• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.765-775
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• 2019

A new ${\alpha}$-amylase-encoding gene (amySL3) of glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 13 was identified in soda lake isolate Alkalibacterium sp. SL3. The deduced AmySL3 shares high identities (82-98%) with putative ${\alpha}$-amylases from the genus Alkalibacterium, but has low identities (<53%) with functionally characterized counterparts. amySL3 was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant enzyme (rAmySL3) was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. The optimal temperature and pH of the activity of the purified rAmySL3 were determined to be $45^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.5, respectively. rAmySL3 was found to be extremely halophilic, showing maximal enzyme activity at a nearly saturated concentration of NaCl. Its thermostability was greatly enhanced in the presence of 4 M NaCl, and it was highly stable in 5 M NaCl. Moreover, the enzyme did not require calcium ions for activity, and was strongly resistant to a range of surfactants and hydrophobic organic solvents. The major hydrolysis products of rAmySL3 from soluble starch were maltobiose and maltotriose. The high ratio of acidic amino acids and highly negative electrostatic potential surface might account for the halophilic nature of AmySL3. The extremely halophilic, calcium-independent, and surfactant-resistant properties make AmySL3 a promising candidate enzyme for both basic research and industrial applications.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.557-565
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• 2021

Interest in research on various medicinal plants has increased globally over the last few decades, possibly due to their possible antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The present study was conducted to verify the antioxidant effects, antibacterial activity, and collagen synthesis and cell viability outcomes of adipocytes upon exposure to Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai (AdN). Antibacterial activity was measured through the Disc diffusion method to compare the growth ability of pathogenic microorganisms (E.coli, Salmonella). The absorbance was measured at 560 nm to calculate the active oxygen scavenging ability. Fibroblasts were dispensed in a 96-well plate at a density of 1 × 10⁵ cells·well^-1. The amount of procollagen was measured in each case using a procollagen type 1 C-peptide EIA KIT. The cytotoxicity of the Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai extract against animal adipocytes (Hanwoo backfat cells) was determined using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) assay, a method that measures the conversion of MTS to Formazan by means of mitochondrial dehydrogenases. The concentrations of the samples were made to be 0.0125, 0025, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5% and all were -completely absorbed into the disc in an incubator at 37℃ for 24 to 36 hours. For the 0.125 mg·disc^-1, effects of Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai on the antioxidant effect, antibacterial activity, and cell viability of adipocytes were found. However, Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai had no effect on collagen synthesis, thus suggesting that AdN extracts may be useful for the prevention and/or treatment of obesity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1154-1162
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• 2021

The transcriptional capacities of target genes are strongly influenced by promoters, whereas few studies have focused on the development of robust, high-performance and cross-species promoters for wide application in different bacteria. In this work, four novel promoters (P_k.rtufB, P_k.r1, P_k.r2, and P_k.r3) were predicted from Ketogulonicigenium robustum and their inconsistency in the -10 and -35 region nucleotide sequences indicated they were different promoters. Their activities were evaluated by using green fluorescent protein (gfp) as a reporter in different species of bacteria, including K. vulgare SPU B805, Pseudomonas putida KT2440, Paracoccus denitrificans PD1222, Bacillus licheniformis and Raoultella ornithinolytica, due to their importance in metabolic engineering. Our results showed that the four promoters had different activities, with P_k.r1 showing the strongest activity in almost all of the experimental bacteria. By comparison with the commonly used promoters of E. coli (tufB, lac, lacUV5), K. vulgare (Psdh, Psndh) and P. putida KT2440 (JE111411), the four promoters showed significant differences due to only 12.62% nucleotide similarities, and relatively higher ability in regulating target gene expression. Further validation experiments confirmed their ability in initiating the target minCD cassette because of the shape changes under the promoter regulation. The overexpression of sorbose dehydrogenase and cytochrome c551 by P_k.r1 and P_k.r2 resulted in a 22.75% enhancement of 2-KGA yield, indicating their potential for practical application in metabolic engineering. This study demonstrates an example of applying bioinformatics to find new biological components for gene operation and provides four novel promoters with broad suitability, which enriches the usable range of promoters to realize accurate regulation in different genetic backgrounds.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.864-871
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• 2021

