• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.210-216
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• 2021

Pollution of agricultural soil by alkaline salts, such as Na₂CO₃, is a critical and long-lasting problem in cultivable land. The aim of the study was to examine the putative role of citric acid (CA) in alleviating Na₂CO₃-stress in alfalfa. In this study, Na₂CO₃ significantly induced leaf chlorosis, inhibited plant growth and photosynthesis related parameters, increased hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and reduced major antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAD, APX) in alfalfa. However, the presence of CA these negative effects of Na₂CO₃-stress largely recovered. Interestingly, expression of antioxidant and ion transporter genes (Fe-SOD, CAT, APX, DHAR and NHX1) involved in Reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis and oxidative stress tolerance in alfalfa. These findings suggest that CA-mediated Na₂CO₃ stress alleviation is an ecofriendly approach that would be useful to local farmer for alfalfa and other forage crop cultivation in alkaline soils.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.105-115
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• 2019

Saline or alkaline condition in soil inhibits growth of most crop plants and limits crop yields in many parts of the world. Augmenting an alkaline soil with alkali-tolerant bacteria capable of promoting plant growth can be a promising approach in expanding fertile agricultural land. Near-shore environments of Dokdo Island, a remote island located in the middle of the East Sea, appear to have patches of seawater-influenced haloalkaline soil that is unsupportive for growth of conventional plants. To exploit metabolic capacities of alkali-tolerant bacteria for promoting plant growth in saline or alkaline soils, we isolated of alkali-tolerant bacteria from near-shore soil samples in Dokdo and investigated properties of the isolates. Alkali-tolerant bacteria were selectively cultivated by inoculating suspended and diluted soil samples on a plate medium adjusted to pH 10. Fifty colonies were identified based on their $GTG_5$-PCR genomic fingerprints and 16S rRNA gene sequences. Most isolates were affiliated to alkali-tolerant and/or halotolerant genera or species of the phyla Firmicutes (68%), Proteobacteria (30%) and Actinobacteria (2%). Unlike the typical soil bacterial flora in the island, alkali-tolerant isolates belonged to only certain taxa of terrestrial origin under the three phyla, which have traits of plant growth promoting activities including detoxification, phytohormone production, disease/pest control, nitrogen-fixation, phosphate solubilization or siderophore production. However, Firmicutes of marine origin generally dominated the alkali-tolerant community. Results of this study suggest that haloalkaline environments like Dokdo shore soils are important sources for plant growth promoting bacteria that can be employed in bio-augmentation of vegetation-poor alkaline soils.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.111-116
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• 2007

We examined the antimicrobial activity of electrolyzed alkaline water against spoilage microorganisms in rice warehouses. Dominant microbial species were isolated from paddy, dust and air samples of three different warehouses located in Gyeongnam. We used electrolyzed alkaline water (EW) manufactured over various treatment times. The acidities (pH) of EW treated for 30 sec, 1, 2, 3, and 4 min were 8.89, 8.91, 9.20, 9.35, and 9.22, respectively. HClO contents were 150.7, 314.2, 191.8, 104.1, and 255.3 ppm, respectively. EW inhibited bacteria, yeasts, and molds; also, it inhibited three yeast species strongly. The antimicrobial effects of EW increased as pH values and HClO contents increased. EW obtained after 30 sec treatment retained the antimicrobial activities after 14 days whereas EW obtained after 1 and 2 min treatments retained the antimicrobial activities after 21 and 24 days, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4 s.92
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• pp.380-386
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• 2000

Alkaline phosphatase ($AP_{ase}$) activity was studied for the pure cultures and natural communities of phytoplankton. The Michaelis-Menten constant ($K_m$) showed large variation with species. Some green algae showed large $K_m$ ($650\;{\mu}M$ for Selenastrum capriconutum). Chlorella sp. and Nitzschia palea showed smaller Km (respectively1.7, 2.0 HM) than those of other species examined. The extracellular free enzyme in the filtrate of Anabaena flos-aquae showed smaller Km ($52\;{\mu}M$) than that of cellbound form ($276\;{\mu}M$). The $K_m$ ($12.0\;{\mu}M$) of summer phytoplankton in Lake Soyang. when Anabaena sp. was dominant species, was larger than that (1.5 HM) of spring phytoplankton when Asterionella sp. was the dominant. Although maximum activity($V_{max}$) in Lake Soyang was affected by the concentration of DIP within the lake, but the $V_{max}$ always varied not with the DIP concentration of the lake. Induction of $AP_{ase}$ may be more affected by the phosphate content within the cell of phytoplankton than by the concentration of DIP within the lake, The extracellular free $AP_{ase}$ activity accounted for $36{\sim}97%$ of total activity from fall to spring turnover in Lake Soyang. The $K_m$ ($1.1{\mu}3.5\;M$) of extracelluar free enzyme were simillar to those ($0.7{\mu}3.5\;M$) of the total activity. This indicates that the extracelluar free enzyme was derived from phytoplankton.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.659-664
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• 2016

