The aim of this study was to isolate and identify marine bacterium with anti-methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activity, and to purify the anti-MRSA compound, as well as to determine its activity and synergistic effects. Among the marine bacteria isolated in this study, the YJ-1 isolate had the strongest anti-MRSA activity. The YJ-1 isolate was identified on the basis of its biochemical characteristics and an analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. The YJ-1 isolate showed over 99.2% homology with Pseudomonas stutzeri, and was designated as a Pseudomonas sp. YJ-1. The optimal culture conditions were 25℃ and initial pH 7.0. For the purification of the anti-MRSA compounds, the YJ-1 was cultured in Pa PES-II medium, and the culture filtrates were extracted by ethyl acetate, hexane, and 80% MeOH. The 80% MeOH fraction was separated by a C18 ODS column, silica gel chromatography and a reverse phase HPLC, to yield three anti-MRSA agents, the MR1, MR2, and MR3 compounds. When the MR1 compound of 250 μg mL-1 concentration was applied to the MRSA cells, over 95% of bacterial cells was killed within 48 hr. Compared with vancomycin and ampicillin, the MR1 compound showed significant anti-MRSA activity. In addition, the anti-MRSA activity was increased by dose and time dependent manners. Furthermore, the combination of an MR1 compound with vancomycin produced a more rapid decrease in the MRSA cells than did the MR1 compound alone. Taken together, our results suggest that the Pseudomonas sp. YJ-1 and its anti-MRSA compounds could be employed as a natural antibacterial agent in MRSA infections.

This study was begun with the object of actively reflection the rapid technological advancements of the electronical control and mechanical control industries to sewage disposal methods. Or focuses on applying a flow control method that utilizes inverters and automatic valves to sewage treatment process systems.This study proposes that sewage treatment process systems architects must acquire a certain degree of technical skills in the areas of electrical and mechanical controls in order to raise the standard of completeness of sewage treatment process systems. And further emphasizes that there is required continuous research on automatics valves that are used in sewage treatment.

PURPOSES: This study evaluates the economic value of national highway construction projects using Real Option Pricing Models. METHODS : We identified the option premium for uncertainties associated with flexibilities according to the future's change in national highway construction projects. In order to evaluate value of future's underlying asset, we calculated the volatility of the unit price per year for benefit estimation such as VOTS, VOCS, VICS, VOPCS and VONCS that the “Transportation Facility Investment Evaluation Guidelines” presented. RESULTS: We evaluated the option premium of underlying asset through a case study of the actual national highway construction projects using ROPM. And in order to predict the changes in the option value of the future's underlying asset, we evaluated the changes of option premium for future's uncertainties by the defer of the start of construction work, the contract of project scale, and the abandon of project during pre-land compensation stages that were occurred frequently in the highway construction projects. Finally we analyzed the sensitivity of the underlying asset using volatility, risk free rate and expiration date of option. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that a highway construction project has economic value even though static NPV had a negative(-) value because of the sum of the existing static NPV and the option premium for the future's uncertainties associated with flexibilities.

This study evaluated the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of primary sludge, secondary sludge, and food waste in batch anaerobic mono-digestion tests, and investigated the effects of mixture ratio of those organic wastes on methane yield and production rate in batch anaerobic co-digestion tests, that were designed based on a simplex mixture design method. The BMP of primary sludge, secondary sludge and food waste were determined as 234.2, 172.7, and 379.1 mL CH4/g COD, respectively. The relationships between the mixing ratio of those organic wastes with methane yield and methane production rate were successfully expressed in special cubic models. Both methane yield and methane production rate were estimated as higher when the mixture ratio of food waste was higher. At a mixing ratio of 0.5 and 0.5 for primary sludge and food waste, the methane yield of 297.9 mL CH4/g COD was expected; this was 19.4% higher than that obtained at a mixing ratio of 0.3333, 0.3333 and 0.3333 for primary sludge, secondary sludge, and food waste (249.5 mL CH4/g COD). These findings could be useful when designing field-scale anaerobic digersters for mono- and co-digestion of sewage sludges and food waste.

