• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.66-71
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• 2007

Two isolates of genus Acinetobacter were obtained from Jang-Baek waterfall in North Korea. Morphological characteristics of the isolated 2 strains were Gram-negative, aerobic and rod shape bacteria. Physiological and biochemical characterization of the isolated 2 strains were some different aspect from those of type strains. 16S rDNA sequence analysis showed that the two isolates shared 99.9% sequence similarity. Strains JB10 and $JB15^{T}$ were shown to belong to the Gammaproteobacteria and showed the highest levels of sequence similarity to Acinetobacter tandoii $4N13^{T}$ (97.3%), Acinetobacter haemolyticus $ATCC17906^{T}$ (97.2%), Acinetobacter johnsonii $DSM6963^{T}$ (97.2%), Acinetobacter junii $DSM6964^{T}$ (96.7%), Acinetobacter schindleri $LUH5832^{T}$ (97.0%) and Acinetobacter ursingii $LUH3792^{T}$ (96.6%). The major cellular fatty acid in Acinetobacter type strains and isolated strains included $C_{18:1}\;{\omega}9c\;and\;C_{16:1}\;{\omega}7c/C_{15:0}\;iso\;2OH$. Eventhough it was ascertained that the isolated strains were closely related to genus Acinetobacter, physiological and biochemical characteristics and the result of the isolated strains 16S rDNA analysis indicate some different aspects from those of type strains of genus Acinetohacter It is considered that the isolated JB10 (=KEMC 52-093) and $JB15^{T}\;(=KEMC\;52-094^{T})$ strains be new species of genus Acinetobacter. We name it as Acinetobacter koreensis sp. nov.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.77-90
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to isolate cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic anaerobic bacteria inhabiting from gut of ruminants and investigate their hydrolytic enzyme activities. Extracellular CMCase activities of H-strains isolated from the rumen of a Holstein dairy cow were higher than those of D- and DC- strains from the rumen and large intestine of Korean spotted deer. Most isolated bacteria utilized more efficiently Dehority's artificial medium containing starch, glucose and cellobiose (DAS) than those in Dehority's artificial medium containing cellulose only (DAC). The results of biochemical reactions and sugar fermentation indicated that the isolated bacteria belong to one of bacterial strains of Peptostreptococcus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Prevotela ruminicola/buccae, Clostridium beijer/butyricum and Streptococcus intermedis which are not highly cellulolytic. Activities of Avicelase, xylanase, β-D-glucosidase, α-L-arabinofuranosidase and β-xylosidase of the isolated anaerobic bacteria in DAS were higher than those in DAC. In conclusion, the results indicated the higher enzyme activities of the isolated strains cultured in DAS medium were mainly caused by their specific carbohydrate utilization for enzyme production and growth rate. The highly cellulolytic bacteria were not isolated in the present experiment. Thus further research is required to investigate characteristics of gut bacteria from Korean spotted deer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.9-19
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• 2016

Xylanases sourced from different bacteria have significantly different enzymatic properties. Therefore, studying xylanases from different bacteria is important to their applications in different fields. A potential xylanase degradation gene in Massilia was recently discovered through genomic sequencing. However, its xylanase activity remains unexplored. This paper is the first to report a xylanase (XynRBM26) belonging to the glycosyl hydrolase family (GH10) from the genus Massilia. The gene encodes a 383-residue polypeptide (XynRBM26) with the highest identity of 62% with the endoxylanase from uncultured bacterium BLR13. The XynRBM26 expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 is a monomer with a molecular mass of 45.0 kDa. According to enzymatic characteristic analysis, pH 5.5 is the most appropriate for XynRBM26, which could maintain more than 90% activity between pH 5.0 and 8.0. Moreover, XynRBM26 is stable at 37℃ and could maintain at least 96% activity after being placed at 37℃ for 1 h. This paper is the first to report that GH10 xylanase in an animal gastrointestinal tract (GIT) has salt tolerance, which could maintain 86% activity in 5 M NaCl. Under the optimum conditions, K_m, V_max, and k_cat of XynRBM26 to beechwood xylan are 9.49 mg/ml, 65.79 μmol/min/mg, and 47.34 /sec, respectively. Considering that XynRBM26 comes from an animal GIT, this xylanase has potential application in feedstuff. Moreover, XynRBM26 is applicable to high-salt food and seafood processing, as well as other high-salt environmental biotechnological fields, because of its high catalytic activity in high-concentration NaCl.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2012

