• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 1995

One hundred and thirty bacterial isolates with high chitinolytic activity on chitin agar media were isolated and identified. Most of the isolates were Aeromonas hydrophila (110 isolates), and the others were Serratia marcescens (11 isolates), Aeromonas caviae (3 isolates), Chromobacterium violaceum strain C-61 (2 isolates), Chromobacterium violaceum strain C-72 (1 isolate) and unknown species (3 isolates). Among them, C. violaceum strain C-61 had highest chitinolytic activity and fungal growth inhibition on PDA. This bacterium also inhibited the growth of Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia scelrotiorum, Phytophthora capsici and Pythium ultimum, but it didn't inhibit the growth of Fusarium oxysprum and Fusarium solani. C. violaceum strain C-61 suppressed damping-off of eggplant caused by R. solani. Populations of the chitinolytic bacteria such as Aeromonas hydrophila, Serratia marcescens, Aeromonas caviae, Chromobacterium violaceum strain C-61 and Chromobacterium violaceum strain C-72 introduced into R. solani-infested soil were continuously decreased until 20 days after treatment, but their populations except A. caviae were not changed significantly and maintained over 5$\times$104 CFU per g of soil thereafter.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.292-296
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• 2003

The antibacterial effect against cariogenic bacteria was evaluated in combination of 5-FC and intracellular cytosine deaminase from Chromobacterium violaceum YK 391. While S. mutans, L. parabuchneri and A. naeslundii showed antibacterial effect against 10 mM of 5-FU, S. intermedius, S. mitis, S. agalactiae, L. lactis, A. israelii, A. viscosus don't caused antibacterial effect. The addition of the cytosine deaminase and 10 mM of 5-FC to S. mutans, S. sanguis, L. brevis, L. parabuchneri, L. oris and A. naeslundii caused weakly antibacterial effect. S. sanguis caused weakly antibacterial effect against 10 mM of 5-FC. These results suggested that combination of the cytosine deaminase and 5-FC was showed the possibility to precautionary measures of dental caries.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.483-487
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• 1997

The whole cells of Chromobacterium chocolatum was immobilized in the matrix of polyacrylamide and then used for the hydrolysis of dimethyl-cis-1,3-dibenzyl-2-oxoimidazolidine-4,5-dicarboxylate. This hydrolysis yielded the optically active monoester ( > 96% ee) which is useful as an synthetic intermediate of (+)-biotin. We have studied the optimum condition of hydrolysis by using immobilized cells under variable concentration of substrate, reaction time and pH levels. The activity of lipase in immobilized cell was retained for longer than 4 weeks. The best conversion yield of product was obtained when 2 g of wet cell was immobilized and then reacted with 200 mg of substrate at pH 7.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.367-372
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• 2002

Cytosine deaminase (cytosine aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.1) stoichiometrically catalyzes the hydrolytic deamination of cytosine and 5-fluorocytosine to uracil and 5-fluorouracil, respectively. Optimal medium compositions for production of cytosine deaminase from Chromobacterium violaceum YK 391 were 0.75% soluble starch, 1.5% peptone, 0.1% meat extract, 0.1% yeast extract, 0.01% NaCl, 0.01% $MgCl_2{\cdot}7H_2O$ and 0.05% $K_2HPO_4$. The optimal pH of medium and incubation temperature were 7.0 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. C. violaceum reached stationary phase after 30 hr, and produced a maximum cytosine deaminase (120 units/ml) after 72 h in batch culture.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 1997

