• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.326-334
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• 2009

Blood coagulation and aggregation of platelet are crucial events in the pathogenesis of various ischemic diseases. The substance which can prevent blood coagulation and platelet aggregation was extracted from wood ear mushroom (Auricularia auricular-judae) and its anticoagulation activity was investigated. The dried A. auricular-judae was extracted with 0.1 N NaOH and its supernatant was further extracted with methanol and ethanol followed by $H_{2}O$. The resulting methanol soluble fraction showed significant antithrombotic activity in activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, and prothrombin time assays with values of 100, 124, and 54 sec, respectively. This active substance was purified with DEAE-Sepharose CL6B and Sephacryl 400-HR and was found to be polysaccharide with the average molecular weight of over 150 kDa. This polysaccharide was xyloglucomannan of which the main component was mannose, and its anticoagulant activity was mostly mediated by inhibition of thrombin activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.244-255
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• 2019

Xylose isomerase (XI; E.C. 5.3.1.5) catalyzes the isomerization of xylose to xylulose, which can be used to produce bioethanol through fermentation. Therefore, XI has recently gained attention as a key catalyst in the bioenergy industry. Here, we identified, purified, and characterized a XI (PbXI) from the psychrophilic soil microorganism, Paenibacillus sp. R4. Surprisingly, activity assay results showed that PbXI is not a cold-active enzyme, but displays optimal activity at $60^{\circ}C$. We solved the crystal structure of PbXI at $1.94-{\AA}$ resolution to investigate the origin of its thermostability. The PbXI structure shows a $({\beta}/{\alpha})_8$-barrel fold with tight tetrameric interactions and it has three divalent metal ions (CaI, CaII, and CaIII). Two metal ions (CaI and CaII) located in the active site are known to be involved in the enzymatic reaction. The third metal ion (CaIII), located near the ${\beta}4-{\alpha}6$ loop region, was newly identified and is thought to be important for the stability of PbXI. Compared with previously determined thermostable and mesophilic XI structures, the ${\beta}1-{\alpha}2$ loop structures near the substrate binding pocket of PbXI were remarkably different. Site-directed mutagenesis studies suggested that the flexible ${\beta}1-{\alpha}2$ loop region is essential for PbXI activity. Our findings provide valuable insights that can be applied in protein engineering to generate low-temperature purpose-specific XI enzymes.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.241-252
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• 2021

Rapid industrialization with growing population leads to environmental water pollution. Demand in generation of clean water from waste water is ever increasing by scarcity of rain water due to change in weather pattern. Colorimetric detection of heavy metal present in clean water is very simple and effective technique. In this review membrane based colorimetric detection of mercury (II) ions are discussed in details. Membrane such as cellulose, polycaprolactone, chitosan, polysulfone etc., are used as support for metal ion detection. Nanofiber based materials have wide range of applications in energy, environment and biomedical research. Membranes made up of nanofiber consist up plenty of functional groups available in the polymer along with large surface area and high porosity. As a result, it is easy for surface modification and grafting of ligand on the fiber surface enhanced nanoparticles attachment.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2019

This work focused on characterization of the starch degradation activity from extremophile strain Deinococcus geothermalis. Glucoamylase gene from D. geothermalis was cloned and overexpressed by pET-21a vector using E. coli BL21 (DE3). In order to characterize starch degrading activity of recombinant glucoamylase, enzyme was purified using HisPur Ni-NTA column. The recombinant glucoamylase from D. geothermalis exhibited the optimum temperature as $45^{\circ}C$ for starch degradation activity. And highly acido-stable starch degrading activity was shown at pH 2. For further optimization of starch degrading activity with metal ion, various metal ions ($AgCl_2$, $HgCl_2$, $MnSO_4{\cdot}4H_2O$, $CoCl_2{\cdot}6H_2O$, $MgSO_4$, $ZnSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, $K_2SO_4$, $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$, NaCl, or $CuSO_4$) were added for enzyme reaction. As results, it was found that $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$ or $MnSO_4{\cdot}4H_2O$ addition resulted in 17% and 9% improved starch degrading activity, respectively. The recombinant glucoamylase from D. geothermalis might be used for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process at high acidic conditions.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.70-76
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• 2010

