• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.603-613
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• 2019

This study was carried out to examine the antagonistic effect against phytopathogenic fungi of isolated strains from soil samples collected from Busan, Changwon, and Jeju Island: Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum, Corynespora cassiicola, Fusarium sp., Rhizoctonia solani, Phytophthora capsici, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. According to results of our studies, isolated strains showed an antagonistic effect against phytopathogenic fungi. Such an antagonistic effect against phytopathogenic fungi is seen due to the production of siderophores, antibiotic substances, and extracellular amylase, cellulase, protease, and xylanase enzyme activities. Extracellular enzymes produced by isolated strains were significant, given that they inhibited the growth of phytopathogenic fungi by causing bacteriolysis of the cell wall of plant pathogenic fungi. This is essential to break down the cell wall of plant pathogenic fungi and thus help plant growth by converting macromolecules, which cannot be used by the plant for growth, into small molecules. In addition, they are putative candidates as biological agents to promote plant growth and inhibit growth of phytopathogenic fungi through nitrogen fixation, indole-3-acetic acid production, siderophore production, and extracellular enzyme activity. Therefore, this study suggests the possibility of using Bacillus subtilis ANGa5, Bacillus aerius ANGa25, and Bacillus methylotrophicus ANGa27 as new biological agents, and it is considered that further studies are necessary to prove their effect as novel biological agents by standardization of formulation and optimization of selected effective microorganisms, determination of their preservation period, and crop cultivation tests.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.91-97
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• 1976

During the course of studies on the production and utilization of thermostable ${\alpha}$-amylase from a thormophilic actinomycete species isolated from soil, partial characterization of the ${\alpha}$-amylase has been (arried out. The optimum pH for the dextrinogenic activity of the enzyme was found to be 6.5 and the maximum reaction rate was achieved at a temperature range of 55$^{\circ}$ to 65$^{\circ}C$. Calcium ion was recognized to have a slight effect in activating the enzyme, while heavy metal salts especially ferrous and cupric ions showed a remarkable inhibition effect. The enzyme was best protected iron thermal denaturation at pH 8.0 with tris-HCI buffer；inactivation was rapid at higher or lower pH values. Furthermore, its thermal stability was greatly increased by calcium ion, particulary at the final concentration of 1${\times}$10$\^$－2/ mole in the reaction mixture. The Km value for the ${\alpha}$-amylase was calculated to be 2.17${\times}$10$\^$－4/g per $m\ell$ and the energy of activation for the dextrinogenic reaction to be 12,000${\pm}$580 ㎈ per mole.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.588-596
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• 2018

An endo-${\beta}$-1,4-glucanase gene, cel9K, was cloned using the shot-gun method from Paenibacillus sp. X4, which was isolated from alpine soil. The gene was 2,994 bp in length, encoding a protein of 997 amino acid residues with a predicted signal peptide composed of 32 amino acid residues. Cel9K was a multimodular enzyme, and the molecular mass and theoretical pI of the mature Cel9K were 103.5 kDa and 4.81, respectively. Cel9K contains the GGxxDAGD, PHHR, GAxxGG, YxDDI, and EVxxDYN motifs found in most glycoside hydrolase family 9 (GH9) members. The protein sequence showed the highest similarity (88%) with the cellulase of Bacillus sp. BP23 in comparison with the enzymes with reported properties. The enzyme was purified by chromatography using HiTrap Q, CHT-II, and HiTrap Butyl HP. Using SDS-PAGE/activity staining, the molecular mass of Cel9K was estimated to be 93 kDa, which is a truncated form produced by the proteolytic cleavage of its C-terminus. Cel9K was optimally active at pH 5.5 and $50^{\circ}C$ and showed a half-life of 59.2 min at $50^{\circ}C$. The CMCase activity was increased to more than 150% in the presence of 2 mM $Na^+$, $K^+$, and $Ba^{2+}$, but decreased significantly to less than 50% by $Mn^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$. The addition of Cel9K to a commercial enzyme set (Celluclast 1.5L + Novozym 188) increased the saccharification of the pretreated reed and rice straw powders by 30.4% and 15.9%, respectively. The results suggest that Cel9K can be used to enhance the enzymatic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to reducing sugars as an additive.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.269-274
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• 2010

