• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.314-320
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Run off from agricultural sites contaminates water bodies with nitrogen which is toxic and causes eutrophication when excessively accumulated. Hence, the interest in monitoring nitrogen toxicity in aquatic environment has been continuously increasing. METHODS AND RESULTS: To detect a real time toxicity of various nitrogen compounds, we applied biomonitoring method (biosensor) based on sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB). The toxicity biomonitoring test was conducted in semi-continuous mode in a reactor filled with sulfur particles (2~4 mm diameter) under aerobic condition. Relative toxicity was simply determined by measuring the change in electrical conductivity (EC). Various nitrogenous compounds at different concentrations were evaluated as a potential toxic substance. Nitrite was found to be very toxic to SOB with a 90% inhibition even when the concentration as low as 3 mg/L. However, nitrate and ammonia have any inhibitory effect on SOB's activity. CONCLUSION: The biosensor based on SOB responded sensitively to nitrite even at substantially low concentrations. Therefore, it can be used as a reliable biological alarm system for rapid detection of contaminants due to its simplicity and sensitive nature.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.323-326
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• 2002

To detect whole ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the activated sludge, group-specific primers targeting the 16S-rRNA gene of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were used. The electrophoresis pattern of the PCR products seemed to produce a single band of approximately 1.0 k bp for the bacteria in activated sludge and Nitrosomonas europaea. No band was observed for nitrite-oxidizer Nitrobacter winogradskyi and heterotrophs such as Pseudomonas putida. Then direct measurement of the PCR product was made by fluorometry using the reagent Hoechist 33258, so that the fluorescent intensity was in proportional to the cell number of the sample up to 240. Total time required for the test was about 4 h including DNA extraction. The DNA fragments produced were cloned and their sequences showed high similarity to those of Nitrosomonas spp. This study showed the feasibility to detect ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and to esti-mate their population rapidly for the control of the nitrogen elimination process.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.376-381
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• 2019

In this study, a poly(vinyl) alcohol/sodium alginate (PVA/SA) mixture was used to fabricate core-shell structured gel beads for autotrophic single-stage nitrogen removal (ASNR) using aerobic and anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AAOB and AnAOB, respectively). For stable ASNR process, the mechanical strength and oxygen penetration depth of the shell layer entrapping the AAOB are critical properties. The shell layer was constructed by an interfacial gelling reaction yielding thickness in the range of 2.01-3.63 mm, and a high PVA concentration of 12.5% resulted in the best mechanical strength of the shell layer. It was found that oxygen penetrated the shell layer at different depths depending on the PVA concentration, oxygen concentration in the bulk phase, and free ammonia concentration. The oxygen penetration depth was around $1,000{\mu}m$ when 8.0 mg/L dissolved oxygen was supplied from the bulk phase. This study reveals that the shell layer effectively protects the AnAOB from oxygen inhibition under the aerobic conditions because of the respiratory activity of the AAOB.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.55-63
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• 1996

Nitrification reaction consists of two reactions: nitritification which oxidizes ammonia nitrogen to nitrite nitrogen and nitratification which oxidizes nitrite nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen. Each reaction is carried out by Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter, respectively. The effective maximum growth rates for both bacteria have to be determined to design aeration tank whenever the aeration tanks have to nitrify ammonia nitrogen in influent. And these values are very important to use mathematical models such as IAWPRC model to simulate nitrification in activated sludge. There are several methods to determine these valves, however, the Fed-Batch experiments can determine these values within 72 hours. In this study, the mathematical equations and experimental procedures for Fed-Batch test are presented. Also, the experimental data and reported values are compared. The estimated mean values of maximum specific growth rates for Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter are $0.5010day^{-1}$ and $0.6704day^{-1}$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2006

To understand the efficient process of biological nitrogen removal (BNR) system, the structure of bacterial communities in nitrification reactors was analyzed using PCR and terminal restriction fragment length poly morphism (I-RFLP) methods. In this study, we used an advanced treatment system with plotting media, Nutrient Removal Laboratory system, or the rumination type sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system. The terminal restriction fragments of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and other $\beta-proteobacteria$ were observed in all of three BNR systems. The nucleotide sequence analysis of terminal restriction fragments showed that Nitrosomonas and Nitrosolobus were major populations of AOB in SBR system, whereas uncultured $\beta-proteobacteria$ and Cardococcus australiensis were the predominant groups in other two BNR systems. Also the SBR system may be more efficient to enrich AOB. These results indicate that the different structure of bacterial community may be developed depending on the wastewater treatment systems, although the same influent is used.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 1988.07a
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• pp.12-13
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• 1988

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.811-815
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• 2005

