• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2017

An antibacterial peptide was purified from an acidified gill extract of the pufferfish Takifugu pardalis. The acidified gill extract was put through a Sep-Pak C18 solid phase extraction cartridge using a stepwise gradient and divided into a flow-through (F.T.) and 60% methanol fraction (RM 60). Among the eluents, RM 60 had potent antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis KCTC 1021. RM 60 was partially purified on a cationic-exchange column (SP-5PW) by a linear gradient, and the antibacterial peptide was then further purified, using a series of cationic-exchange and $C_{18}$ reversed-phase HPLC columns. For characterization of the purified peptide, its molecular weight and amino acid sequence were analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS and Edman degradation. The molecular weight of the peptide was about 1171.6 Da. The amino acid sequence of the peptide was partially determined as: STKEKAPRKQ. A comparison of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified peptide with that of other known polypeptides revealed high homology with the N-terminus of the histone H3 protein, which belongs to the histone H3 family. Thus, this peptide was designated as a puffer fish gill (PFG)-related antimicrobial peptide. This is the report to describe an antimicrobial function for the N-terminus of histone H3 of an animal species. The findings suggest that this peptide plays a significant role in the innate defense system of the pufferfish.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.216-223
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• 2003

A 1.3-kb of chitosanase gene (choA) encoding 45-kDa polypeptide was cloned, expressed, and characterized from a newly isolated Bacillus cereus H-1. The chitosanase protein (ChoA) of B. cereus H-l was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation and CM-sephadex column chromatography. Optimum pH was around 7, and stable pH range in the incubation at 50 C was 4-11. Optimum temperature was around 50 C, and enzyme activity was relatively stable below 45 C. ChoA showed the activities toward carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in addition to soluble or glycol chitosan. Based on MALDI-TOF MS analysis of purified ChoA, the entire amino acid sequence of ChoA was interpreted by database searching of previously known Bacillus chitosanases. A 1.6 kb of PCR product of corresponding chitosanase gene was obtained and its DNA sequence was determined. The deduced amino acid of choA revealed that ChoA have a 98% homology with those of Bacillus sp. No.7-M strain and Bacillus sp. KCTC0377BP. The recombinant ChoA protein was expressed in E. coli DH5$\alpha$. Deduced amino acid comparison of choA with other chitosanases suggested that it belongs to family 8 microbial endo-chitosanase with chitosanase-cellulase activity.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.757-766
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• 2012

The SSH100-10 bacterial strain, which exhibits strong antifungal (anti-mold and anti-yeast) activity, was isolated from traditional korean soysauce aged 100 years. The strain was identified as Bacillus velezensis based on Gram-staining, the biochemical properties and 16S rRNA gene sequence determination. B. velezensis SSH100-10 showed strong proteinase activity and NaCl tolerance, but did not produce enterotoxin. Two-antifungal compounds from B. velezensis SSH100-10 were purified using SPE, preparative HPLC, and reverse phase-HPLC. The purified antifungal compounds were identified as $C_{14}$ and $C_{15}$ iturin through MALDI-TOF-MS and amino acid composition analysis. The stability characteristics of the antifungal compounds after temperature, pH, and enzyme treatments suggested that B. velezensis SSH100-10 produced more than two antifungal compounds; pH-stable $C_{14}$ iturin A and $C_{15}$ iturin A, and unidentified pH-unstable compounds. The results suggested that B. velezensis SSH100-10 can be used in soybean fermentation as a starter. Moreover it has potential as a biopreservative in the food and feed industry and as a biocontrol agent in the field of agriculture.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 2004

