• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2010

As the causative agent of Anthrax, Bacillus anthracis causes an acute fatal disease in herbivores such as cattle, sheep, and horses as well as humans. The therapeutics and prevention of anthrax currently available are based on antibiotics and the live attenuated vaccine strains, which may be problematic due to the emergency of antibiotic resistant strains or residual virulence in those vaccine strains. Therefore, it has been required to develop novel therapeutics and vaccines which are safer and applicable to humans. Recently, the development of the multivalent vaccine targeting both spores and vegetative cells of B. anthracis along with anthrax toxin has been reported. In our attempts to screen potential candidates for those multivalent vaccines, the whole genomic expression library of B. anthracis was constructed in this study. To the end, the partial digests of the genomic DNA from B. anthracis (ATCC 14578) with Sau3AI were ligated with the inducible pET30abc expression vectors, resulting in approximately $1{\times}10^5$ clones in E. coli BL21(DE3). The redundancy test by DNA nucleotide sequencing was performed for the randomly selected 111 clones and found 56 (50.5%) B. anthracis genes, 17 (15.3%) vector sequences, and 38 (34.2%) unknown genes with no sequence homology by BLAST. An inducible expression of the recombinant proteins was confirmed by Western blot. Interestingly, some clones could react with the antiserum against B. anthracis. These results imply that the whole genomic library constructed in this study can be applied for analyzing the immunomes of B. anthracis.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.58-61
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• 1992

Bacillus anthracis 590 having an inducibla resistance determinant to MLS antibiotics was isolated from a soli sample in Korea. The resistance gene (ernJ) was cloned by Southern blotting of chromosomal DNA fragment digested by various restriction enzymes and coloy hybridization method and the cloned plasmid was named as pBA423. The size of inserted DNA fragment of pBS42 vector was about 2.9 kb and the DNA sequence of the subcloned fragment (Hinc II-Hinc II, 1.4kb) WAS determined. The DNA sequence of ernJ was composed of 357 bp for leader region and 861 bp for the structural gene. Because the leader sequence of ernJ was homologous to that of ermK, the expression of ernJ is also thought to be controlled by a transcriptionl attenuation mechanism.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.361-364
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• 2000

To remove nitrogen compound from wastewater six kinds of bacillus were isolated from sludge. Each bacillus was identified as B. subtillis $I{cdot}II$, B. cereus $I{cdot}II$, B. anthracis, B. circulans. The test of effect of nutrient and cofector on the nitrogen removal showed that peptone, yeast extract, magnesium, iron, and calsium accerated the efficiency of nitrogen removal. In syringe test aerobic nitrification and denitrification was occured.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2009

Alanine racemase catalyzes the interconversion of L-alanine and D-alanine and plays a crucial role in spore germination and cell wall biosynthesis. In this study, alanine racemase produced by Bacillus anthracis was expressed and purified as a monomer in Escherichia coli and the importance of lysine 41 in the cofactor binding octapeptide and tyrosine 270 in catalysis was evaluated. The native enzyme exhibited an apparent $K_m$ of 3 mM for L-alanine, and a $V_{max}$ of $295\;{\mu}moles/min/mg$, with the optimum activity occurring at $37^{\circ}C$ and a pH of 8-9. The activity observed in the absence of exogenous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate suggested that the cofactor is bound to the enzyme. Additionally, the UV-visible absorption spectra indicated that the activity was pH independece, of VV-visible absorption spectra suggests that the bound PLP exists as a protonated Schiff's base. Furthermore, the loss of activity observed in the apoenzyme suggested that bound PLP is required for catalysis. Finally, the enzyme followed non-competitive and mixed inhibition kinetics for hydroxylamine and propionate with a $K_i$of $160\;{\mu}M$ and 30 mM, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.140-147
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• 2002

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.614-622
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• 2013

Daqu, a traditional fermentation starter, has been used to produce attractively flavored foods such as vinegar and Chinese liquor for thousands of years. Although Bacillus spp. are one of the dominant microorganisms in Daqu, more precise information is needed to reveal why and how Bacillus became dominant in Daqu, and next, to assess the impact of Bacillus sp. on Daqu and its derived products. We combined culture-dependent and culture-independent methods to study the ecology of Bacillus during Daqu incubation. Throughout the incubation, 67 presumptive Bacillus spp. isolates were obtained, 52 of which were confirmed by 16S rDNA sequencing. The identified organisms belonged to 8 Bacillus species: B. licheniformis, B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. cereus, B. circulans, B. megaterium, B. pumilus, and B. anthracis. A primer set specific for Bacillus and related genera was used in a selective PCR study, followed by a nested DGGE PCR targeting the V9 region of the 16S rDNA. Species identified from the PCR-DGGE fingerprints were related to B. licheniformis, B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. pumilus, B. benzoevorans, and B. foraminis. The predominant species was found to be B. licheniformis. Certain B. licheniformis strains exhibited potent antimicrobial activities. The greatest species diversity occurred at the Liangmei stage of Daqu incubation. To date, we lack sufficient knowledge of Bacillus distribution in Daqu. Elucidating the ecology of Bacillus during Daqu incubation would enable the impact of Bacillus on Daqu to be accessed, and the quality and stabilization of Daqu-derived products to be optimized.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Hygiene and Safety Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.148-149
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.211.2-211
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• 2005

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.577-584
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• 2001

An antimicrobially active bacterium which was identified as Bacillus brevis, was isolated from kimchi. The antimicrobial activity was found against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria including some pathogens food-spoilage microorganisms, and some yeast strains. The antimicrobial activity was especially strong against Bacillus anthracis and Shigella dysenteriae. The strong activity was observed during an early stationary phase in the culture when incubated at $37^{\circ}C$ with initial medium pH of 6.8. The antimicrobial activity was found to be stable at $90^{\circ}C$ for 30 min and in the pH range of 3-11, and it was insensitive to organic solvents including acetone, acetonitrile, ethanol, and methanol. Analysis of the bacterocin on tricine-sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel suggested a molecular mass of approximately 4.5-6.0 kDa. The antimicrobial substance was characterized as a bacteriocin, because of its proteinaceous nature and low molecular weight. The bacteriocin could potentially be used as a food preservative, because of its thermostable property and broad antimicrobial spectrum.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2008

This study attempted to develop the technology by gaseous ozone for decontaminating building affected by a model of biological weapon agent(Bacillus subtilis spores) instead of Bacillus anthracis spore. The use of ozone is attractive method from a practical point of view of decontamination procedure since it has strong oxidation power but no residue after application. We examined the disinfection efficiency of gaseous ozone to Bacillus subtilis spores which suspension was sprayed on different material surfaces and dried. Three different types of gaseous ozone was applied : dry ozone, dry ozone with humidified air, and water bubbled wet ozone. Dry ozone(1500ppm) failed to achieve any significant inactivation for 2hrs. However, six log reduction of B. subtilis spore was achieved within 30min by 1500ppm of water bubbled wet ozone. This result shows the noticeable inactivation efficiency by gaseous ozone compared with previous studies. Good performance by wet ozone was also found for military material surface.(i.e. : gas mask hood, protective garments, army peinted metal surface).