• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.77-89
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• 2012

With the advent of the genomics era powered by DNA sequencing technologies, life science is being transformed significantly and biological research and development have been accelerated. Environmental biology concerns the relationships among living organisms and their natural environment, which constitute the global biogeochemical cycle. As sustainability of the ecosystems depends on biodiversity, examining the structure and dynamics of the biotic constituents and fully grasping their genetic and metabolic capabilities are pivotal. The high-speed high-throughput next-generation sequencing can be applied to barcoding organisms either thriving or endangered and to decoding the whole genome information. Furthermore, diversity and the full gene complement of a microbial community can be elucidated and monitored through metagenomic approaches. With regard to human welfare, microbiomes of various human habitats such as gut, skin, mouth, stomach, and vagina, have been and are being scrutinized. To keep pace with the rapid increase of the sequencing capacity, various bioinformatic algorithms and software tools that even utilize supercomputers and cloud computing are being developed for processing and storage of massive data sets. Environmental genomics will be the major force in understanding the structure and function of ecosystems in nature as well as preserving, remediating, and bioprospecting them.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.285-292
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• 2018

This study was performed in order to identify the red tide-causing organism and to understand the characteristics of the water quality during the winter of 2015 and 2016 in the Oncheon stream, a tidal river in Busan, where red tide often occurs in the wintertime. Two sites were selected on the stream and the surface water was sampled a total of 28 times during the experimental period. Twelve water quality characteristics, including water temperature, pH, DO, COD, total-N (T-N), total-P (T-P), and salinity were analyzed in order to test water quality. The cell numbers of cryptomonads were counted directly by microscopic observation. The nucleotide sequences of the partial 28S rRNA gene and psbA gene from metagenomic DNA, derived from each sampling site, were analyzed. According to the results, the alga most responsible for the bloom was identified as Teleaulax OC1 sp., which belongs to the cryptomonads. Three items of chl-a, pH, and DO were positively correlated with the cell numbers of the cryptomonads counted at the upper stream of the tidal area (St 1) while eight items of chl-a, TOC, BOD, total-N, COD, SS, pH, and DO were positively correlated with the cells located at the junction between the stream and Su-young river (St 2) in the order.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.239-246
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• 2020

Microorganism residing in the gut has been known to have important roles in the animal body. Microbes and host microenvironment are highly related with host's health including energy metabolism and immune system. Moreover, it reported that gut microbiome is correlated with diseases like obesity in human and dogs. There have been many studies to identify and characterize microbes and their genes in human body. However, there was little information of microbiome in companion animals. Here, we investigated microbiota communities in feaces from twenty - four Beagles (aged 2 years old) and analyzed the taxonomy profile using metagenomics to study the difference among gut microbiome based on body condition score (BCS). gDNA was isolated from feaces, sequenced and clustered. Taxonomy profiling was performed based on the NCBI database. BCS was evaluated once a week according to the description provided by World Small Animal Veterinary Association. Firmicutes phylum was the most abundant followed by Bacteroidetes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. That main microbiota in gut were differently distributed based on the BCS. Fusobacteria has been known to be associated with colon cancer in human. Interestingly, Fusobacteria was in the third level from the top in healthy dog's gut microbiome. In addition, Fusobacteria was especially higher in overweight dogs which had 6 scales of BCS. Species Fusobacterium perfoetens was also more abundant when dogs were in BCS 6. It implied that F. perfoetens would be positively related with overweight in dogs. These finding would contribute to further studies of gut microbiome and their functions to improve dog's diets and health condition.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.301-310
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• 2012

Prosopis juliflora and Parthenium hysterophorus are the two arid, exotic weeds of India that are characterized by distinct, profuse growth even in nutritionally poor soils and environmentally stressed conditions. Owing to the exceptional growth nature of these two plants, they are believed to harbor some novel bacterial communities with wide adaptability in their rhizosphere. Hence, in the present study, the bacterial communities associated with the rhizosphere of Prosopis and Parthenium were characterized by clonal 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The culturable microbial counts in the rhizosphere of these two plants were higher than bulk soils, possibly influenced by the root exudates of these two plants. The phylogenetic analysis of V1_V2 domains of the 16S rRNA gene indicated a wider range of bacterial communities present in the rhizosphere of these two plants than in bulk soils and the predominant genera included Acidobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteriodetes in the rhizosphere of Prosopis, and Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Nitrospirae in the Parthenium rhizosphere. The diversity of bacterial communities was more pronounced in the Parthenium rhizosphere than in the Prosopis rhizosphere. This culture-independent bacterial analysis offered extensive possibilities of unraveling novel microbes in the rhizospheres of Prosopis and Parthenium with genes for diverse functions, which could be exploited for nutrient transformation and stress tolerance in cultivated crops.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1670-1680
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• 2017

