• 한국응용곤충학회지
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.47-52
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• 1975

Helminthosporium vicotoriae and H. carbonum were grown under fluorescent plus incandescent lights, or in darkness, with several different temperature regimes. There was little or no effect of light on toxin production by H. victoriae. Light-grown cultures of H. carbonum had significantly higher titres of host-specific toxin than did dark-grown cultures. Light had no significant effect on growth of either fungus. Maximum titres of host-specific toxins from both fungi were evident at the time maximum growth was reached. Minimum pH values in Fries modified medium occurred at the time of, or slightly before maximum level of toxin was reached.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.800-805
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• 2012

Licochalcone E was firstly isolated from licorice root in 2005, which belongs to the retrochalcone family. Studies on the biological activities of licochalcone E were in the initial stage. In the study, we demonstrated that licochalcone E has potent antimicrobial property against Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, via hemolysis, Western blot, and real-time RT-PCR assays, we have shown that subinhibitory concentrations of licochalcone E dose-dependently reduces the production of ${\alpha}$-toxin in both methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The data suggest that licochalcone E may deserve further investigation as a potential therapeutic against S. aureus infections, or the structure of licochalcone E may be used as a basis for chemical synthesis of novel anti-S. aureus compounds.

• 한국균학회지
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.13-19
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• 1990

우리나라 옥수수산지로부터 분리한 Fusarium sporotrichioides 4균주의 밀배양체를 쥐에 경구투여하여 독성을 조사하였다. 총 4균주 중 3균주가 급여 3-4일 이내에 모든 쥐를 치사시켜 매우 높은 독성을 나타냈다. 독성 균주의 배양체를 박층크로마토그라피와 가스크로마토그라피 - 질량분석기로 분석한 결과 정선 지방에서 분리한 2균주가 T-2 독소와 관련대사물을 생성하였다. 본 보고는 F. sporotrichioides에 의한 T-2 독소의 생성을 우리나라에서는 처음으로 확인한 것이다.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제38권6호
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• pp.510-519
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• 2012

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the microbiological contamination of the indoor air of the lunchrooms at child care centers and investigate the toxin genes and toxin production ability of food-borne pathogens. Methods: A total of 64 child care centers were sampled to test total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, fungi, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Salmonella spp. according to the Korea Food Code. All toxin genes of pathogens were detected using the Polymerase Chain Reaction method. The Sthaph. aureus enterotoxin was detected by a Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin-reversed passive latex agglutination kit. The heamolysin BL (HBL) and non-heamolytic enterotoxin (NHE) produced by B. cereus were detected using a B. cereus enterotoxin-reversed passive latex agglutination kit and Bacillus diarrheal enterotoxin visual immunoassay kit, respectively. Results: The means of total aerobic bacteria and coliform bacteria were $1.91{\pm}1.84$ log CFU/plate and $0.47{\pm}0.62$ log CFU/plate, respectively. The mean of fungi also showed $0.59{\pm}0.71$ log CFU/plate. Among the pathogenic bacteria tested in this study, Staphy. aureus and B. cereus were detected in four (6.3%) and 21 (32.8%) out of 64 indoor air samples from lunchrooms in child care centers, respectively. All Staphy. aureus tested in this study possessed no toxin genes and did not produce enterotoxin. The detection rate of nheABC, hblCDA, entFM and ces toxin gene in B. cereus was 100, 57.1, 76.2 and 0%, respectively. B. cereus isolates were classified into four groups according to the presence or absence of toxin genes. The nheABC gene was the major toxin gene among B. cereus tested in this study. The HBL was detected in 11 out of 21 B. cereus isolates (52.4%) and three B. cereus isolates produced NHE (14.3%). Conclusion: The results indicated that the contamination by microorganisms in the indoor air of lunchrooms was unqualified to supply safe catering in child care centers. The ongoing control of indoor air quality is required.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.627-636
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• 2016

