This study investigated microbial communities and their diversity in a full-scale mesophilic anaerobic digester treating sewage sludge. Influent sewage sludge and anaerobic digester samples collected from a wastewater treatment plant in Busan were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing. It was found that the microbial community structure and diversity in the anaerobic digester could be affected by inoculation effect with influent sewage sludge. Nevertheless, distinct microbial communities were identified as the dominant microbial communities in the anaerobic digester. Twelve genera were identified as abundant bacterial communities, which included several groups of syntrophic bacteria communities, such as Candidatus Cloacimonas, Cloacimonadaceae W5, Smithella, which are (potential) syntrophic-propionate-oxidizing bacteria and Mesotoga and Thermovigra, which are (potential) syntrophic-acetate-oxidizing bacteria. Lentimicrobium, the most abundant genus in the anaerobic digester, may contribute to the decomposition of carbohydrates and the production of volatile fatty acids during the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge. Of the methanogens identified, Methanollinea, Candidatus Methanofastidiosum, Methanospirillum, and Methanoculleus were the dominant hydrogenotrophic methanogens, and Methanosaeta was the dominant aceticlastic methanogens. The findings may be used as a reference for developing microbial indicators to evaluate the process stability and process efficiency of the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary Ptecticus tenebrifer on the fecal microbiomes of bichon frise. A total of 16 bichon frise dogs (average weight, 2 kg) were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments (4 dogs/group): general pet food, two types of domestic pet food containing Ptecticus tenebrifer, and one imported pet food containing Ptecticus tenebrifer. In the controls, Firmicutes accounted for the highest proportion (82%) at the phylum level in the fecal microbiomes. The Tax4Fun2's functional prediction program indicated that the control groups showed a relatively high amount of obesity-related microorganisms; the pathways included three types of carbohydrate metabolism. Among the treatments, Firmicutes abundances was the least in the treatments with the two types of domestic pet food containing Ptecticus tenebrifer; this did not affect the functional prediction of Tax4Fun2. In conclusion, the two types of domestic feed with Ptecticus tenebrifer were healthy and suitable for bichon frise; they could be beneficial in terms of obesity.

The present study investigated the effect of ammonia load on microbial communities in mesophilic anaerobic digestion of propionic acid. A laboratory-scale continuous anaerobic digester treating propionic acid as a sole organic substrate was operated under non-inhibitory condition and inhibitory conditions with ammonia (1.5 g and 3.5 g ammonia-N/L, respectively), and bacterial and archaeal communities in the steady states of each ammonia condition were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing. Thirteen bacterial families were detected as abundant bacterial groups in mesophilic anaerobic digestion of propionic acid. Increase in ammonia concentration resulted in significant shifts in microbial community structures. Syntorophobacter, Pelotomaculum, and Thermovigra were determined as the dominant groups of (potential) propionate oxidizing bacteria in the non-inhibitory condition, whereas Cryptanaerobacter and Aminobacterium were the dominant groups of (potential) propionate oxidizing bacteria in the ammonia-inhibitory condition. Methanoculleus and Methanosaeta were the dominant methanogens. Acetate-oxidation coupled with hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis might be enhanced with increases in the relative abundances of Methanoculleus and Tepidanaerobacter acetatoxydans under the ammonia-inhibitory condition. The results of the present study could be a valuable reference for microbial management of anaerobic digestion systems that are exposed to ammonia inhibition and propionic acid accumulation.

To improve the environmental management and resources, in this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of adding oyster shell powder to Hanwoo manure on its characteristics and microbial composition during the storage period. Additives were deposited on top of the manure surface at the rate of 0, 0.5, and 1% of oyster shell powder per 200 g of Hanwoo manure in a plastic container with three replicates; however, untreated manure litter served as the control. Manure characteristics (dry matter, organic matter and crude ash) and microbial composition (lactic acid bacteria, yeast, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella, and E.coli) were evaluated at day 0, 2, 4, and 8. Manure characteristics exhibited an effect on dry matter, organic matter, and crude ash at day 2 and 8 (p<0.05), and not for day 0 and 4 (p>0.05). With the exception of yeast content at day 4 of storage, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella, and E.coli exhibited no significant differences in all conditions during the storage period. Conclusively, addition of 1% oyster shell powder to Hanwoo manure resulted in slightly better manure characteristics; however, its microbial composition remained unchanged.

