• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2003

To investigate the function of chloroplast small heat shock protein (HSP), transgenic tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L, cv. SR-1) that constitutively overexpress the rice chloroplast small HSP (Oshsp26) were generated. Effects of constitutive expression of the Oshsp26 on thermotolerance were investigated with the chlorophyll fluorescence. After 5-min incubation of leaf discs at high temperatures, an increase in the Fo level, indication of separation of LHCII from PSII, was mitigated by constitutive expression of the chloroplast small HSP When tobacco plantlets grown in Petri dishes were incubated at $20^{\circ}C$/TEX> for 45 min and subsequently incubated at $20^{\circ}C$/TEX> leaf color of wild-type plant became gradually white and all plantlets were finally died. Under the conditions in which all the wild-type plants died, more than 80% of the transformants remained green and survived. It was also found that the levels of Oshsp26 protein accumulated in transgenic plants were correlated with the degree of thermotolerance. These results suggest that the chloroplast small HSP plays an important role in protecting photosynthetic machinery, as a results, increases thermotolerance of whole plant during heat stress.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.345-350
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• 2005

Three-week old Commelina communis was transferred and grown in Hoagland solution containing $100{\mu}M\;Cd^{2+},\;100{\mu}M\;Cd^{2+}+100{\mu}M\;kinetin,\;100{\mu}M\;Cd^{2+}+100{\mu}M\;zeatin\;and\;100{\mu}M\;Cd^{2+},\;200{\mu}M$ zeatin for 7 days, and then a number of physiological activities were investigated. In control, the length of the stem of plants was increased to 4.7cm, but in $Cd^{2+},\;Cd^{2+}+kinetin,\; Cd^{2+}+100{\mu}M\;zeatin\;and\;Cd^{2+}+200{\mu}M$ zeatin treatments, the growth of plants were increased to 1.5cm, 2.1cm, 3.9cm and 4.3 em, respectively. In the treatments of $Cd^{2+},\;Cd^{2+}+kinetin,\;Cd^{2+}+100{\mu}M\;zeatin\;and\; Cd^{2+}+200{\mu}M$ zeatin, total chlorophyll contents were reduced to $26\%,\;24\%,\;15\%\;and\;3\%$, respectively, on the contrast to the control. In chlorophyll fluorescence experiments, Fv/Fm ratios were also reduced to $44\%,\;21\%,\;17\%\;and\;5\%$ in the light intensity of $2100{\mu}Mmole\;E\;m^{-2}s^{-1}\;by\;Cd^{2+},\;Cd^{2+}+kinetin,\;Cd^{2+}+$100{\mu}M\;zeatin\;and\;Cd^{2+}+200{\mu}M$ zeatin treatments on the contrast to the control. Water stresses were increased to 2.6, 1.7 and 1.2 times by $Cd^{2+},\; Cd^{2+}+kinetin\;and\;Cd^{2+}+{\mu}M$ zeatin. On the other hand, combination of $Cd^{2+}+200{\mu}M$ zeatin reduced water stress to $0.12\%$. In $Cd^{2+}$ accumulation experiments $Cd^{2+}$transports were inhibited to $33\%\; 48\%\;and\;70\%\;by\;Cd^{2+}+kinetin,\;Cd^{2+}+100{\mu}M\;zeatin\;and\;Cd^{2+}+200{\mu}M$ zeatin. Therefore, it could be concluded that zeatin clearly reduced the toxicities of $Cd^{2+}$ by reducing the absorption of $Cd^{2+}$.

• ALGAE
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.139-147
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• 2009

Microalgae using a submersible fluorescence probe in water column (up to 100 m) were measured during the austral summer of 2006 (February) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica (triangular-shaped embayment in the Indian sector of Southern Ocean). Concurrently, environmental parameters such as temperature, salinity and nitrogen (nitrate, ammonium, urea) uptake rates were measured. The concentration of phytoplankton is relatively high due to availability of high nutrients and low sea surface temperature. Phytoplankton community is dominated by diatoms whereas cryptophytes are in low concentration. The maximum concentration of total chlorophyll is 14.87 ${\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ and is attributed to upwelled subsurface winter water due to local wind forcing, availability of micro-nutrients and increased attenuation of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR). Concentration of blue-green algae is low compared to that of green algae because of low temperature. Comparatively high concentration of yellow substances is due to the influence of Antarctic melt-water whereas cryptophytes are low due to high salinity and mixed water column. Varied concentrations of phytoplankton at different times of Fluoroprobe measurements suggest that the coastal waters of Prydz Bay are influenced by changing sub-surface water temperature and salinity due to subsurface upwelling induced by local winds as also melting/freezing processes in late summer. The productivity is high in coastal water due to the input of macro as well as micro-nutrients.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1479-1484
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• 2010

