• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.1449-1459
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• 2015

A novel proteolytic enzyme with fibrinolytic activity, FSP3, was purified from the recently isolated Streptomyces sp. P3, which is a novel bacterial strain isolated from soil. FSP3 was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion exchange, and gel filtration. FSP3 is considered to be a single peptide chain with a molecular mass of 44 kDa. The maximum activity of the enzyme was observed at 50℃ and pH 6.5, and the enzyme was stable between pH 6 and 8 and below 40℃. In a fibrin plate assay, FSP3 showed more potent fibrinolytic activity than urokinase, which is a clinical thrombolytic agent acting as a plasminogen activitor. The activity was strongly inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor PMSF, indicating that it is a serine protease. Additionally, metal ions showed different effects on the activity. It was significantly suppressed by Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ and completely inhibited by Cu²⁺, but slightly enhanced by Fe²⁺. According to LC-MS/MS results, its partial amino acid sequences are significantly dissimilar from those of previously reported fibrinolytic enzymes. The sequence of a DNA fragment encoding FSP3 contained an open reading frame of 1287 base pairs encoding 428 amino acids. FSP3 is a bifunctional enzyme in nature. It hydrolyzes the fibrin directly and activates plasminogen, which may reduce the occurrence of side effects. These results suggest that FSP3 is a novel serine protease with potential applications in thrombolytic therapy.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 2003

The purpose of the present study was to screen the effective of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as probiotics, which are able to protect aquacultural fish pathogenic bacteria, and investigate their characterization. Twenty strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from fish intestine, fermented fish foods and kimchis. These bacteria were screened for antagonistic activity against fish pathogenic bacteria. Seven tested LAB strains were able to inhibit the fish pathogenic bacteria, including Vibrio anguillarum, Edwardsiella tarda, and Streptococcus sp.. Of the probiotic candidates, BK19 strain isolated from fermented pollack viscera indicated the largest inhibition activity. Moreover, this strain showed a resistance over low pH and antibiotic agents. Therefore this probiotic candidate BK19 was finally selected and identified as a probiotic strain. This particular probiotic bacteria was identified as Lactobacillus sakei BK19 by biochemical characteristics and 165 rRNA PCR amplification.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.540-548
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• 2016

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (CCP) is a long-standing but re-emerging environmental engineering process for production of self-healing concrete, bioremediation, and long-term storage of CO₂. CCP-capable bacteria, two Bacillus strains (JH3 and JH7) and one Sporosarcina strain (HYO08), were isolated from two samples of concrete and characterized phylogenetically. Calcium carbonate crystals precipitated by the three strains were morphologically distinct according to field emission scanning electron microscopy. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry mapping confirmed biomineralization via extracellular calcium carbonate production. The three strains differed in their physiological characteristics: growth at alkali pH and high NaCl concentrations, and urease activity. Sporosarcina sp. HYO08 and Bacillus sp. JH7 were more alkali- and halotolerant, respectively. Analysis of the community from the same concrete samples using barcoded pyrosequencing revealed that the relative abundance of Bacillus and Sporosarcina species was low, which indicated low culturability of other dominant bacteria. This study suggests that calcium carbonate crystals with different properties can be produced by various CCP-capable strains, and other novel isolates await discovery.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.170-179
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• 2017

Tea is the most popular beverage in the world. In fact, there are mainly three different kinds of tea (Green tea, black tea, and post-fermented tea). Post-fermented tea is produced by the microbial fermentation process using sun-dried green tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) as the raw material. Chungtaejeon was a traditional tea introduced in the age of the ancient three states and is the only "Ddeok-cha or Don-cha" culture in the world that survived on the southwestern shore of Republic of Korea. In this study, the structures of the bacterial community involved in the production of oriental traditional post-fermented tea (Chungtaejeon) were investigated using 16S rRNA gene analysis. The 16S rRNA gene analysis of dominant microbial bacteria in post-fermented tea confirmed the presence of Pantoea sp., and Klebsiella oxytoca. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the taxonomic affiliation of the dominant species in the post-fermented tea was ${\gamma}$-proteobacteria. As a result of the microbial community size analysis, it was confirmed that the size of the microbial communities of Chungtaejeon was the largest compared to other teas

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.239-247
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• 2003

In Korea, a local soybean (Glycine max) genotype 56l. was found to be strongly resistant to a virulent bacterial strain of a Pseudomonas sp. SN239. Specific genes involved in the resistance of the soybean genotype 561 were identified and the pattern of gene expression against the Pseudomonas infection was analyzed using differential-display reverse transcription PCR (DDRT-PCR). More than 126 cDNA fragments representing mRNAs were induced within 48 hours of bacteria inoculation. Among them, 28 cDNA fragments were cloned and sequenced. Twelve differentially displayed clones with open reading frames had unknown functions. Sixteen selected cDNA clones were homologous to known genes of other organisms. Some of the identified cDNAs were pathogenesis-related (PR) genes and PR-like genes. These cDNAs included a putative calmodulin-binding protein; an endo-l,3-1,4-$\bate$-D-glucanase; a $\bate$-1,3-endoglucanase; a $\bate$-1,3-exoglucanase; a phytochelatin synthetase-like gene; a thiol protease; a cycloartenol synthase; and a putative receptor-like serine/threonine protein kinase. Among them, four genes were found to be putative PR genes induced significantly by the Pseudomonas infection. These included a calmodulin-binding protein gene, a $\bate$-1,3-endoglucanase gene, a receptor-like serine/threonine protein kinase gene, and pS321 (unknown function). These results suggest that the differentially expressed genes may mediate the strong resistance of soybean 561 to the strain SN239 of Pseudomonas sp.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2004

