• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.223-235
• /
• 1994

The transfer of plasmid-borne genes coding for resistance to antibiotics (Ampicillin, Carbenicillin, and tetracycline) among 16 strains isolated from Mankyong River was examined. The survival of donors, recipient, and transformants in sterile and nonsterile soil (the soil was amended with 12% vol/vol with the clay mineral, montmorillonite) was also studied. In sterile soil, the survival was prolonged in the order of donors, transformants, and recipient. The survival of donors, transformants, and recipient increased when the soil was amended with 12% montmorillonite, but not in nonsterile soil. In nonsterile soil, donors survived longer than transformants and recipient, but the survival of transformants and recipient showed no significant differences. The results of these studies suggest that genes can be transferred by transformation, and transferred genes can survive in soil for a considerable time.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.8-18
• /
• 1999

The degradation of a fungicide, $^{14}C$-propiconazole, in sterile and nonsterile soil from different depths was investigated. $^{14}C$-propiconazole plus propiconazole standard was treated on the soil at the rate of 7.55 mg/kg and the soil was incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ for 20 weeks. The amounts of $^{14}CO_{2}$ solvent extractable and non-extractable $^{14}C$, and degradation products of $^{14}C$-propiconazole were investigated during incubation time. The relative amounts of $^{14}CO_{2}$ released in the sterile and nonsterile soils were ranging from 0.7 to 1.3% and from 4.8 to 7.6% of applied $^{14}C$, repectively. The amounts of solvent non-extractable residues in the sterile and nonsterile soils were ranging from 11.2 to 22.1% and from 22.2 to 41.9% of of applied $^{14}C$, repectively. The amounts of solvent non-extractable residues were increased with incubation time and most of $^{14}C$ were detected in the humin fraction. The hydroxylated and ketone compound were confirmed as a degradation products of propiconazole by GC/MS analysis, whereas parent compound was detected in sterile soil, which suggested that propiconazole was not degraded biologically under the sterile soil. From the results of volatilization, mineralization and degradation of propiconazole, propiconazole was stable chemically and bilogically in soil.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.831-838
• /
• 2018

Trophic interactions of introduced biocontrol fungi with soil animals can be a key determinant in the fungal proliferation and activity. This study investigated the trophic interaction of an introduced biocontrol fungus with soil nematodes. The biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum ThzID1-M3 and the fungivorous nematode Aphelenchoides sp. (10 per gram of soil) were added to nonsterile soil, and microbial populations were monitored for 40 days. Similar results were obtained when the experiment was duplicated. ThzID1-M3 stimulated the population growth of indigenous nematodes (p < 0.05), regardless of whether Aphelenchoides sp. was added. Without ThzID1-M3, indigenous nematodes did not increase in number and the added Aphelenchoides sp. nematodes almost disappeared by day 10. With ThzID1-M3, population growth of nematodes was rapid between 5 and 10 days after treatment. ThzID1-M3 biomass peaked on day 5, dropped at day 10, and then almost disappeared at day 20, which was not influenced by the addition of nematodes. In contrast, a large quantity of ThzID1-M3 hyphae were present in a heat-treated soil in which nematodes were eliminated. Total fungal biomass in all treatments peaked on day 5 and subsequently decreased. Addition of nematodes increased the total fungal biomass (p < 0.05), but ThzID1-M3 addition did not affect the fungal biomass. Hyphae of total fungi when homogenously distributed did not support the nematode population growth; however, hyphae of the introduced fungus did when densely localized. The results suggest that soil fungivorous nematodes are an important constraint on the hyphal proliferation of fungal agents introduced into natural soils.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.210-218
• /
• 1990

