• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.39 no.10
• /
• pp.561-567
• /
• 2017

This study focused on estimating the low concentration of $NH_4{^+}-N$ removal by using simultaneous reaction of the adsorption and microbial nitrification with microbe-attached zeolite media. To evaluate the adsorption effect of the zeolite media, the expanded polypropylene (EPP) media which are not able to adsorb $NH_4{^+}-N$ were used as a control media in order to compare the adsorption ability. Each media was used to experiment after aerated 8 hr for attachment of the microbes. The batch experiment shows that nitrification occurred in zeolite media better than EPP media because nitrifiers could consume the relatively enough amount of $NH_4{^+}-N$ adsorbed onto the zeolite media. Compared to the reactor with EPP media, nitrification occurred only in the reactor with zeolite media under continuous operation at the empty bed contact time (EBCT) of 25 min and 3 mg/L of $NH_4{^+}-N$ concentration. As the EBCT of the reactor with zeolite media increased from 10 to 60 min, the nitrification efficiencies increased too. $NH_4{^+}-N$ removal efficiency showed up more than 90% at EBCT 60 min. And the difference in concentration of the total nitrogen between the influent and the effluent was 0.25 mg/L at EBCT 10 min, 0.78 mg/L at EBCT 25 min, 0.59 mg/L at EBCT 40 min and 0.37 mg/L at EBCT 60 min, respectively. This difference was due to between adsorption rate and nitrification rate of $NH_4{^+}-N$, and it was considered that $NH_4{^+}-N$ was adsorbed on the zeolite media by the gap of the concentration.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.9
• /
• pp.1269-1278
• /
• 2013

Crack remediation on the surface of cement mortar using microbiological calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) precipitation (MICP) has been investigated as a microbial sealing agent on construction materials. However, MICP research has never acknowledged the antifungal properties of calcite-forming bacteria (CFB). Since fungal colonization on concrete surfaces can trigger biodeterioration processes, fungi on concrete buildings have to be prevented. Therefore, to develop a microbial sealing agent that has antifungal properties to remediate cement cracks without deteriorative fungal colonization, we introduced an antifungal CFB isolated from oceanic islands (Dokdo islands, territory of South Korea, located at the edge of the East Sea in Korea.). The isolation of CFB was done using B4 or urea-$CaCl_2$ media. Furthermore, antifungal assays were done using the pairing culture and disk diffusion methods. Five isolated CFB showed $CaCO_3$ precipitation and antifungal activities against deteriorative fungal strains. Subsequently, five candidate bacteria were identified using 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Crack remediation, fungi growth inhibition, and water permeability reduction of antifungal CFB-treated cement surfaces were tested. All antifungal CFB showed crack remediation abilities, but only three strains (KNUC2100, 2103, and 2106) reduced the water permeability. Furthermore, these three strains showed fungi growth inhibition. This paper is the first application research of CFB that have antifungal activity, for an eco-friendly improvement of construction materials.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.22 no.9
• /
• pp.1193-1201
• /
• 2012

The analysis and quantification of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) is crucial, as they initiate the biological removal of ammonia-nitrogen from sewage. Previous methods for analyzing the microbial community structure, which involve the plating of samples or culture media over agar plates, have been inadequate because many microorganisms found in a sewage plant are unculturable. In this study, to exclusively detect AOB, the analysis was carried out via denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis using a primer specific to the amoA gene, which is one of the functional genes known as ammonia monooxygenase. An AOB consortium (S1 sample) that could oxidize an unprecedented 100% of ammonia in 24 h was obtained from sewage sludge. In addition, real-time PCR was used to quantify the AOB. Results of the microbial community analysis in terms of carbon utilization ability of samples showed that the aeration tank water sample (S2), influent water sample (S3), and effluent water sample (S4) used all the 31 substrates considered, whereas the AOB consortium (S1) used only Tween 80, D-galacturonic acid, itaconic acid, D-malic acid, and $_L$-serine after 192 h. The largest concentration of AOB was detected in S1 ($7.6{\times}10^6copies/{\mu}l$), followed by S2 ($3.2{\times}10^6copies/{\mu}l$), S4 ($2.8{\times}10^6copies/{\mu}l$), and S3 ($2.4{\times}10^6copies/{\mu}l$).

