• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.302-311
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• 2004

Comamonas testosteroni (formerly Pseudomonas sp.) NCIMB 10643 can grow on biphenyl and alkylbenzenes $(C_2-C_7)$ via 3-substituted catechols. Thus, to identify the genes encoding the degradation, transposon-mutagenesis was carried out using pAG408, a promoter-probe mini-transposon with a green fluorescent protein (GFP), as a reporter. A mutant, NT-1, which was unable to grow on alkylbenzenes and biphenyl, accumulated catechols and exhibited an enhanced expression of GFP upon exposure to these substrates, indicating that the gfp had been inserted in a gene encoding a broad substrate range catechol 2,3-dioxygenase. The genes (2,826 bp) flanking the gfp cloned from an SphI-digested fragment contained three complete open reading frames that were designated bphCDorfl. The deduced amino acid sequences of bphCDorfl were identical to 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase (BphC), 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoate hydrolase (BphD), and OrfI, respectively, that are all involved in the degradation of biphenyl/4-chlorobiphenyl (bph) by Ralstonia oxalatica A5. The deduced amino acid sequence of the orfl revealed a similarity to those of outer membrane proteins belonging to the OmpW family. The introduction of the bphCDorfl genes enabled the NT-l mutant to grow on aromatic hydrocarbons. In addition, PCR analysis indicated that the DNA sequence and gene organization of the bph operon were closely related to those in the bph operon from Tn4371 identified in strain A5. Furthermore, strain A5 was also able to grow on a similar set of alkylbenzenes as strain NCIMB 10643, demonstrating that, among the identified aromatic hydrocarbon degradation pathways, the bph degradation pathway related to Tn4371 was the most versatile in catabolizing a variety of aromatic hydrocarbons of mono- and bicyclic benzenes.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.spc1
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• pp.110-117
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• 2005

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium causes human gastroenteritis and a systemic typhoid-like infection in mice. A critical virulence determinant of Salmonella is the ability to invade mammalian cells. The expression of genes required for invasion is tightly regulated by environmental conditions and a variety of regulatory genes. The hilA regulator encodes an OmpR/ToxR family transcriptional regulator that activates the expression of invasion genes in response to both environmental and genetic regulatory factors. Work from several laboratories has highlighted that regulation of hilA expression is a key point for controlling expression of the invasive phenotype. A number of positive regulators of hilA expression have been identified including csrAB, sirA/barA, pstS, hilC/sirC/sprA, fis, and hilD. HilD, an AraC/XylS type transcriptional regulator, is of particular importance as a mutation in hilD results in a 14-fold decrease in chromosomal hilA::Tn5lacZY-080 expression and a 53-fold decrease in invasion of HEp-2 cells. It is believed that HilD directly regulates hilA expression as it has been shown to bind to hilA promoter sequences. In addition, our research group, and others, have identified genes (hilE, hha, pag, and lon) that negatively affect hilA transcription. HilE appears to be an important Salmonella-specific regulator that plays a critical role in inactivating hilA expression. Recent work in our lab has been directed at understanding how environmental signals that affect hilA expression may be processed through a hilE pathway to modulate expression of hilA and the invasive phenotype. The current understanding of this complex regulatory system is reviewed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.594-599
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• 2007

It is well known that the Escherichia coli inner membrane-bound protease DegS is a periplasmic stress sensor for unfolded outer membrane proteins (OMPs). Previous studies have also shown that the outer membrane protease OmpT activates plasminogen in vitro and this may be exploited by bacteria in the course of pathogenesis. However, there has been no research on the plasminogen activation ability of the important periplasmic protein DegS. Accordingly, in this study, the whole-length and truncated degS genes were separately overexpressed in Escherichia coli, the recombinant proteins purified by affinity chromatography, and their plasminogen activator role tested in vitro. The results suggested that the whole-length DegS was able to activate plasminogen on a plasma plate. The truncated form of DegS (residues 80-345), designated ${\Delta}DegS$, also acted as a plasminogen activator, as confirmed by different assays. The serine protease property of ${\Delta}DegS$ was verified based on the complete inhibition of its enzyme activity by PMSF (phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride). Therefore, the present results indicate that DegS is a plasminogen activator in vitro.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.368-377
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• 2020

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) is the main pathogen causing severe inflammatory diseases and colorectal cancer. Its biofilm plays a key role in the development of colorectal cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the antagonistic effects of cell-free supernatants (CFS) derived from Clostridium butyricum against the growth and biofilm of ETBF. Our data showed that C. butyricum CFS inhibited the growth of B. fragilis in planktonic culture. In addition, C. butyricum CFS exhibited an antibiofilm effect by inhibiting biofilm development, disassembling preformed biofilms and reducing the metabolic activity of cells in biofilms. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy, we found that C. butyricum CFS significantly suppressed the proteins and extracellular nucleic acids among the basic biofilm components. Furthermore, C. butyricum CFS significantly downregulated the expression of virulence- and efflux pump-related genes including ompA and bmeB3 in B. fragilis. Our findings suggest that C. butyricum can be used as biotherapeutic agent by inhibiting the growth and biofilm of ETBF.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2004

