• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.247-254
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• 2021

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory skin disease related to pilosebaceous unit. In acne lesions, hyperseborrhea, dysseborrhea, inflammatory event, and an imbalance in skin microflora, particularly an increase in Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) colonization comparing to other bacteria, have been observed. The objective of this study was to evaluate anti-acne effects of Artemisia annua extract (AAE) on antibacterial activity related to preservation of the balance in skin microbiome, inhibition of inflammation, and reduction of excessive sebum production. When C. acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) were co-cultured in the presence of AAE, the reduction of C. acnes growth by AAE was greater than that of S. epidermidis. In addition, when C. acnes was cultured in a medium containing AAE (C. acnes AAE), levels of cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-6 and toll-like receptors-2 activity were decreased in comparison with C. acnes cultured in a medium without AAE (C. acnes CM). Moreover, AAE significantly inhibited excessive sebum production induced by palmitic acid. These results suggest that AAE, as a natural extract with various targets, can inhibit selective growth of C. acnes and inflammatory reactions derived from C. acnes, which are the main causes of acne, and consequently can be used as a substance to alleviate acne by reducing excessive sebum formation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.677-685
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• 2021

Cannabis sativa L. belongs to the Cannabaceae family and is an annual herbaceous flowing plant. The plants can be classified into narcotic marijuana and nonnarcotic hemp. Different parts of C. sativa L. have been used as food, medicine, cosmetics, fiber and textile. However, the use of leaf, flower, and seed of C. sativa L was forbidden in Korea in January 1977 as a result of the Cannabis Control Act due to the narcotic properties. The plant's mature stems have limited uses for the production of fiber and sheets. Recently, various cannabinoids, terpenes and essential fatty acids were identified from C. sativa L., and their safety and useful bio-activities, such as neuroprotective, anti-inflammation, antithrombosis, antiepileptic, and antimicrobial activities, and the relief of pain, have been highlighted. Furthermore, the process of reduction of tetrahydrocannabinol, a representative narcotic compound, and the isolation of cannabidiol, a nonnarcotic active compound in C. sativa L., have been determined. These findings resulted in the legalization of C. sativa L. in Korea for medical use in December 2018 and the exclusion of C. sativa L. from the narcotic list of the UN Commission on Narcotics Drugs (UNCND) in December 2020. Therefore, developments of various high-value added products have commenced worldwide. Additionally, in 2021, the Korean government deregulated special zones based on hemp. In this study, the current status and the prospect of the hemp industry, as well as essential techniques for developing new hemp products, are provided for the activation of the Korea Green-Rush.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.438-443
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• 2018

The emergence of biofilms have generated urgent alarm in clinical and medicine manufacturing fields engaged in the search for novel antimicrobials from ethno-medicinal plants. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has estimated that 70% of all microbial infections in the world are associated with biofilms. In addition, the emergence of strains resistant to conventional antibiotics has become a serious threat to global public health. Therefore, finding alternative medicines is a major issue in the field of integrative medicine. In this study, four different herb extracts were screened for biofilm formation and the activities of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Of them, Scutellaria scordifolia Fisch. ex Schrank extracts had inhibitory effects on bacterial growth and biofilm formation. The Scutellaia scordifolia Fisch. ex Schrank extracts did not cause any cytotoxicity to L929 cells. The growth of K. pneumoniae was inhibited compared to other comparators in the experimental group containing Scutellaia scordifolia Fisch. ex Schrank. In a group of experiments with plant extracts, a maximum of 60 times the level of living bacteria was confirmed compared to the controls without the addition of the Scutellaia scordifolia Fisch. ex Schrank extracts. In a group of experiments with a significantly lower level of fluorescence extraction, differential interference contrast imaging showed that the number of K. pneumonae was reduced. These results suggest that extracts of this plant be applied as antimicrobial agents against K. pneumoniae, particularly in biofilm forms.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.131-142
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• 2019