In this study, the inhibition of ammonia on anaerobic digestion of butyric acid was evaluated and the potential alleviating effects of such ammonia inhibition by the addition of magnetite particles were investigated. Independent anaerobic batch tests fed with butyric acid as a sole organic source were conducted in twenty 60-mL glass bottles with 10 different treatment conditions, comprising ammonia: 0.5, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, and 7.0 g total ammonia nitrogen (TAN)/L and magnetite particles: 0 mM and 20 mM. The increase in ammonia concentration did not cause significant inhibition on methane yield; however, a significant inhibition on lag time and specific methane production rate was observed. The IC50 in the control treatments (without magnetite addition) was estimated as 6.2654 g TAN/L. A similar inhibition trend was observed in magnetite-added treatments; however, the inhibition effect by ammonia was significantly alleviated in lag time and specific methane production rate when compared to those in the control treatments. The lag time was shortened by 1.6–46.3%, specific methane production rate was improved by 6.0–69.0%. In the magnetite-added treatments, IC50 was estimated as 8.5361 g TAN/L. This study successfully demonstrated the potential of magnetite particles as an enhancer in anaerobic digestion of butyric acid under conditions of ammonia stress.

Keratin wastes are generated in excess of million tons per year worldwide and biodegradation of keratin by microorganisms possessing keratinase activity can be used as an alternative tool to prevent environmental pollution. For practical use of keratinase, its physicochemical properties should be investigated in detail. In this study, we investigated characteristics of keratinase produced by Xanthomonas sp. P5 which is isolated from rhizospheric soil of soybean. The level of keratinase produced by the strain P5 increased with time and reached its maximum (10.6 U/ml) at 3 days. The production of soluble protein had the same tendency as the production of keratinase. Optimal temperature and pH of keratinase were 40℃-45℃ and pH 9, respectively. The enzyme showed broad temperature and pH stabilities. Thermostability profile showed that the enzyme retained 94.6%-100% of the original activity after 1 h treatment at 10℃-40℃. After treatment for 1 h at pH 6-10, 89.2%-100% of the activity was remained. At pH 11, 71.6% of the original activity was retained after 1 h treatment. Although the strain P5 did not degrade human hair, it degraded duck feather and chicken feather. These results indicate that keratinase from Xanthomonas sp. P5 could be not only used to upgrade the nutritional value of feather hydrolysate but also useful in situ biodegradation of feather.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has played important role as new functional material for food industry and industrial products based on its unique properties. The interest in BC from static cultures has increased steadily in recent years because of its potential for use in medicine and cosmetics. In this study, we investigated culture condition for BC production by Acetobacter sp. F15 in static culture. The strain F15, which was isolated from decayed fruit, was selected on the basis of BC thickness. The optimal medium compositions for BC production were glucose 7%, soytone 12%, K2HPO4 0.2%, NaH2PO4ㆍ2H2O 0.2%, lactic acid 0.05% and ethanol 0.3%, respectively. The strain F15 was able to produce BC at 26℃-36℃ with a maximum at 32 ℃. BC production occurred at pH 4.5-8 with a maximum at pH 6.5. Under these conditions, a maximum BC thickness of 12.15 mm was achieved after 9 days of cultivation; this value was about 2.3-fold higher than the thickness in basic medium. Scanning electron micrographs showed that BC from the optimal medium was more compact than plant cellulose and was reticulated structure consisting of ultrafine cellulose fibrils. BC from the optimal medium was found to be of cellulose type I, the same as typical native cellulose.

Styela clava tunic is generated in large amounts as a waste from S. clava processing plants and causes environmental problem. Although biological activities of S. clava were reported by many investigators, study on S. clava tunic was little. In this study, therefore, tyrosinase inhibition and antioxidative activities of extracts from S. clava tunic using different solvent were investigated for recycling of the fishery waste. Among extraction methods tested, autoclaved extraction (25.7%) and hot water extraction (18.2%) appeared to be effective for extraction. The highest total phenolic content was 46.6 mg/g in autoclaved extract while the highest flavonoid content was 23.0 mg/g in chloroform extract. All extracts possessed tyrosinase inhibition activity and the inhibition activity was concentration-dependent. Inhibition concentration (IC50) against tyrosinase activity was 0.36×104 mg/ml in ethanol extract, 0.11×103 mg/ml in acetone extract and 0.27 mg/ml in n-butanol extract. Among extracts tested, hot water and autoclaved extracts displayed higher antioxidative activity than organic solvent extracts. Therefore, our data suggest that extract from S. clava tunic may potential candidate for cosmetic product with whitening effect and medicine for diseases caused by various oxidative stresses.

We investigated the optimal conditions for keratinase production by feather-degrading Pseudomonas geniculata H10 using one variable at a time (OVT) method. The optimal medium composition and cultural condition for keratinase production were determined to be glucose 0.15% (w/v), beef extract 0.08% (w/v), KH2PO4 0.12% (w/v), K2HPO4 0.02% (w/v), NaCl 0.07% (w/v), MgSO4․7H2O 0.03%, MgCl2․6H2O 0.04% along with initial pH 10 at 200 rpm and 25℃, respectively. The production yield of keratinase was 31.6 U/ml in an optimal condition, showing 4.6-fold higher than that in basal medium. The strain H10 also showed plant growth promoting activities. This strain had ammonification activity and produced indoleacetic acid (IAA), siderophore and a variety of hydrolytic enzymes such as protease, lipase and chitinase. Therefore, this study showed that P. geniculata H10 could be not only used to upgrade the nutritional value of feather wastes but also useful in situ biodegradation of feather wastes. Moreover, it is also a potential candidate for the development of biofertilizing agent applicable to crop plant soil.