Soil microorganism activity in an agricultural field is affected by various factors including climate conditions, soil chemical properties, and crop cultivation. In this study, we elucidate the correlation between microorganism activity and agricultural environment factors using the dehydrogenase activity (DHA) value, which is one of the indicators of soil microbial activity. As a result, the various factors noted above were related to the DHA value. Annual rainfall, soil Mg2+, bacterial and fungal diversities, types of crops, developmental stages, seasons, and cultivation status were highly correlated with the DHA value. Furthermore, next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis was used to identify that the type of crop affected soil microbial compositions of both bacteria and fungi. Soil used for soybean cultivation showed the highest relative abundance for Verrucomicrobia, Planctomycetes, and Acidobacteria but Actinobacteria and Firmicutes had the lowest relative abundance. In the case of soil used for potato cultivation, Actinobacteria had the highest relative abundance but Proteobacteria had the lowest relative abundance. Armatimonadetes showed the highest relative abundance in soil used for cabbage cultivation. Among the fungal communities, Mortierellomycota had the highest relative abundance for soybean cultivation but the lowest relative abundance for cabbage cultivation; further, Rozellomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Cercozoa had the highest relative abundance for cabbage cultivation. Basidiomycota had the highest relative abundance for potato cultivation but the lowest relative abundance for soybean cultivation.

To develop eco-friendly microbial inoculants, siderophore-producing bacteria were isolated and identified, and their production characteristics and plant growth-promoting abilities were investigated. A strain S21 was isolated from rhizosphere of Korean perilla (Perilla frutescens) and identified as Enterobacter amnigenus by phenotypic properties and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The highest siderophore production was obtained in a medium containing 0.5% fructose, 0.1% urea, 0.5% K2HPO4 and 0.1% succinic acid. By using this improved medium, siderophore production increased by 2.5 times compared to that of basal medium. The strain S21 showed insoluble phosphate solubilizing, ammonification and antifungal activities, and also produced hydrolytic enzymes (protease and lipase), indoleacetic acid and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase. Our data suggest that E. amnigenus S21 is a potential candidate that can be used as eco-friendly biocontrol agent and biofertilizer.

In this study, we investigated culturable bacterial abundance in various crops. Total culturable aerobic bacteria in tomato plants were enumerated on NA and it showed that the amounts of viable bacterial cells were changed among the different parts of the plants (roots, stems, and fruits), ranging between log 1 and 4 per g sample. To investigate the bacterial abundance dynamics in different crops, culturable aerobic bacterial cell numbers were enumerated on NA and compared between the samples (tomato fruit, sesame leaf, and green onion) harvested freshly from one field trial (Yangsan, Korea). In this trial, the number of total culturable aerobic bacteria of the samples were 8 times higher in sesame leaves and green onions compared to the tomato fruits in the field. Interestingly, culturable aerobic bacteria on MRS were only found in sesame leaves, whereas lactic acid bacteria were not detected in tomato fruit and green onion samples in this field. We also found that the field location (Yangsan, Gangneung, or Busan) influenced the number of culturable aerobic bacteria on the surface of the crops. Tomato samples freshly harvested from the different field locations were tested and showed that the amounts of culturable aerobic bacteria on NA and MRS agar were significantly different based on the field locations of the samples. Finally, lactic acid bacteria were isolated from all the tomato and sesame leaf samples used in this study, showing 20 and 28 morphological diversity. With these isolates, we will be able to conduct further biological and functional investigation to develop a new probiotic strain originated from the crops in Korea.

