• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.648-658
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• 2016

Preservation of fresh algae plays an important role in algae seed subculture and aquaculture. The determination and examination of the changes of cell viability, composition, and bacterial species during storage would help to take suitable preservation methods to prolong the preservation time of fresh algae. Nostoc flagelliforme is a kind of edible cyanobacterium with important herbal and dietary values. This article investigated the changes of bacterial species and biochemical characteristics of fresh N. flagelliforme concentrate during natural storage. It was found that the viability of cells decreased along with the storage time. Fourteen bacteria strains in the algae concentrate were identified by PCR-DGGE and were grouped into four phyla, including Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Among them, Enterococcus viikkiensis may be a concern in the preservation. Eleven volatile organic compounds were identified from N. flagelliforme cells, in which geosmin could be treated as an indicator of the freshness of N. flagelliforme. The occurrence of indole compound may be an indicator of the degradation of cells.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.194-202
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Towards achievement of sustainable agriculture, using microbial inoculants may present promising alternatives without adverse environmental effects; however, there are challenging issues that should be addressed in terms of effectiveness and ecology. Viability and stability of the bacterial inoculants would be one of the major issues in effectiveness of microbial pesticide uses, and the changes within the indigenous microbial communities by the inoculants would be an important factor influencing soil ecology. Here we investigated the stability of the introduced bacterial strains in the soils planted with barley and its effect on the diversity shifts of the rhizosphere soil bacteria. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two different types of bacterial strains of Bacillus thuringiensis and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 were inoculated to the soils planted with barley. To monitor the stability of the inoculated bacterial strains, genes specific to the strains (XRE and mtrA) were quantified by qPCR. In addition, bacterial community analyses were performed using v3-v4 regions of 16S rRNA gene sequences from the barley rhizosphere soils, which were analyzed using Illumina MiSeq system and Mothur. Alpha- and beta-diversity analyses indicated that the inoculated rhizosphere soils were grouped apart from the uninoculated soil, and plant growth also may have affected the soil bacterial diversity. CONCLUSION: Regardless of the survival of the introduced non-native microbes, non-indigenous bacteria may influence the soil microbial community and diversity.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.374-385
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• 2013

Environmental stresses induce several plant pathogenic bacteria into a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state, but the basis for VBNC is largely uncharacterized. We investigated the physiology and morphology of the copper-induced VBNC state in the plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum in liquid microcosm. Supplementation of $200{\mu}M$ copper sulfate to the liquid microcosm completely suppressed bacterial colony formation on culture media; however, LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability staining showed that the bacterial cells maintained viability, and that the viable cells contain higher level of DNA. Based on electron microscopic observations, the bacterial cells in the VBNC state were unchanged in size, but heavily aggregated and surrounded by an unknown extracellular material. Cellular ribosome contents, however, were less, resulting in a reduction of the total RNA in VBNC cells. Proteome comparison and reverse transcription PCR analysis showed that the Dps protein production was up-regulated at the transcriptional level and that 2 catalases/peroxidases were present at lower level in VBNC cells. Cell aggregation and elevated levels of Dps protein are typical oxidative stress responses. $H_2O_2$ levels also increased in VBNC cells, which could result if catalase/peroxidase levels are reduced. Some of phenotypic changes in VBNC cells of R. solanacearum could be an oxidative stress response due to $H_2O_2$ accumulation. This report is the first of the distinct phenotypic changes in cells of R. solanacearum in the VBNC state.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.10a
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• pp.8-8
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• 2019

The stringent response (SR) is characterized as a bacterial defense mechanism in response to various growth-inhibiting stresses. It is activated by accumulation of a small nucleotide regulator, (p)ppGpp, and induces global changes in bacterial transcription and translation. Recent work from our group has shown that (p)ppGpp plays a critical role in virulence and survival in Vibrio cholerae. The genes, relA and relV, are involved in the production of (p)ppGpp, while the spoT gene encodes an enzyme that hydrolyzes it in V. cholerae. A mutant strain defective in (p)ppGpp production (i.e. ${\Delta}relA{\Delta}relV{\Delta}spoT$ mutant) lost the ability to produce cholera toxin (CT) and lost their viability due to uncontrolled production of organic acids, when grown with extra glucose. In contrast, the ${\Delta}relA{\Delta}spoT$ mutant, a (p)ppGpp overproducer strain, produced enhanced level of CT and exhibited better growth in glucose supplemented media via glucose metabolic switch from organic fermentation to acetoin, a neutral fermentation end product, fermentation. These findings indicates that (p)ppGpp, in addition to its well-known role as a SR mediator, positively regulates CT production and maintenance of growth fitness in V. cholerae. This implicates SR as a promising drug target, inhibition of which may possibly downregulate V. cholerae virulence and survival fitness. Therefore, we screened a chemical library and identified a compound that induces medium acidification (termed iMAC) and thereby loss of wild type V. cholerae viability under glucose-rich conditions. Further, we present a potential mechanism by which the compound inhibits (p)ppGpp accumulation. Together, these results indicate that iMAC treatment causes V. cholerae cells to produce significantly less (p)ppGpp, an important regulator of the bacterial virulence and survival response, and further suggesting that it has a therapeutic potential to be developed as a novel antibacterial agent against cholera.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2014

Lactobacilli, the dominant species of microorganisms in the vaginal flora of healthy women, play important roles to prevent bacterial vaginosis and other sexually transmitted diseases. In this study, we carried out studies on stress adaptation prior to various stress treatment. We found that heat or salt adapted KLB46 showed higher cell viability than non adapted upon heat stress at $60^{\circ}C$ for 20 min. When chloramphenicol was added during the adaptation process, heat tolerance was abolished. This result suggested that de novo protein synthesis was essential during adaptation.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.347-351
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• 2002