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.21 no.12
• /
• pp.1455-1462
• /
• 2012

The vertical distributions of nitrifying bacteria in aerobic fixed biofilm were investigated to evaluate the relationship between nitrification performance and microbial community at different HRT. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and portable ion selective microelectrode system were adopted to analyze microbial communities and ions profiles according to the biofilm depth. Cilia media packed MLE (Modified Ludzack-Ettinger) like reactor composed of anoxic, aerobic I/II was operated with synthetic wastewater having COD 200 mg/L and $NH_4{^+}$-N mg/L at HRT of 6 hrs and 4 hrs. Total biofilm thickness of aerobic I, II reactor at 4 hrs condition was over two times than that of 6 hrs condition due to the sufficient substrate supply at 4 hrs condition (6 hrs; aerobic I 380 ${\mu}m$ and II 400 ${\mu}m$, 4 hrs; aerobic I 830 ${\mu}m$ and II 1040 ${\mu}m$). As deepen the biofilm detection point, the ratio of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was decreased while the ratio of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was maintained similar distribution at both HRT condition. The ratio of AOB was higher at 4 hrs than 6 hrs condition and $NH_4{^+}$-N removal efficiency was also higher at 4 hrs with 89.2% than 65.4% of 6 hrs. However, the ratio of NOB was decreased when HRT was reduced from 6 hrs to 4 hrs and $NO_2{^-}$-N accumulation was observed at 4 hrs condition. Therefore, it is considered that insufficient HRT condition could supply sufficient substrate and enrichment of AOB in all depth of fixed biofilm but cause decrease of NOB and nitrite accumulation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.38 no.5 s.174
• /
• pp.525-534
• /
• 2005

Adsorption experiments for As(V) and As(III) onto the surfaces of aerobic Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can be readily isolated from natural media, were conducted under nutrient-absent conditions. While a small amount of As(III) was adsorbed on the bacterial cell surfaces, As(V) was not effectively removed from the solution through adsorption. The result was likely due to the electrostatic repulsion between anionic compounds of aqueous As(V) and cell surfaces of f aeruginosa. However, the bacteria forming biofilm reduced a large amount of aqueous As(V) to As(III), which indicated that microorganisms in most oligotrophic, natural geologic settings can mediate the behavior of aqueous As. Biobarriers designed to remove the various heavy metals in contaminant plume may practically lead to the enhancement of toxicity and mobility of As.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.162-167
• /
• 1999

Integration of microbial antagonists with fungicides was tried to control the gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea on pepper in greenhouse conditions and to reduce fungicide uses. All of the selected bacterial antagonists, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BL3, Paenibacillus polymyxa BL4, and Pseudomonas putida Cha94, completely inhibited the conidial germination of B. cinerea until 30 days after treatment. However, bacterial colonization of pepper phylloplane was poor in BL4, while the other bacterial isolates and the fungal antagonist Trichoderma harzianum TM colonized well on the phylloplane, maintaining the population density of 104-105 cfu/g until 15 days after microbial treatments. Out of 13 kinds of selected fungicides used for gray mold diseases, polyoxin B and BKF 1995 showed the most discriminatory activity on the fungal growth between B. cinerea and TM. TM grew readily on the media containing those fungicides, while B. cinerea showed poor or no mycelial growth on them. The selected fungicides and antagonists alone reduced incidence of gray mold on pepper, showing disease indices of about 2.4 to 3.0, while its was increased up to 4.2 in the untreated control. Alternate treatments with the antagonists and 2-fold diluted fungicides inhibited the disease incidence as much as the antagonists or fungicides alone, and reduced the secondary inoculum more than the single treatments. This suggests that integration of antagonists and fungicides may be an efficient way to reduce fungicide sprays with reliable control efficacy of the disease. However, there was not much difference in the early and mid-term disease progress among the treatments and the untreated control, probably due to extremely favorable environmental conditions for the disease development in this experiment.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.208-214
• /
• 2009

To avoid ambiguity in counting the number of colony, about 1,500 of colonies grown on B. cereus selective agar plates were grouped into 12 types by morphological difference and then identified by biochemical and 16S rDNA nucleotide sequence. Among them, seven colony types with 11 to 15 mm diameters of halo were identified as B. cereus or B. cereus subsp. cytotoxis. Five mm sized colonies with no halo, which have not been considered as B. cereus according to the manufacturer's manual, were identified as B. cereus. A colony type with double halos of only 6 mm in diameter was also B. cereus. Other three types were proven to be Enterococcus sp., Brevibacillus sp., and B. subtilis, respectively. PCR results showed that only 9 types that are identified as B. cereus strains harbor at least one of B. cereus toxin genes.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.144-153
• /
• 2013