To investigate the ground water quality status for paprika hydroponics for export, its pH, EC (electrical conductivity) and inorganic ion concentrations were analyzed in Gangwan-do (27 samples), Gyeonsangnam-do (77 samples) and Jeollanam-do (54 samples) from November 2008 to September 2009. The average values of several components in ground water were as follows; 7.20 (6.57~7.54) in pH, 0.31 (0.05~0.49) $dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ in EC, 97.81 (35.37~161.11) in $HCO_3$, 5.68 (0.45~15.48) in T-N, 0.67 (0.15~0.70) in P, 2.53 (0.59~6.70) in K, 35.68 (4.15~80.70) in Ca, 7.35 (1.46~14.87) in Mg, 17.89 (3.31~34.82) in Na, 0.01 (0~0.05) in Fe, 0.09 (0~0.51) in Mn, 0.06 (0~0.07) in Zn, and 0.03 (0~0.10) $mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ in Cu, respectively. The values of pH, EC, $HCO_3$, Ca, Mg and Na in ground water were different depending on areas and farms. Frequency rates were 92.6% of pH 5.0~8.0, 89.3% of EC < 0.5 $dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, 69.5% of $HCO_3$ < 100, 97.5% of Na < 30, 88.5% of Ca < 40, 97.5% of Mg < 20, 90.1% of Fe < 0.05, 99.6% of Mn < 0.6, and 98.3% of Zn < 0.5 $mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$, respectively, which can be used for nutrient fertilizers in hydroponics. The percentage of suitable water quality was 46.3% as 70 sites among the all analyzed ions. The pH value showed high significance of correlations with EC, Mg, $HCO_3$, Na, and Fe. Also the EC value showed high positive significance with T-N, K, Ca, Mg, $HCO_3$, Na and Mn.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2018

Also, t-cincreaseisdecreasein order In hydroponics, the accumulation of inorganic ions in the root zone are closely related to the irrigation volume. Therefore, the effects of irrigation volume on the growth and yield of tomatoes are very signigicant. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of irrigation volume on inorganic ions of root zone in hydroponic culture using coir substrate. The irrigation volume was adjusted to 4 levels depending on the integrated solar radiation for each growth period. The drainage ratio was calculated by daily amount of irrigation and drainage. The higher irrigation volume is, drainage ratio and water absorption tended to increase. But, the water absorption in the treatment of high irrigation volume was decreased in February and March compared to the treatment of medium high irrigation volume. By calculating monthly average irrigation volume and the drainage ratio, 120 to 1$40J/cm^2$ in January, 100 to $120J/cm^2$ in February, 80 to $100J/cm^2$ in March, 70 to $90J/cm^2$ in April and 60 to $75J/cm^2$ in May was detected as appropriate irrigation volume ranges which drainage ratio was 20-30%. The higher irrigation volume, the lower the concentration of ions decrease, which could prevent the accumulation of nutrients in the root zone. However, due to the characteristics of the coir substrate that absorbs ions, concentration of ions was significantly high when the drainage ratio was 20-30%. However, concentrations of P and K were sometimes lower in the drainage than that of irrigation water regardless of the treatment. Mg and S were the most highly accumulated ions even in the treatment of high irrigation volume. In low radiation season, there was no difference in the ion concentration in the drainage depending on the irrigation volume. In high radiation season, the lower irrigation volume, resulted to the higher ion concentration in the drainage. After March, it was difficult to prevent the increase of ions concetration in the drainage by only adjusting irrigation volume. Thus, it is necessary to decrease the EC of irrigation solution to prevent the accumulation of nutrients in the root zone.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.158-166
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• 2017

The object of this study was to improve tomato seedling quality in low temperature(below 7, $10^{\circ}C$ during night time or daily mean air temperature was $18^{\circ}C$) by application of silicate fertilizer. Six different silicate fertilizer concentrations (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256mM) or water as the control were applied to tomato seedlings twice a week for 20 days. Positive effects were observed in the growth parameters of the seedlings treated with 16 and 32mM silicate fertilizer; the most effective concentration of silicate at which seedlings showed the best performance was 16mM. However, a high concentration of silicate (256mM) caused negative effects on the growth. The transpiration rate decreased alongside with the increase of silicate concentration up to 32mM, possibly due to the increased stomatal diffusive resistance. Silicate stimulated the growth and development of tomato seedlings, resulting in increased growth parameters and root morphology. However, no significant differences were observed among treatment numbers of soil-drenching wuth the silicate (6, 10, or 20 times with 16mM) for 20 days, suggesting that silicate treatment with 6 times may be sufficient to induce the silicate effects. The application of 16mM of silicate fertilizer reduced relative ion leakage and chilling injury during low temperature storage. In addition, the seedlings treated with silicate fertilizer recovered faster than those without silicate treatment after low temperature storage.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.247-252
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• 2011

