• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제17권8호
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• pp.1262-1270
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• 2007

Some hot springs located in the west of Turkey were investigated with respect to the presence of thermophilic microorganisms. Based on phenotyping characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, 16 of the isolates belonged to the genus Geobacillus and grew optimally at about $60^{\circ}C$ on nutrient agar. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that these isolates resembled Geobacillus species by ${\ge}97%$, but SDS-PAGE profiles of these 16 isolates differ from some of the other species of the genus Geobacillus. However, it is also known that analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences may be insufficient to distinguish between some species. It is proposed that recN sequence comparisons could accurately measure genome similarities for the Geobacillus genus. Based on recN sequence analysis, isolates 11, IT3, and 12 are strains of G stearothermophilus; isolate 14.3 is a strain of G thermodenitrificans; isolates 9.1, IT4.1, and 4.5 are uncertain and it is required to make further analysis. The presence of xylanase and arabinofuranosidase activities, and their optimum temperature and pH were also investigated. These results showed that 7 of the strains have both xylanase and arabinofuranosidase activities, 4 of them has only xylanase, and the remaning 5 strains have neither of these activities. The isolates 9.1, 7.1, and 3.3 have the highest temperature optima ($80^{\circ}C$), and 7.2, 9.1, AO4, 9.2, and AO17 have the highest pH optima (pH 8) of xylanase. Isolates 7.2, AO4, AC15, and 12 have optimum arabinofuranosidase activities at $75^{\circ}C$, and only isolate AC15 has the lowest pH of 5.5.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제22권9호
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• pp.1279-1287
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• 2012

We established an efficient transformation method for thermophile Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426 using conjugative transfer from Escherichia coli of host-mimicking plasmids that imitate DNA methylation of strain HTA426 to circumvent its DNA restriction barriers. Two conjugative plasmids, pSTE33T and pUCG18T, capable of shuttling between E. coli and Geobacillus spp., were constructed. The plasmids were first introduced into E. coli BR408, which expressed one inherent DNA methylase gene (dam) and two heterologous methylase genes from strain HTA426 (GK1380-GK1381 and GK0343-GK0344). The plasmids were then directly transferred from E. coli cells to strain HTA426 by conjugative transfer using pUB307 or pRK2013 as a helper plasmid. pUCG18T was introduced very efficiently (transfer efficiency, $10^{-5}-10^{-3}\;recipient^{-1}$). pSTE33T showed lower efficiency ($10^{-7}-10^{-6}\;recipient^{-1}$) but had a high copy number and high segregational stability. Methylase genes in the donor substantially affected the transfer efficiency, demonstrating that the host-mimicking strategy contributes to efficient transformation. The transformation method, along with the two distinguishing plasmids, increases the potential of G. kaustophilus HTA426 as a thermophilic host to be used in various applications and as a model for biological studies of this genus. Our results also demonstrate that conjugative transfer is a promising approach for introducing exogenous DNA into thermophiles.

• 한국식품과학회지
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.361-367
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• 2010

쌀밥의 미생물 안전성을 평가하기 위하여 쌀을 취반한 후 세균을 분석하였다. 전국에서 생산되는 생쌀 30개를 수집하여 취반 후에 중온성 호기성균과 MYP선택배지에서 Bacillus cereus group를 분리 동정하여 그의 분포도와 독소유전자를 분석하였다. 취반 직후의 쌀밥 27%에서 1-3 log CFU/g정도의 총 중온성 호기균과 거의 같은 정도로의 Bacillus spp.가 존재하는 것으로 나타났다. 그러나 균이 검출되지 않은 시료들도 증균한 후에는 B. cereus group균들이 검출되어 사실상 대부분의 시료에서 Bacillus spp.가 분포하고 있는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이들 시료로부터 37개의 분리하여 동정한 균주는 B. thuringiensis, B. cereus, B. valismortis, B. pumilus, B. coagulans, B. licheniformis, Geobacillus stearo-thermophilus, Brevibacillus laterosporus 등으로 나타났다. 분리 균주중 20개(54%)의 분리주가 B. thuringiensis로 나타났고 그 다음으로 9개(27%)의 B. cereus이였다. 그리고 3개(8%)의 B. valismortis와 각각 1개(3%)의 B. pumilus, B. coagulans, B. licheniformis, Geobacillus stearothermophilus, Brevibacillus laterosporus이였다. B. thuringiensis는 모두에서 non-hemolytic toxin gene(nhe)을 가지고 있었고 9개의 B. cereus중 7균주가 emetic toxin 유전자를 함유하고 있었다. 따라서 쌀밥에는 B. thuringiensis가 B. cereus보다 더 높은 빈도로 분포되어 있고 B. cereus는 설사형 독소유전자 보다는 구토형 독소를 더 많이 가지고 있었다. 취반 후 쌀밥을 상온에서 보관하여 발생되는 B. cereus 식중독은 설사형보다 구토형일 가능성이 더 많을 것으로 보인다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제13권6호
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• pp.1008-1012
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• 2003

Symbiobacterium toebii has been reported as a thermophile exhibiting a commensal interaction with Geobacillus toebii. The distribution of the commensal thermophiles in various soils was investigated using a denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Based on the DGGE analysis, the enrichment condition for the growth of Symbiobacterium sp. was found to also enrich populations of several other microbial spp. as well as Symbiobacterium sp. In the enrichment experiment, several different 16S rDNA sequences of commensal thermophiles were detected in all of the soil samples tested, indicating that commensal thermophiles are widely distributed in various soils.