• KSBB Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.299-306
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• 2000

Concern for the effects of toxic chemicals on the environment leads the search for better bioassay test organisms and test procedures. Photobacterium phosphoreum was used successfully as a test organism and the luminometer detection technique was an effective and simple method for determining the concentration of toxic chemicals. With EC50 a total of 14 chlorine substituted phenols benzenes and ethanes were used for the experiments. The test results showed that the toxicity to P. phosphoreum increased in the order of phenol > benzene > ethane and the toxicity also increased with the number of chlorine substitution. Quantitative structure activity relationship (QSARO) model can be used to predict EC50 to save time and endeavor. Correlation was well established with the QSAR parameters such as log P, log S and solvatochromic parameter(Vi/100 $\pi$, ${\beta}$m and am). The QSAR modeling was used with multi-regression analysis and mono-regression analysis. These analyses resulted in the following QSAR : $log EC_{50} =2.48 + 0.914 log S(n=9 R2=85.5% RE=0.378) log EC_{50}=0.35 - 4.48 Vi/100 + 2.84 \pi^* +9.46{\beta}m-4.48am (n =14 R2=98.2% RE=0.012) log EC_{50} =2.64 -1.66 log P(n=5, R2=98.8% RE=0.16) log EC_{50}=3.44 -1.09 log P(n=9 R2= 80.8% Re=0.207)$

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.479-485
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• 2016

Living modified (LM) crops are imported each year to South Korea as food and feeds, LM canola being one of the imported crops. The cultivation of LM crops is not permitted in South Korea but the import of these crops is increasing. In this study, we surveyed the environmental risk of imported LM canola at 9 provinces, from March 2009 to June 2013. Monitoring of canola was conducted around feed factories, roadsides, harbors, farmhouses, and flower festival regions. From the total of 595 canola samples collected from 1850 monitoring sites, we identified 6 LM canola samples. The LM canola samples were subjected to protein and DNA based analysis. PCR analyses using approved 5 single event primers (T45, MS8, RT73, Rf3 and Topas 19-2) revealed that two crops were glyphosate-resistant LM canolas, and four were glufosinate-resistant LM canolas. This study suggested that environmental monitoring is a useful research tool to manage LM crops unintentionally introduced into the environment in South Korea. This result can be used as a basis for future post-management of canola crops.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.299-309
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• 2005

The community structure of meiobenthos was studied in the sediment of Kongfjorden, Spitsbergen of Svalbard Island in the Arctic Sea. Samples of meiobenthos were collected in August, 2003. Meiobenthic organisms were collected by SCUBA and van veen grab or acryl sub-corers 34mm in internal diameter, and were taken from upper sediment to a depth of 3cm at each station. A total of 26 meiofaunal groups were found in the sediment of Spitsbergen in Svalbard Island. Nematodes were the most dominant faunal group. Sarcomastigophorans, benthic harpacticoids, and nauplius larvae of crustaceans, were also important components of the meiobenthic community of Kongsfjorden. All of these low faunal groups were comprised of more than 90% of total meiobenthos at every station. The total density of meiobenthos at each station was highest at station MeG 6 $(3,583{\pm}1,137inds./10cm^2)$, and lowest at station $MeG9(28{\pm}1inds./10cm^2)$. Meiobenthos in general showed the highest density in the upper 1cm layer. This may be associated with food and oxygen supply to subsurface. Harpacticoids showed extreme preference at the surface and little presence in layers deeper than 2cm. These animals may be less resistant to oxygen deficiency, and nauplius also showed the same trend. However, in St. MeG 8 and 9, meiobenthos were dense at depths of more than 0-1cm, at especially at depths of 2-3m because of relatively easy penetration of oxygen. Based on the results of cluster analysis, three meiobenthos assemblages were distinguished: one was in the outer and two were in the inner fjord. Station SCU 5 was grouped with the meiobenthos assemblage located in the outer fjord. The outer ford community was characterised by : 1) a relatively low mean number of meiobenthos taxa, 2) a relatively high density of harpacticods and nauplius. One of the inner ford communities (a group of four nation: MeG 2, 3, 8, 9) was in the proximity of the glaciers. Specifically, it was characterised by : 1) a low mean number of meiobenthos taxa, 2) a low density. The other inner ford community was characterised by both a high density and great mean number of meiofaunal taxa.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.202-220
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• 1997

