• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2000

Detection for heat-labile enterotoxin(LT) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC, EC81, O148:H28) and enterotoxin of enterotoxigentic Clostridium perfringents type A(CP, NCTC8238, Hobbs serotype 2) by use of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay were positive reaction, which using LT gene-specific primers of ETEC with a detection limit equivalent from 100ng/${\mu}\ell$ to 1 pg of a DNA fragment of 417-bp in EC81 and enterotoxin gene-specific primers of CP with a detection limit equivalent from 100ng/${\mu}\ell$ to 10pg of a DNA fragment of 364-bp in NCTC8238. Detection for a LT gene of ETEC highly appeared 10-fold sensitivity than an enterotoxin gene of CP.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.86-90
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• 2000

We have earlier reported on the cloning and identification of bft-k from an enterotoxigenic strain of Bacteroides fragilis 419, which was isolated from the blood of a Korean patient who suffered from systemic infections [4,5]. The bft-k gene encodes a 397-amino-acids metalloprotease enterotoxin, and the protein has been identified as a new isoform of B. fragilis enterotoxins (BFTs), which are cytopathic to intestinal epithelial cells to induce fluid secretion and tissue damage in ligated intestinal loops [4, 6, 18, 20]. This report describes the cloning and sequencing of the enterotoxin pahogenicity islet of B. fragilis 419 which contains the bft-k gene. the cloned enterotoxin pathogenicity islet was found to have 6,045 bp in length and to contain 120bp direct repeats near its end. In the pathogenicity islet, in addition to the BFR-K, two putative open reading frames (ORFs) were identified; (1) the t-3 gene encoding a 396-amino-acids protein of a putative metalloprotease; (2) the third gene encoding an ORF of a 59-amino-acids protein, whose function has not yet beenn characterized. The expression of the t-3 gene in B. fragilis 419 was verified by western blot analysis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.316-321
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• 2000

Role of enterotoxin from Salmonella in pathogenesis is not know. Enterotoxin gene from Salmonella typhimurium(stn) encodes a 29kDa toxin that has no homology to any other known enterotoxins. Expression of stn is enthanced upon contact with epithelial cell but not all strains having the stn gene express Stn, Based on PCR analysis, we found that all 36 clinical strains of Salmonella isolated in Korea tested carried the stn gene. To understand the trgulation of the stn transcription, the expression of stn was studies in vitro. RNA polymerase was purified by polymin P fraction-ation, DNA-agarose affinity chromatography, and Mono-Q ion exchange chromatography from Salmonella. The expression of stn was inhibited by cAMP·CRP complex by about 50%.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.461-467
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• 2007

Staphylococcus aureus strains are important foodborne pathogens that produce various toxins. To evaluate the risk of the enterotoxins, four S. aureus strains from kimbap and two clinical samples were isolated and identified, and their expression of the enterotoxin genes were analyzed using a reverse transcription real-time PCR. Various enterotoxin genes were detected, including sea, seg, seh, sei, sen, seo, and sem, where each isolate contained one or two. When the mRNA detection of the enterotoxin genes was analyzed using a reverse transcriptase PCR, various levels of expression were found depending on the species and enterotoxin gene. Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that the poisoning risk of S. aureus can be effectively evaluated based on the gene expression at the mRNA level.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.502-506
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial resistance profiles of and the enterotoxin gene distribution in 4 strains of Staphylococcus aureus (S10-2, S10-3, S12-2, and S13-2) isolated from 90 bulgogi samples. The S. aureus enterotoxin H gene (seh) was found in all the strains, while the S. aureus enterotoxin A gene (sea) was found only in 3 of the 4 strains. The S10-2 strain expressed a combination of enterotoxin genes - seg, seh, sei, sej, selm, and seln. The strains S10-2 and S13-2 were resistant to ampicillin and penicillin G, and all the isolated strains were resistant to tetracycline. The S10-2 strain was the only mecA-positive strain; it was also resistant to β-lactam antibiotics. Thus, genes encoding enterotoxin as well as those conferring antibiotic resistance were identified in the S. aureus strains isolated from pork bulgogi. These results represents the potential occurrence of MRSA in pork bulgogi, and the need for a monitoring system for pork bulgogi in order to prevent an outbreak of staphylococcal food poisoning.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2005

Biochemical characteristics, enterotoxin production and antimicrobial susceptibility were determined for 30 strains of Bacillus cereus isolated from stool specimens of diarrhea patients at an university hospital in Chulabuk-do province. Positive rate for VP reaction and citrate utilization were lower, (33 % and 40 % respectively) while the rates of acid production from mannitol, arabinose, and xylose were higher (17 %, 13 % and 3 % respectively) than those obtained by other investigators. The enterotoxin gene was detected in 18 of 30 isolates (60 %) by PCR, and the toxin was detected from all of the toxin gene-positive isolates by RPLA test. The agar dilution test showed that all isolates were resistant to penicillin G and 73 % were to cephalothin, but all were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, erythromycin, fusidic acid, gentamicin, rifampin, teracycline and vancomycin. We conclude that B. cereus isolates producing acid from mannitol, arabinose and xylose exist, that PCR can be used to detect enterotoxin genes rapidly and accurately, and that this organism is susceptible to various antimicrobial agents though not penicillin G and cephalothin.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2005

