• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.43-50
• /
• 2008

Rhizoctonia blight (large patch) caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG2-2 is one of the major diseases on zoysiagrass in golf courses. In this study, anatgonistic bacteria to R. solani AG2-2 were selected in vitro tests using confrontation bioassay and triple layer agar diffusion method. The most active bacteria, Bacillus subtilis CJ-9 were tested for controlling large patch in pots. Relative Performance Indies (RPI) was used as a criterion for the selection of potential biocontrol agent. B. subtilis CJ-9 showed resistance to major synthetic agrochemicals used in golf course. In field tests at golf course, B. subtilis CJ-9 was more effective in suppression of large patch severity and population development of R. solani AG2-2 in soil than chemical fungicides. B. subtilis CJ-9 could be an alternative to chemical fungicides for eco-friendly management of large patch on zoysiagrass.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.655-658
• /
• 2008

Although arabinose isomerase (E.C. 5.3.1.4), a commercial enzyme for edible tagatose bioconversion, can be expressed in an Escherichia coli system, this expression system might leave noxious by-products in food. To develop an eligible tagatose bioconversion with food-safe system, we compared the tagatose production activity of immobilized arabinose isomerase expressed in Bacillus subtilis (a host generally recognized as safe) with that of the enzyme expressed in E. coli. A 48% increase in tagatose production (4.3 g tagatose/L at $69.4\;mg/L{\cdot}hr$) was found using the B. subtilis-expressed immobilized enzyme system, compared to the E. coli-expressed enzyme system (2.9 g tagatose/L). The increased productivity with safety of the B. subtilis-expressed arabinose isomerase suggests that it is a more eligible candidate for commercial tagatose production.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.1072-1077
• /
• 2007

Bacterial endospores, especially those of Bacillus and Clostridium genera, are the target of sterilization in various foods. We used Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 spores to screen novel antimicrobial substances against spores from medicinal plants. We collected 79 types of plant samples, comprising 42 types of herbs and spices and 37 types of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in Korea and China. At a concentration of 1%(w/v), only 14 of the ethanol extracts exhibited antimicrobial activity against B. subtilis spores of at least 90%. Crude extracts of Torilis japonica, Gardenia jasminoides, Plantago asiatica, Fritllaria, and Arctium lappa showed particularly high sporicidal activities, reducing the spore count by about 99%. Consideration of several factors, including antimicrobial activity, extraction yields, and costs of raw materials, resulted in the selection of T. japonica, G. jasminoides, A. lappa, and Coriandrum sativum for the final screening of novel antimicrobial substances. Verification tests repeated 10 times over a 4-month period showed that the ethanol extract of T. japonica fruit reduced aerobic plate counts of B. subtilis spores the most, from $10^7$ to $10^4\;CFU/mL$ (99.9%) and with a standard deviation of 0.21%, indicating that this fruit is the most suitable for developing a novel antimicrobial substance for inactivating B. subtilis spores.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.183-188
• /
• 2014

In order to increase the nutritional quality of soybean meal (SBM) as an animal feed, Bacillus subtilis TP6, a previously isolated strain from an Indonesian traditional fermented soybean food, Tempeh, was used as a starter organism for solid-state fermentation. In the pre-treated SBM with water content of 60% (v/w), B. subtilis TP6 was grown to a maximum viable cell number of $3.5{\times}10^9CFU/g$. Compared to control, crude protein in Bacillus fermented SBM was increased by 16%, while raffinose, stachyose, and trypsin inhibitors were reduced by 31, 37, and 90%, respectively. The Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis showed that proteins in the fermented SBM were remarkably hydrolyzed into smaller molecular masses, resulting in a decrease in large sized proteins. Our data suggested that B. subtilis fermentation could increase the nutritive value of SBM through reduction of anti-nutritive factors and improvement of protein quality by hydrolysis of soy protein. In addition, B. subtilis TP6 produced a functional ingredient, poly-${\gamma}$-glutamic acid which has various health benefits.