• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.76-83
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• 2009

In 2005, the 5.84-Km length of Cheonggyecheon stream, previously covered with concrete road, was uncovered in the middle of Seoul, Korea. We investigated microbial water quality in various sites in Cheonggyecheon stream. We took water samples on three different days. The sampling sites included inflow water from upper stream (Mojeongyo), midstream (Ogansugyo), and downstream (Muhakgyo). Fecal pollution indicator microorganisms were measured by both IDEXX $Colilert^{(R)}$ and $Enterolert^{(R)}$. Microbial community from these sampling sites was also characterized based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The average concentrations of total coliform are 5 CFU/100 mL, 1474 CFU/100 mL, and 1776 CFU/100 mL at Mojeongyo, Ogansugyo, and Muhakgyo, respectively. The average concentrations of fecal coliform were 28 CFU/100 mL, 47 CFU/100 mL in Ogansugyo, and Muhakgyo, respectively. The concentrations of other fecal indicator microorganisms including E. coli and Enterococcus sp. increased in downstream. When we characterized the microbial community, unique microbial community were discovered at different sampling sites. This study suggests that Cheonggyechoen stream is likely affected by non-point fecal sources and has unique microbial environment as the river flows downstream.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.299-304
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• 2016

When used for amplicon sequencing, Illumina platforms produce more than hundreds of sequence artefacts, which affects operational taxonomic units based analyses such as differential abundance and network analyses. Nevertheless it has become a major tool for fecal microbial community analysis. In addition, results from sequence-based fecal microbial community analysis vary depending on conditions of samples (i.e., freshness, time of storage and quantity). We investigated if freeze-drying samples could improve quality of sequence data. Our results showed reduced number of possible artefacts while maintaining overall microbial community structure. Therefore, freeze-drying feces prior to DNA extraction is recommended for Illumina-based microbial community analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2004

The change of the microbial community structure in excess sludge of different sewage treatment plants by ozone treatment was investigated by quinone profiles. The resulting ozone dosage ranged from 0.1 to $0.4gO_3/gTS$. In terms of overall sludge reduction, more than 50% reduction of the total sludge mass could be achieved by ozone treatment at $0.4gO_3/gTS$. Quinone concentration and type in sludge of different treatment plants were remarkably decreases with increasing ozone dose. Ubiquinones(UQs)-8, -10 and MK-8 were still remained in the ozonized sludge at $0.4gO_3/gTS$. The results of this study showed that the remaining microorganisms belong to UQs-8, -10 and MK-8 were difficult to destruct cell membrane or wall by ozonation. Fecal Streptococci and Salmonella were not detected at ozone dose of $0.2gO_3/gTS$, but Fecal Coliform was not detected at ozone dose of $0.4gO_3/gTS$.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.159-167
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• 2017

The microbial community is known to have a key role during the rearing period of broilers. In this study, gut microbial composition and diversity were examined to evaluate the relationships between these factors and broiler growth performance. By applying 454-pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 regions of bacterial 16S rRNA genes, six fecal samples from four- and 28-day-old chickens from three broiler farms and 24 intestinal samples of broilers with heavy and light body weights were analyzed. Microbial composition assessment revealed Firmicutes to be the most prevalent phylum at farm A, while Proteobacteria were predominant at farms B and C. Fecal microbial richness and diversity indices gradually increased from four to 28 days at all three farms. Microbial diversity assessment revealed that small intestine microbial diversity was lower in heavy birds than in light birds. In light birds, the Firmicutes proportion was lower than that in heavy birds. In conclusion, each broiler farm revealed a specific microbial profile which varied with the age of the birds. The microbial communities appeared to affect growth performance; therefore, gut microbial profiles can be utilized to monitor growth performance at broiler farms.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.425-437
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• 2024

Exercise plays an important role in regulating energy homeostasis, which affects the diversity of the intestinal microbial community in humans and animals. To the best of the authors' knowledge, few studies have reported the associations between horse gut microbiota along with their predicted metabolic activities and the athletic ability of Jeju horses and Thoroughbreds living in Korea. This study was conducted to investigate the association between the gut microbiota and athletic performance in horses. This study sequenced the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the partial 16S rRNA genes obtained from racehorse fecal samples and compared the fecal microbiota between high- and low-performance Jeju horses and Thoroughbreds. Forty-nine fecal samples were divided into four groups: high-performance Jeju horses (HJ, n = 13), low-performance Jeju horses (LJ, n = 17), high-performance Thoroughbreds (HT, n = 9), and low-performance Thoroughbreds (LT, n = 10). The high-performance horse groups had a higher diversity of the bacterial community than the low-performance horse groups. Two common functional metabolic activities of the hindgut microbiota (i.e., tryptophan and succinate syntheses) were observed between the low-performance horse groups, indicating dysbiosis of gut microbiota and fatigue from exercise. On the other hand, high-performance horse groups showed enriched production of polyamines, butyrate, and vitamin K. The racing performance may be associated with the composition of the intestinal microbiota of Jeju horses and Thoroughbreds in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.150-155
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• 2013

