• ALGAE
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.289-296
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• 2013

For the quantitative detection of algal toxin, microcystin, a chemiluminescence immunochromatographic assay method was developed. The developed system consists of four parts, chemiluminescence assay strip (nitrocellulose membrane), horse radish peroxidase labeled microcystin monoclonal antibodies, chemiluminescence substrate (luminol and hydrogen peroxide), and luminometer. The performance of the chemiluminescence immunochromatographic assay system was compared with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) detection. The detection limit of chemiluminescence immunochromatographic assay system is several orders of magnitude lower than with HPLC. The chemiluminescence immunochromatography and HPLC results correlated very well with the correlation coefficient ($r^2$) of 0.979.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.170-173
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• 2009

This study examined the special technique of photocatalytic degradation (RPODisk) for removal of taste and odor causing materials, algae, and algal toxin. The RPODisk was effective for removal of these troublesome contaminants. It outperformed the fixed media and the UV irradiation for geosmin removal. The RPODisk performance was comparable to the combination of the UV irradiation with TiO2. The RPODisk performance was affected by the rotating speed. The faster the speed was, the better the performance. The RPODisk was also effective for removal of algae and algal toxin. The algal activity reduced by 80% after 30 mins of the treatment. More toxic microcystin (MC)-LR was more difficult to remove than MC-RR. The times for 50% removal were 23.7 mins for MC-LR and 14.1 mins for MC-RR. Almost 100 mins of the contact time was required to completely remove MC-LR at the rotating speed of 260 rpm.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.808-815
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• 2017

We demonstrated the quantitative detection of a toxin-producing Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) strain with the laboratory protocol of the NanoGene assay. The NanoGene assay was selected because its laboratory protocol is in the process of being transplanted into a portable system. The mcyD gene of M. aeruginosa was targeted and, as expected, its corresponding fluorescence signal was linearly proportional to the mcyD gene copy number. The sensitivity of the NanoGene assay for this purpose was validated using both dsDNA mcyD gene amplicons and genomic DNAs (gDNA). The limit of detection was determined to be 38 mcyD gene copies per reaction and 9 algal cells/ml water. The specificity of the assay was also demonstrated by the addition of gDNA extracted from environmental algae into the hybridization reaction. Detection of M. aeruginosa was performed in the environmental samples with environmentally relevant sensitivity (${\sim}10^5$ algal cells/ml) and specificity. As expected, M. aeruginosa were not detected in nonspecific environmental algal gDNA over the range of $2{\times}10^0$ to $2{\times}10^7$ algal cells/ml.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2001.05b
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• pp.907-912
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• 2001

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 1995.10b
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• pp.197.1-197
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• 1995

No Abstract, See Full Text

• ALGAE
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.171-185
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• 2002

The standing crop of genus Microcystis, microcystin concentrations and environmental factors were monitored at stations of the lower reaches of the Nakdong River in 1998 and 1999 during the periods of its occurrence. The Microcystis were observed from May to Octorber, and the cell density was highest at Station Seonam up to 250,000 cells${\cdot}ml^{-1}$ forming scum over the water surface. There were signigicant relationships between the standing crop of Microcystis and nitrate nitrogen, total phosphorus concentrations and Ph. Presumably these parameters were important in the succession to Microcystis dominated phytoplankton community in the summer period in the river. However, Ammonium nitrogen, phosphate phosphorus concentrations and N/P ratio were not critical factors. The Microcystis bloom was notable above $25^{\circ}C$ of surface water temperature. Microcystins were detected from May to November in the algal materials from the river. The 84.2% of algal materials with Microcystis exhibited the microcystin with the maximum of 1711.8 ${\mu}g{\cdot}g^{-1}$ dw. The microcystin concentrations in the algal materials were significantly related to the stading crop of Microcystis, which was the primary determinant factor in the toxin levle of algal materials. The concentrations were also significantly related to pH of the water column in the positive pattern.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.843-850
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• 2012

