• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.104-113
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• 2018

In order to investigate indigenous prokaryotic species diversity in Korea, various environmental samples from diverse ecosystems were examined. Isolated bacterial strains were identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, and those exhibiting at least 98.7% sequence similarity with known bacterial species, but not reported in Korea, were selected as unrecorded species. 28 unrecorded bacterial species belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes were discovered from various habitats including wastewater, freshwater, freshwater sediment, wet land, reclaimed land, plant root, bird feces, seawater, sea sand, tidal flat sediment, a scallop, marine algae, and seaweed. The unrecorded species were assigned to 18 different genera in five families: Flavobacterium, Epilithonimonas, Dokdonia, Gillisia, Flavicella, Chryseobacterium, Algibacter, Aquimarina, Lacinutrix, Gaetbulibacter, Cellulophaga, Tenacibaculum, and Maribacter of Flavobacteriaceae, Dyadobacter of Cytophagaceae, Draconibacterium of Draconibacterium_f, Sunxiuqinia of Prolixibacteraceae, and Fulvivirga of Fulvivirga_f. The selected isolates were subjected to further taxonomic characterization including analysis of Gram reaction, cellular and colonial morphology, biochemical activities, and phylogenetic trees. Descriptive information of the 28 unrecorded species is provided.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.32-46
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• 2005

The distribution and standing crop of the phytoplankton were investigated at five freshwater lakes Suwon-si and Pyongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do from Mar. to Nov., 2003. In this investigation, 199 taxa in total were found and classified as 5 phylums 5 classes 16 orders 26 families 72 genera 167 species 1 subspecies 28 varieties and 3 forms by Engler's classification system. The indicator species of clean water was Cladophora glomerata, which was appeared in Gwanggyo reservoir on September, 2003. Twenty taxa including Oscillatoria chlorina were identified as the indicators of water pollution, and three taxa of cyanophyte were toxic algae. In terms of Yang and Dickman's standard of chlorophyll-a content in eutrophication of water, four lakes including Seo lake were found to be in the hypereutrophic state, and Gwanggyo reservoir was in eutrophic state except in winter.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.165-180
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• 2019

Water quality data of 81 lakes in Korea, 2013 ~ 2017 were analyzed. Most water quality parameters showed left-skewed distribution, while dissolved oxygen showed normal distribution. pH and dissolved oxygen showed a positive correlation with organic matter and nutrients, which appeared to be a nonsense correlation mediated by the algae. The ratio of $BOD_5$ and $COD_{Mn}$ to CBOD was 21 % and 52 % in the freshwater lakes, respectively. TOC concentration appeared to be underestimated by the UV digestion method, when salinity exceeds $700{\mu}S\;cm^{-1}$. In terms of nitrogen/phosphorus ratio, the limiting factor for algal growth seemed to be phosphorus in most of the lakes. Chlorophyll ${\alpha}$ increased acutely with decrease of N/P ratio. However, it seemed to be a nonsense correlation mediated by phosphorus concentration, since the N/P ratio depended on phosphorus. The N/P ratio of brackish lakes was lower than that of the freshwater, at the same concentration of phosphorus. It is worth examining denitrification that occurs, in bottom layer and sediment, during saline stratification. $Chl.{\alpha}$ concentration decreased in the form of a power function with increase of mean depth. The primary reason is that deep lakes are mainly at the less-disturbed upstream. However, it is necessary to investigate the effect of sediment, on water quality in shallow lakes. Light attenuation in the upper layer, was dominated by tripton (non-algal suspended solids) absorption/scattering (average relative contribution of 39 %), followed by CDOM (colored dissolved organic matter) (average 37 %) and $Chl.{\alpha}$ (average 21 %).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.659-665
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• 2022

Chlorella vulgaris is an important freshwater alga that is widely used as a food source by humans and animals. Recently, Chlorella has received considerable attention with regard to its potential application in aquaculture and the production of biofuels, nutrients, and therapeutic proteins. Recently, our laboratory acquired a new strain of C. vulgaris, PKVL7422, characterized by fast growth, ease of culture, and cultivability under dark conditions. However, the genes involved in its nitrogen assimilation are unknown. In this work, we identified the nitrate reductase (NR) gene of C. vulgaris PKVL7422 using rapid amplification of cDNA ends and genome walking. The NR gene of C. vulgaris PKVL7422 is approximately 8 kb long and composed of 18 introns and 19 exons, which encode 877 amino acids. An alignment analysis of the NR gene showed that it possesses the five domains and several invariant residues found in plant NRs. These results provide new insight into the molecular organization of the NR gene in algae.

• ALGAE
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.379-388
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• 2017

In the present study, we enhanced the phenolic content of 70% ethanol extracts of Spirogyra sp. (SPE, $260.47{\pm}5.21$ gallic acid equivalent $[GAE]mg\;g^{-1}$), 2.97 times to $774.24{\pm}2.61GAE\;mg\;g^{-1}$ in the ethyl acetate fraction of SPE (SPEE). SPEE was evaluated for its antiradical activity in online high-performance liquid chromatography-ABTS analysis, and the peaks with the highest antiradical activities were identified as gallic acid derivatives containing gallic acid, methyl gallate, and ethyl gallate. Isolation of ethyl gallate from Spirogyra sp. was performed for the first time in this study. In ultraviolet B (UVB)-irradiated keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), SPEE improved cell viability by 8.22%, and 23.33% and reduced accumulation of cells in the sub-$G_1$ phase by 20.53%, and 32.11% at the concentrations of 50 and $100{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$, respectively. Furthermore, SPEE (50 and $100{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$) reduced reactive oxygen species generation in UVB-irradiated zebrafish by 66.67% and 77.78%. This study suggests a protective activity of gallic acid and its derivatives from Spirogyra sp. against UVB-induced stress responses in both in vitro and in vivo models, suggesting a potential use of SPEE in photoprotection.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2014

