• Mycobiology
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.410-416
• /
• 2023

Fungi are cosmopolitan and they occupy diverse niches as consumers, producers, and decomposers. They play critical roles in the environment by enabling nutrient cycling and generating a plethora of secondary metabolites. This study aimed to identify and characterize fungal strains isolated from diverse sources on Muui Island, Republic of Korea. In 2023, a total of 86 fungal strains were collected and examined. Investigation of the morphological features and phylogenetic analyses of multiple barcode loci identified one putative novel species and two species previously unrecorded in the Republic of Korea: Colletotrichum sp., Colletotrichum guizhouense, and Fusarium brachygibbosum. This study provides a comprehensive description of their molecular phylogenies and morphological characteristics. These findings will contribute to the existing knowledge about fungal species in the Republic of Korea and future research on the fungal diversity on Muui Island.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.129-152
• /
• 2024

The applicability of a novel incremental-iterative technique with 2D differential/integral quadrature method (DIQM) in analyzing the nonlinear behavior of Bi-directional functionally graded (BDFG) porous plate based on neutral surface is verified in the present works. A formulation of four variables high shear deformation theory is used to describe the kinematic relations with respect to neutral surface rather than mid-plane. Bi-directional material distributions are presented by power functions through both thickness and axial directions. Porosities and voids are distributed by different cosine functions. The large deformations are included within the sense of nonlinear von Kármán strains. The integro-differential equilibrium equations with associated modified boundary conditions are solved numerically and iteratively by using 2D DIQM. Model validations and parametric analysis are depicted to present the influence of neutral axis, nonlinear strains, gradation indices, elastic foundations, and modified boundary conditions on the static deflection in addition to normal and shear stresses. The proposed model is effective in analyzing the static behavior of many real applications in nuclear reactors, marine and aerospace structures with large deformations.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.68 no.4
• /
• pp.199-204
• /
• 2024

Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl. is an evergreen tree of the family Cupressaceae well known for its unique scents. The seed extract of this cypress tree was phytochemically investigated to isolate a novel abietane-diterpene compound (1) along with fifteen known terpenoids (2-16). All of the isolated compounds were subjected to the screening of antimicrobial activities against Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis including erythromycin resistant strains. Among the isolates, 1α-hydroxy-hinokione (1), hinokione (3), 1,2-dehydrohinokione (4) and ferruginol (9) showed significant antibacterial activities against both acne-causing strains. This study demonstrated that abietane-type diterpenoids are the main antibacterial components in C. obtusa seed extract, and some isolated compounds can be further developed as potential acne-treatment agents.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.535-541
• /
• 2017

Two Gram-staining-negative, red-pinkish, coccus-shaped, non-motile, and aerobic bacterial strains, designated $Ant21^T$ and Ant22, were isolated from the Antarctic coastal sea water. Strains $Ant21^T$ and Ant22 showed UVC and gamma radiation resistance. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences determined that these strains belong to the genus Deinococcus. Through the analyses of the 16S rRNA gene sequences, strains $Ant21^T$ and Ant22 were found to have 97.7% and 97.8% similarity to Deinococcus marmoris DSM $12784^T$ and 97.0% and 97.2% similarity to Deinococcus saxicola AA-$1444^T$, respectively. The sequence similarity with the type strains of other Deinococcus species was less than 96.9% for both strains. Strains $Ant21^T$ and Ant22 shared relatively high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (99.3%) and had a closely related DNA reassociation value of $84{\pm}0.5%$. Meanwhile, they showed a low level of DNA-DNA hybridization (<30%) with other closely related species of the genus Deinococcus. The two strains also showed typical chemotaxonomic features for the genus Deinococcus, in terms of the major polar lipid (phosphoglycolipid) and the major fatty acids ($C_{16:0}$, $C_{16:1}$ ${\omega}6c/{\omega}7c$, $iso-C_{17:0}$, and $iso-C_{15:0}$). They grew at temperatures between $4^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$ and at pH values of 6.0-8.0. Based on the physiological characteristics, the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis results, and the low DNA-DNA reassociation level with Deionococcus marmoris, strains $Ant21^T$ ($=KEMB\;9004-167^T$ $=JCM\;31436^T$) and Ant22 (KEMB 9004-168 =JCM 31437) represent novel species belonging to the genus Deinococcus, for which the name Deinococcus rubrus is proposed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.11
• /
• pp.1971-1982
• /
• 2017

Piliated Lactobacillus rhamnosus (pLR) strains possess higher adherent capacity than non-piliated strains. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize probiotic pLR strains in human fecal samples. To this end, mouse polyclonal antiserum (anti-SpaA) against the recombinant pilus protein (SpaA) of L. rhamnosus strain GG (LGG) was prepared and tested for its reactivity and specificity. With the anti-SpaA, a method combining the de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) agar plating separation and colony immunoblotting (CIB) was developed to isolate pLR from 124 human fecal samples. The genetic and phenotypic characteristics of the resultant pLR isolates were compared by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting, and examination of adhesion to Caco-2 cells, hydrophobicity, autoaggregation, and in vitro gastrointestinal tolerance. Anti-SpaA specifically reacted with three pLR strains of 25 test strains, as assessed by western blotting, immunofluorescence flow cytometry, and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) assays. The optimized MRS agar separation plus anti-SpaA-based CIB procedure could quantitatively detect $2.5{\times}10^3CFU/ml$ of pLR colonies spiked in $10^6CFU/ml$ of background bacteria. Eight pLR strains were identified in 124 human fecal samples, and were confirmed by 16S RNA gene sequencing and IEM identification. RAPD fingerprinting of the pLR strains revealed seven different patterns, of which only two isolates from infants showed the same RAPD profiles with LGG. Strain PLR06 was obtained with high adhesion and autoaggregation activities, hydrophobicity, and gastrointestinal tolerance. Anti-SpaA-based CIB is a rapid and inexpensive method for the preliminary screening of novel adherent L. rhamnosus strains for commercial purposes.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.242-250
• /
• 2017