The primary objective of this study was to determine the content of biogenic amines in Korean traditional fermented soybean pastes (doenjang) and to isolate potential probiotic Bacillus sp. with the ability to inhibit biogenic amines accumulation. There were significant differences in the bacterial cell counts, pH value, titratable acidity, salinity, and biogenic amine content between the samples. Among Bacillus strains isolated from doenjang, Bacillus (B.) licheniformis DB102, B. subtilis DB203, B. stearothermophilus DB206, Bacillus sp. DB209, Bacillus sp. DB310, B. coagulans DB311, B. cereus DB313, B. amyloliquefaciens DB714, Bacillus sp. DB917, B. cereus DB 915, B. subtilis DB1020, and Bacillus sp. DB1022 were found to be able to produce biogenic amines. On the other hand, biogenic amine-degrading strains were identified as Bacillus sp. DB403, Bacillus sp. DB407, B. subtilis DB517, B. licheniformis DB612, and B. subtilis DB821. In particular, Bacillus sp. DB407 and B. subtilis DB821 showed probiotic properties including tolerance to artificial digestive juices, adherence to intestinal epithelial cells, resistance to antibiotics, and antibacterial activity against biogenic amine-producing strains. In conclusion, the two probiotic Bacillus strains may be considered as the suitable starter for manufacture of fermented soybean foods with low biogenic amines content.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.382-393
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• 2019

Wound care is a health industry concern affecting millions worldwide. Recent increase in metabolic disorders such as diabetes comes with elevated risk of wound-based complications. Treatment and management of wounds are difficult practices due to complexity of the wound healing process. Conventional wound dressings and treatment applications only provide limited benefits which are mainly aimed to keep wound protected from external factors. To improve wound care, recent developments make biopolymers to be of high interest and importance to researchers and medical practitioners. Biopolymers are polymers or natural origin produced by living organisms. They are credited to be highly biocompatible and biodegradable. Currently, studies reported biopolymers to exhibit various health beneficial properties such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, cell proliferative and angiogenic activities which are crucial for effective wound management. Several biopolymers, namely chitosan, cellulose, collagen, hyaluronic acid and alginic acid have been already investigated and applied as wound dressing agents. Different derivatives of biopolymers have also been developed by cross-linking with other molecules, grafting with other polymers, and loading with bioactive agents or drugs which showed promising results towards wound healing without any undesired outcome such as scarring and physiological abnormalities. In this review, current applications of common biopolymers in wound treatment industry are highlighted to be a guide for further applications and studies.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2022

Vibrio parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus are known to be infected to human via fisheries products. Therefore, food safety of fisheries products is important for public health and fish industry. This paper was conducted to know how well these human isolates can survive in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The growth of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus showed about 50~60% reduced rates at 25℃ than at 37℃ and did not show any differences according to NaCl concentration of media except the increasing in the growth of V. vulnificus in medium containing 3% NaCl. Artificial infection of 1×10⁶ CFU/fish was carried out to confirm the sensitivity of olive flounder against V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus. After 1 week from injection, no fish was dead. To evaluate nonspecific defense of olive flounder against V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus, the antibacterial potency of serum and epidermal mucus were tested. The number of the vibrios exposed to serum obtained from olive flounder significantly decreased after 3 hours, and epidermal mucus showed decrease of the bacteria over than 90% until 12 hours from exposure. Phagocytosis of head kidney leucocytes of healthy olive flounder against V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus showed in over 70% of leucocytes at the 2 hours. Therefore, cultured olive flounder only as vehicle for human pathogen in environmental water is well developed its antibacterial potency against human pathogens, so the viability of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in cultured olive flounder was considered very low.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.140-144
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• 2023

The objective of this study was to achieve biological control of green mold disease in Pyogo mushrooms using antagonistic microorganisms. Bacillus subtilis BSM320 cells inhibited mycelial growth by 48-60% against three Trichodermaisolates including T. hazianumisolated from the substrates of Lentinula edodes, showing their antifungal activity.The bacteria were cultured to a high density of 4.2 × 10⁹±113.7 cfu/mlin aqueous extract of composted spent mushroom substrates of L. edodes containing 1% glucose and showed a higher growth rate than that observed when using the commercial medium, Luria-Bertani broth. The bacterial culture showed a 75% protective effect without damaging the mushroom fruiting bodies. These results suggest that B. subtilis BSM320culture is suitable for biological control of green mold disease during mushroom cultivation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.334-342
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• 2023

