• Journal of Species Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.97-108
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• 2015

As a subset study to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total of 29 bacterial strains assigned to the classes Alphaproteobacteria were isolated from various environmental samples collected from plant root, ginseng soil, forest soil, marsh, mud flat, freshwater and seawater. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>99.1%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species, it was determined that each strain belonged to each independent and predefined bacterial species. There is no official report that these 29 species included in Alphaproteobacteria is have been described in Korea; therefore 14 species of 9 genera in the order Rhizobiales, 7 species of 6 genera in the order Sphingomonadales and 4 species of 2 genera in the order Caulobacterales and 3 species in the order Rhodobacterales and 1 species in the order Rhodospirillales found in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are also described in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2018

In 2016, as a subset study to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total of 15 bacterial strains were isolated and assigned to the class Betaproteobacteria. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.8%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species, it was determined that each strain belonged to each independent and predefined bacterial species. There is no official report that these 15 species have been described in Korea; therefore, 1 strain of the Aquitalea, 5 strains of the Paraburkholderia, 2 strains of the Comamonas, 1 strain of the Cupriavidus, 1 strain of the Diaphorobacter, 2 strains of the Hydrogenophaga, 1 strain of the Iodobacter, 1 strain of the Massilia and 1 strain of the Rhodoferax within the Betaproteobacteria are described for unreported bacterial species in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, and isolation sources are also described in the species description section.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.161-180
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• 2018

Fourteen bacterial strains, low10-4-1, J11015, 17J27-22, 17G22-9, 17G9-4, 17Bio_15, 17gy_33, 17SD1_21, Strain8, 17Sr1_17, J21014T, H31021, 17J49-9, and 17J80-6 assigned to the phylum Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Deinococcus-Thermus, and Firmicutes were isolated from soil samples. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strains low10-4-1, J11015, 17J27-22, 17G22-9, 17G9-4, 17Bio_15, 17gy_33, 17SD1_21, Strain8, 17Sr1_17, J21014T, H31021, 17J49-9, and 17J80-6 were most closely related to Marmoricola aurantiacus (98.9%), Calidifontibacter indicus (99.8%), Gordonia soli (98.8%), Rhodococcus globerulus (99.5%), Pseudarthrobacter siccitolerans (99.1%), Hymenobacter qilianensis (98.7%), Hymenobacter terrae (99.0%), Deinococcus yunweiensis (99.2%), Deinococcus proteolyticus (99.7%), Domibacillus indicus (99.2%), Exiguobacterium mexicanum (100.0%), Kurthia senegalensis (99.1%), Lysinibacillus composti (99.6%), and Bacillus loiseleuriae (99.3%). These fourteen species have never been reported in Korea, therefore we report them here for the first time.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.135-150
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• 2018

Eleven bacterial strains 17SD2_15, 17Sr1_23, 17SD2_13, 17Sr1_31, 17gy_18, 16B15D, 16B02D, 16B04G, 16B01D, 17U4-2 and 17J28-10 assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria were isolated from soil samples collected from Seoul Women's University, in South Korea. The Belnapia species, strain 17SD2_15 was cocci-shaped and pink-colored. The Methylobacterium species, strain 17Sr1_23, 17SD2_13, 17Sr1_31, and 16B15D were short rod-shaped and pink-colored. The Microvirga species, strain 17gy_18, and 16B02D were short rod-shaped and pink-colored. The Oxalicibacterium species, strain 16B04G was short rod-shaped and pink-colored. The Sphingomonas species, strain 16B01D was short rod-shaped and yellow-colored. The Variovorax species, strain 17U4-2 was cocci-shaped and yellow-colored. The Paracoccus species, 17J28-10 was cocci-shaped and orange-colored. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strains 17SD2_15, 17Sr1_23, 17SD2_13, 17Sr1_31, 17gy_18, 16B15D, 16B02D, 16B04G, 16B01D, 17U4-2 and 17J28-10 were most closely related to Belnapia soli (with 99.9% similarity), Methylobacterium gregans (99.1%), Methylobacterium isbiliense (99.6%), Methylobacterium oxalidis (99.9%), Microvirga aerilata (98.7%), Methylobacterium aerolatum (99.0%), Microvirga vignae (100.0%), Noviherbaspirillum canariense (100.0%), Sphingomonas desiccabilis (100.0%), Variovorax humicola (99.6%), and Paracoccus acridae (99.1%), respectively. This is the first report of these eleven species in Korea.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.104-113
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• 2018

In order to investigate indigenous prokaryotic species diversity in Korea, various environmental samples from diverse ecosystems were examined. Isolated bacterial strains were identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, and those exhibiting at least 98.7% sequence similarity with known bacterial species, but not reported in Korea, were selected as unrecorded species. 28 unrecorded bacterial species belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes were discovered from various habitats including wastewater, freshwater, freshwater sediment, wet land, reclaimed land, plant root, bird feces, seawater, sea sand, tidal flat sediment, a scallop, marine algae, and seaweed. The unrecorded species were assigned to 18 different genera in five families: Flavobacterium, Epilithonimonas, Dokdonia, Gillisia, Flavicella, Chryseobacterium, Algibacter, Aquimarina, Lacinutrix, Gaetbulibacter, Cellulophaga, Tenacibaculum, and Maribacter of Flavobacteriaceae, Dyadobacter of Cytophagaceae, Draconibacterium of Draconibacterium_f, Sunxiuqinia of Prolixibacteraceae, and Fulvivirga of Fulvivirga_f. The selected isolates were subjected to further taxonomic characterization including analysis of Gram reaction, cellular and colonial morphology, biochemical activities, and phylogenetic trees. Descriptive information of the 28 unrecorded species is provided.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.219-227
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• 2005