This study was carried out to investigate changes of protease and amylase activities and nitrogen content in Chungkookjang prepared by Bacillus subtilis S8 and different soybean. Amino-type nitrogen and ammonia-type nitrogen contents increased with an increase in fermentation time and was the highest in black soybean Chungkookjang. The number of viable cells increased up to 24 h of fermentation at all temperatures tested; especially, their levels were the highest at 40℃. Protease activity was the highest in black soybean Chungkookjang. α-amylase activity increased significantly up to 6 h of fermentation at 30℃and 40℃and then maintained constantly. It also increased up to 30-36 h of fermentation at 45℃and then decreased. β -amylase activity was the highest in black soybean Chungkookjang at 35℃and 40℃and in yellow soybean Chungkookjang at 45℃. Production pattern of reducing sugar was similar to that of β-amylase. Amino-type nitrogen, viable cell number and reducing sugar content and β-amylase activity was the highest in Chungkookjang fermented at 40℃. Considering amino-type and ammonia-type nitrogen contents, Chungkookjang fermentation using yellow soybean was favorable. However, the fermentation using black soybean was favorable, considering protease and amylase activities and reducing sugar content.

We investigated usefulness of chicken feather as bioadsorbent for removal of hexavalent chromium[Cr(Ⅵ)] and oil from aqueous solution. Chicken feather was chemically treated with DTPA, EDTA, NaOH and SDS, respectively. Among them, EDTA was the most effective in adsorbing Cr(Ⅵ). Cr(Ⅵ) uptake by chicken feather was increased with decreasing pH; the highest Cr(Ⅵ) uptake was observed at pH 2.0. By increasing Cr(Ⅵ) concentration, Cr(Ⅵ) uptake was increased, and maximum Cr(Ⅵ) uptake was 0.34 mmol/g. Cr(Ⅵ) adsorption by chicken feather was well described by Freundlich isotherm than Langmuir isotherm and Freundlich constant(1/n) was 0.476. As the concentration of chicken feather was increased, Cr (Ⅵ) removal efficiency was increased but Cr(Ⅵ) uptake was decreased. Most of Cr(Ⅵ) was adsorbed at early reaction stage(1 h) and adsorption equilibrium was established at 5 h. On the other hand, chicken feather adsorbed effectively oils including bunker-A and bunker-C. In conclusion, our results suggest that chicken feather waste could be used to remove heavy metal and oil; it is a potential candidate for biosorption material.

We isolated and characterized novel duck feather-degrading bacteria producing keratinase. Twelve strains were isolated from soil and faces at poultry farm, and decayed feathers. They were identified as Bacillus methylotrophicus, Pseudomonas geniculata, Pseudomonas hibiscicola, Exiquobacterium profundum, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Chryseobacterium indologenes, Bacillus thuringiensis, Thermomonas koreensis, respectively, by phenotypic characters and 16S rRNA gene analysis. Generally, the level of keratinase production was not proportional to feather degradation rate. The highest keratinolytic activity was observed in the culture inoculated with Chryseobacterium indologenes D27. Although all strains did not degrade human hair, strains tested effectively degraded chicken feather(53.8-91.4%), wool(40.4-93.0%) and human nail (51.0-82.9%). These results suggest that strains isolated could be not only used to improve the nutritional value of recalcitrant feather waste but also is a potential candidate for biotechnological processes of keratin hydrolysis.

In order to develop bacterial cellulose (BC) with antimicrobial activity against pathogenic microorganisms, silver and chitosan were incorporated into BC, respectively. Experiment results showed that antimicrobial activity against pathogenic microorganisms was improved with increasing silver concentration. Chitosan also showed a direct proportion between its concentration and antimicrobial activity. These results suggest that antimicrobial effects of BC using silver and chitosan are well proven to be effective. We also tested the stainability of BC with natural colorant for the application of food industry. Stainability of BC was enhanced with increasing natural colorant concentration. Decolorization of BC stained was observed by dipping it into distilled water with one hour-intervals. As a result, there was no significant difference. Combination of natural colorant-stainability and antibiosis of BC is expected to be useful in making colored antibiotic BC in various industrial application areas, considering its antimicrobial activity, high stainability and low decolorization tendency.

