• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 2011

This study was carried out to compare the toxicity of nano and micrometer particles with Cu and Zn on soil microbial community and metal uptake of buck wheat. In microcosm system, soil was incubated for 14 days after soil aliquots were artificially contaminated with 1,000 mg/kg Cu, Zn nano and micro particles, respectively. After then, buck wheat was planted in incubating soils and non incubating soils. After 14 days, we compared bioaccumulation of metal, and microbial carbon substrate utilization patterns between incubating soils and non-incubating soils. The enrichment factor (EF) values of incubating samples were greater than non-incubating soils. Dehydrogenase activity had been inhibited by Cu and Zn nanoparticles in non-incubating soil, as well as it had been inhibited by Zn micro particles in incubating soils. Results of biolog test, it was not significant different between nano particles and micro particles. It cannot be generalized that nanoparticles of metal are always more toxic to soil microbial activity and diversity than micrometer-sized particles and the toxicity needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.5_3
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• pp.695-702
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• 1998

This study was carried out to investigate to determine seasonal variation of dehydrogenase activity, phosphatase activity, adenosine tri-phosphate content and some physicochemical properties, such as soil pH, moisture content, organic matter and several heavy metal concentrations from Apr. 1997 to jan. 1998 in Pinus densiflora and Quercus mongolica forest in Mt. Nam, to explain a relationship between enzyme activity and the soil factors. There were ranges of 4.03-4.65 in soil pH, 18.65-51.09% in moisture content and 6.69-95.95% in orgainc matter. The organic matter content decreased with soil horizon, showing the higher values in Q. mongolica forest. In comparison to the results of Kawngneung site as control area, there were slightly differences due to a development level of forest ecosystem and microbial degradation of organic matter. The heavy metal concentrations showed 32.50-75.55 ${\mu}g/g$ in Cu, 69.33-134.84 ${\mu}g/g$ in Zn, 57.02-150.32 ${\mu}g/g$ in Pb, and 0.36-1.00 ${\mu}g/g$ in Mt. Nam. These values are higher than in Kwangneung site because of long-term exposure to air pollutants from central city. On the other hand, ATP contents in Mt. Nam were lower than in Kawngneung site in relation to soil organic matter, moisture content and relatively high heavy metal concentrations. ATP contents per soil weight was largest in F+H layer and in spring time of other seasons. Dehydrogenase activity as an index of soil microbial activity had a ranges of 170.67-1,221.66 ${\mu}g$ TPF/g that showed lower values than in Kawngneung site. However, phophatase activity had a contray tendency due to P fertilization for a continuous management. Those values increased through spring to a maximum in the summer and fall in autumn. This is basically caused by metabolic state of soil on the biological activity and several and several factors, such as aeration, soil temperature, vegetation and microflora.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.181-185
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• 2004

Electrokinetic bioremediation was conducted on phenanthrene-contaminated soil to study the effects of soil temperature and pH on microbial population and removal efficiency at different current densities from 0.63 to 3.13 mA cm$^{-2}$ . Microorganism used in the biodegradation of phenanthrene was Sphingomonas sp. 3Y, which was isolated from a diesel-contaminated site. The microorganism was successfully penetrated into the contaminated soil by electrokinetic phenomena and the highest microbial population was observed in the middle region of soil specimen where soil pH was near neutral. Therefore, phenanthrene removal occurred mainly at anode and middle parts of soil specimen due to a relatively high microbial population. Also, the highest removal efficiency of 68.8% was obtained at 1.88 mA cm$^{-2}$ while low degradation was detected at 3.13 mA cm$^{-2}$ . It was presumably because the soil temperature at 1.88 mAcm$^{-2}$ was close to the appropriate temperature of about 30'c while the temperature increase to above 45$^{\circ}C$ at 3.13 mA cm$^{-2}$ inhibited the microbial activity severely.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.276-288
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• 2013