In order to resolve the AAEM species migration routes and the interaction relationship between biochar structure and AAEM species during biomass pyrolysis, experiments were performed in an entrained flow reactor with $N_2$ at $500{\sim}900^{\circ}C$. ICP-AES, XPS and SEM-EDX were used to examine content and distribution of AAEM species and the physicochemical structures of biochar. The results show that at $500{\sim}700^{\circ}C$, the precipitation rate of AAEM species is relatively high. At high temperature (>$700^{\circ}C$), the AAEM species continue to migrate from interior to exterior, but little precipitation from biochar surface. And the migration of AAEM species is mainly realized by the C-O bond as the carrier medium. The AAEM species on biochar surface are mainly Na, Mg and Ca (<$700^{\circ}C$), while changing to K, Mg and Ca (${\geq}700^{\circ}C$). From $500^{\circ}C$ to $900^{\circ}C$, the biochar particle morphology gradually changes from fibers to porous structures, finally to molten particles. At $700{\sim}900^{\circ}C$, Ca element is obviously enriched on the molten edge of the biochar porous structures.

• 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.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.189-196
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• 2006

Alterations in the amino acid structure or sequence can generate neo-epitopes from self-proteins causing autoaggressive immune attack. Reactive nitrogen species are an important factor that induces post-translational modification of proteins by cellular reduction and oxidation mechanism; cysteinyl-nitrosylation or tyrosine nitration leading to potentially pathogenic pathways. It was thought of interest to investigate the immunogenicity of nitrated poly L-tyrosine vis-$\`{a}$-vis its possible role in the induction of antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Commercially available poly L-tyrosine was exposed to nitrating species and the damage was monitored by UV spectroscopy and alkaline gel electrophoresis. The results indicated the formation of 3-nitrotyrosine. Nitrated poly L-tyrosine induced higher titre antibodies as compared to the native form. Nitrated poly L-tyrosine was recognized by the autoantibodies present in the sera of patients suffering from SLE by enzyme immunoassays and band shift assay. The possible role of nitrated self-proteins has been discussed in the production of circulating anti-DNA antibodies in SLE.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1571-1576
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• 2010

Two bacterial strains designated as CT2 and CT5 were isolated from highly alkaline cement samples using the enrichment culture technique. On the basis of various physiological tests and 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the bacteria were identified as Bacillus species. The urease production was 575.87 U/ml and 670.71 U/ml for CT2 and CT5, respectively. Calcite constituted 27.6% and 31% of the total weight of sand samples plugged by CT2 and CT5, respectively. Scanning electron micrography analysis revealed the direct involvement of these isolates in calcite precipitation. This is the first report of the isolation and identification of Bacillus species from cement. Based on the ability of these bacteria to tolerate the extreme environment of cement, they have potential to be used in remediating the cracks and fissures in various building or concrete structures.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.497-501
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• 2005

This study deals with the removal of mercury species using a packed-bed column with spherical aminated chitosan material. These adsorbents revealed a high adsorption capacity for mercury species. Experiments with feed solutions of 10 ppm Hg dissolved in distilled water showed an excellent removal with a sharp increase of the filter effluent concentration after a total throughput of 900 bed volumes of feed water. Up to $95\%$ desorption was reached by using 3 bed volumes of 0.01 N EDTA solution. EDTA could be recovered by means of sulfuric acid with about $75\%$ efficiency. Almost the same results were obtained in repeated sorption and desorption experiments at identical conditions. The experiments demonstrated that the sorbents possessed practically no sorption capacity for alkaline earth ions ($Ca^{2+}\;and\;Mg^{2+}$). Their influence on the sorption of mercury was negligible. In experiments with spiked tap water of the Karlsruhe Research Centre and a feed mercury concentration of 0.01 mg/l, the breakthrough of Hg was observed only after a total throughput of about 6,000 bed volumes of feed water.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.444-448
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• 1998

Biosorption of Pb and Cu was evaluated for 23 species of marine algae collected from a Korean coast. Among a variety of species for biosorbent potential, Hypnea charoides showed the highest capacity for Pb. An adsorption equilibrium was reached in about 2 hr for Pb and 30 min for Cu. The uptake capacity was 192.8 mg Pb/g biomass and 256 mg Cu/g biomass, respectively. The adsorption parameters for Pb and Cu were determined according to Langmuir model. With an increase in pH value, more negative sites are becoming avaliable for adsorption of pH and Cu, thus the removal of Pb and Cu increases at alkaline conditions. The selectivity of mixture solution shows the uptake order of Pb>Cu>Cr>Cd. When Ca concentration increases in Pb solution, Pb was selectively adsorbed.