A total of 128 halophilic and marine-associated bacterial strains were isolated from environmental marine samples and fermented seafood products collected in the Sacheon region of South Korea. The aim was to secure region-specific microbial resources and evaluate their potential for industrial use. The isolates belonged to 4 phyla, 15 families, 30 genera, and 61 species. The phylum Bacillota, particularly the family Bacillaceae, was the major taxonomic group (62.5%), comprising 14 genera and 36 species, such as Alkalihalobacillus, Bacillus, Caldibacillus, Cytobacillus, Fictibacillus, Halobacillus, Lysinibacillus, Metabacillus, Neobacillus, Oceanobacillus, Priestia, Rossellomorea, Rummeliibacillus, and Ureibacillus. Members of the phylum Pseudomonadota, primarily the family Alteromonadaceae, accounted for 4.7% of the isolates and included the genera Marinobacter and Microbulbifer. All isolates identified as members of the phylum Pseudomonadota were strong auxin producers or showed high extracellular enzyme activities. Functional characterization showed that 86 strains (67.2%) exhibited hydrolytic activity for at least one enzyme (protease, amylase, or lipase), and 32 strains (25%) produced auxin. The functions of the microbial resources in the Sacheon region are highly diverse. Collectively, the isolated strains show potential for application in managing marine environments, bioprocessing, and the fermented seafood industry, underscoring their value as genetic resources for future biotechnological use in South Korea.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and qualified presumption of safety (QPS)-designated Bacillus strains are widely applied to enhance the nutritional and functional properties of natural products. Green garlic (Allium sativum L.), a common Korean vegetable and recognized functional food, is valued for its antioxidant and immune-enhancing activities. In this study, we investigated the functional properties of green garlic fermented with LAB and QPS-designated Bacillus strains. A total of 450 strains were isolated from marine environments, livestock sources, and diverse agricultural and fishery products, including fermented derivatives, of which 191 originated from agricultural products. Enzyme assays identified 89 strains with strong protease and amylase activities. After excluding taxonomic duplicates, we obtained seven QPS-designated Bacillus strains and four LAB strains characterized by robust growth in media containing green garlic. Fermentation using Sacheon green garlic powder was conducted for 4 days, and compared with the control, we found that the antioxidant activity of green garlic fermented with Latilactobacillus curvatus GH-11-11 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens JY-48-5 increased by 144.0% and 145.8%, respectively. In addition, relative to a non-fermented extract, a 2-day fermentation with JY-48-5 enhanced α-glucosidase inhibitory activity by over 189.4%. These findings indicate that cultures of selected LAB and QPS-designated Bacillus strains could serve as promising starters for enhancing the bioactive properties of foods, and also emphasize the importance of regional microbial resources.

To investigate the diversity of industrially useful microorganisms from fermented agricultural products in the Sacheon region, 128 strains were isolated and analyzed phylogenetically. The analysis indicated that the isolates were categorized into three phyla, eight families, 13 genera, and 33 species. The Bacillaceae family, which was the main taxon, comprised 88.3% of the isolates and included four genera and 22 species: Bacillus, Exiguobacterium, Fictibacillus, and Metabacillus. The Caryophanaceae family, which was the second most abundant taxon, comprised 3.9% of the isolates, including two genera and two species: Rummeliibacillus and Sporosarcina. The isolates were examined for hydrolytic enzyme activity (protease, amylase, and lipase), and 118 strains (92.2%) exhibited at least one of these enzyme activities. Furthermore, auxin production was observed in all seven strains. This study demonstrates that the isolated strains have potential applications in the food and agricultural industries in South Korea, highlighting the importance of genetic resources.

Lactic acid bacterial (LAB) fermentation is frequently used to enhance the nutritional and functional properties of natural products. Oysters (Crassostrea gigas), a marine bivalve mollusc, have long been used in food applications. In the present study, we explored the effects of LAB fermentation on the physiological activity of C. gigas. To identify new starter strains, we isolated and screened LAB from local specialties in Sacheon, South Korea. Eighteen LAB strains were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, four of which exhibited protease activity. All the four isolates were identified as Latilactobacillus curvatus. Fermentation was carried out in a medium containing C. gigas powder for three days. After incubation, the antioxidant activity in the culture supernatant of fermented C. gigas with L. curvatus GH-118-24 increased by approximately 139.2% compared with that of the non-fermented control. Additionally, the extract of fermented C. gigas for three days showed significant improvements in anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects, with increases of over 71.2% and 253.8%, respectively, compared to the non-fermented extract. These results suggested that the selected LAB strains have potential as starters capable of enhancing the bioactive properties of food, thus highlighting the importance of genetic resources in South Korea.

This study evaluated the immunogenicity of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in a guinea pig model to refine preclinical assessment methods. 24 guinea pigs were divided into four groups for immunohistochemical, histopathological, and molecular analyses, including qRT-PCR and ELISA. The ELISA results revealed significant elevations in interleukin 2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN- ), and tuberculosis-specific antibodies in vaccinated guinea pigs, particularly γ notable after 6 weeks. Although lung cytokine levels remained unchanged, spleen gene expression showed significant differences in interleukin-17, interleukin-12, interleukin-1β, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 after 6 weeks. Immunohistochemistry revealed peak IL-2 expression at 8 weeks and significant IFN-γ and TNF-α expression at 6 weeks. This study confirmed the effectiveness of BCG vaccine in guinea pigs, providing crucial insights for future tuberculosis vaccine development and standardizing immune response indicators.

