• ALGAE
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.295-306
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• 2023

Human coronavirus diseases, particularly severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, still remain a persistent public health issue, and many recent studies are focusing on the quest for new leads against coronaviruses. To contribute to this growing pool of knowledge and explore the available marine natural products against coronaviruses, this study investigated the antiviral effects of fucoxanthin isolated from Sargassum siliquastrum-a brown alga found on Jeju Island, South Korea. The antiviral effects of fucoxanthin were confirmed in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-infected Vero cells, and its structural characteristics were verified in silico using molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations and in vitro colorimetric method. Fucoxanthin inhibited the infection in a concentration-dependent manner, without showing cytotoxicity. Molecular docking simulations revealed that fucoxanthin binds to the angiotensinconverting enzyme 2-spike protein (binding energy -318.306 kcal mol^-1) and main protease (binding energy -205.118 kcal mol^-1). Moreover, molecular dynamic simulations showed that fucoxanthin remains docked to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2-spike protein for 20 ns, whereas it breaks away from main protease after 3 ns. Also, the in silico prediction of the fucoxanthin was verified through the in vitro colorimetric method by inhibiting the binding between angiotensinconverting enzyme 2 and spike protein in a concentration-dependent manner. These results indicate that fucoxanthin exhibits antiviral effects against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by blocking the entry of the virus. Therefore, fucoxanthin from S. siliquastrum can be a potential candidate for treating coronavirus infection.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.265-274
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• 2013

The growth, reproduction, gametophyte(G)/tetrasporophyte(T) ratio, and diseases of Chondrus ocellatus populations were examined at 3 sites (Samcheok, Youngduk, Pohang) of East coast and at 2 sites (Hakampo, Manripo) of West coast in between July and August, 2013. Average plant lengths were 6.10~9.69 cm and it was minimum at Manripo and maximum at Pohang population. In general, average plant length and weight of C. ocellatus were greater on East coast than West coast populations. The proportion of vegetative plant was between 26.7~66.7 %, and G/T ratio of total plants including vegetative plants after testing resorcinol method was 3:2 on the East coast where is gametophyte dominant area. However, G/T ratio was 1:1 at Hakampo and 1:2.3 at Manripo representing tetrasporophyte dominance. In the present study, Korean C. ocellatus have various diseases (white colour and green colour), an endophytic alga(Ulvella sp.), and many epiphytic macroalgae and diatoms. Healthy C. ocellatus plants were about 20~40 % in summer population and most of plants had disease. Chondrus ocellatus had a filamentous green alga, endophytic Ulvella sp. which was not identified. The endophyte is easily observed in C. crispus growing in Europe and Canada and it is recognised as a pathogen destroying population and reducing yield of C. crispus. Thus more interest and research on the endophytic algae and disease of C. ocellatus are required.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1807-1811
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• 2010

In order to evaluate estrogenic compounds in brown algae, an in vitro test system for the verification of estrogenic activity was applied. Fractions from ethanol extracts of each brown alga were prepared by a systematic fractionation procedure with solvents such as $H_2O$, hexane, butanol and methanol. Aqueous fractions of brown algae showed the highest estrogenic activities. Estrogenic activities of $500\;{\mu}g/ml$ aqueous fractions of Undaria pinnatifida and Laminaria japonica showed almost the same strength as that of $10^{-7}\;M$ standard solution ($17{\beta}$-estradiol). Furthermore, estrogenic activities of $500\;{\mu}g/ml$ aqueous fractions of Ecklonia stolonifera and Porphyra suborbiculate represented higher activities than that of $10^{-8}\;M$ $17{\beta}$-estradiol. These observations suggest that aqueous fractions of all these brown algae are expected to possess estrogenic compounds and could be developed as estrogenic agents for postmenopausal disorder.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.409-416
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• 1998

Owing to their high growth rate, marine microalgae such as Chlorella, Spirulina, Porphpidium and Dunaliella have been believed to be potentially useful for the production of foods, drugs and energy from light, $CO_2$ and minerals. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the growth and fatty acid composition in the blue green alga Spirulina platensis when the temperature and light intensity of culture conditions were changed. The optimal growth conditions for Spirulina platensis from the biomass and lipid contents were $30^{\circ}C$ on 6391 $\mu$E/$m^3$/sec and $35^{\circ}C$ on 4235 $\mu$E/$m^3$/sec. The difference of lipid contents between exponential phase and stationary phase were very large according to growth conditions. According to growth conditions the fatty acid compositions of Spirulina platensis differed, but regardless of growth conditions the main fatty acids were C16 : 0 and C20 : 0 in saturated fatty acid, C16 : 1, C18 : 1 and C 18 : 2 in unsaturated fatty acid.

• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2015

The growth and hole formation of Ulva australis were examined at seven coastal areas of Korea between July and August, 2013. Animal species and weight growing on the Ulva fronds were estimated at Haseom, Pohang, and Woedo. The effects of wave exposure on the morphological features and residential animals of Ulva fronds were investigated at wave-exposed and sheltered sites of Seongsan on October 19, 2013. U. australis had different frond areas ($82-665cm^2$), hole areas ($2.5-6.3cm^2$), and hole numbers (9.8-41.3 holes) at the seven sites. Within $0.1m^2$ of Ulva frond, hole areas ranged from 0.37 to $5.94cm^2$, and between 4.9 and 36.2 holes were observed. Fourteen residential animal species were observed at the three evaluated sites, 75.0 (Haseom) to 408.7 individuals $100g^{-1}$ Ulva (Pohang) per site. The dominant residential species at each site differed with Amphithoe sp. at Haseom, Monodonta spp. at Pohang, and Pagurus sp. at Woedo. The growth (frond area, wet weight) and hole number of Ulva fronds, and the number of residential animals were significantly greater in samples collected from the sheltered shore than the wave-exposed shore of Seongsan. The present results showed U. australis grew well at sheltered shores and had more holes on the fronds due to abundance of residential animals. The dominant residential animals (crabs, gammaridea, and snails) were similar in the Ulva populations of sheltered and wave-exposed shores, but greater species diversity was observed at the exposed shore (18 species ver. 11 species). In conclusion, U. australis is a keystone species providing habitat to various invertebrates and frond holes are positively correlated to the number of residential animals.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.871-878
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• 2003

