• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.325-331
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• 2017

This study was conducted to investigate the dominance and distribution of weed species in organic and conventional paddy fields. The organic paddy fields were maintained for organic farming for more than five years in Anseong, Gyeonggi province of Korea. According to the Braun-Blanquet method, 42 and 36 weed species were found in the organic paddy fields in 2015 and 2016, respectively, while 38 and 36 weed species were found in the conventional paddy fields in 2015 and 2016, respectively. As a result of two years' survey, 53 species from 24 families in the organic paddy fields were identified and classified as 32 annuals, 3 biennials and 18 perennials. In conventional paddy fields, 51 species from 24 families (30 annuals, 6 biennials, and 15 perennials) were identified. According to the classification by family, the most abundant weed species were Compositae (9 species), followed by Poaceae (8 species) and Polygonaceae (6 species) in organic paddy fields. In conventional paddy fields, Compositae (9 species) were the most abundant weed species, followed by Cruciferae (6 species), Poaceae, Polygonaceae, and Cyperaceae. This result indicates that the difference in diversity of weeds in paddy fields was influenced more by the agricultural environment than the type of cultivation. Our results could be used as a base data to control the occurrence of weed species in the paddy fields.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.640-650
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• 2021

Particulate matter (PM) produced in pig houses may contain microbes which can spread by airborne transmission, and PM and microbes in PM adversely affect human and animal health. To investigate the microbiome in PM from pig houses, nine PM samples were collected in summer 2020 inside and outside of pig houses located in Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do Province, Korea, comprising three PM samples from within a nursery pig house (I-NPH), three samples from within a finishing pig house (I-FPH), and three samples from outside of the pig houses (O-PH). Microbiomes were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Firmicutes was the most dominant phylum and accounted for 64.8%-97.5% of total sequences in all the samples, followed by Proteobacteria (1.4%-21.8%) and Bacteroidetes (0.3%-13.7%). In total, 31 genera were represented by > 0.3% of all sequences, and only Lactobacillus, Turicibacter, and Aerococcus differed significantly among the three PM sample types. All three genera were more abundant in the I-FPH samples than in the O-PH samples. Alpha diversity indices did not differ significantly among the three PM types, and a principal coordinate analysis suggested that overall microbial communities were similar across PM types. The concentration of PM did not significantly differ among the three PM types, and no significant correlation of PM concentration with the abundance of any potential pathogen was observed. The present study demonstrates that microbial composition in PM inside and outside of pig houses is similar, indicating that most microbe-containing PM inside pig houses leaks to the outside from where it, along with microbe-containing PM on the outside, may re-enter the pig houses. Our results may provide useful insights regarding strategies to mitigate potential risk associated with pig farming PM and pathogens in PM.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.534-538
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• 2019

The distribution and characteristics of spawning beds of the Pacific herring Clupea pallasii, were observed by scuba diving in Jinhae Bay, Korea, with a focus on marine vegetation as adhesive substrates and egg density during the spawning season. In 2017, the fertilized eggs of C. pallasii were mainly found attached to the leaves of algae species Carpopeltis cornea, Gracilaria textorii, and Acrosrium polyneurum at the rocky shore in Wonpo-dong and Jeodo. The mean density of fertilized eggs in C. pallasii spawning beds was $153,776eggs/m^2$ off Wonpo-dong and $856,430eggs/m^2$ off Jeodo, giving an estimated total of $5.345{\times}10^9$ eggs in Wonpo-dong and $3.3074{\times}10^{10}$ eggs in Jeodo. We examined spawning beds with an area of $38,619m^2$ off Wonpo-dong and $34,760m^2$ off Jeodo. The choice of spawning bed may be affected by the composition of marine vegetation, such as the algal diversity of rocky shore environments, which could affect adhesive substrates and egg density during the spawning season. The results of the present study suggest that the spawning season of C. pallasii in Jinhae Bay is in January to mid-February.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.329-339
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• 2021

The monthly variation in species composition of fishes in the Gujora and Mangchi coastal waters in Geoje, Korea, was investigated between June 2018 and May 2019 through monthly fish collections using a gill net. A total of 46 species, numbering 410 individuals weighing a total of 96,645.0 g, were collected during the study period. The dominant species in terms of numbers were Chelidonichthys spinosus, Stephanolepis cirrhifer, Ditrema temmincki, Sillago japonica, Sebastes inermis, and Paraplagusia japonica. The number and biomass of fishes peaked in July. The peak in species diversity indices occurred in September. The cluster analysis revealed that there were four groups of fishes depending on the season. In addition, subtropical fishes were recorded in the study area, indicating the gradual subtropicalization of the coast of Geoje. Furthermore, the need to understand the changes in marine ecosystems owing to subtropicalization through continuous monitoring is emphasized.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.157-166
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• 2021

