• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.642-648
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• 2020

In this study, we investigated the effects of linoleic acid (LA) treatment on Brucella abortus infection in professional phagocyte RAW264.7 cells, particularly during the pathogen's invasion and intracellular growth in these cells, as well as in murine model BALB/c mice focusing on bacterial splenic proliferation and immunoregulatory activities. LA inhibited the growth of Brucella in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The ability of the pathogen to enter the phagocytes was inhibited as was its survival within these cells. This was accompanied by increased nitrite accumulation in these cells at 24 h post-infection. The concentration of LA used in the present study did not affect the total body weight or liver function of the mice. During Brucella infection, the total splenic weight of these animals was not changed; rather, resistance to bacterial proliferation was enhanced in the spleen. Furthermore, mice treated with LA displayed elevated levels of IL-12 and IFN-γ but reduced levels of IL-10 during infection. The findings in this study showed the regulatory role of LA against B. abortus infection suggesting its potential use in designing intervention strategy for brucellosis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.678-683
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• 2007

We isolated a toluene-degrading bacterium, TDB-4, from a bioreactor which designed to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the contaminated air. Based on the results of 16S rRNA gene analysis, it was classified as Pseudomonas sp. The toluene degradability was estimated in the variable toluene and bacterial concentrations. The bacterial growth and degradation rate was higher in the samples supplied with 50 ${\mu}mole/vial$ of toluene than with 10 ${\mu}mole/vial$. It was decreased, however, in the samples with 100 ${\mu}mole/vial$, indicating that toluene inhibit the growth or degradation activity of TDB-4 at high concentration. When the degradation ability of other compounds was examined, TDB-4 can degrade other VOCs such as styrene, benzene, and xylene. These results will be helpful to optimize the operating conditions to improve the efficiency of a bioreactor in detoxification of VOCs.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.614-621
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• 2020

Antibiotic pollution is one of the factors contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. Advanced oxidation and irradiation processes have been introduced to eliminate antibiotics from water and wastewater. However, few studies have reported the toxic effects of residual antibiotics and their byproducts induced by a treatment system. In this study, we compared the efficacies of chemical (high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)) and biological (antimicrobial susceptibility test) assays for measuring the concentrations of residual antibiotics after gamma irradiation for degrading amoxicillin, cephradine, lincomycin, and tetracycline. The concentrations of residual antibiotics estimated using the two assay methods were almost identical, except cephradine. In the case of cephradine, inhibited bacterial growth was observed that was equivalent to twice the concentration measured by HPLC in the samples subjected to gamma irradiation. The observed inhibition of bacterial growth suggested the generation of potentially toxic intermediates following antibiotic degradation. These results indicate that biological and chemical assays should be used in concert for monitoring antibiotic contamination and the toxic derivatives of antibiotic degradation. The results demonstrate that these four antibiotics can be decomposed by 2.0 kGy gamma-irradiation without toxic effects of their byproducts.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.148-156
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• 2020

Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci 6605 has two multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pump transporters, MexAB-OprM and MexEF-OprN. To understand the role of these MDR efflux pumps in virulence, we generated deletion mutants, ΔmexB, ΔmexF, and ΔmexBΔmexF, and investigated their sensitivity to plant-derived antimicrobial compounds, antibiotics, and virulence. Growth inhibition assays with KB soft agar plate showed that growth of the wild-type (WT) was inhibited by 5 μl of 1 M catechol and 1 M coumarin but not by other plant-derived potential antimicrobial compounds tested including phytoalexins. The sensitivity to these compounds tended to increase in ΔmexB and ΔmexBΔmexF mutants. The ΔmexBΔmexF mutant was also sensitive to 2 M acetovanillone. The mexAB-oprM was constitutively expressed, and activated in the ΔmexF and ΔmexBΔmexF mutant strains. The swarming and swimming motilities were impaired in ΔmexF and ΔmexBΔmexF mutants. The flood inoculation test indicated that bacterial populations in all mutant strains were significantly lower than that of WT, although all mutants and WT caused similar disease symptoms. These results indicate that MexAB-OprM extrudes plant-derived catechol, acetovanillone, or coumarin, and contributes to bacterial virulence. Furthermore, MexAB-OprM and MexEF-OprN complemented each other's functions to some extent.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.68-75
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• 2007

After reports on regression of cancer in humans and animals infected with microbial pathogens date back more than 100 years, much effort has been spent over the years in developing a wild type or attenuated bacterial and purified bacterial proteins for the treatment of cancer. Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) is known to inhibit cell growth and trigger significant cell death in various cancer cells. Although ETA induces apoptosis of cancer cells, its exact mechanism of action is not known yet. Four different assays were performed in this study: morphological assessment of apoptotic cells, cell cytotoxity, annexin-V binding assay, and cell cycle analysis. The proliferation and survival of the K-562 cells treated with ETA were decreased in a dose dependent manner. In addition, the apoptotic body of K-562 cells was induced by ETA treatment in a dose dependent manner. The ETA-induced apoptosis was confirmed by annexin-V binding assay. Flow cytometric analysis was examined to ascertain whether ETA could arrest the cell cycle at the sub-G1 phase. Our results suggest that P. aeruginosa ETA inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in human leukemia K-562 cells.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.153-158
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• 2011

