• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.231-235
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• 1998

We have introduced a genetic assay to study the existence of intramolecular triplexes in Escherichia coli. A plasmid containing the gene that encodes a temperature-sensitive EcoRI methylase was cotransformed with different plasmids containing inserts, $(G)_9AATTC(G)_9$ and $(GAA)_9TTC(GAA)_8$, that are able to form intramolecular triplexes in vitro. Inhibition of methylation in vivo was found for $(G)_9AATTC(G)_9$ and $(GAA)_9TTC(GAA)_8$, suggesting that the pur pyr sequences adopt unusual strucures in E. coli. In addition, experiments using two dimensional gel electrophoresis confirmed that intramolecular triplexes are formed for the pur pyr sequences under negative supercoiling. These results demonstrate the existence of intramolecular triplexes in E. coli.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.116-123
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was typing the plasmid mediated extended spectrum ${\beta}-lactamases$ produced by enteric bacteria isolated from rivers in Pusan. Six strains of Eschericha coli and fifteen strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae transferred their plasmid mediated extended spectrum ${\beta}-lactamase$ genes to the recipient strain Eschericha coli J53 $Azid^{R}$. The plasmid mediated extended spectrum ${\beta}-lactamase$ genes were sequenced directly after PCR and the types were determined by the BCM Search Launcher and GenBank nucleotid database. Determined types of the plasmid mediated extended spectrum ${\beta}-lactamases$ were TEM-52 and SHV-12. TEM-52 was isolated from both Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. However SHV-12 was isolated from Klebsiella pneumoniae only. The results indicated that the plasmid mediated extended spectrum ${\beta}-lactamase$ producing bacteria spreded over the area of clinical to the nature in Korea.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2002

Phytase from Escherichia coli WC7 was purified from cell extracts and its molecular mass was estimated to be 45 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Its optimum temperature and pH for phytate hydrolysis was 6$0^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.0, respectively. The enzyme was stable up to 6$0^{\circ}C$ and over broad pH range (pH 2-12). The enzyme had higher affinity for sodium phytate than p-nitrophenylphosphate (pNPP). That is, the apparent Km value for sodium phytate and pNPP were $0.15\pm$0.02 mM and 2.82$\pm$0.05 mM, respectively. The gene encoding the phytase was cloned in E. coli XL1-Blue. Sequence analysis showed an open reading frame of 1241 Up encoding a signal peptide (22 aa) and a mature enzyme (410 aa). WC7 phytase was expressed up to 17.5 U/ml in the transformed E. coli XL1-Blue/pUEP, which was 23-fold higher than the activity from wild strain.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.93-97
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• 2008

RraA is a recently discovered protein inhibitor that regulates the enzymatic activity of RNase E, which plays a major role in the decay and processing of RNAs in Escherichia coli. It has also been shown to regulate the activity of RNase ES, a functional Streptomyces coelicolor ortholog of RNase E, which has 36% identity to the amino-terminal region of RNase E. There are two open reading frames in S. coelicolor genome that can potentially encode proteins having more than 35.4% similarity to the amino acid sequence of RraA. DNA fragment encoding one of these RraA orthologs, designated as RraAS2 here, was amplified and cloned in to E. coli vector to test whether it has ability to regulate RNase E activity in E. coli cells. Co-expression of RraAS2 partially rescued E. coli cells over-producing RNase E from growth arrest, although not as efficiently as RraA, induced by the increased ribonucleolytic activity in the cells. The copy number of ColEl-type plasmid in these cells was also decreased by 14% compared to that in cells over-producing RNase E only, indicating the ability of RraAS2 to inhibit RNase E action on RNA I. We observed that the expression level of RraAS2 was lower than that of RraA by 4.2 folds under the same culture condition, suggesting that because of inefficient expression of RraAS2 in E. coli cells, co-expression of RraAS2 was not efficiently able to inhibit RNase E activity to the level for proper processing and decay of all RNA species that is required to restore normal cellular growth to the cells over-producing RNase E.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.235-240
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• 2015

Seasonal variation in the prevalence of norovirus in oysters Crassostrea gigas was investigated and compared to levels of Escherichia coli, a fecal indicator in oysters. Oysters were collected from Iwon-myeon, Taean-gun, Korea, a primary production area for European Union export of oysters between 2013 and 2014. We observed seasonality in the prevalence of norovirus in oysters, with a higher prevalence and viral load detected during winter months. Oysters taken from production areas that complied with the European Union standard for raw consumption (< 230 MPN/100 g of E. coli) had 22.1% of the samples test positive for norovirus (15/68 samples). However, norovirus was not detected in any of the samples (0%, 0/4 samples) that were collected from production sites that exceeded the standard fecal contamination level for raw consumption (> 230 MPN/100 g of E. coli). These results indicated that there is a negative correlation between the prevalence of norovirus and high levels of E. coli in oysters. Therefore, our results suggest that current food safety guidelines using only a bacterial fecal contamination indicator, E. coli, may not adequately assess shellfish production areas for viral and bacterial contamination.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.293-298
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• 2004