Infectious calf diarrhea is one of the most significant diseases of neonatal calves. This study is conducted to identify the prevalence of pathogens in calf diarrhea for 2 years. A total of 544 feces samples from Korean native beef calves were obtained to investigate selected seven pathogens causing calf diarrhea: bovine rotavirus, bovine coronavirus, Cryptosporidium parvum, bovine viral diarrhea virus, Eimeria species, Escherichia coli K99, and Salmonella species. The presence of diarrhea, the number and species of detected pathogens, and the calves' ages were analyzed using various statistical methods depending on the case. Of the 544 calves, 340 calves (62.5%) had normal feces and 204 calves (37.5%) had diarrhea. The presence of pathogens was significantly associated with diarrhea (p < 0.01) and fecal scores and the number of detected pathogens showed a significant linear trend (p < 0.001). Of the 7 target pathogens, 6 were detected in samples, but only C. parvum (p = 0.001) and bovine rotavirus (p < 0.001) were found at significantly higher rates in diarrheic calves than in non-diarrheic calves. Only Eimeria spp. showed a significant linear trend between the detection rate of the pathogen and the age groups (p < 0.05).

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2019

This work focused on characterization of the starch degradation activity from extremophile strain Deinococcus geothermalis. Glucoamylase gene from D. geothermalis was cloned and overexpressed by pET-21a vector using E. coli BL21 (DE3). In order to characterize starch degrading activity of recombinant glucoamylase, enzyme was purified using HisPur Ni-NTA column. The recombinant glucoamylase from D. geothermalis exhibited the optimum temperature as $45^{\circ}C$ for starch degradation activity. And highly acido-stable starch degrading activity was shown at pH 2. For further optimization of starch degrading activity with metal ion, various metal ions ($AgCl_2$, $HgCl_2$, $MnSO_4{\cdot}4H_2O$, $CoCl_2{\cdot}6H_2O$, $MgSO_4$, $ZnSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, $K_2SO_4$, $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$, NaCl, or $CuSO_4$) were added for enzyme reaction. As results, it was found that $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$ or $MnSO_4{\cdot}4H_2O$ addition resulted in 17% and 9% improved starch degrading activity, respectively. The recombinant glucoamylase from D. geothermalis might be used for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process at high acidic conditions.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.209-218
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• 2021

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of Bifidobacteria growth promoter BE0623 and a dietary fiber supplement, which included Bifidobacterium lactis BB12, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Bifidobacterium lactis. In fermented milk containing BE0623, the viable cell count of Bifidobacteria significantly increased by about 45 to 75 times compared to the control, and the titratable acidity increased, whereas the pH decreased. All fractions obtained by isolating BE0623 had Bifidobacteria growth effect. Acacia dietary fiber is a pale yellow powder. It has a viscosity of 60 to 100 cPs and a pH between 4.1 and 5.0. Its general components are less than 10% moisture, more than 90% dietary fiber, and less than 4% ash. The optimal addition ratio of Bifidobacteria growth promoting material was determined to be 0.05%. The general components of the manufactured fermented milk were carbohydrate 17.85%, protein 3.63%, fat 3.00%, and dietary fiber 2.95%. During storage of the fermented milk for 24 days, its titratable acidity, viscosity, and sugar content all met the criteria. In addition, the viable cell counts of Bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria in the fermented milk were 1.7 × 10⁸ CFU·mL^-1 and 1.5 × 10⁷ CFU·mL^-1, respectively, and Escherichia coli was negative. There was no significant difference between the control group and the treatment group in the sensory evaluation of sweet, sour, weight, and flavor, and the preference for the treatment group was excellent. The acceptability of the fermented milk of the treated group according to the storage period was excellent in terms of color, flavor, and appearance.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1905-1911
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• 2020

Homoserine dehydrogenase (HSD) catalyzes the reversible conversion of ʟ-aspartate-4-semialdehyde to ʟ-homoserine in the aspartate pathway for the biosynthesis of lysine, methionine, threonine, and isoleucine. HSD has attracted great attention for medical and industrial purposes due to its recognized application in the development of pesticides and is being utilized in the large scale production of ʟ-lysine. In this study, HSD from Bacillus subtilis (BsHSD) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity for biochemical characterization. We examined the enzymatic activity of BsHSD for ʟ-homoserine oxidation and found that BsHSD exclusively prefers NADP+ to NAD+ and that its activity was maximal at pH 9.0 and in the presence of 0.4 M NaCl. By kinetic analysis, Km values for ʟ-homoserine and NADP+ were found to be 35.08 ± 2.91 mM and 0.39 ± 0.05 mM, respectively, and the Vmax values were 2.72 ± 0.06 μmol/min-1 mg-1 and 2.79 ± 0.11 μmol/min-1 mg-1, respectively. The apparent molecular mass determined with size-exclusion chromatography indicated that BsHSD forms a tetramer, in contrast to the previously reported dimeric HSDs from other organisms. This novel oligomeric assembly can be attributed to the additional C-terminal ACT domain of BsHSD. Thermal denaturation monitoring by circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to determine its melting temperature, which was 54.8℃. The molecular and biochemical features of BsHSD revealed in this study may lay the foundation for future studies on amino acid metabolism and its application for industrial and medical purposes.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.317-325
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• 2020

