• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2004

This study was on a recyling system of food waste using poultry and earthworms. Food waste was fed to the egg-raising hens(Gallus gallus) or ducks(Anas platyrynchos). And the excrement of poultry after ingestion of food waste was mixed with other organic waste such as paper mill sludge or night soil sludge, aged and then provided to the earthworms(Eisenia andrei). An egg-raising hen and a duck ate up 0.40kg and 0.79kg of food waste per day, respectively. And the percental rate of exctretion(the amount of excrement/the amount of food waste eaten up) of an egg-raising hen and a duck was 71.0% and 53.7%, respectively. The excrement of poultry that had been mixed with paper mill sludge and aged was vermicomposted more easily than the excrement that had been mixed with night soil sludge and aged. The excrement of poultry aged for more than 21 days was more suitable to vermicompost than the excrement of poultry aged for less than 21 days. Even though, the earthworm lost its biomass on the mixed feeds regardless of their aging periods, which was supposed to be caused by high salinity in poulty's excrements.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 1995

This experiment was carried out to the effects of population density and C/N ratios of feed on the growth, reproductive effciency and cast producation of the earthworm(Eisenia foetida). The population densities of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 individuals of the earthworm fed with different C/N ratios of 25, 35, 45 and 55 cow manures were studied in rearing box($6,400cm^3$), and at the fertility stage during a period of 60 days. The results were summarized as follows; The survial rate(SR), increasing rate(IR), reproductive efficiency(RE) and cast production of the earthworms showed highest values in C/N ratio of 25. These results may indicate that C/N ratio of 25 is a very favourable feed for the growth of the earthworms. The survial rate(SR) indicated significant positive correlation with reproductive efficiency(RE) in different C/N ratios of feeds. The survial rate(SR) showed highest values in population densities of $50{\sim}100$ worms/$6,400cm^3(64.0{\sim}128.0cm^3/worm$). On the contrary, increasing rate(IR) tended to decreased with the increased population densities. The survival rate(SR) indicated significant negative correlation with reproductive efficiency(RE) in different population densities of the earthworms. The cast production estimated were $31.6mg{\sim}67.4mg/day/worm$ grown in optimum population densities($50{\sim}100\;worms/6,400cm^3$). The earthworm casting are an excellent soil conditioning material or organic fertilizer sources with a high chemical composition and their physical properties.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.263-269
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• 2014

In this study, I investigated the species composition in the Mulberry tree cultivation area from April 2013 to March 2014 at Busan. Five genera and nine species found are as follows: Aporrectodea caliginosa (Savigny, 1826), Bimastos parvus (Eisen, 1874), Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826), Drawida japonica (Michaelsen, 1892), Amynthas heteropodus (Goto&Hatai, 1898), Amynthas agrestis (Goto & Hatai, 1899), Amynthas corticis (Kinberg, 1867), Amynthas hilgendorfi (Michaelsen, 1895), and Amynthas sp. A total of 317 individuals of Aporrectodea caliginosa (Savigny, 1826) was collected. Ap. caligionosa and A. heteropodus were found to be the most dominant species during the study period. Interestingly, the maximum population density of Ap. caligionosa was recorded to be in the month of October. Further details analysis indicated that, its population increased rapidly during the breeding season between summer and autumn and thereafter gradually decreased through winter toward the following February. Three growth stages of Ap. caligionosa occurred almost simultaneously with abundance composition of 76% in aclitellum, 12.6% in semiclitellum, and 11.4% in clitellum. Based on my study results, I suggest that this data could be useful for the scientific community to analyze the distribution of southern earthworm species in mulberry tree cultivation area.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2007

Medaka(Oryzias latipes) and earthworm(Eisenia fetida) toxicity tests were carried out and ecological risk assessment in water and soil was performed with national monitoring data. NOEC of alachlor was $100\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ in the medaka early life-stage test. Embryonic development, hatchability and time to hatching of medaka eggs were affected by this chemical. The $LC_{50}$ and NOEC of alachlor were $94.1\;mg\;kg^{-1}\;and\;55.0\;mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively, in the earthworm acute toxicity test. The environmental monitoring has been carrying out by NIER since 1999. Exposure levels of alachlor in water and soil were $ND{\sim}0.54\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}\;and\;ND{\sim}0.9\;{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$, respectively, in national monitoring data which had been performed from 2000 to 2004. The measured water and soil exposure levels were applied to evaluate the environmental risk assessment. The PNEC of alachlor in water and in soil were determined as $1\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}\;and\;55.0\;{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$, respectively using the safety factors which were suggested in EU and OECD. The HQs (PEC/PNEC) were determined to be below 1 for both water and soil when the maximum exposure levels ($0.54\;{\mu}g\; L^{-1}$ in water and $0.9\;{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$ in soil) were applied. Conclusively, our study indicated that there was not significant ecological risk of alachlor in water and soil of our monitoring sites.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.297-303
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• 2014

The effects of Eisenia bicyclis extracts on osteoblast differentiation and osteoclast formation were investigated. The proliferation of MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells was tested in an MTT assay. Treatment with E. bicyclis ethanol extract increased cell proliferation by approximately 128% at a concentration of 10 ${\mu}g/ml$. The ALP activities in the MC3T3-E1 cells was 179% higher when the E. bicyclis ethanol extract was processed at a concentration of 50 ${\mu}g/ml$. The proliferation of RAW 264.7 osteoclastic cells decreased significantly in response to treatment with the E. bicyclis extracts. Moreover, the proliferation of the RAW 264.7 osteoclastic cells treated with E. bicyclis hot water extract decreased by nearly 80%. In addition, the E. bicyclis extract reduced the number of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive (TRAP+) multinucleated cells from osteoclastic RAW 264.7 cells. These results indicate that E. bicyclis extracts have an anabolic effect on bone through the promotion of osteoclast differentiation and suggest that the extracts could be used in the treatment of common metabolic bone diseases.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.64-73
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• 2008