An antifungal antibiotic-producing strain, BCNU 2003, was isolated from forest soil in Korea. The morphological and physiological characters, and 16S rRNA sequences analysis of strain BCNU 2003 identified this strain as Bacillus genus. The Bacillus sp. BCNU 2003 showed strong antifungal activities against Aspergillus niger, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum with inhibition ranging from 62.05 to 63.49% by using dual culture technique. Bacillus sp. BCNU 2003 produced a maximum level of antifungal substances under aerobic incubation at 28oC and pH 6.5-7.2 for 6 days in LB broth. Ethyl acetate extract of the cultured broth showed strong antifungal activity and a broad antifungal spectrum against various pathogenic fungi. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for its active extracts ranged between 0.0625 mg/ml and 1 mg/ml. In addition, Bacillus sp. BCNU 2003 was determined to have the ability to produce enzymes such as amylase, protease, gelatinase and catalase.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 1990

For the selection of powerful antagonistic bacterium for biological control of soilborne Fusarium solani causing root rot of many important crops, the best YPL-1 strain was selected among 300 strains of bacteria isolated from rhizosphere in ginseng root rot-suppressive soil. The strain was identified to be a species to Pseudomonas stutzeri. With in vitro fungal inhibition tests, antagonistic substance of P. stutzeri YPL-1 against F. solani was presumed to be heat unstable, macromolecular substances such as protein. Also, it was shown that antifungal activity of P. stutzeri YPL-1 increased in proportion to its chitinase production. P. stutzeri YPL-M122 (chi-, lam -) which was deprived of the productivity of chitinase and laminarinase by NTG mutagenesis had lost antifungal activity, completely. And P. stutzeri YPL-MI53 (chi-) had only 4.1% of its antifungal activity. P. stutzeri YPL-1 was not able to produce any extracellular siderophore in iron-deficent minimal medium. It is confident that the antifungal mechanism of P. stutzeri YPL-1 for biocontrol of F. solani depends on lysis rather than antibiosis :the mechanism of lysis appears to involve enzymatic degradation of the cell will components of F. solani by hydrolytic enzymes of more chitinase and less laminarinase.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1143-1149
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• 2003

To elucidate a method of preventing dental caries, strains producing lytic enzymes were isolated and their characteristics were investigated. Among 5,00 alkalophilic strains isolated from soil, 22 strains showed lytic activity against Streptococcus mutans. Strain No. 4830, with the highest lytic activity, was selected for further study. Strain 4830 showed 94% sequence homology with the 16S rDNA sequence of Bacillus alcalophilus, but it was concluded to be different from Bacillus alcalophilus because of its biochemical characteristics. The strain was named Bacillus sp. 4830. The lytic enzyme from Bacillus sp. 4830 was purified by ethanol precipitation and CM-agarose column chromatography. The molecular weight of the lytic enzyme was determined to be 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The lytic enzyme was stable between pH 5.0 and pH 11 and up to $40^{\circ}C$. The optimal pH and temperature for the lytic activity was 9.0 and $50^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1951-1964
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• 2016

1,4-Dioxane-degrading bacterial consortia were enriched from forest soil (FS) and activated sludge (AS) using a defined medium containing 1,4-dioxane as the sole carbon source. These two enrichments cultures appeared to have inducible tetrahydrofuran/dioxane and propane degradation enzymes. According to qPCR results on the 16S rRNA and soluble di-iron monooxygenase genes, the relative abundances of 1,4-dioxane-degrading bacteria to total bacteria in FS and AS were 29.4% and 57.8%, respectively. For FS, the cell growth yields (Y), maximum specific degradation rate ($V_{max}$), and half-saturation concentration ($K_m$) were 0.58 mg-protein/mg-dioxane, $0.037mg-dioxane/mg-protein{\cdot}h$, and 93.9 mg/l, respectively. For AS, Y, $V_{max}$, and $K_m$ were 0.34 mg-protein/mg-dioxane, $0.078mg-dioxane/mg-protein{\cdot}h$, and 181.3 mg/l, respectively. These kinetics data of FS and AS were similar to previously reported values. Based on bacterial community analysis on 16S rRNA gene sequences of the two enrichment cultures, the FS consortium was identified to contain 38.3% of Mycobacterium and 10.6% of Afipia, similar to previously reported literature. Meanwhile, 49.5% of the AS consortium belonged to the candidate division TM7, which has never been reported to be involved in 1,4-dioxane biodegradation. However, recent studies suggested that TM7 bacteria were associated with degradation of non-biodegradable and hazardous materials. Therefore, our results showed that previously unknown 1,4-dioxane-degrading bacteria might play an important role in enriched AS. Although the metabolic capability and ecophysiological significance of the predominant TM7 bacteria in AS enrichment culture remain unclear, our data reveal hidden characteristics of the TM7 phylum and provide a perspective for studying this previously uncultured phylotype.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.267-273
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• 1997

