• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1593-1604
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• 2016

Recently, bacterial quorum quenching (QQ) has been proven to have potential as an innovative approach for biofouling control in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for advanced wastewater treatment. Although information regarding the microbial community is crucial for the development of QQ strategies, little information exists on the microbial ecology in QQ-MBRs. In this study, the microbial communities of biofilm were investigated in relation to the effect of QQ on anoxic/oxic MBRs. Two laboratory-scale MBRs were operated with and without QQ-beads (QQ-bacteria entrapped in beads). The transmembrane pressure increase in the QQ-MBRs was delayed by approximately 100-110% compared with conventional- and vacant-MBRs (beads without QQ-bacteria) at 45 kPa. In terms of the microbial community, QQ gradually favored the development of a diverse and even community. QQ had an effect on both the bacterial composition and change rate of the bacterial composition. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla in the biofilm, and the average relative composition of Proteobacteria was low in the QQ-MBR. Thiothrix sp. was the dominant bacterium in the biofilm. The relative composition of Thiothrix sp. was low in the QQ-MBR. These findings provide useful information that can inform the development of a new QQ strategy.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 2022

Bacteria grow biofilm on various surface such as separation membrane, food packaging film and biomedical device. Growth of biofilm is associated with the formation of a complex structure of exopolysaccharides. Effect of antibacterial effect reduce drastically once the biofilm developed due to the difficulties in mass transport of antimicrobial agent. In order to enhance the antibacterial activity, surface of the membrane is modified, coated or immobilized with functional materials with biocidal properties. One of the idea is to introduce positive charge on the membrane surface by the presence of quaternary ammonium group which might displace divalent metal ion such as magnesium or calcium present in the bacteria cell wall. Efficacy of cell membrane disruption depends on the mobility of the agents available directly on the surface environment. In this review, various biocidal agents like quaternary ammonium group, helamine or zwitter ion containing membrane are discussed.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2018

The purpose of our study is to compare the adhesion and biofilm formation abilities of isolates from water discharged from dental unit waterlines (DUWLs). Bacteria were isolated from a total of 15 DUWLs. Twelve isolates were selected for the experiment. To confirm the adhesion ability of the isolates, each isolate was attached to a glass coverslip using a 12-well plate. Plates were incubated at $26^{\circ}C$ for 7 days, and the degree of adhesion of each isolate was scored. To verify the biofilm formation ability of each isolate, biofilms were allowed to form on a 96-well polystyrene flat-bottom microtiter plate. The biofilm accumulations of all isolates formed at $26^{\circ}C$ for 7 days were identified and compared. A total of 56 strains were isolated from 15 water samples including 12 genera and 31 species. Of the 56 isolates, 12 isolates were selected according to the genus and used in the experiment. Sphingomonas echinoides, Methylobacterium aquaticum, and Cupriavidus pauculus had the highest adhesion ability scores of +3 among 12 isolates. Among these three isolates, the biofilm accumulation of C. pauculus was the highest and that of S. echinoides was the third-most abundant. The lowest biofilm accumulations were identified in Microbacterium testaceum and M. aquaticum. Most isolates with high adhesion ability also exhibited high biofilm formation ability. Analysis of adhesion and biofilm formation of the isolates from DUWLs can provide useful information to understand the mechanism of DUWL biofilm formation and development.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.321-327
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• 2013

In the present work, the reactors that harbor bacterial biofilms including ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and heterotrophic bacteria were treated with a continuous dose of chlorite ($0.66{\pm}0.01mg/L$) either with or without monochloramine at $1.77{\pm}0.03mg/L$. Both chlorite alone and combined chlorite-monochloramine applications effectively reduced biofilm and bulk AOB levels to near or below the detection limit ($0.6MPN/cm^2$ and 0.2 MPN/ml). The combined chlorite-monochloramine application exhibited greater AOB inactivation than chlorite alone. Unlike AOB, heterotrophic plate count (HPC) was unaffected by chlorite alone. In contrast to chlorite-only application, a combination of chlorite and monochloramine resulted in a significant reduction in HPC levels with log reductions of 3.1 and 3.0 for biofilm and bulk water, respectively. The results demonstrate that the combined chlorite-monochloramine application can provide an effective treatment for the inhibition of AOB and heterotrophic bacteria in a drinking water distribution system.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.284-292
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• 2016

