• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.242-247
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• 2019

Biological factors (e.g. microorganism activity) in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) play essential roles for degradation and/or removal of organic matters. In this study, to understand the microbial functional roles in WWTP, we tried to isolate and characterize a bacterial strain from activated sludge sample. Strain S16 was isolated from the activated sludge of a municipal WWTP in Daejeon metropolitan city, the Republic of Korea. The cells were a Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, facultative anaerobe, and rod-shaped. Strain S16 grew at a temperature of $15{\sim}40^{\circ}C$ (optimum, $30^{\circ}C$), with 0~9.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 1.0~2.0%), and at pH 5.5~9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0~7.5). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain S16 was most closely related to the unique species Miniimonas arenae NBRC $106267^T$ (99.79%, 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) of the genus Miniimonas. The cell wall contained alanine, glutamic acid, serine, and ornithine. Although the isolation source of the type strain NBRC $106267^T$ which considered as a marine microorganism is sea sand, that of strain S16 is terrestrial environment. It might raise an ecological question for habitat transition. Therefore, comparative genome analysis will be valuable investigation for shedding light on their potential metabolic traits and genomic streamlining.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2019

The biotic stress of garlic and tobacco infected by bacteria and virus was evaluated using a thermal imaging camera in a growth chamber. The remote sensing technique using the thermal camera detected that garlic leaf temperature increased when the leaves were infected by bacterial soft rot of garlic. Furthermore, the temperature of leaf was relatively high for the leaves where the colony-forming unit per mL was large. Such temperature patterns were detected for tobacco leaves infected by Cucumber Mosaic Virus using thermal images. In addition, the crop water stress index (CWSI) calculated from leaf temperature also increased for the leaves infected by the virus. The event such that CWSI increased by the infection of the virus occurred before visual disease symptom appeared. Our results suggest that the thermal imaging camera would be useful for the development of crop remote sensing technique, which can be applied to a smart farm.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.206-212
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• 2019

Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) lives in the hair follicles and pores, and it uses cell debris, sebum and metabolic byproducts of surrounding skin tissues as energy and nutrients. Increased production of sebum due to sebaceous hyperplasia or blockage of the follicle can cause growth and proliferation of P. acnes. The rapid growth of P. acnes in follicles produces cell damage, metabolic byproducts and bacterial chips, which can cause inflammation. In this study, we examined the possibility of Senecio iscoensis Hieron. (S. iscoensis) extract to regulate P. acnes-induced inflammatory signaling pathways. We observed that S. iscoensis extract effectively inhibited P. acnes-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine expressions such as IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-${\alpha}$, and iNOS in mouse macrophage cell line Raw 264.7. The inhibitory effect of S. iscoensis in pro-inflammatory cytokine levels was accompanied by the inhibition of the transcription factors NF-${\kappa}B$ and NF-AT. However, S. iscoensis did not alter the P. acnes-induced MAPK signaling pathways. This study first suggests the potential of using S. iscoensis extract as an alternative agent for the treatment of acne.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.343-349
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• 2019

Gul jeotgals (GJs) were prepared using solar salt aged for 3 years. One sample was fermented using starters, such as Bacillus subtilis JS2 and Tetragenococcus halophilus BS2-36 (each $10^6CFU/g$), and another sample was fermented without starters for 49 days at $10^{\circ}C$. Initial counts of bacilli and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in non-starter GJ were found to be $3.20{\times}10^2$ and $7.67{\times}10^1CFU/g$ on day 0, and increased to $1.37{\times}10^3$ and $1.64{\times}10^6CFU/g$ on day 49. Those of starter GJ were found to be $2.10{\times}10^5$ and $3.30{\times}10^7CFU/g$ on day 49, indicating the growth of starters. The pH values of GJ were $5.93{\pm}0.01$ (non-starter) and $5.92{\pm}0.01$ (starter) on day 0 and decreased to $5.78{\pm}0.01$ (non-starter) and $5.75{\pm}0.01$ (starter) on day 49. Amino-type nitrogen (ANN) production increased continuously during fermentation, and $407.19{\pm}15.85$ (non-starter) and $398.04{\pm}13.73$ (starter) mg% on day 49. Clone libraries of 16S rRNA genes were constructed from total DNA extracted from non-starter GJ on days 7, 21, and 42. Nucleotide sequences of Escherichia coli transformants harboring recombinant pGEM-T easy plasmid containing 16S rRNA gene inserts from different bacterial species were analyzed using BLAST. Uncultured bacterium was the most dominant group and Gram - bacteria such as Acidovorax sp., Afipia sp., and Variovorax sp. were the second dominant group. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (day 7), Bacillus velezensis (day 21 and 42), and Bacillus subtilis (day 42) were observed, but no lactic acid bacteria were detected. Acidovorax and Variovorax species might play some role in GJ fermentation. Further studies on these bacteria are necessary.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.316-322
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• 2019