Due to the fast response to algae bloom issue in drinking water treatment plant, very fast determination methodology for algal toxin is required. In this study, column switching technique based online preconcentration method was combined with high resolution full scan mass spectrometer to save sample preparation time and to obtain fast and accurate result. After parameter optimization of online preconcentration, 1mL filtered sample was directly injected to trap column with switching valve system. Next, target toxins are eluted by 98% acetonitrile and analysed with 150 - 1,100 amu scan range at 50,000 resolving power. Method detection limit (MDL) for microcystin-LR, the most toxic isomer, was 0.1 ng/mL and others such as microcystin-YR, microcystin-RR and nodularin were 0.08, 0.03 and 0.04 ng/mL, respectively. This is the best improved sensitivities with 1mL volume in the literature. Furthermore, due to the use of ultra pressure HPLC (UPLC), the whole method run was completed in 4 min. Real sample applications for 173 sample including 55 surface water and 118 treatment plant samples for raw and treated water could be done within 16 hours. In our calculation, this methodology is roughly 80% faster than the previous manual solid-phase extraction with LC-MS/MS method.

• Journal of applied mathematics & informatics
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• v.27 no.1_2
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• pp.385-400
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• 2009

The adverse effect of harmful plankton on the marine ecosystem is a topic of deep concern. To investigate the role of such phytoplankton, a mathematical model containing distinct dynamical equations for toxic and non-toxic phytoplankton is analyzed. Stability analysis of the resulting three equation model is carried out. A continuous time variation in toxin liberation process is incorporated into the model and a stability analysis of the resulting delay model is performed. The distributed delay model is then extended to include the spatial distribution of plankton and the delay-diffusion model is analyzed with spatial and spatiotemporal kernels. Conditions for diffusion-driven instability in both the cases are derived and compared to explore the significance of these kernels. Numerical studies are performed to justify analytical findings.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.994-999
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• 2010

The toxin of Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) during summer season has been a problem and early prevention should be considered. A variety of methods can be used to forecast algal blooms and this study aims at examining feasibility of chlorophyll-a. The real-time data were collected by automatic water quality monitoring system (AWQMS) in Daecheong reservoir and invalid data were sorted by experts. And then, the sorted data were filled using linear interpolation. When the concentration of chlorophyll-a increased by $15mg/m^3$, water temperature and pH exceeded $26.8^{\circ}C$ and 9.5 respectively. As a result of correlation between chlorophyll-a and other parameters(i.e. water quality items and hydrological data), temperature (r=0.502 - 0.574), pH (r=0.583 - 0.681), total organic carbon (TOC, r=0.583 - 0.681) comparably had higher values. Meanwhile, the data around a day or two showed the highest correlation. In addition, chlorophyll-a is considered to be significantly effected by precipitation and inflow.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.4 s.100
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• pp.257-265
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• 2002

The current study was performed to elucidate the relationship between the anatoxin -a produced by cyanobacteria and aquatic environmental factors, Algal and water samples were collected from the Daechung Reservoir from June to November 2001. The physical factors of the water quality were measured in sifu, while the biological and chemical factors were examined in the laboratory. The concentrations of anatoxin-a in the algal and water samples were analyzed by HPLC using a fluorescence detector, and ranged from $0.61-8.68\;{\mu}g/g$ dw in the algal samples and $0.01-0.08\;{\mu}g/L$ in the water samples. The suggested maximum concentration of anatoxin-a for safe drinking water is $1\;{\mu}g/L$. The concentrations of anatoxin-a in the algal and water samples were highest in July. The relationships between tile aquatic environmental factors and the anatoxin-a concentration were also analyzed to identify the crucial elements for toxin production. The anatoxin-a concentrations in the algal samples exhibited a high correlation with nitrate, the TN/TP ratio, TDN (P<0.05), and TPN/TPP ratio (P<0.01), whereas the anatoxin-a concentrations in the water samples were highly related to the water temperature, conductivity (P<0.01) , pH, phycocyanin, and phycocyanin/chlorophyll a ratio (P<0.05).