• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.411-419
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• 2022

Carotenoids are red, orange, and yellow fat-soluble pigments that exist in nature, and are known as physiologically active substances with various functions, such as provitamin A, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer. Because of their physiological activity and color availability, carotenoids are widely used in the food, cosmetics, and aquaculture industries. Currently, most carotenoids used industrially use chemical synthesis because of their low production cost, but natural carotenoids are in the spotlight because of their safety and physiologically active effects. However, the production of carotenoids in plants and animals is limited for economic reasons. Carotenoids produced by bacteria have a good advantage in replacing carotenoids produced by chemical synthesis. Since carotenoids produced from bacteria have limited industrial applications due to low productivity, studies are continuously being conducted to increase the production of carotenoids by bacteria. Studies conducted to increase carotenoid production from bacteria include the activity of enzymes in the bacterial carotenoid biosynthesis pathway, the development of mutant strains using physical and chemical mutagens, increasing carotenoid productivity in strain construction through genetic engineering, carotenoid accumulation through stress induction, fermentation medium composition, culture conditions, co-culture with other strains, etc. The aim of this article was to review studies conducted to increase the productivity of carotenoids from bacteria.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.11
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• pp.1-27
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• 1969

More than thirty kinds of sea food pickles have been eaten in Korea. Out of these salted yellow tail pickle, salted clam pickle, salted oyster pickle, and salted cuttlefish pickle were employed for the analysis of their components, identification of main fermenting microbes, and determination of enzyme characteristics concerned. Also studied was the effect of enzymic action of microbes, which are concerned with the fermenting of pickles, on the production of flavorous 5'-mononucleotides and amino acids. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Microflora observed in the pickles are: (a) Total count of viable cells after 1-2 months of pickling was found to be $10^7$ and that after 6 months decreased to $10^4$. (b) Microbial occurence in the early stage of pickling was observed to be 10-20% Micrococcus spp., 10-20% Brevibacterium spp., 0-30% Sarcina spp., 20-30% Leuconostoc spp., ca 30% Bacillus spp., 0-10% Pseudomonas spp., 0-10% Flavobacterium spp., and 0-20% yeast. (c) Following the early stage of pickling, mainly halophilic bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Pediococcus halophilus and Sarcina litoralis, were found to exhibit an effect on the fermentation of pickle and their enzyme activities were in direct concern in fermentation of pickles. (d) Among the bacteria participating in the fermentation, Sarcina litoralis 8-14 and 8-16 strains were in need of high nutritional requirement and the former was grown only in the presence of purine, pyrimidine and cystine and the latter purine, pyrimidine and glutamic acid. 2. Enzyme characteristics studied in relation to the raw materials and the concerned microbes isolated are as follows: (a) A small amount of protease was found in the raw materials and 30-60% decrease in protease activity was demonstrated at 7% salt concentration. (b) Protease activity of halophilic bacteria, Bacillus subtilis 7-6, 11-1, 3-6 and 9-4 strains, in the complete media decreased by 10-30% at the 7% salt concentration and that of Sarcina litoralis 8-14 and 8-16 strains decreased by 10-20%. (c) Proteins in the raw materials were found to be hydrolyzed to yield free amino acids by protease in the fermenting microbes. (d) No accumulation of flavorous 5'-mononucleotides was demonstrated because RNA-depolymerase in the raw materials and the pickles tended to decompose RNA into nucleoside and phosphoric acid. (e) The enzyme produced in Bacillus subtilis 3-6 strain isolated from the salted clam pickles, was ascertained to be 5'-phosphodiesterase because of its ability to decompose RNA and thus accumulating 5'-mononucleotide. (f) It was demonstrated that the activity of phosphodiesterase in Bacillus subtilis 3-6 strain was enhanced by some components in the corn steep liquor and salted clam pickle. The enzyme activity was found to decrease by 10-30% and 40-60% at the salt concentration of 10% and 20%, respectively. 3. Quantitative data for free amino acids in the pickles are as follows: (a) Amounts of acidic amino acids such as glutamic and aspartic acids in salted clam pickle, were observed to be 2-10 times other pickles and it is considered that the abundance in these amino acids may contribute significantly to the specific flavor of this food. (b) Large amounts of basic amino acids such as arginine and histidine were found to occur in salted yellow tail pickle. (c) It is much interesting that in the salted cuttlefish pickle the contents of sulfur-containing amino acids were exceedingly high compared with those of others: cystine was found to be 17-130 times and methionine, 7-19 times. (d) In the salted oyster pickle a high content of some essential amino acids such as lysine, threonine, isoleucine and leucine, was demonstrated and a specific flavor of the pickle was ascribed to the sweet amino acids. Contents of alanine and glycine in the salted oyster pickle were 4 and 3-14 times as much as those of the others respectively. 4. Analytical data for 5'-mononucleotides in the pickles are as follows: (a) 5'-Adenylic acid and 3'-adenylic acid were found in large amounts in the salted yellow tail pickle and 5'-inosinic acid in lesser amount. (b) 5'-Adenylic acid, especially 3'-adenylic acid predominated in amount in the salted oyster pickle over that in the other pickles. (c) The salted cuttlefish pickle was found to contain only 5'-adenylic acid and 3'-adenylic acid. It has become evident from the above fact that clam and the invertebrate lack of adenylic deaminase and contain high content of adenylic acid. Thus, they were demonstrated to be the AMP-type. (d) 5'-Inosinic acid was contained in the salted yellow tail pickle in a significant concentration, and it might be considered to be IMP-type. 5. Comparative data for flavor with regard to the flavorous amino acids and the contents of 5'-mononucleotides are: (a) A specific flavor of salted yellow tail pickle was ascribed to the abundance in glutamic acid and aspartic acid, and to the existence of a small amount of flavorous 5'-inosinic acid. The combined effect of these components was belived to exhibit a synergistic action in producing a specific fiavor to the pickle. (b) A specific flavor of salted clam pickle has been demonstrated to be attributable to the richness in glutamic acid and aspartic acid rather than to that of 5'-mononucleotides.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2013

