• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.347-357
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• 2011

We examined two reservoirs (Inkyung res. and Joongang res.) and two streams (Kyungan str. and Jecheon str.), all of which were eutrophic, during the 2010 warm season, to evaluate the water quality improvement activity (WQIA) of plant-mineral composite (PMC), which was previously developed to control suspended solids, including cyanobacterial bloom (Kim et al., 2010). We simultaneously measured both solid (S-MCLR) and dissolved microcystin-LR (D-MCLR), before and after PMC treatment, in the Joongang reservoir. Taking water body size and volume into account, we conducted the whole-scale experiment in the Inkyung reservoir, and mesocosm-scale experiments in the other three systems. The WQIAs of PMC were found to be comparatively high in SS (70~81%), TP (75~91%), BOD (65~91%), Chl-a (88~98%), phytoplankton (84~92%) and zooplankton (68~88%), except for the Kyungan stream, which was below 45% in all parameters. After PMC treatment, the concentrations of both SMCLR (47%) and D-MCLR (96%) decreased within two days, suggesting a mitigation possibility of hazardous chemicals such as agrochemicals and endocrine disrupters in the aquatic ecosystem. Our results collectively indicate that PMC is a useful agent to control suspended solids, including nuisance cyanobacterial bloom and their exudates, in an undisturbed water system with a long residence time.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.210-215
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• 2018

It is difficult to count colonial cyanobacteria Microcystis cells since the thickness of colonies is constrained by amorphous mucilage, making it impossible to estimate the number of cells. Disaggregation of Microcystis colonies into single cell is needed to improve the accuracy and precision of cell density estimation of naturally collected samples. Uultrasonic treatment method is commonly used owing to the simplicity and immediacy of the procedure. However, amplitude, frequency, and duration of ultrasonic treatment also cause cell loss during the experiment. Optimal ultrasonic treatment has not been standardized yet. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate optimal ultrasonic treatment by analyzing cell density and colony numbers. We collected colonial Microcystis from Changnyeong-Haman weir area in Nakdong River during harmful algal boom period from September to October in 2017. Ultrasonic treatment method was applied to disrupt colonies into single cells to enumerate cell density. Among treatment conditions, results from continuously treated for 100 seconds were found to be the optimum to reduce colonies to a suspension of single cell without cell losses under high and low density of Microcystis cells. Lugol iodine fixed cells followed by sonication showed less negative impact of cell damage within the optimal treatment time (100 seconds). Furthermore, disaggregated cells treated by sonication enables microscopic observation more easily since gas vacuoles were collapsed to facilitate sedimentation of cells under the counting chamber for quantitative enumeration of buoyant Microcystis cells.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2023

This study analyzed the relationship between harmful cyanobacterial abundance and environmental factors in order to figure out the causes of the recent increase of cyanobacteria in Lake Dukdong from 2019 to 2021. Lake Dukdong, which is used as a drinking water source for Gyeongju City, has an algae alert system in place. Lake Dukdong has maintained good water quality, but algae alert level 1 (over 1,000 cells/mL) has been issued in recent years. As a result of Pearson correlation analysis (from May to Oct.), the cell density of Microcystis and Aphanizomenon, which form part of the most harmful cyanobacteria genus, were significantly positively correlated with the water temperature and water storage volume. T-test was performed to compare the data from 2016-2018 and 2019-2021 (from May to Oct.). The average density of harmful cyanobacteria cells increased about six-fold from 54 to 344 cells/mL. There were significant differences in water temperature, pH, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), TN/TP ratio, water storage volume, and cyanobacterial cell density. Water temperature increased from 19.2 to 22.8 ℃. TP concentration increased from 0.017 to 0.028 mg/L. The main cause of the recent increase of harmful cyanobacteria in Lake Dukdong is thought to be the increase in water temperature, TP concentration, and water storage volume from 2019 and 2021, resulting in more favorable conditions for cyanobacterial growth.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.120-131
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• 2022

