• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.421-427
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• 2019

Coastal erosion is becoming a significant problem in Greece, Bangladesh, and globally. For the prevention and minimization of damage from coastal erosion, combinations of various structures have been used conventionally. However, most of these methods are expensive. Therefore, creating artificial beachrock using local ureolytic bacteria and the MICP (Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation) method can be an alternative for coastal erosion protection, as it is a sustainable and eco-friendly biological ground improvement technique. Most research on MICP has been confined to land ureolytic bacteria and limited attention has been paid to coastal ureolytic bacteria for the measurement of urease activity. Subsequently, their various environmental effects have not been investigated. Therefore, for the successful application of MICP to coastal erosion protection, the type of bacteria, bacterial cell concentration, reaction temperature, cell culture duration, carbonate precipitation trend, pH of the media that controls the activity of the urease enzyme, etc., are evaluated. In this study, the effects of temperature, pH, and culture duration, as well as the trend in carbonate precipitation of coastal ureolytic bacteria isolated from two coastal regions in Greece and Bangladesh, were evaluated. The results showed that urease activity of coastal ureolytic bacteria species relies on some environmental parameters that are very important for successful sand solidification. In future, we aim to apply these findings towards the creation of artificial beachrock in combination with a geotextile tube for coastal erosion protection in Mediterranean countries, Bangladesh, and globally, for bio-mediated soil improvement.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.223-229
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• 2020

The application of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) supports the growth of plants in contaminated soil while ureolytic bacteria can immobilise heavy metals by carbonate precipitation. Thus, dual treatment with such bacteria may be beneficial for plant growth and bioremediation in contaminated soil. This study aimed to determine whether the PGPR Pseudomonas fluorescens could work in synergy with ureolytic bacteria to assist with the remediation of cadmium (Cd)- and lead (Pb)-contaminated soils. Pot experiments were conducted to grow radish plants in Cd- and Pb-contaminated soils treated with PGPR P. fluorescens and the results were compared with dual inoculation of P. fluorescens combined with ureolytic Staphylococcus epidermidis HJ2. The removal rate of the metals from the soil was more than 83% for Cd and Pb by the combined treatment compared to 17% by PGPR alone. Further, the dual treatment reduced the metal accumulation in the roots by more than 80%. The translocation factors for Cd and Pb in plant tissues in both treatments remained the same, suggesting that PGPR combined with the carbonate precipitation process does not hamper the transfer of essential metal ions into plant tissues from the soil.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.165-169
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• 2013

In this study, 52 ureolytic bacterial strains were newly isolated from various environments. From these, 2 strains (TB-15 and TB-22) were selected based on their high urease activity. XRD spectra clearly showed presence of various sequestration products such as calcite and strontianite in samples. TB-22 showed 20~30% higher survivability upon Sr concentration (20 mM) than Sporosarcina pasteurii KCTC 3558. TB-15 and TB-22 showed 80~90% higher survivability at pH 6 than S. pasteurii. The results demonstrated that the 2 isolates colud be good candidates for the bioremediation of Sr contaminated sites.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.332.1-332.1
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• 2002

Streptococcus vestibularis is a urease-producing oral bacterium. frequently isolated from vestibular mucosa of human oral cavity. Ureolysis by S. vestibularis and other ureolytic oral bacteria is believed to be crucially involved in oral microbial ecology and oral health. Genomic library of the S. vestibularis ATCC49124 was constructed in an E. coli plasmid vector and the urease-positive transformants harboring the urease gene cluster were isolated on Christensen-urea agar plates. The minimal DNA region required for the urease activity was located on a 5.6 kb DNA fragment. (omitted)

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.43-53
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• 1998

Dental caries is induced by organic acids produced by oral bacteria. In order to prevent dental caries, therefore, it is essential to maintain neutral pH in the oral cavity. Urea plays a major role in oral pH homeostasis. Urea is hydrolyzed by bacterial ureases to ammonia, causing a pH elevation. Streptococcus salivarius has been shown to be a major contribution to oral ureolysis. Synthesis of urease by S. salivarius appears to be constituitive, but can be greatly enhanced by low pH. It is, therefore, conceivable that ureolytic activity of S. salivarius from a carious lesion is greater than that of the bacterium from a healthy tooth. In the present study, urease activity of S. salivarius isolates from dental plaque of carious lesions was compared with that of the isolates from plaques of the teeth and the dorsum of the tongue; 45 S. salivarius strains were isofated from carious lesions(>C2) of 21 individuals with dental caries and 30 strains from 10 individuals without dental caries. The results were as follows: 1. All the 21 individuals with dental caries harbored ureolytic S. salivarius whereas 3 of 13 individuals without dental caries harbored non-ureolytic strains of S. salivarius. 2. All the 45 S. saliuarius isolates from carious lesions showed urease activity. In contrast, of 30 isolates from individuals without dental caries, 17 isolates(56.7%) did not demonstrate urease activity, or if any, very little(<5${\mu}mol$/min/mg). 3. Urease activity of the isolates from carious lesions was greater than that of the isolates from individuals without dental caries : the urease activity ranged from 42 to $381{\mu}mol$/min/mg and from 0 to $208{\mu}mol$/min/mg, respectively. 4. At acid pH(5.5), the isolates which showed intermediate urease activity at pH 7.0 demonstrated even higher activity whereas the isolate with no or lower urease activity did not show any significant difference in their activity. However, the isolates with the greatest urease activity from both individuals with and without dental caries, exhibited a rather much lower urease activity at pH 5.5. The overall results suggest that isolates may have their own urease activity but the isolates exposed to chronic acidic environment of the carious lesion might elevate urease activity of S. salivarius, which in turn, might influence on survival of S. salivarius itself and other bacteria, establishing a new oral bacterial ecosystem.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.13-21
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• 2023

