• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2012

In an ongoing survey of the bioactive potential of microorganisms from Ladakh, India, the culture medium of a bacterial strain of a new Pseudomonas sp., strain ICTB-745, isolated from an alkaline soil sample collected from Leh, Ladakh, India, was found to contain metabolites that exhibited broad-spectrum antimicrobial and biosurfactant activities. Bioactivity-guided purification resulted in the isolation of four bioactive compounds. Their chemical structures were elucidated by $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ NMR, 2D-NMR (HMBC, HSQC, $^1H$,$^1H$-COSY, and DEPT-135), FT-IR, and mass spectroscopic methods, and were identified as 1-hydroxyphenazine, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA), rhamnolipid-1 (RL-1), and rhamnolipid-2 (RL-2). These metabolites exhibited various biological activities like antimicrobial and efficient cytotoxic potencies against different human tumor cell lines such as HeLa, HepG2, A549, and MDA MB 231. RL-1 and RL-2 exhibited a dose-dependent antifeedant activity against Spodoptera litura, producing about 82.06% and 73.66% antifeedant activity, whereas PCA showed a moderate antifeedant activity (63.67%) at 60 ${\mu}g/cm^2$ area of castor leaf. Furthermore, PCA, RL-1, and RL-2 exhibited about 65%, 52%, and 47% mortality, respectively, against Rhyzopertha dominica at 20 ${\mu}g/ml$. This is the first report of rhamnolipids as antifeedant metabolites against Spodoptera litura and as insecticidal metabolites against Rhyzopertha dominica. The metabolites from Pseudomonas sp. strain ICTB-745 have interesting potential for use as a biopesticide in pest control programs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2098-2105
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• 2016

Massive reserves of methane ($CH_4$) remain unexplored as a feedstock for the production of liquid fuels and chemicals, mainly because of the lack of economically suitable and sustainable strategies for selective oxidation of $CH_4$ to methanol. The present study demonstrates the bioconversion of $CH_4$ to methanol mediated by Type I methanotrophs, such as Methylomicrobium album and Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum. Furthermore, immobilization of a Type II methanotroph, Methylosinus sporium, was carried out using different encapsulation methods, employing sodium-alginate (Na-alginate) and silica gel. The encapsulated cells demonstrated higher stability for methanol production. The optimal pH, temperature, and agitation rate were determined to be pH 7.0, $30^{\circ}C$, and 175 rpm, respectively, using inoculum (1.5 mg of dry cell mass/ml) and 20% of $CH_4$ as a feed. Under these conditions, maximum methanol production (3.43 and 3.73 mM) by the encapsulated cells was recorded. Even after six cycles of reuse, the Na-alginate and silica gel encapsulated cells retained 61.8% and 51.6% of their initial efficiency for methanol production, respectively, in comparison with the efficiency of 11.5% observed in the case of free cells. These results suggest that encapsulation of methanotrophs is a promising approach to improve the stability of methanol production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2192-2198
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• 2016

The myeloid-specific IgA Fc receptor ($Fc{\alpha}R$) is a cell surface molecule on immunocytes that provides a fundamental connection between humoral and cellular immunity. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence of swine $Fc{\alpha}RI$ ($swFc{\alpha}RI$) was isolated and characterized and found to contain a 792-base-pair open reading frame, encoding a 264-amino-acid transmembrane glycoprotein with a predicted molecular mass of 29.4 kDa. The $swFc{\alpha}RI$ shares high amino acid sequence homology (>50%) with its counterparts from cattle, seal, and horse. Rosetting analysis confirmed that COS-7 cells transfected with an $swFc{\alpha}RI$ expression plasmid was able to combine with chicken erythrocytes sensitized with porcine IgA, but not IgG.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.183-190
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• 2010