The effects of kimchis intake on Helicobacter pylori infection in the stomach, the counts of lactic acid bacteria in the large intestine, and bacterial enzymes ($\beta$-glucosidase, $\beta$-glucuronidase) and pH in feces were examined. A total of 20 participants (age range 34 ∼ 57) were assessed for H. pylori infection status by Be urea breath test. Fourteen participants were eliminated because they were H. pylori-negative. This study consisted of 4 consecutive phase, each of which lasted 4 weeks. Three hundred grams of kimchi were administered to H. pylori-infected subjects during the kimchi phase, followed by 4 weeks of control phase. During the control phase, subjects consumed 60 g of kimchi, the minimum amount in their customary diets. All participants were found to be H. pylori-positive during all experimental periods. During the kimchi phase, delta over baseline (DOB) level was lower than during the control phase, although significant difference between the kimchi and control phases were not found (p=0.9439). However, the counts of Lactobacillus sp. and Leuconostoc sp. significantly (p < 0.0005) increased during the kimchi phase. $\beta$-Glucosidase and $\beta$-glucuronidase activities and pH were significantly decreased by kimchi intake compared to control (p=0.000l). These results suggested that kimchi consumption did not show any therapeutic effect on H. pylori in the stomach. However, kimchi seemed to be a good food for colon health, since it increased the beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus and decreased toxic enzyme ($\beta$-glucosidase and $\beta$-glucuronidase) activity and pH.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 2015

The presence of phenols in treated palm oil mill effluent (POME) is an environmental concern due to their phytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity. In this study, phenol-degrading bacteria, Methylobacterium sp. NP3 and Acinetobacter sp. PK1 were immobilized on oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFBs) for removal of phenols in the treated POME. The bacterial exopolysaccharides (EPS) were responsible for cell adhesion to the EFBs during the immobilization process. These immobilized bacteria could effectively remove up to 5,000 mg/L phenol in a carbon free mineral medium (CFMM) with a greater degradation efficiency and rate than that with suspended bacteria. To increase the efficiency of the immobilized bacteria, three approaches, namely activation, acclimation, and combined activation and acclimation were applied. The most convenient and efficient strategy was found when the immobilized bacteria were activated in a CFMM containing phenol for 24 h before biotreatment of the treated POME. These activated immobilized bacteria were able to remove about 63.4% of 33 mg/L phenols in the treated POME, while non-activated and/or acclimated immobilized bacteria could degrade only 35.0%. The activated immobilized bacteria could be effectively reused for at least ten application cycles and stored for 4 weeks at $4^{\circ}C$ with the similar activities. In addition, the utilization of the abundant EFBs gives value-added to the palm oil mill wastes and is environmentally friendly thus making it is attractive for practical application.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.289-295
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• 1996

This study was attempted to select an antagonist against Phytophthora blight of red-pepper caused by Phytophthora capsici. The three strains, A-35, A-67 and A-183 were isolated from the rhizosphere in soil where red-pepper had been cultivated continuously for a long time, and the strain A-83 was estimated to be the strongest antagonist against P. capsici. The A-183 strain was identified as a strain of Pseudomonas sp., showing the maximum antifungal activity, when cultured at $30^{\circ}C$ for 5 days in the potato extract medium(pH 6.5) containing 2.0% mannitol and 0.3% peptone.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.229-234
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• 2004

Feathers, which are almost pure keratin protein, are produced in large amounts as a waste by-product at poultry-processing plants. Keratinolytic enzymes may have important uses in biotechnological processes involving keratin-containing wastes from poultry and leather processes. In this study, screening and identification of keratin-degrading bacteria were investigated. Five keratin-degrading bacterial strains (F3-1, F3-4, F7-1, C1-1, C1-2) were isolated from compost and decayed chicken feather. On the basis of morphological, physiological studies, and Biolog system, all isolates were identified as the genus Bacillus. Among them, the strain F7-1 had the highest feather-degrading activity and was selected for further taxonomical study. Phylogenetic analysis of strain F7-1 based on comparison of 165 rDNA sequences revealed that this strain is closely related to Bacillus megaterium.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.466-472
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• 2003

Several microorganisms were isolated and characterized for the development of fermentation accelerator of animal manure. Firstly, 61 species were isolated from rice bran extract. Secondly, five strains of microorganisms were screened by the analysis of hydrolysis activities for organic compounds including protease, cellulase, amylase, and lipase. From a deodorization test for ammonia gas using the isolated strains, finally three bacterial strains were selected (NA 2, 12, 15). The selected strains, NA 2 and 15 were identified as Bacillus acidocaldarius and Planococcus sp. respectively. The media composition of key nutrients and pH for the mixed culture of the three selected strains were optimized using an experimental design method (response surface method) as follows : beef extract (4.59g/L), peptone (8.72g/L) and pH 6.3. Consequently, the isolated microorganisms seem to have potential applicability in the animal manure treatment.