• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 1994

Isolation, indentification, bioassay and distribution of ice nucleation active(INA) bacteria were done on branch rot of mulberry which was severely developed after harvest of mulberry branches in autumn. Twelve isolates and two isolates out of thirty-six isolates had ice nucleation activity from -5$^{\circ}C$ to -1$0^{\circ}C$, and over -5$^{\circ}C$, respercively. Isolates which formed ice nucleation from -5$^{\circ}C$ to -1$0^{\circ}C$ were not inclined to injure tomato and corn seedlings. However, Two isolates, SE9316 and SE9338 which formed ice nucleation over -5$^{\circ}C$ injured mulberry, tomato and corn seedlings. SE9316 and SE9338 were identified as Pseudomonas syringae based on the morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics. Populations of ice nucleation active bacteria, fluorecent pseudomonads, were higer in February and April, but they decreased in May. Populations decreased as they become distant from the center of the symptom. The bacterial populations of all sampling times and sites were higer than 105 cfu/g which was enough to induce frost injury.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.326-336
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• 1997

Four ice nucleation-active bacteria (INA-bacteria), Pseudomonas syringae, Xanthomonas campestris, Escherichia coli JM109/pEIN229 and Gluconobacter oxydans/pKIN230, were treated with heat, pressure and gamma-irradiation to compare viability and their ice nucleation activity (INA) after sterilization. Gamma-irradiated INA-bacteria showed the least decrease in T90 value (the temperature at which the 90% of drops are frozen). According to cumulative INA spectra, gamma-irradiated INA-bacteria showed little decrease in class A ice nuclei $(nucleate\;H_{2}O\;at\;higher\;than\;-5^{\circ}C)$, pressurized INA-bacteria showed more than 90% decrease in class A ice nuclei, and heat-treated INA-bacteria barely showed class A ice nuclei. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to examine the effect of INA-bacteria on the thermophysical properties of water at freezing temperature. Freezing peaks were appeared at about $11{\sim}15^{\circ}C$ higher on thermograms and enthalpies of phase change were decreased for the water containing INA-bacteria compared with the pure water, while melting peaks were not shifted. INA measured by DSC method were significantly correlated with INA measured by drop freezing method $(R^{2}>0.993,\;p<0.0001)$, indicating that DSC can be used as a new, simple and precise method for measuring INA.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.234-238
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• 2012

Recombinant Escherichia coli displaying organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) was used to overcome the diffusion barrier limitation of organophosphorus pesticides. A new anchor system derived from the N-terminal domain of ice-nucleation protein from Pseudomonas syringae InaV (InaV-N) was used to display OPH onto the surface. The designed sequence was cloned in the vector pET-28a(+) and then was expressed in E. coli. Tracing of the expression location of the recombinant protein using SDS-PAGE showed the presentation of OPH by InaV-N on the outer membrane, and the ability of recombinant E. coli to utilize diazinon as the sole source of energy, without growth inhibition, indicated its significant activity. The location of OPH was detected by comparing the activity of the outer membrane fraction with the inner membrane and cytoplasm fractions. Studies revealed that recombinant E. coli can degrade 50% of 2 mM chlorpyrifos in 2 min. It can be concluded that InaV-N can be used efficiently to display foreign functional protein, and these results highlight the high potential of an engineered bacterium to be used in bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated sources in the environment.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.403-409
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• 2022

In biological particles such as Fusarium species, ice nucleation activity (INA) has been observed. Fusarium strains isolated from apple declined trees in Korea were identified with a multilocus sequence analysis using the tef1 and rpb1 genes. Droplet-freezing and tube-freezing assays were used to determine the INA of the strains, using Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae KACC 21200 as a positive control and resulting in seven INA+ fungal strains that were identified as F. tricinctum (KNUF-21-F17, KNUF-21-F18, KNUF-21-F29, KNUF-21-F32, KNUF-21-F38, KNUF-21-F43, and KNUF-21-F44). The effect of Fusarium INA+ KNUF-21-F29 was compared to that of INA- strains on Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. Shinma explants. A higher callus formation and no-shoot formation were observed, suggesting that fungal INA could play a role in cold injuries and be a factor to consider in rapid apple decline. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of INA fungal strains isolated in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.255-262
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• 2022

