• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.103-134
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• 1977

The physiological and biochemical role of potassium for upland crops according to recent research reports and the nutritional status of potassium in Korea were reviewed. Since physical and chemical characteristics of potassium ion are different from those of sodium, potassium can not completely be replaced by sodium and replacement must be limited to minimum possible functional area. Specific roles of potassium seem to keep fine structure of biological membranes such as thylacoid membrane of chloroplast in the most efficient form and to be allosteric effector and conformation controller of various enzymes principally in carbohydrate and protein metabolism. Potassium is essential to improve the efficiency of phoro- and oxidative- phosphorylation and involve deeply in all energy required metabolisms especially synthesis of organic matter and their translocation. Potassium has many important, physiological functions such as maintenance of osmotic pressure and optimum hydration of cell colloids, consequently uptake and translocation of water resulting in higher water use efficiency and of better subcellular environment for various physiological and biochemical activities. Potassium affects uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients and quality of products. potassium itself in products may become a quality criteria due to potassium essentiality for human beings. Potassium uptake is greatly decreased by low temperature and controlled by unknown feed back mechanism of potassium in plants. Thus the luxury absorption should be reconsidered. Total potassium content of upland soil in Korea is about 3% but the exchangeable one is about 0.3 me/100g soil. All upland crops require much potassium probably due to freezing and cold weather and also due to wet damage and drought caused by uneven rainfall pattern. In barley, potassium should be high at just before freezing and just after thawing and move into grain from heading for higher yield. Use efficiency of potassium was 27% for barley and 58% in old uplands, 46% in newly opened hilly lands for soybean. Soybean plant showed potassium deficiency symptom in various fields especially in newly opened hilly lands. Potassium criteria for normal growth appear 2% $K_2O$ and 1.0 K/(Ca+Mg) (content ratio) at flower bud initiation stage for soybean. Potassium requirement in plant was high in carrot, egg plant, chinese cabbage, red pepper, raddish and tomato. Potassium content in leaves was significantly correlated with yield in chinese cabbage. Sweet potato. greatly absorbed potassium subsequently affected potassium nutrition of the following crop. In the case of potassium deficiency, root showed the greatest difference in potassium content from that of normal indicating that deficiency damages root first. Potatoes and corn showed much higher potassium content in comparison with calcium and magnesium. Forage crops from ranges showed relatively high potassium content which was significantly and positively correlated with nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium content. Percentage of orchards (apple, pear, peach, grape, and orange) insufficient in potassium ranged from 16 to 25. The leaves and soils from the good apple and pear orchards showed higher potassium content than those from the poor ones. Critical ratio of $K_2O/(CaO+MgO)$ in mulberry leaves to escape from winter death of branch tip was 0.95. In the multiple croping system, exchangeable potassium in soils after one crop was affected by the previous crops and potassium uptake seemed to be related with soil organic matter providing soil moisture and aeration. Thus, the long term and quantitative investigation of various forms of potassium including total one are needed in relation to soil, weather and croping system. Potassium uptake and efficiency may be increased by topdressing, deep placement, slow-releasing or granular fertilizer application with the consideration of rainfall pattern. In all researches for nutritional explanation including potassium of crop yield reasonable and practicable nutritional indices will most easily be obtained through multifactor analysis.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.449-470
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• 1984

The cercaria of Bacciger herengulae which is parasitized on the gonad of Solen strictus was investigated in order to reveal its entire life history. The area covered for the study was in the vicinity sea of Naechodo, the estuary of the Kum river in the western coast of Korea during the period of 1980-1983. Morphology and development as well as infection rates of sporocyst and cercaria within Solen strictus were examined. For accomplishing the objectives of this study, an artificial infection experiment and some investigations on the second intermediate host, the final host and the growing stages were also studied in both laboratory and natural habitat of Solen strictus. According to the study, it was revealed that the first intermediate hosts were Meretrix lusoria, Solen strictus, Tapes japonica and Laternula limicola, the second intermediate host was Palaemon (Exopalaemon) carinicauda and the final hosts were Konosirus punctatus and Harengula zunasi. A mature sporocyst which was found in the gonad of Solen strictus was $4.0-4.3{\times}0.2-0.21\;mm$ insize, and the cercaia with 27 pairs of setae, each seta consisting of 6 tufts, was $270{\times}147{\mu}m$ in body size and $550{\times}52{\mu}m$ in tail size. Oral sucker($52{\times}42{\mu}m$), pharynx, vental sucker and two testese were obviously seen within the cercaria. The excretory vesicles of cercaria were in V-shape and the flame cell were formula was expressed as 2[(3+3)+(3+3)]=24. The infection of cercaria in the first intermediate host, Solen strictus, was found throughout the year regardlless of the water temperature, and its mean infection rate was $9.67\%$ during the study period. The infection rate fluctuated with temperature, the highest being $28.0\%\;at\;28.0^{\circ}C$ water temperature in July and the lowest $2.4\%\;at\;19.5^{\circ}C$ in October, and it increased in proportion to the shell length on the host. But cercaria was not detected at below 4.0 cm in size of the host. Mature cercariae were found 6 months from May to October when water temperature was above $19.5^{\circ}C$. On the other hand, when water temperature was below $19.5^{\circ}C$, only immature cercariae and sporocysts were found. The cercariae were active for 35 hours and survived for 71 hours at $20^{\circ}C$, and 29 and 34 hours at $25^{\circ}C$ respectively, whereas the cercariae were inactive at less than $20^{\circ}C$ in water temperature. Cercaria, from Solen strictus, approached shrimp of 1-3 cm in body length as its second host. Then, it began to intrude in to the muscle of shrimp after 2-3 hours. The infected cercaria formed cyst after 7-8 hours, and became mature metacercaria. $420{\times}310{\mu}m$ in size, 15 days afer infection. The infection rate of metaceria to shrimp in the laboratory was highest, at $25^{\circ}C$ being $61\%$ and at $20^{\circ}C\;17%$. The infection rate of metacearia in shrimp was highest in the first abdominal segment, followed by cephalothorax, the second, and fifth abdominal segments, and in that order. Also, the infection rate of metacercaria in wild shrimp was high $9.6-11.1\%$ at $26.5^{\circ}C$ in June, and low $1.56-2.5\%$ at $28-29.5^{\circ}C$ from July to August. The infected shrimp with metacercaria was experimentally fed to Konosirus punctatus in the laboratory in order to know its final host. The metacercaria developed into the adult worm, $440-520{\times}310-360{\mu}m$ in size, within the intestine of Konosirus punctatus 20 days after infection. The adult worm was oval shape and $20-24{\times}11-20{\mu}m$ in size. The infection rate of adult worm to Konosirus punctatus and Harengula zunasi ranged 87.3 to $100\%$, the mean being $95.2\%$, regardless of the body length of their hosts. The infection rate was $100\%$ in June and July, but it decreased in September and October. The size and body structure of the trematode observed during the present study were well agreed with those ievestigated by Yamaguti(1938), thus, it may be concluded that the adult worm it identified as Bacciger harengulae.