• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.292-299
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• 2013

In this study, we analyzed the changes in fungal populations of red-pepper fields employing eco-friendly farming methods, such as microbial agents and crop rotation, by using polymerase chain reactions coupled with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Primer specific for fungi were used to determine the contribution of domains to the microbial community. Analysis of planted and non-planted soil samples applying PCR-DGGE technology offered evaluation of long-term patterns in fungal species richness. To evaluate the stability of DGGE patterns from different soils, comparison of planted and non-planted soil samples were compared using PCR-DGGE. The number of DNA fragments obtained from all planted soil samples by DGGE separation was far greater (14 to 15 bands) than that of the non-planted soil samples (3 to 4 bands). In addition, 14 bands were observed from crop continuation soil treated with agrochemicals and 18 bands from crop rotation soil treated with microbial agents. The PCR-DGGE analysis suggests that the use of crop rotation and microbial agents benefits the fungal community more than crop continuation using agrochemicals. These results indicate that crop rotation with microbial agents was better able to support beneficial organisms, enable more effective biological control and maintain a healthier balance of nutrients, organic matter and microorganisms.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.380-386
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• 2000

Electron beam (EB) was applied to study the sterilizing techniques for powdered red pepper and ginger by determining their quality over gamma radiation (GR) from the microbiological and organoleptic points of view. The samples showed high microbial loads, such as $10^5{\sim}10^6\;CFU/g$ in total aerobic bacteria, negligible levels in yeasts & molds and $10^2\;CFU/g$ in coliforms. EB irradiation at 5 kGy resulted in the reduction of microbial loads by 2 to 3 log cycles, thereby decreasing the levels of total bacteria to $10^2{\sim}10^3\;CFU/g$ and resulting in negative in coliforms. Decimal reduction doses $(D_{10})$ value on the initial bacterial loads in red pepper were $1.50{\sim}1.54\;kGy$ in EB and $1.68{\sim}1.80\;kGy$ in GR, while powdered ginger showed $1.30{\sim}2.27\;kGy$ in EB and $1.45{\sim}2.77\;kGy$ in GR, respectively. EB and GR showed a similar effect on microbial decontamination for both samples. Microbial populations in stored samples for 4 months at room temperature were not remarkably different from the initial loads in all samples. Irradiation caused little changes in Hunter's color parameters, but that were changable during storage. Sensory evaluations on color and odor of powdered samples indicated that no significant differences were observed among the all samples compared. These results revealed that EB irradiation at optimal dose levels for microbial control was not detrimental to the sensory quality of powdered red pepper and ginger.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.405-411
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• 1999

Growth responses and yields of cucumber, the populations of soil microorganisms, and the control value of nematodes were examined with six different treatments of chemical fertilizer, compost, microbial fertilizer(MF), and the combined applications of NPK + MF and compost. Cucumber, Eunseong Bakdadaki cultivar, was cultivated in the greenhouse. Higher plant height was appeared with treatments of the combined application of NPK + compost and NPK + MF compared to other treatments, especially at the early growth until 20th day after transplanting. Also, higher number of opened flowers showed with the combined treatments of NPK + compost and NPK + MF than those with others. The control value of nematodes at 60th day after transplanting with treatments of MF and NPK + MF was about 39.0% and 61.6%, respectively. The density of soil microorganisms was higher in order of actinomycetes, bacteria, and fungus. Their densities were not clearly different with treatments. Fruit yields of cucumber with treatments of NPK, compost, microbial fertilizer, and additions of compost and microbial fertilizer to NPk were higher, about 40 to 60%, than that with the control. The highest fruit yield was with NPK + MF and next highest fruit yield was with NPK + compost. It is assumed that the combined application of chemical fertilizers, compost, and microbial fertilizers would be increased the plant productivity.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.370-378
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• 2017

Objective: An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of a specific mixture of essential oils (MEO), containing thyme, clove and cinnamon EO, on rumen microbial fermentation, nutrient apparent digestibility and blood metabolites in fistulated sheep. Methods: Six sheep fitted with ruminal fistulas were used in a repeated measurement design with two 24-d periods to investigate the effect of adding MEO at 0 (control), 0.8, and 1.6 mL/d on apparent nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation characteristics, rumen microbial population and blood chemical metabolites. Animals were fed with a 50:50 alfalfa hay:concentrate diet. Results: Ruminal pH, total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration, molar proportion of individual VFA, acetate: propionate ratio and methane production were not affected with MEO. Relative to the control, Small peptides plus amino acid nitrogen and large peptides nitrogen concentration in rumen fluid were not affected with MEO supplementation; while, rumen fluid ammonia nitrogen concentration at 0 and 6 h after morning feeding in sheep fed with 1.6 mL/d of MEO was lower (p<0.05) compared to the control and 0.8 mL/d of MEO. At 0 h after morning feeding, ammonia nitrogen concentration was higher (p<0.05) in sheep fed 0.8 mL/d of MEO relative to 1.6 mL/d and control diet. Ruminal protozoa and hyper ammonia producing (HAP) bacteria counts were not affected by addition of MEO in the diet. Relative to the control, no changes were observed in the red and white blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, glucose, beta-hydroxybutyric acid, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, blood urea nitrogen and aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase concentration. Apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude proten, organic matter, and neutral detergent fiber were not influenced by MEO supplementation. Conclusion:The results of the present study suggested that supplementation of MEO may have limited effects on apparent nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation and protozoa and HAP bacteria count, blood cells and metabolites.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.712-721
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• 2004