Human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (hG-CSF) is a hematopoiesis agent that principally affects the differentiation of neutrophils in the bone marrow. At present, recombinant hG-CSF is used successfully in the treatment of chemotheraphy-induced neutropenia and its indication has been expanded to bone marrow transplantation and aplastic anemia. In this study, we have constructed rhG-CSF secretion plasmid pYRC1 in which OmpA signal sequence/hG-CSF gene was expressed under the control of the T7 promoter. rhG-CSF produced in E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) grown at $37{\circ}C$ was found in aggregates. However, 15% of the periplasmic protein was soluble rhG-CSF when the E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) was cultured at $25^{\circ}C$ for 7 h in the modified MBL medium containing 10 g/$\ell$ glucose with 10 $\mu$M IPTG induction. The production of soluble rhG-CSF in E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) using fed batch culture was also studied. In the fed batch culture system, the final yield of rhG-CSF produced from E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) was increased from 4.4 mg/$\ell$to 24 mg/$\ell$by controlling the specific growth rate from $0.43 h^{-1}$ to $0.14 h^{-1}$, and optimizing the time of induction.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1243-1250
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• 2010

A cDNA encoding a cysteine protease inhibitor (CPI) was isolated from the cDNA library of clamworm Perinereis aibuhitensis Grube. The deduced amino acid sequence analysis showed that the protein had 51%, 48%, and 48% identity with Zgc:153129 from Danio rerio, cystatin B from Theromyzon tessulatum, and the ChainA, stefin B tetramer from Homo sapiens, respectively. The gene was cloned into the intracellular expression vector pET-15b and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant CPI (PA-CPI) was purified by affinity chromatography on Ni-charged resin and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose FF. The relative molecular mass of PA-CPI was 16 kDa as deduced by SDS-PAGE. Activity analysis showed that the recombinant protein could inhibit the proteolytic activity of papain. A constitutive and secretive expression vector was also constructed, and the cDNA encoding CPI was subcloned into the vector for extracellular expression. Western blotting analysis results showed that the PA-CPI was secreted into the medium. Bioassay demonstrated that E. coli DH5${\alpha}$ harboring pUC18ompAcat-CPI showed a significant difference in mortality to the Asian longhorned beetle Anoplophora glabripennis compared with untransformed E. coli DH5${\alpha}$ and control.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.227-232
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• 2015

A microarray study has been employed to understand changes of gene expression in E. coli KD43162 resistant to ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, cefazolin, cefepime, aztreonam, imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, fosfomycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole except for amikacin using disk diffusion assay. Using Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF MS analyses, 36 kDa of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) was found to be deleted in the multidrug resistant E. coli KD 43162. Microarray analysis was used to determine up- and down-regulated genes in relation to multidrug resistant E. coli KD43162. Among the up-regulated genes, these genes were corresponded to express the proteins as penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), tartronate semialdehyde reductase, ethanolamine utilization protein, shikimate kinase I, allantoinase, predicted SAM-dependent methyltransferase, L-glutamine: D-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (GFAT), phospho-glucosamine mutase, predicted N-acetylmannosamine kinase, and predicted N-acetylmannosamine-6-P epimerase. Up-regulation of PBPs, one of primary target sites of antibiotics, might be responsible for the multidrug resistance in E. coli with increasing amount of target sites. Up-regulation of GFAT enzyme may be related to the up-regulation of PBPs because GFAT produces N-acetylglucosamine, a precursor of peptidoglycans. One of GFAT inhibitors, azaserine, showed a potent inhibition on the growth of E. coli KD43162. In conclusion, up-regulation of PBPs and GFATs with the loss of 36 kDa OMP refers the multidrug resistance in E. coli KD 43162.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.533-541
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• 2000

Biochemical and genetic analysis were carried out to investigate the potential recovery of pathogenecity or related mutations of Brucella abortus RB51 vaccine strains. RB51 strains were recovered from commercial vaccines, including related seed stocks from private companies in Republic of Korea, strain from USA, a reference strain from C university and a field isolate (Daehungjin) from aborted dairy cow after RB51 vaccination were compared with two identified virulent wild strains (S2308 and a field strain isolated from dairy cow in Korea) at the same conditions. All the strains examined, except identified pathogenic strains, revealed the identical characteristics to the original RB51 in biochemical properties, antigen and bacteriophage typing. Outer membrane protein (OMP) profiles from strains of RB51 showed the same patterns with standard RB51 in SDS-PAGE. In addition, Western blotting with the brucella specific monoclonal antibody also indicated that all the vaccine strains were completely deficient in their LPS compared to the pathogenic Br abortus strains. The differences in DNA structures among strains were also possible to detect after PCR. All vaccine strains, except S19, S1119-3, S1075, S544 and Br suis, were amplified a 178bp DNA fragment of eri-gene, and 364bp of IS711 elements. In contrast, 498bp DNA product was only found with Br abortus. Overall evidences in the present study confirmed that the RB51 strains for vaccine production in Korea did not originated from the phenomena of possible recovery of pathogenicity or related to any potential mutation event at all.