• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2019

Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in combination with Cu(II) was examined to inactivate E. coli and MS2 coliphage in natural water. The combined system (i.e., the Cu(II)/PMS system) caused a synergistic inactivation of E. coli and MS2, in contrast with either Cu(II) or PMS alone. Increasing the concentration of PMS enhanced the inactivation of E. coli and MS2, but after a certain point, it decreased the efficacy of the microbial inactivation. In the Cu(II)/PMS system, adding reactive oxidant scavengers marginally affected the E. coli inactivation, but the inhibitory effects of copper-chelating agents were significant. Fluorescent assays indicated that the Cu(II)/PMS system greatly increased the level of reactive oxidants inside the E. coli cells. The sequential addition of Cu(II) and PMS inactivated more E. coli than did adding the two simultaneously; in particular, the inactivation efficacy was much higher when Cu(II) was added first. The observations from the study collectively showed that the microbial inactivation by the Cu(II)/PMS system could be attributed to the toxicity of Cu(I) as well as the intracellular oxidative stress induced by Cu(III) or radical species.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2022

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are typical opportunistic pathogens. Moreover, these bacteria are known to possess multidrug-resistant (MDR) properties. This study investigates the antimicrobial activity of six fermented products, which have varying efficacies against P. aeruginosa, E. coli, and S. aureus. To identify novel candidate genes, differential expression analysis was performed using an annealing control primer. In the disk diffusion method, Fig vinegar (FV) and Diospyros kaki Thunb vinegar (DTV) showed the greatest increase in inhibition compared to other fermented products, whereas fermented Korean traditional nature herb (FKTNH) had no antibacterial effect. This study identified down-regulation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 ompW gene for outer membrane protein W, whereas gene for synthetic construct Lao1 gene for L-amino acid oxidase were up-regulated in E. coli treated with 5% FV. Consuming fermented vinegar helps prevent bacterial infections. Especially, FV and DTV are potentially useful alternative natural products for multidrug resistance. Furthermore, both are expected to be used as effective natural antimicrobial agents, such as disinfectants.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.173-176
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• 2011

Free-living Acanthamoeba are eukaryotic protozoan organisms that are widely distributed in the air, water, etc such as environment. Acanthamoeba ingest the Escherichia coli which will replicate in cytoplasm of Acanthamoeba. Bacterial pathogenicity or virulence is one of important determinant factors to survive in free-living Acanthamoeba and otherwise Acanthamoebic pathogenicity is also an important factor for their interactions. Bacterial association with pathogenic strain of Acanthamoeba T1 and T4 was lower about two times than non-pathogenic T7. Bacterial invasion percentages into T1 were higher about three times than T7 but bacterial survival in T7 was increased as T1. The capsule-deletion mutant exhibited limited ability for invasion/uptake by and survival inside pathogenic Acanthamoeba T4. E. coli-outer membrane protein A (OmpA) decreased bacterial association with A. castellanii by about three times and it had higher effects than lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Under favorable conditions, the mutants were not survived in Acanthamoeba up to 24 h incubation. Therefore, this review will report pathogenic and non-pathogenic Acanthamoeba strains interactions with E. coli and its several mutants, i.e., capsule, OmpA and LPS.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1612-1616
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• 2009

Isoflavonoids are a class of phytoestrogens. Isoflavonone synthase (IFS) is responsible for the conversion of naringenin to genistein. IFS is a cytochrome P450 (CYP), and requires cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) for its activity. Additionally, the majority of cytochrome P450s harbor a membrane binding domain, making them difficult to express in Escherichia coli. In order to resolve these issues, we constructed an inframe fusion of the IFS from red clover (RCIFS) and CPR from rice (RCPR) after removing the membrane binding domain from RCIFS and RCPR. The resultant fusion gene, RCIFS-RCPR, was expressed in E. coli. The conversion of naringenin into genistein was confirmed using this E. coli transformant. Following the optimization of the medium and cell density for biotransformation, $60\;{\mu}M$ of genistein could be generated from $80\;{\mu}M$ of naringenin. This fusion protein approach may be applicable to the expression of other P450s in E. coli.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1299-1306
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• 2015

This study aims to investigate the mechanism of action of the cinnamon bark essential oil (CB), when used singly and also in combination with piperacillin, for its antimicrobial and synergistic activity against beta-lactamase TEM-1 plasmid-conferred Escherichia coli J53 R1. Viable count of bacteria for this combination of essential oil and antibiotic showed a complete killing profile at 20 h and further confirmed its synergistic effect by reducing the bacteria cell numbers. Analysis on the stability of treated cultures for cell membrane permeability by CB when tested against sodium dodecyl sulfate revealed that the bacterial cell membrane was disrupted by the essential oil. Scanning electron microscopy observation and bacterial surface charge measurement also revealed that CB causes irreversible membrane damage and reduces the bacterial surface charge. In addition, bioluminescence expression of Escherichia coli [pSB1075] and E. coli [pSB401] by CB showed reduction, indicating the possibility of the presence of quorum sensing (QS) inhibitors. Gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry of the essential oil of Cinnamomum verum showed that trans-cinnamaldehyde (72.81%), benzyl alcohol (12.5%), and eugenol (6.57%) were the major components in the essential oil. From this study, CB has the potential to reverse E. coli J53 R1 resistance to piperacillin through two pathways; modification in the permeability of the outer membrane or bacterial QS inhibition.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.1020-1026
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• 1996

