• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• 제27권2호
• /
• pp.164-169
• /
• 2011

Previous studies have addressed the management of phyllosphere pathogens by leaf and root-associated microbes. The present study evaluated the effect of the foliar application of three strains of Bacillus spp. on plant growth and fruit quality. The application of a bacilli spore preparation significantly improved leaf growth parameters such as leaf thickness and photosynthesis capacity, indicating that bacilli treatment directly promoted leaf growth. In addition, foliar treatment resulted in an improvement in the key indicators of fruit quality including water, glucose, and sucrose contents. The present results suggest that foliar spraying of beneficial bacilli is a potential treatment of wide application for the improvement of apple quality. Foliar application of bacilli preparation as effective plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria broadens the spectrum of their availability for orchard application.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제14권3호
• /
• pp.442-449
• /
• 2004

Improving the light utilization efficiency of photosynthetic cells in photobioreactors (PBRs) is a major topic in algal biotechnology. Accordingly, in the current study we investigated the effect and suitability of photosynthetic pigment reduction for improving light utilization efficiency. The light-harvesting complex II (LH-II) genes of Rhodobacter sphaeroides were removed to construct a mutant strain with less pigment content. The mutant strain exhibited a slower growth rate than the wild-type under a low light intensity, while the mutant grew faster under a high light intensity. In addition, the specific absorption coefficient was lower in the mutant due to its reduced pigment content, thus it seemed that light penetrated deeper into its culture broth. However, the distance (light penetration depth) from the surface of the PBR to the compensation point did not increase, due to an increase in the compensation irradiance of the mutant strain. Experimental data showed that a reduced photosynthetic pigment content, which lessened the photoinhibition under high-intensity light, helped the volumetric productivity of photosynthetic microorganisms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제25권1호
• /
• pp.44-49
• /
• 2015

Thermostable enzymes derived from Thermotoga maritima have attracted worldwide interest for their potential industrial applications. Structural analysis and docking studies were preformed on T. maritima β-glucosidase enzyme with cellobiose and pNP-linked substrates. The 3D structure of the thermostable β-glucosidase was downloaded from the Protein Data Bank database. Substrates were downloaded from the PubCehm database and were minimized using MOE software. Docking of BglA and substrates was carried out using MOE software. After analyzing docked enzyme/substrate complexes, it was found that Glu residues were mainly involved in the reaction, and other important residues such as Asn, Ser, Tyr, Trp, and His were involved in hydrogen bonding with pNP-linked substrates. By determining the substrate recognition pattern, a more suitable β-glucosidase enzyme could be developed, enhancing its industrial potential.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
• /
• 제68권
• /
• pp.173-179
• /
• 2018

Electrochemical characterization was conducted on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-ceramic composite (PVA-CC) separators for supercapacitor applications. The PVA-CC separators were fabricated by mixing various ceramic particles including aluminum oxide ($Al_2O_3$), silicon dioxide ($SiO_2$), and titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) into a PVA aqueous solution. These ceramic particles help to create amorphous regions in the crystalline structure of the polymer matrix to increase the ionic conductivity of PVA. Supercapacitors were assembled using PVA-CC separators with symmetric activated carbon electrodes and electrochemical characterization showed enhanced specific capacitance, rate capability, cycle life, and ionic conductivity. Supercapacitors using the $PVA-TiO_2$ composite separator showed particularly good electrochemical performance with a 14.4% specific capacitance increase over supercapacitors using the bare PVA separator after 1000 cycles. With regards to safety, PVA becomes plasticized when immersed in 6 M KOH aqueous solution, thus there was no appreciable loss in tear resistance when the ceramic particles were added to PVA. Thus, the enhanced electrochemical properties can be attained without reduction in safety making the addition of ceramic nanoparticles to PVA separators a cost-effective strategy for increasing the ionic conductivity of separator materials for supercapacitor applications.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국생물공학회 2005년도 생물공학의 동향(XVII)
• /
• pp.354-354
• /
• 2005

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제14권6호
• /
• pp.1190-1195
• /
• 2004

In recent years, there has been an intensive research on decolorization of dye and textile wastewater by various fungal strains. In this study, the decolorization ability of three commercial dyes, acid yellow 99, acid blue 350, and acid red 114, were investigated using 10 fungal strains. Among the fungal strains tested, Trametes versicolor KCTC 16781 completely decolorized all dyes in both solid and liquid experiments, and was also able to decolorize the mixture of those three dyes in liquid experiments. The secretion of the ligninolytic enzymes into the extracellular medium during decolorization by T versicolor KCTC 16781 was also studied. No lignin peroxidase activity was detected, and manganese peroxidase and laccase activities were investigated.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• 제20권5호
• /
• pp.329-337
• /
• 2005