A total of 57 species of fish species was collected by a trawl from the eelgrass bed in Kwangyang Bay. The dominant species were Pholis nebulosa, Syngnathus schlegeli, Leiognathus nuchalis, Pseudoblennius cottoides, Sebastes inermis, Favonigobius gymnauchen, which accounted for 69.9% of the total numbers of fish collected. Fish collected in the study area were primarily small fish species or early juveniles of large fish species. Only about 10% of fishes which were collected in the eelgrass bed exceeded 15cm in standard length. Seasonal variations in both species composition and abundance were major characteristics in the study area. The peak abundance occurred in spring, while the number of species was the highest in fall. However, both the number of species and abundance of fishes showed the lowest values in winter. High species diversity indices were observed in fall. Temperature, eelgrass standing crop and abundance of food organisms influenced seasonal changes of the fish community in the study area. More abundant and more diverse fishes were collected during nighttime than daytime.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.130-141
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• 2017

We evaluated the field application feasibility that biologically derived substances (Naphthoquinone derivate: NQ 2-0) can be used for the eco-friendly mitigation of natural harmful cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater. We conducted a 30 ton scale mesocosm experiment to investigate the effects of NQ 2-0 on biotic and abiotic factors in water collected from Gi-heung reservoir. In the mesocosm experiments, the abundance of Microcystis sp. was continuously increased in the control. However, the Microcystis sp. cell density was sharply decreased on the $10^{th}$ day. In the treatment, NQ 2-0 showed the strong and selective algicidal activity toward the target cyanobacteria (Microcystis sp.). Accordingly, the algicidal activity of NQ 2-0 compound increased gradually until $10^{th}$, $15^{th}$ days and algal biomass was decreased to 99.4 and 100 %, respectively. NQ 2-0 compound was not only selective algicidal activity but also the growth of other phytoplankton and increased the Shannon-Wiener diversity index of phytoplankton. In the mesocosm experiments, the dynamics of biotic (bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellate, ciliates, zooplankton) and abiotic (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, nutrients) factors remained unaffected. These results suggest that NQ 2-0 could be a selective and ecologically safe algicide to mitigate harmful cyanobacterial blooms. In addition, it is believed that NQ 2-0 will play a major role in forming a healthy aquatic ecosystem by facilitating habitat and food supply of aquatic organisms.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.359-369
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• 2018

An essential measure to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAI) is to develop a consistent system of surveillance, thereby promoting a reliable situation diagnosis to perform efficient control for the problem. Patient-to-patient transmission of pathogens within the hospital plays a substantial role in the epidemiology of HAIs. Contamination of healthcare environments commonly occurs, including facilities surfaces (e.g., bed rails, bedside tables), drinking water, cooling tower water, endoscopic instruments, food, airborne, endotoxin test, sterile test and medical equipment, with pathogenic organisms. In addition, epidemiological analysis is performed by multi locus sequence tying, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for active surveillance. Therefore, an environmental surveillance culture test for prevention improves patient safety and blocks infection agents. Effective infection control and increased safety are possible by controlling the national infection control system. In conclusion, this study contributes to an effective infection control system through the standardization of active surveillance culture laboratory and secure expertise as infection control specialist. The primary objective of the standardization is to improve the safety of the nation's healthcare system by reducing the rates of HAIs.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.72-77
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• 2001

Expression of f3 ~agarase Gene and Catabolite Repression in Escherichia coli by the Promoter of Alginate Lyase Gene Isolated from Marine Pseudomonas sp. Jin, Cheal~Ho, J~Hyeon Park, Jeong-Hyun Han, YoonM Hyeok Chae, Jong~Hee Lee, Jung-Kee Lee!, and In-800 Kong*. Faculty of Food Science and Biotechnology, Pukyong National UniversitYt Pusan 608-737, Korea, llnBioNet Co. 1690-3 Taejon 306-230, Korea - Promoter is a key factor for expression of the recombinant protein. There are many promoters for overexpression of protein in various organisms. The aly promoter of Pseudomonas sp. W7 isolated from marine environment was known to be a constitutive expression promoter of the alginate lyase gene, and it's promoter activity is repressed by glucose in Escherichia coli. To investigate the catabolite repression of the aly promoter ~md association between the promoter mutants, f3 agarase gene, which was also cloned from Pseudomonas sp. W7 was connected to the aly promoter with the sequence the coding 46 N-terminal amino acids ofthe alginate lyase gene. The constructed plasmid was introduced into E. coli and the agarase activity was measured. Fourty six amino acids of the alginate lyase gene was serially deleted using peR to the direction of 5' upstream region and subcloned. The agarase was overexpressed by the aly promoter and the production of agarase was repressed by the addition of glucose into culture media. Fourty six amino acids of alginate lyase did not affect the production of agarase at all. The deletion of a putative stem-loop structure in the aly promoter induced the decrease of f3 -agarase productivity.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.92-97
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• 2012

