• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.86-92
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• 2011

Three bioremediation methods, natural attenuation (NA), biostimulation (BS) and bioaugmentation (BA) were applied to remediate diesel-contaminated soil, with their remediation efficiencies and soil microbial activities compared both with and without surfactant (Tween 80). BA treatment employing Rhodococcus sp. EH831 was the most effective for the remediation of diesel-contaminated soil at initial remediation stage. On the addition of surfactant, no significant effect on the remediation performance was observed. A negative correlation was found between the dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and residual concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) at below 20,000 mg-$TPHs{\cdot}kg$-dry $soil^{-1}$, as follows: DHA (${\mu}g$-TPF(Triphenylformazan)${\cdot}g$-dry $soil^{-1}\;d^{-1}$) = -0.02 ${\times}$ TPHs concentration (mg-$TPHs{\cdot}kg$-dry $soil^{-1}$) + 425.76 (2500 ${\leq}$ TPHs concentration ${\leq}$ 20000, p < 0.01).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.831-838
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• 2018

Trophic interactions of introduced biocontrol fungi with soil animals can be a key determinant in the fungal proliferation and activity. This study investigated the trophic interaction of an introduced biocontrol fungus with soil nematodes. The biocontrol fungus Trichoderma harzianum ThzID1-M3 and the fungivorous nematode Aphelenchoides sp. (10 per gram of soil) were added to nonsterile soil, and microbial populations were monitored for 40 days. Similar results were obtained when the experiment was duplicated. ThzID1-M3 stimulated the population growth of indigenous nematodes (p < 0.05), regardless of whether Aphelenchoides sp. was added. Without ThzID1-M3, indigenous nematodes did not increase in number and the added Aphelenchoides sp. nematodes almost disappeared by day 10. With ThzID1-M3, population growth of nematodes was rapid between 5 and 10 days after treatment. ThzID1-M3 biomass peaked on day 5, dropped at day 10, and then almost disappeared at day 20, which was not influenced by the addition of nematodes. In contrast, a large quantity of ThzID1-M3 hyphae were present in a heat-treated soil in which nematodes were eliminated. Total fungal biomass in all treatments peaked on day 5 and subsequently decreased. Addition of nematodes increased the total fungal biomass (p < 0.05), but ThzID1-M3 addition did not affect the fungal biomass. Hyphae of total fungi when homogenously distributed did not support the nematode population growth; however, hyphae of the introduced fungus did when densely localized. The results suggest that soil fungivorous nematodes are an important constraint on the hyphal proliferation of fungal agents introduced into natural soils.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.602-608
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• 2010

An atrazine-degrading bacterium, strain KU001, was obtained from a sugarcane field at the Cane and Sugar Research and Development Center at the Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Thailand. Strain KU001 had a rod-to-coccus morphological cycle during growth. Biolog carbon source analysis indicated that the isolated bacterium was Arthrobacter histidinolovorans. Sequence analysis of the PCR product indicated that the 16S rRNA gene in strain KU001 was 99% identical to the same region in Arthrobacter sp. The atrazine degradation pathway in strain KU001 consisted of the catabolic genes trzN, atzB, and atzC. Strain KU001 was able to use atrazine as a sole nitrogen source for growth, and surprisingly, atrazine degradation was not inhibited in cells grown on ammonium, nitrate, or urea, as compared with cells cultivated on growth-limiting nitrogen sources. During the atrazine degradation process, the supplementation of nitrate completely inhibited atrazine degradation activity in strain KU001, whereas ammonium and urea had no effect on atrazine degradation activity. The addition of strain KU001 to sterile or nonsterile soils resulted in the disappearance of atrazine at a rate that was 4- to 5-fold more than that achieved by the indigenous microbial community. The addition of citrate to soils resulted in enhanced atrazine degradation, where 80% of atrazine disappeared within one day following nutrient supplementation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.23-34
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• 2013

An organic acid material, which can be manufactured by plants extraction, encourages microbe proliferation over time. Microbial activity, which is affected by organic acid, encourages accelerating consolidation with biochemical penetration; soil particles are compacted by microbes and pore water is dissipated quickly. Additionally, $CaCO_3$ for cementation was made by proliferating microbes. Accordingly, tests were conducted to investigate the unconfined compressive strength and permeability of soil samples aged with and without an organic acid. In the 96 days of aging, the strength was generally 1.5~2.5 times greater than those without an organic acid material and permeability was definitely decreased to 74.2~93.1%. SEM analysis showed the change of pore structure and the change of the total bacteria counts revealed the activity of microbes reflecting the engineering characteristics and this material would be an environment-friendly for soil improvement.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.127-136
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• 1999

