• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.188-193
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• 2010

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of organic materials on soil organisms. Changes in the community structure, and population density of soil organisms (microbes, nematodes, and microarthropods) were studied in a Korean ginseng field. Phospholipid fatty acids analysis showed that the relative abundances of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes did not differ significantly. The aerobes/anaerobes ratio was the lowest in soils amended with leaf mold, indicating that the decomposition speed was slow. Further, the addition of leaf mold to the soil enhanced the saturated/monounsaturated fatty acid ratio and cyclopropyl fatty acid/precursor ratio, which indicated an increase in environmental stresses. Application of pig manure compost (PMC) had positive effects on the population density of nematodes, and negative effects on that of oribatid mites. The population densities of nematodes, and microarthropods remained relatively low in the plots that had been treated with leaf mold or pig manure compost. It is suggested that pre-planting soil management directed at enhancing the biological decomposition efficiency should be continued over a long period to increase the soil bioactivity in virgin soils.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 2006

This study was conducted for developing the stability parameter in uncontrolled landfill by using a biomolecular investigation on the microbial community growing through leachate plume. Landfill J(which is in Cheonan) and landfill T(which is in Wonju) were chosen for this study among a total of 244 closed uncontrolled landfills. It addressed the genetic diversity of the microbial community in the leachate by 165 rDNA gene cloning using PCR and compared quantitative analysis of denitrifiers and methanotrophs with the conventional water quality parameters. From the BLAST search, genes of 47.6% in landfill J, and 32.5% in landfill T, respectively, showed more than 97% of the similarity where Proteobacteria phylum was most significantly observed. It showed that the numbers of denitrification genes, i.e. nirS gene and cnorB gene in the J site are 7 and 4 times higher than those in T site, which is well reflecting from a difference of site closure showing 7 and 13 years after being closed, respectively. In addition, the quantitative analysis on methane formation gene showed that J1 spot immediately bordering with the sources has the greatest number of methane formation bacteria, and it was decreased rapidly according to distribute toward the outer boundary of landfill. The comparative investigation between the number of genes, i.e. nirS gene, cnorB gene and MCR gene, md the conventional monitoring parameters, i.e. TOC, $NH_3-N,\;NO_3-N,\;NO_2-N,\;Cl^-$, alkalinity, addressed that more than 99% of the correlation was observed except for the $NO_3-N$. It was concluded that biomolecular investigation was well consistent with the conventional monitoring parameters to interpret their influences and stability made by leachate plume formed in downgradient around the uncontrolled sites.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.314-324
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• 2011

Algal biomass cultivated by wastewater is potentially useful resource for biodiesel production. However, little is known about algal nutrient metabolism and microbial interaction with bacteria under real municipal wastewater condition. In this work, we characterized nitrogen and phosphorus removals of municipal wastewater by a representative wastewater-growing algal population. Ankistrodesmus gracilis SAG 278-2, and analyzed its ecological interaction with wastewater bacterial communities. Compared to wastewater sludge itself, algal-bacterial co-culture improved nutrient removal. According to bacterial community analysis with 16S rRNA genes, a selective and dominant growth of a Unclassified Alcaligenaceae population resulted from algal growth in the algal-bacterial co-culture. The selectively stimulated bacterial population is phylogenetically close to Alcaligenes faecalis subsp. 5659-H, which is known to be co-present interact with algae in aquatic environment. These findings suggest that algal growth/metabolism may have effects on selection of a specific bacterial population in algal-bacterial co-cultures that can efficiently remove nutrients from municipal wastewater.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.3 s.108
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• pp.344-354
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• 2004