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important components of living organisms acting against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial and fungal pathogens. Cathelicidin human peptides have a variety of biological activities that can be used in clinical applications. AMPs are not produced naturally in large quantities, and chemical synthesis is also economically impractical, especially for long peptides. Therefore, as an alternative, heterologous expression of AMPs by recombinant techniques has been studied as a means to reduce production costs. E. coli is an excellent host for the expression of AMPs, as well as other recombinant proteins, because of the low cost involved and its easy manipulation. However, overexpression of AMPs in E. coli has been shown to cause difficulties resulting from the toxicity of the subsequently produced AMPs. Therefore, fusion expression was theorized to be a solution to this problem. In this study, AMPs were expressed as fused proteins with the glutathione S-transferase (GST) binding protein to protect against the toxicity of AMPs when expressed in E. coli. The LL37, and hybrid gaegurin and LL37 (GGN4(1-16)-LL37(17-32), which we designated as GL32, peptides were expressed as GST-fusion proteins in E. coli and the fusion proteins were then purified by affinity columns. The purified peptides were obtained by removal of GST and were confirmed by western blot analysis. The purified antimicrobial peptides then demonstrated antimicrobial activities against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.303-312
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• 2008

Despite the impacts of the climate changes on the pelagic ecosystem, few studies have examined the pelagic-benthic coupling in the adjacent East China Sea and Korea Strait. Therefore, the species composition and abundance of the macrobenthic community, as well as the potential food sources of benthic fauna were investigated in the present study using stable isotope analysis (${\delta}^{13}C\;and\;{\delta}^{15}N$) for suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM), sedimentary organic matter (SOM), phytoplankton, and zooplankton. A total of 157 macrobenthic fauna were collected, and the density of the macrobenthic fauna ranged from 4 to 434 ind./0.25 $m^2$, with an average density of 149 ind./0.25 $m^2$. The density of the benthic fauna increased moving from offshore shelf sites to coastal sites adjacent to the Korea Strait. Cluster analysis showed that the macrobenthic communities consisted of three distinct groups: group A in the Korea Strait, group B in the East China Sea, and group C near Ieodo. The dominant species in group A were the amphipods Photis japonica and Ampelisca miharaensis, followed by the polychaete Scolotoma longifolia. Environmental variables, such as the temperature of the seawater and sediment, and oxygen, and chlorophyll a levels, appeared to affect the structure of the community, suggesting the importance of coupling with the pelagic system. The ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of SPOM and zooplankton ranged from -22.97 to -23.5% and -19.92 to -21.86%, respectively, showing a relatively narrow range(<1%) between the two components. The difference between the ${\delta}^{13}C$ values of SOM and pelagic organic matter was also within 1%, suggesting that the SOM originated from the pelagic system, which is an important factor controlling the macrobenthic community.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.256-260
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• 1999

Minimun-detectable levels to 28 antibacterial agents used for the prevention and the treatment of fish diseases were determined to establish optimal detective method of bioassay in fish by the EEC 4-plate method, the modified method of EEC 4-plate and the standard method of analysis in food safety regulation. The test organisms used in the methods of bioassay were as follows: Bacillus subtilis BGA (B. subtilis) and Micrococcus luteus ATCC 9341 (M. luteus) in the EEC 4-plate method, B. subtilis, M. luteus and Bacillus cereus var. mycoides ATCC 11778 (B. cereus) in the modified of EEC 4-plate, and B. subtilis, M. luteus, B. cereus and Bacillus stearothermophilis var. calidolactis C-953 (B. stearothermophilis) in the standard method. The standard method showed predominant sensitivity in the detection of penicillins (PCs), and was also highly sensitive to aminoglycosides (AGs). The sensitivity of standard method in the detection of tetracyclines (TCs), marrolides (MLs), nitrofuran derivatives(NFs) and quinolones (QNs) was very low, and against sulfonamides (SAs), however, was extremely low. The modified method of EEC 4-plate showed very high sensitivity to TCs. Both the EEC 4-plate and the modified method of EEC 4-plate showed competitively high sensitivity in the detection of PCs, MLs, NFs, QNs and SAs. All the methods studied in the experiment showed very low sensitivity against chloramphenicol (CMs). Consequently, the modified method of EEC 4-Plate was the best bioassay method with a wide range of sensitivity for the optimal detection of the residual antibacterial agents in fish.