• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.226-236
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• 2020

Antibiotic resistance by pathogenic bacteria and fungi is one of the most serious global public health problems in the 21^st century, directly affecting human health and lifestyle. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus with strong resistance to the common antibiotics have been isolated from Intensive Care Unit patients at Zagazig Hospital. Thus, in this study we assessed the biocidal activity of nanoparticles of silver, copper and zinc synthesized by Fusarium solani KJ 623702 against these multidrug resistant-bacteria. The synthesized Metal Nano-particles (MNPs) were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Zeta potential. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) result showed the presence of different functional groups such as carboxyl, amino and thiol, ester and peptide bonds in addition to glycosidic bonds that might stabilize the dispersity of MNPs from aggregation. The antimicrobial potential of MNPs by F. solani against the multidrug-resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa and S. aureus in addition to the mycotoxigenic Aspergillus awamori, A. fumigatus and F. oxysporum was investigated, based on the visual growth by diameter of inhibition zone. Among the synthesized MNPs, the spherical AgNPs (13.70 nm) displayed significant effect against P. aeruginosa (Zone of Inhibition 22.4 mm and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration 21.33 ㎍/ml), while ZINC oxide Nano-Particles were the most effective against F. oxysporum (ZOI, 18.5 mm and MIC 24.7 ㎍/ml). Transmission Electron Microscope micrographs of AgNP-treated P. aeruginosa showed cracks and pits in the cell wall, with internalization of NPs. Production of pyocyanin pigment was significantly inhibited by AgNPs in a concentration-dependent manner, and at 5-20 ㎍ of AgNPs/ml, the pigment production was reduced by about 15-100%, respectively.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.115-125
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• 2000

Three major hospitals with over 500 beds located in and near Seoul were surveyed for airbone microorganisms from February 1, 1998 to February 18, 1998. The purpose of the study was to identify and quantify microbiological organisms circulating in the air of three different areas in the hospitals. For the study, a RCS air sampler was utilized equipped with two different collection media, the agar strip GK-A for bacteria and the agar strip HS for fungi. The areas investigated were the intensive care unit (ICU) in the Department of internal medicine, the Newborns room in the Department of Obstetrics, and the microbiology laboratory. The results were as follows; 1. The average numbers of general microbiological particles collected on the agar strip GK-A media were $205CFU/m^3$, $232CFU/m^3$, and $128CFU/m^3$ in each hospitals. The highest concentration of $387CFU/m^3$ was found in the ICU of A hospital at 15:00 during the day. Further analysis of the collected bioaerosols by gram staining, revealed that there were gram positive cocci (89.5%), gram positive bacilli (7.2%), gram negative bacilli (2.8%), and fungi (0.5%), in descending order of frequency. 2. Ten different genes were identified from the agar strip GK-A. The most frequently identified organisms were: the Coagulase negative staphylococcus (55.0%), Micrococcus (21.4%), Enterococcus species(10.4%), and Bacillus species (7.2%). A series of antibiotics susceptibility test were conducted against the aforementioned four(4) organisms. Ninety percent of coagulase negative stapylococcus were sensitive to Penicillins. Pathogenic microbes isolated include: Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter species, Klebsiella pneumonia, Klebsiella oxytoca, and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. 3 Although 56.8% of the microorganisms grown on the strip HS media for fungi could not be identified, some of them were successfully identified. The most frequently found fungi were Aspergillus (35.3%), Yeast or Molds (6.2%), and Penicillium (0.7%). Based on the results obtained from the study, it was concluded that some areas in the hospitals had abnormally high bioaerosol concentrations which could be attributed to human activity. Therefore, it is recommended that periodic assessments of indoor bioaerosols aiming to identify the possible sources should be conducted in order to maintain clean indoor environment in the hospitals.

• 농업과학연구
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.117-123
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• 2012

Pathogenic fungi and bacteria such as Pectobacterium atrosepticum, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus, Verticillium albo-atrum, and Rhizoctonia solani were the major microorganism which causes diseases in seed potato during postharvest process. Current detection method for disease-infected seed potato relies on human inspection, which is subjective, inaccurate and labor-intensive method. In this study, a reflectance spectroscopy was used to classify sound and disease-infected seed potatoes with the spectral range from 400 to 1100 nm. Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) with various preprocessing methods was used to investigate the feasibility of classification between sound and disease-infected seed potatoes. The classification accuracy was above 97 % for discriminating disease seed potatoes from sound ones. The results show that Vis/NIR reflectance method has good potential for non-destructive sorting for disease-infected seed potatoes.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 한국균학회 2015년도 춘계학술대회 및 임시총회
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• pp.60-60
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• 2015

Hybrid histidine kinase is a part of two-component system that is required for various stress responses and pathogenesis of pathogenic fungi. In the present study, Tco1, a homologue of human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans Tco1 encoding a hybrid histidine kinase, was identified in corn smut pathogen Ustilago maydis by bioinformatic analysis. To explore the role of Tco1 in the virulence of U. maydis, mutants in which the tco1 gene was partially deleted were constructed by allelic exchange. The U. maydis tco1 mutants did show unaltered growth rate on axenic medium but were unable to produce conjugation tubes and develop fuzzy filaments, resulting in impaired mating of compatible strains. The expression levels of prf1, pra1, and mfa1 which are involved in the pheromone pathway significantly decreased in the tco1 mutants. In inoculation tests to host, the tco1 mutants showed significantly reduced ability in the production of anthocyanin pigments and tumor development on maize leaves. Overall, the combined results indicated that Tco1 plays important roles in sexual development and virulence of U. maydis by regulating the expression of the genes involved in the pheromone pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권10호
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• pp.1696-1700
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• 2016

