• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.388-398
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• 1998

A bacterium which is resistant to both mercury and cadmium, and also capable of utilizing phenol as a carbon and energy source, was isolated from the Kumho River sediments near Kangchang Bridge, Taegu, Korea. The isolate was labeled Pseudomonas sp. KM10 and characterized. The bacteria grew in 4 mM $CdCl_2$and in $70{\mu}M$ $HgCl_2$. The bacteria efficiently removed over 90% of 1 g/l phenol within 30 h. In the presence of 1.250 g/l phenol, the growth of the microorganism was slightly retarded and the microorganism could not tolerate 1.5 g/l phenol. Curing of plasmid from the bacteria was carried out to generate a plasmidless strain. Subsequent experiments localized the genes for phenol degradation in plasmid and the genes for mercury resistance and cadmium resistance on the chromosome. Dot hybridization and Southern hybridization under low stringent conditions were performed to identify the DNA homology. These results showed significant homologies between the some sequence of the chromosome of Pseudomonas sp. KM10 and merR of Shigella flexneri R 100, and between the some sequence of the chromosome of Pseudomonas sp. KM10 and cadA of Staphylococcus aureus pI258. The mechanism of cadmium resistance was efflux, similar to that of S. aureus pI258 cadA, and the mechanism of mercury resistance was volatilization, similar to that of S. flexneri R100 mer.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.413-419
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• 1998

Aryl acylamidase [EC 3.5.1.13] present in an acetaminophen-assimilating Pseudomonas sp. has been purified to a homogeneity using series of ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sephacel anion exchange, Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B hydrophobic, and Sephadex G-100 gel-permeation chromatography. The molecular weight, which was estimated by gel-permeation filtration and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacylamide gel electrophoresis, was about 57 kDa and 56 kDa, respectively, indicating that this enzyme is a monomeric protein. The optimum pH was 10.5 and the optimum temperature was 40$^{\circ}C$. After incubation of the enzyme at 50$^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, residual activity of the enzyme was 34% compared to its original activity. The Km values for acetaminophen and 4'-nitroactanilide were 0.10 mM and 0.11 mM, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.275-281
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• 2004

Our previous research has demonstrated that the bacterium, Pseudomonas sp. NFQ-l capable of utilizing quin­oline (2,3-benzopyridine) as the sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy was isolated and characterized [Yoon et ai. (2003) Kor. J. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 18(3):174-179]. In this study, we have found that Pseudomonas sp. NFQ-l could degrade quinoline as well as benzoate, and extended this work to characterize the catechol 1,2­dioxygenase (C1,2O) purified from the bacterium cultured in benzoate media. Initially, C1,2O has been purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel permeation chromatography, and Source 15Q. After Source 15Q, puri­fication fold was increased to approximately 14.21 unit/mg. Molecular weight of C1,2O was about 33 kDa. Physicochemical characteristics (e.g., substrate specificity, Km, Vmax, pH, temperature and effect of inhibitors) of purified C1,2O were examined. C1,2O demonstrated the activity for catechol, 4-methylcatechol and 3-meth­ylcatechol as a substrate, respectively. The Km and Vmax value of C1,2O for catechol was 38.54 ${\mu}M$ and $25.10\;{\mu}mol{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}mg^{-1}.$ The optimal temperature of C1,2O was $30^{\circ}C$ and the optimal pH was approximately 8.5. Metal ions such as $Ag^+,\;Hg^+,\;Ca^{2+},\;and\;Cu^{2+}$ show the inhibitory effect on the activity of C1,2O. N-terminal amino sequence of C1,2O was analyzed as ^1TVKISQSASIQKFFEEA^{17}.$ In this work, we found that the amino acid sequence of NFQ-l showed the sequence homology of 82, 71, 59 and $53\%$ compared with C1,2O from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA0l, Pseudomonas arvilla C-1., P. putida KT2440 and Pseudomonas sp. CA10, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.259-264
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• 1988

Two forms of extracellular inulinase, designated as PI and PII were detected in the crude enzyme preparation from n species of Pseudomonas isolated from soil. PI and PII were purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE Sephadex A-50 chromatography, Sephadex G-100 and Sephadex G-200 gel filteration. Both isoenzymes catalyzed specifically and endowise the cleavage of the $\beta$-2,1-fructofranoside linkage of inulin, and displayed no action upon sucrose, raffinose and levan. The optimal pH values for the PI and PII enzyme were pH 5.5 and 6.0, respectively and the highest activity of the two enzymes was observed at 55$^{\circ}C$. The Km values of PI and PII were calculated to be 2$\times$10$^{-3}$M and 5$\times$10$^{-3}$M, respectively.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2012

The bioavailability of sorbed organic contaminants is one of the most important factors used to determine their fate in the environment. This study was conducted to evaluate the bioavailability of slow-desorbable naphthalene in soils. An air sparging system was utilized to remove dissolved (or desorbed) naphthalene continuously and to limit the bacterial utilization of dissolved naphthalene. A biological air sparging system (air sparging system with bacteria) was developed to evaluate the bioavailability of the slow-desorption fraction in soils. Three different strains (Pseudomonas putida G7, Pseudomonas sp. CZ6 and Burkholderia sp. KM1) and two soils were used. Slow-desorbable naphthalene continuously decreased under air sparging; however, a greater decrease was observed in response to the biological air sparging system. Enhanced bioavailability was not observed in the Jangseong soil. Overall, the results of this study suggests that the removal rate of slow-desorbable contaminants may be enhanced by inoculation of degrading bacteria into an air sparging system during the remediation of contaminated soils. However, the enhanced bioavailability was found to depend more on the soil properties than the bacterial characteristics.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.57-62
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mixing methods on the biodegradation of sorbed naphthalene and phenanthrene in soils. Biodegradation was initiated by inoculating Pseudomonas sp. KM1 into equilibrated soil slurry vials. Four different mixing methods, including no mixing, orbital shaking, rolling and rotating were utilized to enhance the biodegradation of both naphthalene and phenanthrene. The experimental results showed that the sorbed compounds were more effectively biodegraded with rolling and rotating mixing methods. The sorbed naphthalene concentrations were reduced to 0 mg/kg via the rolling and rotating methods. However, with no mixing and the orbital shaking methods, the sorbed naphthalene concentrations were comparatively high, ranging from 2.59 to 20.45 mg/kg. Similar trends were observed for the biodegradation of phenanthrene, but the concentrations remaining were higher than those of naphthalene, due to the limited bioavailability of the sorbed phenanthrene. The rolling and rotating mixing methods are suggested can distribute bacteria uniformly in the slurry system; improve the mass transfer rate and the probability of physical contact between bacteria and the sorbed contaminants, resulting in higher bioavailability of the contaminants.