This study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of ripened medicinal herb extracts from wood vinegar. The wood vinegar was collected from heated oaks. The Allium sativum (AS), Atractylodes ovate (AO), Cin-namomum zeylanicum (CZ), Coptidis rhizome (CR), Houttuynia cordata (HC), Phellodendron chinense (PC) and Syzygium aromaticum (SA) extracts were collected using wood vinegar, and they were ripened under room temperature for 50 days. All ripened medicinal herb extracts were used to test the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. For the Lactobacillus, clear zone of 6 different medicinal herb except for CR ranged from 1.28 to 1.63 mm. 3.30 and 3.48 mm of clear zone were determined when CZ and SA were applied to Salmonella and E. coli, respectively (p<0.05), and they showed the largest clear zone as compared to other herbs. The clear zones of CR for Salmonella and E. coli were 2.21 and 3.34 mm, and each clear zone of CR was smaller than that of CZ (p<0.05) but was similar to that of SA (p>0.05). The amount of polyphenol and flavonoid was the highest in SA and CR, and they were 4.28 and 0.38 mg/mL, respectively (p<0.05). The CR shown 0.38 mg/mL flavonoid, had the highest DPPH, and it was 0.41 mM. The DPPH of HZ was significantly lowered in accordance with high amount of polyphenol and flavonoid, 2.56 and 0.20 mg/mL (p<0.05). In conclusion, CZ, SA, and CR showed high antimicrobial and antioxidant potentials, and therefore, may be used as alternatives to antibiotics for poultry diets.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.160-169
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• 2009

Poly-$\gamma$-glutamic acid ($\gamma$-PGA) was mixed natural flora of Bacillus subtilis, contaminated from cooked soybeans. Also, it was performed to find out the antiallergic activity by using NC/Nga mice, in vitro. The $\gamma$-PGA (PGA-HM : PGA-high molecular weight), Molecular weight 300 kDa, was decomposed and made PGA-LM (PGA-low molecular weight) which has molecular weight below 30 kDa by sonication. Therefore, it was same result between PGA-HM and PGA-LM, and reported PGA-LM as basic result. We found that PGA-LM contains antiallergic efficacy that inhibit B cells and Th2 cells activation from isolated CD4+T cells in NC/Nga atopic dermatitis model mice, and not show a cytotoxicity in the hFCs. To investigate the effects of these PGA-LM in vitro, isolation of splenic B cell and CD4+ T cells in atopic dermatitis mice were used. To elucidate the role of PGA-LM in anti-CD40+ interleukin-4 (IL-4)-mediated B-cell activation, showed that the capacity of B cells to expression IL-$1\beta$, IL-6, and TNF-$\alpha$ mRNA down-regulated, and IL-10 mRNA up-regulation by PGA-LM treatment, but it had no effect on TGF-$\beta$ expression. In addition to CD4+IFN-$\gamma$+ and CD4+CD25+foxp3+, the functions of PGA-LM in the development of the CD4+CD25+foxp3+ and CD4+IFN-$\gamma$+cells, the phenotype and functions of PGA-LM induced CD4+CD25+foxp3+, and CD4+IFN-$\gamma$+cells in CD4+T cells. These results suggested that PGA-LM could change cytokine production and generate CD4+CD25+foxp3+ Tregs in NC/Nga mice, and may be effective for immunotherapy in patients with AD.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.397-402
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• 2013

