• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.442-450
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• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Psy-2A-CrtI (PAC), a genetically modified (GM) rice with enhanced ${\beta}$-carotene, on the soil microbial community. The soil used to cultivate GM rice and its wild-type, Nakdong, was analyzed for population density, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and pyrosequencing. It was found that the bacterial, fungal and actinomycetes population densities of the PAC soils were within the range of those of the non-GM rice cultivar, Nakdong. The DGGE banding patterns of the GM and non-GM soils were also similar, suggesting that the bacterial community structures were stable within a given month and were unaffected by the presence of a GM plant. The pyrosequencing result showed a temporal difference in microorganism taxon and distribution ratio, but no significant difference between GM and non-GM was found. The persistence of the transgene DNA in the plant and surrounding soil were investigated for different time periods. There were differences in the persistence within the plant depending on the gene, but they could not be detected after 5 weeks. Also the transgenes were not detected in the surrounding soil. These results indicate that soil microbial communities are unaffected by the cultivation of a PAC rice within the experimental time frame.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2010

Atmospheric $CO_2$ concentrations have increased exponentially over the last century and, if continued, are expected to have significant effects on plants and soil. In this study, we investigated the effects of elevated $CO_2$ on the growth of Pinus densiflora seedling and microbial activity in soil. Three-year-old pine seedlings were exposed to ambient as well as elevated levels of $CO_2$ (380 and 760 ppmv, respectively). Growth rates and C:N ratios of the pine seedlings were also determined. Dissolved organic carbon content, phenolic compound content, and microbial activity were measured in bulk soil and rhizosphere soil. The results show that elevated $CO_2$ significantly increased the root dry weight of pine seedling. In addition, overall N content decreased, which increased the C:N ratio in pine needles. Elevated $CO_2$ decreased soil moisture, nitrate concentration, and the concentration of soil phenolic compounds. In contrast, soil enzymatic activities were increased in rhizosphere soil, including ${\beta}$-glucosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase and phosphatase enzyme activities. In conclusion, elevated $CO_2$ concentrations caused distinct changes in soil chemistry and microbiology.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.155-162
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• 2018

Background: In ecosystem carbon cycle studies, distinguishing between $CO_2$ emitted by roots and by microbes remains very difficult because it is mixed before being released into the atmosphere. Currently, no method for quantifying root and microbial respiration is effective. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between soil respiration and underground root biomass at varying distances from the tree and tested possibilities for measuring root and microbial respiration. Methods: Soil respiration was measured by the closed chamber method, in which acrylic collars were placed at regular intervals from the tree base. Measurements were made irregularly during one season, including high temperatures in summer and low temperatures in autumn; the soil's temperature and moisture content were also collected. After measurements, roots of each plot were collected, and their dry matter biomass measured to analyze relationships between root biomass and soil respiration. Results: Apart from root biomass, which affects soil's temperature and moisture, no other factors affecting soil respiration showed significant differences between measuring points. At each point, soil respiration showed clear seasonal variations and high exponential correlation with increasing soil temperatures. The root biomass decreased exponentially with increasing distance from the tree. The rate of soil respiration was also highly correlated exponentially with root biomass. Based on these results, the average rate of root respiration in the soil was estimated to be 34.4% (26.6~43.1%). Conclusions: In this study, attempts were made to differentiate the root respiration rate by analyzing the distribution of root biomass and resulting changes in soil respiration. As distance from the tree increased, root biomass and soil respiration values were shown to strongly decrease exponentially. Root biomass increased logarithmically with increases in soil respiration. In addition, soil respiration and underground root biomass were logarithmically related; the calculated root-breathing rate was around 44%. This study method is applicable for determining root and microbial respiration in forest ecosystem carbon cycle research. However, more data should be collected on the distribution of root biomass and the correlated soil respiration.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.426-435
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• 2010

