• Journal of agriculture & life science
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.27-39
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hot water treatment and pH corrected lime sulfur combination treatment on the fungicidal and bacterial disinfection effects and germination rate of organic lettuce seeds. Among the followers, Alternaria sp. was infected 53.3% and Aspergillus sp. and Cladosporium sp. Infected 14.5% and 5.4%, respectively. Bacteria were isolated only Pseudomonas sp., and infected with 16.5%. In order to investigate the effect of disinfection on the temperature of hot water (45℃, 50℃, 55℃ and 60℃). The seed germination rate sharply decreased with increasing temperature and treatment time. The germination effect and germination rate of the follower were highest when hot water treatment was carried out for 20 minutes in hot water at 50℃. In the case of combined treatment of 50℃ hot water for 10 min and 0.4% pH adjusted lime sulfur mixture, showed the highest sterilization effect and germination rate with 100% and 97.6%, respectively. The results of this study can contribute to the development of technology to sterilize not only seed surface but also fungi and bacteria inside of seed.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.8-16
• /
• 2021

This study was conducted to check the sterilization efficacy of microwave plasma (MWP) against the watermelon seeds infected with Acidovorax citrulli 11-251. Watermelon seeds were artificially vacuum inoculated to produce A. citrulli 11-251 infected seeds. Aac ImmunoStrip and scanning electron microscope (SEM) results suggests that, seeds (coat and endosperm) were infected under the concentration of 1×107/30 min. MWP sterlization process was carried out at 50 W (3 min, 5 min, and 10 min), 80 W (3 min, 5 min, and 10 min), and 100 W (3 min, 5 min, and 10 min). According to the results, MWP sterilized the artificially inoculated seed coats by 95.96% at 80 W/10 min and seed endosperms by 100% at 100 W/10 min respectively. Although, seeds were sterlized by MWP, germination rate of seeds were low as compared to non treated (negative control) seeds. Moreover, cell membrane of A. citrulli 11-251 was damaged while observed in SEM after sterilized with MWP. Further studies regarding the appropriate sterilization condition by MWP against A. citrulli infected seeds for germination will be conducted in our next study.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2021

Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs that contain radioisotopes and are used in the diagnosis, treatment, or investigation of diseases. Radiopharmaceuticals must be manufactured in compliance with good manufacturing practice regulations and subjected to quality control before they are administered to patients to ensure the safety of the drug. Radiopharmaceuticals for administration to humans need to be sterile and pyrogen-free. Hence, sterility tests and membrane filter integrity tests are carried out to confirm the asepticity of the finished drug product, and a bacterial endotoxin test conducted to assess contamination, if any, by pyrogens. The physical appearance and the absence of foreign insoluble substances should be confirmed by a visual inspection. The chemical purity, residual solvents, and pH should be evaluated because residual by-products and impurities in the finished product can be harmful to patients. The half-life, radiochemical purity, radionuclidic purity, and strength need to be assessed by analyzing the radiation emitted from radiopharmaceuticals to verify that the radioisotope contents are properly labeled on pharmaceuticals. Radiopharmaceuticals always carry the risk of radiation exposure. Therefore, the time taken for quality control tests should be minimized and care should be taken to prevent radiation exposure during handling. This review discusses the quality control procedures and acceptance criteria for a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.535-543
• /
• 2020

In addition to the ubiquitous roles of cellular RNA in genetic regulations, gene expression and phenotypic variations in response to environmental cues and chemotactic signals, the regulatory roles of a new type of RNA called extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) are an up-and-coming area of research interest. exRNA is transported outside the cell through membrane blebs known as membrane vesicles or extracellular vesicles (EVs). EV formation is predominant and conserved among all microbial forms, including prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and archaea. This review will focus on the three major topics concerning bacterially derived exRNAs, i.e., 1) the discovery of exRNA and influence of extraneous RNA over bacterial gene regulations, 2) the known secretion mechanism for the release of exRNA, and 3) the possible applications that can be devised with these exRNA secreted by different gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Further, this review will also provide an opinion on exRNA- and EV-derived applications such as the species-specific exRNA markers for diagnostics and the possible roles of exRNA in probiotics and the epigenetic regulations of the gut microbiome.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.8
• /
• pp.755-760
• /
• 2021

