• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.602-609
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• 2012

Burkholderia anthina R-4183, Burkholderia diffusa R-15930 and Burkholderia stabilis LMG 14294 isolated from green house soils (Gongju-Gun area, South Korea) were characterized and their phosphate solubilizing ability was assessed. Under in vitro culture conditions, all three species were proved to be effective in solubilizing phosphates in varying degrees. Strain Burkholderia anthina exhibited the highest phosphate solubilization in NBRIP medium ($665{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$) followed by Burkholderia diffusa ($630{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$) and Burkholderia stabilis ($578{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$). However, solubilization of $FePO_4$ and $AlPO_4$ was found to be poor in all the strains. Acidification by means of gluconic and oxalic acids accumulation in the culture medium could be the possible mechanism responsible for phosphate solubilization. Glucose at the rate of 3% was found be the best carbon source for Burkholderia anthina while other two Burkholderia species showed maximum phosphate solubilization at 2% of glucose. In the case of nitrogen sources, ammonium and nitrate were equally effective in solubilizing phosphates by Burkholderia species. Despite a slight decrease in phosphate solubilization observed at increasing temperature, all three Burkholderia species could withstand a temperature of $30-35^{\circ}C$, pH at the range of 7-9 and the presence of NaCl (up to 2.5%) without much compromising the phosphate solubilization. As shown with potted mung bean seedlings, all the three isolates could enhance soil fertility and plant growth indicating their great potential to be used as bio-inoculants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1306-1311
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• 2011

Recombinant Rhodopseudomonas palustris, harboring the carotenoid-metabolizing gene crtI (CrtIBS), and whose color changes from greenish yellow to red in response to inorganic As(III), was cultured in transparent microplate wells illuminated with a light emitting diode (LED) array. The cells were seen to grow better under near-infrared light, when compared with cells illuminated with blue or green LEDs. The absorbance ratio of 525 to 425 nm after cultivation for 24 h, which reflects red carotenoid accumulation, increased with an increase in As(III) concentrations. The detection limit of cultures illuminated with near-infrared LED was 5 ${\mu}g$/l, which was equivalent to that of cultures in test tubes illuminated with an incandescent lamp. A near-infrared LED array, in combination with a microplate, enabled the simultaneous handling of multiple cultures, including CrtIBS and a control strain, for normalization by the illumination of those with equal photon flux densities. Thus, the introduction of a near-infrared LED array to the assay is advantageous for the monitoring of arsenic in natural water samples that may contain a number of unknown factors and, therefore, need normalization of the reporter event.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1142-1148
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• 2020

Mitochondria play a vital role in iron uptake and metabolism in pathogenic fungi, and also influence virulence and drug tolerance. However, the regulation of iron transport within the mitochondria of Cryptococcus neoformans, a causative agent of fungal meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised individuals, remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we identified and functionally characterized Mrs3/4, a homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial iron transporter, in C. neoformans var. grubii. A strain expressing an Mrs3/4-GFP fusion protein was generated, and the mitochondrial localization of the fusion protein was confirmed. Moreover, a mutant lacking the MRS3/4 gene was constructed; this mutant displayed significantly reduced mitochondrial iron and cellular heme accumulation. In addition, impaired mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster metabolism and altered expression of genes required for iron uptake at the plasma membrane were observed in the mrs3/4 mutant, suggesting that Mrs3/4 is involved in iron import and metabolism in the mitochondria of C. neoformans. Using a murine model of cryptococcosis, we demonstrated that an mrs3/4 mutant is defective in survival and virulence. Taken together, our study suggests that Mrs3/4 is responsible for iron import in mitochondria and reveals a link between mitochondrial iron metabolism and the virulence of C. neoformans.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.473-478
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• 1986

In order to elucidate the patterns of natural oils and fats assimilation by microorganisms, lipases properties of yeast and bacterium strain, Torulopsis candia Y-128 and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus KB-2, which could assimilate palm oil efficiently, were investigated. T candida Y-128 attached palm oil droplets directly, and assimilated unsaturated fatty acid more easily than saturated acids liberated by the action of its lipase. Lipase of A. calcoaceticus KB-2 was extracellular and appeared quickly from the beginning of log phase of growth, whereas lipase of f candida Y-128 appealed intracellular. The lipases of two strains seem to be only enough to utilize the lipid materials for their own growth, without accumulation of lipases in the culture broth. Lipases of the strains have 1 (3-)-positional specificities on triglycerides. The patterns of palm oil assimilation showed that two strains attached droplets of lipid materials directly and split off fatty acids at 1 (3-)-position of triglycerides first, and assimilated the reaction products via fatty acids metabolic pathway.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.171-174
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• 2012

THOC1/Hpr1 is one subunit of THO complex that is an evolutionally conserved assembly involved in the mRNP packaging and mRNA export during transcription elongation. In fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, an ortholog (spHpr1) of THOC1/Hpr1 was identified based on sequence alignment. A deletion mutant in a diploid strain was constructed by replacing one of spHpr1-coding region with a $kan^r$ gene using one-step gene disruption method. Tetrad analysis showed that the sphpr1 is essential for growth. Over-expression of sphpr1 from strong nmt1 promoter caused no defects of growth and mRNA export. However, repression of the sphpr1 expression resulted in growth inhibition accompanied by accumulation of poly$(A)^+$ RNA in the nucleus. These results suggest that spHpr1 is involved in mRNA export from the nucleus to cytoplasm.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.687-697
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• 1999

