Dong-Hoon Bai

Surface Modification of Orthodontic Wires with Photocatalytic Titanium Oxide for its Antiadherent and Antibacterial Properties

OBJECTIVE To test the antiadherent and antibacterial properties of surface modification of orthodontic wires with photocatalytic titanium oxide (TiO(2)). MATERIALS AND METHODS TiO(2) was coated on the surface of the orthodontic wires by a sol-gel thin film dip-coating method. Bacterial adhesion to the wires was evaluated by the weight change of the wires. The antibacterial activity of the surface-modified orthodontic wires was demonstrated by the dilution agar plate method for Streptococcus mutans and spectrophotometry for Porphyromonas gingivalis. RESULTS The orthodontic wires coated with the photocatalytic TiO(2) showed an antiadherent effect against S. mutans compared with the uncoated wires. The bacterial mass that bound to the TiO(2)-coated orthodontic wires remained unchanged, whereas that of the uncoated wires increased by 4.97%. Furthermore, the TiO(2)-coated orthodontic wires had a bactericidal effect on S. mutans and P. gingivalis, which cause dental caries and periodontitis, respectively. The antiadherent and antibacterial mechanisms of TiO(2) to break down the cell wall of those bacteria were revealed by scanning electron microscopy. CONCLUSION The surface modification of orthodontic wires with photocatalytic TiO(2) can be used to prevent the development of dental plaque during orthodontic treatment.

Bioconversion of Ginsenosides from Red Ginseng Extract Using Candida allociferrii JNO301 Isolated from Meju.

Abstract Red ginseng (Panax ginseng), a Korean traditional medicinal plant, contains a variety of ginsenosides as major functional components. It is necessary to remove sugar moieties from the major ginsenosides, which have a lower absorption rate into the intestine, to obtain the aglycone form. To screen for microorganisms showing bioconversion activity for ginsenosides from red ginseng, 50 yeast strains were isolated from Korean traditional meju (a starter culture made with soybean and wheat flour for the fermentation of soybean paste). Twenty strains in which a black zone formed around the colony on esculin-yeast malt agar plates were screened first, and among them 5 strains having high β-glucosidase activity on p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside as a substrate were then selected. Strain JNO301 was finally chosen as a bioconverting strain in this study on the basis of its high bioconversion activity for red ginseng extract as determined by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis. The selected bioconversion strain was identified as Candida allociferrii JNO301 based on the nucleotide sequence analysis of the 18S rRNA gene. The optimum temperature and pH for the cell growth were 20~30°C and pH 5~8, respectively. TLC analysis confirmed that C. allociferrii JNO301 converted ginsenoside Rb1 into Rd and then into F2, Rb2 into compound O, Rc into compound Mc1, and Rf into Rh1. Quantitative analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography showed that bioconversion of red ginseng extract resulted in an increase of 2.73, 3.32, 33.87, 16, and 5.48 fold in the concentration of Rd, F2, compound O, compound Mc1, and Rh1, respectively.

Microbiological Characteristics of Wild Yeast Strain Pichia anomala Y197-13 for Brewing Makgeolli

Abstract Makgeolli is a traditional cloudy-white Korean rice wine with an alcohol content of 6~7%. The present study investigated the morphological characteristics, carbon-utilizing ability, fatty acid composition, alcohol resistance, glucose tolerance, and flocculence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y98-5 and Pichia anomala Y197-13, non-S. cerevisiae isolated from Nuruk, which is used in brewing Makgeolli. Similar morphological characteristics were observed for both isolated wild yeast strains; and the carbon source assimilation of Y197-13 differed from that of other P. anomala strains. Strain Y197-13 was negative for D-trehalose, mannitol, arbutin, I-erythritol, and succinic acid. The major cellular fatty acids of strain Y197-13 included C18:2n6c (33.94%), C18:1n9c (26.97%) and C16:0 (20.57%). Strain Y197-13 was Crabtree-negative, with 60% cell viability at 12% (v/v) ethanol. The flocculation level of strain Y197-13 was 8.38%, resulting in its classification as a non-flocculent yeast.

Metabolite Profiling during Fermentation of Makgeolli by the Wild Yeast Strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y98-5

Abstract Makgeolli is a traditional Korean alcoholic beverage. The flavor of makgeolli is primarily determined by metabolic products such as free sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and aromatic compounds, which are produced during the fermentation of raw materials by molds and yeasts present in nuruk, a Korean fermentation starter. In this study, makgeolli was brewed using the wild yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y98-5, and temporal changes in the metabolites during fermentation were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The resultant data were analyzed by partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Various metabolites, including amino acids, organic acids, sugar alcohols, small peptides, and nucleosides, were obviously altered by increasing the fermentation period. Changes in these metabolites allowed us to distinguish among makgeolli samples with different fermentation periods (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 days) on a PLS-DA score plot. In the makgeolli brewed in this study, the amounts of tyrosine (463.13 μg/mL) and leucine (362.77 μg/mL) were high. Therefore, our results indicate that monitoring the changes in metabolites during makgeolli fermentation might be important for brewing makgeolli with good nutritional quality.

Oceanobacillus gochujangensis sp. nov., isolated from gochujang a traditional Korean fermented food

A Gram-stain-positive, polar flagella-containing, rod-shaped, obligate aerobic, endospore-forming bacterium, strain TK1655T, was isolated from the traditional Korean food gochujang. The 16S rRNA sequence of strain TK1655T was a member of the genus Oceanobacillus similar to that of the type strain of Oceanobacillus oncorhynchi subsp. incaldanensis DSM 16557T (97.2%), O. oncorhynchi subsp. oncorhynchi JCM 12661T (97.1%), O. locisalsi KCTC 13253T (97.0%), and O. sojae JCM 15792T (96.9%). Strain TK1655T was oxidase and catalase positive. Colonies were circular, smooth, low convex, cream in colour, and measured about 0.5–1.0 mm in diameter. The range for growth was 20–40°C (optimal, 30°C), pH 6.0–10.0 (optimal, 7.0), and 2–16% (w/v) NaCl (optimal, 2%). Additionally, the cells contained meso-DAP, and the predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. The complex polar lipids were consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylcholine (PC). The major cellular fatty acid components were iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, and anteiso-C17:0, and the DNA G+C content was 40.5%. DNA-DNA relatedness of our novel strain and reference strain O. locisalsi KCTC 13253T, O. oncorhynchi subsp. incaldanensis DSM 16557T, O. oncorhynchi subsp. oncorhynchi JCM 12661T was 45.7, 43.8, and 41.9%. From the results of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic analyses of strain TK1655T, we propose the novel species Oceanobacillus gochujangensis sp. nov. The type strain is TK1655T (=KCCM 101304T =KCTC 33014T =CIP 110582T =NBRC 109637T).

Purification of a bacteriolytic enzyme from Bacillus sp. active against Streptococcus mutans

Bacillus sp. strain YU-1006, which was isolated from soil, produced a bacteriolytic enzyme which was active against Streptococcus mutans KCTC 3283. The enzyme was purified 60 fold with a 6% yield by CM-cellulose column chromatography and CM-Sephadex G-50 column chromatography. Lytic activity was stable in the range of pH 6.0~9.0 up to 42°e active enzyme is a 24,000 dalton monomer as estimated by SDS-PAGE.