Diverse bacteria are known to colonize plants. However, only a small fraction of that diversity has been evaluated for their biopesticide potential. To date, the criteria for sampling and selection in such bioprospecting endeavors have not been systematically evaluated in terms of the relative amount of diversity they provide for analysis. The present study aimed to enhance the success of bioprospecting efforts by increasing the diversity while removing the genotypic redundancy often present in large collections of bacteria. We developed a multivariate sampling and marker-based selection strategy that significantly increase the diversity of bacteria recovered from plants. In doing so, we quantified the effects of varying sampling intensity, media composition, incubation conditions, plant species, and soil source on the diversity of recovered isolates. Subsequent sequencing and high-throughput phenotypic analyses of a small fraction of the collected isolates revealed that this approach led to the recovery of over a dozen rare and, to date, poorly characterized genera of plant-associated bacteria with significant biopesticide activities. Overall, the sampling and selection approach described led to an approximately 5-fold improvement in efficiency and the recovery of several novel strains of bacteria with significant biopesticide potential.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.326-329
• /
• 2020

Valuable natural compounds produced by a variety of microorganisms can be used as lead molecules for development of new agrochemicals. Furthermore, high-throughput in vitro screening systems with specific modes of action can increase the probability of discovery of new fungicides. In the current study, a rapid assay tested with various microbes was developed to determine the degree of respiratory inhibition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in two different liquid media, YG (containing a fermentable carbon source) and NFYG (containing a non-fermentable carbon source). Based on this system, we screened 100 fungal isolates that were classified into basidiomycetes, to find microbial secondary metabolites that act as respiratory inhibitors. Consequently, of the 100 fungal species tested, the culture broth of an IUM04881 isolate inhibited growth of S. cerevisiae in NFYG medium, but not in YG medium. The result is comparable to that from treatment with kresoxim-methyl used as a control, suggesting that the culture broth of IUM04881 isolate might contain active compounds showing the inhibition activity for respiratory chain. Based on the assay developed in this study and spectroscopic analysis, we isolated and identified an antifungal compound (-)-oudemansin A from culture broth of IUM04881 that is identified as Oudemansiella venosolamellata. This is the first report that (-)-oudemansin A is identified from O. venosolamellata in Korea. Taken together, the development of this assay will accelerate efforts to find and identify natural respiratory inhibitors from various microbes.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.554-566
• /
• 2018

The rice husk contains nutrients which can be easily utilized by microorganisms, and also has a water retaining ability, which played a crucial part in enabling it to become a biofilter media. In this study, we evaluated the applicability of rice husk pellet bio-scrubber as a microbiological carrier. The pelletization experiment of rice husk as a biological media was performed using PVA and EVA binder. Also, the feasibility tests of rice husk as a biological media for odor removal were carried out in order to know whether rice-husk contains useful components as a media for microbiological growth or not. Lastly, a combined test for odor gas absorption and biological oxidation was conducted using a lab scale bio-filter set-up packed with rice-husk pellets as wet-scrubber. The major components of the rice husk were carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, while carbon acted as the main ingredient which comprised up to 23.00%. The C : N : P ratio was calculated as 45 : 1 : 2. Oxygen uptake rate, yield and decay rate of the rice husk eluent was calculated to be $0.0049mgO_2/L/sec$, 0.24 mgSS/mgCOD and 0.004 respectively. The most stable form of rice husk pellets was produced when the weight of the rice husk, EVAc, PVAc, and distilled water was 10 : 2 : 0.2 : 10. The prepared rice husk pellets had an apparent density of 368 g/L and a porosity of 59.00% upon filling. Dry rice husks showed high adsorption capacity for ammonia gas but low adsorption capacity for hydrogen sulfide. The bio-filter odor removal column filled with rice husk pellets showed more than 99.50% removal efficiency for NH3 and H2S gas. Through the analysis of circulation water, the prime removal mechanism is assumed to be the dissolution by water, microbial nitrification, and sulfation. Finally, it was confirmed that the microorganisms could survive well on the rice husk pellets, which provided them a stable supply of nutrients for their activity in this long-term experiment. This adequate supply of nutrients from the rice husk enabled high removal efficiency by the microorganisms.