Water supplied through dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) has been shown to contain high number of bacteria. To reduce the contamination of DUWLs, it is essential to develop effective disinfectants. It is, however, difficulty to obtain proper DUWL samples for studies. The purpose of this study was to establish a simple laboratory model for reproducing DUWL biofilms. The bacteria obtained from DUWLs were cultured in R2A liquid medium for 10 days, and then stored at $-70^{\circ}C$. This stock was inoculated into R2A liquid medium and incubated in batch mode. After 5 days of culturing, it was inoculated into the biofilm formation model developed in this study. Our biofilm formation model comprised of a beaker containing R2A liquid medium and five glass rods attached to DUWL polyurethane tubing. Biofilm was allowed to form on the stir plate and the medium was replaced every 2 days. After 4 days of biofilm formation in the laboratory model, biofilm thickness, morphological characteristics and distribution of the composing bacteria were examined by confocal laser microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The mean of biofilm accumulation was $4.68{\times}10^4$ colony forming unit/$cm^2$ and its thickness was $10{\sim}14{\mu}m$. In our laboratory model, thick bacterial lumps were observed in some parts of the tubing. To test the suitability of this biofilm model system, the effectiveness of disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and chlorhexidine, was examined by their application to the biofilm formed in our model. Lower concentrations of disinfectants were less effective in reducing the count of bacteria constituting the biofilm. These results showed that our DUWL biofilm laboratory model was appropriate for comparison of disinfectant effects. Our laboratory model is expected to be useful for various other purposes in further studies.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.171-176
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• 2022

Recently, an autotrophic single-stage nitrogen removal (ASSNR) process based on the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) reaction has been proven as an economical ammonia treatment. It is highly evident that double-layered gel beads are a promising alternative to the natural biofilm for ASSNR because of the high mechanical strength of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/alginate structure and efficient protection of ANAMMOX bacteria from dissolved oxygen (DO) due to the thick outer layer. However, the thick outer layer results in severe mass transport limitation and consequent lowered bacterial activity. Therefore, the effects of the thickness of the outer layer on the overall reaction rate were tested in the biofilm model using AQUASIM for ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and ANAMMOX bacteria. A thickness of 0.5~1.0 mm is preferred for the maximum total nitrogen (TN) removal. In addition, a DO of 0.5 mg/L resulted in the best total nitrogen removal. A higher DO induces NOB activity and consequent lower TN removal efficiency. The optimal density of AO B and NO B density was 1~10% for a 10% ANAMMOX bacterial in the double-layered PVA/alginate gel beads. The real effects of operating parameters of the thickness of the outer layer, DO and concentrations of biomass balance should be intensively investigated in the controlled experiments in batch and continuous modes.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.108-113
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• 2014

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio vulnificus are Gram-negative human pathogens, which exert their virulence through quorum sensing (QS) regulation. The infection of these pathogens have been known to be mediated by biofilm formation in many cases and this study carried out the time-course analysis of biofilm formation depending on the QS regulation in P. aeruginosa and V. vulnificus. In P. aeruginosa, our results demonstrated that QS-deficient mutant better attached to surface at initial stage of biofilm formation, but poorly proceeded to the maturation of the biofilm structure, while wild type less attached at initial stage but developed highly structured biofilm at late stage. Because of this, the quantitative comparison of biofilm formation between wild type and the QS mutant showed the reversion; the QS mutant formed more biofilm until 10 h after inoculation than wild type, but wild type formed much more biofilm after 10 h than QS mutant. V. vulnificus has been reported to form more biofilm with the mutation on QS system. When we performed the same time-course analysis of the V. vulnificus biofilm formation, the reversion was not detected even with prolonged culture for 108 h and the QS mutant always forms more biofilm than wild type. These results indicate that the QS regulation negatively affects the attachment at early stage but positively facilitates the biofilm maturation at late stage in P. aeruginosa, while the QS regulation has a negative effect on the biofilm formation throughout the biofilm development in V. vulnificus. Based on our results, we suggest that the developmental stage of biofilm and bacterial species should be considered when the QS system is targeted for biofilm control.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.45-52
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• 2009

