• Title/Summary/Keyword: Protein Structure

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An Experimental Study on the Pore Structure and Thermal Properties of Lightweight Foamed Concrete by Foaming Agent Type (기포제 종류에 따른 경량기포콘크리트의 기포구조 및 열적특성에 관한 실험적 연구)

  • Kim, Jin-Man;Choi, Hun-Gug;Park, Sun-Gyu
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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    • v.9 no.4
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    • pp.63-73
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    • 2009
  • Recently, the use of lightweight panels in building structures has been increasing. Of the various lightweight panel types, styrofoam sandwich panels are inexpensive and are excellent in terms of their insulation capacity and their constructability. However, sandwich panels that include organic material are quite vulnerable to fire, and thus can numerous casualties in the event of a fire due to the lack of time to vacate and their emission of poisonous gas. On the other hand, lightweight foamed concrete is excellent, both in terms of its insulation ability and its fire resistance, due to its Inner pores. The properties of lightweight concrete is influenced by foaming agent type. Accordingly, this study investigates the insulation properties by foaming agent type, to evaluate the possibility of using light-weight foamed concrete instead of styrene foam. Our research found thatnon-heating zone temperature of lightweight foamed concrete using AP (Aluminum Powder) and FP (animal protein foaming agent) are lower than that of light-weight foamed concrete using AES (alkyl ether lactic acid ester). Lightweight foamed concrete using AES and FP satisfied fire performance requirements of two hours at a foam ratio 50, 100. Lightweight foamed concrete using AP satisfied fire performance requirements of two hours at AP ratio 0.1, 0.15. The insulation properties were better in closed pore foamed concrete by made AP, FP than with open pore foamed concrete made using AES.

Variation in Quality and Preference of Sogokju (Korean Traditional Rice Wine) from Waxy Rice Varieties (찰벼 품종에 따른 소곡주의 품질 및 기호도 변이)

  • Chun, A-Reum;Kim, Dae-Jung;Yoon, Mi-Ra;Oh, Sea-Kwan;Hong, Ha-Cheol;Choi, Im-Soo;Woo, Koan-Sik;Kim, Kee-Jong;Ju, Seong-Cheol
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.55 no.2
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    • pp.177-186
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    • 2010
  • This study was carried out to compare the physicochemical characteristics and preference as a sensory quality of Sogokju (Korean traditional rice wine) from waxy rice varieties. The protein and moisture contents of milled waxy rice varieties were ranged 6.9~7.2% and 12.1~ 12.6%, respectively. Nunbora had the largest grain size. In pasting properties, Hangangchalbyeo had the highest peak, trough and final viscosities, and Dongjinchalbyeo had the lowest viscosity curve. These differences suppose to be caused by the amylopectin(AP) structure: Dongjinchalbyeo has the largest short AP chains (degree of polymerization (DP) 6-12) and the smallest middle AP chains (DP 13-24) in 9 waxy rice varieties, while Hangangchalbyeo has the smallest short AP chains and the largest middle AP chains. The alcohol contents of Sogokju brewed from 9 waxy rice varieties were 17.6~19.9%. The brix degree were ranged $20.5{\sim}23.9^{\circ}Bx$. The organic acid of Sogokju consisted mainly of succinic acid, and the free sugar of it consisted mostly of glucose. The sensory evaluation showed the highest palatability at the Sogokju from Baegseolchalbyeo. The palatability was positively correlated with the brix degree, the glucose content, and the turbidity, and negatively correlated with the production yield of Sogokju.

Studies on the Structure and Some Physical and Chemical Properties of the Egg Shell in the Silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (가잠난각의 구조 및 물리화학적 특성에 관한 연구)