A marine bacterium (strain BKl) that produces extracellular enzymes capable of decomposing complex polysac-charides, such as agar, chitin, carboxymethylcellulose, xylan and mannan, was isolated from the marine red alga Porphyra dentata. Strain BKl was gram-negative, aerobic, catalase- and oxidase-positive, polarly flagellated bacilli that produce gelatinase and urease, but not decarboxylases. The G+C content of the DNA was 51.6 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone component was identified as an ubiquinone-8, and the major cellular fatty acids were C16:0, C16:1 w6c and C18:1 w7c. Comparative 16S rRNA sequence analysis placed strain BK1 with members of the genus Pseudomonas. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, the strain BK1 was shown to be a member of the subgroup of Pseudomonas, and named as Pseudomonas sp. BK1.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.29-46
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• 1991

Benthic marine algal community of a sea bank at Joomoonjin, in the eastern coast of Korea, was investigated monthly in view of floristic composition and seasonal periodicity during from August, 1989 to July 1990. Total number of benthic alga identified were 70 taxa, which composed of 7 species of Chlorophyta, 21 species of Phaeophyta and 42 species of Rhodophyta. The dominant species were Sargassum horneri, Underia pinnatifida, Laminaria japonica and Pachymeniopsis sp.. Vegetation, from the point of phygiognomy, was a mosaic type by these dominant species. The flora was compared with similarity index using S${\phi}$rensen coefficient and grouped by a cluster analysis. As a result, the algal community of this area could be divided into two clusters at similarity level 45% : Flora of water temperature-ascending period(January-July) and flora of water temperature-descending period(August-December). And also, the former flora was subdivided into two clusters at point of the $14^{\circ}C$ sea water temperature : winter flora(January-April) and spring-summer flora(May-July). The flora of this area was characterized as a mixed flora of cold and temperature zone by Cheney's index.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1152-1160
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• 2017

A unicellular green alga was axenically isolated from a tidal pool on Ulleung-do, Korea. Morphological, molecular, and biochemical analyses revealed that the isolate belonged to Auxenochlorella protothecoides. The current study is the first record of this species in Korea. The microalgal strain was named as A. protothecoides MM0011 and its growth, lipid and pigment compositions, and biomass properties were investigated. The strain is able to thrive in a wide range of temperatures ($5{\sim}35^{\circ}C$) and to withstand up to 1.5 M NaCl. The results of GC/MS analysis showed that the isolate was rich in nutritionally important polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Its major fatty acids were linoleic acid (27.6%) and ${\alpha}-linolenic$ acid (39.6%). Thus, this indigenous microalga has potential as an alternative source of ${\omega}3$ and ${\omega}6$ PUFAs, which currently come from fish and plant oils. Also, the HPLC analysis revealed that the value-added antioxidant, lutein, was biosynthesized as the accessory pigments by the microalga. A proximate analysis showed that the volatile matter content was 85.6% and an ultimate analysis indicated that the gross calorific value was $20.3MJ\;kg^{-1}$. Since 40.5% of total nitrogen and 27.9% of total phosphorus were removed from the medium, respectively, it also has potential as a feedstock for biofuel applications which could be coupled to wastewater treatment. In addition, the biomass may also serve as an excellent animal feed because of its high protein content (51.4%). Therefore, A. protothecoides MM0011 shows promise for application in production of microalgae-based biochemicals and as a biomass feedstock.

• Carbon letters
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• v.19
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• pp.79-88
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• 2016

As a replacement for activated carbon, biochar was synthesized and used for the adsorptive removal of formaldehyde and nitrogen oxide. Biochar was produced from the fast pyrolysis of the red marine macro alga, Pyropia tenera. The P. tenera char was then activated with steam, ammonia and KOH to alter its characteristics. The adsorption of formaldehyde, which is one of the main indoor air pollutants, onto the seaweed char was performed using 1-ppm formaldehyde and the char was activated using a range of methods. The char activated with both the KOH and ammonia treatments showed the highest adsorptive removal efficiency, followed by KOH-treated char, ammonia-treated char, steam-treated char, and non-activated char. The removal of 1000-ppm NO over untreated char, KOH-treated char, and activated carbon was also tested. While the untreated char exhibited little activity, the KOH-treated char removed 80% of the NO at 50℃, which was an even higher NO removal efficiency than that achieved by activated carbon.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.265-272
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• 2004

Biological characteristics of anodic electrolyzed water were investigated in this study. Linear DNAs which were incubated at $4^\circ{C}$ and $25^\circ{C}$ for 10 mins in the anodic electrolyzed water were degraded about 40% and 50%, respectively. But the DNA was amplified pretty well without any degradation through polymerase chain reaction in the presence of anodic electrolyzed water. Protein degradation hardly occurred in the distilled water during entire incubation time of 7 days, while protein began to be degraded from 4 days in the anodic electrolyzed water. Rice seeds could germinate in the distilled water and anodic electrolyzed water with the same germination ratio, however, the anodic electrolyzed water inhibited the growth of roots and total length of rice seedlings in the soil. Anodic electrolyzed water did not affect the growth curve and cell number of marine alga significantly. The anodic electrolyzed water inhibited the browning of potato by inactivating 50% of polyphenol oxidase activity.