Naphthalene-degrading bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa CZ6 isolated from contaminated soil can adhere to crystal naphthalene and produce extracellular polymeric substance. LB, YM and MSM medium were used as culture mediums to investigate the formation of biofilm. Biofilm was developed the most in LB medium by Pseudomonas aeruginosa CZ6. In the culture, strain CZ6 growth was rarely affected by naphthalene concentration. Optimal culture condition was $30^{\circ}C$ and pH 7 at 0.10% substrate and 150 rpm shaking. The effect of culture medium on naphthalene degradation in the two soil slurry system was evaluated. The initial degradation rate of naphthalene was highest in the MSM medium of soil slurry. However, the sorbed naphthalene was rapidly degraded at the LB medium when naphthalene availability in liquid was limited. The results of this study suggest that biofilm formation and extracellular polymeric substance production increased bioavailability of soil sorbed naphthalene.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1001-1013
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• 2020

The formation of biofilms on the enamel surface of teeth by Streptococcus mutans is an important step in dental plaque formation, demineralization, and early caries because the biofilm is where other bacteria involved in dental caries attach, grow, and proliferate. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of phosvitin (PSV) on the biofilm formation, exopolysaccharides (EPS) production, adherence activity of S. mutans, and the expression of genes related to the compounds essential for biofilm formation (quorum-sensing inducers and components of biofilm matrix) by S. mutans. PSV significantly reduced the biofilm-forming activity of S. mutans and increased the degradation of preformed biofilms by S. mutans. PSV inhibited the adherence activity of S. mutans by 31.9%-33.6%, and the production of EPS by 62%-65% depending upon the strains and the amount of PSV added. The expressions of genes regulating the production of EPS and the quorum-sensing-inducers (gtfA, gtfD, ftf, relA, vicR, brpA, and comDE) in all S. mutans strains were down-regulated by PSV, but gtfB was down-regulated only in S. mutans KCTC 5316. Therefore, the anti-biofilm-forming activity of PSV was accomplished through the inhibition of biofilm formation, adherence activity, and the production of quorum-sensing inducers and EPS by S. mutans.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.221-227
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• 2019

During the operation, maintenance and decommissioning of nuclear power plant radioactive contaminated waste is produced. This waste is stored in an underground repository 60-100 meters below the surface. The metallic portion of this waste comprises mostly carbon and stainless steel. A long-term field exposure showed high corrosion rates, general corrosion up to 29 ㎛ a^-1 and localized corrosion even higher. High corrosion rate is possible if microbes produce corrosive products, or alter the local microenvironment to favor corrosion. The bacterial and archaeal composition of biofilm formed on the surface of carbon steel was studied using 16S rRNA gene targeting sequencing, followed by phylogenetic analyses of the microbial community. The functional potential of the microbial communities in biofilm was studied by functional gene targeting quantitative PCR. The corrosion rate was calculated from weight loss measurements and the deposits on the surfaces were analyzed with SEM/EDS and XRD. Our results demonstrate that microbial diversity on the surface of carbon steel and their functionality is vast. Our results suggest that in these nutrient poor conditions the role of methanogenic archaea in corrosive biofilm, in addition to sulphate reducing bacteria, could be greater than previously suspected.