  • 마영일;박광의
    • Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.55-72
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    • 1983
  • These studies were done to find out any difference, ultrastructural, physical or chemical, between the shells of diapausing and non-diapausing eggs of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. 1. From the electron-microscopic observation, the egg shells have four distinctive layers. In addition to the four layers, the shells in the diapausing eggs has another layer with low electron density on its surface. 2. The permeability of the egg shell to hydrochloride was much lower in diapausing egg than in non-diapausing egg. Also the permeability changed in the opposite directions with the egg age: the diapausing eggs decreased while non-diapausing ones increased. 3. The permeability increased when the diapausing egg shell was treated with HCl. When they were treated with ether, however, the increase in permeability was much smaller. It seems there was an ether soluble material involved in the content of the egg shell. 4. The diapausing eggs were also much more resistant to desiccation than the non-diapausing ones. The former, when treated with HCl or chilling, became less resistant to desiccation. 5. The positive histochemical response of the egg shell to PAS-Alcian blue and protein stainings suggests presence of abundant proteins and carbohydrates in the egg shell. On the other hand, the staining response to lipid was more positive in the inner layers than in the outer layer of the shell. 6. The egg shell adhesives seems to be mucopolysaccharides produced by colleterial glands, since the oviposited eggs showed a positive responses to carbohydrate and negative to lipid-staining chemicals, but not the mature oocytes in the ovarioles. 7. There were two bands on the electrophoretic pattern of the SH proteins extracted from the egg shells both in the diapausing egg and non-diapausing one: a slow moving major component and a fast moving minor one. However, the electrophoretic mobility showed a difference in the minor components between them. It is evident that the fast moving minor one of non-diapausing egg ran a little further than that of diapausing egg. 8. In amino acids analysis, no significant differences were found in their composition between diapausing and non-diapausing egg and SH proteins contain relatively more glycine and less cystine.

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Anti-inflammatory Efficacy and Liver Protective Activity of Pine Pollen according to Probe Sonicator Ultrasonic Disintegration Extraction Method (송화분의 초음파 파쇄 추출 방법에 따른 항염증 효능 및 간 보호 활성)

  • Kim, Ok Ju;Woo, Young Min;Jo, Eun Sol;Jo, Min Young;Li, Chun-Ri;Lee, Young-Ho;Ahn, Mee Young;Lee, Sang-Hyeon;Ha, Jong Myung;Kim, Andre
    • Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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    • v.30 no.5
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    • pp.569-579
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    • 2019
  • In this study, the effect anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and liver protective activity was investigated via quick ultrasonic disintegration of pine pollen using a probe sonicator (PS) followed by the extraction with water, 70% ethanol, and 100% ethanol. The anti-inflammatory effect was studied by measuring the production of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokine in RAW264.7 cells induced with lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The cell toxicity was also checked with an 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and the experiment was conducted using non-toxic $100{\mu}g/mL$. The NO inhibition rate was highest in the 70% ethanol PS group at $85.99{\pm}0.12%$. Also an excellent efficiency was obtained from the results of interlukin-1 beta ($IL-1{\beta}$) and tumor necrosis factor alpha ($TNF-{\alpha}$), which is related to inflammation-related cytokine, with the respective inhibition rates of 63 and 22%. To examine liver protective activity, HepG2 cells were treated with Taclin, and the generation of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was measured in the culture solution. From GOT and LDH generation results, the inhibition rates in the 70% ethanol PS group were 28% and 13%, respectively, which was higher compared to that of using negative control group. Our results suggest that pine pollen extracted in 70% ethanol using PS may be used to develop food products that have anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and liver protective effects.

Effect of Prostaglandin F2 Alpha on E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Cell Adhesion in Ovarian Luteal Theca Cells (난소의 황체협막세포에서 E-cadherin, N-cadherin과 세포부착에 미치는 Prostaglandin F2 Alpha의 영향)

  • Lee, Sang-Hee;Jung, Bae Dong;Lee, Seunghyung
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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    • v.51 no.3
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    • pp.360-369
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    • 2019
  • Cadherins are essential transmembrane proteins that promote cell-cell adhesion and maintain the corpus luteum structure in the ovary. This study examined the influence of prostaglandin F2 alpha ($PGF2{\alpha}$) on E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and adhesion in luteal theca cells (LTCs). The luteal cells were isolated from the mid-phase corpus luteum, and the LTCs were cultured separately from the luteal heterogeneous cells according to the morphology of the mesenchymal cells and to determine if steroidogenic and endothelial cells of LTCs, 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase ($3{\beta}$-HSD), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) mRNA were used. The LTCs were then incubated in the culture medium supplemented with 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ for 24 h, and the E-cadherin and N-cadherin proteins in the LTCs were detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The results revealed $3{\beta}$-HSD mRNA expression in the LTC but no VEGF2R mRNA expression. The E-cadherin and N-cadherin proteins of the LTCs were damaged in the 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment groups, and the expression of the N-cadherin protein was reduced significantly in 0.01 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ compared to the 0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment groups (P<0.05). In addition, the number of attached LTCs were significantly lower in the 0.01 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment group than in the 0 mM $PGF2{\alpha}$ treatment group (P<0.05). In conclusion, $PGF2{\alpha}$ affected the disruption of cadherin proteins and cell adhesion in LTCs. These results may help better understand the cadherin and adhesion mechanism during corpus luteum regression in the ovary.