The pharmacological efficacy of Protaetia (P.) brevitarsis larvae has been described in the Dongui Bogam. It is believed that the larvae are particularly useful for hepatic disorders. However, natural aversion has made it difficult to consume these larvae as food. Thus, we sought to make an eatable form of the larvae by establishing optimal conditions for larvae preparation. Larvae were selectively bred, sterilized, and a powder of larvae generated by freeze-drying. Afterward, the CellTiter $96^{(R)}$ AQueous Non-Radioactive Cell Proliferation Assay (MTS) with the RAW 264.7 cell line was used to validate the safety of the powder as a food ingredient. We determined that oak sawdust sterilized by water vapor for 5 minutes could be used for larvae feed, and a feeding for 3~5 days followed by a fasting for 3 days were optimal conditions for larvae preparation. In addition, sterilization of larvae at $115^{\circ}C$ and $0.9kgf/cm^3$ (to avoid contamination of pathogenic bacteria and fungi) was successfully applied in the production of edible powder from P. brevitarsis. The optimized processes established in our experiments can be used in the industrial production of P. brevitarsis as a food ingredient.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 1980

Eleven strains of lactobacilli were isolated from fermented milk of 9 companies. They were classified 3 strains as L. bulgaricus, 2 strains as L. plantarum, 2 strains as L. cellobiosus, 1 strain as L. lactis, 1 strain as L. acidophilus, 1 strain as L. casei subsp. casei and 1 strain as L. casei subsp. tolerans. And these strains were examined for drug resistance, transferability and transfer frequency of R plasmid. Most of isolates were sensitive to tetracycline(TC), penicillin(PC), and erythromycin(EM), but some strains were resistant to streptomycin(SM), chloramphenicol(CP), ampicillin(AP), kanamycin(KM), and nalidixic acid(NA). All of isolates were resistant to two or more drugs and 6 different drug resistant patterns were found. The most frequently encountered patterns were NA AP CP SM KM(5 strains) followed by NA AP CP KM(2 strains), NA AP CP SM(1 strain), NA AP CP(1 strain), NA CP(1 strain) and NA AP(1 strain). Tranfer experiment of drug resistance showed that of all 11 resistant strains, 9 strains transferred R plasmid determining AP(6 strains) or AP SM(3 strains) to a recipient, E. coli ML 1410 strain with $2.8{\times}10^{-5}-1.5{\times}10^{-1}%$ of transfer frequency. These results indicate that lactobacilli conjugally transfer their resistance to E. coli.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.27 no.1 s.88
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• pp.10-14
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• 1999

A single phase composter was constructed by modifying the conventional mixer of sawdust for the cultivation of oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. The machine was designed on the basis of 3-phase-1 system which was controlled in prewetting, pasteurization and fermentation processes. In composting 200 kg of straw and cotton waste in the machine, it took 20 minutes in prewetting step and also to hours at $65^{\circ}C$ in pasteurization process. Postfermentation by aerothermophiles was completed by treating the compost at $45^{\circ}C-50^{\circ}C$ for 48 hours which was shorten 24 hours from the conventional method. In the postfermentation at high temperature, forced aeration and/or vigorous mixing process(es) played a great role in the improvement of spawn quality. The growth of mycelium of oyster mushroom was excellent in the culture combinated with 3 parts of surface inoculation and 7 parts of mechanical mixing.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.515-523
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• 2012