Photosynthesis uses light energy to drive the oxidation of water at an oxygen-evolving catalytic site within photosystem II (PSII). Chlorophyll binding by the photosystem II subunit S protein, PsbS, was found to be necessary for energy-dependent quenching (qE), the major energy-dependent component of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) in Arabidopsis thaliana. It is proposed that PsbS acts as a trigger of the conformational change that leads to the establishment of nonphotochemical quenching. However, the exact structure and function of PsbS in PSII are still unknown. Here, we clone and express the recombinant PsbS gene from Arabidopsis thaliana in E. coli and purify the resulting homogeneous protein. We used various biochemical and biophysical techniques to elucidate PsbS structure and function, including circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence, and DSC. The protein shows optimal stability at $4^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.5. The CD spectra of PsbS show that the conformational changes of the protein were strongly dependent on pH conditions. The CD curve for PsbS at pH 10.5 curve had the deepest negative peak and the peak of PsbS at pH 4.5 was the least negative. The fluorescence emission spectrum of the purified PsbS protein was also measured, and the ${\lambda}_{max}$ was found to be at 328 nm. PsbS revealed some structural changes under varying temperature and oxygen gas condition.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.500-509
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• 2014

To prevent freezing of the road by fallen snow, Calcium chloride($CaCl_2$) as a deicer is used to very often and it can be harmful to roadside trees. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Calcium chloride($CaCl_2$) as a deicer on growth and physiological traits of Acer triflorum according to different concentration of $CaCl_2$. We measured growth, chlorophyll contents, gas exchangement characteristics, chlorophyll fluorescence and mineral nutrition concentration in plant and soil. The experimental group was composed of four treatments including 0mM(control), 9mM(0.5 %), 18mM(1.0 %), 54mM(3.0 %). Before germinating new shoot, the dissolution of $CaCl_2$ was irrigated twice interval of a week. At 30 days after treatment, all treatments decreased total cholorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and photochemical efficiency($F_v/F_m$) with increasing concentration of $CaCl_2$ and especially, they significantly reduced in 3.0 % treatment. In contrast, chlorophyll a/b ratio increased with an increase of $CaCl_2$ concentration and water use efficiency increased in 1.0 % and 3.0 % treatments. At 50 days after treatment, all treatments were decreased in chl a, chl b, total chlorophyll content, carotenoid content, photosynthetic capacity, photochemical efficiency($F_v/F_m$) and quantum yield of photosystem II(${\Phi}_{PSII}$) compared with control and 3.0 % treatments were withered. $Ca^{2+}$ and $Cl^-$ were accumulated in leaves and soil, which inhibited water absorption and electron transport and it caused the reduction of height growth rate more than 50 %. Although there was a little difference according to time and $CaCl_2$ concentration, all treatments decreased in growth rate and physiological activity slowed down. As time passed, these results got worse. Therefore we need to take a measure earlier in order to minimize damage of trees.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2000

To increase thennotolerance of forage crops, transgenic rice plants as a model for transformation of monocots were generated. A cDNA encoding the chloroplast-localized small heat shock protein (small HSP) of rice, Oshsp21, was introduced into rice plants via Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer system. Calli induced from scutella were co-cultivated with a A. tumefaciens strain EHAlOl canying a plasmid, pIGhsp21. A large number of transgenic plants were regenerated on a medium containing hygromycin. Integration of Oshsp2l gene was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analyses with genomic DNA. Northern blot and immunoblot analyses revealed that the Oshsp21 gene was constitutively expressed and accumulated as mature protein in transgenic plants. Effects of constitutive expression of the OshspZl on thermotolerance were first probed with the chlorophyll fluorescence. Results indicate that inactivation of electron transport reactions in photosystem I1 (PSII), were mitigated by constitutive expression of the Oshsp21. These results suggest that the chloroplast small HSP plays an important role in protecting photosynthetic machinery during heat stress. (Key words : Thermotolerance, Rice, Transgenic, cDNA)

• Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2007

The effect of inabenfide was investigated in rice seedlings subjected to salt stress in relation to changes in chlorophyll fluorescence(${\Delta}F/Fm'$), lipid peroxidation, salicylic acid(SA) content, and catalase(CAT) activity. A reduction in shoot growth of rice seedlings by 120 mM NaCl treatment was significantly alleviated by pretreatment with 30 ${\mu}M$ inabenfide. Sodium ion content was not affected by pretreatment with inabenfide, suggesting that alleviation was not due to a reduction in sodium ion uptake by the rice seedlings. At three days after NaCl treatment, the rice seedlings pretreated with inabenfide showed a higher ${\Delta}F/Fm'$(30%) and lower lipid peroxidation(28%) compared with the rice seedlings treated with NaCl alone. After NaCl treatment, CAT activity in the third leaf of rice seedlings decreased significantly but alleviated by pretreatment with inabenfide. Furthermore, pretreatment with inabenfide also reduced the level of SA which accumulated drastically in the third leaf of rice seedlings within a day after exposure to salt stress. These results suggest that inabenfide prevents SA accumulation in rice seedlings under salt stress which eventually induces the alleviation of salt stress damage.

• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.319-323
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• 2007

This study was conducted with using chlorophyll a fluorescence (indicated as photosynthetic activity) to examine the toxic effect of 96 h exposure of heavy metals and herbicides on the benthic diatom Nitzschia sp. which was isolated from pristine sediment in Pamquat Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. Samples of benthic diatom were exposed to 0, 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg L–1 of copper, 0, 1, 10 and 100 mg L–1 of chrome (VI), 0, 2.45, 24.5 and 245 mg L–1 of paraquat dichloride, and 0, 4.37, 43.7 and 437 mg L–1 of alachlor during 96 hours. The effective quantum yield of photochemistry (ΔF/Fm’) was evaluated by subjecting light acclimated samples to saturating pulses of light using a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer. The impact of heavy metals on Nitzschia sp. photosynthesis was not severe in < 1 mg L–1 but in the high concentrations (> 1 mg L–1) clearly increased toxic stress during 96 h. Herbicides had a limited impact during the exposure period but clearly increased stress on the benthic diatom with increasing concentrations. Acute response of Nitzschia sp. to selected heavy metals and herbicides was characterized, and the capacity of a benthic diatom to tolerate and recover from toxic stress was assessed.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2008

Biological and chemical sensors are the two most frequently used sensors to monitor the water resource. Chemical sensor is very accurate to pick up the types and to measure the concentration of the chemical substance. Drawback is that it works for just one type of chemical substance. Therefore a lot of expensive monitoring system needs to be installed to determine the safeness of the water, which costs too much expense. Biological sensor, on the contrary, can judge the degree of pollution of the water with just one monitoring system. However, it is not easy to figure out the type of contaminant with a biological sensor. In this study, an endeavor is made to identify the toxicant in the water using the shape of the chlorophyll fluorescence induction curve (FIC) from a biological monitoring system. Wem-tox values are calculated from the amount of flourescence of contaminated and reference water. Curve fitting is executed to find the representative curve of the raw data of Wem-tox values. Then the curves are digitalized at the same interval to train the neural network model. Taguchi method is used to optimize the neural network model parameters. The optimized model shows a good capacity to figure out the toxicant from FIC.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.174-182
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• 2018

Background: In this study, we observed their growth and physiological responses using a variety of duty ratio under the mixed light using red, blue, and white lights. The red+blue mixed light was treated with 95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, and 75% duty ratios and red+blue+white mixed light with 85% and 70% duty ratios. We examined the width and length of leaves, total number of leaves, and number of shoots to examine their growth responses. The physiological responses were studied by measuring their photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, chlorophyll content, and fluorescence ($F_o$, $F_m$, and $F_v/F_m$). Results: We found that lower duty ratio caused the length and width of the leaves to grow longer under red+blue mixed light but that it did not cause any difference in the red+blue+white mixed light condition. In addition, there was no difference in the number of leaves and shoots among all treatments. In the red+blue mixed light condition, the photosynthetic rate was no difference, but both transpiration rate and stomatal conductance were the highest at 95% duty ratio than in other ratios. Water use efficiency pattern was similar to that of photosynthetic rate; water use efficiency was no difference. Chlorophyll content was the highest at 95% duty ratios, and it was the least at 90%, 85%, and 75% duty ratio. $F_o$ and $F_m$ values were relatively high at 85% and 80% duty ratio and low at 90% duty ratio while $F_v/F_m$ showed no difference. Conclusions: Under the red+blue+white mixed light, all physiological items showed no difference between 70 and 85% treatments. But, photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency, chlorophyll content, and $F_v/F_m$ were relatively greater in the red+blue+white mixed light than in the red+blue mixed light. Therefore, red+blue+white mixed light treated with 70% duty ratio could lessen the environmental stress and save more power when cultivating Silene capitata in a plant factory.