The objective of this study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of heating and after-heating processed foods for implementation of a HACCP system in day-care center foodservice operations. The evaluating points were microbial assessment and temperature of foods during receiving, cooking, and serving in heating process. In non-heating process, in addition to monitoring microbial assessment of food during preparation, cooking, and serving steps, the microbial populations of employees' hands and utensils and serving temperature were also evaluated. Microbiological quality was assessed using 3M Petrifilm$^{TM}$ to measure total plate count and coliforms for foods and utensils and Staphylococcus aureus for hands in five Gumi day-care centers. Microbiological quality assessment for foods and utensils is summarized as follows. Microbiological quality of the heating processed foods was satisfactory for cooking and serving steps. The internal temperature of food was above 74$^{\circ}C$. However, temperature control before the serving step was not achieved due to inappropriate time management between the cooking and serving steps. In the after-heating process, the total plate counts of boiled mungbean sprouts salad, blanched spinach salad, com vegetable salad were below the standard at the serving step. The majority of samples showed that coliforms exceeded the norm, which is thought to be the result of the cross-contamination from utensils. These results suggest that it is essential to educate employees on the importance of hand washing and of avoiding cross-contamination by using clean, sanitized equipment to serve food in the after-heating process. Establishing Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs) is an essential part of any HACCP system in day-care center foodservice operations.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 1994

With a view to improving microbiological quality of spinach powder which is currently used for convenience food production, comparative efficacy of ethylene oxide(EO) fumigation and gamma irradiation was investigated by determining microbial populations and physicochemical quality for treated samples. Spinach powder was contaminated with various microorganisms ranging from $10^{2}/g\;to\;10^{4}/g$, which composed of thermophiles, acid tolerant bacteria, fungi, coliforms, etc. Microorganisms contaminated were destroyed up to undetected levels by gamma irradiation at below 7 kGy. showing the radiosensitivity $D_{10}$ 2.93 kGy on total aerobic bacteria. Ethylene oxide fumigation, however. was found unsatisfactory for physicochemical quality as well as microbial decontamination of the sample. It has been generally observed that influence of optimum-dose range of irradiation on the physicochemical qualities was insignificant, which was proved in the organoleptic evaluations on the stored sample.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.79-92
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• 1996

In a repository containing low-level waste, gas generation will occur principally by the coupled processes of metal corrosion and microbial degradation of cellulosic waste. This paper describes a mathematical model designed to address gas generation by these mechanisms and assesses the potential effects of gas generation on the performance of a radioactive waste repository. The metal corrosion model incorporates a three-stage process encompassing aerobic and anaerobic corrosion regimes ; the microbial degradation model simulates the activities of eight different microbial populations, which are maintained as functions both of pH and of the concentrations of particular chemical species. A prediction is made for gas concentrations and generation rates over an assessment period of ten thousand years in a radioactive waste repository. The results suggest that H$_2$will be the principal gas generated within the radioactive waste cavern.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2016

In this study, a pyrosequencing was performed and analyzed to verify the phylogenetic diversity of actinomycetes in the bamboo (Sasa borealis) soil as a base study to obtain the genetic resources of actinomycetes. It was found that the rhizosphere soil had much various distribution in bacterial communities showing a diversity of 8.15 with 2,868 OTUs, while the litter layer showed a diversity of 7.55 with 2,588 OTUs. The bacterial community in the bamboo soil was composed of 35 phyla and the predominant phyla were Proteobacteria (51-60%), Bacteroidetes (16-20%), Acidobacteria (4-16%) and Actinobacteria (4-14%). In particular, Actinobacteria including Micromonosporaceae and Streptomycetaceae had a diverse distribution of actinomycetes within the six orders, 35 families and 121 genera, and it was characterized that about 83% of actinomycetes within Actinomycetales belonged to the 28 families. Among the dominant actinobacterial populations, Micromonosporaceae, Pseudonocardiaceae and Streptomycetaceae were representative family groups in the bamboo soils.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.481-487
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• 2014

This study examined microbiological contamination of street foods(kimbab, fish cake, Korean sausage) by microbiological analysis. A collection of 360 samples of street foods was obtained seasonally in four major cities(Seoul, Daejeon, Busan, Gwangju) in Korea. Aerobic mesophilic counts ranged between 1.0 and 9.9 log CFU/g, with the highest count recorded from Kimbab. Counts of psychrotrophic microorganisms were as high as those of mesophilic microorganisms. Total coliform populations between <1.0 and 7.5 log CFU/g were found in 53.6% of samples. Escherichia coli 4.4%, Staphylococcus aureus 7.8% and Clostridium perfringens 3.3%. Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes were not detected in any of the samples. Kimbab purchased in spring and summer showed higher S. aureus and Cl. perfringens contamination rates. Microbial contamination levels determined in the present study may be used as the primary data to execute microbial risk assessment of street foods.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.148-155
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• 2006

The diversity of bacterial populations in rivers flowing through Changwon City, was investigated using quinone profiling. The physicochemical properties such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen(DO), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) were also measured in this study. Ubiquinone (UQ)-8, UQ-9 and UQ-10 were observed in all samples for the sites investigated. UQ-8 was the -predominant quinone species in rivers except for Namch'on downstream, T'owolch'on, and Kaumchongch'on in autumn, while UQ-8 was also found as major quinones in the sample except for Hanamch'on, T'owolch'on, Kaumchongch'on, and Namsanch'on in winter. A higher concentration of DOC in rivers yield high concentration of plastoquinone (PQ-9) in autumn and those of total quinones in winter, respectively. Correlation analysis also indicate that BOD is considered to be a major factor controlling the concentration of PQ in rivers.