The present study investigates the effects of elevated soil nitrogen on growth and decomposition of Oryza sativa shoots. The plants were cultivated in greenhouse until leaf senescence and the total biomass of the plant increased 1.9 times at nitrogen addition plot. Total C and N content in shoot increased; however, lignin, C/N, and lignin/N levels decreased in the N-treated soil. The shoot litters collected from the control and N-treated soil were tested for decay and microbial biomass, $CO_2$ evolution, and enzyme activities during decomposition on the control and N-treated soil at $25^{\circ}C$ microcosm. The remaining mass of the shoot litter was approximately 6% higher in the litter collected from the control soil (53.0%) than the litter collected from high N-treated soil (47.1%). However, the high N-containing litter exhibited faster decay in the control soil than in the N-treated soil. The litter containing high N, low C/N, and low lignin/N showed a higher decomposition rate than that of low quality litter. The N-addition showed decreased microbial biomass C and dehydrogenase activity in soil; however, it exhibited high microbial biomass N and urease activity in soil. When the high N-containing litter decays on the N-treated soil, the microbial biomass C increased rapidly at the initial phase of decomposition and decreased thereafter, and dehydrogenase activity was less that of other treatment; however, there was no effect on the microbial biomass N. The urease in the decomposing litter was highest during the early decomposition stage and dramatically decreased thereafter. The present findings suggested that the N-addition increased N content in litter, but inhibited the decomposition process of above-ground biomass in terrestrial ecosystems.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2015

Soil management for orchard depends on the effects of soil microbial activities. The present study evaluated the soil microbial community of 25 orchard (5 sites for sandy loam, 7 sites for silt loam, and 13 sites for loam) in Gyeongnam Province by fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) method. The average values for 25 orchard soil samples were $270nmol\;g^{-1}$ of total FAMEs, $72nmol\;g^{-1}$ of total bacteria, $34nmol\;g^{-1}$ of Gram-negative bacteria, $34nmol\;g^{-1}$ of Gram-positive bacteria, $6nmol\;g^{-1}$ of actinomycetes, $49nmol\;g^{-1}$ of fungi, and $7nmol\;g^{-1}$ of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In addition, silt loam soils had significantly low ratio of cy17:0 to $16:1{\omega}7c$ and cy19:0 to $18:1{\omega}7c$ compared with those of loam soils (p < 0.05), indicating that microbial activity increased. The average soil microbial communities in the orchard soils were 26.7% of bacteria, 17.9% of fungi, 12.6% of Gram-negative bacteria, 12.5% of Gram-positive bacteria, 2.5% of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and 2.2% of actinomycetes. The soil microbial community of Gram-negative bacteria in silt loam soils was significantly higher than those of sandy loam and loam soils (p < 0.05).

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.257-265
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• 2009

The long-term effects of soil management history on microbial communities are still poorly understood. Our objectives were to determine the impact of long-term application of soil amendments on microbial communities in rice paddy fields. The treatments selected were control where crops were grown without any nutrient application (CON); nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK); NPK plus compost (CNPK); NPK plus lime (LNPK); and NPK plus silicate (WNPK). The long-term addition of organic and inorganic amendments significantly changed soil chemical properties. The amount of organic carbon increased in the treatments with fertilizer and amendments over that in the soil without inputs. However, we could not observe the differences of bacterial population among the treatments, but the number of aerobic bacteria increased by the addition of amendments. Isolates from the rice paddy soils before irrigation were Dactylosporangium, Ewingella, Geobacillus, Kocuria, Kurthia, Kytococcus, Lechevalieria, Micrococcus, Micromonospora, Paenibacillus, Pedobacter, Pseudomonas, Pseudoxanthomonas, Rhodococcus, Rothia, Sphingopyxis, Stenotrophomonas, and Variovorax. Dominant genera were Arthrobacter, Kocuria, Kurthia, and Bacillus in the long-term field. Microbial biomass was the highest in the compost treatment (CNPK), and was the lowest in the CON. Dehydrogenase activity in soils treated with rice compost straw was the highest and the activity showed an increasing trend according to treatment as follows: CON < WNPK < NPK = LNPK < CNPK. These results demonstrate that soil management practice, such as optimal application of fertilizer and amendment, that result in accumulations of organic carbon may increase microbial biomass and dehydrogenase activity in long-term rice paddy soils.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1279-1286
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• 2013