Actinobacteria tolerating extreme conditions can be a rich source of bioactive compounds and enzymes. In this study filamentous actinobacteria were isolated from soils of Ulleung Island, and their physiological properties were examined. Soil samples were collected, serially diluted and spread on various agar media. The average viable counts of total bacteria were $1.28{\times}10^7CFU/g$ for soil sample 1 (ULS1) and $2.05{\times}10^7CFU/g$ for soil sample 2 (ULS2). As a result, 34 strains of actinobacteria were isolated and assigned to the genera Streptomyces (16 strains), Isoptericola (5 strains), Rhodococcus (4 strains), Agromyces (3 strains), Micrococcus (2 strains), Arthrobacter (1 strain), Williamsia (1 strain), Microbacterium (1 strain), and Oerskovia (1 strain) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Enzyme activity and plant growth promoting potential were tested for representative isolates. Multiple strains of Streptomyces degraded starch, casein and Tween 80. As for plant growth promoting potential, strains of Oerskovia, Williamsia, Isoptericola, and Streptomyces solubilized phosphate, and those of Agromyces, Oerskovia, Micrococcus, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, and Isoptericola produced 3-indole-acetic acid (IAA), respectively. Selected strains of Streptomyces exhibited strong antagonistic activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis as well as Candida albicans. This study confirms that actinobacteria from Ulleung Island can be a good source of novel bioactive compounds.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.48 no.1
• /
• pp.9-19
• /
• 2020

Two fungal species of ascomycetes were discovered during the screening of soil microflora from the Gangwon Province in Korea: Didymella chlamydospora sp. nov. (YW23-14) and Microdochium salmonicolor sp. nov. (NC14-294). Morphologically, YW23-14 produces smaller chlamydospores (8.0-17.0 × 7.0-15.0 ㎛) than D. glomerata and D. musae. The strain NC14-294 was characterized by smaller conidiogenous cells (4.9-8.8 × 2.0-3.2 ㎛) compared with the closest strains M. fisheri and M. phragmitis. The detailed descriptions, illustrations, and discussions regarding the morphological and phylogenetical analyses of the closely related species are provided to support the novelty of each species. Thus, YW23-14 and NC14-294 are described here as newly discovered species.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.204-207
• /
• 2009

We investigated novel antibacterial and synergistic activities of isocryptomerin isolated from Selaginella tamariscina. Isocryptomerin showed potent antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains including clinical isolates of antibiotic-resistant species such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA). Additionally, we further investigated the synergistic activity of isocryptomerin with a conventional antibiotic against MRSA. The result indicated that isocryptomerin had considerable synergistic activity in combination with cefotaxime. In summary, the present study suggests that isocryptomerin may have potential as a novel therapeutic agent for treatment of infectious diseases by not only human pathogenic bacteria but also multidrug-resistant bacteria.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.261-267
• /
• 2015

Compared to their terrestrial and marine counterparts, little is known about the capacity of freshwater-derived actinomycete bacteria to produce novel secondary metabolites. In the current study, we highlight the disparities that exist between cultivation-independent and -dependent analyses of actinomycete communities from four locations in Lake Michigan sediment. Furthermore, through phylogenetic analysis of strains isolated from these locations, we identified a Streptomyces sp., strain B025, as being distinct from other Streptomyces spp. isolated from sediment. Upon fermentation this strain produced a rare class of eight-membered lactone secondary metabolites, which have been for their antitumor properties. We used spectroscopic and chemical derivitization techniques to characterize octalactin B (1) in addition to its corresponding novel, unnatural degradation product (2).

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2018.05a
• /
• pp.49-49
• /
• 2018

A variety of bioactive secondary metabolites have been reported from plant-associated microorganisms. Halophytes, plants that can only grow in hypersaline area, were reported to host beneficial microorganisms such as plant growth-promoting endophytes. The microorganisms have been reported to show notable mutualistic symbiosis with halophytes to help them survive in high saline condition. Finding out bioactive secondary metabolites as well as elucidation of relationship(s) between microbes and the host halophyte has been paid attention, because of their functional diversity. Novel microbes often have associated with novel natural products. In an effort to investigate natural compounds with interesting structures from fungi, we selected plants from a distinct environmental setting which could be a promising source. Several fungi were isolated from halophyte or medicinal plants. Some strains of the fungi were cultivated on a large scale and extracted with ethyl acetate, which were subjected to a series of chromatographic methods, leading to the isolation of tens of compounds. The isolated compounds were identified by analysis of spectroscopic methods such as 1D-, 2D-NMR, and MS. Details of isolation, structure determination, and biological activities will be discussed.