Agricultural practices are known to have a crucial influence not only on soil physico-chemical properties but also on microbial communities. To investigate the effect of farming practices on soil microbial communities, a total of 10 soil samples were collected, including five conventional and five organic farming soils cultivated with peppers in plastic greenhouse. We conducted barcorded-pyrosequencing of V1-V3 regions of 16S rRNA genes to examine soil microbial communities of two different farming practices. Taxonomic classification of the microbial communities at the phylum level indicated that a total of 22 bacterial phyla were present across all samples. Among them, seven abundant phyla (>3%) including Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Gemmatimonadetes were found, and Proteobacteria (33.0 ± 5.7%), Actinobacteria (19.9 ± 9.7%), and Firmicutes (13.6 ± 5.0%) comprised more than 66% of the relative abundance of the microbial communities. Organic farming soils showed higher relative abundances of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, while Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi were more abundant in conventional farming soils. Notably, the genera Bacillus (higher in organic farming soils) and Streptomyces (higher in conventional farming soils) exhibited significant variation in relative abundance between organic and conventional farming soils. Finally, correlation analysis identified significant relationships (p<0.05) between soil chemical properties, in particular, pH and organic matter content and microbial communities. Taken together, this study demonstrated that the changes of soil physico-chemical properties by agricultural farming practices effected significantly (p<0.05) on soil microbial communities.

This study was conducted to investigate the responses of soil properties and microbial communities to different agricultural management and soil types, including organic management in Andisols (Org-A), organic management in Non-andisols (Org-NA), conventional management in Andisols (Con-A) and conventional management in Non-andisols (Con-NA) by using a pyrosequencing approach of 16S rRNA gene amplicon in Radish farms of volcanic ash soil in Jeju island. The results showed that agricultural management systems had a little influence on the soil chemical properties but had significant influence on microbial communities. In addition, soil types had significant influences on both the soil chemical properties and microbial communities. Organic farming increased the microbial density of bacteria and biomass C compared to conventional farming, regardless of soil types. Additionally, Org-NA had the highest dehydrogenase activity among treatments, whereas no difference was found between Org-A, Con-A and Con-NA and had the highest species richness (Chao 1) and diversity (Phyrogenetic diversity). Particularly, Chao 1 and Phyrogenetic diversity were increased in organic plots by 12% and 20%, compared with conventional plots, respectively. Also, regardless of agricultural management and soil types, Proteobacteria was the most abundant bacterial phylum, accounting for 21.9-25.9% of the bacterial 16S rRNAs. The relative abundance of putative copiotroph such as Firmicutes was highest in Org-NA plot by 21.0%, as follows Con-NA (13.1%), Con-A (6.7%) and Org-A (5.1%.), respectively and those of putative oligotrophs such as Acidobacteria and Planctomycetes were higher in Con-A than those in the other plots. Furthermore, LEfSe indicated that organic system enhanced the abundance of Fumicutes, while conventional system increased the abundance of Acidobacteria, especially in Non-andisols. Correlation analysis showed that total organic carbon (TOC) and nutrient levels (e.g. available P and exchangeable K) were significantly correlated to the structure of the microbial community and microbial activity. Overall, our results showed that the continuous organic farming systems without chemical materials, as well as the soil types made by long-term environmental factors might influence on soil properties and increase microbial abundances and diversity.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of high-salinity wastewater on the microbial activity of Aerobic Granule Sludge (AGS). Laboratory-scale experiments were performed using a sequencing batch reactor, and the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), nitrogen removal efficiency, sludge precipitability, and microbial activity were evaluated under various salinity injection. The COD removal efficiency was found to decrease gradually to 3.0% salinity injection, and it tended to recover slightly from 4.0%. The specific nitrification rate was 0.043 0.139 mg NH4 +-N/mg MLVSS·day. The specific denitrification rate was 0.069 0.108 mg NO3 --N/mg MLVSS·day. The sludge volume index (SVI30) ultimately decreased to 46 mL/g. The specific oxygen uptake rate decreased from an initial value 120.3 to a final value 70.7 mg O2/g MLVSS·hr. Therefore, salinity injection affects the activity of AGS, causing degradation of the COD and nitrogen removal efficiency. It can be used as an indicator to objectively determine the effect of salinity on microbial activity.

