• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.952-958
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• 2004

Of 23 psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from the west Pacific deep-sea sediments, 19 were assigned to the $\gamma$-Proteobacteria, 3 to the <$\beta$-Proteobacteria, and 1 to the Gram-positive bacteria, as determined by their 16S rDNA sequences. Ten psychrotrophs, affiliated to the Psychrobacter, Pseudoalteromonas, and Pseudomonas genera in the $\gamma$-Proteobacteria group, were screened for lipolytic bacteria. The majority of the lipolytic isolates had growth temperatures between 4-$30^\circ{C}$, and all of them were neutrophilic, aerobic, or facultatively anaerobic, and some were able to produce multiple kinds of ectohydrolytic enzymes. The deep-sea strains Psychrobacter sp. wp37 and Pseudoalteromonas sp. wp27 were chosen for further lipase production analysis. Both strains had the highest lipase production when grown at 10 to $20^\circ{C}$; their highest lipase production occurred at the late-exponential growth stage; and the majority of the enzymes were excreted to the outside of the cells. Lipases from both strains had the same optimal reaction temperature and pH (20-$30^\circ{C}$, pH 7-8) and could retain about 60% of their highest activity at $4^\circ{C}$. Furthermore, SDS-PAGE and an in-gel activity test showed that they had the same high molecular mass of about 85 kDa.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.883-890
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• 2016

Marine sediments are a microbial biosphere with an unknown physiology, and the sediments harbor numerous distinct phylogenetic lineages of Bacteria and Archaea that are at present uncultured. In this study, the structure of the archaeal and bacterial communities was investigated in the surface and subsurface sediments of Jeju Island using a next-generation sequencing method. The microbial communities in the surface sediments were distinct from those in the subsurface sediments; the relative abundance of sequences for Thaumarchaeota, Actinobacteria, Bacteroides, Alphaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria were higher in the surface than subsurface sediments, whereas the sequences for Euryarchaeota, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, and Deltaproteobacteria were relatively more abundant in the subsurface than surface sediments. This study presents detailed characterization of the spatial distribution of benthic microbial communities of Jeju Island and provides fundamental information on the potential interactions mediated by microorganisms with the different biogeochemical cycles in coastal sediments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.353-357
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• 2015

A new actinomycete strain NA4 was isolated from a deep-sea sediment collected from the South China Sea and showed promising antifungal activities against soilborne fungal pathogens. It was identified as Streptomyces cavourensis by morphological, physiological, and phylogenetic analyses based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence. The main antifungal components were isolated and identified from the fermentation culture as bafilomycins B1 and C1. These compounds exhibited significant antifungal activities and a broad antifungal spectrum. The results suggest that the Streptomyces cavourensis NA4 and bafilomycins B1 and C1 could be used as potential biocontrol agents for soilborne fungal diseases of plants.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.339-345
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• 2020

The Earth contains billions of microbial species, although the vast majority cannot be cultured in laboratories and are thus considered unidentified and uncharacterized. Extremophiles are microorganisms that thrive in extreme conditions, including temperature, salinity, and pH. Extremophilic microorganisms have provided important insights for biological, metabolic, and evolutionary studies. Between 2017 and 2019, as part of a comprehensive investigation to identify bacterial species in Korea, eight bacterial strains were isolated from marine and non-marine environments in Jeju Island. These strains were cultured under extreme salinity or pH conditions. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S ribosomal RNA(rRNA) gene sequencing indicated that all eight strains belonged to the phyla Gammaproteobacteria, Bacilli, and Alphaproteobacteria. Based on their high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities(>98.7%) and the formation of strong monophyletic clades with their closest related species, all isolated strains were considered as an unrecorded strain, previously unidentified species. Gram stain reaction, culture conditions, colony and cell morphology, biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and National Institute of Biological Resources(NIBR) IDs are described in this article. The characterization of these unrecorded strains provides information on microorganisms living in Korea.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.553-556
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• 2006

A cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-DCE)-degrading anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium sp. strain KYT-1, was isolated from a sediment sample collected from a landfill site in Nanji-do, Seoul, Korea. The KYT-1 strain is a gram-positive, endospore-forming, motile, rod-shaped anaerobic bacterium, of approximately $2.5{\sim}3.0\;{\mu}m$ in length. The degradation of cis-DCE is closely related with the growth of the KYT-1 strain, and it was stopped when the growth of the KYT-1 strain became constant. Although the pathway of cis-DCE degradation by strain KYT-1 remains to be further elucidated, no accumulation of the harmful intermediate, vinyl chloride (VC), was observed during anaerobic cis-DCE degradation. Strain KYT-1 proved able to degrade a variety of volatile organic compounds, including VC, isomers of DCE (1,1-dichloroethylene, trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, and cis-DCE), trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and 1,1,2-trichloroethane. Strain KYT-1 degraded cis-DCE at a range of temperatures from $15\;to\;37^{\circ}C$, with an optimum at $30^{\circ}C$, and at a pH range of 5.5 to 8.5, with an optimum at 7.0.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.423-443
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• 2020

Freshwater fungi are a poly-phylogenetic group of taxonomically diverse organisms. In this study, we isolated diverse fungal strains from various environmental samples obtained from freshwaters in Korea. These strains were identified by performing molecular phylogenetic analyses of rDNA and/or other sequences (beta-tubulin, RNA polymerase II, and translation elongation factor 1). In addition, we examined their morphological characteristics microscopically and cultural characteristics using different media. We identified eleven unrecorded Pezizomycotina species: Cladosporium angulosum, Pseudorobillarda phragmitis, Paraconiothyrium estuarinum, Pseudopithomyces palmicola, Pyrenochaetopsis paucisetosa, Thelebolus globosus, Plagiostoma mejianum, Trichoderma cremeum, Fusarium tanahbumbuense, Coniochaeta endophytica, and Chaetomium tenue. Environmental samples obtained from different freshwater ecosystems in Korea could thus be a good source for isolating and investigating novel fungal species.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.442-457
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• 1995