We have conducted pyrosequencing for freshwater microbial community analyses. Fourteen sites along the Yeongsan river were selected for this study, and samples were collected monthly from May to July, 2012. Total 987,380 reads were obtained from 42 samples and used for taxonomic classification and OTU distribution analysis. Our results showed that high geographical and temporal variation in the phylum level bacterial composition, suggesting that microbial community is a very sensitive parameter affected by the surrounding environments including tributaries and land use nearby. In addition, we conducted an OTU-based Microbial Source Tracking to identify sources of fecal pollution in the same region. From this study Firmicutes was found to be the most influential taxa in this region. Here, we report that the use of pyrosequencing based microbial community analysis may give an additional information on freshwater quality monitoring, in addition to the currently used water quality parameters, such as BOD and pH.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.1808-1816
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• 2022

Objective: The study of Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) has mainly been focused on meat quality and productivity. Recently the field of microbiome research has increased dramatically. However, the information on the microbiome in Hanwoo is still insufficient, especially relationship between vagina and feces. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the microbial community characteristics by analyzing the 16S rRNA sequencing data of Hanwoo vagina and feces, as well as to confirm the difference and correlation between vaginal and fecal microorganisms. As a result, the goal is to investigate if fecal microbiome can be used to predict vaginal microbiome. Methods: A total of 31 clinically healthy Hanwoo that delivered healthy calves more than once in Cheongju, South Korea were enrolled in this study. During the breeding season, we collected vaginal and fecal samples and sequenced the microbial 16S rRNA genes V3-V4 hypervariable regions from microbial DNA of samples. Results: The results revealed that the phylum-level microorganisms with the largest relative distribution were Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria in the vagina, and Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Spirochaetes in the feces, respectively. In the analysis of alpha, beta diversity, and effect size measurements (LefSe), the results showed significant differences between the vaginal and fecal samples. We also identified the function of these differentially abundant microorganisms by functional annotation analyses. But there is no significant correlation between vaginal and fecal microbiome. Conclusion: There is a significant difference between vaginal and fecal microbiome, but no significant correlation. Therefore, it is difficult to interrelate vaginal microbiome as fecal microbiome in Hanwoo. In a further study, it will be necessary to identify the genetic relationship of the entire microorganism between vagina and feces through the whole metagenome sequencing analysis and meta-transcriptome analysis to figure out their relationship.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.44.1-44.28
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• 2022

Gut dysbiosis is one of prominent features in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) which are of an unknown etiology. Although the cause-and-effect relationship between IBD and gut dysbiosis remains to be elucidated, one area of research has focused on the management of IBD by modulating and correcting gut dysbiosis. The use of antibiotics, probiotics either with or without prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation from healthy donors are representative methods for modulating the intestinal microbiota ecosystem. The gut microbiota is not a simple assembly of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, but a complex organ-like community system composed of numerous kinds of microorganisms. Thus, studies on specific changes in the gut microbiota depending on which treatment option is applied are very limited. Here, we review previous studies on microbial modulation as a therapeutic option for IBD and its significance in the pathogenesis of IBD.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.415-418
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• 2013

Since the development of the next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, 16S rRNA gene sequencing has become a major tool for microbial community analysis. Recently, human microbiome project (HMP) has been completed to identify microbes associated with human health and diseases. HMP achieved characterization of several diseases caused by bacteria, especially the ones in human gut. While human intestinal bacteria have been well characterized, little have been studied about other animal intestinal bacteria. In this study, we surveyed diversity of livestock animal fecal microbiota and discuss importance of studying fecal microbiota. Here, we report the initiation of the fecal microbiome project in South Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.565-573
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• 2023

In light of the complex interactions between the host animal and its resident gut microbiomes, studies of these microbial communities as a means to improve cattle production are important. This study was conducted to analyze the intestinal microorganisms of Holstein (HT) and Jersey (JS), raised in Korea and to clarify the differences in microbial structures according to cattle species through next-generation sequencing. The alpha-diversity analysis revealed that most species richness and diversity indices were significantly higher in JS than in HT whereas phylogenetic diversity, which is the sum of taxonomic distances, is not significant. Microbial composition analysis showed that the intestinal microbial community structure of the two groups differed. In the both groups, a significant correlation was observed among the distribution of several microbes at the family level. In particular, a highly significant correlation (p<0.0001) among a variety of microbial distributions was found in JS. Beta-diversity analyis was to performed to statistically verify whether a difference exists in the intestinal microbial community structure of the two groups. Principal coordinate analysis and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering analysis showed separation between the HT and JS clusters. Meanwhile, permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) revealed that their microbial structures are significantly different (p<0.0001). LEfSe biomarker analysis was performed to discover the differenc microbial features between the two groups. We found that several microbes, such as Firmicutes, Bacilli, Moraxellaceae and Pseudomonadales account for most of the difference in intestinal microbial community structure between the two groups.