• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.36-47
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• 2009

Microbial and related biochemical mass of composts are important for optimization of its process and end-products. This study was carried out to assess the specific microbial and related biochemical mass which could be used as an indicator for compost maturity during composting stages. The samples from five compost plants were collected at three stages (Initial, Thermophilic and Mature) and analyzed for total aerobic bacteria (TAB), Coliforms, Escherichia coli, Actinomycetes and fungi. Significantly, the coliforms and E.coli counts decreased during the thermophilic stage and were completely eliminated during mature stage. However, the other microbial mass were completely eliminated during mature stage. Which disclosed that Coliforms and E.coli communities can be used as compost maturity indicator. Interestingly, the microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen ratio (MBC/MBN) were decreased a little during the thermophilic stage due to the decreasing number of coliforms, Ecoli and fungi, while the ratio increased during the mature stage due to increasing fungal and aerobic bacterial counts. In addition the heavy metals were shown strong negative correlation with Actenomycetes. This study provides insight to the evaluation of compost maturity as well as the quality by the metal-microbial interactions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.84-98
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• 2000

Control of Trihalomethanes(THMs) is a major concern of many water treatment plants. A number of researchers have studied the effectiveness of activated carbon adsorption process in removing THMs or organic halogen compounds. Recently, attention has been paid to the biological activated carbon (BAC) treatment of THM precursors as an alternative to the carbon adsorption treatment because of its effectiveness as well as its low running cost. In this study, changes of THM formation potential(THMFP) and removal of substrates in the SBR effluent were investigated in an attempt to clarify the mechanisms of the decrease/increase of THMFP in the BAC treatment. The increase and decrease of THMFP concentrations were observed in effluents during prolonged operation. When PCP or DBS was feeded as substrate contained in SBR effluent, the THMFPs were easyly removed with TOCs removal. But the case of SBR effluent containing SDS or glycine was introduced, and when microbial growth came to its near steady state, the THMFPs of treated effluents were increased more or less in comparison to those in the influents. Such increases of THMFP coincided with the increase in microbial growth within the activated carbon fiber(ACF) column. In the case of only sucrose was feeded as substrate on ACF colume, THMFP concentrations of effluent were higher than those of influent. The THMFP concentration was significantly increased on inlet part of ACF column, which biomass inhabits abundantly, then they were decreased gradually. These increases mean production of the secondary THM precursors by biological activities, which can be removed by adsorption and biological degradation on ACF column.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.229-243
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• 2011

Consumers' interest and government's support for the fruits rapidly increased organic fruit productions. This study was examined to compare the soil physicochemical and microbial properties of orchards soil in conventionally and organically management systems. Organic cultivation had lower soil bulk density, solid phase, and penetration resistance than the conventional cultivation. Soil pH and organic matter contents increased from March to August, and the values were greater in the organic cultivation than the conventional cultivation. Total nitrogen (N) and phosphorous concentrations decreased from March to August, and the organic soils had greater N but lower phosphorous concentrations than the conventional soils. Soil microbial carbon biomass increased 36% and 15% for organic and conventional cultivations, respectively, from March to August. Soil microbial N biomass was greater in June than March or August, and the organic cultivation had a greater biomass N compared to the conventional cultivation. Soil dehydrogenase and chitinase activities were greater in June than in March or August. ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity declined in both cultivations, while the phosphatase activity increased. Organic cultivation had greater enzyme activities in March, June, and August, except for the acid phosphatase activity in June.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.174-187
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• 2008