In this study, the fungal strain KNUF-21-F39 was isolated from a declined apple tree (Malus domestica) in the Chungcheongbuk province in Korea. The strain KNUF-21-F39 presented a slow growth rate and a variety of macroconidia shapes and sizes ranging from ovoid to fusoid and 1- to 5-septate, primarily showing 3- and 4-septate, with "S" -shaped macroconidia rarely observed. The strain was identified based on morphological characteristics along with phylogenetic analysis performed using the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and partial sequences of translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1), RNA polymerase largest subunit (rpb1), and calmodulin (cal) genes. The fungal strain KNUF-21-F39 was identified as Fusarium diversisporum, which has not been previously reported in Korea. The ice nucleation activity (INA) of the strain was also evaluated, identifying the strain as positive for INA. This is the first report characterizing F. diversisporum as an IN-active fungal species.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.180-186
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• 1987

Cell suspensions of two isolates of Pseudomonas syringae. PS8401 from sweet persimon and PS8402 from tea plant, were active in ice nucleation at -2.5 and $-3.8^{\circ}C$, respectively. Ice nucleation at those temperature was, using micropipette method, detected in suspensions ($10^8$ olony forming unit/ml of distilled water) of cells that had been grown on nutrient agar supplemented with $2.5\%$ glycerol. Using the same method, on the other hand, the freezing temperature of distilled water only was approx. $-21.8^{\circ}C$, and those of various plant saps including corn were lower than $-11.6^{\circ}C$. Corn seedlings sprayed with cell suspensions $(10^8\;cfu/ml)$ of nutrient broth) of PS8401 began to be damaged at $-2^{\circ}C$ and were almost completely damaged at $-4^{\circ}C$, whereas seedlings sprayed with nutrient broth only were not injured until the temperature down to $-9^{\circ}C$. Amounts of frost damage measured 48 hr after application of PS8401 suspensions increased as applied bacterial cell densities were increased. Ice-nucleation activity of the cell suspensions in vitro increased with increasing the number of cells in suspension. The activity also affected by growth-medium composition or growth-temperature. Ice nucleation thus occured at -4.0, -4.4 and $-7.2^{\circ}C$ in suspensions $(10^2\;cfu/ml)$ of PS8401 that had been grown at$25\%$ nutrient agar with $2.5\%$ glycerol, nutrient agar with $2.5\%$ glucose and nutrient agar only, respectively, and occured at -4.0 and $-7.6^{\circ}C$ in suspensions $(10^2\;cfu/ml)$ of PS8401 hat had been grown on nutrient agar with $2.5\%$ glycerol at $15\~25^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.88-107
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• 2023

In the present investigation, bacterial isolates from infected apple trees causing apple canker during winter were studied in the northern Gyeongbuk Province, Korea. The pathogen was identified as Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Pss) through various physiological and biochemical characterization assays such as BIOLOG, gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters, and 16S rRNA. Bioassays for the production of phytotoxins were positive for syringopeptin and syringomycin against Bacillus megaterium and Geotrichum candidum, respectively. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method enabled the detection of toxin-producing genes, syrB1, and sypB in Pss. The differentiation of strains was performed using LOPAT and GATTa tests. Pss further exhibited ice nucleation activity (INA) at a temperature of -0.7℃, indicating an INA⁺ bacterium. The ice-nucleating temperature was -4.7℃ for a non-treated control (sterilized distilled water), whereas it was -9.6℃ for an INA^- bacterium Escherichia coli TOP10. These methods detected pathogenic strains from apple orchards. Pss might exist in an apple tree during ice injury, and it secretes a toxin that makes leaves yellow and cause canker symptoms. Until now, Korea has not developed antibiotics targeting Pss. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective disease control to combat Pss in apple orchards. Pathogenicity test on apple leaves and stems showed canker symptoms. The pathogenic bacterium was re-isolated from symptomatic plant tissue and confirmed as original isolates by 16S rRNA. Repetitive element sequence-based PCR and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR primers revealed different genetic profiles within P. syringae pathovars. High antibiotic susceptibility results showed the misreading of mRNA caused by streptomycin and oxytetracycline.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.946-951
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• 2008