The probiotic market is constantly continuing to grow, concomitantly with a widening in the range and diversity of probiotic products. Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms that provide a benefit to the host when consumed at a proper dose; the viability of a probiotic is therefore of crucial importance for its efficacy. Many products undergo lyophilization for maintaining their shelf-life. Unfortunately, this procedure may damage the integrity of the cells due to stress conditions during both the freezing and (vacuum-) drying process, thereby impacting their functionality. We propose a lysine-based mixture for rehydration of freeze-dried probiotics for improving their viability during in vitro simulated gastric and duodenum stress conditions. Measurement of the zeta potential served as an indicator of cell integrity and efficacy of this mixture, while functionality was estimated by adhesion to a human enterocyte-like Caco-2 cell-line. The freeze-dried bacteria exhibited a significantly different zeta potential compared to fresh cultures; however, this condition could be restored by rehydration with the lysine mixture. Recovery of the surface charge was found to influence adhesion ability to the Caco-2 cell-line. The optimum lysine concentration of the formulation, designated "Zeta-bio", was found to be 0.03 M for improving the viability of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Lp-115 by up to 13.86% and a 7-strain mixture (400B) to 41.99% compared to the control rehydrated with distilled water. In addition, the lysine Zeta-bio formulation notably increased the adherence ability of lyophilized Lp-115 to the Caco-2 cell-line after subjected to the in vitro stress conditions of the simulated gastrointestinal tract passage.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.133-142
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• 2022

In 2020, 24 bacterial strains were isolated from algae, kudzu leaf, mud, pine cone, seashore sand, sea water, soil, tidal flat, and wetland from the Republic of Korea. Isolated bacterial strains were identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, and those exhibiting at least 98.7% sequence similarity with known bacterial species, but not reported in Korea, were highlighted as unrecorded species. These isolates were allocated to the phyla Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria as unrecorded species in Korea. The four Bacteroidetes strains were classified into the families Chitinophagaceae, Flavobacteriaceae, and Sphingobacteriaceae (of the orders Chitinophagales, Flavobacteriales, and Sphingobacteriales, respectively). The 20 Proteobacteria strains belonged to the Aeromonadaceae, Marinobacter, Microbulbiferaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Erwiniaceae, Morganellaceae, Yersiniaceae, Lysobacteraceae, Halomonadaceae, Moraxellaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Steroidobacteraceae, Xanthomonadaceae, and Myxococcaceae (of the orders Aeromonadales, Alteromonadales, Cellvibrionales, Enterobacterales, Lysobacterales, Oceanospirillales, Pseudomonadales, Steroidobacter, Xanthomonadales, and Myxococcales). This study focused on the description of 24 unreported bacterial species in Korea in the phyla Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria belonging to six classes.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.68 no.3
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• pp.216-223
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• 2023

This study aimed to identify and compare the characteristics of Elymus humidus on common wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Chinse Spring, CS). The seed length, width, height, and weight of E. humidus were smaller than those of the CS. In particular, the germination rate of E. humidus was substantially lower than that of CS. In the anatomical dissection of the leaf, E. humidus showed a considerably different xylem diameter of the main vascular bundle in the main vein; however, there was no difference in the phloem of the main vascular bundle compared with the xylem and phloem of the main vascular bundle in the main vein of CS, although E. humidus showed a leaf structure similar to that of CS. In addition, E. humidus had a thinner epidermis than that of CS. Regarding stomatal traits, E. humidus showed a graminoid stomata type similar to that of CS. On the adaxial and abaxial sides, the density, length, and width of the stomata in E. humidus were smaller than those in CS, whereas the distance between stomata in E. humidus was greater than that in CS. The chromosomes of E. humidus were classified as long and short based on their respective lengths. Long chromosomes were classified based on the ratio of the long arm to the short arm e.g., 1:1 or 2:1. Short chromosomes showed the same trend and some short chromosomes were microsatellites. To evaluate genetic diversity, 38 barley EST markers with polymorphisms between E. humidus and CS were selected from 236 barley EST markers.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.434-441
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• 2023