Microbial community analysis of an eco-friendly recirculating aquaculture system for olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) using complex microbial probiotics (복합미생물 프로바이오틱을 이용한 환경친화적 넙치 순환여과양식시스템에서의 미생물군집 분석)

  • Rhee, Chaeyoung;Kim, Haham;Emmanuel, S. Aalfin;Kim, Hong-Gi;Won, Seonghun;Bae, Jinho;Bai, Sungchul C.;Koh, Sung-Cheol
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.54 no.4
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    • pp.369-378
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    • 2018
  • This study was conducted to evaluate effects of dietary microbial probiotics on the growth and disease resistance of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), and the effects of the probiotic bioaugmentation on the microbial community structure and water quality. For the analysis, 80 juvenile fish (average weight, $25.7{\pm}7.6g$; average length, $15.2{\pm}1.7cm$) were fed a basal diet containing a commercial microbial product CES-AQ1 (CES; $1{\times}10^9\;CFU/kg$ diet) in an RAS for 8 weeks. Weight gain, the specific growth rate, feed efficiency, and protein efficiency ratio of the fish fed the CES diet in the RAS were 1.5~2.5 times higher than those of fish fed the basal diet alone, or the basal diet containing oxytetracycline (OTC), yeast plus bacterium, or Bacillus subtilis in a still water system. There was no significant difference in the pathogen challenge test between fish fed the OTC diet and fish fed the CES diet in the RAS, suggesting the CES-AQ1 probiotic used in the RAS as a potential replacement for antibiotics. The RAS biofilter maintained the highest microbial diversity and appeared to harbor microbial communities with ammonium oxidation, denitrification, and fish pathogen suppression functions. Ammonia, which is hazardous to fish, was significantly decreased to < 0.5 mg/L in 19 days, indicating the effectiveness of probiotic supplementation to maintain good water quality in RAS. These results suggest that the intestinal microbial communities of fish are stabilized by a probiotic-containing diet (CES) and that bioaugmentation with probiotics may be an eco-friendly and economical supplement for aquaculture of olive flounder, promoting both good water quality and fish health in an RAS.

Physicochemical and textural properties of thawed pork by vacuum tumbling (진공 텀블링을 이용한 해동 돈육의 이화학적 및 조직학적 특성)

  • Su-Jin Park;Won-Ho Hong;Seung-Min Oh;Chang-Hee Cho;Jiyeon Chun
    • Food Science and Preservation
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    • v.31 no.3
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    • pp.423-432
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    • 2024
  • In this study, a vacuum tumbler with 4 impellers (DVT) was designed and applied for thawing frozen pork (vacuum -60 kPa, jacket 35℃, 1 rpm). Quality characteristics of the thawed pork were compared with those of industrially thawed meat by natural air at room temperature (NAT) and imported vacuum tumbler (IVT). The thawing time for frozen pork (303.36 kg) using DVT (165 min) was much shorter than that of NAT (4,200 min). DVT-thawed pork had lower drip loss (0.85%) than NAT (2.08%). DVT-thawed pork showed a pH of 5.92, a total bacterial count of 1.96±0.02 log CFU/g and no coliforms. Deteriorations in fat (TBARS 0.31±0.01 MDA mg/kg) and protein (VBN 5.67±1.98 mg%) in DVT-thawed pork were significantly lower than those of NAT (p<0.05). DVT-thawed pork had a high water-holding capacity (WHC, 97.5%). The hardness (34.59±0.46 N) and chewiness (188.21±0.17) of cooked DVT-thawed pork were about 5-6 times lower than those of NTA. Microstructure (SEM) showed myofibrillar damage in NAT-thawed pork, whereas dense myofibrillar structure was observed in DVT-thawed pork. DVT was better or similar to IVT in all evaluation parameters. The designed DVT is expected to be used as an efficient thawing method in terms of processing time and yield and to produce thawed meat with high WHC, soft texture, and low spoilage by minimizing tissue damage.