A new dimer stilbene [Monalittorin (1)] and ten known compounds [engeletin (2), aurantiamide acetate (3), lupeol (4), friedelin (5), quercetin (6), tiliroside (7), rutoside (8), astragalin (9), isoquercitrin (10) and quercimeritroside (11)] have been isolated from the leaves of Monanthotaxis littoralis (Annonaceae). The structures of these compounds were established by interpretation of their data, mainly, HR-TOFESIMS, 1-D NMR (1H and 13C) and 2-D NMR (1H-1H COSY, HSQC, HMBC and NOESY) and by comparison with the literature. The evaluation of their antimicrobial activities against three bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli S2 (1) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01) and three fungal strains (Candida albicans ATCC10231, Candida tropicalis PK233 and Cryptococcus neoformans H99) using broth micro dilution method, showed the largest antimicrobial activities of EtOAc fraction and compounds 1, 5, 6, 8 and 11 (MIC = 8 - 64 ㎍/mL). In addition, EtOAc fraction presented synergistic effect with Vancomycin and fluconazole against the tested microorganisms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.272-279
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• 2021

Two genes encoding probable α-ʟ-arabinofuranosidase (E.C. 3.2.1.55) isozymes (ABFs) with 92.3% amino acid sequence identity, ABF51A and ABF51B, were found from chromosomes 3 and 5 of Saccharomycopsis fibuligera KJJ81, an amylolytic yeast isolated from Korean wheat-based nuruk, respectively. Each open reading frame consists of 1,551 nucleotides and encodes a protein of 517 amino acids with the molecular mass of approximately 59 kDa. These isozymes share approximately 49% amino acid sequence identity with eukaryotic ABFs from filamentous fungi. The corresponding genes were cloned, functionally expressed, and purified from Escherichia coli. SfABF51A and SfABF51B showed the highest activities on p-nitrophenyl arabinofuranoside at 40~45℃ and pH 7.0 in sodium phosphate buffer and at 50℃ and pH 6.0 in sodium acetate buffer, respectively. These exoacting enzymes belonging to the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 51 could hydrolyze arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides (AXOS) and arabino-oligosaccharides (AOS) to produce only ʟ-arabinose, whereas they could hardly degrade any polymeric substrates including arabinans and arabinoxylans. The detailed product analyses revealed that both SfABF51 isozymes can catalyze the versatile hydrolysis of α-(1,2)- and α-(1,3)-ʟ-arabinofuranosidic linkages of AXOS, and α-(1,2)-, α-(1,3)-, and α-(1,5)-linkages of linear and branched AOS. On the contrary, they have much lower activity against the α-(1,2)- and α-(1,3)-double-substituted substrates than the single-substituted ones. These hydrolases could potentially play important roles in the degradation and utilization of hemicellulosic biomass by S. fibuligera.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.283-290
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• 2021

This is a study on the improvement of the chemical treatment method of the livestock carcass treatment newly introduced in the livestock infectious disease prevention method in order to improve the problems of the existing burial-centered carcass treatment method when a livestock infectious disease occurs. It was conducted to establish detailed treatment standards for the chemical treatment method of pig carcasses based on the results of proof of the absence of infectious diseases in pigs. After inoculating pig carcasses with 10 pathogens (6 viruses [FMDV, ASFV, CSFV, PCV2, PRRSV, PEDV] and 4 bacteria [Lawsonia intracellularis, Clostridium perfringens type C, E. coli, Salmonella Typhimurium]) It was treated at 90℃ for 5 hours in a potassium hydroxide (KOH) liquid solution corresponding to 15% of the body weight. This method liquefies all cadaveric components and inactivates all inoculated pathogens. Based on these results, it was possible to prove that chemical treatment of pig carcasses is effective in killing pathogens and is a safe method without the risk of disease transmission. Although there are problems to be solved in the processing and operation of the chemical treatment products of livestock carcasses, the chemical treatment method of livestock carcasses can be suggested as an alternative to the current domestic burial-centered livestock carcass treatment method, preventing environmental pollution, and contributing to public health.