Helicobacter pylori, a gram-negative bacterium, is one of the risk factors that induces gastritis and gastric cancer. Therefore, much attention has been paid to the compounds that inhibit bacterial growth or eradicate bacteria. Evodiae fructus (EF), the fruit of Evodia rutaecarpa, has been used for treating diarrhea and abdominal pain. EF extract was already found to inhibit the growth of H. pylori. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of EF on the virulence factors of H. pylori has not been reported. In this study, when comparing the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the different methanol concentration extracts, the 95% methanol extract (EF95) showed the lowest MIC value. EF95 extract suppressed the expressions of cagA, vacA and ureB, but interestingly, it up-regulated the expression of ureA. A decrease in production of ammonia in the culture medium and the cell lysates indicated that EF95 inhibited the urease activity in H. pylori, which was the result of EF95 inhibiting the ureB expression. Although the mechanism by which EF95 extract regulates the virulence factors in H. pylori needs further study, EF95 could be used for treatment of gastric troubles induced by H. pylori.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.323-328
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• 2019

Tuberculosis, a chronic bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), differs in its status latency and activity because of the characteristics of MTB, immune status of the host, and genetic susceptibility. The host defense mechanism against MTB is caused mainly by interactions between macrophages, T cells, and dendritic cells. CD44 is expressed in activated T cells when infected with MTB and regulates lymphocyte migration. In addition, CD44 mediates leukocyte adhesion to the ECM and plays a role in attracting macrophages and $CD4^+$ T cells to the lungs. Therefore, genetic polymorphism of the CD44 gene will inhibit the host cell immune mechanisms against MTB. This study examined whether the genetic polymorphism of the CD44 gene affects the susceptibility of tuberculosis. A total of 237 SNPs corresponding to the CD44 genes were analyzed using the genotype data of 443 tuberculosis cases and 3,228 healthy controls from the Korean Association Resource (KARE). Of these, 17 SNPs showed a significant association with the tuberculosis case. The most significant SNP was rs75137824 (OR=0.231, CI: 1.51~3.56, $P=1.3{\times}10^{-4}$). In addition, rs10488809, one of the 17 significant SNPs, is important for the tuberculosis outbreak can bind to the JUND and FOS transcription factors and can affect CD44 gene expression. This study suggests that polymorphism of the CD44 gene modulates the host susceptibility to tuberculosis in a variety of ways, resulting in differences in the status of tuberculosis.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.299-304
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• 2019