In the past several years phytoremediation, defined as the use of plants for removing contaminants from media such as soils or water, has attracted a great deal of interest as a potentially useful remediation technology We attempted to assess the effectiveness of phytoremediation of diesel-contaminated soils in a green house. Screening test for selecting an appropriate plant was performed by observing the harmful effects of diesel dosage on the growth of 4 plants. Alfalfa was selected as a potentially useful plant among corn and barnyard grasses due to its high tolerance to the toxicity of diesel in growth. Bioremediation of the artificial diesel-contaminated soil packed in the PVC columns(0.3m in diameter $\times$ 1m in length) with air supplied, alfalfa planted, and alfalfa and air supplied was investigated for 100 days. The results of the column test showed plant effects on enhancing the biodegradation of diesel in the contaminated soils compared to the control column which had no plant. Injecting air to the columns during phytoremediation also showed additional effects on the removal rate of diesel. Comparison of microbial activity in each test column showed a beneficial effect of plants in the soil remediation processes. This results can be explained microbial activity in rhizosphere is a crucial factor for removing diesel.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.435-443
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• 2012

This study investigated soil carbon storage and microbial activities influenced by different management practices in rice paddies and pastures. Soils under a single-crop farming of rice (CON) and rice-Italian ryegrass rotation farming (IRG) were compared in Jangheung, Jeollanam-do, Seocheon and Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do. Soils from pastures were analyzed to investigate the effect of duration period (P1, P2, P3) in Namwon, Jeollabuk-do and Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do. In rice paddy, total and particulate carbon (PC) concentrations in the IRG soils were significantly higher than those in the CON soils both in Jangheung and Seocheon where the IRG has been established for three years, whereas carbon concentrations were not significantly different in Cheonan where IRG planting history is only one year. In rice paddy soils, PC was suggested as an early indicator to monitor changes in soil carbon storage followed by adopting different management practices. In pasture, total and PC concentrations increased with duration period especially in the 0-5 cm soils. Contrary to the rice paddy soils, the magnitude of change in PC concentration is not as great as that in total carbon concentration, implying that there is a need to develop a new early indicator other than PC using different fractionation scheme. The soil carbon storage in pasture also increased with years since establishment and the increasing rate was significantly greater in the early stage (0-5 yrs) than the later one (> 5 yrs). Microbial activities measured from fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis analysis were significantly lower in the IRG soils than CON soils, whereas no difference was observed in the pastures of different ages. This shows that FDA activity is not a sensitive indicator to differentiate soil qualities influenced by management practices if it is used by itself.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국생물공학회 2000년도 춘계학술발표대회
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• pp.89-91
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• 2000