In order to discover plant-derived signaling pathway inhibitors with antifungal properties, a two-component screening system utilizing the calcineurin and Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways responsible for the virulence networks of Cryptococcus neoformans was employed, owing to the counter-regulatory actions of these pathways. Of the 1,000 plant extracts tested, two bioactive compounds from Miliusa sinensis were found to act specifically on the calcineurin pathway of C. neoformans. These compounds, identified as pashanone and 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxyflavanone, exhibited potent antifungal activities against various human pathogenic fungi with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 4.0 to >128 μg/ml.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제17권11호
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• pp.1797-1804
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• 2007

Lycopene, an acyclic carotenoid found in tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) and a number off fruits, has shown various biological properties, but its antifungal effects remain poorly understood. The current study investigated the antifungal activity of lycopene and its mode of action. Lycopene showed potent antifungal effects toward pathogenic fungi, tested in an energy-independent manner, with low hemolytic effects against human erythrocytes. To confirm the antifungal effects of lycopene, its effects on the dimorphism of Candida albicans induced by fetal bovine serum (FBS), which plays a key role in the pathogenesis of a host invasion, were investigated. The results showed that lycopene exerted potent antifungal activity on the serum-induced mycelia of C. albicans. To understand the antifungal mode of action of lycopene, the action of lycopene against fungal cell membranes was examined by FACScan analysis and glucose and trehalose-release test. The results indicated that lycopene caused significant membrane damage and inhibited the normal budding process, resulting from the destruction of membrane integrity. The present study indicates that lycopene has considerable antifungal activity, deserving further investigation for clinical applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권10호
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• pp.1377-1381
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• 2014

In order to discover and develop novel signaling inhibitors from plants, a screening system was established targeting the two-component system of Cryptococcus neoformans by using the wild type and a calcineurin mutant of C. neoformans, based on the counter-regulatory action of high-osmolarity glycerol (Hog1) mitogen-activated protein kinase and the calcineurin pathways in C. neoformans. Among 10,000 plant extracts, that from Harrisonia abyssinica Oliv. exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity against C. neoformans var. grubii H99 with fludioxonil. Bioassay-guided fractionation was used to isolate two bioactive compounds from H. abyssinica, and these compounds were identified as chebulagic acid and chebulanin using spectroscopic methods. These compounds specifically inhibited the calcineurin pathway in C. neoformans. Moreover, they exhibited potent antifungal activities against various human pathogenic fungi with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.25 to over $64{\mu}g/ml$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제20권10호
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• pp.1397-1402
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• 2010

Papyriflavonol A (PapA), a prenylated flavonoid [5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxy-6,5'-di-(${\gamma},{\gamma}$-dimethylallyl)-flavonol], was isolated from the root barks of Broussonetia papyrifera. Our previous study showed that PapA has a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. In this study, the mode of action of PapA against Candida albicans was investigated to evaluate PapA as an antifungal agent. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were 10~25 ${\mu}g/ml$ for C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium), and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus). The kinetics of cell growth inhibition, scanning electron microscopy, and measurement of plasma membrane florescence anisotrophy revealed that the antifungal activity of PapA against C. albicans and S. cerevisiae is mediated by its ability to disrupt the cell membrane integrity. Compared with amphotericin B, a cell-membrane-disrupting polyene antibiotic, the hemolytic toxicity of PapA was negligible. At 10~25 ${\mu}g/ml$ of MIC levels for the tested strains, the hemolysis ratio of human erythrocytes was less than 5%. Our results suggest that PapA could be a therapeutic fungicidal agent having potential as a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제33권7호
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• pp.2279-2286
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• 2012

The template synthesis of copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes derived from 2,6-diformyl-4-methylphenol with diethylenetriamine or 1,2-bis(3-aminopropylamino)ethane produce the 12-membered $N_3O$ and 17-membered $N_4O$ macrocyclic complexes, respectively. The geometry of the complexes has been determined with the help of electronic and EPR spectroscopic values and found to be five coordinated square pyramidal and, six coordinated distorted tetragonal for 12-membered and 17-membered macrocyclic complexes, respectively. Electrochemical studies of the mononuclear $N_3O$ and $N_4O$ copper(II) complexes show one irreversible oneelectron reduction wave at $E_{pc}=-1.35$ and -1.15 V respectively, and the corresponding nickel(II) complexes show irreversible one-electron reduction wave at $E_{pc}=-1.25$ and -1.22 V, respectively. The nickel(II) complexes show irreversible one-electron oxidation wave at $E_{pa}=+0.84$ and +0.82 V, respectively. All the complexes were evaluated for in vitro antimicrobial activity against the human pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.440-444
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• 1998

A series of 6-(N-arylamino)-7-methylthio-5,8-quinolinedione derivatives 4a-4l was newly synthesized for the evaluation of antifungal activity. 6-(N-Arylamino)-7-methylthio-5,8-quinolinediones were prepared by regioselective nucleophilic substitution of 6,7-dichloro-5,8-quinolinediones with arylamines in the presence of $Ce^{3+}$, and $Na_2$S/dimethylsulfate. The MIC values of 4a-4l were determined for antifungal susceptibility in vitro against Candida species by agar streak method. The derivatives 4a-4l had generally potent antifungal activities against all human pathogenic fungi. Especially they had the most potent activity against C. krusei at 12.5-0.8 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml. Compounds 4d, 4g, 4h, 4j and 4k had more potent antifungal activities than fluconazole. Compounds 4g and 4h completely inhibited the fungal growth at 0.8-6.3 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml against all Candida species, while fluconazole inhibited the growth at 25 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml. The compounds such as 4g and 4h containing an N-(4-bromo-2-methylphenyl)- or N-(4-bromo-3methylphenyl)amino substituent exhibited the most potent antifungal activities.