Microcystins (MCs) are cyano-toxins mainly produced by cyanobacteria in the genera of Microcystis, Anabaena, and Oscillatoria. The concentrations of MCs in the water bodies and fish tissues taken from the four weirs (Ipo, Gangjeong-goryeong, Baekje, and Juksan) in the four main rivers in Korea, and the health risk of human due to consumption of toxin-detected fish was examined. The maximum values of MCs concentration in the water samples were as follows: Juksan (3.261 ㎍ L^-1), Gangjeong-goryeong (1.014 ㎍ L^-1), Baekje (0.759 ㎍ L^-1), and Ipo (0.266 ㎍ L^-1) weirs. The MC-RR concentration was the highest among the MCs, and MC-YR was not detected. MCs of 0.222~9.808 ㎍ g^-1 dry weight were detected in the liver of 3 out of 215 fishes of 16 species, and below the detection limit in muscle. As a result of comparing the feeding characteristics of the collected fishes and toxin concentrations in water and fish tissue, it was concluded that the biomagnification of MCs through the food chain did not occur. It was judged that there was no health risk due to the consumption of the fish detected the toxin, based on the amount of the fish intake of the Korean people and the allowable daily intake of MCs. However, in order to reduce the health risk due to MCs, further studies should be conducted to analyze the concentration of MCs contained in fish tissues collected at various times in the area dominated by harmful cyanobacteria to obtain data on the exposure of MCs due to fish consumption. In addition, it is necessary to establish the management guidelines for MCs in fish tissues.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.spc
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• pp.68-76
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• 2008

This study examined the inhibition effects of a freshwater bivalve (Unio douglasiae) and a submerged plant (Potamogeton crispus) on the cyanobacterial bloom (Oscillatoria sp.). The experiment were conducted in aquarium $(50cm{\times}65cm{\times}120cm)$ with lake sediments in the bottom of the aquarium in 10 cm thick. Before the experiments, artificial cyanobacterial bloom was induced with the addition of lake sediment and CB medium. Total 12 transparent acrylic cylinders (${\Phi}19cm$, height 40 cm) were placed in the aquarium, and within which bivalves and plants were placed in various conditions such as the control (C), plant addition (P:5 stems), mussel addition (U:2 individuals), and both mussel and plant addition (PU: the same quantity as used in each treatment). The experiment was conducted in triplicate during 7 days. pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), electric conductivity (EC), salinity, cyanobacterial cell density, chlorophyll-${\alpha}$ concentration, and mussel filtering rate were monitored daily. At the end of the experiment, total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and plant height and weight were measured. Overall, a large degree of cyanobacterial growth inhibition appeared in both P and U treatments, and the effect was highest in the U treatment, followed by P and PU. The combined treatment of both U and P did not show any synergic effects compared to the effect in separated treatment. In all enclosures of the treatments chlorophyll-${alpha}$ (Chl-${alpha}$) concentration decreased until 36 hours after the additions of the plants and mussels. In contrast, Chl-${alpha}$ concentrations increased in PU enclosures after 36 hours. The same trend was shown in the cell density of Oscillatoria. pH and DO gradually decreased until 120 and 144 hours, respectively, in the P and PU enclosures. TP concentration increased in the mussel enclosures (U and PU), while TN concentration largely decreased in the plant enclosures (P and PU). Our results suggest that applied bivalve (Unio) and submerged plant (Potamogeton) seemed to have a potential effect on the growth inhibition of cyanobacteria, but their combined application may have an antagonistic effect to diminish the degree of the inhibition.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.205-214
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• 2020

