• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.105-111
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• 2013

Biofilm formation of multifunctional plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR), Pseudomonas fluorescens 2112 is necessary for P. fluorescens 2112 to have a positive impact on the rhizosphere of red-pepper. This study investigated whether signal molecules of the quorum sensing AHLs are produced in order to confirm biofilm formative ability. Through the use of Petri dish bioassays a blue circle formed evidence of AHLs. It was confirmed that P. fluorescens 2112 produced six-carbon-chain-long AHLs by TLC bioassay. The bacterial density of P. fluorescens 2112 on the top and bottom of pepper plant roots was estimated as $3{\times}10^5$ and $8{\times}10^3$ CFU/g root, respectively. P. fluorescens 2112 exist more with high-density of $3.5{\times}10^6$ CFU/g soil at a depth of 1 cm but at a low-density of $1.1{\times}10$ CFU/g soil at a depth of 5 cm, from the surface of rhizosphere soil. In addition, biofilm formation of P. fluorescens 2112 on the epidermises and the tips of the red-pepper roots were confirmed visually by SEM. Thus, the production of AHLs by P. fluorescens 2112 brings about quorum sensing signaling and the formation of biofilm on the roots which has a positive effect on economically important crops such as red-pepper by additionally producing a variety of antifungal substances and auxin.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.104-104
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• 2009

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2004

Many bacteria monitor their population density and control the expression of specialized gene sets in response to bacterial cell density based on a mechanism referred to as quorum sensing. In all cases, quorum sensing involves the production and detection of extracellular signaling molecules, auto inducers, as which Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria use most prevalently acylated homoserine lactones and processed oligo-peptides, respectively. Through quorum-sensing communication circuits, bacteria regulate a diverse array of physiological functions, including virulence, symbiosis, competence, conjugation, antibiotic production, motility, sporulation, and biofilm formation. Many pathogens have evolved quorum-sensing mechanisms to mount population-density-dependent attacks to over-whelm the defense responses of plants, animals, and humans. Since these AHL-mediated signaling mechanisms are widespread and highly conserved in many pathogenic bacteria, the disruption of quorum-sensing system might be an attractive target for novel anti-infective therapy. To control AHL-mediated pathogenicity, several promising strategies to disrupt bacterial quorum sensing have been reported, and several chemicals and enzymes have been also investigated for years. These studies indicate that anti-quorum sensing strategies could be developed as possible alternatives of antibiotics.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.182-192
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• 2013

Numerous root-associated bacteria (rhizobacteria) are known to elicit induced systemic resistance (ISR) in plants. Bacterial cell-density-dependent quorum sensing (QS) is thought to be important for ISR. Here, we investigated the role of QS in the ISR elicited by the rhizobacterium, Serratia marcescens strain 90-166, in tobacco. Since S. marcescens 90-166 produces at least three QS signals, QS-mediated ISR in strain 90-166 has been difficult to understand. Therefore, we investigated the ISR capacity of two transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants that contained either bacterial acylhomoserine lactone-producing (AHL) or -degrading (AiiA) genes in conjunction with S. marcescens 90-166 to induce resistance against bacterial and viral pathogens. Root application of S. marcescens 90-166 increased ISR to the bacterial pathogens, Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci, in AHL plants and decreased ISR in AiiA plants. In contrast, ISR to Cucumber mosaic virus was reduced in AHL plants treated with S. marcescens 90-166 but enhanced in AiiA plants. Taken together, these data indicate that QS-dependent ISR is elicited by S. marcescens 90-166 in a pathogen-dependent manner. This study provides insight into QS-dependent ISR in tobacco elicited by S. marcescens 90-166.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.180-188
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• 2002