Three biphenyl-degrading microorganisms were isolated from polluted soil samples in Sasang-gu, Busan. Among them, isolate DS-94 showing the strong degrading activity was selected. The morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics of DS-94 were investigated by API 20NE and other tests. This bacterium was identified as the genus Pseudomonas by 16S rDNA sequencing and designated as Pseudomonas sp. DS-94. The optimum temperature and pH for the growth of Pseudomonas sp. DS-94 were 25℃ and pH 7.0, respectively. This isolate could utilize biphenyl as sole source of carbon and energy. Biphenyl-degrading efficiency of this isolate was measured by HPLC analysis. As a result of biological biphenyl-degradation at high biphenyl concentration (500 mg/L), biphenyl-removal efficiency by this isolate was 73.5% for 7 days.

Fifty hydrocarbon-metabolizing microorganisms were isolated from soil samples polluted by the petroleum oils in Gamman-dong, Busan. Among them, strain 2-3A, showing strong emulsification activity, was selected by oil film-collapsing method. This bacterium was identified as Acinetobacter sp. and designated as Acinetobacter sp. 2-3A. The optimum temperature and pH on the growth of Acinetobacter sp. 2-3A were 25℃ and pH 7.0, respectively. The carbon and nitrogen sources for the most effective emulsification activity were 3.0% olive oil and 0.5% peptone, respectively. The 0.15% potassium phosphate was the most effective emulsification activity as a phosphate source. The optimum emulsification activity condition was 20℃, pH 7.0, and 2.0% NaCl. The optimum time for the best production of biosurfactant was 27 hrs. The emulsification stability was maintained at the temperature range from 4℃ to 100℃, pH range from 6.0 to 10.0, and NaCl range from 0% to 10%. For the oil resolvability of the biosurfactant, the residual oils were investigated by gas chromatography. As a result, it was verified that the biosurfactant decreased and decomposed crude oils from nC10 to nC32.

A bacterial strain SY-97 that showed algicidal activity against Cochlodinium polykrikoides was isolated from coastal water of Uljin (eastern coast of Korea) in August, 2005. The isolated strain was identified as Brachybacterium sp. by morphological and biological tests, and analysis of 16S rDNA sequence. The optimal culture conditions for the growth of strain SY-97 were 30℃, initial pH 7.0, and salinity 2.0%. From the result of cell culture insert experiment, Brachybacterium sp. SY-97 is assumed to produce secondary metabolites which have algicidal activity. When 10% culture filtrate of this strain was applied to C. polykrikoides (1.2 × 104 cells/㎖) cultures, 100% of C. polykrikoides cells was destroyed within 15 hours. The released algicides were heat-tolerant to 100℃ and stable in pH 6.0～10.0. These results suggest that Brachybacterium sp. SY-97 is potentially useful for controlling outbreaks of C. polykrikoides.

To investigate correlation between the distribution of marine bacteria and environmental characteristics in the surface sediments of Kamak Bay, chemical oxygen demand(COD), acid volatile sulfide(AVS), ignition loss(IL), total organic carbon(TOC), and total organic nitrogen(TON) were measured and analyzed at 7 stations in winter and summer. In winter, COD and AVS ranged from 13.45 mg/g to 30.06 mg/g(average: 23.58 mg/g) and from 0.03 mg/g to 1.04 mg/g(average: 0.63 mg/g), respectively. IL, TOC, and TON ranged from 8.03% to 11.41%(average: 9.41%), from 1.17% to 2.10%(average: 1.62%), and from 0.09% to 0.18%(average 0.15%), respectively. In summer, COD, AVS, IL, TOC, and TON ranged from 14.06 mg/g to 32.19 mg/g(average: 24.71 mg/g), from 0.03 mg/g to 1.11 mg/g(average: 0.66 mg/g), from 9.00% to 12.15%(average: 10.96%), from 1.27% to 2.12%(average 1.77%), and from 0.12% to 0.19%(average: 0.16%), respectively. These values were relatively higher than those in winter. Kamak Bay had high C/N ratio that might be resulted from the input of terrestrial sewage and industrial wastewater. The number of marine viable bacteria was 8.9 × 104 cfu/g in winter and 9.7 × 105 cfu/g in summer. The most abundant species were Pseudomonas spp., Flavobacterium spp., and Vibrio spp. in the surface sediments of Kamak Bay. It was found that the concentration of organic matters and viable bacterial cells in the inner part were relatively higher than those in the outer of Kamak Bay. The distribution of viable bacterial cells was closely influenced by environmental factors.