Lignocellulose, composed mostly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin generated through secondary growth of woody plant, is considered as promising resources for biofuel. In order to use lignocellulose as a biofuel, biodegradation besides high-cost chemical treatments were applied, but knowledge on the decomposition of lignocellulose occurring in a natural environment is insufficient. We analyzed the 16S rRNA gene and metagenome to understand how the lignocellulose is decomposed naturally in decayed Torreya nucifera (L) of Bija forest (Bijarim) in Gotjawal, an ecologically distinct environment. A total of 464,360 reads were obtained from 16S rRNA gene sequencing, representing diverse phyla; Proteobacteria (51%), Bacteroidetes (11%) and Actinobacteria (10%). The metagenome analysis using single molecules real-time sequencing revealed that the assembled contigs determined originated from Proteobacteria (58%) and Actinobacteria (10.3%). Carbohydrate Active enZYmes (CAZy)- and Protein families (Pfam)-based analysis showed that Proteobacteria was involved in degrading whole lignocellulose, and Actinobacteria played a role only in a part of hemicellulose degradation. Combining these results, it suggested that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria had selective biodegradation potential for different lignocellulose substrates. Thus, it is considered that understanding of the systemic microbial degradation pathways may be a useful strategy for recycle of lignocellulosic biomass, and the microbial enzymes in Bija forest can be useful natural resources in industrial processes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1335-1342
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• 2020

The identification of bacterial pathogens to humans is critical for environmental microbial risk assessment. However, current methods for identifying pathogens in environmental samples are limited in their ability to detect highly diverse bacterial communities and accurately differentiate pathogens from commensal bacteria. In the present study, we suggest an improved approach using a combination of identification results obtained from multiple databases, including the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) database, virulence factor database (VFDB), and pathosystems resource integration center (PATRIC) databases to resolve current challenges. By integrating the identification results from multiple databases, potential bacterial pathogens in metagenomes were identified and classified into eight different groups. Based on the distribution of genes in each group, we proposed an equation to calculate the metagenomic pathogen identification index (MPII) of each metagenome based on the weighted abundance of identified sequences in each database. We found that the accuracy of pathogen identification was improved by using combinations of multiple databases compared to that of individual databases. When the approach was applied to environmental metagenomes, metagenomes associated with activated sludge were estimated with higher MPII than other environments (i.e., drinking water, ocean water, ocean sediment, and freshwater sediment). The calculated MPII values were statistically distinguishable among different environments (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that the suggested approach allows more for more accurate identification of the pathogens associated with metagenomes.

• 한국환경농학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.07a
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• pp.177-187
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• 2011

This study was conducted to determine some physical and chemical properties of the soil and their relationship to spectroscopic-based (visible range) analytical methods while evaluating soil organic matter fractions and soil quality in degraded and non-degraded soils in a wide range of environments. Soil samples were collected from the different landscape positions of cultivated and noncultivated soils, and the latter from the same landscape positions but with different vegetation, at Songco, Lantapan, Bukidnon. The physical and chemical properties of the soils were determined at the SPAL, CMU, Musuan, Bukidnon while the metagenomic properties were determined at the Laboratory of the University of Missourri, Missourri, USA. Bulk density and air dry soil strength values of the soils from the cultivated areas were generally higher than those of the uncultivated areas. Also, soils at the summit generally had lower bulk density and soil strength values than the other landscape positions. Moreover, soils planted to camote (Ipomoea batatas) had higher bulk density and soil strength values compared to soils grown to pepper under the trees. Exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soils were generally higher in uncultivated areas than those of the cultivated areas. A similar trend was observed for the potassium permanganate ($KMnO_4$)-oxidizable organic C contents determined by spectroscopic method and the total C contents determined by the Walkley-Black method. The $KMnO_4$-oxidizable organic C contents determined by spectroscopic method and the total C contents determined by the Walkley-Black method were closely related ($r=0.631^{**}$). Hence, the former method shows promise in assessing soil quality as it is a rapid test, relatively low cost and can be distributed as a field kit either with a portable spectrometer or with a color chart.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.585-600
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• 2019

