• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.5.1-5.13
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• 2023

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative aerobic diplococcus bacterium that primarily causes sexually transmitted infections through direct human sexual contact. It is a major public health threat due to its impact on reproductive health, the widespread presence of antimicrobial resistance, and the lack of a vaccine. In this study, we used a bioinformatics approach and performed subtractive genomic methods to identify potential drug targets against the core proteome of N. gonorrhoeae (12 strains). In total, 12,300 protein sequences were retrieved, and paralogous proteins were removed using CD-HIT. The remaining sequences were analyzed for non-homology against the human proteome and gut microbiota, and screened for broad-spectrum analysis, druggability, and anti-target analysis. The proteins were also characterized for unique interactions between the host and pathogen through metabolic pathway analysis. Based on the subtractive genomic approach and subcellular localization, we identified one cytoplasmic protein, 2Fe-2S iron-sulfur cluster binding domain-containing protein (NGFG RS03485), as a potential drug target. This protein could be further exploited for drug development to create new medications and therapeutic agents for the treatment of N. gonorrhoeae infections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1189-1196
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• 2024

Bacterial resistance to commonly used antibiotics is one of the major challenges to be solved today. Bacteriophage endolysins (Lysins) have become a hot research topic as a new class of antibacterial agents. They have promising applications in bacterial infection prevention and control in multiple fields, such as livestock and poultry farming, food safety, clinical medicine and pathogen detection. However, many phage endolysins display low bactericidal activities, short half-life and narrow lytic spectrums. Therefore, some methods have been used to improve the enzyme properties (bactericidal activity, lysis spectrum, stability and targeting the substrate, etc) of bacteriophage endolysins, including deletion or addition of domains, DNA mutagenesis, chimerization of domains, fusion to the membrane-penetrating peptides, fusion with domains targeting outer membrane transport systems, encapsulation, the usage of outer membrane permeabilizers. In this review, research progress on the strategies for improving their enzyme properties are systematically presented, with a view to provide references for the development of lysins with excellent performances.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.85-88
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• 1997

In orther to isolate antibacterial substances from the flower of Chrysanthemum zawadskii Herbich var. latilobum Kitam., the chloroform fraction was fractionated according to the activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus and V. parahaemolyticus. Two antibacterial substances were isolated and purified by preparative TLC and recrystallization. Compound I showed activity against all the tested bacteria and compound II exhibited the activity against B. subtilis and v. parahaemolyticus except S. aureus. Compared to benzoic acid and sorbic acid which are being used as food preservatives, compounds I and II showed about five-fold stronger antibacterial activity against B. subtilis and V. parahaemolyticus. On the basis of spectrometric studies including $^1H-NMR,\;^{13}C-NMR,\;DEPT,\;^1H-^1H\;COSY,\;^{13}C-^1H\;COSY$ and Mass, compounds I and II were identified as angeloylcumambrin B and cumambrin A, respectively. This is the first report of the isolation of angeloylcumambrin B and cumambrin A from this plant.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2003

Various extracts of higher plants have been used in traditional medicine systems for centuries. While tropical and sub-tropical plants have received considerable attention from the researchers for evaluation of their bioactivity, temeperate plants have always been neglected somewhat. Similarly, seeds of the plants have not been considered seriously compared to other plant parts, e.g. leaves, stems, roots, flowers, etc. as a potential source for biologically active compounds. As part of our on-going evaluation of the extracts of the seeds of temperate plants, especially from Scotland, for biological activity, Achillea millefolium, Angelica sylvestris and Phleum pratense have been chosen for the present study. Both A. millefolium and A. sylvestris are well known for their traditional medicinal uses in Europe and also in the orient, but there is no report on any medicinal properties of P. pratense available to date. Extracts of the seeds of these plants have been assessed for their antioxidant and antibacterial potential and also for general toxicity. Both DCM and MeOH extracts of A. millefolium showed the most significant broad spectrum antibacterial activity among the three plants and inhibited the growth of almost all test strains of bacteria. The DCM extracts of all three species were active against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Citrobacter freundii $(MIC=6.25{\times}10^{-1}\;mg/mL)$. While the MeOH extracts of A. millefolium and P. pratense were active against C. freundii, that of P. pratense was also active against MRSA. The MeOH extract of A. sylvestris did not show any antibacterial activity against any of the eight bacterial strains at test concentrations. The MeOH extract of P. pratense showed the most prominent antioxidant activity $(IC_{50}=145\;{\mu}g/ml)$ and there was no antioxidant activity observed with the DCM extract of A. millefolium. The DCM extract of P. pratense was the most toxic $(LC_{50}=20\;{\mu}g/ml)$ among the extracts.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.44.1-44.17
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• 2023