The survival and transfer of chromosomal genes coding for the synthesis of amino acids (threonine, tryptophan, histidine, leucine, methionine) and of plasmid-borne genes coding for resistance to antibiotics (chloramphenicol, kanamycin, erythromycin) by transformation in sterile and nonsterile soil (the soil was amended to 12% vol/vol with the clay mineral, montmorillonite) was studied. In pure culture, the numbers of vegetative cells of the Bacillus subtilis strains decreased by 1 to 1.5 orders of magnitude within one week, but spores of each strain showed lesser decreases. In sterile soil, the populations of vegetative cells and spores decreased by 1.5 to 3 orders of magnitude within 2 to 4 days and then showed little additional decreased. The transformation frequencies (number of transformants/numbers of donors and recipients) of individual amino acid-genes invitro ranged from $1.3{\pm}0.6{\times}10^{-6}$ to $6.0{\pm}2.36{\times}10^{-6}$, of two amino acid-genes from $8.5{\pm}0.7{\times}10^{-8}$ to $3.1{\pm}0.6{\times}10^{-7}$, and of the antibiotic-resistance genes from $1.5{\pm} 0.2{\itmes} 10^{-7}$ to $1.4{\pm} 0.4{\times} 10^{-5}$ . In sterile soil, the frequencies of transfer of individual amino acid-genes ranged from $2.0{\times} 10^{-7}$ to $2.0{\times} 10^{-5}$ and of the antibiotic-resistance genes from $2.0{\times} 10^{-7}$ to $9.4{\pm} 4.7{\times} 10^{-6}$. The transfer of two amino acid-genes in sterile soil was detected at a frequency of $2.0{\times} 10^{-6}$ to $4.5{\times} 10^{-6}$, but only in three instances. The transformation frequencies of antibiotic-resistance genes in nonsterile soil were essentially similar to those in sterile soil. However, to detect transformants in nonsterile soil, higher concentrations of antibiotics were needed, as the result of the large numbers of indigenous soil bacteria resistant to the concentration of antibiotics used in the sterile soil and in vitro studies. The results of these studies show that genes can be transferred by transformation in soil and that this mechanism of transfer must be considered in risk assessment of the release of genetically engineered microorganisms to the environment.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 1990

Effects of mycorrhizal infection on the growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) and corn (Zea mays) seedlings have been studied by comparing plants grown in sterilized soil/sand mixtures to plants grown in sterilized soil/sand mixtures with topping the original non-sterile field soil. The original nonsterile field soil, which were taken from the bell pepper field, contained a high level of endmycorrhizal spores. After seven weeks, the shoot height of inoculated plants was increased by 110% in bell pepper, and 90% in corn compared with the control plants. The average above-ground biomass of inoculated plant was increased by 88% in bell pepper and 71% in corn compared with the control plants. The shoot-root ratios in bell pepper and corn were 2.7 and 1.8 for the control plants, and 4.3 and 2.7 for the treatment plants, respectively. Phosphorus level in inoculated plant was higher than that of the control plant. However, nitrogen contents were similar between the control and the treatment plants. The control plants didi not form vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae during the experimental period.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2006.04a
• /
• pp.111-114
• /
• 2006

The effects of indigenous bacteria on geochemical behavior of As in As-contaminated sediments (Hwachon mine and Myoungbong mine) after biostimulation with a variety of carbon sources were investigated under anaerobic condition. In Hwachon sediment, As was dramatically extracted from nonsterile sediment with time, reaching the highest concentration of $500{\mu}g/L$. The As leaching was likely caused by microbial dissolution of Fe oxides/oxyhydroxides with which As had been coprecipitated. However, in the case of Myoungbong sediment supplied with glucose, dissolved As decreased with time likely due to production of As sulfide(s) and subsequent precipitation, which resulted from bacterial reduction of $SO_4^{2-}$. The results implied that bacterial in-situ stabilization of As In subsurface has a potential to be practically applied.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.210-222
• /
• 1982

Coliphages isolated from Han-River from September 1980 to August 1981 were classified by morphological and physiological characteristics. Effects of soil metrial on the fate of coliphage in nature were investigated. 1. The correlation coefficient between coliphage and E.coli which was host of coliphages in nature was 0.7173 (p=0.004). 2. Coliphage I isolated from Han-River of which DNA molecular weight was $27{\times}10^6$ daltons was identified as $T_1$ phage and coliphage II of which DNA molecular weight $72{\times}10^6$ daltons was classified as $T_5$ phage. 3. Soil material SW was composed of 63.65% silt and 21.92% clay. Clay was consisted of illite, kaolinite and chlorite evenly. Soil material J was composed of 68.92% silt and 11.67% clay. Clay consisted of smectite only. 4. Coliphage was absorbed to soil material J more than soil material SW, and $T_1$ coliphage was absorbed to soil material more than $T_5$ coliphage was. 5. The phage adsorption efficiency to soil material was enhanced at lower pH : the phage adsorption efficiency at pH 4 was 27 time higher than at pH 7. 6. Divalent $(Ca^{2+})\;and\;trivalention\;(Al^{3+})$ enhanced the phage adsorption efficiency to soil material from 4 to 39 and from 17 to 91 times higher than monovalent $ion(Na^+)$, respectively. 7. The concentration of organic compound was inversely related to the phage adsorption efficiency to soil. 8. Adsorption of phage onto soil material, and elution efficiency of elutants was in the order of D.D.W>tap water>river water>seawater. 9. The higher the concentration of organic compound was, the more were adsorbed phages to soil eluted. 10. Coliphages survived longer in sterile soil suspension than in nonsterile soil material suspension.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.602-608
• /
• 2010