Yogurt was prepared with different substitution ratio [10, 20, 30, and 50% (w/w)] of skim milk with enzymatically saccharified Korean rice wine lees powder (eKRWLP) and fermented with commercially available mixed lactic acid bacteria (Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus thermophilus) at $40^{\circ}C$ for 18 h. Fermentation characteristics were evaluated in terms of acid production (pH and titratable acidity) and viable cell counts of lactic acid bacteria. The pH of yogurts decreased with increasing eKRWLP substitution ratio of skim milk. After 12 h fermentation, titratable acidities of eKRWLP substitution and control (yogurt made without eKRWLP) were 0.84~1.04% and 0.93%, respectively. The titratable acidities of yogurts prepared with 10 and 20% substitution ratio increased than that of the control yogurt, but titratable acidities of yogurts of 30 and 50% substitution ratio decreased. After 9 h fermentation, the number of viable lactic acid bacterial cell were increased to 8.18~8.24 log CFU/g in all yogurts. In sensory evaluation, there were similar preference for eKRWLP yogurts prepared with 10 and 20% substitution ratio and the control. When eKRWLP substitution and control yogurts fermented for 9 h were incubated at $4^{\circ}C$, their pHs and titratable acidities were slightly changed but the number of viable lactic acid bacteria were well maintained above $10^7CFU/g$ for 11 days in yogurts prepared with 10 and 20% substitution ratio among eKRWLP substitution yogurts. These results suggest that eKRWLP can be used as substituent of skim milk and the optimum substitution ratio is around 10~20%.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.69-74
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficiency of bacteria removal of three different types of hand washing methods. This study performed a convenient sampling of 30 volunteers in cross-over design. The study divided the 30 volunteers into three random groups. The three groups were asked to use antiseptic soap, alcohol-based hand disinfectant, and disposable wet wipes respectively. The result of the study showed that mean log reduction values after each had washing method were $-0.45({\pm}0.69)$ with antiseptic soap and water, $-1.19({\pm}0.52)$ with alcohol-based hand disinfectant and $-0.75({\pm}0.58)$ with disposable wet wipes. The difference was statistically significant when using alcohol-based hand disinfectant compared to the other two methods (p=0.000). According to this study, alcohol-based hand disinfectant was the most effective product based on bacteria removal for hand washing. Advantages of using alcohol-based hand disinfectant are that it is cost-effective and easy to buy, also eco-friendly. Therefore, to prevent infectious disease, providing alcohol-based hand disinfectant to every corner of the community will be very helpful.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2019

TheCitrus grandis Osbeck is a special product in the Jeju island. The product has been as a remedy for liver damage and hang over. This study demonstrates how to investigate and compare the antioxidant, phenol content, tyrosinase and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity, antimicrobial, and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity with the C. grandis leaves extracted in different ethanol concentrations. From the yield, a 20% ethanol extract demonstrated the highest results among the other extracts. The distilled water extract showed the most abundant in a total phenol content and highest ABTS radical scavenging activity and reducing power assay. In the DPPH radical scavenging activity, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitory assay (used ${\text\tiny{L}}$-tyrosine as substrate), the 80% ethanol extract exhibited a higher value than other extracts. The 60% ethanol extract showed prominent activities in the tyrosinase inhibitory (used ${\text\tiny{L}}$-dopa as substrate), ADH and ALDH activity assay. In the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay, 60% and 80% ethanol extracts inhibited the bacterial growth almost similarly. Moreover, the gram-positive bacteria was more restrained than the gram-negative bacteria. The resultsrevealed that the distilled water and 80% ethanol extract showed a relatively higher antioxidant activity compared to other extracts. The 60 ~ 80% ethanol extracts demonstrated potential tyrosinase, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory, antimicrobial, ADH and ALDH activities. Therefore, the C. grandis is suggested to be considered as a functional material for various proposes.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2019

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of different concentration of ethanol extraction on the total phenol and flavonoid contents and physiological activities. The total phenol content of the extracts ranged from 35.54 to 71.52 mg GAE/g. An increase in the ethanol concentration of the solvent led to an increase in the phenol content, with the highest content being found in the 80 and 99.5% ethanol extract. The same trend was observed for flavonoid content. DPPH, nitric oxide, superoxide, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and TEAC, FRAP and ORAC were measured by antioxidant assay. Radical scavenging activity of aqueous ethanol extracts was better than that of water and 99.5% ethanol extracts. TEAC and FRAP were highly dependent on ethanol concentration and ORAC showed high activity in 40 ~ 80% ethanol extract. Antioxidant activity of Dolwoe leaves tea showed different results among the assay systems. In most experiments, the activities of water and 99.5% ethanol extracts was relatively low. ${\alpha}$-Glucosidase inhibitory activity and microorganism inhibitory activity were highest in the 80% and 99.5% ethanol extracts. Therefore, it was considered that extraction with 80% ethanol was appropriate when considering the antioxidative and physiological activities of Dolwoe leaves tea. Based on these results, it can be used as a basic data for the development of food of Dolwoe leaves tea.