The cDNA of CCF (coelomic cytolytic factor)-like gene (EC 3.2.1.16), a kind of glycosyl hydorlase, was isolated and cloned from the midgut of the earthworm Eisenia anderi. The size of nucleotide sequence appeared to be 1,152 bp and its predicted coding region was composed of 384 amino acid residues including the initiation methionine. The 17 residues at N-terminal end in the deduced amino acid sequence were regarded to be a signal peptide. Based on the amino acid sequence analysis, it appeared that this CCF-like protein could belong to glycosyl hydrolase family 16 (GHF16) and showed a high sequence homology of about 79~99% with CCF and CCF-like proteins from other earthworm species. The CCFs and CCF-like proteins from various earthworm species exhibited a 100% homology in the polysacchride-binding motif and glucanase motif. It has been reported that the CCFs isolated from E. fedita appeared to show a broader pattern recognition specificity than those from other earthworm species because this species resides in decaying organic matter showing very high microbial activity, implying that CCF-like protein isolated in this study from E. andrei might exhibit a broad substrate specificity that is a useful characteristic for industrial application. A phylogenetic analysis using the deduced amino acid sequences of CCF-related proteins through the BLASTX revealed that GHF16 families could be divided into three groups of metazoa, viriplantae and eubacteria subfamily. Subsequently the CCF-related proteins of metazoa subfamily could clearly be subgroup into lophotrochozoan and edysozoan type including a deuterostome origin. Further understanding of the biological properties of E. andrei CCF-like protein should be addressed to regulate the ${\beta}$-D-glucan hydrolysis and production for the industrial uses.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1407-1414
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• 2012

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective regimen that has been found to prevent these diseases in postmenopausal women. However, HRT is accompanied by an increased risk of unfavorable outcomes. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Eisenia Bicyclis extract on lipids in ovariectomized rats. Fifty 7-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups: sham-operated rats (SHAM), ovariectomized rats (OVX-CON), and ovariectomized rats that were treated with Eisenia bicyclis extracts. The extract-treated diets were fed to the rats for 6 weeks after operation. Antioxidant effects were measured by DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract increased in a dose-dependent manner and was about 55.9% in a concentration of 100 ${\mu}g/ml$. We measured the total cholesterol content, triglyceride content, HDL-cholesterol content, LDL-cholesterol content, atherosclerotic index, cardiac risk factor in serum, and anti-platelet aggregation and blood rheology. The total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration in serum increased for the OVX-control group, but supplementation with the E. bicyclis extract caused these factors to decrease. Notably, the serum LDL-cholesterol concentration in the OVX-EB200 group was significantly lower than the OVX-CON group. In addition, the blood passage times in rats that received the E. bicyclis extract were more rapid than the times in the untreated group (OVX-CON). Microscopic evaluation revealed that whole blood passed more smoothly through the microchannels in rats in the E. bicyclis extract supplement groups. Our results clarified the effects of E. bicyclis extract on serum lipid content in ovariectomized rats, and consequently we expect positive effects from providing E. bicyclis extract to postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.841-846
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• 2006

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of laminaran from Eisenia bicyclis on serum lipid composition of rats fed high fat and cholesterol diets. Fourty male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing $70{\pm}2.5g$ of 4 weeks old were fed experimental diets for 6 weeks with high fat diet consisting of basal diet plus cholesterol (1%) and lard (10%) for the inducement of hyperlipidemia. The effect of laminaran supplements via drinking waters on serum lipid composition of rat were investigated for 5 weeks by administration of experimental diet group fed basal diet only as normal group, control group fed high fat diet, LL group fed high fat diet plus 0.25% laminaran containing water, and LH group fed high fat diet plus 0.5% laminaran containing water, respectively. As a results of experiments, it was found that LL and LH groups showed significant (p<0.05) decrease in body weight gain and liver weight as compared with control and it may caused by decreased FER. The weight of cecum and adipose tissue (EFP) of LL group showed a significantly (p<0.05) decreased patterns compared with control. It was also found that LL and LH diet groups affects the intestinal length and transit time of rat as significantly (p<0.05) increased in length of intestine and decreased in transit time. In addition, LL and LH diet groups showed a dramatic decrease in triglyceride, total and LDL-cholesterol, and significant increase in HDL-cholesterol compared with control diet group, by which results in decreased in AI. These results indicate that crude laminaran from Eisenia bicyclis has a strong hyperlipidemic and hypercholesterolemic activities in rat fed high fat and cholesterol diet.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.141-144
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• 1972

1. Of 4,112 earth worms, 3,480 were classified as Eisenia foetidae, and 3,277 of the species were infested with the larvae of Metastrongylus apri. 2. Cresol and $CaCN_2$ were found effective in the insecticidal test of earthworms. 3. The nose ring was effective, in pigs, to prevent digging and eating the earthworms and resulted a lower lungworm incidence in pigs. 4. The best place to put the nose ring was the nasal septum.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.144-144
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• 2003

In order to understand the expression profile of earthworm midgut, we analyzed 1255 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) derived from earthworm midgut cDNA library. Among 1255 ESTs analyzed, 537 (42.8%) ESTs represented 231 unique genes of which 168 ESTs were singletons and 63 ESTs represented by two or more ESTs. A total of 571 unknown ESTs showed no significant homology. The remaining 147 (11.7%) ESTs whose lengths were less than 150 bp were removed. Among 231 identified unique genes, 168 genes (72.7%) were sequenced only once. (omitted)