Little is known about the bacterial communities associated with the plants inhabiting sand dune ecosystems. In this study, the bacterial populations associated with two major sand dune plant species, Calystegia soldanella (beach morning glory) and Elymus mollis (wild rye), growing along the costal areas in Tae-An, Chungnam Province, were analyzed using a culture-dependent approach. A total of 212 bacteria were isolated from the root and rhizosphere samples of the two plants, and subjected to further analysis. Based on the analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences, all the bacterial isolates were classified into six major phyla of the domain Bacteria. Significant differences were observed between the two plant species, and also between the rhizospheric and root endophytic communities. The isolates from the rhizosphere of the two plant species were assigned to 27 different established genera, and the root endophytic bacteria were assigned to 21. Members of the phylum Gammaproteobacteria, notably the Pseudomonas species, comprised the majority of both the rhizospheric and endophytic bacteria, followed by members of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes in the rhizosphere and Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes in the root. A number of isolates were recognized as potentially novel bacterial taxa. Fifteen out of 27 bacterial genera were commonly found in the rhizosphere of both plants, which was comparable to 3 out of 21 common genera in the root, implying the host specificity for endophytic populations. This study of the diversity of culturable rhizospheric and endophytic bacteria has provided the basis for further investigation aimed at the selection of microbes for the facilitation of plant growth.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.170-176
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• 2009

Culture-independent 16S rDNA-DGGE profiling and phylogenetic analysis were used to examine the predominant bacterial communities associated with the two sponges, Dictyonella sp. and Spirastrella abata from Jeju island. The culture-independent approach involved extraction of total bacterial DNA, PCR amplification of the 16S ribosomal DNA using primer pair 341f-GC and 518r, and separation of the amplicons on a denaturing gradient gel. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis banding patterns indicated 8 and 7 bands from the two sponge species, Dictyonella sp. and Spirastrella abata, respectively. There were not common major bands in two different sponges. Comparative sequence analysis of variable DGGE bands revealed from 93% to 98% similarity to the known published sequences. The dominant bacterial group of Dictyonella sp. belonged to uncultured Gammaproteobacteria, while, that of Spirastrella abata belonged to uncultured Alphaproeobacteria and Firmicutes. DGGE analysis indicated predominant communities of the sponge-associated bacteria differ in the two sponges from the same geographical location. This result revealed that bacterial community profiles of the sponges were host species-specific.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.701-704
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• 2007

This report describes the full-length sequences of 2HBV clones from a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patient, one with preC mutation (1896A) and the other without preC mutation. The high level of discrepancy in mutation frequency between these 2 strains was observed in the Core (C) region among 4 ORFs. These data support previous results that Korean HBV strains, belonging to genotype C2, are prone to mutations. It is possible that the mutations (BCP and preC mutations) associated with the HBeAg defective production might contribute to the diversity of mutations related to HBV persistence, playing an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis in this patient.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.77-89
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• 2012

With the advent of the genomics era powered by DNA sequencing technologies, life science is being transformed significantly and biological research and development have been accelerated. Environmental biology concerns the relationships among living organisms and their natural environment, which constitute the global biogeochemical cycle. As sustainability of the ecosystems depends on biodiversity, examining the structure and dynamics of the biotic constituents and fully grasping their genetic and metabolic capabilities are pivotal. The high-speed high-throughput next-generation sequencing can be applied to barcoding organisms either thriving or endangered and to decoding the whole genome information. Furthermore, diversity and the full gene complement of a microbial community can be elucidated and monitored through metagenomic approaches. With regard to human welfare, microbiomes of various human habitats such as gut, skin, mouth, stomach, and vagina, have been and are being scrutinized. To keep pace with the rapid increase of the sequencing capacity, various bioinformatic algorithms and software tools that even utilize supercomputers and cloud computing are being developed for processing and storage of massive data sets. Environmental genomics will be the major force in understanding the structure and function of ecosystems in nature as well as preserving, remediating, and bioprospecting them.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.65-74
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• 1999

Reovirus was found to inhabit both the respiratory and the enteric tract of human and animals. The genome of reovirus comprises 10 segments of double-stranded RNA, total size 24 kbp. Nine strains of reovirus were isolated from human and field mice in Korea. Aseptically collected sera from human and lung tissues from field mice were used for virus isolation. For serotype determination, hemagglutination inhibition test was used, and three strains were confirmed to type 2 and six strains to type 3. To determine the genomic diversity and molecular phylogeny of reoviruses isolated in Korea, part of S4 genomic segment of reovirus was enzymatically amplified and directly sequenced. In nucleotide level, Apo98-35 strain showed 15.4%, 19.3%, and 14.4% differences compared to type 1 (T1L, Lang), type 2 (T2J), and type 3 reference strains, respectively. In amino acid level, Apo98-35 strain showed 10.5%, 13.7%, and 9.5% differences compared to type 1, type 2, and type 3 reference strains, respectively. Using the maximum parsimony method based on 285 bp spaning region of the S4 genomic segment, phylogenetic analysis indicated that Apo98-35 from Korea formed different phylogenetic branch. Our data obtained by sequence and phylogenetic analyses of reoviruses are consistent with the distinct geographically dependent evolution of reoviruses in Korea.