• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.149-154
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• 2007

In the present study, we performed the PCR assay using TOX2P/TOX2M primer targeting a specific region within mcyB gene to identify potential microcystin-producing cyanobacteria. TOX2P/TOX2M primer set was effective in amplifying mcy gene in the field samples containing Microcystis spp. of 1,000 cells per mL. Moreover, the results from the PCR assay agreed with those of the ELISA analysis. Consequently, this study demonstrated that TOX2P/TOX2M primer set can be used as a genetic probe for the early detection of cyanobacterial toxigenicity in Korean water bodies.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.388-394
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• 2012

Cyanobacterial toxins, microcystins which exist in Korean lakes show strong toxicity to fish, cattles and human. In this study, we tried to analyze cyanobacterial toxin, microcystin in the Microcystis cultivation solution using test strip, although the most common analytical methods for the detection of microcystin are HPLC and ELISA. This new anlytical method used the advantages of high specifisity and rapidness of test strip, high sensitivity of fluorescence reader. Therefore, we could analyze the trace amount of microcystin existed in various water samples without using the microcystin standards.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.524-531
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• 2004

Photosynthetic activities and primary production of phytoplankton were investigated in Lake Gocheonam from October 1999 to August 2000. As an estuary lake with a barrage in the Southwestern coast of the Korean peninsula, the lake has received more attention after it became known as the habitat of large population of rare and endangered bird- Baikal Teal. As the lake had high algal biomass ranging from $20\mu{g}\;chl-aL^{-1}\;to\;125\mu{g}\;chl-aL^{-1}$ in average values and rich eutrophication indicator species, the freshwaters were in a very productive or hypertrophic state. In the results obtained from the phytoplankton incubation in the laboratory, the maximum photosynthetic rate $(P_{max})$ varied according to seasons and sampling stations. Photo- synthetic activities were higher during the warm season than the cold seasons and the serial order of $P_{max}$ was August dominated with Microcystis, April with Chlamydomonas and Nitzschia, October with Chlamydomonas and January with Stephanodiscus. The water of the lake was persistently turbid throughout the year due to strong winds from the adjacent sea. Despite the water turbidity, the phytoplankton productions estimated from a mathematical model had very broad range from 18mg C $m^{-2}day^{-1}\;to\;10,300mg\;C\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.301-306
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• 2006

Microcystin-LR(MC-LR), a cyanobacterial toxin produced by Microcystis aeruginosa, causes severe hepatotoxicity. Here we investigated the morphologic changes of rat hepatocyte spheroid induced by exposure of MC-LR($10^{-6}M$) in vitro. In addition, to determine the effects of such toxin in the process of hepatocyte spheroid formation, primarily isolated hepatocytes were incubated with MC-LR and the process of spheroid formation was observed. In both hepatocyte spheroid and suspension culture systems, the morphologic changes caused by MC-LR were noticible at 5 min post exposure and were characterized by the loss of microvilli, cytoplasmic vacuolation, the accumulation of lipid droplets, and blob formation. Especially, the size and numbers of blob on the cell surface were increased as the incubation time prolonged and the appearance of electron dense bodies were observed in the cytoplasm of hepatocyte at 20 min post exposure. Furthermore, bile canaliculi-like structures in the hepatocyte spheroids were slightly widened and the process of spheroids formation was inhibited in the isolated hepatocytes incubated with MC-LR. These results indicate that morphologic changes in. the hepatocyte membrane and organelles seem to be typical events in showing the MC-LR induced hepatotoxic effects and the spheroid culture method might be a useful experimental tool to evaluate hepatoxicity since it reflects the in vivo status of hepatocytes.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.220-225
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• 2009

The water quality in eutrophic lakes is affected by serious problems, such as abnormal increasing of Cyanobacteria. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of a modified flotation system using a hybrid technique formed by chemical compounds and an electrostatic bridge. Therefore, experiments using the hybrid technique were performed to measure the zeta potential value on the phytoplankton surface and the removal efficiencies of phytoplankton, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and phosphoric acid. The results were as follows: Firstly, the zeta potential of M.aeruginosa was observed to approach charge neutralization due to adhesion of magnesium hydroxide precipitate on the phytoplankton surface in the pH range 10.5 to 11. Secondly, the concentration of chlorophyll-a decreased from about 150 to 20${\mu}g$g/L, with a maximum removal efficiency of 84% due to coagulation with pH values higher than 10. Thirdly, the N$H_4$-N concentration was observed to decrease from 0.62 to 0.54mg-N/L (13%), and the P$O_4$-P concentration, which is a limiting factor to the formation of algae blooms, decreased from 0.27 to 0.02mg-P/L (92%). These findings suggest that the modified flotation system can be applied for the purification of the raw water of numerous lakes containing high phytoplankton populations and elevated pH.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.307-312
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• 2011