Forty species of lactic acid bacteria isolated from gajami sikhae were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus brevis, and Weissella paramesenteroides. 10 of the 40 strains were selected and used for the test. In this study, experiments such as those using acid and artificial gastric juice resistance, bile acid resistance, autoaggregation, coaggregation, and cell surface hydrophobicity were conducted to utilize lactic acid bacteria separated from gajami sikhae as probiotics. The separated lactic acid strains showed high survival rates through displaying resistance to acidic and artificial gastric juices; L. plantarum GS11 showed the best resistance. Also, as a result of a measurement of bile acid resistance, all lactic acid bacteria stocks showed survival of more than 100% with a probiotic number of 10⁸ to 10⁹ log CFU/ml. After evaluating cohesion to indirectly measure cell surface adhesion, autoaggregation ability was shown to be more than 46%. Measurement of xylene adhesion for cell surface hydrophobicity evaluation revealed better cell adhesion than B. subtilis, which has 32.2% hydrophobicity in isolated lactic acid strains. Antibacterial force measurement found antibacterial activity in lactic acid bacteria, excluding L. plantarum GS12 and L. plantarum GS13. Therefore, it was judged that lactic acid bacteria separated from gajami sikhae could be used as probiotics with various probiotic properties.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.593-604
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• 2023

The ocean accounts for over 70% of the Earth's surface and is a space of largely unexplored unknowns and opportunities. Korea is a peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides, emphasizing the importance of marine research. The ocean has an extremely complex environment with immense biological diversity. In terms of microbiology, the marine environment has varying factors like extreme temperature, pressure, solar radiation, salt concentration, and pH, providing ecologically unique habitats. Due to this variety, marine organisms have very different phylogenetic classifications compared with terrestrial organisms. Although various microorganisms inhabit the ocean, studies on the diversity, isolation, and cultivation of marine microorganisms and the secondary metabolites they produce are still insufficient. Research on bioactive substances from marine microorganisms, which were rarely studied until the 1990s, has accelerated in terms of natural products from marine Actinomycetes since the 2000s. Since then, industries for bioplastic and biofuel production, carbon dioxide capture, probiotics, and pharmaceutical discovery and development of antibacterial, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory drugs using bacteria, archaea, and algae have significantly grown. In this review, we introduce current research findings and the latest trends in life science and biotechnology using marine microorganisms. Through this article, we hope to create consumer awareness of the importance of basic and applied research in various natural product-related discovery fields other than conventional pharmaceutical drug discovery. The article aims to suggest pathways that may boost research on the optimization and application of future marine-derived materials.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2020.08a
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• pp.41-41
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• 2020

가지(Solanum melongena L..)는 가지과 식물로 인도 동부가 원산지로 추정이 되며 우리나라를 포함해서 전세계적으로 널리 이용되고 있다. 가지는 다른 과채에 비해 비타민 함량은 낮으나 무기질과 폴리페놀, 식이섬유가 풍부하고 항균, 항암, 항산화활성을 가지는 것으로 보고되어 있다. 본 연구에서는 국내외에서 수집된 가지 유전자원의 형태적 특성을 조사하여 품종 육성을 위한 기초자료를 제공하고자 하였다. 본 연구에 사용된 가지 자원은 필리핀 78자원, 영국 78자원, 중국 45자원, 한국 12자원 등 16개 국가에서 수집된 459자원을 대상으로 하였다. 가지 유전자원의 생육 특성은 반직립형 437자원으로 가장 많았으며 직립형 15자원, 수평형 7자원으로 조사되었다. 하배축의 안토시아닌은 301자원이 있는 것으로 조사되었고 줄기 안토시아닌 축적은 258자원에서 조사되었다. 가시의 여부는 줄기에 31자원, 잎에 30자원이 조사되었으며 IT189682는 특이적으로 줄기에서만 가시가 조사되었다. 화색의 경우 흰색 31자원, 자주 207자원, 연자주 217자원, 흰자주 4자원으로 조사되었으며 꽃의 크기는 중간이 340자원으로 대부분을 차지했으며 큰 꽃 28자원, 작은 꽃 1자원(IT136568)으로 조사되었다. 과실의 형태는 원형 77자원, 타원형 27자원, 난형 31자원, 서양배형 57자원 곤봉형 88자원, 원통형 84자원, 긴원통형 95자원으로 다양하게 조사되었으며 과실 성숙색은 녹색 94자원, 흰색 16자원, 녹자주 67자원, 백자주 21자원, 자주 240자원, 주황 8자원, 노랑 13자원으로 조사되었다. 과실의 길이는 1.4(IT283605) ~ 40.5cm(K003875)로 평균 17.4cm였으며 두께는 0.7(IT283605) ~ 13.7cm(K162043)으로 평균 5.6cm 조사되었다. 본 실험에서 조사된 가지유전자원의 형태적 특성은 가지 선발에 있어 기초 정보로 활용 가능할 것이며 추가적으로 농업형질, 기능성 물질 분석등의 가지 육종 프로그램을 위한 다양한 평가 및 선발이 필요할 것이다.