• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.38-46
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• 2008

Many researchers have reported that many biopolymers making up cell walls of the microorganisms display an ion-exchange property and play a major role in the sorption of the metal ions. Such polymers derived from microbial biomass are potentially useful as biosorbent materials for recovery various metal ions in industrial applications. although synthetic polymers such as ion-exchange resins and chelating resins have been widely used as commercial sorbents. In this study, valuable and commercial biopolymers for metal removal will be introduced.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.163-170
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• 2019

The civil engineering materials used to stabilize the slopes of new riverbanks have a great impact on the types and growth of vegetation introduced after the completion of construction procedure. Recently, microbial-derived, ${\beta}$-glucan- and xanthan gum-based biopolymers are attracting attention as an ecofriendly strengthening material of riverbanks that can possibly stimulate plant growth. This study aimed to assess ecological effects of biopolymer application on native plants in Korean riverbanks. In particular, since dominant plant species could shape characteristics of an ecosystem, we examined the effects of biopolymer on the dominant plant species in riverbanks. Overall, biopolymer did not affect seed germination rates of testing plant species. In contrast, plants grew more vigorously in the soil mixed with biopolymer compared to those in the control soil. The biomass of Echinochloa crus-galli especially increased around two times more in the biopolymer treatment. Plants produced heavier root biomass and leaves with larger specific leaf area, which possibly contributes to the tolerance of environmental stress like drought. These results suggest that biopolymers treated on river banks are expected to stimulate plant growth and increase stress tolerance of domestic dominant plant species.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.1204-1209
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• 2002

Polymerization of heated or unheated pig skin collagen using microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) was investigated. Pig skin collagen samples were heated or left unheated, then enzymatically polymerized with MTGase. SDS-PAGE was conducted to confirm the intermolecular polymer and the results showed similar bands between samples without MTGase and unheated samples with MTGase. The polymerized product of pig skin collagen was not formed in unheated samples, even when MTGase was added during incubation. Different results were obtained from samples heated at $80^{\circ}C$ and $100^{\circ}C$ for 2 min, whereas the SDS-PAGE pattern indicated that a polymer band was generated in both cases. The heat treatment successfully modified the native structure of collagen and also made collagen more reactable in the MTGase polymerization system. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) investigation of pig skin collagen showed a biopolymer structure through intermolecular collagen crosslinking, while there were no intermolecular crosslinks in samples not treated with MTGase. There were no significant differences in fibril diameter between treated samples and controls. These results suggest that heat treatment of native pig skin collagen enhanced the polymerization capability of MTGase.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.831-847
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• 2017

Conventional geotechnical engineering soil binders such as ordinary cement or lime have environmental issues in terms of sustainable development. Thus, environmentally friendly materials have attracted considerable interest in modern geotechnical engineering. Microbial biopolymers are being actively developed in order to improve geotechnical engineering properties such as aggregate stability, strength, and hydraulic conductivity of various soil types. This study evaluates the geotechnical engineering shear behavior of sand treated with xanthan gum biopolymer through laboratory direct shear testing. Xanthan gum-sand mixtures with various xanthan gum content (percent to the mass of sand) and gel phases (initial, dried, and re-submerged) were considered. Xanthan gum content of 1.0% sufficiently improves the inter-particle cohesion of cohesionless sands 3.8 times and more (up to 14 times for dried state) than in the untreated (natural) condition, regardless of the xanthan gum gel condition. In general, the strength of xanthan gum-treated sand shows dependency with the rheology and phase of xanthan gum gels in inter-granular pores, which decreases in order as dried (biofilm state), initial (uniform hydrogel), and re-submerged (swollen hydrogel after drying) states. As xanthan gum hydrogels are pseudo-plastic, both inter-particle friction angle and cohesion of xanthan gum-treated sand decrease with water adsorbed swelling at large strain levels. However, for 2% xanthan gum-treated sands, the re-submerged state shows a higher strength than the initial state due to the gradual and non-uniform swelling behavior of highly concentrated biofilms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.606-612
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• 1998

A microbial flocculant-producing gram-positive bacterium, strain TE11, was isolated from soil samples, and was identified as Bacillus subtilis by using the Midi system, the Biolog system, 16S rDNA sequence analysis, and some physiological and morphological characteristics. The maximum flocculant capsular biopolymer of TE11 strain (BCP, 4.9mg/ml) was obtained when it was grown in GA broth medium containing 3% glutamic acid, 2% glycerol, 0.5% citric acid, 0.5% $NH_4$Cl, 0.05% $MgSO_4.7H_2O,\; 0.05%\;K_2HPO_4\;,\; and\; 0.004%\; FeC1_3. 6H_2O,\; pH 7.2,\; at\; 30^{\circ}C$ for 70 h with shaking. When glycerol was used as an additional carbon source in the GA medium, TE11 produced only flocculant BCP without any by-product. The flocculant (BCP) was found to aggregate suspended kaolin and activated charcoal powder without cations, and its flocculating activity was significantly enhanced by the addition of bivalent cations such as $Ca^{2＋}.Zn^{2},\; and\; Mn^{2＋}$. The flocculation activity by addition of $Ca^{2+}$ was high in an acidic pH 4.0. In the case of $Zn^{2＋}$, high flocculating activity remained without significant loss in the broad range of pH 4.0 to 9.0.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.475-483
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• 2019