In the human skin, vitamin C (L -ascorbic acid) that is well known as the activated materials has effects that is skin anti-aging and wrinkle repair by giving impetus to collagen biosynthesis and anti-oxidation, and that is the sun screen, a wound recovering, inhibition melanogenesis and so on. In spite of its effects, vitamin C has the defects of the skin stimulation and easily oxidized instability by water, air, heat and light. For solving their matters, many investigation is advanced and its results are synthesized the various vitamin C derivatives. And yet they have not solved the unstable property of vitamin C and were still insufficient for the comparing with the effect of the pure vitamin C itself. In this study, in order to prepare vitamin C derivative of being improved the stability and to apply vitamin C effect in the skin, we prepared new vitamin C derivative, phytosphingosine ascorbate, by using phytosphingosine, one of sphingolipids, which have a distinguished skin affinity. Phytosphingosine ascorbate can be prepared as the ionic bond between amine group (-NH$_2$) of phytosphingosine and hydroxy group (-OH) of vitamin C by way of the relatively simple reaction. So the structure and properties of the synthesized phytosphingosine ascorbate was confirmed the use of elemental analysis (C 58.3 : H 9.3 : N 2.8 : O 29.5), MALDI TOF-MS (Mw=492.58), Ultraviolet spectra (268.5nm), lH NMR, FT-IR spectra, thermal analysis (m.p=l54$^{\circ}C$), HPLC and so on. And we could confirm the anti-bacterial and anti-oxidation effects. Based on these results, we could confirm to prepare a new material that was expected of both effects of vitamin C and phytosphingosine and that is improved properties of vitamin C.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1649-1653
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• 2007

High temperature stresses have caused growth inhibition and delayed heading in highland cultivation Chinese cabbage during summer in Korea. We have studied high temperature stress responses in the terms of changes of inorganic components and proteins by proteomic analyses. Insufficiencies of nitrogen and phosphorus have affected growth rate and calcium deficiency has caused blunted heading. Proteins extracted from Brassica seedling grown at the altitude of 600m and 900m in the Mount Jilun were extracted and analysed by 2-dimentional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Profiles of protein expression was then analyzed by 2-dimentional gel analyses. Protein spots showing different expression level were picked using the spot handling workstation and subjected to MALDI-TOF MS. Total 48 protein spots were analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS and 30 proteins spots out of 48 were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting analyses. Fourteen proteins were up-regulated in extracts from the altitude of 900m and they were identified as oxygen-evolving proteins, rubisco activase and ATPase etc. Sixteen proteins were up-regulated in extracts from the altitude of 600m and they were identified as glutathione S-transferase(1, 28kD cold induced- and 24 kD auxin-binding proteins) and salt-stress induced protein etc. These stress-induced proteins were related to the mediated protective mechanism against oxidative damage during various stresses. The results indicated that physiological phenomenon in response to high temperature stresses might be resulted by complex and multiple array of responses with drought, heat, oxidative, salt, and cold by high temperature.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.529-533
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• 2012

In this study, we compare various physicochemical properties of solvent extracted coals obtained at both mild and high temperature conditions. In order to characterize the extraction behavior, experiments were performed using a sub-bituminous coal (Kideco) and a polar solvent (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, NMP), where the extraction temperature and the effect of solvent recycling were evaluated. As the extraction temperature increased up to $350^{\circ}C$, an extraction yield and a calorific value of the extracted coal increased, while an ash content of the extracted coal decreased. FT-IR results revealed that the surface of the coal extracted at $350^{\circ}C$ was found to contain more amide, aromatic ester, and aliphatic ether groups than that at the lower temperatures. The result of MALDI-TOF/MS analysis confirmed that the smaller molecules with 300~500 m/z were extracted at a mild condition, while the bigger molecules in the range of 500~1500 m/z were extracted at the high temperature.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.556-561
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• 2019

In this study, the physical and chemical analyses of petroleum residues (pyrolized fuel oil, PFO) were conducted and major components were selected to investigate their fire and explosion characteristics. Major component distribution areas of the PFO were identified via the GC-SIMDIS and MALDI-TOF analyses. In addition, the qualitative analysis of major component distribution areas was performed by GC-MS analysis. Major components of pyrolysis residue were selected based on the results of various analyses such as EA, SARA and TGA. As a result, benzene, toluene and xylene were selected as major components. Finally, the process hazard analysis software tool (PHAST) analysis was performed to investigate the range of maximum damage effect in case of fire and explosion. Toluene presented the highest risk due to the radiation effect of $227kW/m^2$ and 118 m in the case of jet fire. Xylene and benzene showed the maximum radiant heat values of 114 and $151kW/m^2$, respectively. It was also confirmed from the analysis of pasquill stability and wind speed that the radiant heat increased up to 55% according to wind speed in benzene, which was considered to be a main factor increasing the influence range.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2021