Particle size and metal species are important to both soil microbial toxicity and phytotoxicity in the soil ecosystem. The effects of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and microparticles (MPs) on soil microbial toxicity, phytotoxicity, and bioaccumulation in two crops (Cucumis sativus and Zea mays) were estimated in a soil microcosm. In the microcosm system, soil was artificially contaminated with 1,000 mg/kg CuO and ZnO NPs and MPs. After 15 days, we compared the microbial toxicity and phytotoxicity by particle size. In addition, C. sativus and Z. mays were cultivated in soils treated with CuO NPs and ZnO NPs, after which the treatment effects on bioaccumulation were evaluated. NPs were more toxic than MPs to microbes and plants in the soil ecosystem. We found that the soil enzyme activity and plant biomass were inhibited to the greatest extent by CuO NPs. However, in a Biolog test, substrate utilization patterns were more dependent upon metal type than particle size. Another finding indicated that the metal NP uptake amounts of plants depend on the plant species. In the comparison between C. sativus and Z. mays, the accumulation of Cu and Zn by C. sativus was noticeably higher. These findings show that metal oxide NPs may negatively impact soil bacteria and plants. In addition, the accumulation patterns of NPs depend on the plant species.

• Mycobiology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2005

Results from an innovative approach to improve remediation in the rhizosphere by encouraging healthy plant growth and thus enhancing microbial activity are reported. The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Am) on remediation efficacy of wheat, mungbean and eggplant grown in soil spiked with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) was assessed in a pot experiment. The results of this study showed that Am inoculation enhanced dissipation amount of PAHs in planted soil, plant uptake PAHs, dissipation amount of PAHs in planted versus unplanted spiked soil and loss of PAHs by the plant-promoted biodegradation. A number of parameters were monitored including plant shoot and root dry weight, plant tissue water content, plant chlorophyll, root lipid content, oxido-reductase enzyme activities in plant and soil rhizosphere and total microbial count in the rhizospheric soil. The observed physiological data indicate that plant growth and tolerance increased with Am, but reduced by PAH. This was reflected by levels of mycorrhizal root colonization which were higher for mungbean, moderate for wheat and low for eggplant. Levels of Am colonization increased on mungbean > wheat > eggplant. This is consistent with the efficacy of plant in dissipation of PAHs in spiked soil. Highly significant positive correlations were shown between of arbuscular formation in root segments (A)) and plant water content, root lipids, peroxidase, catalase polyphenol oxidase and total microbial count in soil rhizosphere as well as PAH dissipation in spiked soil. As consequence of the treatment with Am, the plants provide a greater sink for the contaminants since they are better able to survive and grow.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2014

Glomalin has been suggested as an enhancer for soil stability by promoting the aggregation. In this study, we examined the concentrations of glomalin and microbial characteristics in 25 controlled horticultural soils sampled from Gyeongnam Province. Total glomalin had a significant positive correlation with soil organic matter (p < 0.01), soil microbial biomass carbon (p < 0.05), and dehydrogenase activity (p < 0.05) in controlled horticultural soils. In addition, the total glomalin had a significant positive correlation with concentrations of total fatty acid methyl esters, Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, fungi, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in controlled horticultural soils (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the concentration of total glomalin could be an indicator of microbial biomass richness for sustainable agriculture in controlled horticultural soils.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.54-63
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• 2007

To examine the effects of amendments on heavy mineral oil degradation, a pilot scale experiment was conducted for over 105days. During the experiment, soil samples were collected and analyzed periodically for the determination of residual hydrocarbon and microbial activities. At the end of the experiment, the initial level of contamination ($6,205{\pm}173mgkg^{-1}$) was reduced by $33{\sim}45%$ in the amendment amended soil; whereas only 8% of the hydrocarbon was eliminated in the non-amended soil. Heavy mineral oil degradation was much faster and more complete in compost amended soils. Enhanced dissipation of heavy mineral oil in compost amended soil might be derived from increased microbial activities (respiration, microbial biomass-C) and soil enzyme activity(lipase, dehydrogenase, and FDA hydrolase) were strongly correlated with heavy mineral oil biodegradaton (P < 0.01).