• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.310-314
• /
• 2011

Nonstructural protein 3 (NS3) encoded by RNA3 of Rice stripe virus (RSV), known to be a suppressor of gene silencing, was cloned and sequenced. The cloned NS3 gene is composed of 636 nucleotides encoding 211 deduced amino acids, and showed a high degree of similarity with the equivalent genes isolated from Korea, Japan and China. The NS3 gene promoted the enhancement of transient gene expression and suppressed transgene co-silencing. In the transient GFP expression via agroinfiltration, GFP expression was dramatically enhanced in terms of both protein yield and expression period in the presence of NS3. The highest accumulation of GFP protein reached to 6.8% of total soluble proteins, which corresponded to a two-fold increase compared to that obtained in the absence of NS3. In addition, NS3 significantly suppressed the initiation of GFP co-silencing induced by the additive GFP infiltration in GFP-transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana. The NS3 gene was also found to be a stronger suppressor than Cucumber mosaic virus 2b. These observations are believed to be derived from the strong suppressive effect of NS3 on gene silencing, and indicate that NS3 could be used as an effective enhancer for the rapid production of foreign proteins in plants.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.22-32
• /
• 2002

Mineral composition and chemistry of the clay minerals in the three cores from the continental shelves of South Shetland Islands (NCS09) and Anberse Island (GC98-2), and from the fjord of King George Island (A10-01) were determined by X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analysis in search of the distributions and origin of the clay minerals in the Antarctic marine sediments. Smectite content is relatively high in NCS09 regardless of core depths (av. 8.3%), but low in GC98-2 (1.1%). In Al0-01, smectite content is higher in the upper section than in the lower section. Kaolinite was not detected from all the cores in this study Yellow to yellowish green clay granules were commonly scattered in the sediments of NCS09 cores. The clays contain 16.97% and 2.53% $Fe_2$$O_3$와 $K_2$O. Average structural formula of the clay indicates ferrian beidellite . The (Fe, K)-rich smectite of NSC09 must have been derived from relatively young basaltic volcanics altered by reaction with seawater near Shetland Islands by glacial erosion or eolian process related to volcanic eruption. GC98-2 nearer to Antarctic continent is very low in smectite content. In A10-01, the lower diamicton was deposited from the glacial erosion of smectite-free ancient volcanics in the interior of King George Island, while the upper section was derived from the smectite-bearing terrestrial debris and eolian materials after retreat of glaciers in Marian Cove and ice cover in Barton Peninsula. Thehigh K contents of smectites suggest the interstratification of illite and smectite layers, which might be observed by future TEM lattice fringe imaging.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.9
• /
• pp.1547-1554
• /
• 2015

The potential of microalgae biofuel has not been realized because of the low productivity and high costs associated with the current cultivation systems. In this study, a new low-cost and transparent attachment material was tested for cultivation of a filamentous algal strain, Stigeoclonium sp., isolated from wastewater. Initially, the different materials tested for Stigeoclonium cultivation in untreated wastewater were nylon mesh, polyethylene mesh, polypropylene bundle (PB), polycarbonate plate, and viscose rayon. Among the materials tested, PB led to a firm attachment, high biomass (53.22 g/m², dry cell weight), and total lipid yield (5.8 g/m²) with no perceivable change in FAME profile. The Stigeoclonium-dominated biofilm consisted of bacteria and extracellular polysaccharide, which helped in biofilm formation and for effective wastewater treatment (viz., removal efficiency of total nitrogen and total phosphorus corresponded to ~38% and ~90%, respectively). PB also demonstrated high yields under multilayered cultivation in a single reactor treating wastewater. Hence, this system has several advantages over traditional suspended and attached systems, with possibility of increasing areal productivity three times using Stigeoclonium sp. Therefore, multilayered attached growth algal cultivation systems seem to be the future cultivation model for large-scale biodiesel production and wastewater treatment.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.30 no.sup
• /
• pp.8.1-8.5
• /
• 2015

Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the biodegradation potential of four perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) alternatives that were developed at Changwon National University. While PFOS has been used widely in industrial and consumer products, it is known to be a persistent organic pollutant. Therefore, greener alternatives are highly desirable. Methods Biodegradation tests were run for 28 days using standard test protocols. The biochemical oxygen demand was measured daily throughout the experimental period, and the data were used to calculate the biodegradation rates. Microorganisms were isolated from the some of the tests that showed evidence of biodegradation. Results $C_8H_8F_9KO_3S$, which has the same number of carbons as the parent compound PFOS but a reduced number of fluorines, showed the highest biodegradation rate followed by $C_{10}H_8F_{13}KO_3S$. Chemical alternatives with lower number of carbons did not biodegrade readily in the experiments. Conclusions Together, these results suggest that it may be advantageous to develop PFOS alternatives with 8 carbons, the same as PFOS, but a reduced number of fluorines; as such, chemicals are more susceptible to biodegradation than the parent compound.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.7
• /
• pp.1129-1135
• /
• 2015

The synthesis of gold nanoparticles has gained tremendous attention owing to their immense applications in the field of biomedical sciences. Although several chemical procedures are used for the synthesis of nanoparticles, the release of toxic and hazardous by-products restricts their use in biomedical applications. In the present investigation, gold nanoparticles were synthesized biologically using the culture filtrate of the filamentous fungus Alternaria sp. The culture filtrate of the fungus was exposed to three different concentrations of chloroaurate ions. In all cases, the gold ions were reduced to Au(0), leading to the formation of stable gold nanoparticles of variable sizes and shapes. UV-Vis spectroscopy analysis confirmed the formation of nanoparticles by reduction of Au³⁺ to Au⁰. TEM analysis revealed the presence of spherical, rod, square, pentagonal, and hexagonal morphologies for 1 mM chloroaurate solution. However, quasi-spherical and spherical nanoparticles/heart-like morphologies with size range of about 7-13 and 15-18 nm were observed for lower molar concentrations of 0.3 and 0.5 mM gold chloride solution, respectively. The XRD spectrum revealed the face-centered cubic crystals of synthesized gold nanoparticles. FT-IR spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of aromatic primary amines, and the additional SPR bands at 290 and 230 nm further suggested that the presence of amino acids such as tryptophan/tyrosine or phenylalanine acts as the capping agent on the synthesized mycogenic gold nanoparticles.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.187-203
• /
• 2011

Chlorophenols (CPs) are widely used industrial chemicals that have been identified as being toxic to both humans and the environment. Zero valent iron (ZVI) and iron based bimetallic systems have the potential to efficiently dechlorinate CPs. This paper reviews the research conducted in this area over the past decade, with emphasis on the processes and mechanisms for the removal of CPs, as well as the characterization and role of the iron oxides formed on the ZVI surface. The removal of dissolved CPs in iron-water systems occurs via dechlorination, sorption and co-precipitation. Although ZVI has been commonly used for the dechlorination of CPs, its long term reactivity is limited due to surface passivation over time. However, iron based bimetallic systems are an effective alternative for overcoming this limitation. Bimetallic systems prepared by physically mixing ZVI and the catalyst or through reductive deposition of a catalyst onto ZVI have been shown to display superior performance over unmodified ZVI. Nonetheless, the efficiency and rate of hydrodechlorination of CPs by bimetals depend on the type of metal combinations used, properties of the metals and characteristics of the target CP. The presence and formation of various iron oxides can affect the reactivities of ZVI and bimetals. Oxides, such as green rust and magnetite, facilitate the dechlorination of CPs by ZVI and bimetals, while oxide films, such as hematite, maghemite, lepidocrocite and goethite, passivate the iron surface and hinder the dechlorination reaction. Key environmental parameters, such as solution pH, presence of dissolved oxygen and dissolved co-contaminants, exert significant impacts on the rate and extent of CP dechlorination by ZVI and bimetals.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.291-296
• /
• 2016

