• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.417-420
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• 2009

Neospora caninum is an important cause of abortion in dairy cattle worldwide. Dog is the definitive host for N. caninum and can infect dairy cattle. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of Neospora oocysts in feces of dogs from dairy farms. A total of 174 fecal samples was collected from 89 farm dogs and 85 household dogs during 2006 and 2008. Fecal samples of dogs were microscopically examined for detecting Hammondia Neospora-like oocysts (HNLO) by Mini $Parasep^{(R)}SF$ fecal parasite concentrator. HNLO were microscopically detected in 4 fecal samples (2.2%). The fecal samples with HNLO were examined by N. caninum-specific PCR. Two of the samples were positive for N. caninum. The 2 positive fecal samples were selected for inoculation to calves. Two inoculated calves were seronegative by ELISA for 4 months post-infection. This is the first report of finding N. caninum DNA in feces of farm dogs in Mashhad area, Iran.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.288-292
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• 2007

Seafood, if eaten raw, carries the risk of food poisoning. Seafood poisoning is often caused by pathogenic microorganisms originating from fecal contamination, such as Salmonella sp. and norovirus. Fecal coliforms are an important indicator of fecal contamination. Therefore, data on fecal coliforms are very important for evaluating the safety of fisheries in coastal areas. In this study, 2,226 sea water samples were collected from the southeast coast of Korea, and total and fecal coliforms were compared and analyzed. Total coliforms were detected in 76.5% of the samples and 71.4% of the total coliforms were fecal coliforms. At sea water temperatures above $20.0^{\circ}C$, total coliforms were found in 78.8% of the samples and fecal coliforms constituted 72.0% of the total coliforms. In sea water below $19.9^{\circ}C$, the respective values were 74.6% and 70.9%. These results suggest that temperature does not have a significant effect on the detection of fecal coliforms. When the salinity exceeded 30.0%o, total coliforms were found in 72.1% of the samples and fecal coliforms constituted 66.0% of these. At salinities below 29.9%o, the respective values for total and fecal coliforms were 90.4% and 85.2%. These results strongly suggest that the detection of fecal coliforms is proportional to the amount of precipitation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.275-283
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• 2020

Fecal coliforms are indicator bacteria to evaluate fecal contamination and microbiological safety in environment water. To examine fecal coliforms by membrane filtration, 1% rosolic acid solution dissolved in sodium hydroxide(0.2 M) should be added to m-FC medium according to Korean standard method. To reduce the exposure of researchers to harmful chemicals and expenditure of unnecessary cost, we evaluated if the rosolic acid solution is required to detect fecal coliforms. For 113 samples collected from five intake sources of Seoul, 42 samples of six tributaries, and 11 samples of sewage, the number of fecal coliforms was compared in medium with or without the reagent. As a result, the number was higher in m-FC medium without the reagent, but there was not a statistically significant difference. In the water intake, m-FC medium without the reagent could be used to examine fecal coliforms except in July, August and in case of rainfall. When heterotrophic plate counts exceeded 1,000 CFU/filter, or during rainfall, there was an effect of background bacteria in two types of the medium. However, it was more appropriate to use m-FC medium with the reagent to suppress gram-positive bacteria that can grow on medium without the reagent. In the tributary and sewage samples, the effect of the background bacteria was low, allowing the use of medium without the reagent regardless rainfall. Thus, it is necessary to present in standard method that the addition of rosolic acid solution in m-FC medium can be selected according to the characteristics of samples.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.488-497
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• 2012