Newly developed curing units(plasma arc curing units) operate at relatively high intensity and are claimed to result in optimum properties of composite resin in a short curing time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the microhardness and microleakage at the resin-tooth interface of two types of composite resins polymerized with visible light and plasma arc curing units. The results from the present study can be summarized as follows 1. Microhardness in each depth was shown to be higher in group AHL than AP3 & AP6. Group ZHL was lower than AP6 at surface(p<0.05) and had no statistically significant difference at 1mm and 2mm(p>0.05). In other depths, group ZHL was higher than ZP3 and ZP6(p<0.05). 2. The incremental reduction in microhardness with depth was shown to be in all group except in surface-1mm of group AHL and $1{\sim}2mm$ of group ZHL(p<0.05). 3. Degree of microleakage in all oops were shown to be higher in gingival margin than occlusal margin but no statistically significant difference(p>0.05). 4. Differences between curing methods in microleakage were shown to be no statistically significant difference(p>0.05). 5. Differences between composite resins in microleakage were shown to be no statistically significant differ once(p>0.05).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.136-150
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• 2015

Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tabaci is a plant pathogenic bacterium that causes wildfire disease in tobacco plants. In P. syringae pv. tabaci, PsyI, a LuxI-type protein, acts as an AHL synthase, while primary and secondary sequence analysis of PsyR has revealed that it is a homolog of the LuxR-type transcriptional regulator that responds to AHL molecules. In this study, using phenotypic and genetic analyses in P. syringae pv. tabaci, we show the effect of PsyR protein as a quorum-sensing (QS) transcriptional regulator. Regulatory effects of PsyR on swarming motility and production of siderophores, tabtoxin, and N-acyl homoserine lactones were examined via phenotypic assays, and confirmed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Further qRT-PCR showed that PsyR regulates expression of these virulence genes in response to environmental signals. However, an upstream region of the gene was not bound with purified MBP-PsyR protein; rather, PsyR was only able to shift the upstream region of psyI. These results suggested that PsyR may be indirectly controlled via intermediate-regulatory systems and that auto-regulation by PsyR does not occur.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.596-606
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• 2019

N-acyl-homoserine lactone quorum sensing (AHL-QS) has been shown to regulate many physiological behaviors in Serratia marcescens MG1. In the current study, the effects of AHL-QS on the biosynthesis of acid and neutral products by S. marcescens MG1 and its isogenic ${\Delta}swrI$ with or without supplementing exogenous N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone ($C_6-HSL$) were systematically investigated. The results showed that swrI disruption resulted in rapid pH drops from 7.0 to 4.8, which could be restored to wild type by supplementing $C_6-HSL$. Furthermore, fermentation product analysis indicated that ${\Delta}swrI$ could lead to obvious accumulation for acidogenesis products such as lactic acid and succinic acid, especially excess acetic acid (2.27 g/l) produced at the early stage of fermentation, whereas solventogenesis products by ${\Delta}swrI$ appeared to noticeably decrease by an approximate 30% for acetoin during 32-48 h and by an approximate 20% for 2,3-butanediol during 24-40 h, when compared to those by wild type. Interestingly, the excess acetic acid produced could be removed in an AHL-QS-independent manner. Subsequently, quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the mRNA expression levels of genes responsible for acidogenesis and solventogenesis and showed consistent results with those of product synthesis. Finally, by close examination of promoter regions of the analyzed genes, four putative luxI box-like motifs were found upstream of genes encoding acetyl-CoA synthase, lactate dehydrogenase, ${\alpha}$-acetolactate decarboxylase, and Lys-like regulator. The information from this study provides a novel insight into the roles played by AHL-QS in switching from acidogenesis to solventogenesis in S. marcescens MG1.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.322-328
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• 2005

Acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) are known to be the triggering molecules in the quorum sensing mechanism of many gram-negative bacteria. In order to detect AHL inhibitors that are potential biofilm inhibitors, a convenient and sensitive bioassay was developed based on the $\beta$-galactosidase activity ($\beta$-GAL) of a recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain. A series of commercially available AHLs were tested for inducing $\beta$-GAL at varying concentrations in agar-plate and liquid cultures of the reporter strain. All AHLs tested exhibited a concentration­dependent induction, and octanoyl homoserine lactone (OHL) showed the highest sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.1 nM in the liquid culture assay. When fimbrolide, a known quorum sensing inhibitor, was added, induction of $\beta$-GAL by OHL was repressed. The repression at a constant OHL concentration was dependent on the fimbrolide concentration with the detection limit below 1 ppm, indicating that this assay is a sensitive method for screening AHL inhibitors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.429-441
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• 2024

This paper studies the free vibration behavior of trapezoidal shaped coupled double-layered graphene sheets (DLGS) system using first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and incorporating nonlocal elasticity theory. Two nanoplates are assumed to be bonded by an interlayer van der walls force and surrounded by an external kelvin-voight viscoelastic medium. The governing equations together with related boundary condition are discretized using a mapping-differential quadrature method (DQM) in the spatial domain. Then the natural frequency of the system is obtained by solving the eigen value matrix equation. The validity of the current study is evaluated by comparing its numerical results with those available in the literature and then a parametric study is thoroughly performed, concentrating on the series effects of angles and aspect ratio of GS, viscoelastic medium, and nonlocal parameter. The model is used to study the vibration of DLGS for two typical deformation modes, the in-phase and out-of-phase vibrations, which are investigated. Numerical results indicate that due to Increasing the damping parameter of the viscoelastic medium has reduced the frequency of both modes and this medium has been able to overdamped the oscillations and by increasing stiffness parameters both in-phase and out-of-phase vibration frequencies increased.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.402-409
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• 2006

Although microorganisms are, in fact, the most diverse and abundant type of organism on Earth, the ecological functions of microbial populations remains poorly understood. A variety of bacteria including marine Vibrios encounter numerous ecological challenges, such as UV light, predation, competition, and seasonal variations in seawater including pH, salinity, nutrient levels, temperature and so forth. In order to survive and proliferate under variable conditions, they have to develop elaborate means of communication to meet the challenges to which they are exposed. In bacteria, a range of biological functions have recently been found to be regulated by a population density-dependent cell-cell signaling mechanism known as quorum-sensing (QS). In other words, bacterial cells sense population density by monitoring the presence of self-produced extracellular autoinducers (AI). N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL)-dependent quorum-sensing was first discovered in two luminescent marine bacteria, Vibrio fischeri and Vibrio harveyi. The LuxI/R system of V. fischeriis the paradigm of Gram-negative quorum-sensing systems. At high population density, the accumulated signalstrigger the expression of target genes and thereby initiate a new set of biological activities. Several QS systems have been identified so far. Among them, an AHL-dependent QS system has been found to control biofilm formation in several bacterial species, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aeromonas hydrophila, Burkholderia cepacia, and Serratia liquefaciens. Bacterial biofilm is a structured community of bacterial cells enclosed in a self-produced polymeric matrix that adheres to an inert or living surface. Extracellular signal molecules have been implicated in biofilm formation. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain NT1(traR, tra::lacZ749) and Chromobacterium violaceum strain CV026 are used as biosensors to detect AHL signals. Quorum sensing in lactic acid bacteria involves peptides that are directly sensed by membrane-located histidine kinases, after which the signal is transmitted to an intracellular regulator. In the nisin autoregulation process in Lactococcus lactis, the NisK protein acts as the sensor for nisin, and NisR protein as the response regulator activatingthe transcription of target genes. For control over growth and survival in bacterial communities, various strategies need to be developed by which receptors of the signal molecules are interfered with or the synthesis and release of the molecules is controlled. However, much is still unknown about the metabolic processes involved in such signal transduction and whether or not various foods and food ingredients may affect communication between spoilage or pathogenic bacteria. In five to ten years, we will be able to discover new signal molecules, some of which may have applications in food preservation to inhibit the growth of pathogens on foods.