An atrazine-degrading bacterium, strain KU001, was obtained from a sugarcane field at the Cane and Sugar Research and Development Center at the Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Thailand. Strain KU001 had a rod-to-coccus morphological cycle during growth. Biolog carbon source analysis indicated that the isolated bacterium was Arthrobacter histidinolovorans. Sequence analysis of the PCR product indicated that the 16S rRNA gene in strain KU001 was 99% identical to the same region in Arthrobacter sp. The atrazine degradation pathway in strain KU001 consisted of the catabolic genes trzN, atzB, and atzC. Strain KU001 was able to use atrazine as a sole nitrogen source for growth, and surprisingly, atrazine degradation was not inhibited in cells grown on ammonium, nitrate, or urea, as compared with cells cultivated on growth-limiting nitrogen sources. During the atrazine degradation process, the supplementation of nitrate completely inhibited atrazine degradation activity in strain KU001, whereas ammonium and urea had no effect on atrazine degradation activity. The addition of strain KU001 to sterile or nonsterile soils resulted in the disappearance of atrazine at a rate that was 4- to 5-fold more than that achieved by the indigenous microbial community. The addition of citrate to soils resulted in enhanced atrazine degradation, where 80% of atrazine disappeared within one day following nutrient supplementation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.815-822
• /
• 2021

Indigenous fungus-feeding nematodes may adversely affect the growth and activity of introduced biocontrol fungi. Alginate pellets of the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum ThzID1-M3 and sclerotia of the fungal plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were added to nonsterile soil at a soil water potential of -50 or -1,000 kPa. The biomass of ThzID1-M3, nematode populations, and extent of colonization of sclerotia by ThzID1-M3 were monitored over time. The presence of ThzID1-M3 increased the nematode population under both moisture regimes (p < 0.05), and fungivores comprised 69-75% of the nematode population. By day 5, the biomass of ThzID1-M3b and its colonization of sclerotia increased and were strongly correlated (R² = 0.98), followed by a rapid reduction, under both regimes. At -50 kPa (the wetter of the two environments), fungal biomass and colonization by ThzID1-M3 were less, in the period from 5 to 20 days, while fungivores were more abundant. These results indicate that ThzID1-M3 stimulated the population growth of fungivorous nematodes, which in turn, reduced the biocontrol ability of the fungus to mycoparasitize sclerotia. However, colonization incidence reached 100% by day 5 and remained so for the experimental period under both regimes, although hyphal fragments disappeared by day 20. Our results suggest that indigenous fungivores are an important constraint for the biocontrol activity of introduced fungi, and sclerotia can provide spatial refuge for biocontrol fungi from the feeding activity of fungivorous nematodes.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.13-18
• /
• 1998

The use of bioluminescence as a sensitive marker for the detection of Pseudomnas sp. in the rhizosphere was investigated. Transposon Tn4431 which contains a promoterless luciferase operon and tetracycline resistant gene was used. This transposon, present on a suicide vector (pUCD623) in E. coli HB101, was mated with spontaneous rifampicin mutant of Pseudomonas fluorescens B16, a plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), and then rifampicin and tetracycline resistant survivors were isolated. Twenty tow mutants wer isolated from the conjugants between E. coli HB101 and P. fluorescens B16. One of these, B16::Tn4431 (L22) recombinant which glowed brightly in the dark was selected for analysis. The cucumber seeds inoculated with L22 were grown in moisten two layers of filter paper and nonsterile soil contained in half cut PVC pipe. The roots were removed from the filter paper and PVC pipe, then placed on the 1/2 LB media plates. The plates were incubated at room temperature for 16 hr. L22 could successfully be detected in the rhizoplane by using the ordinary negative camera film (ASA100-400) with 30 minutes exposure under dark condition. The root colonizing ability and the plant growth promoting effect of L22 were not reduced compared to the untreated bacteria and wild type. L22 was superior to will type.