The study investigated the biochemical methane potential (BMP) assay of cellulose supplementing with mixed methanogens and cellulolytic bacteria to improve anaerobic digestion for methane production. For the BMP assay, 7 different microbial supplementation groups were consisted of the cultures of mixed methanogens (M), Fibrobacter succinogenes (FS), Ruminococcus flavefaciensn (RF), R. albus (RA), RA+FS and M+RA+FS including control. The cultures were added in the batch reactors with the increasing dose levels of 1% (0.5 mL), 3% (1.5 mL) and 5% (2.5 mL). Incubation for the BMP assay was carried out for 40 days at $38^{\circ}C$ and anaerobic digestate obtained from an anaerobic digester with pig slurry as inoculum was used. In results, 5% FS increased total biogas and methane production up to 10.4~22.7% and 17.4~27.5%, respectively, compared to other groups (p<0.05). Total solid (TS) digestion efficiency showed a similar trend to the total biogas and methane productions. Generally the TS digestion efficiency of the FS group was higher than that of other groups showing at the highest value of 64.2% in the 5% FS group. Volatile solid (VS) digestion efficiencies of 68.4 and 71.0% in the 5% FS and the 5% RF were higher than other groups. After incubation, pH values in all treatment groups were over 6.4 indicating that methanogensis was not inhibited during the incubation. In conclusion, the results indicated that the hydrolysis stage for methane production in anaerobic batch reactors was the late-limiting stage compared with the methanogenesis stage, and especially, as the supplementation levels of F. succinogenes supplementation increased, the methane production was increased in the BMP assay compared with other microbial culture addition.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2008

The proteins in whey are separated and used as food additives. The remains (mainly lactose) are spray-dried to produce sweet whey powder, which is widely used as an additive for animal feed. Sweet whey powder is also used as a carbon source for the production of valuable products such as polysaccharides. Glucose, fructose, galactose, and sucrose as asupplemental carbon source were evaluated for the production of PS-7 from Azotobacter indicus var. myxogenes L3 grown on whey based MSM media. Productions of PS-7 with 2% (w/v) fructose and sucrose were 2.05 and 2.31g/L, respectively. The highest production of PS-7 was 2.82g/L when 2% (w/v) glucose was used as the carbon source. Galactose showed low production of PS-7 among the carbon sources tested. The effects of various carbon sources addition to whey based MSM medium showed that glucose could be the best candidate for the enhancement of PS-7 production using whey based MSM medium. To evaluate the effect of glucose addition to whey based media on PS-7 production, fermentations with whey and glucose mixture (whey 1, 2, 3%; whey 1% + glucose 1%, whey 1% + glucose 2% and glucose 2%, w/v) were carried out. Significant enhancement of PS-7 production with addition of 1% (w/v) and 2% (w/v) glucose in 1% (w/v) whey media was observed. The PS-7 concentration of 2% glucose added whey lactose based medium was higher than that of 1% glucose addition, however, the product yield $Y_{p/s}$ was higher in 1% glucose added whey lactose based MSM medium. Therefore, the optimal condition for the PS-7 production from the Azotobacter indicus var.myxogenes L3, was 1% glucose addition to 1% whey lactose MSM medium.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.463-470
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• 2016

The enzymatic degradation of xylans is the most versatile way to obtain the high value-added functional compounds or the fermentable sugars for renewable energy. The endo-${\beta}$-xylanases are the major enzymes which hydrolyze the internal ${\beta}$-1,4-linkages of xylan backbones to produce the mixtures of xylooligosaccharides including xylobiose and xylotriose. Among them, glucuronoxylanase GH30 can exclusively hydrolyze the internal ${\beta}$-1,4-linkages of xylans decorated with methylglucuronic acid branches. In the present study, two xylanolytic enzyme (PaXN_10 and PaGuXN_30) genes were cloned from Paenibacillus amylolyticus KCTC 3005, and expressed in Escherichia coli, respectively. PaXN_10 (38.7 kDa) belongs to the endo-${\beta}$-xylanases GH10 family, while PaGuXN_30 (58.5 kDa) is a member of glucuronoxylanase GH30. They share the same optimal reaction conditions at $50^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. Enzymatic characterization proposed that P. amylolyticus can utilize the hardwood glucuronoarabinoxylans via the cooperative actions of xylanases GH10 and GH30. The extracellular PaGuXN_30 is secreted into the medium and hydrolyzes glucuronoarabinoxylans to release a series of aldouronic acid mixtures with a methylglucuronic acid branch. The resultant products being transported into the microbial cell are successively degraded into the smaller xylooligosaccharides by the intracellular PaXN_10, which will be utilized for the cellular metabolism.