Gouda cheese, one of most popular cheeses in the Korea, has been produced from only pasteurized milk in Korean dairy farms. Recently, it has become legally possible to produce ripened cheese manufactured with raw milk in Korea. In the present study, we investigated the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of Gouda cheese manufactured with raw (R-GC) or pasteurized milk (P-GC) during manufacturing and ripening. Particularly, this study characterized the bacterial community structure of two cheese types, which are produced without pasteurization during ripening based on next generation sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. During ripening, protein and fat content increased slightly, whereas moisture content decreased in both P-GC and R-GC. At the 6 wk of ripening, R-GC became softer and smoother and hence, the values of hardness and gumminess, chewiness in R-GC was lower than that of P-GC. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the bacterial genera used a starter cultures, namely Lactococcus and Leuconostoc were predominant in both P-GC and R-GC. Moreover, in R-GC, the proportion of coliform bacteria such as Escherichia, Leclercia, Raoultella, and Pseudomonas were detected initially but not during ripening. Taken together, our finding indicates the potential of manufacturing with Gouda cheese from raw milk and the benefits of next generation sequencing for microbial community composition during cheese ripening.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.686-695
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• 2021

Tricholoma matsutake is an ectomycorrhizal fungus that has a symbiotic relationship with the root of Pinus densiflora. Soil microbial communities greatly affect the growth of T. matsutake, however, few studies have examined the characteristics of these communities. In the present study, we analyzed soil fungal communities from Gyeongju and Yeongdeok using metagenomic pyrosequencing to investigate differences in fungal species diversity, richness, and taxonomic composition between the soil under T. matsutake fruiting bodies (Sample 2) and soil where the fairy ring of T. matsutake was no longer present (Sample 1). The same spot was investigated three times at intervals of four months to observe changes in the community. In the samples from Yeongdeok, the number of valid reads was lower than that at Gyeongju. The operational taxonomic units of most Sample 2 groups were less than those of Sample 1 groups, indicating that fungal diversity was low in the T. matsutake-dominant soil. The soil under the T. matsutake fruiting bodies was dominated by more than 51% T. matsutake. From fall to the following spring, the ratio of T. matsutake decreased. Basidiomycota was the dominant phylum in most samples. G-F1-2, G-F2-2, and Y-F1-2 had the genera Tricholoma, Umbelopsis, Oidiodendron, Sagenomella, Cladophialophora, and Phialocephala in common. G-F1-1, G-F2-1, and Y-F1-1 had 10 genera including Umbelopsis and Sagenomella in common. From fall to the following spring, the amount of phyla Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota gradually decreased but that of phylum Ascomycota increased. We suggest that the genus Umbelopsis is positively related to T. matsutake.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.619-631
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• 2021

Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), an economically important pathogen, is present worldwide with a very wide host range. This work reports for the first time the infection of Vinca minor and Wisteria sinensis with AMV using RNA sequencing and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction confirmation. De novo assembly and annotating of contigs revealed that RNA1, RNA2, and RNA3 genomic fragments consist of 3,690, 2,636, and 2,057 nucleotides (nt) for IR-VM and 3,690, 2,594, and 2,057 nt for IR-WS. RNA1 and RNA3 segments of IR-VM and IR-WS closely resembled those of the Chinese isolate HZ, with 99.23-99.26% and 98.04-98.09% nt identity, respectively. Their RNA2 resembled that of Canadian isolate CaM and American isolate OH-2-2017, with 97.96-98.07% nt identity. The P2 gene revealed more nucleotide diversity compared with other genes. Genes in the AMV genome were under dominant negative selection during evolution, and the P1 and coat protein (CP) proteins were subject to the strongest and weakest purifying selection, respectively. In the population genetic analysis based on the CP gene sequences, all 107 AMV isolates fell into two main clades (A, B) and isolates of clade A were further divided into three groups with significant subpopulation differentiation. The results indicated moderate genetic variation within and no clear geographic or genetic structure between the studied populations, implying moderate gene flow can play an important role in differentiation and distribution of genetic diversity among populations. Several factors have shaped the genetic structure and diversity of AMV: selection, recombination/reassortment, gene flow, and random processes such as founder effects.