The relationships of environmental factors to the distribution patterns of the three species of ophiuroids, Ophiura kinbergi, O. sarsi and ). sarsi vadicola from Yellow Sea southeast seas and East Sea of Korea were studied to characterize their habitual niches. These three species chosen for study illustrated distinct niche and patterns according to their various preferences mainly for bottom water temperature, bottom water salinity and depth from seven environmental variables which were depth, bottom water temperature and salinity, density, bottom water oxygen content, grain size of the surface sediment, and sediment sorting coefficient. The results of habitat niche study mainly dealing with O. sarsi vadicola suggested that the optimum habitat rages were approximately 6$^{\circ}C$∼10$^{\circ}C$ in bottom temperature and 31%∼33.5% in bottom water salinity which also corresponded with the characteristic ranges of Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water and higher probabilities of occurrence (more than 70%) were found in depth ranging from 100 to 200 m. In addition, the habitats of O. kinbergi and O. sarsi were compared with that of O. sarsi vadicola. Their ranges of habitat niches were found to have different niches in physical space of bottom water temperature, bottom water salinity and depth. Based on the distribution pattern of O. sarsi vadicola in the Yellow Sea, the ecological barrier which confined the distribution of benthic macro-invertebrates in southern Yellow Sea was determined to be the Yellow Sea Warm Current (approximately 34% < and 18$^{\circ}C$ in December) which occurs between 33$^{\circ}$ and 34$^{\circ}$N of southern Yellow Sea in winter time.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.60-64
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• 2013

Two strains were isolated from the traditional Deep Blue Sediment Dye of Polygoum tinctoria, Niram, and temporarily named Niram A and Niram B, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that strain Niram A and B were closely related to the members of the genus Comamonas and Microbacterium, respectively. Strain Niram A exhibited the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to C. aquatica LMG $2370^T$ (98.06%). Strain Niram B showed 100% homology with M. oxydans DSM 20578T and M. maritypicum DSM $12512^T$. The growth of the strain Niram A and B was not inhibited in Niram medium containing high calcium concentration without free sugar as carbon source. The reducing Niram is greenish. Therefore, the reducing ability on the Niram of the strains Niram A and B were determined with the color difference of the $a^*$ values of Niram fermented-fluids. The $a^*$ value indicates the level of redness (positive value) or greenness (negative value). The green color is increasing towards the negative value. In all samples fermented for 10 days, the $a^*$ values among samples were no significant difference. However, samples fermented for 15 days have an appreciable change. After fermentation for 15 days, the control Niram sample had $-3.96{\pm}0.02$ of the $a^*$ value. On the other hand, the Niram samples fermented with the strain Niram A and B showed $-4.20{\pm}0.02$ of the $a^*$ value and $-7.86{\pm}0.03$ of the $a^*$ value, respectively. In the reducing ability on the Niram, the strain Niram B was significantly better than the strain Niram A.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2011

Xylanase is a class of enzymes that hydrolyze the linear polysaccharide ${\beta}$-1,4-xylan into xylose. This enzyme is applied in the process of paper making and may be used for the process of biofuel production in the future. The Paenibacillus donghaensis JH8, isolated from Donghae deepsea sediment and reported as a novel bacterium, was known to degrade xylan and its xylanase was characterized in this study. The enzyme was maximally induced in the presence of 0.1% xylan. The production of xylanase was started at early logarithmic phase and reached about 55 miliunit at stationary phase of growth. The optimal temperature and pH of extracellular xylanase were found to be $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.0, respectively. The activity of xylanase was inhibited by the presence of $Ca^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Al^{3+}$ or EDTA, and activated by $K^+$, $Ag^+$ or DTT. This xylanase was stable at $40^{\circ}C$ for 120 min, but lost almost their activity in 30 min at $60^{\circ}C$. Zymography analysis of concentrated culture supernatant revealed one major band at 42 kDa and two faint bands at 68 and 120 kDa.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.301-309
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• 2017

This study is examined river naturality and vegetative composition of river riparian zones to identify their most important sources of variation. Information on plant species cover and on physical characteristics that occur at upper, medium, and low areas was collected for 30 riparian plots located throughout the Youngjeong River in Korea. The riparian areas of river banks are dominated by mixed sediment and the vegetation is composed of herbs, shrub, and trees. The floristic characterization of riparian at this river during 2015 season was identified with a total of 28 families, 72 genera, 75 species, 13 varieties, 23 associations. The vegetations of low water's edge and flood way at upper region were naturally formed various vegetation communities by natural erosion. Forty plant species were identified around the upper region, where the dominant growth form was mostly trees. The flood way vegetation at middle region was both of natural vegetation and artificial vegetation. Land uses in riparian zones river levee at low region were bush or grassland as natural floodplain. The values of cover-abundance at upper, middle, and low region were total 9.26, 7.24, and 7.56, respectively. Grasses and forbs at the Youngjeong River have similar cover-abundance values. Recent, many riparian areas of this river have been lost or degraded for commercial and industrial developments. Thus, monitoring for biological diversity of plant species of this river is necessary for an adaptive management approach and the successful implementation of ecosystem management.