Various physico-chemical and microbiological parameters of a composting system were compared with respect to their potential use for the monitoring and evaluation of composting processes for cattle manure. The temperature changed within a range of $30-65^{\circ}C$ during the whole composting process, and the period of active composting (>$40^{\circ}C$) persisted for 16 days. The concentrations of total carbon, total nitrogen, and organic matter decreased by 15% during active composting, but significant changes in C/N ratio were not observed. The decrease of temperature in the latter period of active composting caused a decrease of $NH_4^+-N$ and an increase of $NO_3^--N$ in the composting pile. When temperature exceeded $50^{\circ}C$, the population of thermophiles was higher than that of mesophiles by more than 1 or 2 orders of magnitude. Correlation analyses showed that amylase activity correlated positively with the population of mesophiles and reducing sugar content, but negatively with the population of thermophiles. Amylase activity was higher at the beginning of active composting, whereas cellulase, xylanase and ligninase activities which showed close relationship with each other, increased continually during active cornposting, suggesting the distinction of temporal niches between amylose-degrading and lignocellulose-degrading bacteria in the same habitat.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.4 s.100
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• pp.306-311
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• 2002

The amount and composition of dissolved organic carbon in wetlands are of great importance for their influence in secondary productivity, various biogeochemical processes, and aquatic ecosystem functions. In the present study, we measured variations of DOC and phenolics concentrations in pore-water of three northern peatlands (bog, fen, and swamp) over a 1-year period. General microbial activity (soil respirometry) and phenol oxidase enzyme activity were determined in the same peatlands to elucidate mechanisms underlying the differences in DOC and phenolics contents. The concentrations of DOC varied 25.5-45.4 (bog),29.2-71.4 (fen), and 13.5-87.6 (swamp) mg/L, while phenolic concentrations ranged 13.3-48.1 (bog), 7.6-29.5(fen) , and 4.9-30.8 (swamp) mg/L. The seasonal variations of DOC and phenolics in the swamp suggest that litterfall may be one of the most important factors for the DOC dynamics in such systems. The lowest microbial activity and phenol oxidase activity were found in the bog, which appears to Induce high percentage of phenolic contents in pore-water from bogs. It is also suggested that not only the DOC concentrations but also composition of DOC is of great importance in wetland biogeochernistry.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.641-653
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to confirm the antifungal activity, plant growth-promoting activity, and mineral solubilizing activity of 18 types of bacteria isolated purely from rhizosphere soil. The potential of isolates of the genus Bacillus and Pseudomonas as biocontrol agents was confirmed through the antifungal activity of these isolates. This activity has been determined to be due to various hydrolytic enzymes on the cell wall of plant pathogenic fungi and the production of siderophores in isolates. In addition, most of the isolates have been found to have aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase production activity, indole-3-acetic acid production activity, and nitrogen fixation activity. These characteristics are believed to have a positive effect on root development, growth, and the productivity of crops via a reduction in the concentration of ethylene under conditions of environmental stress, to which plants are commonly exposed. In addition, on testing for the solubilizing activity of the isolates for phosphoric acid, silicon, calcium carbonate, and zinc, some isolates were found to have mineral solubilizing activities. Inoculation of these isolates during plant growth is expected to assist plant growth by converting nutrients necessary for growth into usable forms that can be absorbed by plants. The 18 isolated strains can be used as biocontrol agents due to their antifungal activity, plant growthpromoting activity, and mineral solubilizing activity.