This study was performed to compare the growth rates, cellular fatty acid compositions and morphology by using electron microscope of Escherichia coli (E. coli) grown in various conditions including different concentrations of phenol, CdCl₂ and HgCl₂. Ninety eight E. coli strains were isolated from Naktong river and human feces. The content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially 16:1ω7c and 18:1ωc increased as the concentration of phenol and CdCl₂ increased. The content of unsaturated fatty acid increased up to 50 ppb of HgCl₂, but decreased at 75 ppb of HgCl₂. There were more unsaturated fatty acids than saturated fatty acid in the presence of toxic substances. However, the ration was reversed when the affected E. coli was transferred to toxic substance free fresh trypticase soy broth medium. Also, by using transmission electron microscope these cells were observed to various morphological deformation by heavy metals and their deposition on the surface. From these results, we suggested that the changes of major fatty acids composition and morphology of E. coli may be considered to indicate contaminated levels of heavy metals or organic solvents. The information presented here may be useful in predicting effects of heavy-metal and organic solvent contamination in streams and provides a basis for further studies of metal or organic solvent effects on microbial communities.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.863-868
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• 2004

Lectin activities and chemical characteristics of Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. originating from the porcine cecal mucosal layer were studied based on hemagglutination assay (HA) and hemagglutination inhibition assay (HIA). Although all the bacterial strains were able to agglutinate erythrocytes of porcine or rabbit origin, much higher HA titers were consistently observed for Lactobacillus spp. than for E. coli or for Bifidobacterium spp. A remarkable reduction in HA titers occurred by the treatment of E. coli and Lactobacillus spp. with protease or trypsin and of Bifidobacterium spp. with protease, trypsin or periodate. There were no significant effects on the HA titers of the three groups of bacteria after the treatment with lipase. Hemagglutination of E. coli was strongly inhibited by D (+)-mannose and D (+)-galactose; Lactobacillus spp. by $\alpha$-L-rhamnose and methyl-$\beta$-galactopyranoside; Bifidobacterium spp. by D (+)-alactose, $\alpha$-L-rhamnose, $\alpha$-L-fucose, L (+)-arabinose, D (+)-mannose, D (-)-fructose at a relatively low concentration (1.43 to 3.75 mg/ml). These results, combined with the enhanced HA activities of the three bacterial strains by modification of rabbit erythrocytes with neuraminidase and abolished HA activity of E. coli after treatment with $\beta$-galactosidase, indicate that it might be the glycoproteinous substances surrounding the surface of the bacterial cells that are responsible for the adhesions of these microorganisms by recognizing the specific receptors on the red blood cell.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.2028-2036
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• 2017

The Escherichia coli K-12 and B strains are among the most frequently used bacterial hosts for scientific research and biotechnological applications. However, omics analyses have revealed that E. coli K-12 and B exhibit notably different genotypic and phenotypic attributes, even though they were derived from the same ancestor. In a previous study, we identified a limited number of proteins from the two strains using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). In this study, an in-depth analysis of the physiological behavior of the E. coli K-12 and B strains at the proteomic level was performed using six-plex isobaric tandem mass tag-based quantitative MS. Additionally, the best lysis buffer for increasing the efficiency of protein extraction was selected from three tested buffers prior to the quantitative proteomic analysis. This study identifies the largest number of proteins in the two E. coli strains reported to date and is the first to show the dynamics of these proteins. Notable differences in proteins associated with key cellular properties, including some metabolic pathways, the biosynthesis and degradation of amino acids, membrane integrity, cellular tolerance, and motility, were found between the two representative strains. Compared with previous studies, these proteomic results provide a more holistic view of the overall state of E. coli cells based on a single proteomic study and reveal significant insights into why the two strains show distinct phenotypes. Additionally, the resulting data provide in-depth information that will help fine-tune processes in the future.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2007

Escherichia coli is a clonal species, and occurs as both commensal and pathogenic strains, which are normally classified on the basis of their O, H, and K antigens. The O-antigen (O-specific polysaccharide), which consists of a series of oligosaccharide (O-unit) repeats, contributes major antigenic variability to the cell surface. The O-antigen gene cluster of E. coli O66 was sequenced in this study. The genes putatively responsible for the biosynthesis of dTDP-6-deoxy-L-talose and GDP-mannose, as well as those responsible for the transfer of sugars and for O-unit processing were identified based on their homology. The function of the wzy gene was confirmed by the results of a mutation test. Genes specific for E. coli O66 were identified via PCR screening against representatives of 186 E. coli and Shigella O type strains. The comparison of intergenic sequences located between galF and the O-antigen gene cluster in a range of E. coli and Shigella showed that this region may perform an important function in the homologous recombination of the O-antigen gene clusters.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.343-349
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• 2009

Inhibitory effect of Escherichia coli O157 adhered to Caco-2 cells by the cells of Lactobacillus plantarum K11 and the cell-free culture supernatant (CFCS) and bacteriocin prepared from this strain was investigated. As the cell counts of viable L. plantarum K11 previously adhered to Caco-2 were increased, the rate of adhesion and adherent cell counts of E. coli O157 was lower. However, because the heated L. plantarum K11 rarely have the adhesion ability to Caco-2, the adhesion rate and adherent cell counts of E. coli O157 were high. In addition, the inhibitory effects of E. coli O157 adhesion by the CFCS and bacteriocin of L. plantarum K11 were dose-dependent manner. Therefore, the inhibition of adhesion of E. coli O157 to Caco-2 may result from the antimicrobial substances such as lactic acid and bacteriocin. Moreover the inhibitory activity of adhesion by the heated bacteriocin for 30 min at 100oC was similar to activity of non-treated bacteriocin, but the activity was disappeared by treatment with protease.