A pilot study was performed from September 2000 to April 2004 to examine the feasibility of the wetland-pond system for the agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. The wetland system was a subsurface flow type, with a hydraulic residence time of 3.5 days, and the subsequent pond was 8 $m^3$ in volume (2 m ${\times}$ 2 m ${\times}$ 2 m) and operated with intermittent-discharge and continuous flow types. The wetland system was effective in treating the sewage; median removal efficiencies of $BOD_5$ and TSS were above 70.0%, with mean effluent concentrations of 27.1 and 16.8 mg $L^{-1}$, respectively, for these constituents. However, they did often exceed the effluent water quality standards of 20 mg $L^{-1}$. Removal of T-N and T-P was relatively less effective and mean effluent concentrations were approximately 103.2 and 7.2 mg $L^{-1}$, respectively. The wetland system demonstrated high removal rate (92 ${\sim}$ 90%) of microorganisms, but effluent concentrations were in the range of 300 ${\sim}$ 16,000 MPN 100 $mL^{-1}$ which is still high for agricultural reuse. The subsequent pond system provided further treatment of the wetland effluent, and especially additional microorganisms removal in addition to wetland-pond system could reduce the mean concentration to 1,000 MPN 100 $mL^{-1}$ from about $10^5$ MPN 100 $mL^{-1}$ of wetland influent. Other parameters in the pond system showed seasonal variation, and the upper layer of the pond water column became remarkably clear immediately after ice melt. Overall, the wetland system was found to be adequate for treating sewage with stable removal efficiency, and the subsequent pond was effective for further polishing. This study concerned agricultural reuse of reclaimed water using natural systems. Considering stable performance and effective removal of bacterial indicators as well as other water quality parameters, low maintenance, and cost-effectiveness, wetland- pond system was thought to be an effective and feasible alternative for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water in rural area.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 2012

Eighty-four endophytic fungal strains were isolated and identified from the roots of halophytes collected in Buan salt marsh. All halophyte samples, such as Suaeda japonica, and Suaeda maritima were isolated from Buan salt marsh. All endophytic fungi isolated were analyzed by sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) containing ITS1, 5.8s and ITS2 region. All endophytic fungi expressed that fungal strains belong to eight orders; Pleosporales (45%), Eurotiales (27%), Incertae sedis (11%), Dothideales (6%), Capnodiales (5%), Hypocreales (5%), and Agaricales (1%). All endophytic fungi were confirmed at the genus level of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, containing Alternaria, Ascomycota, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, Eupenicillium, Fusarium, Gibberella, Hypocrea, Lewia, Macrophoma, Penicillium, Peyronellaea, Phoma, Pleospora, Pleosporales, Pseudeurotium, Schizophyllum, and Talaromyces. Alternaria (21%) and Penicillium (13%) were the dominant endophytic fungal strains. In this study, endophytic fungal strains analyzed from S. japonica and S. maritime, Alternaria (21%), and Penicillium (13%) of Pleosporales and Eurotiales in halophytes were very abundant.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.242-247
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• 2011

Soil management for environment-friendly agriculture depends on the effects of soil microbial activities and soil fertility. To improve soil health for the upland crops, this study evaluated a relationship between soil chemical properties and soil microbial diversities at 25 sites in upland soils in Gyeongnam Province. The average nutrients in the upland soils were 1.7 times for available phosphorous, 1.4 times for exchangeable potassium and 1.5 times for exchangeable calcium higher compared to recommend concentrations in the upland soils. We found a significant positive correlation between the soil organic matter and the soil microbial biomass C (p<0.01). Contents of organic matter and dehydrogenase in the inclined piedmont soils were significantly higher than those in the other topographical soils (p<0.05). In addition, concentrations of organic matter and microbial biomass C in the loam soils were significantly higher than in the silt loam soils (p<0.05). In principal component analyses of chemical properties and microbial populations in the upland soils, our findings suggested that available phosphorous should be considered as potential factor responsible for the clear upland soils differentiation. The soil organic matter was positive correlation with Bacillus sp. and fungi, whereas soil pH was also positive correlation with Pseudomonas sp. in upland soils.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.72-79
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• 2001

The effect of phenol on the change of bacterial community in the effluent water from a wastewater treatment plant was analyzed by PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The fragments of 16S rDNA were amplified by PCR with bacterial primers, where one of the primers was biotinylated at the 5'-end. After digestion with restriction enzymes, HaeIII and AluI, the biotinylated terminal restriction tragments (T-RFs) of the digested products were selectively isolated by using streptavidin paramagnetic particles. The single-stranded DNA of T-RFs was separated by electrophoresis on a polyacrylamide gel and detected by silver staining technique. When 10 standard strains were analyzed by our method, each strain had a unique T-RF which corresponded to the calculated size from the known sequences of RDP database. The T-RFLP fingerprint generated from the effluent water was very complex, and the predominant T-RFs corresponded to members of the genus Acinetobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas. In addition, the perturbation of bacterial community was observed when phenol was added to the sample at the final concentration of 250 $l^{-1}$. The number of T-RFs increased and the major bacterial population could be assigned to the genus Acinetobacter, Comamonas, Cytophaga and Pseudomonas. A intense band assigned to the putative genera of Acinetobacter and Cytophaga was eluted, amplified, and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the T-RF showed close relationship with the sequence of Acinetobacter junii.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.368-377
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• 2012

