• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.391-396
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• 2018

It is well known that Korean red ginseng has various biological activities. However, there is little knowledge about the antiviral activity of Korean red ginseng and its ginsenosides. In this study, we addressed whether oral administration of ginsenoside-Rb2 and -Rg3 is able to protect against rotavirus (RV) infection. The protective effect of ginsenosides against RV infection was examined using an in vivo experiment model in which newborn mice (10-day-old) were inoculated perorally (p.o.) with $1.5{\times}10^6$ plaque-forming units/mouse of RV strain SA11. When various dosages of ginsenoside-Rb2 (25-250 mg/kg) were administered 3days, 2 days, or 1 day before virus challenge, treatment with this ginsenoside at the dosage of 75 mg/kg 3days before virus infection most effectively reduced RV-induced diarrhea. In addition, consecutive administration of ginsenoside-Rb2 (75 mg/kg) at 3 days, 2 days, and 1 day before virus infection was more effective than single administration on day -3. The consecutive administration of ginsenoside-Rb2 also reduced virus titers in the bowels of RV-infected mice. In an experiment to compare the protective activity between ginsenoside-Rb2 and its two hydrolytic products (20(S)- and 20(R)-ginsenoside-Rg3), 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg3, but not 20(R)-ginsenoside-Rg3, prevented RV infection. These results suggest that ginsenoside-Rb2 and its hydrolytic product, 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg3, are promising candidates as an antiviral agent to protect against RV infection.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.66-70
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• 2005

Microbiology research must be conducted in a fashion that assures the health and well being of the researcher and the safety of the community. This lecture raises awareness of biosafety issues and discusses how the interaction of the pathogen being studied, the person conducting the research, and the practices being used can be manipulated to assure safety. The characterization of pathogens into Risk Groups, how these relate to Biosafety Levels, and the personal practices and laboratory design criteria associated with each Biosafety Level are explained. The importance of preventing or containing aerosols, limiting opportunities for cross-contamination, and taking a flexible multi-component approach to biosafety are emphasized.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.75-79
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• 1978

There has been many investigations on phytoagglutinin and especially, Moon et al reported a number of research works on phytoagglutinins prepared from the Korean plants. The present report describes results of experiment on the biological effect of 14 Korean phytoagglutinins to microorganism for the first time. 1) Kaolin rubi and Ricinus communis L. among 14 different species of Korean phytoagglutinins had agglutinating activities to microoganisms. 2) Kaolin rubi agglutinated E. coli, Staph. aureus, Ps. aeruginosa, Prot. vulgaris, B. subtilis, Sal. typhi, Sh. dysenteriae, C. albicans and Sa. cerevisiae but Ricinus communis L. showed only agglutination of Sa. cerevisiae. 3) Agglutinating titers of Kaolin rubi to various microorganisms were 500-1,000 but titer of Ricinus communis L. was only 50. 4) Ricinus communis L. showed bactericidal action to Sa. cerevisiae but Kaolin rubi had no such effect.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.1000-1004
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• 2012

Fungal biomass and fungal extract of the nonpathogenic fungus Neurospora crassa were successfully used as reducing agents for the biosynthesis of platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs). The experiment was carried out by exposing the fungal biomass or the fungal extract to a 0.001 M precursor solution of hexachloroplatinic(IV) acid ($H_2PtCl_6$). A change of color of the biomass from pale yellow to dark brown was the first indication of possible formation of PtNPs by the fungus. Subsequent analyses confirmed the intracellular biosynthesis of single PtNPs (4-35 nm in diameter) and spherical nanoaggregates (20-110 nm in diameter). Using the fungal extract, similar results were obtained, producing rounded nanoaggregates of Pt single crystals in the range of 17-76 nm.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.393-397
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• 2007

A Haematococcus pluvialis strain isolated from the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey was investigated as regards its adaptation to laboratory conditions and maximum growth rate. In the first stage of the experiment, the growth of H. pluvialis was compared in common culture media. Furthermore, in an effort to minimize the culture costs, the second stage of the experiment compared the growth rate in the culture medium selected in the first stage with that in commercial plant fertilizers. The results demonstrated that the maximum cell concentration of 0.90 g/l, corresponding to a growth rate of $0.150d^{-1}$, was found with an N-P-K 20:20:20 fertilizer under a light intensity of $75{\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s{-1}$ on the $12^{th}$ day of cultivation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.32-35
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• 2003