Three protease-producing halophilic bacteria were isolated from fermenting anchovy. Isolated FAM 10, FAM 114, and FAM 115 were found to grow optimally at salt concentrations of 2-4%, 10%, and 6%, respectively, and could grow in salinity of up to 18-22%. The salinity conditions for optimum protease production were 6% in FAM 10 and 10% in FAM 114 and FAM 115. The protease activity of FAM 10 was gradually inhibited by the addition of NaCl up to 10%, and was not evident at 14%, whereas FAM 114 and FAM 115 displayed protease activity at 14% NaCl and could not be measured at 18%. These results demonstrated that the three isolated strains belong to protease-producing, moderately halophilic bacteria. Strain FAM 10, FAM 114, and FAM 115 were identified as Salinivibrio sp., Halobacillus sp., and Halobacillus sp. respectively, based on comparative analyses of the 16S rRNA gene and the 16S-23S intergenic space sequence (IGS), biochemical testing, and Gram staining. Salinivibrio sp. FAM 10 had two 16S rDNAs containing different sequences at position 191 and four IGSs that harbored no tRNA gene and tRNA genes for isoleucine, alanine, glutamate, lysine, and/or valine. Halobacillus sp. FAM 114 and FAM 115 had completely identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and showed 99% identity to the sequences of various Halobacillus strains. The three IGSs found in the genome of both strains displayed 99% sequence identity with Halobacillus aidingensis and Halobacillus sp. JM-Hb, and had $IGS^0$ with no tRNA gene and $IGS^{IA}$ with tRNA genes for isoleucine and alanine.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2014

Hrq1 is a novel member of RecQ helicase family, found in fungal genomes by bioinformatics analyses. It is most homologous to human RECQL4 and recent genetic and biochemical studies suggested that it may play roles in the maintenance of genome stability. In this study, we investigated yeast two-hybrid interactions between Hrq1 and the yeast genes homologous to the human genes that are known to interact with RECQL4. Among the 11 genes tested, Rad14, a nucleotide excision repair (NER) factor, was found to interact with Hrq1. In addition, pull-down assay with the purified proteins revealed direct protein-protein interaction between Hrq1 and Rad14. The yeast two-hybrid interaction was enhanced by the DNA damage induced by 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide, which was dependent on the presence of Rad4, a key NER factor. These results suggest that Hrq1 may function in NER through interaction with Rad14.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.2180-2189
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• 2017

Psychrophilic phytases suitable for aquaculture are rare. In this study, a phytase of the histidine acid phosphatase (HAP) family was identified in Morchella importuna, a psychrophilic mushroom. The phytase showed 38% identity with Aspergillus niger PhyB, which was the closest hit. The M. importuna phytase was overexpressed in Pichia pastoris, purified, and characterized. The phytase had an optimum temperature at $25^{\circ}C$, which is the lowest among all the known phytases to our best knowledge. The optimum pH (6.5) is higher than most of the known HAP phytases, which is fit for the weak acidic condition in fish gut. At the optimum pH and temperature, MiPhyA showed the maximum activity level ($2,384.6{\pm}90.4{\mu}mol{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}mg^{-1}$, suggesting that the enzyme possesses a higher activity level over many known phytases at low temperatures. The phytate-degrading efficacy was tested on three common feed materials (soybean meal/rapeseed meal/corn meal) and was compared with the well-known phytases of Escherichia coli and A. niger. When using the same amount of activity units, MiPhyA could yield at least $3{\times}$ more inorganic phosphate than the two reference phytases. When using the same weight of protein, MiPhyA could yield at least $5{\times}$ more inorganic phosphate than the other two. Since it could degrade phytate in feed materials efficiently under low temperature and weak acidic conditions, which are common for aquacultural application, MiPhyA might be a promising candidate as a feed additive enzyme.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.195-203
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• 2015

