• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.200-207
• /
• 2017

A new approach to the solubilization of waste activated sludge (WAS) using alginate-quaternary ammonium complex beads was investigated under controlled mild alkaline conditions. The complex beads were prepared by the reaction of sodium alginate (SA) with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl-octadecyldimethylammonium chloride (TSA) in acid solution, followed by crosslinking with $CaCl_2$. Treatment of WAS with SA-TSA complex beads was effective for enhancing the efficacy of WAS solubilization. The highest value of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) concentration (3,900 mg/L) was achieved after 10 days of treatment with 30% (v/v) SA-TSA complex beads. The WAS solubilization efficacy of the complex beads was also evaluated by estimating the concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The maximum value of VFAs was 2,961 mg/L, and the overall proportions of VFAs were more than 75% of SCOD. The main components of VFAs were acetic, propionic, iso-butyric, and butyric acids. These results suggest that SA-TSA complex beads might be useful for enhancing the solubilization of WAS. The potential use of VFAs as the external carbon substrate for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) by a mixed microbial culture (MMC) was also examined. The enrichment of PHA-accumulating MMC could be achieved by periodic feeding of VFAs generated from WAS in a sequencing batch reactor. The composition of PHA synthesized from VFAs mainly consisted of 3-hydroxybutyrate. The maximum PHA content accounted for 25.9% of dry cell weight. PHA production by this process is considered to be promising since it has a doubly beneficial effect on the environment by reducing the amount of WAS and concomitantly producing an eco-friendly biopolymer.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.30 no.10
• /
• pp.919-929
• /
• 2020

Aromatic compounds are widely used in the chemical, food, polymer, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries and are produced by mainly chemical synthesis using benzene, toluene, and xylene or by plant extraction methods. Due to many rising threats, including the depletion of fossil fuels, global warming, the strengthening of international environmental regulations, and the excessive harvesting of plant resources, the microbial production of aromatic compounds using renewable biomass is regarded as a promising alternative. By integrating metabolic engineering with synthetic and systems biology, artificial biosynthetic pathways have been reconstituted from L-tryptophan biosynthetic pathway in relevant microorganisms, such as Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum, enabling the production of a variety of value-added aromatic compounds, such as 5-hydroxytryptophan, serotonin, melatonin, 7-chloro-L-tryptophan, 7-bromo-L-tryptophan, indigo, indirubin, indole-3-acetic acid, violacein, and dexoyviolacein. In this review, we summarize the characteristics, usage, and biosynthetic pathways of these aromatic compounds and highlight the latest metabolic engineering strategies for the microbial production of aromatic compounds and suitable solution strategies to overcome problems in increasing production titers. It is expected that strain development based on systems metabolic engineering and the optimization of media and bioprocesses using renewable biomass will enable the development of commercially viable technologies for the microbial production of many aromatic compounds.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.38-46
• /
• 2002

This study was carried out in order to investigate dextran formation and internal structure during fermentation of the oligosaccharide Jeung-Pyun. The dextran and sugar reducing contents of Jeung-Pyun batter and the specific volume and the internal structure of Jeung-Pyun were analyzed as a function of fermentation time. The specific volume of Jeung-Pyun peaked at the 7th hour of fermentation. The dextran content of Jeung-Pyun batters peaked at the 7~13th hour of fermentation, and Fructooligosaccharide Jeung-Pyun had the least peak value. Reducing sugar content of Jeung-Pyun batters slowly decreased as fermentation progressed. From the air pore size and distribution of Jeung-Pyun observed by SEM, the sucrose Jeung-Pyun fermented for 3~7 hours and oligosaccharide one fermented for 7 hours were judged as the best. It was concluded that dextran may be formed by fermentation of oligosaccharides as well as sucrose and dextran has a significant role on the volume expansion of Jeung-Pyun.