Biogenic Mn oxides are expected to have great potential in the control of water pollution due to their high catalytic activity, although information on biological Mn oxidation is not currently sufficient. In this study, the growth of a Mn oxidizing microorganism, Pseudomonas putida MnB1, was examined, with the Mn oxides formed by this strain characterized. The growth of P. putida MnB1 was not significantly influenced by Mn(II), but showed a slightly decreased growth rate in the presence of Pb(II) and EE2, indicating their insignificant adsorption onto the cell surface. Mn oxides were formed by P. putida MnB1, but the liquid growth medium and resulting biogenic solids were poorly crystalline, nano-sized particles. Biogenic Mn oxidation by P. putida MnB1 followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with stoichiometric amounts of Mn oxides formed, which corresponded with the initial Mn(II) concentration. However, the formation of Mn oxides was inhibited at high initial Mn(II) concentration, suggesting mass transfer obstruction of Mn(II) due to the accumulation of Mn oxides on the extracellular layer. Mn oxidation by P. putida MnB1 was very sensitive to pH and temperature, showing sharp decreases in the Mn oxidation rates outside of the optimum ranges, i.e. pH 7.43-8.22 and around 20-$26^{\circ}C$.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2011

Sex steroid hormones are key molecules to prepare the decidual response and their levels are important in this process. Imbalances of the levels of steroid hormones are cause of implantation failure and other diseases including physical weakness. Androgen replacement therapy or selective androgen receptor modulator are used to overcome various diseases but long-term use may cause of side effects. In previous report, it is suggested that the steroid hormonal complexes derived from pig enhance the proliferation of satellite cell. Therefore, to evaluate the possible usage of steroid hormonal complex derived from pig testis (tS-C), the effects of tS-C on uterine response were studied using the model of artificial decidua. tS-C did not disturb the rhythmical estrus cycle. Artificial-induced decidual response was normally induced in tS-C administered mice. The histological characters of the decidua of tS-C administered mice were not different from the vehicle. The expression patterns of molecular markers of decidua were not different between vehicle and tS-C group. Collectively these results suggested that tS-C does not disturb the uterine responsibility to the embryo. In addition, our results suggested that tS-C can be applied to overcome the various problems such as loss of muscle mass and anemia.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.58 no.7
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• pp.25.1-25.6
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• 2016

Background: The current study was designed to investigate the effect of supplementation of Flaxseed (Linumusitatisimum) oil on libido and semen quality of Nilli-Ravi buffalo bulls. Methods: In this study, 12 adult healthy bulls kept at the Semen Production Unit, Qadirabad district Sahiwal, were used. These bulls were divided into three equal groups, A, B and C. Group A was kept as control, while in groups B and C supplementation of feed was provided by using flaxseed oil @125 ml/day and 250 ml/day,respectively for 12 weeks. Two ejaculates per animal were collected at 0 day then 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th week of treatment. In this way a total 216 samples were taken, and each semen sample was evaluated for color, volume, mass activity, percent motility, sperm cell concentration per ml, percentage of live sperm, and plasma membrane integrity. Libido of bulls was also evaluated before every collection. Results: Analysis of data revealed that these parameters were significantly (P < 0.01) increased in flax oil treated animals as compared to control. Conclusion: It was concluded from the present study that flax seed oil has beneficial effects on reproductive health of buffalo bull.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.205-207
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• 2008

Purpose: Although muscle hernia has been well described in the lower-extremity, muscle hernias in the upper extremity are extremely rare. As with lower extremity muscle hernias, the forearm muscle hernia may result from forced exertion of strenuous activity or following blunt trauma. The objective of this paper is to report an extraordinary case of forearm muscle hernia after radial forearm sensory tendocutaneous free flap with references. Methods: A 58-year-old male patient received wide excision and radical neck dissection and lower lip reconstruction with radial forearm sensory tendocutaneous free flap for squamous cell cancer on the lower lip. 16 weeks after the operation, he complained of protruding mass on the forearm and the size was increasing. In postoperative 18 weeks, MRI showed herniation of flexor digitorum superficialis. For unaesthetic cause and preventing progress, the authors performed direct fascial closure and Mesh graft. Results: In 12 months after the surgery there was no recurrence and the patient remained symptom-free. Conclusion: Pain on extremity exertion and unaesthetic buldge of forearm due to forearm muscle hernia were the primary indications for surgery which consist of direct closure, fasciotomy, fascia lata onlay graft, fascia lata inlay graft, etc. The authors experienced uncommon forearm muscle hernia after radial forearm free flap and satisfying result of treatment.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.189-193
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• 2004