In an effort to identify structure and function of microbial loop in Paldang reservoir, we monitored environmental and biological factors at Kyungan stream (station K), Paldang dam (station P) and the confluence of North and South Han River (station M) from March to December, 2005. DOC concentration was higher in March to May and November than the others. Nutrient concentration in station K detected relatively higher than that of two stations. Both of phosphate and silicate gradually increased at all stations until September, after then decreased. The highest Chl-$\alpha$ concentration was observed at all stations in April, and November. The carbon biomass of bacteria and HNF were relatively higher in March, May and August than the others, whereas that of the ciliate showed no significant difference in monthly fluctuation. Nevertheless, the significant relationships revealed between ciliate (P<0.001) and HNF (P<0.05) and bacterial density. Tintinnopsis cratera, Didinium sp., Vorticella sp., Paramecium sp. and Strombidium sp. were dominant species in ciliate community. The dominant species of phytoplankton were Stephanodiscus hantzschii and Cyclotella meneghiniana at almost stations in Spring, Summer and Autumn. However, Aulacoseira granulata accounted for >95% of phytoplankton biomass at station P and M in Autumn. The carbon biomass of zooplankton was highest at station P and M in June, and relatively higher biomass observed at all stations in August, October and November. Diaphanosoma brachyurum and Bosmina longirostris were dominant in stations P and M of June and in all stations of October and November, respectively. The maximum growth (A. granulata: $0.17\;d^{-1}$, S. hantzschii: $0.14\;d^{-1}$) and grazing rate (A. granulata: 1.93 preys $d^{-1}$, S. hantzschii: 1.63 preys $d^{-1}$) of Bosmina longirostris revealed in algal preys as Aulacoseira granulata and Stephanodiscus hantzschii. In conclusion, these results suggest that bacteria and phytoplankton can play the most crucial source as prey within microbial food chain in Spring and Summer and grazing food chain in Autumn, respectively.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.315-325
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• 2014

Valuation of ecosystem services through organic carbon distribution and cycling in the Quercus mongolica forest at Mt. Worak national park were investigated from May 2012 through April 2013. The amount of carbon allocated to above and below ground biomass was 81.94 and 20.53 ton C/ha. Amount of organic carbon in litter layer was 6.49 ton C/ha. Amount of organic carbon within 50 soil depth was 141.23 ton C $ha^{-1}$ $50cm-depth^{-1}$. Total amount of organic carbon in this Quercus mongolica forest was estimated to 250.19 ton C $ha^{-1}$. The estimated amount of won in this Quercus mongolica forest in terms of total organic carbon was about 5.27 million won $ha^{-1}$. The amount of carbon evolved through soil respiration was 7.31 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$. The amount of carbon evolved through microbial respiration and root respiration was 3.58 and 3.73 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. The amount of organic carbon absorbed from the atmosphere of this Quercus mongolica forest was 1.61 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ when estimated from the difference between net primary production and microbial respiration. This amount will come to about 33,000 won $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ in Korean currency.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.332-338
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• 2015

Valuation of ecosystem services through organic carbon distribution and cycling in the Pinus densiflora forest at Mt. Worak National Park were investigated from January 2013 through December 2013. The amount of carbon allocated to above and below ground biomass was 32.17 and 8.04 ton C $ha^{-1}$. Amount of organic carbon in litter layer was 5.55 ton C $ha^{-1}$. Amount of organic carbon within 50cm soil depth was 58.62 ton C $ha^{-1}$ 50cm-$depth^{-1}$. Total amount of organic carbon in this Pinus densiflora forest was estimated to 104.38 ton C $ha^{-1}$. The estimated amount of won in this Pinus densiflora forest in terms of total organic carbon was about 10.44 million won $ha^{-1}$. The amount of carbon evolved through soil respiration was 4.44 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$. The amount of carbon evolved through microbial respiration and root respiration was 2.18 and 2.27 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. The amount of organic carbon absorbed from the atmosphere of this Pinus densiflora forest was 0.44 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ when estimated from the difference between net primary production and microbial respiration. This amount will come to about 44,000 won $ha^{-1}$ in Korean currency.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.33-42
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• 2005