The potential of algal-bacterial culture was investigated for advanced treatment of animal wastewater. Fed-batch experiments were carried out to examine treatability of nitrogen and phosphorus in different microbial consortium: Chlorella vulgaris, activated sludge, three microalgae strains (Scenedesmus, Microcystis, Chlorella) and Bacillus consortium, and three microalgae strains and sludge consortium. Single culture of C. vugaris showed the better efficiency for nitrogen removal but was not good at organic matter and phosphorus removal compared with activated sludge. Three microalgae and Bacillus consortium was best culture among the culture and consortium for pollutants removal tested in this experiment. Effect of $CO_2$ addition was studied by using three microalgae and Bacillus consortium. $CO_2$ addition enhanced T-P removal efficiency up to 60%. However, removal efficiencies of T-N and ammonia nitrogen reduced on the contrary.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.61-65
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• 1978

To investigate the phytoplankton distribution effected by polluted water, this research was carried out at eight sampling places in Tae-jun and one sampling place in Kang-kyong during the period from May 10 to July 25, 1977. The results are as follows. 1) The range of water temperature was 21.0~36.0$\circ$C (May 10~July 25), and pH value was in the range of 3.5~11.0. 2) BOD was generally high (140~432mg/l) 3) At the places where BOD was high, dominant species were Aphanocapsa rivularis, Microcystis aeruginosa and Oscillatoria sp. belonging to Cyanophyta, Chlorella sp. belonging to Chlorophyta, Euglena sp. belonging to Euglenophyta, and Navicula exqua and Navicula sp. belonging to Chrysophyta. 4) At the places where the range of pH value was 3.5~3.8 and the range of BOD value was 134~148mg/l, observable species were Scenedesmus ellipsoideus and Pandorina morurn belonging to Chlorophyta, Navicula exqua belonging to Chrysophyta and Euglena sp. belonging to Euglenophyta. 5) At the places where the range of pH value was 9.0~11.0 and the range of BOD value was 214~220mg/l, a few observable species were Scenedesmus carinatus, Scenedesmus ellipsoideus, Scenedesmus bijuga and Scenedesmus obundance belonging to Chlorophyta.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.127-130
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• 1997

The removal of algae was conducted by loess, aluminum sulfate and PAC on a laboratory scale. The loess was consists of organic matter 1.4%, T-N $289{\mu}g/g$, T-P $17{\mu}g/g$, $Al841.2{\mu} g/g$, Fe $592.7{\mu}g/g$, Ca $10.6{\mu}g/g$, Mg $85.5{\mu}g/g$ and Mn $6.6{\mu}g/g$. Test water was dominated by Microcystis aeruginosa. When test water was mixed with 0.01, 0.05. and 0.1 g/$\ell$ of the loess in 5 minutes, after settled in 1 hour, the removal of chl-a was 2, 22, and 36% respectively. The removal of chl-a was 69%, 70% in pH 4.5 and 9.0 and above 92% between pH 5.0 and 8.0 after the $2mg/{\ell}$ of aluminum sulfate was added. When the $2mg/{\ell}$ of PAC and $0.05g/{\ell}$ of loess were added to test water together, the removal of chl-a was 95-99% in pH 4.0-8.0, 60% in pH 9.0, and 18% in pH 10.0. The removal of chl-a was higher when loess, aluminum sulfate and PAC was used together than used alone.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.173-180
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• 1998

As a part of the investigation on useful compounds from microalgae, and its recently that marine planktonic algae have been recognized as potial sources of antibacterial and antifungal substances, we searched for antimicrobial active compounds from the extracts of six microalgae-Lyngbya sp., Tetraselmis sp., Microcystis sp., Chlorella sp., Navicula sp. and Rhalassiosira sp.-treated with several solvents. There were two active species-Lyngbya ap., Teraselmis sp.- in the antimicrobial activity test to bacteria, yeast and molds, especially the activity existed in the extracts by ethyl acetate of supernatants to the microalgae incubatio. and there won’t any activity in two diatoms to the test microorganism.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1417-1426
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• 2016

Despite the low removal efficiencies reported by previous studies, electro-flotation still stands out among other microalgae removal methods for its economical and environmental benefits. To enhance removal efficiency, the important factors that limit the performance of this method must be investigated. In this study, the possible ways of increasing the removal efficiency of microalgae have been explored by investigating the effects of several important variables in electro-flotation. Eight parameters, namely flotation time, rising time, current density, pH, conductivity, electrode distance, temperature and initial concentration were evaluated using a one-parameter-at-a-time approach. Results revealed that the operational parameters that greatly affected the removal efficiency of microalgae were electro-flotation time, current density, pH, and initial concentration. The effect of conductivity, electrode distance, and temperature on removal efficiency were insignificant. However, they exhibited positive an indirect positive effect on power demand, which is nowadays considered an equally important aspect in the running of a feasible and economically efficient electro-flotation process.