Electrical conductivity, drainage, and irrigation amount of nutrient solution are important factors for determination of the mixing ratio of fresh and reused nutrient solutions in closed-loop soilless culture. Generally a fixed mixing ratio is applied in commercial scale greenhouses using solar radiation-based irrigation system. Although it ensures continuous supply of fresh nutrient solution in the mixing process, occasional discharge of the drainage is inevitably required. This study was conducted to compare the nutrient replenishing effect under different mixing processes and to investigate appropriate mixing process. For this experiment, a fixed mixing ratio (FR), modifiable mixing ratio (MR), and open-loop (OP) as control were applied. Mixing ratio was determined by a set value of EC for dilution of collected drainage in FR and the set values of 1.0 and $2.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ were used as treatments (FR 1.0 and FR 2.0), respectively. In MR, mixing ratio was determined based on EC and volume of drainage within irrigation volume per event. The volume of drainage stored in the drainage tank tended to increase in FR 1.0. Although such trend was not observed in FR 2.0 and MR, the volume of drainage stored in MR was lower than that in FR 2.0. The ion balance of $Mg^{2+}:K^+:Ca^{2+}$ or $SO^{2-}_4:NO^-_3:PO^{3-}_4$ in the drainage and reused nutrient solution changed within a narrow range regardless of treatment.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.476-484
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• 2022

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of closed cultivation and open cultivation method and substrate type on the nutrient ion change pattern and growth of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) 'Scirocco' according to the reuse of drainage in hydroponics. The sowing, transplanting, and application of the closed and open cultivation method were carried out on August 19 and September 16, and October 21, 2021, respectively. As a result of the analysis of nutrients in the drainage, Na⁺ and Cl^- are representative ions that crops do not absorb properly, and as the growth progresses, they are accumulated in the closed method. In addition, since the content of NH₄-N in the drainage is significantly lower than that of NO₃-N, it is thought that NH₄-N is preferentially absorbed rather than NO₃-N due to the ion selectivity of sweet pepper. The growth and fruit characteristics of sweet pepper did not differ significantly between treatments according to the drainage reuse and the type of substrate. In conclusion, if you take care of poor fruiting due to the weakening of power after the middle period in hydroponic cultivation of sweet pepper according to the cultivation method of closed and open, and the substrate type of coir and rock wool, the difference between treatments is not large, so the sweet pepper can be produced by selecting the cultivation methods and substrate types suitable for the conditions of grower. However, as interest in environmental pollution has recently increased, it is judged that there is no need to worry about a decrease in quantity or quality, even if a closed cultivation method is adopted under the assumption that pathogen infection due to drainage reuse is well managed. It is expected that if coir is applied instead of rock wool, which causes a problem of disposal, it will further contribute to the reduction of environmental pollution.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.808-817
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• 2011

Because of its elevated cellulolytic activity, the filamentous fungus Trichoderma harzianum has a considerable potential in biomass hydrolysis applications. Trichoderma harzianum cellobiohydrolase I (ThCBHI), an exoglucanase, is an important enzyme in the process of cellulose degradation. Here, we report an easy single-step ion-exchange chromatographic method for purification of ThCBHI and its initial biophysical and biochemical characterization. The ThCBHI produced by induction with microcrystalline cellulose under submerged fermentation was purified on DEAE-Sephadex A-50 media and its identity was confirmed by mass spectrometry. The ThCBHI biochemical characterization showed that the protein has a molecular mass of 66 kDa and pI of 5.23. As confirmed by smallangle X-ray scattering (SAXS), both full-length ThCBHI and its catalytic core domain (CCD) obtained by digestion with papain are monomeric in solution. Secondary structure analysis of ThCBHI by circular dichroism revealed ${\alpha}$- helices and ${\beta}$-strands contents in the 28% and 38% range, respectively. The intrinsic fluorescence emission maximum of 337 nm was accounted for as different degrees of exposure of ThCBHI tryptophan residues to water. Moreover, ThCBHI displayed maximum activity at pH 5.0 and temperature of $50^{\circ}C$ with specific activities against Avicel and p-nitrophenyl-${\beta}$-D-cellobioside of 1.25 U/mg and 1.53 U/mg, respectively.