This study evaluated the water quality of Yeongsan River by multivariate analysis using the data collected during 2001~2010. Water quality in Yeongsan River could be explained up to 75.2% by four factors, which were included in loading of nutrients (32.021%) and organic matters (17.453%), seasonal variation (14.775%) and microbes (10.951%). The results of cluster analysis were classified into three groups by factor 1 and 2, which has different water quality characteristics. Group 1 included sampling stations located in the upper stream and estuary dyke of Yeongsan River, group 2 included Gwangju 1 and Gwangsan affected by domestic sewage of Gwangju-cheon, and group 3 included sampling stations located in the midstream around the livestock farm and farmland.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.551-558
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• 2006

Effects of Pb and $CO_2$ on soil microbial community associated with Pinus densiflora were investigated using community level physiological profiles (CLPP) and 16S rDNA PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) methods. Two-years pine trees were planted in Pb-contaminated soils and uncontaminated soils, and cultivated for 3 months in the growth chamber where $CO_2$ concentration was controlled at 380 or 760 ppmv. The structure of microbial community was analyzed in 6 kinds of soil samples (CA-0M : $CO_2$ 380 ppmv + Pb 0 mg/kg + initial, CB-0M : $CO_2$ 380 ppmv + Pb 500 mg/kg + initial, CA-3M : $CO_2$ 380 ppmv + Pb 0 mg/kg + after 3 months, CB-3M : $CO_2$ 380 ppmv + Pb 500 mglkg + after 3 months, EA-3M : $CO_2$ 760 ppmv + Pb 0 mg/kg + after 3 months, EB-3M : $CO_2$ 760 ppmv + Pb 500 mg/kg + after 3 months). After 3 months, the substrate utilization in the uncontaminated soil samples (CA-3M vs EA-3M) was not significantly influenced by $CO_2$ concentrations. However, the substrate utilization in the Pb-contaminated soil samples (CB-3M vs EB-3M) was enhanced by the elevated $CO_2$ concentrations. The results of principal component analysis based on substrate utilization activities showed that the structure of microbial community structure in each soil sample was grouped by Pb-contamination. The similarities of DGGE fingerprints were 56.3 % between the uncontaminated soil samples (CA-3M vs EA-3M), and 71.4% between the Pb-contaminated soil samples (CB-3M vs. EB-3M). The similarities between the soil samples under $CO_2$ 380 ppmv (CA-3M vs CB-3M) and $CO_2$, 760 ppmv (EA-3M vs EB-3M) were 53.3% and 35.8%, respectively. These results suggested that the structure of microbial community associated with Pinus densiflora were sensitively specialized by Pb-contamination rather than $CO_2$ concentration.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2023

The use of constructed wetlands (CWs) to sequester carbon has been a topic of interest in recent studies. However, CWs have been found to be both carbon sinks and carbon sources, thus leaving uncertainties about their role in carbon neutrality initiatives. To address the uncertainties, a bibliometric and comprehensive review on carbon sequestration in CWs was conducted. Upon forming various scripts using CorText Manager, it was found that a majority of the studies focused on the effectiveness of CWs to remove nutrients, particularly nitrogen. The results of the comprehensive review revealed that high carbon concentrations and carbon sequestration rates in CW soils are dependent on the vegetation types used, the ages of the CWs, and the organic content of inflow water entering the CWs. The Typha genus was the most dominant plant genus used in the CWs from the reviewed studies and was associated with the highest carbon sequestration rates documented in this review study. Furthermore, the relatively high ability of tree species, in comparison to emergent plants, to sequester carbon was observed. Therefore, incorporating tree species into CW designs and adding them to emergent plants is seen as a potential breakthrough approach to improve the ability of CWs to sequester carbon and ultimately contribute to mitigating climate change.