Cyanobacteria are microorganisms which have important roles in the nitrogen cycle due to their ability to fix nitrogen in water and soil ecosystems. They also produce valuable materials that may be used in various industries. However, some species of cyanobacteria may limit the use of water resources by causing harmful algal blooms in water ecosystems. Many culture collection depositories provide cyanobacterial strains for research, but their systematic preservation is not well-developed in Korea. In this study, we developed a method for the cryopreservation of the cyanobacteria Trichormus variabilis (syn. Anabaena variabilis), using alginate microcapsules. Two approaches were used for the experiments and their outputs were compared. One of the methods involved the cryopreservation of cells using only a cryoprotectant and the other used the cryoprotectant within microcapsules. After cryopreservation for 35 days, cells preserved with both methods were successfully regenerated from the initial 1.0 × 10⁵ cells/ml to a final concentration of 6.7 × 10⁶ cells/ml and 1.1 × 10⁷ cells/ml. Irregular T. variabilis shapes were found after 14 days of regeneration. T. variabilis internal structures were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), revealing that lipid droplets were reduced after cryopreservation. The expression of the mreB gene, known to be related to cell morphology, was downregulated (54.7%) after cryopreservation. Cryopreservation using cryoprotectant alone or with microcapsules is expected to be applicable to other filamentous cyanobacteria in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.451-464
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• 2023

Harmful cyanobacterial monitoring is time-consuming and requires skilled professionals. Recently, Phycocyanin, the accessory pigment unique to freshwater cyanobacteria, has been proposed as an indicator for the presence of cyanobacteria, with the advantage of rapid and simple measurement. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the correlation between the harmful cyanobacterial cell density and the concentration of phycocyanin and to consider how to use the real-time water quality monitoring system for algae bloom monitoring. In the downstream of the Nakdong River, Microcystis spp. showed maximum cell density (99 %) in harmful cyanobacteria (four target genera). A strong correlation between phycocyanin(measured in the laboratory) concentrations and harmful cyanobacterial cell density was observed (r = 0.90, p < 0.001), while a weaker relationship (r = 0.65, p < 0.001) resulted between chlorophyll a concentration and harmful cyanobacterial cell density. As a result of comparing the phycocyanin concentration (measured in submersible fluorescence sensor) and harmful cyanobacterial cell density, the error range increased as the number of cyanobacteria cells increased. Before opening the estuary bank, the diurnal variations of phycocyanin concentrations did not mix by depth, and in the case of the surface layer, a pattern of increase and decrease over time was shown. This study is the result of analysis when Microcystis spp. is dominant in downstream of Nakdong River in summer, therefore the correlation between the harmful cyanobacteria density and phycocyanin concentrations should be more generalized through spatio-temporal expansion.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.spc
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• pp.77-85
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• 2008

Grazing rates (GR) and pseudofaeces production (PFP) of native snail, Chinese mystery snail (Cipangopaludina chinensis malleata Reeve) on natural colonial morphs of Microcystis aeruginosa was measured. C. chinensis was collected from the upstream of the Geum River (Boryeong, Korea), where they co-habituated with Unio douglasiae and Lanceolaria acrorhyncha. The experiments were performed to evaluate the GR and PFP at different conditions such as; incubation time (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 hr), body size (3 to 6.1 cm, n=28), snail density (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2.0 ind. $L^{-1}$) and prey concentration (168.3, 336.7, 505.0 and $673.0{\mu}g\;Chl-{\alpha}L^{-1}$). All experiments were triplicated, and conducted in transparent acrylic vessel (3L in volume). Regarding feeding time, a highest GR (0.538L $gAFDW^{-1}h^{-1}$) and PFP $(7.18mgAFDW^{-1})$ appeared at 1hr and 7hr after snail stocking, respectively. Interestingly, the snail, smaller than 4.5cm in body size, showed a wide range of GR ($-4.173{\sim}1.087L\;gAFDW^{-1}h^{-1}$) for the initial period (1 and 4hrs of stocking), compared to those greater than 4.5cm, which showed a stable FR, higher than 0.5L $gAFDW^{-1}h^{-1}$. Upon density effect, the density of 1.5 ind. $L^{-1}$ induced the most effective inhibition on Microcystis biomass with highest PFP. On the prey concentration, highest GR (0.897L $gAFDW^{-1}h^{-1}$) and PFP (3.67 mg $gAFDW^{-1}h^{-1}$) were induced at the level of $168.3{\mu}g\;Chl-{\alpha}L^{-1}$ and $673{\mu}g\;Chl-{\alpha}L^{-1}$, respectively. GR and PFP of this freshwater snail on the cyanobacterial bloom (M. aeruginosa) varied with the feeding conditions, and they were comparatively high for a short period of time less than 7hrs regardless of the stocking condition. Our results suggest that this freshwater snail has a potential to control cyanobacterial bloom when provided with suitable condition.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.spc
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• pp.50-60
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• 2008