Swine diarrhea is a livestock disease that causes huge economic losses to pig farms. In general, diarrhea occurs because of the proliferation of pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli). The toxins produced by the proliferated E. coli cause edema in pigs. Although the proliferation of these coliforms can be prevented by using a vaccine, the vaccines containing chemically produced dead bacteria are not very effective, making it difficult to control the proliferation of E. coli. Therefore, there is a need to develop new, more effective vaccines. In this study, we prepared killed F4+ and F18ab+ E. coli, which induce diarrhea and edema in pigs, using the extracts of immune-induced silkworms containing antimicrobial peptides and examined their availability as a killed-bacteria vaccine. First, the antimicrobial activity analysis of the prepared immune-induced silkworm extract was conducted using the radial diffusion assay. The results showed high activity against both F4+ and F18ab+ E. coli. The production efficiency of E. coli dead cells was determined using the colony-counting method. The concentration of the E. coli dead cells was the highest (50 mg/ml) when treated at 4℃. In addition, the analysis of the prepared dead cells using a transmission electron microscope confirmed that E. coli leaked out of the cytoplasm and the cell membrane remained intact. Therefore, F4+ and F18ab+ E. coli produced using immune-induced silkworms extract are considered to be highly available as bacterial ghost vaccines that can help prevent swine diarrhea and the resulting edema.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.163-170
• /
• 2021

This study was conducted to create a technology to remove acne bacteria with human-friendly materials. First, the Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) were adsorbed to the mica disc to grow, and then the biofilm was checked through an atomic microscope to see if the biofilm had grown. Based on the topographic image, the shape changed round, the size was 17% longer on average, and the phase value of the resonance frequency separating materials was observed as a single value, the biofilm grown by covering the extracellular polymeric substrate (EPS). As a result of processing 50 mM of amino acids in the matured biofilm, the concentration of C. acnes decreased when valine, serine, arginine and leucine were treated. Scanning with nanoindentation and AFM contact modes confirmed that the hardness of biofilms treated with Valine (Val) increased. This indicates that an AFM tip measured cell which may have more solidity than that of EPS. The experiment of fluorescent tagged to EPS displays an existence of EPS at the condition of 10 mM Val, but an inhibition of growth of EPS at the 50 mM Val. Number of C. acnes was also reduced above 10 mM of Val. Weak adhesion of biofilm generated from an inhibition of EPS formation seems to induce decrease of C. acnes. Accordingly, we elucidated that Val has an efficiency which eliminates C. acnes by approach of an inhibition of EPS.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.129-136
• /
• 2021

Rice is responsible for the stable crop of 3 billion people worldwide, about half of Asian depends on it, and rice is grown in more than 100 countries. Rice diseases can lead to devastating economic loss by decreasing yield production, disturbing a stable food supply and demand chain. The most commonly used method to control rice disease is chemical control. However, misuse of chemical control can cause environmental pollution, residual toxicity, and the emergence of chemical-resistant pathogens, the deterioration of soil quality, and the destruction of biodiversity. In order to control rice diseases, research on alternative biocontrol is actively pursued including microorganism-oriented biocontrol agents. Microbial agents control plant disease through competition with and antibiotic effects and parasitism against plant pathogens. Microorganisms isolated from the rice rhizosphere are studied comprehensively as biocontrol agents against rice pathogens. Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., and Trichoderma sp. were reported to control rice diseases, such as blast, sheath blight, bacterial leaf blight, brown spot, and bakanae diseases. Here we reviewed the microorganisms that are studied as biocontrol agents against rice diseases.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.116-122
• /
• 2022