Edwardsiella piscicida is a significant cause of hemorrhagic septicemia in fish and gastrointestinal infections in humans. Survival bacteria require specialized mechanisms to adapt to environmental fluctuations. Hence, to understand the mechanism through which E. piscicida senses and responds to environmental osmolarity changes, we determined the protein expression profile and physiological properties under various salinity conditions in this study. The OmpR protein is a part of the Env-ZOmpR two-component system that has been implicated in sensing salt stress in bacteria. However, the physiological role played by this protein in E. piscicida remains to be elucidated. Therefore, in this work, the function of the OmpR protein in response to salt stress was investigated. Phenotypic analysis revealed that, in the mutant, three of the biochemical phenotypes were different from the wild type, including, citrate utilization, hydrogen sulfide, and indole production. Introduction of the plasmid containing the entire ompR gene to the mutant strain returned it to its parental phenotype. The retarded growth rate also partially recovered. Furthermore, in our studies, OmpR was not found to be related to cell motility. Taken together, our results from the mutational analysis, the growth assay, MALDI-TOF MS, qRT-PCR, and the phenotype studies suggest that the OmpR of E. piscicida is implicated in osmoregulation, growth, expression of porins (ETAE_1826), virulence-related genes (EseC, EseD and EvpC), and certain genes of unknown function (ETAE_1540 and ETAE_2706).

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2024

Background: As pollutants caused by non-point sources flow into rivers, river water quality monitoring for fecal pollution is becoming increasingly important. Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the distribution of microbial communities in the Yeongsangang River water system and sewage treatment plants in Gwangju and to evaluate their antibiotic resistance. Methods: In the experiment, samples were distributed to five selective media at each point and then cultured for 18 to 24 hours. When bacteria were observed, they were sub-cultured by size and shape and identified using MALDI-TOF MS equipment. When identification was completed, 17 types of antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using VITEK II equipment, focusing on gram-negative dominant species among the identified strains. Results: During the study period, a total of 266 strains were isolated from 39 samples. Gram-positive bacteria were 37 strains in four genera, or 13.9% of the total, and Gram-negative bacteria were 229 strains in 23 genera, or 86.1% of the total. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of 23 strains, the major dominant species, showed that one strain (4.3%) was resistant to only one antibiotic, and two strains (8.7%) were 100% susceptible to the 17 antibiotics tested. The other 20 strains (87.0%) were multidrug resistant bacteria resistant to two or more antibiotics. There were various types of multidrug resistance. Among them, penicillin and cephalosporin series showed the highest resistance. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, it was found that the bacterial community structure changed according to regional and environmental factors, and it was judged that continuous research such as genetic analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria present in natural rivers is necessary.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.576-587
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• 2024

In this study, diverse bacterial strains were isolated from fermented foods to screen those with antibacterial activity. Among them, one strain, identified as Bacillus vallismortis MCBL 1012 through 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, was selected for its bacteriocin production. The culture supernatant of B. vallismortis MCBL 1012 showed antibacterial activity, mainly against Gram-positive bacteria. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that bacteriocin treatment led to cellular content leakages in Listeria monocytogenes KCCM 40307, Enterococcus faecium KCCM 12118, and Streptococcus mutans KCTC 3065. PCR analysis confirmed B. vallismortis MCBL 1012 harbored subtilosin A gene (sbo A). Antibacterial activity was decreased by proteolytic enzymes like proteinase K, subtilisin A, and α-chymotrypsin. The bacteriocin demonstrated stability at 40℃ and 60℃ for 120 min, and up to 80℃ for 60 min, with rapid activity loss at 100℃. It retained full antibacterial activity within a pH range of 4.0 to 8.0 and was not affected by up to 100% organic solvents like ethanol, methanol, acetonitrile, and tetrahydrofuran. Nevertheless, activity decreased with more than 40% isopropanol and 80% acetone. Most tested inorganic salts and detergents had no effect on antibacterial activity except, CuSO₄ and NiSO₄ at specified concentrations. The bacteriocin exerted its antibacterial effect through bactericidal action against L. monocytogenes KCCM 40307. The bacteriocin was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE anion exchange chromatography, and RP-HPLC. The purification resulted in a final yield of 0.03% and a 283.7-fold increase in specific activity. MALDI-TOF MS analysis determined the exact molecular weight of purified bacteriocin to be 3,326.1 Da.