Chitosan is the deacetylation product of chitin. Chitosan was converted to N-alkyl chitosan derivatives using proper aldehyde having different alkyl chains, then chitosan derivatives with quaternary ammonium salt were producted by quaternization with methyl iodide. Their antibacterial activities aganst S. aureus(ATCC 6538P) and E. coli (ATCC 14339), gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria, respectively, as introduced alkyl length were evaluated by shake flask method using colony count. The antibacteiral activity was found to be increased as alkyl chains. hydrophobic goups. These antibacterial agents were more active against S. aureus than E. coli. It may be due to the different of structure of cytoplasmic membrane.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.333-340
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• 2020

Macrophages are the cells of the first-line defense system, which protect the body from foreign invaders such as bacteria. However, Gram-negative bacteria have always been the major challenge for macrophages due to the presence of lipopolysaccharides on their outer cell membrane. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of phloretin, a flavonoid commonly found in apple, on the protection of macrophages from Escherichia coli infection. RAW 264.7 cells infected with standard E. coli, or virulent E. coli K1 strain were treated with phloretin in a dose-dependent manner to examine its efficacy in protection of macrophages. Our results revealed that phloretin treatment reduced the production of nitric oxide (NO) and generation of reactive oxygen species along with reducing the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines induced by the E. coli and E. coli K1 strains in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, treatment of phloretin downregulated the expression of E. coli-induced major inflammatory markers i.e. cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1), in a concentration dependent manner. Moreover, the TLR4-mediated NF-κB pathway was activated in E. coli-infected macrophages but was potentially downregulated by phloretin at the transcriptional and translational levels. Collectively, our data suggest that phloretin treatment protects macrophages from infection of virulent E. coli K1 strain by downregulating the TLR4-mediated signaling pathway and inhibiting NO and cytokine production, eventually protecting macrophages from E. coli-induced inflammation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1343-1349
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• 2004

A native strain of Pasteurella multocida was isolated from pigs suffering from severe atrophic rhinitis at domestic farms in Gyeonggi Province, Korea, and was identified as capsular serogroup 'D' and somatic serotype '4' by disc diffusion decapsulation and gel diffusion precipitation tests, respectively. The P. multocida (D:4) induced atrophic rhinitis in healthy pigs by the secondary infection. The gene for outer membrane protein H (ompH) of P. multocida (D:4) was cloned in Escherichia coli DH5$\alpha$ by PCR. The open reading frame of the ompH was composed of 1,023 bp, possibly encoding a protein with 341 amino acid residues containing a signal peptide of 20 amino acids at N-terminus, and the gene product with molecular mass of ca. 38 kDa was identified by SDS-PAGE. Hydropathy profiles indicated that there are two variable domains in the OmpH. To express the ompH in E. coli, the gene was manipulated in various ways. Expression of the truncated as well as full-length forms of the recombinant OmpH was fatal to the host E. coli BL21 (DE3). However, the truncated OmpH fused with GST was consecutively expressed in E. coli DH5$\alpha$. A large quantity of the fused polypeptide was purified through GST-affinity chromatography.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.167-173
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• 1997

Everted membrane vesicles of Helicobacter pylori were prepared and the membrane-resided ATPases were characterized. For comparison, Escherichia coli membrane ATPases and hog gastric mucosal H,K-ATPase were employed. ATPase assay revealed that the composite enzyme pool was relatively low in specific activities, below 1/10 times than that found in E. coli. According to their inhibitory specificities, most of the ATPase pool appeared to belong to the P-type ATPase, sensitive to vanadate but not to azide. The enzyme pool was extraordinarily resistant against treatment by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD). Certain monovalent cations, e.g., $K^+$ or $NH_4^{+}$ stimulated the whole enzyme pool only in the presence of $Mg^{2+}$. On the contrary, $Ni^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ increased enzyme activity rather effectively without the aid of $Mg^{2+}$. Under a defined condition employed, H. pylori cells could retain the membrane ATPase pool to the extent of $17{\%}$ at pH 3.2. Moreover, its activity was most stable in acidic conditions (pH 5.4-6.4). However, cytoplasmic or peripheral ATPase pools were hardly detected under acidity (below pH 4.6).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.280-285
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• 2020

We have developed a constitutive display system of the Pseudomonas fluorescens SIK W1 TliA lipase on the cell surface of Escherichia coli using E. coli outer membrane protein C (OmpC) as an anchoring motif, which is an economical compared to induced system. For the constitutive expression of truncated OmpC-TliA fusion proteins, gntT104 promoter was employed. Cell growth was not affected by over expression of fusion protein during entire culture time, suggesting cell lysis was not a problem. The localization of truncated OmpC-TliA fusion protein on the cell surface was confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy and measuring whole cell lipase activity. Constitutively displayed lipase was very stable, retaining activity enantioselectivity throughout the five repeated reactions. These results suggest that OmpC from E. coli be a useful anchoring motif for displaying enzymes on the cell surface without any inducers, and this stable surface display system can be employed for a broad range of biotechnological applications.