We performed the experiment to evaluate the effect of different DO concentrations (0.5, 4.5 and 9.0 $mgO_2L^{-1}$) and water depths (20, 50 and 80 cm) on the filtering rate, mortality, and pseudifeces production of Unio douglasiae against the cyanobacterial bloom (mainly Microcystis aeruginosa). A solitary-living bivalve U. douglasiae was collected in the upstream region of the North Han River (Korea). The harvested mussels were carefully transferred to the laboratory artificial management system, which was controlled temperature $(18{\pm}2^{\circ}C)$, flow rate (10L $h^{-1}$), food $(Chlorella^{TM})$, sediment (pebble and clay), light intensity (ca. $20{\mu}mol$ photons), and photocycle (12 L : 12 D). In the field observation, the mussel mortality was significantly correlated with water temperature, pH and DO concentration (P<0.05). The mortality was decreased with water depth; 65, 90, 80% of mortality at 20, 50, 80 cm water-depth, respectively. Filtering rate (FR) showed the highest value at 50 cm water depth, and thereby the concentration of chlorophyll-${\alpha}$ decreased continuously by 94% of the control at the end of the experiment. In contrast, FR decreased by 34% of the initial concentration at 20 cm water depth. Over the given water-depth range, the mussel FR ranged from $0.15{\sim}0.20L\;gAFDW^{-1}hr^{-1}$ during the 18hrs of experiment, and thereafter, they appeared to be approximately 0.11, 0.26 and 0.30 L $gAFDW^{-1}hr^{-1}$ at 20, 50 and 80cm water depth, respectively. FR was highest with the value of 0.46L $gAFDW^{-1}hr^{-1}\;at\;0.5mgO_2 L^{-1}$ at the early stage of the experiment, while it increased with DO concentration. Maximum pseudofaeces production was 11.2 mg $gAFDW^{-1}hr^{-1}\;at\;9.0mgO_2L^{-1}$. Our results conclude that U. douglasiae has a potential to enhance water quality in eutrophic lake by removing dominant cyanobacteria, but their effects vary with environmental parameters and the water depth at which they are located.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2009

The effect of various SNPs (silver nanoparticles) on the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa was investigated in laboratory and field experiment. Four SNPs, namely JS47N, JS47N-K2, JS47N/3-1 and JS47N/3-2 were used to this study. The Ag size, concentration and color of these solutions were about $20{\sim}40nm$, $200mg\;L^-1$ and brown, respectively. At 0.01 and $0.1mg\;L^-1$, SNPs inhibited the growth of unicellular M. aeruginosa by 99.4% and 99.9%, respectively. However, SNPs of $1mg\;L^-1$ inhibited the growth of colonial M. aeruginosa by 98.5%, whereas the other three concentrations (0.001, 0.01 and $0.1mg\;L^-1$) had little inhibitory effect. In experimental enclosures from eutrophic lake, cyanobacteria including M. aeruginosa were found to be more sensitive to the SNPs than green algae and diatoms. In conclusion, our study indicates that SNPs has a selective cyanocidal potential when used to M. aeruginosa. We believe that future studies need to test on various other organisms, and determine minimum concentration for field application.