Background: The recent COVID-19 pandemic is one of the worst disease outbreaks of the 21th century. Due to a lack of reliable antiviral therapeutics, wearing face masks is recommended to prevent airborne infection originating from virus-contaminated bioaerosols. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the filtration efficiencies of face masks that are commercially available in South Korea for a biological aerosol of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and murine coronavirus, a well-known surrogate for human coronaviruses. Methods: We collected six different kinds of commercial masks: two Korea Filter (KF)94 (KF94-1, KF94-2) masks, one surgical (Surgical-1) mask, one anti-droplet (KF-AD-1) mask, and two dust (Dust-1, Dust-2) face masks. S. aureus (ATCC 6538), a well-performing test bacteria and murine coronavirus (ATCC VR-764) were prepared under a suitable culture condition. Then, a mask biological filtration tester was used to examine the microbial filtration efficiencies of masks. Test microorganisms were quantitatively measured via cultivation methods and microbial filtration efficiencies were calculated appropriately. Results: All face masks showed over 99.6% filtration efficiency for S. aureus or murine coronavirus. There were no significant differences among the bacterial filtration efficiencies of the face masks. KF94-1 (99.97±0.08%) and Dust-1 mask (99.97±0.07%) showed the highest (over 99.9%) filtration efficiency for murine coronavirus. KF94-1 or Dust-1 masks showed a significant virus filtration efficiency compared to Surgical-1 mask (p<0.05; Mann-Whitney U test). Conclusions: All the commercially available face masks used in this study can filter S. aureus or murine coronavirus in bioaerosols efficiently, regardless of the mask type. Therefore, our results suggest that wearing a certified face mask is a reliable means to prevent the transmission of infectious airborne diseases via biological aerosols.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.6
• /
• pp.540-547
• /
• 2021

Background: Indoor air pollutants are caused by a number of factors, such as coming in from the outside or being generated by internal activities. Typical indoor air pollutants include nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide from household items such as heating appliances and volatile organic compounds from building materials. In addition there is carbon dioxide from human breathing and bacteria from speaking, coughing, and sneezing. Objectives: According to recent research results, most indoor air pollution is known to be greatly affected by internal factors such as burning (biomass for cooking) and various pollutants. These pollutants can have a fatal effect on the human body due to a lack of ventilation facilities. Methods: We fabricated a polydopamine (PDA) layer with Ti substrates as a coating on supported glass fiber fabric to enhance its photo-activity. The PDA layer with TiO₂ was covalently attached to glass fiber fabric using the drop-casting method. The roughness and functional groups of the surface of the Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric were verified through infrared imaging microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The obtained hybrid Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric was investigated for photocatalytic activity by the removal of ammonia and an epidermal Staphylococcus aureus reduction test with lamp (250 nm, 405 nm wavelength) at 24℃. Results: Antibacterial properties were found to reduce epidermal staphylococcus aureus in the Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric under 405 nm after three hours. In addition, the Ti substrate/PDA coated glass fiber fabric of VOC reduction rate for ammonia was 50% under 405 nm after 30 min. Conclusions: An electron-hole pair due to photoexcitation is generated in the PDA layer and transferred to the conduction band of TiO₂. This generates a superoxide radical that degrades ammonia and removes epidermal Staphylococcus aureus.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.209-217
• /
• 2022

In this study, Enterococcus faecalis BMSE-HMP005 isolated from human breast milk demonstrated antimicrobial effects against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial strains. The bacteriocin produced by E. faecalis BMSE-HMP005 was fractionated using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. This fraction showed antimicrobial effects against both gram-positive and gram-negative MDR bacteria. No hemolytic reactions were observed. E. faecalis BMSEHMP005 was resistant to vancomycin; however, kanamycin, ampicillin, and erythromycin showed minimum inhibitory concentrations that were lower than the acceptable range provided by the European Food Safety Authority. For artificial gastric juice and bile acid, the survival rates were 98.67% and 95.70%, respectively. These results show the potential utility of E. faecalis BMSE-HMP005 as a probiotic with remarkable antimicrobial effects against MDR bacteria.