The opd gene, encoding organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) from Flavobacterium sp. capable of degrading a wide range of organophosphate pesticides, was surface- and intracellular-expressed in Synechococcus PCC7942, a prime example of photoautotrophic cyanobacteria. OPH was displayed on the cyanobacterial cell surface using the truncated ice nucleation protein as an anchoring motif. A minor fraction of OPH was displayed onto the outermost surface of cyanobacterial cells, as verified by immunostaining visualized under confocal laser scanning microscopy and OPH activity analysis; however, a substantial fraction of OPH was buried in the cell wall, as demonstrated by proteinase K and lysozyme treatments. The cyanobacterial outer membrane acts as a substrate (paraoxon) diffusion barrier affecting whole-cell biodegradation efficiency. After freeze-thaw treatment, permeabilized whole cells with intracellular-expressed OPH exhibited 14-fold higher bioconversion efficiency ($V_{max}/K_m$) than that of cells with surface-expressed OPH. As cyanobacteria have simple growth requirements and are inexpensive to maintain, expression of OPH in cyanobacteria may lead to the development of a low-cost and low-maintenance biocatalyst that is useful for detoxification of organophosphate pesticides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.673-679
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• 2004

A microbial cryoprotectant formulation using a W/O/W multiple emulsion system was developed. The psychrotolerant microorganism, B4, isolated from soil in South Korea, was observed by the drop freezing method, in which the microorganism sample inhibited ice nucleation activity. The antifreeze activity was eliminated when the microorganism sample was treated with protease, indicating that the antifreeze activity was due to the presence of antifreeze protein. The result of the l6S rDNA sequencing indicated the B4 strain was most closely related to a species of the genus Bacillus. Culture broth of B4 strain (Bacillus sp.) and rapeseed oil containing 1 % polyglycerine polyricinolate (PGPR) were used as core and wall material, respectively. The most stable W/O emulsion was prepared at a core/oil ratio of 1:2. The highest W/O/W emulsion stability was achieved when the primary emulsion to external aqueous phase containing 0.5% caster oil polyoxyethylene ether $(COG25^{TM})$ ratio was 1:1. Microcrystalline cellulose showed better W/O/W emulsion stability than other polymer types. The viability of cells in a W/O/W emulsion was higher than free cells during storage at $37^\circ{C}$. An acidic pH and UV exposure decreased the viability of free cells, but cells in W/O/W emulsion were more stable under these conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.379-385
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of an engineered Escherichia coli to degrade chlorpyrifos (Cp) using an organophosphorus hydrolase enzyme, encoded in both Flavobacterium sp. ATCC 27551 or Pseudomonas diminuta, by employing the Lpp-OmpA chimera and the N-terminal domain of the ice nucleation protein as anchoring motifs. Tracing of the expression location of the recombinant protein using SDS-PAGE showed the presentation of OPH by both anchors on the outer membrane. This is the first report on the presentation of OPH on the cell surface by Lpp-OmpA under the control of the T7 promoter. The results showed cell growth in the presence of Cp as the sole source of energy, without growth inhibition, and with higher whole-cell activity for both cells harboring plasmids pENVO and pELMO, at approximately 10,342.85 and 10,857.14 U/mg, respectively. Noticeably, the protein displayed by pELMO was lower than the protein displayed by pENVO. It can be concluded that Lpp-OmpA can display less protein, but more functional OPH protein. These results highlight the high potential, of both engineered bacteria, for use in the bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated sources in the environment.