• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.171-175
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• 2008

Here, we report that Vibrio parahaemolyticus induces a rapid remodeling of macrophage actin and activates RhoB GTPase. Mutational analysis revealed that the effects depend on type III secretion system 1 regulated translocation of a V. parahaemolyticus effector protein, VP1686, into the macrophages. Remodeling of actin is shown to be necessary for increased bacterial uptake followed by initiation of apoptosis in macrophages. This provides evidence for functional association of the VP1686 in triggering an eat me-and-die signal to the host.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.351-364
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• 2019

Here we describe indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total of 42 bacterial strains affiliated to the class Alphaproteobacteria isolated from various environmental samples: fermented vinegar, sea water, beach sand, fresh water, salt flats, moss, algae, activated sludge, and soil. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.7%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species, it was determined that each strain belonged to predefined bacterial species. There is no official report that these 42 species included in Alphaproteobacteria in Korea: 15 species of 6 genera in the order Rhodospirillales, 12 species of 10 genera in the order Rhizobiales, 10 species of 8 genera in the order Rhodobacterales, 4 species of 4 genera in the order Sphingomonadales and 1 species of 1 genus in the order Caulobacterales. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are also described in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.12-22
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• 2021

During a comprehensive investigation of indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, 25 and 10 bacterial strains assigned to the classes Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria, respectively, were isolated from diverse environmental habitats, including soil, mud, tidal field, sea water, sand, rusted iron, and leaf. Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities (>98.7%) and the formation of robust phylogenetic clades with type species, each strain was assigned to an independent and predefined bacterial species. Since there were no published or official reports regarding these 35 isolates in Korea, they - 25 species of 14 families in the 5 orders of Alphaproteobacteria and 10 species of 3 families in the two orders of Betaproteobacteria - have been reported as unrecorded species in Korea. In addition, Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristic, isolation source, and strain ID of each species are also described in the species description sections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.602-611
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• 2022

The persistence of pathogenic Escherichia coli under acidic conditions poses a serious risk to food safety, especially in acidic foods such as kimchi. To identify the bacterial factors required for acid resistance, transcriptomic analysis was conducted on an acid-resistant enterotoxigenic E. coli strain and the genes with significant changes in their expression under acidic pH were selected as putative resistance factors against acid stress. These genes included those associated with a glutamate-dependent acid resistance (GDAR) system and copper resistance. E. coli strains lacking GadA, GadB, or YbaST, the components of the GDAR system, exhibited significantly attenuated growth and survival under acidic stress conditions. Accordantly, the inhibition of the GDAR system by 3-mercaptopropionic acid and aminooxyacetic acid abolished bacterial adaptation and survival under acidic conditions, indicating the indispensable role of a GDAR system in acid resistance. Intriguingly, the lack of cueR encoding a transcriptional regulator for copper resistance genes markedly impaired bacterial resistance to acid stress as well as copper. Conversely, the absence of YbaST severely compromised bacterial resistance against copper, suggesting an interplay between acid and copper resistance. These results suggest that a GDAR system can be a promising target for developing control measures to prevent E. coli resistance to acid and copper treatments.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.12 no.spc2
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• pp.23-32
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• 2023

During screening for indigenous prokaryotic species in Republic of Korea in 2021, a total of 21 bacterial strains assigned to the phylum Bacteroidota were isolated from a variety of environmental habitats including pine cone, seaweed, soil, sea sediment, brackish water and moss. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of more than 98.7% and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the type strain of the closest bacterial species, it was found that the 21 strains belong to independent and recognized bacterial species. There has been no official report that the identified 21 species have been isolated in Republic of Korea up to date. Therefore, 16 species in six genera of two families in the order Flavobacteriales, two species in two genera of two families in the order Cytophagales, one species in one genus of one family in the order Chitinophagales and two species in one genus of one family in the order Sphingobacteriales are proposed as unrecorded species of the phylum Bacteroidota isolated in Republic of Korea. Their Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic phenotypic characteristics, isolation source, taxonomic status, strain ID and other information are described in the species descriptions.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.593-604
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• 2023

Post-harvest handling and hygienic level of aquatic products significantly affect the quality and level of safety. Cold chain control is one of the determining factors for the quality of fish and the bacterial community that grows on the fish. Identification of spoilage bacteria and pathogens in aquatic products must be made because it will determine the physical and chemical quality. A molecular identification method with high sensitivity is the solution. This study aims to identify the quality of fish and bacterial communities that grow. The research procedures included sample collection, pH measurement, drip loss measurement, transportation and cold storage treatment, DNA extraction, DNA sequencing, sequence analysis, and bioinformatics analysis. The conclusion obtained from this study is that the simulation of the cold chain system applied to eastern little tuna does not significantly affect changes in the water activity value, pH, and drip loss. The insignificant change indicates that the eastern little tuna samples are still in good quality. The bioinformatics analysis showed the highest diversity and abundance of the bacterial community came from the Gammaproteobacterial class.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.48-56
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• 2024

