• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.176-182
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• 1994

The light-organ symbiont of pine cone fish, Vibrio fischeri, senses its presence in the host and responds to environmental changes by differentially expressing its symbiosis-related luminescence genes. The V. fischeri luminescence genes are activated by LuxR protein in the presence of an autoinducer. In an effort to elucidate the mechanism of regulation of luxR, a plasmid containing luxR was mutagenized in vitro with hydroxylamine and a luxR mutant plasmid was isolated by its ability to activate luminescence genes cloned in E. coli in the absence of the autoinducer. The specific base change identified by DNA sequencing was only single base transition at ＋78 from the transcriptional start of luxR. Based on a Western immunoblot analysis, the nucleotide change directed the synthesis of much higher level of LuxR protein without any amino acid substitutions. The results suggest that the region including the ＋78th base is presumably internal operator required for autorepression of luxR, and the increased cellular level of LuxR results in activation of luminescence genes by autoinducer independent fashion.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.537-538
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.4-8
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• 2000

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.260-267
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• 2006

The Liquid Culture Assay using a recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain has been developed as a means for quorum sensing autoinducer screening. However, the low aqueous solubility of marine natural product extracts used as potential autoinducers has been a hindrance in the screening process. Although the addition of organic solvents and/or surfactants could increase aqueous solubility, errors in data interpretation including false positive results could be a serious problem. Therefore, determining the best possible solvent and surfactant at the optimum concentration is crucial. Evaluating methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, DMSO and DMF at concentration ranges of 0~10% revealed < 2% methanol to be most favorable when tested for ${\beta}$-gal activity and growth inhibition of the recombinant A. tumefaciens strain. On the other hand, among surfactants tested, Triton X-100 was similarly effective in increasing the delivery of autoinducers for activity at less than 0.05% concentration.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.2_spc
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• pp.337-345
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• 2024

Ruminants possess a specialized four-compartment forestomach, consisting of the reticulum, rumen, omasum, and abomasum. The rumen, the primary fermentative chamber, harbours a dynamic ecosystem comprising bacteria, protozoa, fungi, archaea, and bacteriophages. These microorganisms engage in diverse ecological interactions within the rumen microbiome, primarily benefiting the host animal by deriving energy from plant material breakdown. These interactions encompass symbiosis, such as mutualism and commensalism, as well as parasitism, predation, and competition. These ecological interactions are dependent on many factors, including the production of diverse molecules, such as those involved in quorum sensing (QS). QS is a density-dependent signalling mechanism involving the release of autoinducer (AIs) compounds, when cell density increases AIs bind to receptors causing the altered expression of certain genes. These AIs are classified as mainly being N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL; commonly used by Gram-negative bacteria) or autoinducer-2 based systems (AI-2; used by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria); although other less common AI systems exist. Most of our understanding of QS at a gene-level comes from pure culture in vitro studies using bacterial pathogens, with much being unknown on a commensal bacterial and ecosystem level, especially in the context of the rumen microbiome. A small number of studies have explored QS in the rumen using 'omic' technologies, revealing a prevalence of AI-2 QS systems among rumen bacteria. Nevertheless, the implications of these signalling systems on gene regulation, rumen ecology, and ruminant characteristics are largely uncharted territory. Metatranscriptome data tracking the colonization of perennial ryegrass by rumen microbes suggest that these chemicals may influence transitions in bacterial diversity during colonization. The likelihood of undiscovered chemicals within the rumen microbial arsenal is high, with the identified chemicals representing only the tip of the iceberg. A comprehensive grasp of rumen microbial chemical signalling is crucial for addressing the challenges of food security and climate targets.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.207-211
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• 2012

Autoinduction is mediated by signaling molecules known as autoinducers (AIs) that are produced, released and detected by bacterium itself. We recently reported that Corynebacterium glutamicum possesses an autoinduction system which secretes autoinducers during the stationary-phase of growth, triggering the expression of acyltransferase gene. However, it is still not clear what may act as autoinducers for the autoinduction in C. glutamicum. In this study, we compared the inducing effects of cell-free culture fluids obtained from a number of microbes including Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Vibrio harveyi, and Escherichia coli. Fluids from A. tumefaciens did not increase the expression of acyltransferase, whereas fluids from V. harveyi BB120 ($AI-1^+$, $AI-2^+$) did. Interestingly, the expression was increased by the fluids obtained from the early exponential-phase culture of BB120. Furthermore, this induction was not observed by the fluids from autoinducer mutants of V. harveyi MM77 ($AI-1^-$, $AI-2^-$) and BB152 ($AI-1^-$, $AI-2^+$). Unlike the effect shown by BB152, fluids from E. coli ($AI-1^-$, $AI-2^+$) still induced the acyltransferase expression. Taken together, these results suggest that C. glutamicum autoinducers seem to be unidentified molecules which do not belong to AI-1 or AI-2.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.804-811
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• 2001