Ginseng, the root of the Panax ginseng, has been widely used as a traditional herbal medicine in Korea, China, and Japan for thousands of years. Now ginseng has become popular as functional health food and natural medicine and it is one of the bestselling natural products in the world. Gut microbiota has been found to play an important role in the metabolism and pharmacological action of orally administered ginseng. Recent animal and clinical studies have shown that compound K (20-O -beta-D-glucopyranosyl-20(S)-protopanaxadiol, CK) is the major ginsenoside metabolite deriving from gut microbiota-induced biotransformation and is more efficiently absorbed into the systemic circulation than its parent ginsenosides. Since ginsenoside metabolism varies between individuals depending on the population of gut microbiota, much attention paid to the transformation of major ginsenosides into more pharmacologically active ginsenosides using diverse methods including heating, acid hydrolysis, microbial conversion, and enzymatic treatment. Recently, in food and drug industry and academia, the development of fermented ginseng products using probiotic bacteria is being intensively studied due to the potential health benefits of ginsenoside metabolites and probiotics. This review summarizes recent studies on the metabolism of ginsenoside by gut microbiota and biotransformation of ginsenoside using lactic acid bacteria and their enzymes.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) system application on microbial hazard management levels of pork and manufacturing environments. In this study, we compared and analyzed microbial levels in raw meat, finished products, and manufacturing environments (knifes, gloves, and cutting boards) of HACCP and non-HACCP meat markets. In addition, we surveyed the hygiene statuses of HACCP and non-HACCP meat markets. The general bacterial counts in raw meat, finished products, and manufacturing environments were lower in HACCP meat markets than in non-HACCP meat markets. Particularly, non-HACCP meat markets exceeded the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety microbiological recommendation criteria for raw meats (8.7%) and finished products (8.7%). Escherichia coli and coliform counts in raw meat, finished products, and manufacturing environments were also lower in HACCP meat markets than in non-HACCP meat markets. The biological hazard levels of finished products from non-HACCP meat markets were affected by raw meat and manufacturing environment. Moreover, according to questionnaire survey results, personal hygiene, manufacturing environment, and facility standards were lower in non-HACCP meat markets than in HACCP meat markets. Implementation of HACCP at meat markets is expected to minimize food poisoning by reducing the biological hazard levels to provide safe livestock products to consumers.

In this study, basic research was carried out to improve the absorption rate which is a problem in increasing the recycling rate of recycled fine aggregate and to improve the usability as concrete aggregate. It was confirmed that the absorption rate of the recycled aggregate measured after immersing in the microbial culture solution for the purpose of improving the absorption rate of the circulating fine aggregate for concrete was decreased. However, further studies such as improvement of microbial culture are required to satisfy KS standards.

In this study, the crack healing performance of concrete containing microbial - based self - healing agent for the purpose of crack crack healing was evaluated by the permeability test. As a result of the addition of the microbial culture solution to the mixed water at an alternative ratio, the permeability recovery rate increases as the substitution rate increases. It is necessary to develop a microbial concentrate and to study the application of mixed microorganisms for the purpose of increasing the rate of permeability recovery and decreasing the substitution rate of microbial solution.

As a method to improve the water purification performance of porous concrete through existing studies, it has been analyzed how to substitute effective microorganisms at a certain rate for use or immersing porous concrete in a culture solution. In this study, we tried to compare and analyze the viability of microbial cells after mixing spherical microbial cells with useful microbes and natural materials in order to more easily apply high - concentration microbes.

In this study, we evaluated the energy production from plant-microbial fuel cells using representative indoor plants, such as Scindapsus aureus and Clatha minor. The maximum power density of microbial fuel cell (MFC) using S. aureus (3.36 mW/m2) was about 2 times higher than that of the MFC using C. minor (1.43 mW/m2). It was confirmed that energy recovery is possible using plant-MFCs without fuel. However, further research is needed to improve the performance of plant-MFCs. Nevertheless, plant-MFCs have proved their potential as a novel energy source to overcome the limitations of the conventional renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar cells, and could be employed to a power source for the sensor in charge of the fourth industrial revolution.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary microbial-fermented molasses on egg production and egg quality in laying hens.In total, 90 Hy-line Brown laying hens were divided into two treatment groups (control and 1% microbial-fermented molasses)with three replicates of 15 birds each. During the experimental period, supplementation of hen diets with 1% microbial-fermented molassesdid not influence egg weight, hen-day egg production, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio (p > 0.05), except for feed intake. Regarding egg quality, diets containing 1% microbial-fermented molasses significantly affected eggshell thickness, Haugh unit, and albumen height (p < 0.05). However, there were no remarkable differences between control and 1% microbial-fermented molasses in eggshell color and egg yolk color (p > 0.05). These results indicate that supplementing 1% microbial-fermented molasses to the diet of laying hens improved egg quality parameters such as eggshell thickness, Haugh unit, and albumen height rather than egg production.