Objectives: The coronavirus pandemic that began in 2019(COVID-19) has been one of the worst pandemics of the 21st century. Masks have been used to prevent COVID-19, but there are currently no standards for the long-term use of masks in the Republic of Korea. This study was conducted to assess the microbiological safety of KF94(Korea Filter 94) disposable face masks according to wearing duration by evaluating the bacterial filtration efficiencies of masks worn by research participants. Methods: A commercially available KF94 mask certified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety(MFDS) in the Republic of Korea was selected as the test mask. The research participants(n = 15) wore masks for the durations of one, three, and seven days. Participants also reported several parameters, including wearing time, makeup frequency, and storage. Bacterial filtration efficiencies of the worn masks were measured by a mask bioaerosol filtration tester. Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) was used as the test bacteria and quantitatively measured through the cultivation method. Then, bacterial filtration efficiency was calculated using the formula suggested by the MFDS. Results: All worn masks showed over 99.98% of mean bacterial filtration efficiency for S. aureus. There were no significant differences among bacterial filtration efficiencies of face masks according to wearing duration. There was also no significant difference among bacterial filtration efficiencies among participants. There was no correlation between the results of bacterial filtration efficiencies and reported parameters from participants. Conclusions: In the absence of significant external damage to the mask, the bacterial filtration efficiency of the mask can be maintained even after seven days of wearing. This result suggests that KF94 masks certified by the MFDS can be used repeatedly for about a week without loss of bacterial filtration efficiency.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.713-717
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sodium habituation on thermal resistance of Staphylococcus aureus in various ready-to-heat (RTH) sauces. The strain mixture of S. aureus strains KACC10768, KACC10778, KACC11596, KACC13236 and NCCP10862 was habituated up to 9% of NaCl. The inocula of NaCl-habituated and non-habituated S. aureus were inoculated in 5 g portions of pork cutlet, meat and Carbonara sauces at 7 Log CFU/g, and the samples were vortexed vigorously. The inoculated samples were then exposed to 60 and $70^{\circ}C$ in a water-bath, and survivals of total bacteria and S. aureus were enumerated on tryptic soy agar and mannitol salt agar, respectively, every 30 min for 120 min. At 60oC, the cell counts of total bacteria and the significant difference in survivals between sodium-habituated and non-habituated S. aureus were observed only in the Carbonara sauce; the tailing effect, which is the period of no reduction of bacterial cell counts, was observed in pork cutlet, meat and Carbonara sauces subjected to $60^{\circ}C$. At $70^{\circ}C$, total bacterial populations and sodium-habituated and non-habituated S. aureus cell counts in meat and Carbonara sauce also significantly decreased (p<0.05) after 30 min of heat treatment, followed by the obvious tailing effect. Sodium-habituated S. aureus cell counts in meat and Carbonara sauces were higher (p<0.05) than those of non-habituated S. aureus at $70^{\circ}C$. The results indicate that sodium habituation of S. aureus cells may increase the thermal resistance of the pathogen in RTH sauces; moreover, heating RTH sauces for a short time before serving may not sufficiently decrease the cell counts of S. aureus, particularly for sodium-habituated strain.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.960-964
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• 2007

This study was performed to examine the toxicity of Psoralea corylifolia L. by the single-dose oral toxicity tests in rat and bacterial reverse mutation assay. In single-dose oral toxicity tests, 5 mL ethanol extract of P. corylifolia L. were directly injected into 10 rats (5 males and 5 females) at a dosage of 2 g/kg. Death practice was not detected during breeding periods (14 days), and $LD_{50}$ was calculated over 2 g/kg. No difference were observed with control group in the growth rate and histological observations. In bacterial reverse mutation assay, his(-) Salmonella Typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537 and trp(-) Escherichia coli WP2uvrA (pKM101) were used for assessing the toxicity of ethanol extracts of P. corylifolia L.. No significant difference in formation of the colonies and no dose-dependent increase was observed regardless of the addition of S9 mix. The results showed that ethanol extracts of P. corylifolia L. did not have single-dose oral toxicity and mutagenic toxicity.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.676-682
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• 2007

The bacterial number, extracellular enzyme activities and structure of bacterial community which are major constituent of aquatic ecosystem within the artificial vegetation island (AVI) were compared to those of the nearby pelagic lake waters in order to evaluate the possibility of the AVI as a eco-technological measure for water quality improvement and restoration of littoral zone in man-made reservoirs. There was not a significant difference in the total number of bacteria, but the number of active (viable) bacteria within the AVI was about 0.7 to 4.1 times higher than nearby pelagic lake water. The ratio of the number of active bacteria versus the total number of bacteria was also higher in the AVI than nearby pelagic lake water. The activities of ${\beta}$-glucosidase and phosphatase were 1.0 to 13.1 and 0.8 to 7.3 times higher respectively in the AVI than nearby pelagic lake water, showing that microorganisms were more active within the AVI. The bacterial communities of the two waters, examined by FISH method, did not indicate a clear difference in the springtime when the growth of macrophytes was immature, but during summer and fall it showed a clear difference indicating the formation of distinct bacterial community within the AVI compared to nearby lake water. From the results of this study, we conclude that AVI can contribute to make up the littoral ecosystem which show rapid cycling of matters through active detritus food chain in the dam reservoirs which have unstable aquatic ecosystem due to short hydraulic residence time and to strengthen the self-purification capacity of the lake.