A bacterium, strain YK 391 producing extracellular cytosine deaminase, has been isolated from soil sample collected near Taegu City and identified. The strain YK 391 was observed to be a motile Gram-negative rod, and did not produced capsule nor spore. The bacterium produced acid from glucose and trehalose, not from arabinose. Esculine was nto hydrolyzed. The isolate could grow anaerobically at 37$\circ $C, but not at 4$\circ $C. Palmitoleic and palmitic acids comprised over 80% of the fatty acid composition of the strain. The strain. The strain YK 391 was identified as Chromobacterium violaceum YK 391 based on its morphological and physiolohical characteristics, and on the fatty acid composition. The extracellular cytosine deaminase produced by Chromobacterium violaceum YK 391 is believed to be unique because it was active not only on cytosine and 5-fluorocytosine but also on cytidine.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.325-331
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• 2006

Various environmental conditions affecting total phosphorus removal from farm wastewater in a biofilm filter process were investigated using loess balls and Chromobacterium LEE-38 at a pilot plant. When Chromobacterium LEE-38 was used, the removal efficiency of total phosphorous was approximately 10- or 5-fold higher than that of Acinetobacter CHA-2-14 or Acinetobacter CHA-4-5, respectively. When a loess ball of $11{\sim}14mm$ manufactured at a $960^{\circ}C$ calcining temperature was used, the removal efficiency of total phosphorous was 90.0%. When 70% of the volume fraction was used, the maximum efficiency of total phosphorus removal was 93.1%. Notably, when the initial pH was in the range of 6.0 to 8.0, the maximum removal efficiency of total phosphorus was obtained after 30 days. When the operating temperature was in the range of 30 to $55^{\circ}C$, the maximum removal efficiencies of total phosphorus, 95.6 to 94.6%, were obtained. On the other hand, at operating temperatures below $20^{\circ}C$ or above $40^{\circ}C$, the removal efficiency of total phosphorous decreased. Among the various processes, biofilm filter process A gave the highest removal efficiency of 96.4%. Pilot tests of total phosphorus removal using farm wastewater from the biofilm filter process A were carried out for 60 days under optimal conditions. When Acinetobacter sp. Lee-11 was used, the average removal efficiency in the p-adsorption area was only 32.5%, and the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) were 56.7 and 62.5%, respectively. On the other hand, when Chromobacterium LEE-38 was used, the average removal efficiency was 95.1%, and the removal efficiencies of COD and BOD were 91.3 and 93.2%, respectively.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.304-311
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• 1995

To determine whether chitinolytic enzymes from Chromobacterium violaceum C-61 play an important role in the suppression of Rhizoctonia damping-off, Tn5 insertion mutants deficient in chitinolytic activity (Chi a- mutants) were selected and their chitinolytic and disease suppression were compared with those of the parental strain. Four Chi a- mutants selected from about 2,000 transconjugants did not inhibit mycelial growth of Rhizoctonia solani on nutrient agar-potato dextrose agar (BA-PDA) and their abilities to suppress Rhizoctonia damping-off were much lower than the parental strain. However, population density in the eggplant rhizosphere did not differ significantly between the parental strain and four Chi a- mutants. The crude enzyme of the parental strain inhibited growth of R. solani on NA-PDA and its chitinase activity was much higher than that of Chi a- mutants. But the N,N' -diacetylchitobiase activity between these isolates were not significantly different. The chitinase of Chi a- mutants was defective in 2 isoforms of 52- and 37-kDa among four isoforms of 54-, 52-, 50- and 37-kDa. A Tn5 element was inserted into one site of 10 kb EcoRI fragment of chromosomal DNA in three Chi- mutants, C61-C1, -C2, and -C3. In C61-C4 mutant, a Tn5 element was inserted into two sites of 10 kb and 4.4 kb EcoRI fragments. These results suggest that the chitinase of C. violaceum C-61 play an important role in the suppression of Rhizoctonia damping-off of cucumber and eggplant.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1182-1189
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• 2004

