The growth characterization and enzyme productivity of halotolerant microorganisms isolated from the Nakdong River estuary wetland in Korea were investigated in this study. The isolation of halotolerant microorganisms was carried out through their cultivation at 37oC for several days using a marine agar medium. After a single-colony isolation, 16 pure colonies were obtained, and phylogenetic analysis was done using 16S-based ID service in the EzBioCloud database. The isolated strains were divided into 3 phyla, 5 families, 7 genera, and 13 species. Possible industrial applications of the strains were confirmed upon testing for amylolytic, lipolytic, and proteolytic activity to confirm the possible production of hydrolytic enzymes, growth at a pH range of 5 to 9, and various salt concentrations being tested. Thirteen strains possessed at least one enzyme activity, and 5 strains possessed 2 enzyme activities. Eight strains could tolerate up to 10% NaCl concentration. This result indicated that isolated strains had shown the possible application in food and cosmetic industries. Therefore, this study would contribute to securing domestic biological resources and improving hydrolytic enzyme activity using these strains.

The effect of heat treatment and vacuum conditions on the textural properties and electrochemical performance of commercially available activated carbons (ACs) was investigated. The AC after post-heat treatment was characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. The ACs treated under vacuum conditions exhibit a higher specific surface area and micropore surface area than those treated under nitrogen atmospheric pressure without significantly affecting the graphite structure of the AC. Under 800 °C temperature and vacuum conditions (AC-V800), the AC with the highest Brunauer– Emmett–Teller surface area of 1951.9 m2 g−1 (16.4% improvement relative to that of the original AC (1677.2 m2 g−1)) was obtained. This is attributed to the removal of oxygen-containing functional groups and volatile matters in the carbon by thermal treatment under vacuum conditions. Consequently, the electric double-layer capacitor using ACs treated under vacuum conditions (1 kPa) at 800 °C (AC-V800) shows considerably improved electrochemical performance in terms of higher specific capacitance and better cycling stability at a high working voltage (3.1 V), compared to the nitrogen-treated and commercial ACs.

Three-dimensional (3D) organoids act as model systems because they mimic in vivo tissue morphology. Recent advancements in the field have demonstrated that organoids derived from various organs have assisted in understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease modeling and expanded our knowledge of organ development in vitro. Furthermore, these organoids have become a promising biomaterial in regenerative medicine for therapeutic purposes as well as in nutritional research for feed efficiency measurement in livestock. Intestinal organoids of livestock, including pigs, cattle, chickens, and horses, have been developed. These could be used to examine host-pathogen interactions, such as interaction between enteric viruses and epithelial cells, and are potential alternatives to in vivo systems. However, there are very limited studies regarding species-specific medium to cultivate and establish intestinal organoids of livestock. Species-specific medium is applied differently between species for the cultivation of intestinal organoids, and its modification is important for the maintenance of specific cell types or genes from the cellular diversity of the intestinal epithelium. In this study, we introduce the histological development of a 3D culture system and a species-specific medium for the cultivation of intestinal organoids in livestock. Finally, we discuss the importance and future perspectives of intestinal organoids in the fields of agriculture and biotechnology for various purposes.