• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.198-203
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• 2016

This study aimed to isolate a novel agarase-producing marine bacterium and characterize its agarase, as agarases are known to produce biofunctional agarooligosaccharides or neo-agarooligosaccharides. A novel agar-degrading bacterium, SH-2, was isolated from the seawater of Namhae in Gyeongnam Province, Korea, and cultured in Marine agar 2216 medium. The 16S rRNA gene sequence represented 99% identity with that of the members of the Marinomonas genus; hence, the isolated bacterium was named Marinomonas sp. SH-2. The crude agarase was prepared from a culture medium of Marinomonas. sp SH-2, and exhibited maximum agarase activity at 170.2 units/l. The optimum conditions were pH 6.0 and 30℃ in 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer. The agarase activity of the bacterium was highly elevated from 20℃(42% relative activity) to 30℃(100%), and 82% activity was shown at 40℃. Its relative activities were less than 40% at over 40℃ after a 0.5 hr exposure. Relative activity was 100% at pH 6.0, while it was 72% and 48% at pH 5.0 and pH 7.0, respectively. The enzyme from Marinomonas sp. SH-2 degraded agarose to neoagarohexaose and neoagarotetraose, indicating that the enzyme is β-agarase. Thus, Marinomonas sp. SH-2 and its enzyme could be practical for applications in food, cosmetic, and medical research.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.949-957
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• 2000

This study investigates the remediation of the phenol or PNP(p-Nitrophenol) contaminated soils in a slurry reactor by a pure culture, P-99. The application of a pure culture for the phenol decontamination make the degradation rate three times faster than that of the mixed activated sludge. The destruction of 300 mg/L phenol was completed in 26 hours. As 1 mg of phenol was added, 0.1457 mg of microorganism was grown in the medium. The pure culture could not utilizes PNP, one of the xenobiotics, as a growth substrate. When the bacteria was induced by phenol enrichment medium. PNP could be effectively transformed with cometabolic process. The induction of the bacteria requires 1 mg of phenol for the destruction of 0.027 mg PNP. When PNP concentration in the medium contained phenol and PNP increased. the degradation rate of phenol was decreased. The degradation rate of phenol and PNP in the slurry reactor was about two times faster than in the reactor without slurry because of higher dissolved oxygen supply in the aqueous phase and adsorption on the surface of the soil.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.174-179
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• 2006

Bacterium capable of using biphenyl as a sole source of carbon and energy were isolated from soil, and based on the results of 16S rDNA sequence, strain BK10 identified as a Sphingobium yanoiktiyae. The optimum cultural conditions were as follows; $NH_4NO_3$ 1g, $K_2HPO_4$ 1g, $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ 0.5g, $CaCO_3$ 0.2 g per 1 liter of distilled water. The Sphingobium yanoikuyae BK10 strain was completely utilized biphenyl in mineral salt media containing biphenyl at concentration 500 $\mu$g/ml of biphenyl as a sole carbon and energy source within 48 hours. Optimumal pH and temperature for biphenyl degradation and cell growth of strains were 6.0$\sim$8.0 and 20$\sim$50$^{\circ}C$, respectively. Especially, at 30$^{\circ}C$, cell-growth were higher than other temperature. Cell grown on biphenyl has been shown to have a higher removal rate for biphenyl than grown on sucrose. This study shows that Sphingobium yanoikuyae BK10 strain had a high biodegradation capability of biphenyl and can be simulate a candidate compounds the bioremediation of PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyl) contaminant soil and water.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.146-151
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• 2004

Cyclodextrin compounds including 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin(β-HPCD) though to be accelerate the biodegradation of PAHs molecule by increasing solubility of PAHs through detaining PAHs in their's cavity. However, only this mechanism is not sufficient to explain the enhancement of PAHs biodegradation by β-HPCD. To find out possible additional role of β-HPCD in the enhancement of PAHs biodegradation, biodegradation rates of pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) by a PAHs degrading Novosphingobium pentaromtivorans US6-1 strain were compared between with and without addition of β-HPCD. Changes of bacterial biomass were also measured simultaneously. In addition catechol 1,2-dioxygenase activity was determined depending on pre-incubation conditions. As a result, β-HPCD accelerate the degradation rate of pyrene by strain US6-1 and especially the β-HPCD amendment was obligatory for the degradation of B[a]p. Bacterial biomass was responsible for β-HPCD, however, PAHs compounds such as pyrene and B[a]P did not contribute to the bacterial biomass. Catechol 1,2-dioxygenase specific activity of US6-l cells pre-cultured in MM2 medium containing l％ β-HPCD was higher than that of cells pre-cultured in ZoBell medium. The former case also showed similar activity compared to that of cells serially starved in MM2 medium after grown in ZoBell medium. These results imply that the presence of β-HPCD accelerate the degradation of PAHs by increasing the bacterial biomass as well as by increasing the water solubility of PAHs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.259-265
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• 2012

A bacterial strain, CK214, exhibiting high motility on an LB agar (1.5%, w/v) surface was isolated from the environment. The formation of unusual agar shrinking around colonies on agar plates was observed. The strain grew on minimal media containing pure agar as a sole carbon source. The cell-free culture supernatant of CK214 generated a reduced form of sugar in the in vitro reaction with the use of pure agar as a substrate, suggesting the secretion of an agar-degrading enzyme. The CK214 strain showed swarming motility on the solid media containing a wide range of concentrations of agar (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0% w/v). Various tests, including Gram staining, API analysis, and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA sequences identified that the CK214 strain was a G(+) rod-shaped bacterium grouped in genus Paenibacillus. Electron microscopic analysis demonstrated that the P. CK214 strain is peritrichously flagellated. Through transposon random mutagenesis, several agar-degrading activity defective mutants (ADMs) were generated. These mutants will be used in the future experimentation for the study of the correlation between agar-degrading activity and motility.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.562-567
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• 2008