This study was carried out to determine the inhibitory effect of garlic juice against Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella flexneri. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Virio. parahaemolyticus which are food pathogenic bacteria and Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactococcus. lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides which are lactic acid bacteria. An aqueous extract of garlic was bacteriocidal against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in all concentrations (0.1∼2.5(w/v)%) tested in this experiment. Especially 0.5(w/v)% garlic juice inactivated completely E. coli, S. typhimurium, S. flexineri, V. parahaemolyticus and 1.0(w/v)% garlic juice perfectly reduced P. aeruginosa, S. mutans. Generally, the experiment result indicate that garlic juice restrains the growth of the pathogenic bacteria better than the lactic acid bacteria. Therefore, garlic has potential for the preservation of processed foods.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.131-137
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• 1995

The alkaline phosphatase (K-ALPase) gene of Kluyveromyces fragilis has been cloned (1) and determined its base sequences (2) previously in our laboratory. When the K-ALPase gene was expressed in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it showed a constitutive activity in E. coli, and a derepressed activity in S. cerevisiae in phosphate-limited medium. Northem hybridization experiment was performed to elucidate the transcription level of the K-ALPase gene. Northern experiment showed that transcription level of K-ALPase gene in S. cerevisiae was higher in phosphate depletion, but it was higher in high phosphate medium than in phosphate limited medium in K. fragilis. The transcription initiation site of the K-ALPase gene was determined by primer extension analysis. It matched nucleotide position - 169 in relation to the putative trnslational start site.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 1997

Two commercially available lipases, Lipase OF (non-specific lipase from Candida rugosa) and Lipolase 100T (1, 3-specific lipase from Aspergillus niger), were immobilized on insoluble hydrophobic support HDPE (high density polyethylene) by the physical adsorption method. Hydrolysis performance was enhanced by mixing a non-specific Lipase OF and a 1, 3-specific Lipolase 100T at a 2 : 1 ratio. The results also showed that the immobilized lipase maintained its activity at broader temperature ($25~55^{\circ}C$) and pH (4-8) ranges than soluble lipases. In the presence of organic solvent (isooctane), the immobilized lipase retained most of its activity in upto 12 runs of hydrolysis experiment. However, without organic solvent in the reaction mixture, the immobilized lipase maintained most of its activity even after 20 runs of hydrolysis experiment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.245-249
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• 1994

An amino-terminal 14 amino acids deletion and three site-directed mutations were created to investigate the mechanism of induction and repression of MerR regulatory protein in R100 mer operon from gramnegative Shigella flexneri. The amino-terminal 14 amino acids deletion, Cysl17Ser, and Cys126Ser mutations abolished the inducibility of the mer operon and the Hisl18Ala mutation resulted in the reduction of inducibility (about 9.1 % remaining) in complementation experiment in the presence of $Hg^{2＋}$ at subtoxic level ($1\mu M$). The complementation experiment with $Hg^{2＋}$ absent showed that Hisl18Ala, Cys126Ser, and wild-type MerR could repress the operon but Cysl17Ser could not, and the amino-terminal deletion mutant could neither induce nor repress the R100 mer operon.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.926-932
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• 2008

Human heavy chain (H-) and light chain (L-) ferritins were amplified from a human cDNA library. Each ferritin gene was inserted downstream of the T7 promoter of bacterial expression vectors, and two types of coexpression vectors were constructed. The expression levels of recombinant ferritins ranged about 26-36% of whole-cell protein. H-ferritin exhibited a lower expression ratio compared with L-ferritin, by a coexpression system. However, the coexpression of HL-ferritins was significantly increased above the expression ratio of H-ferritin by cultivation without IPTG induction overnight. Purified recombinant H-, L-, HL-, and LH-ferritins were shown to be homo- and heteropolymeric high molecular complexes and it was indicated that their assembled subunits would be able to work functionally in the cell. Thus, these results indicate an improvement in the expression strategy of H-ferritin for heteropolymeric production and studies of ferritin assembly in Escherichia coli.