Because of their unique properties, supercritical fluids have been known as one of the most promising materials for the future technology. Supercritical fluid technologies have been widely applied to various operations such as extraction, impregnation, nano-particle generation, oxidation, reaction etc. Industrial applications, especially their successful usage of supercritical fluid, have been reviewed. A special case for the first successful industrial application of supercritical $CO_2$ extraction in Korea was reviewed. Its unique characteristics of enriched antioxidant, $'\grmma-tocopherol'$ enabled this industrial application in Korea in spite of its low market price. Also its size and operation conditions were known as world records.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제15권6호
• /
• pp.1240-1249
• /
• 2005

Saccharomyces cerevisiae KNU5377 has potential as an industrial strain that can ferment wasted paper for fuel ethanol at $40^{\circ}C$ [15, 16]. To understand the characteristics of the strain, genome-wide expression was performed using DNA microarray technology. We compared the homology of the DNA microarray between genomic DNAs of S. cerevisiae KNU5377 and a control strain, S. cerevisiae S288C. Approximately $97\%$ of the genes in S. cerevisiae KNU5377 were identified with those of the reference strain. YHR053c (CUP1), YLR155c (ASP3), and YDR038c (ENA5) showed lower homology than those of S. cerevisiae S288C. In particular, the differences in the regions of YHR053c and YLR155c were confirmed by Southern hybridization, but did not with that of the region of YDR038c. The expression level of mRNA in S. cerevisiae KNU5377 and S288C was also compared: the 550 ORFs of S. cerevisiae KNU5377 showed more than two-fold higher intensity than those of S. cerevisiae S288C. Among the 550 ORFs, 59 ORFs belonged to the groups of ribosomal proteins and mitochondrial ribosomal proteins, and 200 ORFs belonged to the group of cellular organization. DIP5 and GAP1 were the most highly expressed genes. These results suggest that upregulated DIP5 and GAP 1 might take the place of ASP3 and, additionally, the sensitivity against copper might be contributable to the lowest expression level of copper-binding metallothioneins encoded by CUP 1a (YHR053c) and CUP1b (YHR055c) in S. cerevisiae KNU5377.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• 제20권2호
• /
• pp.84-87
• /
• 2005

바이오디젤과 바이오디젤을 기반으로 생산된 neopentyl polyol ester (NPE)계 윤활유 베이스, 디젤유 윤활유와 석유디젤을 분석대상으로 하여 지렁이 (Eisenia fetida)를 이용한 독성 시험을 수행하였다. OECD 207규격에 근거하여 독성을 분석한 결과 바이오디젤과 NPE계 윤활유 베이스의 반수치사농도 $(LC_{50})$ 값은 각각 2,450과 1,528 mg/kg dry weight of soil로서 두 물질은 독성 이 적은 경독성 (slightly toxic) 물질인 것으로 판명되었다. 디젤유 윤활유와 석유디젤의 경우 반수치사농도 $(LC_{50})$ 값이 각각 500과 603 mg/kg로서 중등독성 (moderately toxic) 물질로 판정되었다.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
• /
• 제51권4호
• /
• pp.432-440
• /
• 2023

Irrational and injudicious use of antibiotics, easy availability of them as over-the-counter drugs in economically developing countries, and unavailability of regulatory policies governing antimicrobial use in agriculture, animals, and humans, has led to the development of multi-drug resistance (MDR) bacteria. The use of medicinal plants can be considered as an alternative, with a consequent impact on microbial resistance. We tested extracts of Piper longum fruits as new natural products as agents for reversing the resistance to antibiotics. Six crude extracts of P. longum fruits were utilized against a clinical isolate of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.The antibiotic susceptibility testing disc method was used in the antibiotic resistance reversal analysis. Apart from cefoxitin and erythromycin, all other antibiotics used (lincosamides [clindamycin], quinolones [levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin], and aminoglycosides [amikacin and gentamicin]) were enhanced by P. longum extracts. The extracts that showed the greatest synergy with the antibiotics were EAPL (ethyl acetate [extract of] P. longum), n-BPL (n-butanol [extract of] P. longum), and MPL (methanolic [extract of] P. longum The results of this study suggest that P. longum extracts have the ability to increase the effectiveness of different classes of antibiotics and reverse their resistance. However, future studies are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind the synergy between antibiotic and phytocompound(s) and identify the active biomolecules of P. longum responsible for the synergy in S. aureus.