• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.172-175
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• 1999

Relative DNA contents in some harmful algae were measured using DAPI staining and image analysis system. This method was useful to identify some morphologically similar species and isolates from harmful algal blooms (HABs). In exponential phase, Prorocentrum micans had higher relative DNA content (RD) of $1.83\pm0.52$ than any other isolates, followed by Cochlodinium polykrikoides $(1.10\pm0.46)$ Alexandrium tamarense $(0.93\pm0.32)$ Gyrodinium impudicum $(0.56\pm0.17)$, Scrippsiella trochoidea $(0.41\pm0.26)$ and P. minimum$(0.05\pm0.01)$. When they were fixed with Lugol's solution, it was difficult to d,iscern C. polykrikoides from G. impudicum under the light microscope, but the DNA contents were quite different in two species. C. polykrikoides contained about twice as much RD as G. impudicum under the same culture conditions and exponential phase. DAPI­stained DNA feature in C. polykrikodes showed concentrated in the peripheral part of the cell, but in G. impudicum showed a compact structure in the central part. Although A. tamarense and S. trochoidea were morphologically similar under the light microscope, nuclear DNA content of A. tamarense was twice as much as that of S. trochoidea.

• ALGAE
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.115-118
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• 2008

Cells of the dinoflagellate Peridinium were frequently observed in water samples of Togyo reservoir, and some species were responsible for dense blooms. Recently, we could identify them as P. bipes f. occultatum Lindem. and P. aciculiferum Lemm., considering morphology (Ki et al. 2005a; Ki and Han 2005b): However, some unidentified Peridinium cells with different shapes and body sizes were found among the samples collected during early spring. Here we describe their morphological characteristics such as thecal plate and body size to characterize its taxonomic identity by morphological characters. The formula of epithecal plates was recorded as 4 apical, 2 intercalary and 7 precingular plates (i.e. 4’', 2a, 7’'’') and the epicone in an apical view was symmetric. An apical pore was easy to make out under a light microscope. No cingular displacement was observed. The average body size was 33 $\mu$m in length with a range of 26-36 $\mu$m, and average 26 $\mu$m in width with a range of 21-31 $\mu$m, respectively; the cell was, therefore, shown slightly elongated. This way we identified Peridinium umbonatum Stein, 1883 for the first time from Korean freshwaters.

• ALGAE
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.229-234
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• 2006

For the test organism of algal growth potential (AGP), the diatom in the genus Stephanodiscus which cause blooms in the Nakdong River was used instead of generally used strains of Selenastrum, Microcystis, or Anabaena. AGP results indicated that all the samples in the Nakdong River except for that from the Nakdan Bridge site were eutrophic state. Furthermore, the sample from Kumho River site was hypertrophic state. In the main stream Nakdong River, the value of AGP was lowest at the upstream Nakdan Bridge site and was highest at Koryoung Bridge site which is just downstream of Kumho River confluent point indicating the seriousness of pollution contributed by the Kumho River to the Nakdong River. Changes in the concentration of nutrients before and after the AGP tests and inter-relationship among the nutrients indicated that the growth of the Stephanodiscus in the AGP tests were mostly affected by the nitrate, silicate and phosphate. The limiting nutrient was identified by the nutrient addition experiments and the results showed that phosphate was the limiting nutrient for the growth of Stephanodiscus in the tested samples.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.364-373
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• 2018

The present study assessed the efficient removal of nutrients and Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) by using methyl esterified sericite (MES) and pine needle extracts (PNE), a low cost and abundant green hybrid material from nature. For this purpose, the optimal conditions were investigated, such as the pH, temperature, MES and PNE ratio, and MES-PNE dose. In addition, a Microcystis aeruginosa control using MES-PNE was also analyzed with various inhibition models. The removal of the nutrient and Chl-a onto MES-PNE was optimized for over 95% removal as follows: 2-2.5 for the MES-PNE ratio, 7-8 pH and a $22-25^{\circ}C$ temperature. In this respect, approximately 1.52-2.20 g/L of MES-PNE was required to remove each 1 g of dry weight/L of Chl-a. Total phosphorus (TP) has a greater influence on the increase in Chl-a than total nitrogen (TN) according to the correlation between TN, TP and Chl-a. Moreover, the Luong model was the best model for fitting the biodegradation kinetics data from Chl-a on MES-PNE from lake water. The novel hybrid material MES-PNE was very effective at removing TN, TP and Chl-a from the lake and can be applied in the field.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.281-291
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• 2022

Quantifying the abundance of Chattonella species is necessary to effectively manage the threats from ichthyotoxic raphidophytes, which can cause large-scale mortality of aquacultured fish in temperate waters. The identification and cell counting of Chattonella species have been conducted primarily on living cells without fixation by light microscopy because routine fixatives do not retain their morphological features. Species belonging to the Chattonella marina complex, including C. marina and C. marina var. ovata, had high genetic similarities and the lack of clear morphological delimitations between the species. To estimate the abundance of C. marina complex in marine plankton samples, we developed a protocol based on the droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) assay, with C. marina complex-specific primers targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA. Cell abundance of the C. marina complex can be determined using the ITS copy number per cell, ranging from 25 ± 1 for C. marina to 112 ± 7 for C. marina var. ovata. There were no significant differences in ITS copies estimated by the ddPCR assay between environmental DNA samples from various localities spiked with the same number of cells of culture strains. This approach can be employed to improve the monitoring efficiency of various marine protists and to support the implementation of management for harmful algal blooms, which are difficult to analyze using microscopy alone.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.194-200
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• 2017

