• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.601-608
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• 2014

To determine the optimal shelf life for maintaining the high quality of kohlrabi, the changes in the physiological and secondary metabolites of kohlrabi stems during storage were investigated. The results showed that the kohlrabi maintained its marketable quality for two weeks at room temperature and for two months in cold storage ($4^{\circ}C$). Interestingly, the total phenol and flavonoid contents sharply declined along with the quality deterioration after two-week storage at room temperature. Moreover, insignificant changes in these compounds were observed for two months during the cold storage. The secondary metabolites of the kohlrabi were also influenced by its storage condition. The total phenol and total flavonoid contents of the kohlrabi significantly increased with the storage periods at low temperature, and significantly decreased with the storage periods at room temperature. In terms of the packaging, no significant difference in the total phenol content of the kohlrabi was found between the packaged and non-packaged types of storage. However, the flavonoid content of the packaged kohlrabi was higher than that of the non-packaged kohlrabi at the end of their storage. The content of glucosinolates, an anti-cancer ingredient was maintained during the storage, so the vegetables remained good sources of these compounds when stored in cold storage even for a long period. This study showed a close correlation between the secondary metabolites and the change in the quality of kohlrabi during storage. The results also suggested that secondary metabolites such as phenolics can be considered quality indicators of the shelf life of kohlrabi.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.458-465
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• 2021

Tubulysins are a group of bioactive secondary metabolites from myxobacteria exhibiting strong anticancer activity against various cancer cell lines. In this study, we describe the identification of putative tubulysin biosynthetic gene clusters (tubA~tubF) in the genome sequences of two tubulysin-producing myxobacterial strains, Archangium gephyra MEHO_002 and MEHO_004. The inactivation of the putative tubulysin biosynthetic genes resulted in a tubulysin-production defect. The DNA sequences of the A. gephyra MEHO_002 and MEHO_004 tubulysin biosynthetic genes were 97% identical, and the amino acid sequences of the encoded proteins shared a similarity of 97-100%. The nucleotide sequences of the tubulysin biosynthetic gene clusters in MEHO_002 and MEHO_004 were 86% identical to that in Cystobacter sp. SBCb004 known as a tubulysin-producing myxobacterium, and the organization of the clusters was identical except for the lack of a tubZ gene in the clusters in MEHO_002 and MEHO_004. The amino acid sequences of the proteins encoded by each gene were 88-97% similar to those encoded by SBCb004, and the domain compositions of the proteins were also identical.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.448-452
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• 2018

The full genome sequence of Bacillus safensis KCTC 12796BP which had been isolated from the marine sponge in the seawater of Jeju Island, was determined by Pac-Bio next-generation sequencing system. A circular chromosome in the length of 3,935,874 bp was obtained in addition to a circular form of plasmid having 36,690 bp. The G + C content of chromosome was 41.4%, and that of plasmid was 37.3%. The number of deduced CDSs in the chromosome was 3,980, whereas 36 CDS regions were determined in a plasmid. Among the deduced CDSs in chromosome, 81 tRNA genes and 24 rRNA genes in addition to one tmRNA were allocated. More than 30 CDSs for sporulation, 16 CDSs for spore coat, and 20 CDSs for germination were also assigned in the chromosome. Several genes for capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis and for flagella biosynthesis and chemotaxis in addition to genes for osmotic tolerance through glycine-choline betaine pathway were also identified. Above all, the biosynthetic gene cluster for anti-allergic compounds seongsanamides were found among two non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene clusters for secondary metabolites.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.842-850
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• 2023

Pyrrolnitrin, pyrrolomycin, and pyoluteorin are functional halogenated phenylpyrrole derivatives (HPDs) derived from microorganisms with diverse antimicrobial activities. Pyrrolnitrin is a secondary metabolite produced from L-tryptophan through four-step reactions in Pseudomonas fluorescens, Burkholderia cepacia, Serratia plymuthica, etc. It is currently used for the treatment of superficial dermatophytic fungal infections, has high antagonistic activities against soil-borne and foliar fungal infections, and has many industrial applications. Since pyrrolnitrin is easily decomposed by light, it is difficult to widely use it outdoors. As an alternative, fludioxonil, a synthetically produced non-systemic surface fungicide that is structurally similar and has excellent light stability, has been commercialized for seed and foliar treatment of plants. However, due to its high toxicity to aquatic organisms and adverse effects in human cell lines, many countries have established maximum residue levels and strictly control its levels. Pyrrolomycin and pyoluteorin, which have antibiotic/antibiofilm activity against Gram-positive bacteria and high anti-oomycete activity against the plant pathogen Pythium ultimum, respectively, were isolated and identified from microorganisms. This review summarizes the biosynthesis and production of natural pyrrolnitrin derived from bacteria and the characteristics of synthetic fludioxonil and other natural phenylpyrrole derivatives among the HPDs. We expect that a plethora of highly effective, novel HPDs that are safe for humans and environments will be developed through the generation of an HPD library by microbial biosynthesis and chemical synthesis.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.5 s.94
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• pp.376-382
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• 2005

