• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1148-1153
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• 2007

Streptococcus mutans is considered one of the primary etiologic agents of dental caries. we studied the effect of the ethanol extracts of Tribuli fructus (T. fructus) on the growth, biofilm formation, acid production, adhesion and insoluble glucan synthesis of S. mutans. The ethanol extracts of T. fructus showed concentration dependent inhibitory activity against the growth and acid production of S. mutans, and produced significant inhibition at the concentration of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 mg/ml compared to the control group. In the biofilm assay, the ethanol extracts of T. fructus inhibited formation of biofilm synthesized by S. mutans at the concentration of 0.05 mg/ml. The extracts markedly inhibited S. mutans adherence to HA treated with saliva, and cell adherence was repressed by more than 50% at the concentration 0.05 mg/ml. On the activity of glucosyltransferase which synthesizes water insoluble glucan form sucrose, ethanol extract of T. fructus showed more than 10% inhibition over the concentration of 0.025 mg/ml. Hence, we conclude that T. fructus might be a candidate of anticaries agent. Further studies are necessary to clarify the active constituents of T. fructus responsible for such biomolecular activities.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1253-1257
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• 2012

A gene (acas) designated as ${\alpha}$-amylase was cloned from Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6. The multiple amino acid sequence analysis and functional expression of acas revealed that this gene really encoded an amylosucrase (ASase) instead of ${\alpha}$-amylase. In fact, the recombinant enzyme exhibited typical ASase activity by showing both sucrose hydrolysis and glucosyltransferase activities. The purified enzyme has a molecular mass of 72 kDa and exhibits optimal hydrolysis activity at $45^{\circ}C$ and a pH of 8.0. The analysis of the oligomeric state of ACAS with gel permeation chromatography revealed that the ACAS existed as a monomer.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.174-179
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• 1997

The antimicrobial and GTase(Glucosyltransferase) inhibition activity were investigated for solvent fractions of Gall-nut, variety of fork drugs and Red-grape husk water extracts. Among them, Gall-nut and Red-grape husk water extracts were selected for the powerful antimicrobial and GTase inhibition activity. The methanol fractions of Gall-nut and Red-grape husk were showed very powerful antimicrobial activity on both B. subtilis and E. coli. The MIC(Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) of gall-nut methanol fraction were 1.0mg/ml for B. subtilis and 3.0mg/ml for E. coli. Red-grape husk were 2.0mg/ml for B. subtilis and 3.0mg/ml for E. coli. The methanol fractions of Gall-nut and Red-grape husk were showed very powerful Gtase inhibition activity. The concentrations of these fractions for 80% inhibition of GTase activity were 1.08$\times$10-3mg/ml and 1.08$\times$10-2mg/ml, respectively. The principal compound for the antimicrobial and GTase inhibition activity in tese extracts seems to be polyphenol derivatives.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1221-1225
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• 2003

As an effort to select powerful anti-cariogenic materials from natural resources, various plant extracts were examined for their anti-S. mutans and anti-glucosyltransferase (GTase) activities. The ethanol extracts of licorice bark, which was produced after water extraction of licorice, showed the most powerful anti-S. mutans as well as anti-GTase activities. When licorice bark was consecutively fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, and butanol, the chloroform fraction exhibited the strongest anti-S. mutans activites. This fraction was further fractionated into 4 fractions through a silica gel column, and according to HPLC analysis, anti-S. mutant activities seemed to come mostly from relatively hydrophobic materials.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.398-402
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• 1984

These experiments were conducted to investigate the substrate specificity, the hydrolysis products on the various carbohydrates and the hydrolysis rate on the various raw starches of the two purified glucoamylase produced by Rhizopus oryzae. Both of the glucoamylases hydrolyzed amylose, amylopectin, glycogen, soluble starch, pullulan, maltose, maltotriose, maltotetraose, maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and maltooctaose, but did not act on ${\alpha}-cyclodextrin$, ${\beta}-cyclodextrin$, raffinose, sucrose and lactose. When the reaction mixture of glucoamylase and polysaccharides were incubated $37^{\circ}C$for 32 hours, glucoamylase I hydrolyzed amylopectin, soluble starch and amyloses completely, but hydrolyzing glycogen up to only about 88%. Glucoamylase II hydrolyzed the previous four polysaccharides up to about 100%. Both of the glucoamylases produced only glucose for various substrates and did not have any ${\alpha}-glucosyl$ transferase activity. Both of the glucoamylases hydrolyzed raw glutinous rice starch almost complety, wheras they acted on raw potato starch, raw green banana starch, raw arrow root starch, raw corn starch, raw yam starch and raw high amylose corn starch weakly. Glucoamylase II hydrolyzed raw starches at the higher rate than glucoamylase I.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.212-218
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• 2012