Multiplication of Infectious Flacherie and Densonucleosis Viruses in the Silkworm, Bombyx mori (가잠의 전염성 연화병 및 농핵병 바이러스 증식에 관한 연구)

  • 김근영;강석권
    • Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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    • v.25 no.2
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    • pp.1-31
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    • 1984
  • Flacherie, as one of the most prevalent silkworm diseases, causes severe economic damage to sericultural industry and its pathogens have been proved to be flacherie virus (FV) and densonucleosis virus (DNV). Multiplications of the viruses in the larvae of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, were studied by the sucrose density gradient centrifugation and electron microscopy. The quantitative and qualitative changes of nucleic acids and proteins were investigated from the midgut and hemolymph in the silkworm larvae infected separately with FV and DNV. The histopathological changes of epithelial cells of infected midgut also were examined by an electron microscope. 1. Purified fractions of FV or DNV in a sucrose density gradient centrifugation yielded one homogenous and sharp peak without a shoulder, suggesting no heterogenous materials in the preparation. Electron microscopy also revealed that FV and DNV were spherical particles, 27nm and 21nm in diameter, respectively. 2. Silkworm larvae showed a decrease in body weight on the 6th day and in midgut weight on the 3rd day after inoculation with FV or DNV. 3. DNA content was higher in the midgut when infected with FV or DNV, but the hemolymph of the infected larvae showed no difference during first 6 days after inoculation, after which DNA concentration declined rapidly. 4. RNA synthesis of silkworm larvae infected separately with FV and DNV was stimulated in the midgut, but RNA content was reduced in the hemolymph at the early stage of virus multiplication. At the late stage of virus multiplication, however, it was extremely reduced in both midgut and hemolymph. 5. The concentration of protein in the midgut and hemolymph of silkworm larvae infected separately with FV and DNV showed no difference from that of the healthy larvae at the early stage of virus multiplication, but it was significantly reduced at the late stage of virus multiplication. 6. There was no difference in the electrophoretic patterns of RNAs extracted from the midgut of healthy or virus-infected larvae. 7. The electrophoresis of proteins extracted from the midgut infected with FV or DNV, when carried out on the 1st and 5th day after virus inoculation, showed no difference from that of the healthy larvae. But, there was an additional band with medium motility in the proteins on the 8th day after virus inoculation, while a band with low mobility shown in the proteins of healthy larvae disappeared in the infected larvae. However, a band with high mobility in the healthy larvae was separated into two fractions in the infected larvae. 8. The electrophoretic pattern of hemolymph proteins of the silkworm larvae infected separately with FV and DNV was similar to that of the healthy larvae, but the concentration of hemolymph proteins in the infected larvae was lower than that of the healthy larvae at the late stage. 9. Two types of inclusion bodies were shown by the double staining of pyronin-methyl green in the columnar cell of the midgut on the 8th day after FV inoculation. 10. Electron microscopy of the infected midgut revealed that the 'cytoplasmic wall' of the goblet cell thickened on the 5th day after FV inoculation and several types of the cytopathogenic structures, such as virus$.$specific vesicles, virus particles, linear structures, tubular structures, and high electron-dense matrices were observed in the cytoplasm of the goblet cell. The virus particles were also observed in the microvilli and the structures similar to spherical virus particles were observed around the virus-specific vesicles, suggesting the virus assembly in the cytoplasm. 11. Fluorescence micrograph of the infected midgut stained with acridine orange showed that the nucleus, the site of DNV multiplication in the columnar cell, enlarged on the 5th day after virus inoculation. 12. Electron microscopic examination of DNV infected midgut revealed that the nucleolus of the columnar cell was broken into granules and those granules dispersed into apical region of the nucleus on the 5th day after virus inoculation. On the 8th day after inoculation, it was also observed that the nucleus of the columnar cell was full with the high electron-dense virogenic stroma which were similar to virus particles. These facts suggest that the virogenic stroma were the sites of virus assembly in the process of DNV multiplication.

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Brief Introduction of Research Progresses in Control and Biocontrol of Clubroot Disease in China