Avermectin (AVM) $B_{1a}$ produced by Streptomyces avermitilis via polyketide pathway is a secondary metabolite with powerful anthelmintic and insecticidal activities, thus being used as an efficient agent in the field of agriculture and animal health. It has been reported that a precursor for AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthesis was isoleucine and the biosynthetic pathway of AVM $B_{1a}$ was closely similar to that of fatty acid. Based on understanding of the biosynthetic pathway of AVM $B_{1a}$, we intended to screen various mutants resistant against O-methyl threonine (OMT), an isoleucine-anti metabolite, and/or mutants resistant against p-fluoro phenoxy acetic acid (pFAC), an inhibitor of fatty acid biosynthesis. It was inferred that these mutants could produce AVM $B_{1a}$ more efficiently, due to the acquired capability of not only overproducing isoleucine intracellularly but also channelling metabolized carbon-sources into the polyketide pathway, thus leading to enhanced biosynthesis of AVM $B_{1a}$. The resulting mutant (PFA-1 strain) resistant against 100 ppm of pFAC was able to produce approximately 42 fold higher amount of AVM $B_{1a}$ compared to the parallel mother strain (4,200 vs. 100 units/l). In addition, through the process of continuous strain improvement program carried out by gradually increasing the OMT concentration, it was possible to obtain a more attractive mutant with greater AVM $B_{1a}$ production capacity (9,000 units/l). Notable was that significantly higher producer (12,000 units/l) could be selected through further screening of the resistant mutants, this time, to even higher concentration of PFAC. Meanwhile, through the analysis of AVM Bla production histograms (i.e., number of strains according to their AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthetic ability) for the earlier strains in comparison with the high producers having the characteristics of resistance to OMT and pFAC, it was found that production stability of the high-yielding producers were remarkably improved, as demonstrated by the fact that larger proportion of the mutated strains had greater capability of AVM $B_{1a}$ biosynthesis ($71\%$ in the range between 5,000 and 7,000 units/L; $47\%$ in the range between 6,000 and 7,000 units/l). Based on these consequences, it was concluded that the rational screening strategy based on the understanding of the biosynthetic pathway of AVM $B_{1a}$ was very effective in obtaining high-yielding mutants with the features of enhanced production stability.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.297-304
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• 2007

For large and rapid screening of high-yielding mutants of lovastatin produced by filamentous fungal cells of Aspergillus terreus, one of the most important stage is to test as large amounts of mutated strains as possible. For this purpose, we intended to develop a miniaturized cultivation method using $7m{\ell}$ culture tube instead of traditional $250m{\ell}$ flask (working volume $50m{\ell}$). For obtaining large amounts of conidiospores to be used as inoculums for miniaturized cultures, 4 components i.e., glucose, sucrose, yeast extract and $KH_2PO_4$ were intensively investigated, which had been observed to show positive effect on enhancement of spore production through Plackett-Burman design experimet. When optimum concentrations of these components that were determined through application of response surface method (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) were used, maximum spore numbers amounting to $1.9\times10^{10}$ spores/plate were obtained, resulting in approximately 190 fold increase as compared to the commonly used PDA sporulation medium. Using the miniaturized cultures, intensive strain development programs were carried out for screening of lovastatin high-yielding as well as highly reproducible mutants. It was observed that, for maximum production of lovastatin, the producers should be activated through 'PaB' adaptation process during the early solid culture stage. In addition, they should be proliferated in condensed filamentous forms in miniaturized growth cultures, so that optimum amounts of highly active cells could be transferred to the production culture-tube as reproducible inoculums. Under these highly controlled fermentation conditions, compact-pelleted morphology of optimum size (less than 1 mm in diameter) was successfully induced in the miniaturized production cultures, which proved essential for maximal utilization of the producers' physiology leading to significantly enhanced production of lovastatin. As a result of continuous screening in the miniaturized cultures, lovastatin production levels of the 81% of the daughter cells derived from the high-yielding producers turned out to be in the range of 80%$\sim$120% of the lovastatin production level of the parallel flask cultures. These results demonstrate that the miniaturized cultivation method developed in this study is efficient high throughput system for large and rapid screening of highly stable and productive strains.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.371-380
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• 2018

Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different nutrient solutions and various light qualities generated by LED on the growth and glucosinolates contents of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) grown under hydroponics for 3 weeks. The seeds of watercress were sown on crushed rockwool media and raised them for two weeks. They were transplanted in a semi-DFT (deep flow technique) hydroponics system. A controlled-environment room was maintained at $20{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ and $16{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ temperatures and $65{\pm}10%$ and $75{\pm}10%$ relative humidity (day and night, respectively), with a provided photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of $180{\pm}10{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ and a photoperiod of 16/8h. To find out the best kinds of nutrient solutions for growing watercress, Otsuka House 1A (OTS), Horticultural Experiment Station in Korea (HES), and Netherland's Proefstaion voor Bloemisterij en Gasgroente (PBG) were adapted with initial EC of $1.0-1.3dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ and pH of 6.2, irradiating PPFD with fluorescent lamps (Ex-1). Either monochromatic (W10 and R10) or mixed LEDs (R5B1, R3B1, R2B1G1, and W2B1G1) were irradiated with a differing ratio of each LED's PPFD to understanding light quality on the growth and glucosinolates contents of watercress (Ex-2). Although significant difference in the shoot growth of watercress was not found among three nutrient solutions treatments, but the root fresh weight increased by 13.7% and 55.1% in PBG and OTS compared to HES, respectively. OTS increased the gluconasturtiin content by 96% and 65% compared to PBG and HES. Compared with the white light (W10), the red light (R10) showed a 101.3% increase in the shoot length of watercress. Increasing blue light portion positively affected plant growth. The content of total glucosinolates in watercress was increased by 144.5% and 70% per unit dry weight in R3B1 treatment compared with R2B1G1 and W10 treatments, respectively. The growth and total glucosinolates contents of the watercress were highest under R3B1 among six light qualities.