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the important pathogenic agents, which are related to the hygienic condition. This study performed for the detection of Staphylococcus aureus and screening staphylococcal enterotoxin a, b, c genes in strains isolated from the environment for production of non-pasteurized strawberry juice. A total of 44 samples were collected from utensils, machinery, employees, raw materials, and strawberry juices in 3 strawberry juice shops in Jinju, western Gyeongnam. The isolation rate of Staphylococcus aureus was 26%. Specially Staphylococcus aureus was frequently isolated from employee's hands, strawberry and strawberry juices. The sea, seb, and sec genes were also investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One hundred and 55% of each isolate had found sea gene and seb gene, respectively. However, sec gene was not detected anywhere. To prevent food-borne disease associated with juice, the accomplishment of HACCP to be more efficient and systematic is necessary.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.263-268
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• 2008

Seventy-one Bacillus cereus strains (12 references and 59 food isolates) were analyzed for the occurrence of five different enterotoxin genes (nheABC, hblCDA, entFM, cytK, and bceT) and one emetic toxin cereulide synthetase gene (ces) by PCR (polymerase chain reaction). PCR analysis revealed eight toxigenic patterns in all B. cereus strains tested; they all carried both entFM and nheABC. The presence of hblCDA, cytK, and bceT varied according to the enterotoxin-producing strains, among which hblCDA was the least frequently detected in the food-isolated strains. Only five B. cereus strains harbored ces, associated with the emetic type of food poisoning; however, these strains were devoid of hblCDA, cytK, and bceT.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.510-519
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• 2012

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the microbiological contamination of the indoor air of the lunchrooms at child care centers and investigate the toxin genes and toxin production ability of food-borne pathogens. Methods: A total of 64 child care centers were sampled to test total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, fungi, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Salmonella spp. according to the Korea Food Code. All toxin genes of pathogens were detected using the Polymerase Chain Reaction method. The Sthaph. aureus enterotoxin was detected by a Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin-reversed passive latex agglutination kit. The heamolysin BL (HBL) and non-heamolytic enterotoxin (NHE) produced by B. cereus were detected using a B. cereus enterotoxin-reversed passive latex agglutination kit and Bacillus diarrheal enterotoxin visual immunoassay kit, respectively. Results: The means of total aerobic bacteria and coliform bacteria were $1.91{\pm}1.84$ log CFU/plate and $0.47{\pm}0.62$ log CFU/plate, respectively. The mean of fungi also showed $0.59{\pm}0.71$ log CFU/plate. Among the pathogenic bacteria tested in this study, Staphy. aureus and B. cereus were detected in four (6.3%) and 21 (32.8%) out of 64 indoor air samples from lunchrooms in child care centers, respectively. All Staphy. aureus tested in this study possessed no toxin genes and did not produce enterotoxin. The detection rate of nheABC, hblCDA, entFM and ces toxin gene in B. cereus was 100, 57.1, 76.2 and 0%, respectively. B. cereus isolates were classified into four groups according to the presence or absence of toxin genes. The nheABC gene was the major toxin gene among B. cereus tested in this study. The HBL was detected in 11 out of 21 B. cereus isolates (52.4%) and three B. cereus isolates produced NHE (14.3%). Conclusion: The results indicated that the contamination by microorganisms in the indoor air of lunchrooms was unqualified to supply safe catering in child care centers. The ongoing control of indoor air quality is required.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.761-765
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• 2008

Bacillus cereus causes two different types of food poisoning syndromes: diarrhea and emesis. The diarrheal syndrome is attributed to various enterotoxins, including nonhemolytic enterotoxin, hemolytic enterotoxin, and enterotoxin-T, whereas the emetic syndrome is caused by the dodecadepsipeptide toxin cereulide. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed to rapidly detect and identify B. cereus strains. Three primer pairs specific to regions within genes encoding nonhemolytic enterotoxin (nheA), molecular chaperonin (groEL), and cereulide synthetase (ces) were used to identify and differentiate between the enterotoxin-producing and emetic toxin-producing B. cereus strains. The cereulide-producing emetic B. cereus showed 3 PCR products of 325, 405, and 685 bp for the groEL, ces, and nheA genes, respectively, whereas the enterotoxin-producing B. cereus showed 2 PCR products without a ces gene specific DNA fragment. Specific amplifications and differentiations by multiplex PCR assay were obtained using 62 B. cereus strains and 13 strains' of other bacterial species. The detection limit of this assay for enterotoxin-producing strain and emetic toxin-producing strain from pure cultures were $2.4{\times}10^1$ and $6.0{\times}10^2\;CFU/tube$, respectively. These results suggest that our multiplex PCR method may be useful for the rapid detection and differentiation of B. cereus strains in foods.