Background: Antibiotic resistance is a significant public health concern around the globe. Antimicrobial peptides exhibit broad-spectrum and efficient antibacterial activity with an added advantage of low drug resistance. The higher water content and 3D network structure of the hydrogels are beneficial for maintaining antimicrobial peptide activity and help to prevent degradation. The antimicrobial peptide released from hydrogels also hasten the local wound healing by promoting epithelial tissue regeneration and granulation tissue formation. Objective: This study aimed at developing sodium alginate based hydrogel loaded with a novel antimicrobial peptide Chol-37(F34-R) and to investigate the characteristics in vitro and in vivo as an alternative antibacterial wound dressing to treat infectious wounds. Methods: Hydrogels were developed and optimized by varying the concentrations of crosslinkers and subjected to various characterization tests like cross-sectional morphology, swelling index, percent water contents, water retention ratio, drug release and antibacterial activity in vitro, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infected wound mice model in vivo. Results: The results indicated that the hydrogel C proved superior in terms of cross-sectional morphology having uniformly sized interconnected pores, a good swelling index, with the capacity to retain a higher quantity of water. Furthermore, the optimized hydrogel has been found to exert a significant antimicrobial activity against bacteria and was also found to prevent bacterial infiltration into the wound site due to forming an impermeable barrier between the wound bed and external environment. The optimized hydrogel was found to significantly hasten skin regeneration in animal models when compared to other treatments in addition to strong inhibitory effect on the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α). Conclusions: Our results suggest that sodium alginate -based hydrogels loaded with Chol-37(F34-R) hold the potential to be used as an alternative to conventional antibiotics in treating infectious skin wounds.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.538-548
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• 2023

The research has been conducted on the isolation of antimicrobial compounds from plant natural extracts and their potential application in oral health care products. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial mechanism by analyzing the changes in gene expression of Streptococcus mutans, a major oral pathogen, in response to complex compounds extracted from Aralia continentalis and Arctii Semen using organic solvents. Transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) revealed that both natural extracts commonly upregulated or downregulated the expression of various genes associated with different metabolic and physiological activities. Three genes (SMU_1584c, SMU_2133c, SMU_921), particularly SMU_921 (rcrR), known as a transcription activator of two sugar phosphotransferase systems (PTS) involved in sugar transport and biofilm formation, exhibited consistent high expression levels. Additionally, component analysis of the A. continentalis extract was performed to compare its effects on gene expression changes with the A. Semen extract, and two active compounds were identified through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the active fraction. The n-hexane fraction (ACEH) from the A. continentalis extract exhibited antibacterial specificity against S. mutans, leading to a significant reduction in the viable cell counts of Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus gordonii among the tested multi-species bacterial communities. These findings suggest the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of the A. continentalis extract and provide essential foundational data for the development of customized antimicrobial materials by elucidating the antibacterial mechanism of the identified active compounds.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.310-315
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• 1997

Wild propionibacteria isolated from different commercial swiss cheese samples were tested for antimicrobial activities. In initial screening, six of these Propionibacterium isolates showed antagonistic activity against 10 selected indicator organisms by the deferred method. In next, only two Propionibacterium strains JW6 and JW14 showed antibacterial activity in the cell-free supernatants by the modified well diffusion method. Propionibacterium strains JW6 and JW14 were finally identified as bacteriocin producers which exhibited a bactericidal effect against closely related species. The antimicrobial substances were proteins, since their activities were completely destroyed following several degradative enzyme treatments. The bacteriocins showed a narrow inhibitory spectrum of activity against two propionibacteria and two bacilli of strains tested in this study.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.240-245
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• 2005

An antimicrobial molecule was purified from centipede, Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans L. Koch, by reverse phase-HPLC. Its molecular weight was determined to be 1208.5493 by using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Total amino acid composition analysis revealed that it consists of E, G, P, V, L, F, and W. It exhibited a broad antimicrobial spectrum against not only Gram-negative, but also Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, it was found to have an antimicrobial activity against vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). It may be a useful molecule for a new antibiotic development, especially against drug-resistant bacteria. We suggest that it may playa role in the defense system of this animal. This is the first report of a peptidic antimicrobial substance from centipede.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.212-217
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• 1996

Streptomyces cattleya is a producer of carbapenem antibiotics, thienamycin and N-acetylthienamycin, which have potent and broad-spectrum antibacterial activities. We stud ied on strain improvement for antibiotic productivity of S. cattleya by transformation technique which employed S.cattleya protoplasts and chromosomal DNAs of glutamic acid producers: Corynebacterium glutamicum and Arthrobacter simplex. 150 Transformant strains were cultured and bioassayed using Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus as test organisms. 8.7% of transformants tested showed 1.4~2.6 fold higher productivities than wild type which produced $1.61{\pm}0.67{\mu}g/ml$. The best transformant produced $8.36{\pm}2.84{\mu}g/ml$ carbapenems.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.442-447
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• 1997

To development food preservative, antimicrobial activities of Schizandra chinensis (SC) against Listeria monocytogenes Scott A, L. monocytogenes Brie I and L. monocytogenes ATCC 19111 were investigated. The growth of L. monocytogenes Scott A, L. monocytogenes Brie I and L. monocytogenes ATCC 19111 was inhibited apparently in Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB) containing 1% SC at 35$\circ$C and it was found that these had antibacterial effects against a broad spectrum of pathogenic bacteria such as S. aureus ATCC 29737, B. subtilis KCTC 1021, E. coli ATCC 11775. The growth of L. monocytogenes was also inhibited about 3 to 5 log$_{10}$ cycle by 0.1% of three fractions of the alcohol extract such as ether, ethyl acetate and butanol. Acidic, weakly acid and neutral fraction of ether fraction showed inhibitory properties against L. monocytogenes.