The causative agent of pandemic cholera, Vibrio cholerae, infects the anaerobic environment of the human intestine. Production of cholera toxin (CT), a major virulence factor of V. cholerae, is highly induced during anaerobic respiration with trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) as an alternative electron acceptor. However, the molecular mechanism of TMAO-stimulated CT production is not fully understood. Herein, we reveal that CT production during anaerobic TMAO respiration is affected by glucose fermentation. When the seventh pandemic V. cholerae O1 strain N16961 was grown with TMAO and additional glucose, CT production was markedly reduced. Furthermore, an N16961 Δcrp mutant, devoid of cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP), was defective in CT production during growth by anaerobic TMAO respiration, further suggesting a role of glucose metabolism in regulating TMAO-mediated CT production. TMAO reductase activity was noticeably decreased when grown together with glucose or by mutation of the crp gene. A CRP binding region was identified in the promoter region of the torD gene, which encodes a structural subunit of the TMAO reductase. Gel shift assays further confirmed the binding of purified CRP to the torD promoter sequence. Together, our results suggest that the bacterial ability to respire using TMAO is controlled by CRP, whose activity is dependent on glucose availability. Our results reveal a novel mechanism for the regulation of major virulence factor production by V. cholerae under anaerobic growth conditions.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제26권5호
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• pp.834-840
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• 2010

To find out the toxin production characteristics of Korean harmful cyanobacteria, we isolated 14 cyanobacterial strains from Korean lakes and rivers and analyzed the kinds and cellular content of microcystins (MCYSTs) of cyanobacterial isolates using cultured biomass. And we measured the MCYSTs production by growth phase of two representative toxic strains, Microcystis aeruginosa (HG-015) and Anabaena planktonica (HG-012). Among seven cyanobacteral species, Microcystis wesenbergii showed the highest cellular MCYSTs content. MCYST-RR was the most dominant toxin reaching more than 85% of MCYSTs produced by isolated cyanbacterial strains. During the mass culture, Microcystis aeruginosa (HG-015) showed the highest yield and accumulation of MCYSTs in the exponential growth phase. However the cellular content of chlorophyll a and MCYSTs of Anabaena planktonica (HG-012) showed higher value in the stationary and early death phase than in the exponential growth phase. Our results suggest that control and removal of harmful cyanobacterial bloom before exponential growth phase may be effective to prevent health risk of cyanobacterial toxins in the drinking water sources.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.766-770
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• 2013

Several upstream activators required for proper activation of brlA are involved in the development, vegetative growth, toxin production, and pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus. In this study, we characterized the roles of two upstream developmental regulators, A. fumigatus flbB (AfuflbB) and flbE (AfuflbE), in toxin production and virulence. The deletion of AfuflbB and AfuflbE resulted in reduction of the expression of AfulaeA. Moreover, only about 8% to 10% of fumagillin was produced in the two mutants compared with that of wild type, and ${\Delta}AfuflbB$ strain produced 85% of gliotoxin compared with wild type, whereas none was produced by ${\Delta}AfuflbB$. Flow-cytometric analysis revealed decreased necrotic and apoptotic polymorphonuclear leukocytes cell death after exposure to supernatants from ${\Delta}AfuflbB$ and ${\Delta}AfuflbB$ strains compared with the wild type. These results indicate that FlbB and FlbE are necessary for the proper laeA expression, toxin production, and virulence of A. fumigatus.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제28권9호
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• pp.1016-1021
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• 2018

C. difficile 톡신A에 의한 대장상피세포 자살과정은 위막성대장염(Pseudomembranous colitis)의 주요 원인으로 고려되고 있다. 톡신A는 활성산소 를 증가시켜 세포자살 신호를 유도한다. 또한 톡신A는 미세섬유나 미세소관과 같은 세포골격계 형성을 저해함으로써 자살을 유도한다고 알려져 있다. 하지만 톡신A가 야기하는 소화기 상피세포 자살경로는 아직 불분명하다. 본 연구에서는 소화관 상피세포의 성장과 분화 그리고 기능에 중요하다고 알려져 온 Wnt 신호경로에 대한 톡신A의 영향을 확인해보았다. 이를 위해 비암화-인간대장세포주(NCM460)에 톡신A를 처치하고 Wnt 신호 분자들의 변화를 추적하였다. 또한 톡신A를 주입한 생쥐의 회장 상피세포 속 Wnt 신호경로 변화도 평가하였다. 인간 대장상피세포에서 톡신A는 Wnt 경로의 핵심 신호분자인 ${\beta}$-catenin 단백질의 양을 빠르게 감소시켰다. 이 현상은 생쥐 회장 상피세포에서도 동일하게 확인되었다. 연구자 등은 톡신A가 $GSK3{\beta}$ 활성형 인산화(Thr390)를 증가시킴도 확인하였다. 이는 톡신A가 $GSK3{\beta}$의 활성을 높여서 ${\beta}$-catenin의 인산화시키고 이를 통해 단백질 분해 과정이 촉진되었음을 보여준다. 이 결과들을 종합하면, 톡신A에 의한 소화관 상피세포 자살과정이 상피세포의 성장과 자살을 조절하는 Wnt 신호경로 차단과 밀접하게 연관되어 있음을 보여준다.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.265-274
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• 2016