Over the past several years, research efforts have been directed both at economically producing valuable substances from the wood biomass and at producing lignolytic enzymes at a lower cost. In the present study, we found that Phellinus igniarius, the basidiomycetes, secreted lignin peroxidase as a main lignolytic enzyme, which was detected maximum activity at 16th day of culture and showed 37 kDa of molecular mass in identification by activity assay and purification by anion-exchange chromatography. The Phellinus igniarius-derived lignin peroxidase hydrolyzed steam-exploded wood (Quercus mongolica) powder into small molecules showing cytotoxicity against cancer cel1s (HepG2 hepatoma, SK-N-SH neuroblastoma, B16 melanoma, MBT-2 bladder cancer). In addition, the enzyme hydrlysates of lignins (ELg) that were extracted from the steam-exploded oak showed more potent cytotoxic effects on the cancer cells than the enzyme hydrolysates of wood biomass (EWp), indicating that the cytotoxic effect of EWp may be due to the enzyme-degraded products of lignin among the lignocellulosics. Furthermore, the cytotoxic effect of ELg on Chang, normal liver cells, was much less potent than that of ELg on HepG2 and B16 cancer cells, indicating that the cytotoxic effect of ELg may be specific for cancer cells. The present results suggest that Phellinus igniarius may be a useful resource for the large-scale production of lignin peroxidase and that the lignin peroxidase may be applied for the generation of valuable biodegradation products from wood lignocellulosics for medical use.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.619-619
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• 2009

Recently, silica nanostructures are widely used in various applicationary areas such as chemical sensors, biosensors, nano-fillers, markers, catalysts, and as a substrate for quantum dots etc, because of their excellent physical, chemical and optical properties. Additionally, these days, semiconductor silica and silicon with high purity is a key challenge because of their metallurgical grade silicon (MG-Si) exhibit purity of about 99% produced by an arc discharge method with high cast. Tremendous efforts are being paid towards this direction to reduce the cast of high purity silicon for generation of photovoltaic power as a solar cell. In this direction, which contains a small amount of impurities, which can be further purified by acid leaching process. In this regard, initially the low cast rice-husk was cultivated from local rice field and washed well with high purity distilled water and were treated with acid leaching process (1:10 HCl and $H_2O$) to remove the atmospheric dirt and impurity. The acid treated rice-husk was again washed with distilled water and dried in an oven at $60^{\circ}C$. The dried rice-husk was further annealed at different temperatures (620 and $900^{\circ}C$) for the formation of silica nanospheres. The confirmation of silica was observed by the X-ray diffraction pattern and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The morphology of obtained nanostructures were analyzed via Field-emission scanning electron microscope(FE-SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and it reveals that the size of each nanosphares is about 50-60nm. Using the Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS), Silica was analyzed for the amount of impurities.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.452-456
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• 2015

Obesity is the fifth leading risk for death globally, and a significant challenge to global health. It is a common, complex, non-malignant disease and develops due to interactions between the genes and the environment. DNA methylation can act as a downstream effector of environmental signals; analysis of this process therefore holds substantial promise for identifying mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors jointly contribute to disease risk. To assess the effects of excessive weight and obesity on gene-specific methylation levels of promoter regions, we determined the methylation status of four genes involved in inflammation and oxidative stress [interleukin 6 (IL6), tumor necrosis factor ${\alpha}$ ($TNF{\alpha}$), mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), and glucose transport 4 (GLUT4)] in blood cell-derived DNA from healthy women volunteers with a range of body mass indices (BMIs) by methylation-specific PCR. Interestingly, the samples from obese individuals ($BMI{\geq}30kg/m^2$) showed significantly increased hypermethylation for IL6 gene compared to normal weight ($BMI<23kg/m^2$) and overweight sample ($23kg/m^2{\leq}BMI<30kg/m^2$) (P = 0.034 and P = 0.026). However there was no statistically significant difference in promoter methylation of the other 3 genes between each group. These findings suggest that aberrant DNA methylation of IL6 gene promoter may play an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of obesity and IL6 methylation could be used as molecular biomarker for obesity risk assessment. Further studies are required to elucidate the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship.