• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 2011

This study was performed to analyze the possibility of using Korean native Aster koraiensis Nakai for phytoremediation at various fields. A. koraiensis was cultivated at paddy, upland and forest soils contaminated with heavy metals. After 8 weeks of cultivation, and growth and its absorbing capacity of heavy metals were analyzed. The results showed that A. koraiensis was grown well even at the soil highly contaminated with heavy metals, which means it has a tolerance to heavy metals. As analysis results of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc contents absorbed from various soils contaminated with heavy metals, heavy metal absorbing capacity of A. koraiensis was depending on the heavy metal contents in the soils and soil property. In case of arsenic, cadmium and copper, heavy metal accumulation capacities of Aster koraiensis were much influenced by contents of heavy metals in the soils. Absorbing capacity of plants was increased when heavy metal contents in the soils were high. Lead absorbing capacity was depending more on soil property than lead contents in the soil, and was great at sandy soil of forest. Zinc absorbing capacity was influenced by both soil properties and Zn contents in the soil, was increased at paddy soil contaminated with high concentrations of heavy metals and upland soils. In general, A. koraiensis had a tolerance to heavy metals and showed great absorbing capability of heavy metals. So A. koraiensis can be used as a good landscape material for phytoremediation at various soils contaminated with heavy metals.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.433-449
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• 1992

Three horticultural herbaceous plants and a natural herbaceous plant were tested to determine the growth responses, biomass and uptake of cadmium(cd), lead(pb) by application of cd and pb soil treatment in pot culture. The ecological effects on the growth of the plants were investigated to determine the tolerance for the heavy metal pollutants cd and pb. the marginal concentrain of cd treatment on the growth of the each plant was below the 1, 000 ppm treatment of cd. The marginal concentration of pb treatment was below the 1, 000ppm treatment of pb in cultivation of salvia splendens ker., celosia cristata l. and below the 3, 000ppm treatment of pb in cultivation of portulaca grandiflora hook., sedum saramentosum bunge. the resistance for cd of sedum saramentosum bunge, celosia criastata l., portulaca grandiflora hook. and salvia splendens ker. was in the listed order. The resistence for pb was in order of sedum saramentosum bunge, portulaca grandiflora hook. Salvia splendens ker.and celosia criastata l.stems. The flowering of portulaca grandiflora hook. was sustained in the pb 1, 000ppm treated group only. The higher the concentration of pb in the soil cultivated the plants was, the less the content of leaf chlorophy11 in each plant was. The number of stomata per unit leaf area was the highest in salvia splendens ker. and in order of celosia l., sedum saramentosum bunge., portulaca grandiflora hook., the higher the cd and pb concentration of cd and pb treatment was, the more the concent of cd and pb in the part of each plant increased. the content of cd and pb in the stems of salvia spiendens ker. was the highest in the 1, 000ppm-treated ground and in order of the roots, the leaves and the flowers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.187-187
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• 2017

Cadmium (Cd) pollution is rapidly increasing in worldwide due to industrialization and urbanization. In addition to its negative effects on the environment, Cd pollution adversely affects human health. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important agricultural crop worldwide, including South Korea, and studies have examined its ability to alleviate Cd uptake from the soil into plants. However, information about the relationship between sulfur (S) and antioxidants in rice seedlings is still limited with regard to Cd phytotoxicity. We therefore investigated the changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants in rice (Oryza sativa L. 'Dongjin') seedlings exposed to toxic Cd, S treatment, or both. The exposure of rice seedlings to $30{\mu}M$ Cd inhibited plant growth; increased the contents of superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and malondialdehyde (MDA); and induced Cd uptake by the roots, stems, and leaves. Application of S to Cd-stressed seedlings decreased Cd-induced oxidative stress by increasing the capacity of the glutathione (GSH)-ascorbate (AsA) cycle, promoted S assimilation by increasing cysteine, GSH, and AsA contents in treated plants, and decreased Cd transfer from the roots to the stems and leaves. In conclusion, S application of plants under Cd stress promoted Cys and GSH biosynthesis and GSH-AsA cycle activity, thereby lowering the rate of Cd transfer to plant shoots and promoting the scavenging of the ROS that resulted from Cd toxicity, thus alleviating the overall Cd toxicity. Therefore, these results provide insights into the role of S in regulating the tolerance, uptake, and translocation of Cd in rice seedlings. The results of this study indicate that S application should have potential as a tool for mitigating Cd-stress in cereal crops, especially rice.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.293-298
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• 2007

Robinia pseudoacacia var. umbraculifera, commonly called umbrella black locust were regenerated after co-cultivation of internode segments with Agrobacterium tumefaciens which included yeast cadmium factor 1 (YCF 1) gene. The tolerance to cadmium and lead for plants can be increased by the YCF1 gene expression. Moreover, the recent studies have shown that YCF1 gene transgenic plants increase the accumulation of cadmium and lead into plant vacuoles. The effect of plant growth regulator such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), ${\alpha}$-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), 6-benzyladenine (BA), and thidiazuron (TDZ) were studied to evaluate the propagation of plants through internode explants. The efficient induction of multiple adventitious shoots and callus were observed on a medium supplemented with 0.1 mg/L TDZ + 0.2 mg/L BA. To induce shoot elongation and rooting, regenerated shoots were transferred into basal MS medium without any plant growth regulator. Successful Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation was obtained by 20 min vacuum-infiltration with $50{\mu}M$ acetosyringone on the optimal multiple shoot induction medium with 30 mg/L hygromycin and 300 mg/L cefotaxime. To confirm the integration and expression of transgene, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) were performed with specific primers. The frequency of transformation was approximately 18.94%. This study can be used to genetic engineering of phytoremediator.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.413-419
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• 2011

This study was conducted to find out the cadmium (Cd) accumulation and tolerance of Iris pseudacorus and Acorus calamus as aquatic plants native to Korea for Cd removal in water. In the range of Cd concentration from $10{\mu}M$ to $130{\mu}M$, the Cd lethal dose 50 ($LD_{50}$) was $78.5{\mu}M$ in I. pseudacorus and $47.6{\mu}M$ in A. calamus. In I. pseudacorus, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase as antioxidants were relatively effective against oxidative stress caused by Cd, while catalase, superoxide dismutase, and polyphenolics were effective in A. calamus. The polyphenolics known as typical antioxidants were not detected in I. pseudacorus. In both species, the Cd accumulation in plants increased with the higher Cd concentration and the longer processing period. Also, the absorbed Cd was accumulated mainly in the roots. The amount of Cd accumulated in the shoot part was maximally $548.1mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ (82.1% to Cd accumulated in the root part) in I. pseudacorus and $121.4mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ (13.7%) in A. calamus, which implied that both species all were enough evaluated as Cd hyper-accumulators based on 0.01% or more Cd accumulation in the shoot. Especially I. pseudacorus showed outstanding ability to move well Cd into the shoots from the roots and high tolerance to Cd stress.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.974-977
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• 2010

Cyclophilins contain the conserved activity of cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerase, which is implicated in protein folding, and function as molecular chaperones. When the yeast cyclophilin A gene (cpr1) was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pKM260, it was found that the expression of Cpr1 drastically increased the cell viability of E. coli BL21 when under abiotic stress conditions, as in the presence of cadmium, copper, hydrogen peroxide, heat, and SDS. Therefore, this study illustrates the importance of Cpr1 as a molecular chaperone that can improve the cellular stress responses when E. coli cells are exposed to adverse conditions, while also demonstrating its potential to increase the stability of E. coli strains utilized for the production of recombinant proteins.

• Mycobiology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.421-433
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• 2021

Morchella is a genus of fungi with the ability to concentrate Cd both in the fruit-body and mycelium. However, the molecular mechanisms conferring resistance to Cd stress in Morchella are unknown. Here, RNA-based transcriptomic sequencing was used to identify the genes and pathways involved in Cd tolerance in Morchella spongiola. 7444 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by cultivating M. spongiola in media containing 0.15, 0.90, or 1.50 mg/L Cd²⁺. The DEGs were divided into six sub-clusters based on their global expression profiles. GO enrichment analysis indicated that numerous DEGs were associated with catalytic activity, cell cycle control, and the ribosome. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the main pathways under Cd stress were MAPK signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, pyruvate metabolism, and propanoate metabolism. In addition, several DEGs encoding ion transporters, enzymatic/non-enzymatic antioxidants, and transcription factors were identified. Based on these results, a preliminary gene regulatory network was firstly proposed to illustrate the molecular mechanisms of Cd detoxification in M. spongiola. These results provide valuable insights into the Cd tolerance mechanism of M. spongiola and constitute a robust foundation for further studies on detoxification mechanisms in macrofungi that could potentially lead to the development of new and improved fungal bioremediation strategies.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.565-571
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the tolerance of some resistant fungal strains from soils contaminated with heavy metals. Various fungal strains were isolated from soil samples collected from studied sites which heavy metals and other pollutants have been emitted in effluents for several years. Fungi isolated belong to different genera; however, Penicillium spp. showed the most frequent species. The microbial number was remarkably higher in the control soil than contaminated soil samples collected from mining areas. $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ had the highest concentration in the polluted soils ranging from 89 - 3,521 ppm and 98 - 4,383 ppm, respectively. The minimum inhibition concentrations (MICs) of $Pb^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ showed the highest values against the fungal strains. $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ were the lowest contaminants in the polluted soils with the concentration of 5 to 12.1 ppm and 1.8 to 4.8 ppm, respectively. The tested resistant strains showed the strongest inhibition for $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ up to 200-400 ppm. Cadmium was the most highly toxic heavy metal for most of strains, however, 1 mM of $Cr^{3+}$, $Cu^{2+}$ and $Pb^{2+}$ accelerated the growth of Penicillium verrucosum KNU3. $Cu^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ at concentration of 1 mM did not affect the growth rate P. funiculosum KNU4. Tolerance of fungal species to heavy metals appears to be strain and origin dependent.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1557-1567
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• 2012

Glutathione reductase (GR, E.C. 1.6.4.2) is an important enzyme that reduces glutathione disulfide (GSSG) to a sulfydryl form (GSH) in the presence of an NADPH-dependent system. This is a critical antioxidant mechanism. Owing to the significance of GR, this enzyme has been examined in a number of animals, plants, and microbes. We performed a study to evaluate the molecular properties of GR (OsGR) from rice (Oryza sativa). To determine whether heterologous expression of OsGR can reduce the deleterious effects of unfavorable abiotic conditions, we constructed a transgenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain expressing the GR gene cloned into the yeast expression vector p426GPD. OsGR expression was confirmed by a semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (semiquantitative RT-PCR) assay, Western-blotting, and a test for enzyme activity. OsGR expression increased the ability of the yeast cells to adapt and recover from $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress and various stimuli including heat shock and exposure to menadione, heavy metals (iron, zinc, copper, and cadmium), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), ethanol, and sulfuric acid. However, augmented OsGR expression did not affect the yeast fermentation capacity owing to reduction of OsGR by multiple factors produced during the fermentation process. These results suggest that ectopic OsGR expression conferred acquired tolerance by improving cellular homeostasis and resistance against different stresses in the genetically modified yeast strain, but did not affect fermentation ability.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.413-424
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• 2021

In order to enhance rhizoremediation performance, which remediates contaminated soils using the interactions between plants and microorganisms in rhizosphere, it is required to develop effective microbial resources that simultaneously degrade contaminants and promote plant growth. In this study, heavy metal-resistant rhizobacteria, which had been cultivated in soils contaminated with heavy metals (copper, cadmium, and lead) and diesel were isolated from rhizospheres of maize and tall fescue. After that, the isolates were qualitatively evaluated for plant growth promoting (PGP) activities, heavy metal tolerance, and diesel degradability. As a result, six strains with heavy metal tolerance, PGP activities, and diesel degradability were isolated. Strains CuM5 and CdM2 were isolated from the rhizosphere soils of maize, and were identified as belonging to the genus Cupriavidus. From the rhizosphere soils of tall fescue, strains CuT6, CdT2, CdT5, and PbT3 were isolated and were identified as Fulvimonas soli, Cupriavidus sp., Novosphingobium sp., and Bacillus sp., respectively. Cupriavidus sp. CuM5 and CdM2 showed a low heavy metal tolerance and diesel degradability, but exhibited an excellent PGP ability. Among the six isolates, Cupriavidus sp. CdT2 and Bacillus sp. PbT3 showed the best diesel degradability. Additionally, Bacillus sp. PbT3 also exhibited excellent heavy metal tolerance and PGP abilities. These results indicate that the isolates can be used as promising microbial resources to promote plant growth and restore soils with contaminated heavy metals and diesel.