Benzoate produced from the degradative pathways of various aromatic chemicals is generally recognized as a pollutant compound. However, various bacterial strains isolated as benzoate degraders have exhibited certain limits to their functions, including a loss of viability and degradability when cultivated in a broth medium for a longer time. Accordingly, immobilization techniques have been utilized to overcome such problems, and the current study examined the use of alginate and polyurethane for immobilizing Klebsiella oxytoca C302 to extend its viability and degradability of benzoate. The organism was well encapsulated by both matrices and the immobilized cells showed a high stability as regards their viability and degradability of 2 mM benzoate in a MM2 broth medium during cultivation for longer than 60 h in a semicontinuous batch system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1156-1162
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• 2010

During ethanol fermentation, bacterial strains may encounter various stresses, such as ethanol and acid shock, which adversely affect cell viability and the production of ethanol. Therefore, ethanologenic strains that tolerate abiotic stresses are highly desirable. Bacteria of the genus Deinococcus are extremely resistant to ionizing radiation, ultraviolet light, and desiccation, and therefore constitute an important pool of extreme resistance genes. The irrE gene encodes a general switch responsible for the extreme radioresistance of D. radiodurans. Here, we present evidence that IrrE, acting as a global regulator, confers high stress tolerance to a Zymomonas mobilis strain. Expression of the gene protected Z. mobilis cells against ethanol, acid, osmotic, and thermal shocks. It also markedly improved cell viability, the expression levels and enzyme activities of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase, and the production of ethanol under both ethanol and acid stresses. These data suggest that irrE is a potentially promising gene for improving the abiotic stress tolerance of ethanologenic bacterial strains.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2020

The objective of the study was to assess the survival of microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC8014 produced using the emulsion technique in alginate gel combined with pectin and maltodextrin components. The microcapsules were then added to cupcake dough that was further baked at 200℃ for 12 min. The viability of L. plantarum was assessed during baking and the 10 days of storage at 4℃ as well as in simulated gastrointestinal conditions. In addition, yeast-mold and water activity were investigated. After baking, the samples with microencapsulated L. plantarum contained more than 5 log CFU/g, which was higher compared to the bacterial concentration of the control samples. The concentration of L. plantarum was more than 6 logs CFU/g after the end of the storage; therefore, the probiotic functioned as a biopreservative in the cake. The prebiotic component strengthened the microcapsules network and helped protect the viability of L. plantarum in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) media. The results show that the addition of L. plantarum microencapsules did not affect the sensory scores of the cupcake while ensuring the viability of the probiotic during baking and storing.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1613-1620
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• 2012

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a devastating disease of many economically important crops. Since there is no promising control strategy for bacterial wilt, phage therapy could be adopted using virulent phages. We used phage PE204 as a model lytic bacteriophage to investigate its biocontrol potential for bacterial wilt on tomato plants. The phage PE204 has a short-tailed icosahedral structure and double-stranded DNA genome similar to that of the members of Podoviridae. PE204 is stable under a wide range of temperature and pH, and is also stable in the presence of the surfactant Silwet L-77. An artificial soil microcosm (ASM) to study phage stability in soil was adopted to investigate phage viability under a controlled system. Whereas phage showed less stability under elevated temperature in the ASM, the presence of host bacteria helped to maintain a stable phage population. Simultaneous treatment of phage PE204 at $10^8$ PFU/ml with R. solanacearum on tomato rhizosphere completely inhibited bacterial wilt occurrence, and amendment of Silwet L-77 at 0.1% to the phage suspension did not impair the disease control activity of PE204. The biocontrol activities of phage PE204 application onto tomato rhizosphere before or after R. solanacearum inoculation were also investigated. Whereas pretreatment with the phage was not effective in the control of bacterial wilt, post-treatment of PE204 delayed bacterial wilt development. Our results suggested that appropriate application of lytic phages to the plant root system with a surfactant such as Silwet L-77 could be used to control the bacterial wilt of crops.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.547-554
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• 2008

Bacteriospermia is a frequent finding in fresh boar semen and can result in detrimental effects on semen quality and longevity. The objectives of this study was to evaluate types of bacterial contaminants in porcine fresh semen and the reducing effect of antibiotic and density gradient with percoll on the bacterial contaminants. Fresh semen was collected by gloved-hand method into a pre-warmed($37^{\circ}C$) thermostable bottle, and was inoculated onto blood agar and MacConkey agar, respectively. After incubated for 48 hour, 7.5% $CO_2$ at $37^{\circ}C$, bacterial colonies were selected and identified by Gram staining, oxidase test, catalase test and finally identified using API kits and Vitek system. Aerobic culture yielded a variety of bacteria from different genera. The most prevalent contaminant of fresh semen were Leclecia adecarboxylata, Acineobacter banmanni, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus cohni spp urealyticus, Proteus mirabilis. Most of identified bacteria were Gram(-) and non-pathogenic bacteria. It seems that bacterial contaminants in fresh semen were seem originated from multiple sources at the stud/farm, and were from animal and non-animal origins. Gentamicin treatment did not eliminate the bacterial contaminants completely but 3 step-density gradient with percoll completely removed the bacterial contaminants in fresh semen. Therefore, future study is necessary to prove that density gradient method with percoll can eliminate bacteria in fresh semen without significantly affecting sperm viability or function.