A finite element analysis has been utilized to analyze stress and strain fields and design a new configuration in orthopedics and implant dentistry. Load transfer and stress analysis at implant bone interface are important factors from treatment planning to long term success. Bone configuration and quality are different according te anatomy of expecting implantation site. The purpose of this study was to compare the stress distribution in maxilla and mandible accord-ing to implant length and bone engagement types. A three dimensional axi-symmetric implant model(Nobel Biocare, Gothenburg, Sweden) with surrounding cortical and cancellous bone were designed to analyze the effects of bone engagement and implant length on stress distribution. ANSYS 5.5 finite element program was utilized as an interpreting toot. Three cases of unicortical anchorage model with 7, 10, 13 mm length and four cases of bicortical anchorage model with 5, 7, 10 and 13 mm length were compared both maxillary and mandibular single implant situation. Within the limits of study, following conclusions were drawn. 1. There is a difference in stress distribution according to cortical and cancellous bone thickness and shape. 2. Maximum stress was shown at the top of cortical bone area regardless of bone engagement types. 3. Bicortical engagement showed less stress accumulation when compared to unicortical case overall. 4. Longer the implant future length, less the stress on cortical bone area, however there is no difference in mandibular bicortical engagement case.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.179-185
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• 2016

Ginger (Zingiber officnale Roscoe, Zingiberaceae), which is a well-known food seasoning, has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorder, vomiting and cough in Korea, China and Japan. Ethanol extract from the dried ginger (DG) was successively partitioned as methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and $H_2O$ soluble fractions. Among those fractions the ethyl acetate soluble fraction (EDG) showed the most potent DPPH radical scavenging and superoxide quenching activities. To know the effect of antioxidant activities of EDG, we tested the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase together with oxidative stress tolerance and intracellular ROS level in Caenorhabditis elegans. To investigate whether EDG-mediated increased stress tolerance was due to regulation of stress-response gene, we quantified SOD-3 expression using transgenic strain including CF1553. Consequently, EDG elevated SOD and catalase activities of C. elegans, reduced intracellular ROS accumulation in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, EDG-treated CF1553 worms exhibited significantly higher SOD-3::GFP intensity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3681-3686
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• 2014

In this study, we demonstrated selenium (Se) accumulation in Bifidobacterium longum strain (B. longum) and evaluated the effect of Se-enriched B. longum (Se-B. longum) on tumor growth and immune function in tumor-bearing mice. Analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) revealed that more than 99% of Se in Se-B. longum was organic, the main component of which was selenomethionine (SeMet). In the in vivo experiments, tumor-bearing mice (n=8) were orally administrated with different doses of Se-B. longum alone or combined with cyclophosphamide (CTX). The results showed that the middle and high dose of Se-B. longum significantly inhibited tumor growth. When Se-B. longum and CTX were combined, the antitumor effect was significantly enhanced and the survival time of tumor-bearing mice (n=12) was prolonged. Furthermore, compared with CTX alone, the combination of Se-B. longum and CTX stimulated the activity of natural killer (NK) cells and T lymphocytes, increasing the levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), and the leukocyte count of H22 tumor-bearing mice (n=12).

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.92-100
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• 1996

For the production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)(P(3HB-co-3HV)) from butyric acid and valeric acid, 10 strains of bacteria capable of producing P(3HB-co-3HV) were isolated from soil. Among them, the strain HJ-067 showed the best ability of producing P(3HB-co-3HV), and was indentified as a Azotobacter sp. For the production of P(3HB-co-3HV), the optimum concentrations of butyric and valeric acid were 3.0g/l, respectively. The most effective nitrogen source was $(NH_4)_{2}SO_4$ at an optimum concentration of 0.75g/l, which was equivalent to 21.36 in C/N ratio. Deficiency of the cationic metal ions ($Zn^{2+},\;Co^{2+},\;Mn^{2+}$) in the proguction medium had stimulating effect on P(3HB-co-3HV) accumulation, especially in the manganese. deficient medium. The optimum temperature for P(3HB-co-3HV) production was 27$^{\circ}C$ and the optimum initial pH was 7.0. Under the optimum conditions, 1.82g/l of P(3HB-co-3HV) and 3.00g/l of dry biomass were produced after 36 hour cultivation, and the P(3HB-co-3HV) yield and HV% were 60.60% (w/w), 15.92%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.401-404
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• 2010

Tho1 is a RNA-binding protein that assembles co-transcriptionally onto the nascent mRNA and is thought to be involved in mRNP biogenesis and mature mRNA export to cytoplasm in budding yeast. In fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a homologue of THO1 (spTho1) was identified based on sequence alignment. A deletion mutant in a diploid strain was constructed by replacing one of spTho1-coding region with an ura4+ gene using one-step gene disruption method. Tetrad analysis showed that the spTho1 was not essential for growth. The spTho1 mutant did not show any defects of bulk mRNA export. However, over-expression of spTho1 from strong nmt1 promoter caused the growth defects and accumulation of poly(A)$^+$ RNA in the nucleus. These results suggest that spTho1 is involved in mRNA export from the nucleus to cytoplasm though it is not essential.