Mean sea level has recently been rising due to global warming causing coastal erosion. As Korea is peninsula, the land loss due to coastal erosion is critical. An approach in this study is cementing the coastal area using bacteria, which is called microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). This study tried to see how fresh water and sea water work with MICP as a solvent. Ureolytic activity during the MICP reaction was measured with deionized and sea water. A soil column was prepared to evaluate the strength of MICP-treated sand. Sands were treated by MICP with surface percolation method. As the treatmen t style was different with other conventional methods, several methods were proposed to properly evaluate the MICP-treated sand surface. A micro-scale evaluation was performed to assess the mineral structure treated by different solvents. As results, sea water rendered the ureolytic reaction slower. A needle penetrometer worked well to evaluate the MICP-treated sand surface. This study confirmed the utilization of sea water is feasible as the solvent of MICP.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.392-399
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• 1998

Nitrogen fertilizers such as urea are readily hydrolyzed in soils to produce ammonium ions which pass through nitrification and denitrification processes. These serial processes have drawn attention due to nitrogen losses, eutrophication, blue baby syndrome, and ozone depletion problems. The purpose of this study was to test the inhibitory effects of hot-water extract and organic solvent fractions of Artemisia asiatica leaves on soil urea hydrolysis and nitrification. In addition, the effects of organic solvent fractions on urease activity and ureolytic bacterial population were also investigated. First, hot-water extract of Artemisia asiatica leaves inhibited soil nitrification substantially with a marginal stimulatory effect on soil urea hydrolysis. Soils treated with hot-water extract of Artemisia asiatica leaves showed significant decreases in the accumulation of soil $NO_3-N$ (~68% decrease) compared with the control soil without the treatment of hot-water extract. In contrast, $CHCl_3$/MeOH fraction and basic aqueous layer of Artemisia asiatica leaves inhibited soil urea hydrolysis very strongly, causing 5.8 and 4.3-fold higher accumulation in amounts of remaining urea-N compared with the non-treated soil. Meanwhile, non of the organic solvent fractions showed any significant effects on soil nitrification inhibition. The inhibition of ureolytic bacterial activity by $CHCl_3$/MeOH fraction and aqueous basic layer of Artemisia asiatica leaves without any effects on urease activity itself led us to conclude that the inhibitions of soil urea hydrolysis were caused by the antagonistic effects on ureolytic bacterial activity.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.58-63
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• 2004

Five urease-positive Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains were isolated from Kamak Bay in Yeosu in 2002 and 2003. V. parahaemolyticus YKB4 and YKB14 were isolated from seawater, YFB20 from black rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli), and YFO2l and YFO22 from olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The five urease-positive strains (YKB4, YKB14, YFB20, YFO21, and YFO22) did not show hemolysin and protease activity, while they did alter in color (to red) as the bacteria grew in the urea broth medium. All samples showed identical biochemical characteristics as a reference strain, V. parahaemolyticus KCTC2471, except in urease production. The five urease-positive strains showed urease activities at a mid stationary phase, and their activity was maximal in the late stationary phase of their culture supernatant. The addition of urea to the Luria-Bertani (LB) broth medium significantly affected the initial production of urease of V. parahaemolyticus isolates. Mortality by urease-positive V. parahaemolyticus YKB4, YKB14, YFO2l, and YFO22 was significantly high, being$60-80\%$, while YFB20 only reflected a rate of $20\%$. Protease-positive V. parahaemolyticus FM39 and FM50 showed a $40\%$ and $60\%$ mortality rate, respectively. However, hemolysin-positive V. parahaemolyticus had no mortality, like the non-pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus KCTC2471, while V. vulnificus resulted in a $40\%$ mortality rate. Injection with urease-positive V. parahaemolyticus strains showed mortality within 12 hrs in mice, and the strains could be isolated from the dead mice.