  • He, Yueqiu;Wu, Yixin;He, Pengfei;Li, Xinyu
    • 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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    • 2015.05a
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    • pp.45-46
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    • 2015
  • Clubroot disease of crucifers has occurred since 1957. It has spread to the whole China, especially in the southwest and nourtheast where it causes 30-80% loss in some fields. The disease has being expanded in the recent years as seeds are imported and the floating seedling system practices. For its effective control, the Ministry of Agriculture of China set up a program in 2010 and a research team led by Dr. Yueqiu HE, Yunnan Agricultural University. The team includes 20 main reseachers of 11 universities and 5 institutions. After 5 years, the team has made a lot of progresses in disease occurrence regulation, resources collection, resistance identification and breeding, biological agent exploration, formulation, chemicals evaluation, and control strategy. About 1200 collections of local and commercial crucifers were identified in the field and by artificiall inoculation in the laboratories, 10 resistant cultivars were breeded including 7 Chinese cabbages and 3 cabbages. More than 800 antagostic strains were isolated including bacteria, stretomyces and fungi. Around 100 chemicals were evaluated in the field and greenhouse based on its control effect, among them, 6 showed high control effect, especially fluazinam and cyazofamid could control about 80% the disease. However, fluzinam has negative effect on soil microbes. Clubroot disease could not be controlled by bioagents and chemicals once when the pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae infected its hosts and set up the parasitic relationship. We found the earlier the pathogent infected its host, the severer the disease was. Therefore, early control was the most effective. For Chinese cabbage, all controlling measures should be taken in the early 30 days because the new infection could not cause severe symptom after 30 days of seeding. For example, a biocontrol agent, Bacillus subtilis Strain XF-1 could control the disease 70%-85% averagely when it mixed with seedling substrate and was drenching 3 times after transplanting, i.e. immediately, 7 days, 14 days. XF-1 has been deeply researched in control mechanisms, its genome, and development and application of biocontrol formulate. It could produce antagonistic protein, enzyme, antibiotics and IAA, which promoted rhizogenesis and growth. Its The genome was sequenced by Illumina/Solexa Genome Analyzer to assembled into 20 scaffolds then the gaps between scaffolds were filled by long fragment PCR amplification to obtain complet genmone with 4,061,186 bp in size. The whole genome was found to have 43.8% GC, 108 tandem repeats with an average of 2.65 copies and 84 transposons. The CDSs were predicted as 3,853 in which 112 CDSs were predicted to secondary metabolite biosynthesis, transport and catabolism. Among those, five NRPS/PKS giant gene clusters being responsible for the biosynthesis of polyketide (pksABCDEFHJLMNRS in size 72.9 kb), surfactin(srfABCD, 26.148 kb, bacilysin(bacABCDE 5.903 kb), bacillibactin(dhbABCEF, 11.774 kb) and fengycin(ppsABCDE, 37.799 kb) have high homolgous to fuction confirmed biosynthesis gene in other strain. Moreover, there are many of key regulatory genes for secondary metabolites from XF-1, such as comABPQKX Z, degQ, sfp, yczE, degU, ycxABCD and ywfG. were also predicted. Therefore, XF-1 has potential of biosynthesis for secondary metabolites surfactin, fengycin, bacillibactin, bacilysin and Bacillaene. Thirty two compounds were detected from cell extracts of XF-1 by MALDI-TOF-MS, including one Macrolactin (m/z 441.06), two fusaricidin (m/z 850.493 and 968.515), one circulocin (m/z 852.509), nine surfactin (m/z 1044.656~1102.652), five iturin (m/z 1096.631~1150.57) and forty fengycin (m/z 1449.79~1543.805). The top three compositions types (contening 56.67% of total extract) are surfactin, iturin and fengycin, in which the most abundant is the surfactin type composition 30.37% of total extract and in second place is the fengycin with 23.28% content with rich diversity of chemical structure, and the smallest one is the iturin with 3.02% content. Moreover, the same main compositions were detected in Bacillus sp.355 which is also a good effects biocontol bacterial for controlling the clubroot of crucifer. Wherefore those compounds surfactin, iturin and fengycin maybe the main active compositions of XF-1 against P. brassicae. Twenty one fengycin type compounds were evaluate by LC-ESI-MS/MS with antifungal activities, including fengycin A $C_{16{\sim}C19}$, fengycin B $C_{14{\sim}C17}$, fengycin C $C_{15{\sim}C18}$, fengycin D $C_{15{\sim}C18}$ and fengycin S $C_{15{\sim}C18}$. Furthermore, one novel compound was identified as Dehydroxyfengycin $C_{17}$ according its MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectral data, which molecular weight is 1488.8480 Da and formula $C_{75}H_{116}N_{12}O_{19}$. The fengycin type compounds (FTCPs $250{\mu}g/mL$) were used to treat the resting spores of P. brassicae ($10^7/mL$) by detecting leakage of the cytoplasm components and cell destruction. After 12 h treatment, the absorbencies at 260 nm (A260) and at 280 nm (A280) increased gradually to approaching the maximum of absorbance, accompanying the collapse of P. brassicae resting spores, and nearly no complete cells were observed at 24 h treatment. The results suggested that the cells could be lyzed by the FTCPs of XF-1, and the diversity of FTCPs was mainly attributed to a mechanism of clubroot disease biocontrol. In the five selected medium MOLP, PSA, LB, Landy and LD, the most suitable for growth of strain medium is MOLP, and the least for strains longevity is the Landy sucrose medium. However, the lipopeptide highest yield is in Landy sucrose medium. The lipopeptides in five medium were analyzed with HPLC, and the results showed that lipopeptides component were same, while their contents from B. subtilis XF-1 fermented in five medium were different. We found that it is the lipopeptides content but ingredients of XF-1 could be impacted by medium and lacking of nutrition seems promoting lipopeptides secretion from XF-1. The volatile components with inhibition fungal Cylindrocarpon spp. activity which were collect in sealed vesel were detected with metheds of HS-SPME-GC-MS in eight biocontrol Bacillus species and four positive mutant strains of XF-1 mutagenized with chemical mutagens, respectively. They have same main volatile components including pyrazine, aldehydes, oxazolidinone and sulfide which are composed of 91.62% in XF-1, in which, the most abundant is the pyrazine type composition with 47.03%, and in second place is the aldehydes with 23.84%, and the third place is oxazolidinone with 15.68%, and the smallest ones is the sulfide with 5.07%.