In many Gram-negative bacteria, autoinducers, such as N-acyl-L-homoserine lactone(acyl-HSL) and its derivative molecules, mediate the cell-density-dependnet expression of certain operons. The current study identified the autoinducers produced by Burkholderia cepacia G4, a trichloroethylene-degrading lagoon isolate, using TLC bioassays with Agrobacterium tumefaciens NT1(pDCI141E33) and Chromobacterium violaceum CVO26, and a GC-MS analysis. The ${R_f}\;and\;{R_t}$ values and mass spectra were compared with those of synthetic compounds. Based on the analyses, it was confirmed that G4 produces N-hexanoyl (C6)-, N-octanoyl (C8)-, N-decanoyl (C10)-, N-dodecanoyl (C12)-HSL, and an unknown active species. The integration of the GC peak areas exhibited a ratio of C8-HSL:C10-HSL:C12-HSL at 3:17:1 with C6-HSL and C10-HSL production at trace and micromolar levels, respectively, in the culture supernatants. Nutants partially defective in producing acyl-HSLs were also partially defective in the biosynthesis of an antibiotic substance. These results indicate that the autoinducer-dependent gene regulation in G4 is dissimilar to the clinical B. cepacia strains isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.750-753
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• 2016

Quorum sensing (QS) is a bacterium-to-bacterium cell communication mechanism allowing bio-cell network construction but such mechanism is not well defined yet. We construct a QS-based multiple access network (MAN) and then numerically analyse its average uplink channel capacity as well as BER performance over diffusion-based 3-D molecular communication channels.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.277-285
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• 2006

The most biofilm forming bacteria in catheter, Esctherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated and identified from a patient's catheter occuring catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI). We examined mRNA expression and its quantification of AIs synthetic genes encoding signal substance of quorum sensing from each bacterial species in order to elucidated quorum sensing mechanism. Both pure cultures for each bacterial strains and a mixed cultures with three were grown for 24 hr and 30 days. Initial densities to be able to detect mRNA expression oil single strains culture were shown at $2.4{\times}10^5$ CFU/ml, $5.4{\times}10^6$ CFU/ml of E. coli for ygaG and S. aureus for luxS, and at $6.9{\times}10^4$ CFU/ml of P. aeruginosa for rhlI and lasI. Also, in mixed culture of three, initial cell densities of mRNA expression were appear to at $7.3{\times}10^5$ CFU/ml, $1.6{\times}10^7$ CFU/ml of E. coli for ygaG and S. aureus for luxS, and at $2.1{\times}10^5$ CFU/ml of P. aeruginosa for rhlI and lasI. Each AIs synthetic gene was expressed in initial cell density and the mRNA expression of the genes were detected continously during 30 days. And then, the quantification of mRNA expression level of ygaG, rhlI, last, and luxS which were related AIs synthesis was done each time point by real-time RT-PCR. Interestingly, the mRNA levels of ygaG, rhlI, lasI, and luxS from the mixed culture was higher than those from each single strain culture. In the case of E. coli ygaG, the amount of transcript from the mixed culture was at least 30 times for that from single culture. In the case of P. aeruginosa rhlI and lasI, the amount of transcript from the mixed culture was at least 40 times and 250 times for that from single strain culture. In the case of S. aureus luxS, the amount of transcript from the mixed culture was at least 5 times for that from single strain culture. And specially, the mRNA expression of rhlI and lasI of P. aeruginosa showed the highest efficency among four AIs synthetic genes.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2003

Production of ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides usually referred to as bacteriocins is an inducible trait in several gram positive bacteria, particularly in those belonging to the group of lactic acid bacteria. In many of these organisms, production of bacteriocins is inducible and induction requires secretion and extracellular accumulation of peptides that act as chemical messengers and trigger bacteriocin production. These inducer peptides are often referred to as autoinducers and are believed to permit a quorum sensing-based regulation of bacteriocin production. Notably, the peptides acting as autoinducers are dedicated peptides with or without antimicrobial activity or the bacteriocins themselves. The autoinducer-dependent induction of bacteriocin production requires histidine protein kinases and response regulator proteins of two-component signal transduction systems. The current working model for the regulation of class II bacteriocin production in lactic acid bacteria and the most relevant direct and indirect pieces of evidence supporting the model are discussed in this minireview.