Some blue-green algal species such as those in the genus Anabaena causing severe algal blooms can produce akinetes, resting spores, in aquatic ecosystems. Germinated akinetes staying in the sediment as "seed banks" grow into vegetative cells under favorable conditions of light intensity, nutrient, and temperature. Therefore, akinete plays an important role in forming the nuisance bloom. However, little information is available in the ecological study of akinetes compared to that of vegetative cells in Korea. This review reports ecological and physiological characteristics of akinetes, especially of the blue-green algal genus Anabaena. We also suggest the feasible area of akinetes in the freshwater ecosystems. We expect that the suggested studies associated with akinetes will contribute to further understanding the life cycle and ecology of Anabaena and other algae.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.144-154
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• 1991

After the completion of the Nakdong River estuary barrage, environmental characteristics and phytoplankton communities in the estuary were investigated from April to December, 1989. dissolved oxygen seems to have decreased in the just lower region of the barrage off Janglim, while ammonia and phosphate concentration increased, probably due to the waste discharge from the Janglim stream and stagnation of water after the barrage construction. Concentrations of nitrate and dissolved silicate were negatively correlated with salinity, suggesting that major source is the Nakdong River discharge. In April, there was a diatom (Asterinella sp.) bloom in the upper region of the barrage, while in July, a diatom (Skeletonema costatum) bloom in the estuary mouth. The green and blue-green algae in species composition seem to have increased after the barrage construction. The relatively high concentration of chlorophyll b in the upper region of the barrage probably result from the high density of freshwater green-algae there. Among the species occurred in the study area, many were indicative of water pollution. It seems that environmental characters and phytoplankton communities are changing after the barrage construction.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2009

To study the influence of the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus on harmful algal bloom suppression, we focused on assessing the rotifer's abilities using several prey species : Microcystis aeruginosa, Synechocystis sp., Chlorella vulgaris and Coelastrum sp. of the warm-weather species and the cold-weather centric diatom Stephanodiscus hantzchii. Grazing effects and growth rates of rotifers B. calyciflorus were 94.5% and $1.29d^{-1}$, respectively, for Synechocystis sp., 87.4% and $0.60d^{-1}$, respectively, for M. aeruginosa, 95.2% and $0.65d^{-1}$, respectively, for C. $vulgaris^{TM}$, 78.6% and $0.45d^{-1}$, respectively, for C. vulgaris UTEX., 86.5% and $0.99d^{-1}$, respectively, for Coelastrum sp., and 82.6% and $0.40d^{-1}$, respectively, for S. hantzchii. Of these, although the growth of Synechocystis and Coelastrum was effectively suppressed by rotifer grazing, efficient suppression effects on Stephanodiscus blooms were unexpected. The present study revealed that reproduction of B. calyciflorus was greatly influenced by its food types in the initial stages and the efficiencies of bio-agents as sole food sources vary depending on the target algae and the agent.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2019

Background: Piton du Milieu (PdM) impounding reservoir is suspected to be eutrophic based on the elevated level of orthophosphate and nitrate. Water supplies from three adjacent rivers are primarily thought to contribute to the nutrient enrichment of the reservoir. It is also suspected that there is leaching of orthophosphate, nitrate and organic matter into the rivers during rainfall events and also as a result of anthropogenic activities within the catchment area. The aim of this study was to ascertain the impact of nutrient loading on the water quality of PdM water and on the population of freshwater microalgae in the reservoir. The enumeration and identification of algae from PdM were performed by differential interference contrast microscopy. Dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH were determined by electrometric methods, whereas nutrient levels, silica and total organic carbon (TOC) were determined by instrumentation techniques. Results: Annual mean orthophosphate, nitrate and total organic carbon input from the three feeders within the catchment area of PdM reached levels as high as 0.09 mg/L, 0.4 mg/L and 2.62 ppm respectively. Over a 12-month period, mean TOC concentration in the reservoir was 2.32 ppm while the mean algal cell count was 4601 cells/mL. The dominant algal species identified were Oscillatoria, Cyclotella, Navicula and Cosmarium. Conclusion: This study highlights the trophic state of the reservoir water and clearly points to the need for constant monitoring in order to avoid the occurrence of an impending harmful algal bloom.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.952-961
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• 2019

Chlorella spp. are green algae that are found across wide-ranging habitats from deserts to arctic regions, with various strains having adapted to survive under diverse environmental conditions. In this study, two novel Chlorella strains (ABC-002, ABC-008) were isolated from a freshwater lake in South Korea during the winter season and examined for possible use in the biofuel production process. The comparison of ABC-002 and ABC-008 strains with Chlorella vulgaris UTEX265 under two different temperatures ($10^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$) revealed their cold-tolerant phenotypes as well as high biomass yields. The maximum quantum yields of UTEX25, ABC-002, and ABC-008 at $10^{\circ}C$ were 0.5594, 0.6747, and 0.7150, respectively, providing evidence of the relatively higher cold-resistance capabilities of these two strains. Furthermore, both the biomass yields and lipid content of the two novel strains were found to be higher than those of UTEX265; the overall lipid productivities of ABC-002 and ABC-008 were 1.7 ~ 2.8 fold and 1.6 ~ 4.2 fold higher compared to that of UTEX265, respectively. Thus, the high biomass and lipid productivity over a wide range of temperatures indicate that C. vulgaris ABC-002 and ABC-008 are promising candidates for applications in biofuel productions via outdoor biomass cultivation.