The primary objective of this study was to select a probiotic starter for cheonggukjang using 60 strains isolated from rice straw. Among isolated strains, only 8 strains including strain B-59 evidenced proteolytic, amylolytic and soybean activity. These 8 strains were all gram-positive, spore-forming rods. The B-59 strain evidenced antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The antimicrobial activity of isolated B-59 was verified by its ability to inhibit the growth of S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, P. fluorescens, and V. parahaemolyticus. The selected B-59 strain was indentified as Bacillus licheniformis, as shown by a result of 99.0% homology upon API kit analysis. The selected B-59 strain also displayed viability in pH 2.5 artificial gastric juice, artificial bile acid, NaCl (2, 4, 8, 16, 32%), and ethanol (4, 8, 16, 32%). The antioxidative activity of the strain B-59 culture was assessed via a DPPH free radical scavenging activity assay. The activity increased with an increasing in the fermentation time of strain B-59 for 20 hours.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.286-293
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• 2014

In this study, one GRAS strain was screened from doenjang, a traditional Korean fermented food, as a microorganism producing amylase due to the formation of a clear zone on the medium including soluble starch. From the analysis of the gene sequence of 16S ribosomal RNA, the strain was identified as Bacillus subtilis and was therefore named Bacillus subtilis CBD2. When the nutrient broth medium was prepared with 3% NaCl, 5% glucose, and the initial medium pH 7.0, the B. subtilis CBD2 showed maximum growth. Among soluble starch, corn starch, maize amylopectin, and wheat starch, soluble starch was the most effective carbon source in the production of amylase by B. subtilis CBD2. The amylase from B. subtilis CBD2 showed the highest activities at pH 8.0 and $50^{\circ}C$, and corn starch was the most proper substrate for the enzyme activity. When corn starch was used as a substrate, the production of sugars through enzyme activity increased for 24 h, and then the enzyme activity became constant.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.242-250
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• 2017

Actinobacteria tolerating extreme conditions can be a rich source of bioactive compounds and enzymes. In this study filamentous actinobacteria were isolated from soils of Ulleung Island, and their physiological properties were examined. Soil samples were collected, serially diluted and spread on various agar media. The average viable counts of total bacteria were $1.28{\times}10^7CFU/g$ for soil sample 1 (ULS1) and $2.05{\times}10^7CFU/g$ for soil sample 2 (ULS2). As a result, 34 strains of actinobacteria were isolated and assigned to the genera Streptomyces (16 strains), Isoptericola (5 strains), Rhodococcus (4 strains), Agromyces (3 strains), Micrococcus (2 strains), Arthrobacter (1 strain), Williamsia (1 strain), Microbacterium (1 strain), and Oerskovia (1 strain) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Enzyme activity and plant growth promoting potential were tested for representative isolates. Multiple strains of Streptomyces degraded starch, casein and Tween 80. As for plant growth promoting potential, strains of Oerskovia, Williamsia, Isoptericola, and Streptomyces solubilized phosphate, and those of Agromyces, Oerskovia, Micrococcus, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, and Isoptericola produced 3-indole-acetic acid (IAA), respectively. Selected strains of Streptomyces exhibited strong antagonistic activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis as well as Candida albicans. This study confirms that actinobacteria from Ulleung Island can be a good source of novel bioactive compounds.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 1989

Macroorganisms capable of utilizing sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate(SDBS, soft type) as a sole carbon source were isolated from nature by using SDBS agar plate technique. Iwolated bacteria were examined primarily for biodegradation ability of SDBS, and followed by testing for resistance to several kinds of metal compounds and antibiotics. Among them(152 strains), one strain showed a excellent SDBS-degrading ability with a resistance to amipicillin and rifampicin was selected. This bacterium was identified as Klebsiella sp. and harbored two plasmids of about 4 and 5 kilobases. SDBS-degrading ability was lost when the plasmids were cured by mitomycin C. It was revealed that the degradation of SDBS was controlled by the plasmid DNA encoding genes. The two plasmids were stably maintained in Escherichia coli C600.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.71-75
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• 1990

The isolates biodigrading crude oil were examined to characterize thier properties. Isolates which were identified as Acinetobacter lwoffii G1, Klebsiella pneumoniae L25, Pseudomonas maltophilia N246, Xanthomonas campestris M12, and Xanthomonas sp. M28. The optimum concentration of crude oil was 0.15% for the bacterial growth. X. campestris M12, Xanthomonas sp. M28, and K. penumoniae L25 showed the maximal growth at the concentration of 3.5% sodium chloride, indicating that they were derived from sea water. Among the isolates, X. campestris M12, Xanthomonas sp. M28 specially utilized hexadecane and octane, and P. maltophilia N246 utilized octane with optimum concentration of 0.2-0.3% as sole carbon source. The utilization of components of saturate fraction by K. pneumoniae L25 was examined by gas-liquid chromatography. The short-chain saturates are used before the long chain ones although they almost disappear within 8 days of incubation at $30^{\circ}C$.