Two bacterial strains, Bacillus licheniformis YB-1413 and YB-1414, producing extracellular α-galactosidase, were obtained from homemade Doenjang. On the basis of their biochemical properties, 16S rRNA sequences and random amplified polymorphic DNA patterns by polymerase chain reaction, they were found to be somewhat different from one another. α-Galactosidase productivities of the two isolates were increased by wheat bran, but drastically decreased by melibiose, raffinose and sucrose which were used as carbon sources. The enzyme productivities were increased by yeast extract as a nitrogen source with maximum levels of 1.87 U/ml for YB-1413 and 1.69 U/ml for YB-1414, respectively. The enzymes of both isolates exhibited maximum activity for hydrolysis of para-nitrophenyl-α-D-galactopyranoside (pNP-αGal) under reaction conditions of pH 6.0 and 45℃. Their hydrolyzing activities for pNP-αGal were drastically decreased by the addition of low concentrations of ribose and galactose. They were capable of hydrolyzing completely α-1,6 linked galactosyl residue in melibiose, raffinose and stachyose, which are known to be anti-nutritional factors in products of soybean and legume. In relation to the latter, the isolates YB-1413 and YB-1414 have potential applicability in improving soybean-fermented foods and the nutritional value of soybean feed.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.325-330
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• 2006

This study presents the characterization of an integrated portable microfluidic electrical detection system for fast and low volume immunoassay using polystyrene microbead, which are used as immobilization surfaces. In our chip, a filtration method using the microbead was adopted for sample immobilization and immunogold silver staining(IGSS) was used to increase the electrical signal. The chip is composed of an inexpensive and biocompatible Polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) layer and Pyrex glass substrate. Platinum microelectrodes for electric signal detection were fabricated on the substrate and microchannel and pillar-type microfilters were formed in the PDMS layer. With a fabricated chip, we reacted antigen and antibody according to the procedures. Then, silver enhancer was injected to increase the size of nanogold particles tagged with the second antibody. As a result, microbeads were connected to each other and formed an electrical bridge between microelectrodes. Resistance measured through the electrodes showed a difference of two orders of magnitude between specific and nonspecific immuno-reactions. The detection limit was 10 ng/ml. The developed immunoassay chip reduced the total analysis time from 3 hours to 50 min. Fast and low-volume biochemical analysis has been successfully achieved with the developed microfilter and immuno-sensor chip, which is integrated to the microfluidic system.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.46 no.1 s.145
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• pp.131-139
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• 2007

From the course of screening of useful enzyme producing microorganism from insect guts, we isolated 9 lipase producing strains and their lipase producing activities were tested. 16S rDNA sequence analysis showed that they were Gram negative bacteria grouped on Serratia sp., Pseudomonas sp., and Burkholderia sp.. Among them, an excellent lipase producing strain, Burkholderia sp. HY-10 identified by 16S rDNA analysis and biochemical methods, was further studied its lipase producing characteristics. It was isolated from a longcorm beetle, Prionus insularis and showed cell density dependent lipase producing activity in the culture media that contained olive oil as a carbon source. Maximum lipase production was achieved in the M9 media containing 0.5% yeast extract and 0.5% olive oil when cultured at $30^{\circ}C$ for 36-42 hrs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 2013

A facultative bacterium producing cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes was isolated from the rumen of a native Korean goat. The bacterium was identified as a Bacillus licheniformis on the basis of biochemical and morphological characteristics and 16S rDNA sequences, and has been designated Bacillus licheniformis JK7. Endoglucanase activities were higher than those of ${\beta}$-glucosidase and xylanase at all temperatures. Xylanase had the lowest activity among the three enzymes examined. The optimum temperature for the enzymes of Bacillus licheniformis JK7 was $70^{\circ}C$ for endoglucanase (0.75 U/ml) and $50^{\circ}C$ for ${\beta}$-glucosidase and xylanase (0.63 U/ml, 0.44 U/ml, respectively). All three enzymes were stable at a temperature range of 20 to $50^{\circ}C$. At $50^{\circ}C$, endoglucanse, ${\beta}$-glucosidase, and xylanase had 90.29, 94.80, and 88.69% residual activity, respectively. The optimal pH for the three enzymes was 5.0, at which their activity was 1.46, 1.10, and 1.08 U/ml, respectively. The activity of all three enzymes was stable in the pH range of 3.0 to 6.0. Endoglucanase activity was increased 113% by $K^+$, while $K^+$, $Zn^+$, and tween 20 enhanced ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity. Xylanase showed considerable activity even in presence of selected chemical additives, with the exception of $Mn^{2+}$ and $Cu^{2+}$. The broad range of optimum temperatures (20 to $40^{\circ}C$) and the stability under acidic pH (4 to 6) suggest that the cellulolytic enzymes of Bacillus licheniformis JK7 may be good candidates for use in the biofuel industry.