Optimal culture conditions were characterized for production of crude biosurfactant of Bacillus subtilis JK-1. During incubation of B. subtilis JK-1, the bacterial growth pattern, changes of the surface tension at variable temperatures, pH and NaCl concentrations in bacterial culture medium were studied. The strain was able to grow and produce biosurfactant at $15-45^{\circ}C$, in the pH range of 6-10, and at 0-10% (w/v) NaCl. In case, culture broth pH was gradually changed to neutral or weak alkaline. Optimal culture conditions for crude biosurfactant production were at $35^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 after 48 h incubation and the surface tension of biosurfactant was 24.0 mN/m. Besides, as the concentration of NaCl was increased from 0 to 10% (w/v), the growth was decreased, pH of the culture broth was converted from weak alkaline to acidic, and the surface tension rised.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 2016

Salmonellosis is a major bacterial zoonosis that causes self-limited enteritis in animals and foodborne disease and typhoid fever in humans. Recently, multi-drug-resistant strains of Salmonella spp. have increased and caused more serious problems in public health. The present study investigated the antibacterial effects of egg-white lysozyme (EWL) against Salmonella (S.) Typhimurium and the therapeutic effects of EWL for murine salmonellosis. Evaluation of the antibacterial effects of EWL against S. Typhimurium revealed a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of EWL of 6.25 and $300{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. In the bacterial growth inhibition test, EWL at 300 (p < 0.05) and $600{\mu}g/mL$ (p < 0.01) significantly inhibited the growth of S. Typhimurium at 4 h post-incubation. EWL administration at MIC (LYS-1), MBC (LYS-2) and $2{\times}MBC$ (LYS-3) for 14 days resulted in mortality of mice infected with S. Typhimurium of 70, 40 and 10%, respectively, while that of control mice (CON) was 90%. Counts of S. Typhimurium in murine spleens were significantly lower in LYS-2 and LYS-3 than CON (p < 0.05). The results of this study indicate that EWL has the potential for treatment of ICR mice infected with S. Typhimurium.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.74-78
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• 2000

Vibrio, Photobacterium, Alteromonas and Xenorhabdus species are capable of emitting light, called bioluminescence. They exist in marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. Bacterial bioluminescent reaction is that reduced riboflavin phosphates and a long-chain aldehyde are oxidized in the presence of molecular oxygen and enzyme luciferase. This experiment aims to develop the proper culture media and to optimize the storage condition for the recovery of bioluminescent activity in Photobacterium phosphoreum. The Luria broth (LB) medium was modified for cultivation of Photobacterium phophoreum, called as modified LB(mLB) medium. The mLB medium is LB fortified with 3% glycerol and 1.5% NaCl. In mLB medium. bacterial growth and bioluminescent activity are 25% higher than those in a Nutrient broth medium. When the cell stocks were stored at $-20^{\circ}C$, $-70^{\circ}C$ and LN2 for 3 months, cell growth and bioluminescent activity of culture after stored at $-20^{\circ}C$ were better than those of other treatments. The highest bioluminescent activity obtained at the late exponential phase in all treatments. When the cell stock was freeze-dried with 5% adonitol as a cryoprotectant, the recovery of cell was better than those of control and freeze-dried cell stock without addition of cryoprotectant.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.177-180
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• 2015

For prevention of atrophic rhinitis of swine by Bordetella bronchiseptica and fowl typhoid by Salmonella gallinarum, bacterial strains showing antimicrobial activity against those pathogenic bacteria were isolated from various samples collected at animal farms. Among 372 bacterial isolates strain TK3 showed the highest antibacterial activity against both pathogens, and was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. B. amyloliquefaciens TK3 could inhibit growth of both pathogens by secretion of antibacterial compounds such as siderophore, rhamnolipid and antimicrobial peptide. Production radius of siderophore on Chrome azurol S agar plate by strain TK3 was 0.53 cm after 14 days of incubation, and concentration of siderophore in King's B medium was 1.06 mmol/ml. It also secreted 82.4 mg/L of rhamnolipid, and antimicrobial peptide that completely inhibited growth of both pathogens at concentration of $30{\mu}l/ml$ in LB medium.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.431-436
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• 1990

The functional properties of novel sugar derivative sweeteners, fructo-oligosaccharide, maltitol, sorbitol and high maltose syrup(HMS) were examined for their humactant effect, lactic acid bacterial growth, Streptococcus mutants growth and relative sweetness compared to sucrose. Sorbitol exhibited remarkably high water activity reducing capacity, whereas fructo-oligosaccharide and maltitol showed the same level as sucrose. Maltitol showed distinct anti-bacterial(bacteriocidic) effect against Stc. mutants and most of lactic acid bacteria tested except for L. plantarum. The molar basis relative sweetness of sugar derivatives in comparison with 1%(w/w) level of sucrose were 0.69 for Neosugar(fructo-oligosaccharide), 0.21 for sorbitol, 0.50 for maltitol and 0.27 for HMS.