• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.534-539
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• 2004

Two biopolymers, silk fibroin (SF) and chitosan, were conjugated by tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1), a polyphenolic oxidase, to improve their physicochemical properties, such as their thermal properties and morphological stabilities in organic solvents. The crosslinking between SF and chitosan took place mainly through Michael addition reactions. A main reaction between the amino groups in chitosan and o-quinone, the oxidation product of the tyrosyl residue in SF, was confirmed by UV spectroscopy. Measurements of viscosity and light scattering indicated that the crosslinked SF/chitosan conjugate was compact: it had a smaller particle size because of tight bonding forces between the SF and chitosan molecular chains. Thermal decomposition of SF/chitosan conjugates crosslinked by tyrosinase occurred at higher temperatures. The adhesiveness of the SF/chitosan conjugates decreased steadily as the crosslinking reaction progressed. We propose that this new crosslinking method be used for the preparation of silk fibroin/chitosan conjugates using tyrosinase. We expect that SF/chitosan conjugates crosslinked by tyrosinase can be used preferentially in biomedical applications because of its unique properties and non-toxicity.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1995 no.05
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• pp.223-226
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• 1995

Polymers have been developed and applied in many biomedical areas as well as engineering and industrial fields. The first essential to achieve successful development and applications is that properties of such polymer materials would be investigated. In many cases, such investigations are accomplished by observing polymeric behavior arising from the environmental changes such as pH, temperature, and ionic concentration. It has long been known that NMR is extremely sensitive to many biochemical and physical changes occurring in the polymer samples. In the present study we focus our study on NMR Microimaging, which is one of the important NMR applications, to characterize the swelling effect by observing the time dependent spatial variations of polymer specimens. For the samples three kinds of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) specimens are prepared with different degrees of cross linking density. $^1H$ NMR microimages are acquired as a function of time to visualize the swelling behavior as well as volumetric changes occurring in the specimens. From the acquired time dependent images, the swelling process is exploited.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.371-377
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• 2012

The present study describes medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs) production by the Pseudomonas Gl01 strain isolated from mixed microbial communities utilized for PHAs synthesis. A two-step fed-batch fermentation was conducted with glucose and waste rapeseed oil as the main carbon source for obtaining cell growth and mcl-PHAs accumulation, respectively. The results show that the Pseudomonas Gl01 strain is capable of growing and accumulating mcl-PHAs using a waste oily carbon source. The biomass value reached 3.0 g/l of CDW with 20% of PHAs content within 48 h of cultivation. The polymer was purified from lyophilized cells and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The results revealed that the monomeric composition of the obtained polyesters depended on the available substrate. When glucose was used in the growth phase, 3-hydroxyundecanoate and 3-hydroxydodecanoate were found in the polymer composition, whereas in the PHAs-accumulating stage, the Pseudomonas Gl01 strain synthesized mcl-PHAs consisting mainly of 3-hydroxyoctanoate and 3-hydroxydecanoate. The transcriptional analysis using reverse-transcription real-time PCR reaction revealed that the phaC1 gene could be transcribed simultaneously to the phaZ gene.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.853-861
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• 2010

High substrate costs decrease the profitability of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production, and thus low-cost carbon substrates coming from agricultural and industrial residuals are tested for the production of these biopolymers. Among them, crude glycerol, formed as a by-product during biodiesel production, seems to be the most promising source of carbon. The object of this study was to characterize the mixed population responsible for the conversion of crude glycerol into PHAs by cultivation-dependent and -independent methods. Enrichment of the microbial community was monitored by applying the Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (RISA), and the identification of community members was based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing of cultivable species. Molecular analysis revealed that mixed populations consisted of microorganisms affiliated with four bacterial lineages: ${\alpha}$, ${\gamma}$-Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroides. Among these, three Pseudomonas strains and Rhodobacter sp. possessed genes coding for polyhydroxyalkanoates synthase. Comparative analysis revealed that most of the microorganisms detected by direct molecular analysis were obtained by the traditional culturing method.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1739-1749
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• 2020

Exopolysaccharide produced by the yeast Papiliotrema flavescens, isolated from wine grape berries of Champagne vineyard, was investigated for both chemical and functional characterization. SECMALLS and colorimetric assay analyses showed that the EPS is a high M_W heteropolymer (2.37 × 10⁶ g/mol) majorily consisting of mannose, glucose, xylose and glucuronic acid as monosaccharide constituents, with two substituents (sulphate and phosphate groups), and a minor protein moiety. Structural enchainment of these carbohydrates based on methylation, GC-MS and NMR analyses revealed a linear main backbone built up of α-(1 → 3)-D-mannopyranosyl residues on which are branched side chains consisting of a single β-D-glucopyranosyluronic acid residue and β-(1 → 2)-xylopyranoses (2-5 residues). Suggestion of some xylopyranose side chains containing a mannose residue at the nonreducing terminal end was also proposed. This is first report on EPSs from the grape P. flavescens yeast with such structural characteristics. Furthermore, investigations for valuating the application performance of these EPS in relation with their structural features were carried out in 8% alcohol experiment solutions. Very exceptional viscosifying and foaming properties were reported by comparison with commercial biopolymers such as Arabic, gellan and xanthan gums. The intrinsic properties of the natural biopolymer from this wild grape-associated P. flavescens yeast make it a potential candidate for use in various biotechnology applications.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.370-375
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• 2001