Cytosine deaminase (cytosine aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.1) stoichiometrically catalyzes the hydrolytic deamination of cytosine and 5-fluorocytosine to uracil and 5-fluorouracil, respectively. The intracellular cytosine deaminase from Chromobacterium violaceum YK 391 was purified to apparent homogeneity with 272.9-fold purification with an overall yield of $13.8\%$. The enzyme consisted of dimeric polypeptides of 63 kDa, and the total molecular mass was calculated to be approximately 126 kDa. Besides cytosine, the enzyme deaminated 5-fluorocytosine, cytidine, 6-azacytosine, and 5-methylcytosine, but not 5-azacytosine. Optimum pH and temperature for the enzyme reaction were 7.5 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme was stable at pH 6.0 to 8.0, and at 30T for a week. About $70\%$ of the enzyme activity was retained at $60^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. The apparent $K_{m}$ values for cytosine, 5-fluorocytosine, and 5-methylcytosine were calculated to be 0.38 mM, 0.87 mM, and 2.32 mM, respectively. The enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by 1 mM $Hg^{2+},\;Zn^{2+},\;Cu^{2+},\;Pb^{2+},\;and\;Fe^{3+}$, and by o-phenanthroline, $\alpha,\;{\alpha}'$-dipyridyl, p-choromercuribenzoate, N-bromosuccinimide, and cWoramine­T. In addition, the enzyme activity was strongly inhibited by I mM 2-thiouracil, and weakly inhibited by 2-thiocytosine, or 5-azacytosine. Finally, intracellular and extracellular cytosine deaminases from Chromobacterium violaceum YK 391 were found to have a different optimum temperature, apparent $K_{m}$ value, and molecular mass.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.275-282
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• 2005

A chitinolytic bacterium, Chromobacterium sp. strain C-61, was found strongly antagonistic to Rhizoctonia solani, a causal agent of damping-off of eggplant. In this study, the biocontrol activity and enzymatic characteristics of strain C-61 were compared with its four Tn5 insertion mutants (C61-A, -B, -C, and -D) that had lower chitinolytic ability. The chitinase activity of a 2-day old culture was about $76\%,\;49\%\;and\;6\%$ level in C61-A, C61-B and in C61-C, respectively, compared with that of strain C-61. The $\beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase$(Nahase) activity was little detected in strain C-61 but increased largely in C-61A, C61-B and C61-C. Activities of chitinase and Nahase appeared to be negatively correlated in these strains. Another mutant, C-61D, produced no detectable extracellular chitinase and Nahase. The in vitro and in vivo biocontrol activities of strain C-61 and its mutants were closely related to their ability to produce chitinase but not Nahase. No significant differences in population densities between strain C-61 and its mutants were observed in soil around eggplant roots. The results of SDS-PAGE and isoelectrofocusing showed that a major chitinase of strain C-61 is 54-kDa with pI of approximately 8.5. This study provides evidence that the biocontrol activity of Chromobacterium sp. strain C-61 against Rhizoctonia solani depends on the ability to produce chitinase with molecular weight of 54-kDa and pI of 8.5.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.180-185
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• 2005

Cytosine deaminase (cytosine aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.1) stoichiometrically catalyzes the hydrolytic deamination of cytosine and 5-fluorocytosine to uracil and 5-fluorouracil, respectively. Amino acid residues located in or near the active sites of the intracellular cytosine deaminase from chromobacterium violaceum YK 391 were identified by chemical modification studies. The enzymic activity was completely inhibited by chemical modifiers, such as 1mM NBS, chloramine-T, $\rho-CMB,\;\rho-HMB$ and iodine, and was strongly inhibited by 1mM PMSF and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. This chemical deactivation of the enzymic activity was reversed by a high concentration of cytosine. Furthermore, the deactivation of the enzymic activity by $\rho-CMB$ was also reversed by 1mM cysteine-HCI, DTT and 2-mercaptoethanol. These results suggested that cysteine, tryptophan and methionine residues might be located in or near the active sites of the enzyme, while serine and lysine were indirectly involved in the enzymic activity. The intracellular cytosine deaminase from C violaceum YK 391 was assumed to be a thiol enzyme.