• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1664-1671
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• 2010

A new biosurfactant producer was isolated from palm-oil-contaminated soil and later identified through morphology and DNA sequencing as the yeast-like fungus Exophiala dermatitidis. Biosurfactant production was catalyzed by vegetable oil, supplemented with a basal medium. The culture conditions that provided the biosurfactant with the highest surface activity were found to be 5% palm oil with 0.08% $NH_4NO_3$, at a pH of 5.3, with shaking at 200 rpm, and a temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ for a 14-day period of incubation. The biosurfactant was purified, in accordance with surfactant properties, by solvent fractionation using silica gel column chromatography. The chemical structure of the strongest surface-active compound was elucidated through the use of NMR and mass spectroscopy, and noted to be monoolein, which then went on to demonstrate antiproliferative activity against cervical cancer (HeLa) and leukemia (U937) cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, no cytotoxicity was observed with normal cells even when high concentrations were used. Cell and DNA morphological changes, in both cancer cell lines, were observed to be cell shrinkage, membrane blebbling, and DNA fragmentation.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.20-26
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• 2007

The microbial community properties of groundwater samples contaminated with landfill leachates were examined using Ecoplate including 31 sole carbon sources. The samples were KSG1-12 (leachate), KSG1-16 (treated leachate), KSG1-07 (contaminated groundwater), KSG1-08 (contaminated groundwater), and KSG1-13 (uncontaminated groundwater). Among the carbon sources used as substrates, 2-hydroxy benzoic acid, D,L-$\alpha$-glycerol phosphate, and D-malic acid were not utilized in any sample, while D-xylose, D-galacturonic acid, L-aspargine, tween 80, and L-serine were utilized in all 5 samples. The rest of substrates showed very different patterns among the samples. Average well color development (AWCD) analysis demonstrated that the potential activity on 31 substrates was in the order of KSG1-16 > KSG1-12 > KSG1-07 > KSG-08 > KSG1-13, which generally agrees with the degree of pollution, except KSG1-16. Principal component analysis (PCA) on similarity between samples showed two groups (KSG1-12, -07 and -08 vs KSG1-16 and -13), coinciding with contaminated and uncontaminated groups. Shannon index showed that the microbial diversities were similar among the samples.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.77-82
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• 2004

Quantifying rates of microbial processes under subsurface conditions is difficult, and is most commonly approximated by laboratory studies using aquifer materials. In this study a single-well, 'push-pull' test method is adapted for the in situ determination of denitrification rates in groundwater aquifers. The rates of stepwise reduction of nitrate to nitrite, nitrous oxide, and molecular nitrogen were determined by performing a series of push-pull tests at an experimental well field of Korea University. A single Transport Test, one Biostimulation Test, and four Activity Tests were conducted for this study. Transport tests are conducted to evaluate the mobility of solutes used in subsequent tests. These included bromide (a conservative tracer), fumarate (a carbon and/or source), and nitrate (an electron acceptor). At this site, extraction phase breakthrough curves for all solutes were similar, indicating apparent conservative transport of the solutes prior to biostimulation. Biostimulation tests were conducted to stimulate the activity of indigenous heterotrophic denitrifyinc microorganisms. Biostimulation was detected by the simultaneous production of carbon dioxide and nitrite after each injection. Activity tests were conducted to quantify rates of nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide reduction. Estimated zero-order degradation rates decreased in the order nitrate '||'&'||'gt; nitrite '||'&'||'gt; nitrous oxide. The series of push-pull tests developed and field tested in this study should prove useful for conducting rapid, low-cost feasibi1ity assessments for in situ denitrification in nitrate-contaminated aquifers.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.477-488
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• 2020

Recently, foodborne illness outbreaks linked to fresh produce are being increasingly reported in the United States, the EU, and Korea as well. Some of this increase may be due to improved surveillance, increase in consumption, change in consumers' habits, and complex distribution systems. Garlic chive is a green, fresh-cut vegetable consumed year-round as a nutrition-rich herb in Korea. It is also prone to contamination with foodborne pathogens during pre-harvest, as amendment with high amounts of livestock manure or compost to soil is required in its cultivation. Our aim in this study was to evaluate microbial contamination of garlic chives, garlic chives cultivation soil, compost, and irrigation water in the southern part of Korea. Samples were collected in A, B, and C regions in 2019 and 2020, and 69, 72, 27, and 40 of garlic chives, soil, compost, and irrigated water, respectively, were analyzed for the presence of sanitary indicator bacteria (total aerobic bacteria, coliforms and Escherichia coli), Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, pathogenic E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. In A, B, and C regions, levels of total aerobic bacteria, coliform, B. cereus, and S. aureus on all samples were between 1.14 and 8.83 log CFU/g, 0.43 and 5.01 log CFU/g, 0.41 and 5.55 log CFU/g, and 1.81 and 6.27 log CFU/g, respectively. B. cereus isolated from garlic chives and environmental samples showed β-hemolysis activity. Incidence of S. aureus in garlic chive and its production environments in 2020 was different from 2019. In this study, B. cereus and S. aureus were the only pathogenic microorganisms detected in all samples. As a result, this work suggests that continuous monitoring in the production and pre-harvest environment is required to improve hthe hygiene and safety of garlic chive.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.181-188
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• 2005