A DNA barcode based on 648 bp of cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene aims to build species-specific libraries for animal groups. However, it is hard to recover full-length (648 bp) barcode gene from environmental fecal samples due to DNA degradation. In this study, we designed a new primer set (K_Bird), which amplifies a 226 bp fragment targeted an inner position of full-length COI barcode based on 102 species of Korean birds to improve amplification success, and we attempted to identify bird species from 39 avian fecal samples collected during 4 months from Jinan, South Korea. Simultaneously, we conducted a dietary analysis using a universal DNA mini-barcode (Uni_Minibar) from same fecal samples. In silico analysis on newly designed mini-barcode represented that genetic distances were 0.5% in species and 9.1% in genera. Intraspecific variations of 149 species out of 174 species (86%) between Korea and North America were within the threshold (5.3% threshold in this study). From environmental fecal samples collected in Jinan, we identified seven avian species, which have high similarity (99-100%) with registered COI sequences in GenBank. Eight kinds of prey species, such as moth, spider, fly, and dragonfly, were identified in dietary analysis. We suppose that our strategy applying mini-barcode for environmental fecal samples, might be a useful and convenient tool for species identification and dietary analysis for birds.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.310-320
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• 2005

A membrane-based oligonucleotide array was used to detect predominant bacterial species in human fecal samples. Digoxygenin-labeled 16S rDNA probes were generated by PCR from DNA that had been extracted from fecal samples or slurries. These probes were hybridized to an array of 120 oligonucleotides with sequences specific for 40 different bacterial species commonly found in human feces, followed by color development using an alkaline phosphatase-conjugated antibody and NBT /BCIP. Twenty of the species were detected by this method, but E. coli, which was present at $\~$1 $\times 10$^5$ CFU per gram feces, was not detected. To improve the sensitivity of this assay, reverse transcriptase-PCR was used to generate probes from RNA extracted from fecal cultures. Coupled with a chemiluminescence detection method, this approach lowered the detection limit for E. coli from $\~1$ $\times 10$^6$ to ${\leq}$ 1 $\times 10$^5$ These results indicate that the membrane-array method with reverse transcriptase-PCR and chemiluminescence detection can simultaneously identify bacterial species present in fecal samples at cell concentrations as low as${\leq}$ 1 $\times 10$^5$ CFU per gram.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 1970

The purpose of the study was to gather basic bacteriological data regarding the quality of Korean surface waters. Total coliforms, fecal coliforms and fecal Streptococci survey in the water of Lake Eui-Am were undertaken by the membrance filter technique. A total of 37 samples were collected in August 14, 1970. Total coliforms were detected in all samples, fecal coliforms and fecal Streptococci were detected in 68% and 82% of samples, respectively. Bacterial densities of the lake water were varied by station and depth. The numbers of bacteria per 100ml of the lake water were; 8-225(65.3 average) for the total coliforms, 0-112(26.2 average) for the fecal coliforms, 0-77(25.8 average) for the fecal Streptococci, and 8-302 (91.1 average) for the total number of total coliforms and fecal Streptococci. These results suggest that the Eui-Am lake water is only lightly polluted and indicate that the lake water, properly maintained, is a source of raw water of good bacteriological quality. Three forms of fecal pollution bacteria tend to increase with depth. This is believed that the suspended matter with conglomerated bacteria plays an important role in regulating of bacterial densities in summer season.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) method of detecting noroviruses in artificially and naturally contaminated shellfish. We used 58 fecal samples that tested positive for noroviruses with electron microscopy (EM) to develop an NASBA assay for these viruses. Oligonucleotide primers targeting the polymerase coding region were used to amplify the viral RNA in an isothermal process that resulted in the accumulation of RNA amplicons. These amplicons were detected by hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide probes that were highly specific for genogroup I (GI) and genogroup II (GII) of noroviruses. The expected band of 327bp appeared in denaturing agarose gel without any nonspecific band. The specific signal for each amplicon was obtained through Northern blotting in many repeats. All fecal samples of which 46(79.3%) belonged to GII and 12(20.6%) belonged to GI were positive for noroviruses by EM and by NASBA. Target RNA concentrations as low as 5pg/ml were detected in fecal specimens using NASBA. When the assay was applied to artificially contaminated shellfish, the sensitivity to nucleic acid was 100pg/1.5g shellfish tissue. The potential use of this assay was also confirmed in naturally contaminated shellfish collected from different ponds in Guangzhou city of China, of which 24 (18.76%) out of 128 samples were positive for noroviruses; of these, 19 (79.6%) belonged to GII and 5 (20.4%) belonged to GI. The NASBA assay provided a more rapid and efficient way of detecting noroviruses in fecal samples and demonstrated its potential for detecting noroviruses in food and environmental samples with high specificity and sensitivity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.245-253
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• 2010