Headwater streams are main sources of water, sediments, and organic materials that are transported downstream. Inthis study, we characterized the variability in benthic macroinvertebrate communities according to spatio-temporal variationresponding to the differences of environmental characteristics. We collected benthic macroinvertebrates at five samplingsites along longitudinal gradient on the Jangjeon stream in the Gariwang Mountain at three different seasons (spring, summerand autumn). We identified 93 taxa in 44 families. The dominant species was Gammarus sp. at the upper stream, whileit was Chronomidae spp. at the downstream. Changes of functional feeding guilds was clearly observed along the longitudinalgradient. Species turnover rates was higher in summer than in other seasons. The habitat condition including the landcover of their riparian zone and hydrological factors were major factors influencing on the community composition.

An intensive analysis was conducted of the maternal lineages of the Jeju native pigs (JNPs). A total of 100 mtDNA sequences from Asian wild boars (AWB), European wild boars (EWB), Asian domestic pigs (ADP), European domestic pigs (EDP), and JNPs were used for the phylogeny and network analyses. Two distinct JNP groups were found JNPA and JNPE in the Asian and European cluster. The maternal lineage of JNPE was the closest to that of EWB and a clear haplogroup sharing an identical haplotype (hap16) among 15 individuals of JNPE and 2 individuals of EWB was identified. However, except for hap18, no EDP shared any identical haplotypes with JNPE, suggesting that no obvious maternal contribution of EDP has occurred in JNPE in recent years. The possible existence of an additional and unknown path of maternal lineage from EDP into JNPE could therefore be postulated, in addition to those from AWB and ADP into the JNPA groups. Thus, JNPE appeared to have a pure maternal lineage that had no recent contact with EDP, and both the JNPA groups and JNPE are pure Jeju native pigs.

Headwater streams are the main sources of water sediment and organic material for downstream reaches and their small catchments coupled terrestrial-aquatic linkages. Because headwater streams provide valuable habitats for unique and diverse assemblages of aquatic fauna, they are also essential for sustaining the structure and function of the watersheds. Therefore, it has been recently supported that headwaters are important areas for maintaining biodiversity. In this study, we surveyed four different headwater streams in different watersheds to characterize differences of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages among study streams. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected seasonally with a Surber net at four different streams. In addition, hydrological and physicochemical environmental factors including temperature, discharge, width, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH were also measured at each sampling site. Community indices were used to differentiate spatiotemporal changes of macrointertebrate communities. Multivariate analysis were used to characterize the relationships between communities and environmental factors. Differences of their environmental condition such as meteorological factors and stream hydromorphological factors were reflected in the ordination with macroinvertebrate communities.

Benthic macroinvertebrates are sedentary and have an intermediate life span ranging from months to a few years. They play a key role as consumers in the food trophic structure by linking producers, top carnivores, and decomposers in aquatic communities. Therefore, they have been widely used for ecological assessment of aquatic ecosystem health in an integrative and continuous manner. In this study, we characterized benthic macroinvertebrate communities at reference sites, which are not disturbed. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected seasonally with a Surber net at three different streams (Pocheon, Hongcheon, and Namhae). In addition, hydrological and physicochemical environmental factors including temperature, discharge, width, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH were also measured at each sampling site. Spatial and temporal differences of benthic macrointertebrate communities were analyzed based on community indices, functional guilds, etc. relating to their environmental factors. Multivariate analysis were used to characterize the relationships between communities and environmental factors. Benthic macroinvertebrates were significantly different among sampling sites reflecting differences of their environmental condition such as hydromorphological factors, meteorological factors, etc.

In DNA barcoding, the DNA degradation of old museum specimens has been limited full-length (658bp) sequencing. The challenges associated with the retrieval and authentication of degraded DNA extracts from fossil and old museum specimens were principally limited to analyze the relatively short sequences (<300 bp). Furthermore, almost protocols in other to analyzed the degraded DNA contained the cloning process after PCR causing the time-consuming and the rising costs. To overcome these problematic circumstances, we tried a modified method to analyze full-length of DNA barcoding region in 30~60 year-old butterfly specimens (225 samples in 28 species), using direct sequencing after PCR with species-specific overlapping primer sets per each species. As a result, all of 28 species have been successfully analyzed, although 178 samples (79%) are completely generated barcoding sequences ranged from 640 to 658 bp and 47 samples (21%) are partially sequenced ranged from 100 to 500 bp. Thus, the result showed that the direct PCR sequencing using the overlapping primer sets per species appears to have great potential efficiency for analysis of degraded DNA without incorrect sequences.

Investigations and monitoring of environmental radiation are important for preventing expected accidents or for early detection of unexpected accidents, in nuclear facilities and the surrounding. In the event of an environmental radiation accident, it should be possible to identify and analyze the radiation-contaminated area. Therefore, a rapid radiation monitoring system is required for immediate response and necessary measures. In this study, the distribution of radiation mapping is performed on a contaminated area using 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional contour mapping techniques. The entire surrounding area can be understood at a glance by displaying the radiation contour line on the map of the measured area.