Determining the size or area of a plant's leaves is an important factor in predicting plant growth and improving the productivity of indoor farms. In this study, we developed a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based model to accurately predict the length and width of lettuce leaves using photographs of the leaves. A callback function was applied to overcome data limitations and overfitting problems, and K-fold cross-validation was used to improve the generalization ability of the model. In addition, ImageDataGenerator function was used to increase the diversity of training data through data augmentation. To compare model performance, we evaluated pre-trained models such as VGG16, Resnet152, and NASNetMobile. As a result, NASNetMobile showed the highest performance, especially in width prediction, with an R_squared value of 0.9436, and RMSE of 0.5659. In length prediction, the R_squared value was 0.9537, and RMSE of 0.8713. The optimized model adopted the NASNetMobile architecture, the RMSprop optimization tool, the MSE loss functions, and the ELU activation functions. The training time of the model averaged 73 minutes per Epoch, and it took the model an average of 0.29 seconds to process a single lettuce leaf photo. In this study, we developed a CNN-based model to predict the leaf length and leaf width of plants in indoor farms, which is expected to enable rapid and accurate assessment of plant growth status by simply taking images. It is also expected to contribute to increasing the productivity and resource efficiency of farms by taking appropriate agricultural measures such as adjusting nutrient solution in real time.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.268-273
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• 2019

The intestinal microbiomes vary according to the factors such environment, age and diet. The purpose of this study was to compare the gut microbial diversity between Korean infants receiving breast-fed milk and formula-fed milk. We analyzed microbial communities in stool samples collected from 80 Korean infants using next generation sequencing. Phylum level analysis revealed that microbial communities in both breast-fed infants group (BIG) was dominated by Actinobacteria ($74.22{\pm}3.48%$). Interestingly, the phylum Actinobacteria was dominant in formula-fed infants group A (FIG-A) at $73.46{\pm}4.12%$, but the proportions of phylum Actinobacteria were lower in formulafed infants group B and C (FIG-B and FIG-C) at $66.52{\pm}5.80%$ and $68.88{\pm}4.33%$. The most abundant genus in the BIG, FIG-A, FIG-B, and FIG-C was Bifidobacterium, comprising $73.09{\pm}2.31%$, $72.25{\pm}4.93%$, $63.81{\pm}6.05%$, and $67.42{\pm}5.36%$ of the total bacteria. Furthermore, the dominant bifidobacterial species detected in BIG and FIG-A was Bifidobacterium longum at $68.77{\pm}6.07%$ and $66.85{\pm}4.99%$ of the total bacteria. In contrast, the proportions of B. longum of FIG-B and FIG-C were $58.94{\pm}6.20%$ and $61.86{\pm}5.31%$ of the total bacteria. FIG-A showed a community similar to BIG, which may be due to the inclusion of galactooligosaccharide, galactosyllactose, synergy-oligosaccharide, bifidooligo and improvement material of gut microbiota contained in formula-milk. We conclude that 5-Bifidus factor contained in milk powder promotes the growth of Bifidobacterium genus in the intestines.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.150-164
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• 2022

The objective of this study is to analyze the biodiversity changes and characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in the Nakdong River with eight weirs, which was constructed as one of the Four Major River Restoration Projects from May to October 2020. The study also includes the analysis of changes in the major groups of benthic macroinvertebrates for about ten years, from 2010 to 2020. The surveys collected 97 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 83 genera, 52 families, 18 orders, five classes, three phyla, and 128.1 individuals/m². Chironomidae sp. and Tubificidae spp., which are pollutant indicators, dominated throughout the sections. The community analysis result shows the average dominant index and the diversity index of 0.62±0.20 and 1.87±0.63, respectively, and indicated the most stability of the freshwater ecosystem in the upper stream of the Nakdong River. The survey showed dominance by Chironomidae sp. at the center of the Nakdong River weir and the most unstable community in Chilgok and Gangjeong Goryeong weirs. The results of the community stability analysis showed a high distribution of the characteristic group I with high resilience and resistance and small distribution of characteristic group III with low resistance and resilience, indicating a very unstable condition of communities in the Nakdong River weir section. Predators were relatively abundant among the functional feeding groups (FFGs), whereas shredders, gathering-collectors, and filtering-collectors were relatively lower. Among the habitat orientation groups (HOGs), burrowers and climbers were dominant, indicating a wide distribution of groups in ecosystems with low dissolved oxygen. An endangered species level II of Macromia daimoji was found in Sangju and Nakdan weirs. The analysis results for 10 years from 2010 showed that the number of species and populations increased immediately after the dam construction but plummeted in 2016 and are now stabilizing. Chironomidae spp. has been dominant in all sections over the past 10 years, and they are currently maintained at a rate of about 50%. The EPT groups have decreased significantly since 2011, and the Plecoptera and Trichoptera of the group have not yet been restored. The population of Tubificidae spp. showed an increase after construction was completed in 2012 and drastically increased in 2015 and 2020. The species of Cristaria plicata, designated as endangered species level I, has not been observed since 2011 in Hapcheon Changnyeong weir. Moreover, Macromia daimoji was rarely observed in seven weirs until 2015, and it has been confirmed that the current distribution habitat has decreased rapidly.