Wetlands often function as a nutrient sink. It is well known that increased input of nutrient increases the primary productivity but it is not well understood what is the fate of produced biomass in wetland ecosystem. Water and sediment quality, decomposition rate of cellulose, and sediment accumulation rate in 11 montane marshes in northern Sierra Nevada, California were analyzed to trace the effect of nitrogen and phosphorus content in water on nutrient dynamics. Concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in water were in the range of 27 to 607, 8 to 73, and 6 to 109 ppb, respectively. Concentrations of ammonium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium in water were the highest in Markleeville, which has been impacted by animal farming. Nitrate and SRP concentrations in water were the highest in Snow Creek, which has been impacted by human residence and a golf course. Cellulose decomposition rates ranged from 4 to 75 % per 90 days and the highest values were measured in Snow Creek. Concentrations of total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in sediment ranged from 8.0 to 42.8, 0.5 to 3.0, and 0.076 to 0.162 %, respectively. Accumulation rates of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus fluctuated between 32.7 to 97.1, 2.4 to 9.0, and 0.08 to $1.14gm^{-2}yr{-1}$, respectively. Accumulation rates of carbon and nitrogen were highest in Markleeville and that of phosphorus was highest in Lake Van Norden. Correlation analysis showed that decay rate is correlated with ammonium, nitrate, and SRP in water. There was no correlation between element content in sediment and water quality. Nitrogen accumulation rate was correlated with ammonium in water. These results showed that element accumulation rates in montane wetland ecosystems are determined by decomposition rate rather than nutrient input. This study stresses a need for eco-physiological researches on the response of microbial community to increased nutrient input and environmental change because the microbial community is responsible for the decomposition process.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2014

One of the major challenges in metabolic engineering for enhanced synthesis of value-added chemicals is to design and develop new strains that can be translated into well-controlled fermentation processes using bioreactors. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of various fed-batch strategies in the performance of metabolically engineered Pseudomonas putida strains, ${\Delta}gcd$ and ${\Delta}gcd-pgl$, for improving production of medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs) using glucose as the only carbon source. First we developed a fed-batch process that comprised an initial phase of biomass accumulation based on an exponential feeding carbon-limited strategy. For the mcl-PHA accumulation stage, three induction techniques were tested under nitrogen limitation. The substrate-pulse feeding was more efficient than the constant-feeding approach to promote the accumulation of the desirable product. Nonetheless, the most efficient approach for maximum PHA synthesis was the application of a dissolved-oxygen-stat feeding strategy (DO-stat), where P. putida ${\Delta}gcd$ mutant strain showed a final PHA content and specific PHA productivity of 67% and $0.83g{\cdot}l^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$, respectively. To our knowledge, this mcl-PHA titer is the highest value that has been ever reported using glucose as the sole carbon and energy source. Our results also highlighted the effect of different fed-batch strategies upon the extent of realization of the intended metabolic modification of the mutant strains.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1158-1163
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• 2011

The present study was aimed to evaluate the soil microbial communities by fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) method in paddy soils at 20 sites in Gyeongnam Province. The soil microbial biomass carbon content of fan and valley $1,266mg\;kg^{-1}$ was higher than alluvial plain $578mg\;kg^{-1}$ (p<0.05). In addition, The dehydrogenase activity of fan and valley $204{\mu}g\;TPF\;g^{-1}\;24h^{-1}$ was higher than alluvial plain $93{\mu}g\;TPF\;g^{-1}\;24h^{-1}$ (p<0.05). The communities of total bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria in the fan and valley paddy soils were significantly higher than those in the alluvial plain paddy soils (p<0.05). Total bacteria communities should be considered as a potential responsible factor for the obvious microbial community differentiation that was observed between the fan and valley and alluvial plain in paddy soils.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.371-377
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• 2012

The present study describes medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs) production by the Pseudomonas Gl01 strain isolated from mixed microbial communities utilized for PHAs synthesis. A two-step fed-batch fermentation was conducted with glucose and waste rapeseed oil as the main carbon source for obtaining cell growth and mcl-PHAs accumulation, respectively. The results show that the Pseudomonas Gl01 strain is capable of growing and accumulating mcl-PHAs using a waste oily carbon source. The biomass value reached 3.0 g/l of CDW with 20% of PHAs content within 48 h of cultivation. The polymer was purified from lyophilized cells and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The results revealed that the monomeric composition of the obtained polyesters depended on the available substrate. When glucose was used in the growth phase, 3-hydroxyundecanoate and 3-hydroxydodecanoate were found in the polymer composition, whereas in the PHAs-accumulating stage, the Pseudomonas Gl01 strain synthesized mcl-PHAs consisting mainly of 3-hydroxyoctanoate and 3-hydroxydecanoate. The transcriptional analysis using reverse-transcription real-time PCR reaction revealed that the phaC1 gene could be transcribed simultaneously to the phaZ gene.