Glycosyltransferases are enzymes (EC 2.4) that catalyze the transfer of monosaccharide moieties from activated nucleotide sugar to a glycosyl acceptor molecule which can be a carbohydrate, glycoside, oligosaccharide, or a polysaccharide. In this study, a UDP-glucosyltransferase cDNA was isolated from Brassica rapa using a rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and subsequently named BrUGT. It has a full-length cDNA of 1,236 bp with 119 bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR), a complete ORF of 834 bp encoding a polypeptide of 277 amino acids (31.19 kDa) and a 3'-UTR of 283 bp. BLASTX analysis hits a catalytic domain of Glycos_transf_1 super family (cl12012) that belongs to the Glycosyltransferases group 1 with tetratricopeptide (TPR) regions located between 165 to 350 bp. Expression analysis showed high mRNA transcripts in pistil, followed by petal, seed and calyx of flower. Moreover, expression analysis of BrUGT in Chinese cabbage seedlings under stresses of cold, salt, PEG, $H_2O_2$, drought and ABA showed elevated mRNA transcript. Furthermore, when BrUGT gene was transformed into rice using pUbi-1 promoter, overexpression was evident among the $T_1$ plants. This study provides insights into the function of BrUGT in plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1242-1248
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• 2017

Several medicinal plants are ethnomedically used in Korea as agents for treating infection, anti-inflammation, and pain relief. However, beyond typical inhibitory effects on cell growth, little is known about the potential anti-biofilm activity of these herbs, which may help to prevent cavities and maintain good oral health. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activities of the methanol extracts of 37 Korean medicinal plants against dental pathogens Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans, which synergize their virulence so as to induce the formation of plaque biofilms in the oral cavity. The antimicrobial activities were investigated by broth dilution and disk diffusion assay. The anti-biofilm and antioxidant activities were evaluated based on the inhibitory effect against glucosyltransferase (GTase) and the DPPH assay, respectively. Among 37 herbs, eight plant extracts presented growth and biofilm inhibitory activities against both etiologic bacteria. Among them, the methanol extracts (1.0 mg/ml) from Camellia japonica and Thuja orientalis significantly inhibited the growth of both bacteria by over 76% and over 83% in liquid media, respectively. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of these methanol extracts were determined to be 0.5 mg/ml using a disk diffusion assay on solid agar media. Biofilm formation was inhibited by more than 92.4% and 98.0%, respectively, using the same concentration of each extract. The present results demonstrate that the medicinal plants C. japonica and T. orientalis are potentially useful as antimicrobial and anti-biofilm agents in preventing dental diseases.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.370-374
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• 2005

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is known as the causative bacterial playing the most important role informing plaque and it is being noticed as major causative bacteria of dental caries. Therefore, development of more effective, substantial and safe preventive agent against dental caries and periodontal disease is honestly required. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of Cyperus rotundus (Cyperaceae) methanol extracts on the growth, acid production, adhesion, and insoluble glucan synthesis of S. mutans. The methanol extract of C. rotundus showed concentration dependent inhibitory activity against the growth and acid production of S. mutans, and produced significant inhibition at the concentration of 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 mg/ml compared to the control group. The extracts markedly inhibited S. mutans adherence to HA treated with saliva, and cell adherence was repressed by more than 50% at the concentration of 0.5 mg/ml and complete inhibition was observed at the concentration of 4 mg/ml. On the activity of glucosyltransferase which synthesizes water insoluble glucan from sucrose, methanol extract of C. rotundus showed more than 10% inhibition over the concentration of 2 mg/ml. Thus, the application of C. rotundus can be considered a useful and a practical method for the prevention of dental caries.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.647-651
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• 2007

It has been well established that S. mutans is the major etiological agent in dental caries, one of the most common oral diseases worldwide. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of Saururus chinensis (S. chinensis) ethanol extracts on the growth, acid production, biofilm formation, adhesion, and insoluble glucan synthesis of S. mutans. The ethanol extracts of S. chinensis showed concentration dependent inhibitory activity against the growth and acid production of S. mutans, and produced significant inhibition at the concentration of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 mg/ml compared to the control group. The extracts markedly inhibited S. mutans adherence to HA treated with saliva, and cell adherence was repressed by more than 80% at the concentration of 0.05 mg/ml and complete inhibition was observed at the concentration of 0.4 mg/ml. On the activity of glucosyltransferase which synthesizes water insoluble glucan form sucrose, ethanol extract of S. chinensis showed more than 10% inhibition over the concentration of 0.025 mg/ml. The synthesis of insoluble glucan was decreased in the presence of 0.025 ${\sim}$ 0.4 mg/ml of the ethanol extract of S. chinensis. Our research strongly suggested S. chinensis was a promising natural product for the prevention of dental caries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.951-957
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• 2009

In this study, antibacterial activity of extruded ginseng extract by 60 and 80% Et-OH were investigated by agar diffusion assay against two bacteria causing dental caries (Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus casei). Extrusion conditions were 20% moisture content $100^{\circ}C$ and $140^{\circ}C$ barrel temperature. The inhibition effect of 60% Et-OH ginseng extract was higher than 80% Et-OH ginseng extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 80% Et-OH extruded ginseng extract at 140 and $100^{\circ}C$ barrel temperature against L.casei were 100 and 150 mg/mL respectively using broth assay method. The amount of glucosyltransferase (GTase) inhibitory content was the highest in extruded ginseng at $140^{\circ}C$ barrel temperature with 60% Et-OH. Moreover, n-hexane and n-butanol fraction ginseng extract had potential against tested bacteria. Our results demonstrated that antibacterial activities of extruded ginseng extract at $140^{\circ}C$ barrel temperature were more effective than Ex-$100^{\circ}C$, RG and WG.