The activated sludge from the aeration basin of the Su-yeong municipal wastewater treatment plant which has operated by a standard activated sludge process in Busan, Korea was investigated during April 2004 and January 2005 with several bio-indicators. The number of bacteria and fungi per gram of dry weight of MLSS were estimated to be $3.1\times10^6\sim1.5\times10^8\;and\;l.1\times10^3\sim1.1\times10^5$ colony forming units, respectively, by the plate agar method. By cultivation-independent methods, such as 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole stain and fluorescence in situ hybridization, the ratio of eubacteria to the entire biomass was evaluated by more than $80\%$ (v/v). The ratio of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria to the total eubacteria was detennined to be $7.0\sim9.8\%\;and\;3.3\sim6.2\%$ without heavy variation in spite of a period of relatively low temperature in the basin. It would be expected that the nitrification would occur or at least co-exist throughout the year in the sludge of many municipal WWTP with influents that contain the sufficient nitrogen sources although the WWTP does not have any specialized processes for the removal of nitrogen.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2020

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (AMX) is a cost-efficient biological nitrogen removal process. The coexistence of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in an AMX reactor is an interesting research topic as a nitrogen-related bacterial consortium. In this study, a sequencing batch reactor for AMX (AMX-SBR) was operated with a conventional activated sludge. The AOB in an AMX bioreactor were identified and quantified using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real-time qPCR. A T-RFLP assay based on the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene sequences showed the presence of Nitrosomonas europaea-like AOB in the AMX-SBR. A phylogenetic tree based on the sequenced amoA gene showed that AOB were affiliated with the Nitrosomonas europaea/mobilis cluster. Throughout the enrichment period, the AOB population was stable with predominant Nitrosomonas europaea-like AOB. Two OTUs of amoA_SBR_JJY_20 (FJ577843) and amoA_SBR_JJY_9 (FJ577849) are similar to the clones from AMX-related environments. Real-time qPCR was used to quantify AOB populations over time. Interestingly, the exponential growth of AOB populations was observed during the substrate inhibition of the AMX bacteria. The specific growth rate of AOB under anaerobic conditions was only 0.111 d^-1. The growth property of Nitrosomonas europaea-like AOB may provide fundamental information about the metabolic relationship between the AMX bacteria and AOB.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.96-108
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• 2018

Large efforts have recently been made on research and development of sustainable and energy-efficient short-cut nitrogen removal processes owing to strong attention to the energy neutral/positive wastewater treatment system. Anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria (anammox bacteria) have been highlighted since 1990's due to their unique advantages including 60% less energy consumption, nearly 100% reduction for carbon source requirement, and 80% less sludge production. Side-stream short-cut nitrogen removal using anammox bacteria and partial nitritation anammox (PN/A) has been well established, whereas substantial challenges remain to be addressed mainly due to undesired main-stream conditions for anammox bacteria. These include low temperature, low concentrations of ammonia, nitrite, free ammonia, free nitrous acid or a combination of those. In addition, an anammox side-stream nitrogen management is insufficient to reduce overall energy consumption for energy-neutral or energy positive water resource recovery facility (WRRF) and at the same time to comply with nitrogen discharge regulation. This implies the development of the successful main-stream anammox based technology will accelerate a conversion of current wastewater treatment plants to sustainable water and energy recovery facility. This study discusses the status of the research, key mechanisms & interactions of the protagonists in the main-stream PN/A, and control parameters and major challenges in process development.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.265-275
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• 2019

This study aimed to develop a compact partial nitritation step by forming granules with high Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) fraction using the Air-lift Granulation Reactor (AGR) and to evaluate the feasibility of treating reject water with high ammonium content by combination with the Anammox process. The partial nitritation using AGR was achieved at high nitrogen loading rate ($2.25{\pm}0.05kg\;N\;m-3\;d^{-1}$). The important factors for successful partial nitritation at high nitrogen loading rate were relatively high pH (7.5~8), resulting in high free ammonia concentration ($1{\sim}10mg\;FA\;L^{-1}$) and highly enriched AOB granules accounting for 25% of the total bacteria population in the reactor. After the establishment of stable partial nitritation, an effluent $NO_2{^-}-N/NH_4{^+}-N$ ratio of $1.2{\pm}0.05$ was achieved, which was then fed into the Anammox reactor. A high nitrogen removal rate of $2.0k\; N\;m^{-3}\;d^{-1}$ was successfully achieved in the Anammox reactor. By controlling the nitrogen loading rate at the partial nitritation using AGR, the influent concentration ratio ($NO_2{^-}-N/NH_4{^+}-N=1.2{\pm}0.05$) required for the Anammox was controlled, thereby minimizing the inhibition effect of residual nitrite.