Vegetation cover plays a vital role in stabilizing the soil structure, thereby contributing to surface erosion control. Surface vegetation acts as a shelterbelt that controls the flow velocity and reduces the kinetic energy of the water near the soil surface, whereas vegetation roots reinforce the soil via the formation of root-particle interactions that reduce particle detachment. In this study, two vegetation-testing trials were conducted. The first trial was held on cool-season turfgrasses seeded in a biopolymer-treated site soil in an open greenhouse. At the end of the test, the most suitable grass type was suggested for the second vegetation test, which was conducted in an environmental control chamber. In the second test, biopolymers, namely, starch and xanthan gum hydrogels (pure starch, pure xanthan gum, and xanthan gum-starch mixtures), were tested as soil conditioners for improving the water-holding capacity and vegetation growth in sandy soils. The results support the possibility that biopolymer treatments may enhance the survival rate of vegetation under severe drought environments, which could be applicable for soil stabilization in arid and semiarid regions.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.339-343
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• 2005

Microbial hydrogel was prepared by ${\gamma}-irradiation$ of poly(${\gamma}-glutamic acid$) (PGA) which was produced from Bacillus subtilis BS 62 and it's physico-chemical characteristic was examined. The hydrogel, prepared from 10% PGA with the dose of 48 kGy, was swollen up to 1,370 times of specific water content as dry weight basis. The hydrogels obtained above the dose of 48 kGy appeared to have higher compressive strength but lower specific water content. The period to reach a swelling equilibrium for the hydrogel in deionized water at the temperature range of 4 to $45^{\circ}C$ was about 10 h. The swollen hydrogel was shrunk in ionic solutions with the increase of ionic strength, and the rate of shrinkage was greater in calcium chloride solution than in sodium chloride. Specific water content of the hydrogel was quickly decreased at $80^{\circ}C$, showing a thennally hydrodegradable property.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.3-10
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• 2017

Objective: Microbial aggregation around dental implants can lead to loss/loosening of the implants. This study was aimed at surface treating titanium microimplants with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to achieve antibacterial properties. Methods: AgNP-modified titanium microimplants (Ti-nAg) were prepared using two methods. The first method involved coating the microimplants with regular AgNPs (Ti-AgNP) and the second involved coating them with a AgNP-coated biopolymer (Ti-BP-AgNP). The topologies, microstructures, and chemical compositions of the surfaces of the Ti-nAg were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Disk diffusion tests using Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans were performed to test the antibacterial activity of the Ti-nAg microimplants. Results: SEM revealed that only a meager amount of AgNPs was sparsely deposited on the Ti-AgNP surface with the first method, while a layer of AgNP-coated biopolymer extended along the Ti-BP-AgNP surface in the second method. The diameters of the coated nanoparticles were in the range of 10 to 30 nm. EDS revealed 1.05 atomic % of Ag on the surface of the Ti-AgNP and an astounding 21.2 atomic % on the surface of the Ti-BP-AgNP. XPS confirmed the metallic state of silver on the Ti-BP-AgNP surface. After 24 hours of incubation, clear zones of inhibition were seen around the Ti-BP-AgNP microimplants in all three test bacterial culture plates, whereas no antibacterial effect was observed with the Ti-AgNP microimplants. Conclusions: Titanium microimplants modified with Ti-BP-AgNP exhibit excellent antibacterial properties, making them a promising implantable biomaterial.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.152-162
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• 2024

The microbial starter used to produce kefir beverages, kefir grain, contains a microbial exopolysaccharide called kefiran. Kefir grain consisting of water-insoluble polysaccharides, proteins, and fats, which can be applied as a multi-functional biopolymer. The mass of kefir grain can increase in the fermentation process of Kefir, but it is considered very slow. The purpose of this research is to study the impact of ammonium sulfate supplementation and yeast extract on reconstituted skim milk to increase the mass kefir grain and physical properties of kefiran. Results showed that the ammonium sulfate-supplemented substrate increased the mass of kefir grain by 547% in 14 days, with the condition that the substrate must be renewed every 2 days. Refreshing the substrate is considered one of the important factors. Supplementation on substrate did not appear to affect the viability of bacterial and yeast cells. Kefir grain produced from supplemented substrate also yields better thermal stability properties and has more functional groups than without supplementation. Two Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (RAL27 and RAL43) and one Limosilactobacillus fermentum (RAL29) were found to produce EPS. The three isolates also showed good skim milk fermentation ability after purification from kefir grain. The kefir grain produced in this study has the potential for wider application. This study also showed that kefir grain can be adjusted in quantity and quality through fermentation substrate engineering.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.470-475
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• 1996

A white rot fungus as a microbial source producing bioflocculant was isolated from rotted leaves and identified as Pestalotiopsis sp. M01. The flocculating activity and productivity of Pestan produced by Pestalotiopsis sp. KCTC 8637P was determined by using Czapek-Dox medium as the inorganic salt source. The flocculating activity was highest at 3% sucrose and 0.3% $KN0_3$, pH 7, and $25^{\circ}C$, respectively. Whilst, the strain growth was highest at 3% sucrose, 0.3% TEX><$KN0_3$, pH 5, and $25^{\circ}C$, respectively.