Application of photocatalytic nanoparticles has been recently gaining an increased attention as air purifying material for sustainable urban development. The present work reports the photocatalytic removal of gaseous phase nitrogen oxides ($NO_x$) using $TiO_2$-coated zeolite to be applied as a filter media for the urban green infrastructure such as raingardens. The $TiO_2$-coated zeolite was synthesized by simple wet chemistry method and tested in a continuous-flow photo-reactor for its removal efficiency of $NO_x$ under different conditions of the weight percentage of $TiO_2$ coated on the zeolite, and gas retention time. The removal efficiency of $NO_x$ in general increased as the weight percentage of $TiO_2$ coated on the zeolite increased up to 15-20%. Greater than 90% of $NO_x$ was removed at a retention time of one minute using the $TiO_2$-coated zeolite ($TiO_2$ weight percentage = 20%). Overall, $TiO_2$-coated zeolite showed greater efficiency of $NO_x$ removal compared to $TiO_2$ powder probably by providing additional reaction sites from the porous structure of zeolite. It was presumed that the degradation of $NO_x$ is attributed to both the physical adsorption and photocatalytic oxidation that could simultaneously occur at the catalyst surface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2001.09a
• /
• pp.35-37
• /
• 2001

This study has investigated the chemical characteristics and the contamination of groundwater in relation to land use in Daejeon Metropolitan City. An attempt was made to distinguish anthrophogenic inputs from the influence of natural chemical weathering on the chemical composition of groundwater at Taejon. Groundwater samples collected at 170 locations in the Taejon area show very variable chemical composition of groundwater, e.9. electrical conductance ranges from 65 to 1,290 S/cm. Most groundwater is weakly acidic and the groundwater chemistry is more influenced by land use and urbanization than by aquifer rock type. Most of groundwater from green areas and new town residential districts has low electrical conductance, and is of Ca-HC $O_3$ type, whereas the chemical composition of groundwater from the old downtown and industrial district is shifted towards a Ca-Cl (N $O_3$+S $O_4$) type with high electrical conductance. A number of groundwater samples in the urbanized area are contaminated by high nitrate and chlorine, and exhibit high hardness. The Ep$CO_2$, that is the $CO_2$ content of a water sample relative to pure water, was computed to obtain more insight into the origin of $CO_2$ and bicarbonate in the groundwater. Factor analysis of the chemical data shows that the HC $O_3$ and N $O_3$ concentrations have the highest factor loadings on factor 1 and factor 2, respectively. Factors 1 and 2 represent major contributions from natural processes and human activities, respectively. The results of the factor analysis indicate that the levels of $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, N $a^{+}$, Cl and SO4$^2$ derive from both pollution sources and natural weathering reactions.ons.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.300-309
• /
• 2010

The ability of sodium-exchanged clay particles as an adsorbent for the removal of commercial dyes, Methylene blue (MB) and Malachite green oxalate (MG) from aqueous solutions has been investigated under various experimental conditions. The effect of the experimental parameters, such as pH solution, agitation time, adsorbate concentration and adsorbent dose were examined. Maximum adsorption of dyes, i.e. >90% has been achieved in aqueous solutions using 0.03 g of clay at a pH of 7 and 298 K for both dyes. The adsorption process was a fast and the equilibrium was obtained within the first 5 min. For the adsorption of both MB and MG dyes, the pseudo-second-order reaction kinetics provides the best correlation of the experimental data. The adsorption equilibrium results follow Langmuir and Dubini-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms with high regression coefficients $R^2$ > 0.98. The mean free energies $E_a$ of adsorption from D-R model were 3.779 and 2.564 kj/mol for MB and MG respectively, which corresponds to a physisorption process.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.369-375
• /
• 2008

To achieve zero-emission, one of the main goals of an eco-industrial park (EIP), it is needed to develop an effective water exchange network. The network includes various subsystems and decision making processes, which make the modeling process extremely complicated. Agent-based modeling was used to simulate water exchange network in an EIP. Firm agents were created based on the behavior pattern of firms, and an agent-based model (ABM) was made with the agents, showing the growth of the exchange network. An existing steel and iron making industrial park was chosen as a case study, and the ABM model shows eco-efficient behavior with a decreased environmental cost. Water reuse network based on the ABM model results in 35% decrease of the fresh water supply and 50% reduction of the wastewater generation in EIP. A case study shows that agent-based model can be a powerful tool in modeling and designing complex eco-industrial parks, especially when a part of the system needs to be changed.