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Potassium Physiology of Upland Crops (밭 작물(作物)의 가리(加里) 생리(生理))

  • Park, Hoon
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.103-134
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    • 1977
  • The physiological and biochemical role of potassium for upland crops according to recent research reports and the nutritional status of potassium in Korea were reviewed. Since physical and chemical characteristics of potassium ion are different from those of sodium, potassium can not completely be replaced by sodium and replacement must be limited to minimum possible functional area. Specific roles of potassium seem to keep fine structure of biological membranes such as thylacoid membrane of chloroplast in the most efficient form and to be allosteric effector and conformation controller of various enzymes principally in carbohydrate and protein metabolism. Potassium is essential to improve the efficiency of phoro- and oxidative- phosphorylation and involve deeply in all energy required metabolisms especially synthesis of organic matter and their translocation. Potassium has many important, physiological functions such as maintenance of osmotic pressure and optimum hydration of cell colloids, consequently uptake and translocation of water resulting in higher water use efficiency and of better subcellular environment for various physiological and biochemical activities. Potassium affects uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients and quality of products. potassium itself in products may become a quality criteria due to potassium essentiality for human beings. Potassium uptake is greatly decreased by low temperature and controlled by unknown feed back mechanism of potassium in plants. Thus the luxury absorption should be reconsidered. Total potassium content of upland soil in Korea is about 3% but the exchangeable one is about 0.3 me/100g soil. All upland crops require much potassium probably due to freezing and cold weather and also due to wet damage and drought caused by uneven rainfall pattern. In barley, potassium should be high at just before freezing and just after thawing and move into grain from heading for higher yield. Use efficiency of potassium was 27% for barley and 58% in old uplands, 46% in newly opened hilly lands for soybean. Soybean plant showed potassium deficiency symptom in various fields especially in newly opened hilly lands. Potassium criteria for normal growth appear 2% $K_2O$ and 1.0 K/(Ca+Mg) (content ratio) at flower bud initiation stage for soybean. Potassium requirement in plant was high in carrot, egg plant, chinese cabbage, red pepper, raddish and tomato. Potassium content in leaves was significantly correlated with yield in chinese cabbage. Sweet potato. greatly absorbed potassium subsequently affected potassium nutrition of the following crop. In the case of potassium deficiency, root showed the greatest difference in potassium content from that of normal indicating that deficiency damages root first. Potatoes and corn showed much higher potassium content in comparison with calcium and magnesium. Forage crops from ranges showed relatively high potassium content which was significantly and positively correlated with nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium content. Percentage of orchards (apple, pear, peach, grape, and orange) insufficient in potassium ranged from 16 to 25. The leaves and soils from the good apple and pear orchards showed higher potassium content than those from the poor ones. Critical ratio of $K_2O/(CaO+MgO)$ in mulberry leaves to escape from winter death of branch tip was 0.95. In the multiple croping system, exchangeable potassium in soils after one crop was affected by the previous crops and potassium uptake seemed to be related with soil organic matter providing soil moisture and aeration. Thus, the long term and quantitative investigation of various forms of potassium including total one are needed in relation to soil, weather and croping system. Potassium uptake and efficiency may be increased by topdressing, deep placement, slow-releasing or granular fertilizer application with the consideration of rainfall pattern. In all researches for nutritional explanation including potassium of crop yield reasonable and practicable nutritional indices will most easily be obtained through multifactor analysis.

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