For the production of new exo-biopolymers from microorganisms, an exe-biopolymer producing bacterial strain was isolated from the composter used in composting of organic wastes. Bacteriological properties of this strain and physicochemical properties of producing exo-biopolymer were investigated. The isolated strain was identified as Enterobacter sp. through its morphological, cultural and physiological characteristics. The results of color reactions, CPC (cetyl pyridinium chloride) precipitation and infra red absorption spectral analysis indicated that this exo-biopolymer was presumed as an acidic polysaccharide with uronic acid. This polysaccharide was identified as hetero-polysaccharide consisting of galactose, mannose and galacturonic acid by gas chromatography, and the molecular weight of exopolysaccharide purified by gel chromatography were about 370,000 daltons. The polysaccharide solutions(0.50-2.0%, w/v) exhibited non-Newtonian flow behavior with pseudoplastic property and showed the ability of gel formation at above 1.5% (w/v) of polysaccharide concentration.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.478-485
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• 2013

In this study, hydrogels with fast swelling and high absorbent properties were prepared using biopolymers approved as a food additive and their swelling properties were characterized. To improve the swelling properties of conventional hydrogels, we formed gas bubbles using a foaming agent in the process of preparing hydrogels and characterized in terms of equilibrium swelling ratio, swelling kinetics and cytotoxicity. In particular, alginate hydrogels observed by a digital microscope have an open-pore channels structure with the sizes of hundreds micrometers. Also, the cell viability of all hydrogels were found to be much higher than that of poly(acrylic acid).

• KSBB Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2000

The diffusion effect of simulated gastric juices into the various alginate vessel containing each biopolymer such as 0.3% soluble starch, whey, corn starch, agar, locust bean gum, guar gum, gum arabic, pectin, gelatin and 0.15% xanthan gum was tested by measuring the change of pH in the vessel. The degree of viability of bifidobacteria entrapped in each bead containing biopolymers was corresponded with the degree of diffusion inhibition of hydrogen into the each vessel. Therefore, The determination of diffusion inhibition of simulated gastric juices into the various vessel by measuring the change of pH in the vessel may be effectively used as the simple method to select the optimal entrapment lattice for the improvement of bifidobacteria viability. Bifidobacteria entrapped in alginate bead containing 0.15% xanthan gum whose lattice showed the lowest hydrogen diffusion were more significantly tolerant against bile salts and hydrogen peroxide than untrapped bifidobacteria. It was also observed that the viability of bifidobacteria entrapped in bead was nto nearly changed in milk adjusted pH 4.5 with organic adids at $4^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. Therefore, use of alginate containing 0.15% xanthan gum as a cell matrix for entrapping bifidobacteria was expected to improve the viability of bididobacteria in fermented milk products and develop the high value-added products.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.305-307
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• 2018

The whole genome sequencing using PacBio RS II platform was performed for a marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas donghaensis $HJ51^T$ isolated from East Sea of Korea. As a result, three assembled contigs consisting of a chromosome (size of 3,646,857 bp, and G + C content of 41.8%) and two plasmids (size of 842,855 bp and 244,204 bp, and G + C content of 41.3% and 40.4%, respectively) were obtained. The genome included 4,083 protein coding genes and 127 RNA genes. This result could be used for gene sources of biopolymers degradation and the development as a new host with secretion system similar to Escherichia coli.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.198-203
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• 2000

A highly viscous biopolymer from Bacillus coagulans CE-74 was purified and its rheological properties were studied The rheological properties of biopolymers produced by Bacillus coagulans CE-74 were studied at the temperature ranges with 20~8$0^{\circ}C$, at the concentration of 0.5~4.0%, at the pH ranges from 3 to 1 and at the shear rate fo 7.34~73.38 sec-1. The apparent viscosity of biopolymer was decreased with increasing shear rate, and thereby biopolymer showed pseudoplastic characteristics. Biopolymer solution showed a characteristic of non-Newtonian fluid properties. At the concentration of 1%, the consistency index and the flow behavior index were shown at 2.64 poise. sec11 and 0.8571, respectively. All dispersions were pseudoplastic fluids described accurately by Herschel-Bulkley model. The change of the biopolymer viscosity on pH showed the highest value at the pH 7.0 and it showed lower at acidic conditon that at alkaline condition comparatively.