This study was carried out to determine the effect of Kluyvera sp. CL-2 (KACC 91283P) on the growth of watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris L.). The study consisted of three treatments, no treatment (NT), twice application of Kluyvera sp. CL-2 before transplanting (KC1), and five times application around transplanting (KC2). We determined the chemical properties of soil before and after the treatments, and compared the growth characteristics of watermelon among treatments. The treatment of Kluyvera sp. CL-2 at 1.0×106 cfu mL-1 significantly increased available P2O5. The organic matter showed to increase for all treatments, while soil pH, exchangeable Ca and Mg tended to decrease for all treatments. The leaf width was increased by 11.6% for KC1 and 26.2% for KC2 compared to NT. But there were no significant differences in yield, leaf length, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width, and pericarp thickness among treatments. The contents of free sugars such as fructose and glucose were increased by microbial treatments but sucrose was not different from NT. The content of glucose in watermelon was increased by 13.8% in KC1 and 12.8% in KC2 compared to NT. The content of fructose increased by 14.6% in KC1 and by 39.8% in KC2 compared to NT. The results from the study imply that Kluyvera sp. CL-2 can be used to increase sugar content in watermelon.

This study was carried out to investigate the economic value of organic rice production using gelatin ․ chitin microorganisms in eco-friendly complex, Gongsan, Naju city. The soil condition of experiment paddy field was Jeonbuk series and silt loam with a slightly poor drainage. Except for the high effective silicate, the chemical characteristics of soils used were included in the optimum range of paddy soils in Korea. In growth, plant length, tiller number, ear number, and ear length were observed to be higher in conventional paddy fields than organic paddy fields. However, number of grain per panicle and grain filling ratio (%) were higher in organic paddy fields than conventional paddy fields. Incidences of diseases and insect pests were slightly higher in the organic paddy fields. Water weevil, sheath blight, rice leaf roller and rice blast were more occurred in organic paddy field. On the other hand, false smut was higher occurred in conventional paddy field. There was a significant negative correlation between rice sheath blight and rice leaf roller, and rice yield. In the milled rice quality, the quality of organically cultivated milled rices was lower by the increase of broken rice than that of conventionally cultivated milled rices. The quality and palatability of rice were higher in organic cultivation with decreasing of protein content. Net income of conventionally and organically cultivated rice was 360,000 won/10a and 610,000 won/10a, respectively. Premium net income of the organically cultivated rice was 68%.

콘크리트 자기치유를 목적으로 미생물 혼입 하이드로젤 지지체 첨가에 따른 콘크리트의 특성을 검토하였다. 자기치유 콘크리트의 슬럼프 측정결과, 모든 배합조건에서 목표슬럼프를 만족하였으나, 하이드로젤 지지체의 혼입량 증가에 따라 슬럼프 감소가 있었다. 하이드로젤 지지체 혼입에 따른 공극률의 변화는 미미하였다. 자기치유 콘크리트의 압축강도 평가결과, 하이드로젤 지지체의 혼입은 강도에 영향을 미치지 않았다. 하지만 동일 배합조건하에서 시험체간의 분산값이 하이드로젤 지지체 혼입량 증가에 따라 증가하는 경향을 나타내었다. 하이드로젤 지지체의 혼입에 따른 자기치유 콘크리트의 투수시험 결과, HC-B1.5 배합의 경우 최대 45.6%의 투수계수 회복율을 나타내어 하이드로젤 지지체의 혼입이 투수계수 감소에 효과가 높은 것으로 확인되었다