Methods used to study carbon sequestration by soil aggregates have often excluded the concentric spatial variability and other dynamic processes that contribute to resource accessibility and solute transport within aggregates. We investigated the spatial gradients of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) from the exterior to interior layers within macroaggregates, $6.3\sim9.5$ mm, sampled from conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT) sites of a Hoytville silt clay loam. Spatial gradients in C accumulation within macroaggregates were related to the differences in C dynamics by determining the sizes and the turnover rates of fast C and slow C pools in the concentric layers of aggregates. Aggregate exteriors contained more labile C and were characterized by greater C mineralization rates than their interiors in both management systems. In contrast, C in the interior layers of aggregates was more resistant in both systems. These results indicated the spatial differentiation of C dynamics within macroaggregates, i.e., exterior layers as a reactive site and interior layers as a protective site. Greater total C distribution in the exterior layers of NT aggregates indicated more influx of C from the macropores in interaggregate space than C. mineralization (net gain of C), whereas lower C distribution within the exterior layers of CT aggregates indicated net loss of C by greater C mineralization than C influx. We found total C increased approximately 1.6-fold by the conversion of CT soils to NT management systems for a period of 36 years. Differences in total accumulation and the spatial distribution of C within aggregates affected by management were attributed to the differences in aggregate stability and pore networks controlling the spatial heterogeneities of resource availability and microbial activity within aggregates.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.66-69
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• 2002

In this work, cost effective venting is considered by comparing flow rates of 5$m\ell$/min, 10$m\ell$/min, and 20$m\ell$/min. Studies were performed on a soil artificially contaminated with diesel oil (the initial TPH(Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon) concentration of 7098mg/kg), and nutrient condition was C:N:P rate of 100:10:1. The soil has a sandy texture with pH of 6.8, 2.16 ~2.38% organic matter, a total porosity of 47~52% and field capacity 16.2~ 17.2%. The column experiments was made of glass column of 60cm length and 10cm I.D. at controlled temperature of 2$0^{\circ}C$($\pm$2.5$^{\circ}C$). The efficiency of continuous flow rate of 5, 10 and 20$m\ell$/min resulted in separately 61.3%, 58.1%, and 55% reduction of initial TPH concentration(7098mg/kg). Hydrocarbon utilizing microbial count and dehydrogenase activity in air flow of 5$m\ell$/min were higher than those of the others. The first order degradation rate of n-alkanes ranging from C10 to C28 was higher than that of pristane and phytane as isoprenoids. The $C_{17}$/pristane and $C_{18}$phytane ratios for monitoring the degree of biodegradation were useful only during the early stages of oil degradation. Degradation contributed from about 89% to 93% of TPH removal. Volatilization loss of diesel oil in contaminated soil was about 7% to 11%, which was significantly small compared to degradation.n.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.684-695
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• 2010

Geographic information system (GIS) is being increasingly used for decision making, planning and agricultural environment management because of its analytical capacity. GIS and remote sensing have been combined with environmental models for many agricultural applications on monitoring of soils, agricultural water quality, microbial activity, vegetation and aquatic insect distribution. This paper introduce principles, vegetation indices, spatial data structure, spatial analysis of GIS and remote sensing in agricultural applications including terrain analysis, soil erosion, and runoff potential. National Academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS), Rural Development Administration (RDA) has a spatial database of agricultural soils, surface and underground water, weeds, aquatic insect, and climate data, and established a web-GIS system providing spatial and temporal variability of agricultural environment information since 2007. GIS-based interactive mapping system would encourage researchers and students to widely utilize spatial information on their studies with regard to agricultural and environmental problem solving combined with other national GIS database. GIS and remote sensing will play an important role to support and make decisions from a national level of conservation and protection to a farm level of management practice in the near future.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.248-254
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• 2016

A soil metagenome contains the genomes of all microbes included in a soil sample, including those that cannot be cultured. In this study, soil metagenome libraries were searched for microbial genes exhibiting lipolytic activity and those involved in potential lipid metabolism that could yield valuable products in microorganisms. One of the subclones derived from the original fosmid clone, pELP120, was selected for further analysis. A subclone spanning a 3.3 kb DNA fragment was found to encode for lipase/esterase and contained an additional partial open reading frame encoding a wax ester synthase (WES) motif. Consequently, both pELP120 and the full length of the gene potentially encoding WES were sequenced. To determine if the wes gene encoded a functioning WES protein that produced wax esters, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy was conducted using ethyl acetate extract from an Escherichia coli strain that expressed the wes gene and was grown with hexadecanol. The ethyl acetate extract from this E. coli strain did indeed produce wax ester compounds of various carbon-chain lengths. DNA sequence analysis of the full-length gene revealed that the gene cluster may be derived from a member of Proteobacteria, whereas the clone does not contain any clear phylogenetic markers. These results suggest that the wes gene discovered in this study encodes a functional protein in E. coli and produces wax esters through a heterologous expression system.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.355-366
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• 2023

Biological corrosion, a crucial aspect of metal degradation, has received limited attention despite its significance. It involves the deterioration of metals due to corrosion processes influenced by living organisms, including bacteria. Soil represents a substantial threat to pipeline corrosion as it contains chemical and microbial factors that cause severe damage to water, oil, and gas transmission projects. To combat fouling and corrosion, corrosion inhibitors are commonly used; however, their production often involves expensive and hazardous chemicals. Consequently, researchers are exploring natural and eco-friendly alternatives, specifically nano-sized products, as potent corrosion inhibitors. This study aims to environmentally synthesize silver nanoparticles using an extract from Lagoecia cuminoides L and evaluate their effectiveness in preventing biological corrosion of buried pipes in soil. The optimal experimental conditions were determined as follows: a volume of 4 ml for the extract, a volume of 4 ml for silver nitrate (AgNO3), pH 9, a duration of 60 minutes, and a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius. Analysis using transmission electron microscopy confirmed the formation of nanoparticles with an average size of approximately 28 nm, while X-ray diffraction patterns exhibited suitable peak intensities. By employing the Scherer equation, the average particle size was estimated to be around 30 nm. Furthermore, antibacterial studies revealed the potent antibacterial activity of the synthesized silver nanoparticles against both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. This property effectively mitigates the biological corrosion caused by bacteria in steel pipes buried in soil.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.313-325
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• 2011

From October 2009 to June 2010, major greenhouse gases (GHG: $N_2O$, $CH_4$, $CO_2$) soil emission were measured from upland cabbage field at Kunsan ($35^{\circ}$56'23"N, $126^{\circ}$43'14"E), Korea by using closed static chamber method. The measurements were conducted mostly from 10:00 to 18:00LST during field experiment days (total 28 days). After analyzing GHG concentrations inside of flux chamber by using a GC equipped with a methanizer (Varian CP3800), the GHG fluxes were calculated from a linear regression of the changes in the concentrations with time. Soil parameters (e.g. soil moisture, temperature, pH, organic C, soil N) were also measured at the sampling site. The average soil pH and soil moisture were ~pH $5.42{\pm}0.03$ and $70.0{\pm}1.8$ %WFPS (water filled pore space), respectively. The ranges of GHG flux during the experimental period were $0.08\sim8.40\;mg/m^2{\cdot}hr$ for $N_2O$, $-92.96\sim139.38mg/m^2{\cdot}hr$ for $CO_2$, and $-0.09\sim0.05mg/m^2{\cdot}hr$ for $CH_4$, respectively. It revealed that monthly means of $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ flux during October (fall) were positive and significantly higher than those (negative value) during January (winter) when subsoil have low temperature and relatively high moisture due to snow during the winter measurement period. Soil mean temperature and moisture during these months were $17.5{\pm}1.2^{\circ}C$, $45.7{\pm}8.2$%WFPS for October; and $1.4{\pm}1.3^{\circ}C$, $89.9{\pm}8.8$ %WFPS for January. It may indicate that soil temperature and moisture have significant role in determining whether the $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ emission or uptake take place. Low temperature and high moisture above a certain optimum level during winter could weaken microbial activity and the gas diffusion in soil matrix, and then make soil GHG emission to the atmosphere decrease. Other soil parameters were also discussed with respect to GHG emissions. Both positive and negative gas fluxes in $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ were observed during these measurements, but not for $N_2O$. It is likely that $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ gases emanated from soil surface or up taken by the soil depending on other factors such as background concentrations and physicochemical soil conditions.