numbers of genome engineering tools are currently available for H. polymorpha. In the present study, we identified the HpPOL3 gene encoding the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase ${\delta}$ of H. polymorpha and mutated the sequence encoding conserved amino acid residues that are important for its proofreading 3'${\rightarrow}$5' exonuclease activity. The resulting $HpPOL3^*$ gene encoding the error-prone proofreading-deficient DNA polymerase ${\delta}$ was cloned under a methanol oxidase promoter to construct the mutator plasmid pHIF8, which also contains additional elements for site-specific chromosomal integration, selection, and excision. In a H. polymorpha mutator strain chromosomally integrated with pHIF8, a $URA3^-$ mutant resistant to 5-fluoroorotic acid was generated at a 50-fold higher frequency than in the wild-type strain, due to the dominant negative expression of $HpPOL3^*$. Moreover, after obtaining the desired mutant, the mutator allele was readily removed from the chromosome by homologous recombination to avoid the uncontrolled accumulation of additional mutations. Our mutator system, which depends on the accumulation of random mutations that are incorporated during DNA replication, will be useful to generate strains with mutant phenotypes, especially those related to unknown or multiple genes on the chromosome.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.500-506
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• 2017

Kimchi cabbage is one of the four major vegetable crops in Korea. The total annual production of kimchi cabbage, the main material of kimchi, was 20,559 tons in 2015. Kimchi cabbage is one of the majer crops produced by farmers which accounts for about 80% of the total leaf vegetable production in Korea. As the consumption of environmental-friendly agricultural products increases, food safety is one of the major public health concerns. We analyzed the biological hazards of kimchi cabbage produced by two types of cultivation methos such as organic farming and conventional farming using various culture media and microscopy. A total of 432 samples were analysed for presence of sanitary indicator microorganisms (aerobic plate count, coliform count, yeast & mold) and food-borne pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, environmental Listeria, Bacillus cereus). The population of sanitary indicating microorganisms and food borne pathogens was under 5 Log CFU/g in all tested samples. The results of total microorganism numbers of leaf surface showed a positive correlation to those of soil samples. Additionally, we examined chemical factors such as pesticide residues and heavy metals in soil samples. All tested samples did not shown contamination levels higher than the standard limit.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2012

In this study, we investigated the microbial flora changes in Gugija-Liriope tuber Makgeolli during fermentation and storage periods. We brewed Gugija-Liriope tuber Makgeolli for a week through twostage fermentations and stored the fermentation broth for a month at $4^{\circ}C$ or $20^{\circ}C$. We collected the samples periodically and analyzed microbial flora changes using viable cell counts and PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Yeast viable cells were seen to have decreased to 13% of pre-storage levels after storage for 15 days at $20^{\circ}C$; however significant changes were not observed during storage at $4^{\circ}C$. Prolongation of storage time dramatically decreased the availability of viable cells. Yeast viable cell numbers had decreased to 38% of pre-storage levels at $4^{\circ}C$ and 4.8% at $20^{\circ}C$ after storage for 30 days. The results of the DGGE profile for yeast showed that Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces sp. were the predominant strains at the beginning of fermentation and throughout the whole period of storage. Viable cell counts for total bacteria had decreased to 36% of pre-storage levels after storage for 15 days but did not significantly change for the full 30 days of storage at $4^{\circ}C$. Similarly, viable cell counts for bacteria had decreased to 5% while viable cell numbers did not significantly change for the full 30 days at $20^{\circ}C$. Viable cell counts for lactic acid bacteria were performed and the results were similar to those for total bacteria. The results of the DGGE profile for bacteria showed that Weissella cibaria was the predominant strain at the beginning of fermentation. However it had disappeared by the end of fermentation, and Lactobacillus fermentum and Pediococcus acidilactici became the predominant species during storage.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1744-1752
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• 2017

Myeolchi jeotgals (MJs) were prepared with purified salt (PS), solar salt aged for 1 year (SS), and bamboo salt (BS) melted 3 times at 10% and 20% (w/w) concentrations, and fermented for 28 weeks at $15^{\circ}C$. BS MJ showed higher pH and lower titratable acidities than the other samples because of the alkalinity of bamboo salt. Lactic acid bacteria counts increased until 4-6 weeks and then decreased gradually, and were not detected after 20 weeks from MJs with 10% salt. Yeast counts of PS MJs were higher than those of BS and SS MJs. Bacilli were detected in relatively higher numbers throughout the 28 weeks, like marine bacteria, but archae were detected in lower numbers during the first 10 weeks. When 16S rRNA genes were amplified from total DNA from PS MJ (10% salt) at 12 weeks, Tetragenococcus halophilus was the major species. However, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the dominant species for BS MJ at the same time point. In SS MJ, T. halophilus was the dominant species and S. epidermidis was the next dominant species. BS and SS MJs showed higher amino-type nitrogen, ammonia-type nitrogen, and volatile basic nitrogen contents than PS MJs. SS and BS were better than PS for the production of high-quality MJs.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.311-315
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of various natural flavonoids against growth of psychotropic Bacillus cereus strains, which cause dairy food outbreaks. Flavonoids were first screened for their ability to inhibit growth of B. cereus strains using the paper-disc diffusion test. Second, the growth inhibitory effect of selected flavonoids was evaluated in tryptic soy broth supplemented with 0.6% yeast extract, and the bactericidal effect of the flavonoids was measured in 0.8% (w/v) NaCl solution. Based on the paper-disc diffusion test, kaempferol was effectively active against B. cereus P14 and B. cereus KCCM 40935. Kaempferol had an antimicrobial effect at concentrations greater than 100 ${\mu}M$, and the numbers of B. cereus P14 and B. cereus KCCM 40935 decreased by 3.55 and 1.5 log cycles, respectively. The cell numbers of B. cereus P14 and B. cereus KCCM 40935 treated with 50 ${\mu}M$ kaempferol were reduced by 4.18 and 2.84 log cycles during a 24 h incubation to test the bactericidal effect of kaempferol (p<0.05). The results indicate that kaempferol had the greatest antimicrobial effect among the psychotropic B. cereus strains and the natural flavonoids tested.