The base sequences representing human- and cow-specific 168 rRNA gene markers identified in a T-RFLP analysis were recovered from clone libraries. The human- and cow-specific primers were designed from these sequences and their specificities were analyzed with fecal DNAs from human, cow, and pig. The AllBac primer set showed positive results for all human, cow, and pig samples, whereas the human-specific primer set showed positive result only for the human sample but not for the cow or pig samples. Likewise, the cow-specific primer set showed positive results only for the cow sample but not for the human or pig samples. Real-time PCR assay with these primers was developed for the identification and quantification of fecal pollution in the river water. The human- and cow-specific markers were detected in the order of 9 $\log_{10}$ copies per gram wet feces, which were two orders of magnitude lower than those of total Bacteroidales. For the river water samples, the human-specific marker was detected in $1.7-6.2\;\log_{10}$ copies/100 ml water, which was 2.4-4.9 orders of magnitude lower than those of total Bacteroidales. There was no significant correlation between total Bacteroidales and conventional fecal indicators, but there was a high correlation between Bacteroidales and the human-specific marker. This assay could reliably identify and quantify the fecal pollution sources, enabling effective measures in the watersheds and facilitating water quality management.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.235-240
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• 2015

Seasonal variation in the prevalence of norovirus in oysters Crassostrea gigas was investigated and compared to levels of Escherichia coli, a fecal indicator in oysters. Oysters were collected from Iwon-myeon, Taean-gun, Korea, a primary production area for European Union export of oysters between 2013 and 2014. We observed seasonality in the prevalence of norovirus in oysters, with a higher prevalence and viral load detected during winter months. Oysters taken from production areas that complied with the European Union standard for raw consumption (< 230 MPN/100 g of E. coli) had 22.1% of the samples test positive for norovirus (15/68 samples). However, norovirus was not detected in any of the samples (0%, 0/4 samples) that were collected from production sites that exceeded the standard fecal contamination level for raw consumption (> 230 MPN/100 g of E. coli). These results indicated that there is a negative correlation between the prevalence of norovirus and high levels of E. coli in oysters. Therefore, our results suggest that current food safety guidelines using only a bacterial fecal contamination indicator, E. coli, may not adequately assess shellfish production areas for viral and bacterial contamination.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.57 no.8
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• pp.351-356
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• 2014

Purpose: Among the many factors associated with acute intestinal mucosal infection, numerous studies have proposed the usefulness of fecal calprotectin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of fecal calprotectin in the diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Methods: We collected 154 stool samples from 16 very low birth weight and premature newborns at the Konyang University Hospital neonatal intensive care unit or neonatal nursery. The stool samples were collected using the Calprest device, and the fecal calprotectin level was measured with the $B\ddot{U}HLMANN$ Calprotectin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results: Fecal calprotectin levels were significantly higher in the NEC group than in the non-NEC group (P=0.02). There was a significant positive linear relationship between the fecal calprotectin level and number of days after birth (P=0.00) in the gestational age <26 weeks group. There was a significant negative linear relationship between the calprotectin level and number of days after birth (P=0.03) in the gestational age ${\geq}26$ weeks and <30 weeks group. There was no difference in the calprotectin levels according to the type and method of feeding between the NEC and non-NEC groups. Conclusion: Fecal calprotectin levels were significantly increased in premature infants with NEC. The fecal calprotectin test is a noninvasive, easy, and useful tool for the diagnosis of NEC.