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds are highly carcinogenic chemicals and common groundwater contaminants that are observed to persist in soils. The adherence and slow release of PAHs in soil is an obstacle to remediation and complicates the assessment of cleanup standards and risks. Biological degradation of PAHs in soil has been an area of active research because biological treatment may be less costly than conventional pumping technologies or excavation and thermal treatment. Biological degradation also offers the advantage to transform PAHs into non-toxic products such as biomass and carbon dioxide. Ample evidence exists for aerobic biodegradation of PAHs and many bacteria capable of degrading PAHs have been isolated and characterized. However, the microbial degradation of PAHs in sediments is impaired due to the anaerobic conditions that result from the typically high oxygen demand of the organic material present in the soil, the low solubility of oxygen in water, and the slow mass transfer of oxygen from overlying water to the soil environment. For these reasons, anaerobic microbial degradation technologies could help alleviate sediment PAH contamination and offer significant advantages for cost-efficient in-situ treatment. But very little is known about the potential for anaerobic degradation of PAHs in field soils. The objectives of this research were to assess: (1) the potential for biodegradation of PAH in field aged soils under denitrification conditions, (2) to assess the potential for biodegradation of naphthalene in soil microcosms under denitrifying conditions, and (3) to assess for the existence of microorganisms in field sediments capable of degrading naphthalene via denitrification. Two kinds of soils were used in this research: Harbor Point sediment (HPS-2) and Milwaukee Harbor sediment (MHS). Results presented in this seminar indicate possible degradation of PAHs in soil under denitrifying conditions. During the two months of anaerobic degradation, total PAH removal was modest probably due to both the low availability of the PAHs and competition with other more easily degradable sources of carbon in the sediments. For both Harbor Point sediment (HPS-2) and Milwaukee Harbor sediment (MHS), PAH reduction was confined to 3- and 4-ring PAHs. Comparing PAH reductions during two months of aerobic and anaerobic biotreatment of MHS, it was found that extent of PAHreduction for anaerobic treatment was compatible with that for aerobic treatment. Interestingly, removal of PAHs from sediment particle classes (by size and density) followed similar trends for aerobic and anaerobic treatment of MHS. The majority of the PAHs removed during biotreatment came from the clay/silt fraction. In an earlier study it was shown that PAHs associated with the clay/silt fraction in MHS were more available than PAHs associated with coal-derived fraction. Therefore, although total PAH reductions were small, the removal of PAHs from the more easily available sediment fraction (clay/silt) may result in a significant environmental benefit owing to a reduction in total PAH bioavailability. By using naphthalene as a model PAH compound, biodegradation of naphthalene under denitrifying condition was assessed in microcosms containing MHS. Naphthalene spiked into MHS was degraded below detection limit within 20 days with the accompanying reduction of nitrate. With repeated addition of naphthalene and nitrate, naphthalene degradation under nitrate reducing conditions was stable over one month. Nitrite, one of the intermediates of denitrification was detected during the incubation. Also the denitrification activity of the enrichment culture from MHS slurries was verified by monitoring the production of nitrogen gas in solid fluorescence denitrification medium. Microorganisms capable of degrading naphthalene via denitrification were isolated from this enrichment culture.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.113-118
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• 2014

Environmental microorganisms are emerging as an important source of new enzymes for wide-scale industrial application. In this study, novel phytase genes were identified from a soil microbial community. For this, a function-based screening approach was utilized for the identification of phytase activity in a metagenomic library derived from an agricultural soil. Two novel phytases were identified. Interestingly, one of these phytases is an unusual histidine acid phosphatase family phytase, as the conserved motif of the active site of PhyX possesses an additional amino acid residue. The second phytase belongs to a new type, which is encoded by multiple open reading frames (ORFs) and is different to all phytases known to date, which are encoded by a single ORF.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.342-354
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• 2018

Suaeda japonica is a halophytic plant that lives in mudflat at intertidal zone of western and southern coastal areas of Korea. The seawater-living plants showed a purple color during their whole life. In contrast, freshwater-living plants displayed a green color in leaves. When seawater-living plants were transferred to potting soil, the purple color was gradually changed to green in the leaves. The extracted purple pigment compound exhibited typical characteristics of betacyanin that were represented by water solubility, pH- and temperature-dependent color changes, sensitivity to light, UV-Vis spectra, and gel electrophoretic migration pattern. The LC-MS analysis of the extracted pigment compound showed the presence of two major protonated molecular ions ($[M+H]^+$) at m/z 651.1 and m/z 827.1. Antioxidant activity of the pigment compound was determined using stable free radical DPPH assay. It was found to have an antioxidant activity that is linearly increased in proportion to the reaction time for up to 30 min, and the activity was comparable to that of control BHA at 9.0 mg/ml. The anticancer activity against several tumor cell lines was also examined following the MTT assay. The significant growth inhibitory effect was observed on two tumor cell lines, SW-156 (human kidney carcinoma) and HEC-1B (human endometrial adenocarcinoma). Probably, the pigment compound may function as an osmolyte to uphold halotolerant physiological processes in saline environment.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.21-34
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• 1995

For development of microbial additives applicable to in-vessel composting system of food waste, thermophilic bacteria which showed amylase, protease, lipase and cellulase activity were isolated from soil, compost and food waste. Among 81 isolates, the growth characteristic of 20 strains with high enzyme activity were examined. All strains are Gram positive rod with catalase activity and 17 strains are spore formers. At $50^{\circ}C$, most of the strains were able to grow from pH 5 to pH 10 and in presence of 8% of NaCl. In trypticase soy broth, the growth of these strains was greatly increased by aeration, but decreased at elevated temperature above $50^{\circ}C$.