On-site Algae Collecting System (OACS) is one of urgent countermeasures to clean the raw water when the algae blooms severely. Rapid reaction capability, high efficiency and large capacity are required when applying OACS to large water areas. The total performance of OACS are always determined by unit process named Flotation, Trapping and Collection. The working efficiency and daily treatment quantity of OACS can be increased when it runs automatically. As the rapid development of OACS technology, in the first place, equipment are miniaturized and simple. And in the second place, automation process from Trapping to Collection are advanced. So, They produce results higher working efficiency, smaller residual sludge on treated water, system's advanced environmental friendly features and the increased amount of sludge by Collection process to achieve large capacity. Now OACS has overcome the algae multiplication rate to ensured the amount of removal algae. In another aspect, it is high economically feasible because of reducing operation cost against the large capacity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.482-496
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• 2016

Algal blooms of cyanobacteria (blue-green Algae) due to the eutrophication of rivers and lakes can cause not only the damage by its biological toxins but also the economic loss in drinking water treatment. The natural algae coagulant, a commercial product known as W.H. containing the algicidal and allelopathic material derived from oak, can control algal problems proactively through the coagulation flotation process. However, because there have been no applications of the process for pre-treatment in drinking water plants, we could find no report on the optimum injection dose of W.H.. In this study, we have conducted several sets of jar-tests while changing W.H. dose and concentration of chl-a for (1) Han-river samples and (2) subcultured cyanobacteria samples, and monitored the removal mechanisms of algae intensively. Based on these jar-test results, two linear equations with variables of chl-a and turbidity have been deduced to predict the optimal W.H. dose after the multiple regression analysis using IBM-SPSS. Also, prototypes of automatic control logic have been suggested to inject the optimal W.H. dose promptly in response to the variation of water quality.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.173-184
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• 2023

Due to climate change, algal blooms frequently occur not only in Korea but also around the world, and the risk of toxicity of harmful algae has recently been issued. It is known that the representative harmful algae, cyanobacteria, are caused by the intersection of three factors: water temperature, residence time, and nutrients. In this study, water quality simulation was carried out using EFDC, a three-dimensional numerical model, to analyze the variations in water quality due to the decrease of residence time according to the opening of Yeongju Dam in Naeseong-Cheon. In fact, the concentration of chlorophyll-a in Yeongju Dam in the summer of 2021 was significant, exceeding the 'algae warning' for a long time based on the previous algae warning system. On the other hand, as a result of performing the simulation under the condition that the dam gate was completely opened, the concentration of chlorophyll-a was mostly reduced below the 'algae warning' level during the simulation period. It was confirmed that reducing the residence time by restoring the flow of Naeseong-Cheon is a way to immediately reduce algae in Yeongju Dam.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.171-179
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• 2022

In this study, the characteristics of algae mitigation according to dam operation were quantitatively analyzed for Uiam Lake, where the Chuncheon Dam is located upstream of the main stream, Uiam Dam is located downstream, and Soyang Dam is located in the tributary stream. Nine dam operation scenarios were applied to the event of the summer of 2018 (at that time an algae alert occurred) using the EFDC model, which is capable of calculating three-dimensional hydrodynamics and water quality levels such as those associated with chlorophyll-a. The dam operation scenarios were set to generate a flushing effect via discharges in the form of pulse waves from the upstream dams and by lowering the water level at the downstream dam. At Uiam Lake, the flushing effect was different depending on the operation of the dam, and the amount of algae reduction at each point was different owing to topographic characteristics and the different base water temperatures from BukHan River and Soyang River. With regard to a point located on the left bank, it was predicted that the peak level of chlorophyll-a would be reduced by approximately 50 % or more upon pulsed discharge at 50 m³/s for three days at Soyang Dam. However, for the right bank, the amount of discharge from Soyang Dam had little effect on algae mitigation. Therefore, an appropriate dam operation could be effective for algae mitigation at specific points in the water body where large dams exist upstream and downstream, such as at Uiam Lake, in an emergency situation in which algal blooms rapidly.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.674-682
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• 2009

Recently, the occurrence of harmful algae blooms from the Chattonella group has been increasing and expanding in the southern and western seas of Korea. We investigated the relationship between growth kinetics and nutrients in the harmful algae Chattonella marina and Chattonella ovata of the South Sea, Korea. As a result; high concentrations of ammonium ($30\;{\mu}M$ and above) was not effective to the growth of C. ovata, while C. marina displayed good growth at concentration of $100\;{\mu}M$. The half-saturation constant ($K_s$) of C. marina for ammonium ($2.51\;{\mu}M$), nitrate ($5.36\;{\mu}M$) and phosphate ($0.75\;{\mu}M$) was higher than C. ovata (1.85, 4.01, and $0.61\;{\mu}M$, respectively). This indicates that C. ovata can achieve higher cell densities than C. marina under lower nutrient conditions. These $K_s$ values were comparatively higher than those of diatoms and other flagellates previously reported. Therefore, our results indicate that the growth of C. marina and C. ovata is less adapted to lower nutrient environments than other competition species, such as Skeletonema costatum and Cochlodinium polykrikoides.