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) system은 박테리아와 고세균에서 진화적으로 보존되어 흔히 발견되는 유전적 모듈이다. 기본적으로 이 시스템은 세포 내 toxin과 그들의 억제자로 작용하는 antitoxin으로 구성되어있으며, 현재 총 다섯가지 유형으로 구분된다. 공통적으로 toxin은 스트레스 조건에서 활성화됨으로써 세포 내 다양한 과정을 억제하는 활성을 가지는데 이는 결과적으로 세포 사멸 혹은 가역적인 생장 저해를 일으킨다. Toxin의 이러한 효과들은 유전자 발현의 조절, 성장 조절, programmed cell arrest, programmed cell death, persister cell의 형성, 박테리오파지 방어기작, 가동성 유전인자의 안정화, 플라스미드 유지 기작 등 다양한 생리학적 역할을 나타낸다. 그러므로 TA system은 일반적인 스트레스 반응모듈로서 여겨진다. 하지만 이를 역이용한다면 TA system으로부터 toxin을 활성화 시키는 인자를 개발하여 새로운 항균 물질로 이용할 수 있다. 그뿐만 아니라 TA system은 toxin의 세포 사멸 효과를 이용하여 원하는 타겟 유전자가 존재하는 세포만 선택적으로 살아남도록 하는 효율적인 클로닝 전략에 이용될 수 있다. 또한, toxin의 서열 특이적 리보핵산 가수분해효소 활성을 이용하여 타겟 단백질 이외의 단백질 합성을 막아 효과적인 단일 단백질 대량 생산을 위해서도 이용할 수 있다. 더 나아가 일부 TA system의 toxin은 진핵 세포에서도 세포 독성을 나타내기 때문에 암세포, 바이러스 감염 세포에서 toxin의 발현을 유도하여 세포사멸을 일으킴으로써 인간의 질병 치료로 이어질 수 있다.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제14권12호
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• pp.1752-1757
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• 2001

The present study was conducted to assess the dietary effect of T-2 toxin on the antioxidant systems of the liver in growing quail and to comparatively evaluate the protective properties of two different mycotoxin-adsorbent additives, Mycosorb and zeolite, in preventing inhibition of the antioxidant system. Four groups of 4 day old quail were formed with 20 birds in each group. The birds were maintained on the floor for the course of the study. The three treatment diets consisted of the basal diet with T-2 toxin added in the form of Fusarium sporotrichioides culture (8.1 mg/kg feed), T-2 toxin (8.1 mg/kg) plus zeolite (30 g/kg feed), and T-2 toxin (8.1 mg/kg) plus Mycosorb (1 g/kg feed). After 30 days of feeding (34 days old) all birds were sacrificed and liver samples for biochemical analyses were collected from five quail in each of the four groups. Antioxidant concentrations were evaluated by HPLC-based methods. Inclusion of T-2 toxin in the quail diet was associated with a significant (p<0.05) decrease in concentrations of all forms of antioxidants studied, including ${\alpha}$- and ${\gamma}$-tocopherols, ascorbic acid, retinol and retinyl esters. At the same time, liver susceptibility to lipid peroxidation significantly (p<0.05) increased. Inclusion of zeolite in the quail diet at the level of 3% was ineffective in preventing antioxidant depletion in the liver by mycotoxicosis. In contrast, Mycosorb in the diet at a 0.1% level was able to significantly inhibit liver antioxidant depletion and as a result decreased lipid peroxidation in the liver. Concentrations of all forms of antioxidants studied were significantly higher in the livers of the quails fed the basal and T-2 toxin/Mycosorb combination in comparison to birds fed the basal with T-2 toxin alone.