The present study attempts to compare the soil chemical characteristics and biological activities (i.e. microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities), and litter decomposition rate of Arundinella hirta and Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens) collected from serpentine and non-serpentine sites by litter bag techniques at serpentine and non-serpentine field experiment sites over a 9-month period. The serpentine soil showed higher pH and soil alkaliphosphatase activity, and lower soil dehydrogenase and urease activities than the non-serpentine soil. Microbial biomass-N at the serpentine soil was larger than the non-serpentine soil, although the microbial biomass-C and microbial biomass-N represented no significant difference between serpentine and non-serpentine soil. These results suggest that the larger microbial biomass-N caused the lower C/N in serpentine soil. At the end of the experiment, the litter samples of A. hirta and M. sinensis collected from serpentine soil revealed a 39.8% and 38.5% mass loss, and the litter sample from non-serpentine soil also showed a 41.1% and 41.7% mass loss at the serpentine site. On the other hand, at the non-serpentine site, 42.2%, 37.4%, and 46.8%, 44.8% were respectively shown. These results demonstrate that the litter decomposition rate is more intensely affected by the heavy metal content of leaf litter than soil contamination. Moreover, the litter collected from the serpentine soil had a lower C/N, whereas the litter decomposition rate was slower than the litter from the non-serpentine soil, because the heavy metal inhibition activities on the litter decomposition process were more conspicuous than the effect of litter qualities such as C/N ratio or lignin/N. The nutrient element content in the decomposing litter was gradually leached out, but heavy metals and Mg were accumulated in the decaying litter. This phenomenon was conspicuous at the serpentine site during the process of decomposition.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.315-322
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• 2011

We investigated the effect of Pb uptake by Pinus densiflora and the Pb fraction in forest soil. We also investigated the change in soil physicochemical characteristics, microbial activity, and root exudates of Pinus densiflora in Pb-contaminated soils. Three-year-old pine seedlings were exposed to 500 mg/kg Pb for 12 months. The metal fractions were measured using sequential extraction procedures. Additionally, factors that affect solubility (three soil enzyme activities and amino acids of root exudate compounds) were also determined. The results showed that Pb contamination significantly decreased enzyme activities due to soil characteristics. In addition, organic matter, nitrate content, and Pb concentration were time dependent. The results indicate that changes in the Pb fraction affected Pb uptake by pine trees due to an increase in the exchangeable Pb fraction. The concentrations of organic acids were higher in Pb-spiked soil than those in control soil. Higher rhizosphere concentrations of oxalic acid resulted in increased Pb uptake from the soil. These results suggest that pine trees can change soil properties using root exudates due to differences in the metal fraction.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2016

In this study, a pyrosequencing was performed and analyzed to verify the phylogenetic diversity of actinomycetes in the bamboo (Sasa borealis) soil as a base study to obtain the genetic resources of actinomycetes. It was found that the rhizosphere soil had much various distribution in bacterial communities showing a diversity of 8.15 with 2,868 OTUs, while the litter layer showed a diversity of 7.55 with 2,588 OTUs. The bacterial community in the bamboo soil was composed of 35 phyla and the predominant phyla were Proteobacteria (51-60%), Bacteroidetes (16-20%), Acidobacteria (4-16%) and Actinobacteria (4-14%). In particular, Actinobacteria including Micromonosporaceae and Streptomycetaceae had a diverse distribution of actinomycetes within the six orders, 35 families and 121 genera, and it was characterized that about 83% of actinomycetes within Actinomycetales belonged to the 28 families. Among the dominant actinobacterial populations, Micromonosporaceae, Pseudonocardiaceae and Streptomycetaceae were representative family groups in the bamboo soils.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: Living modified microorganisms (LMMs) have been focused in two very different aspects of positive and negative effects on ecology and human health. As a model experiment, wild type and a foreign origin gene-harboring modified E. coli strains were subjected to comparison of their metabolomes and potential effects on soil microbiota in the laboratory sets. This study assumes the unintentional release of LMMs and tries to suggest potential effects on the soil microbiota even at minimal settings. METHODS AND RESULTS: Metabolomes from the wild type and LM E. coli were analyzed by NMR and the profiles were compared. In the laboratory soil experiments, the two types of E. coli were added to the soils and monitored for the bacterial community compositions. Those metabolomic profiles did not show significant differences. The microbial community structures from the time series soil DNAs for both the sets using wild type and LMO also did not indicate significant changes, but minor by the addition of foreign organisms regardless of wild or LMO. CONCLUSION: Even if the recombinant microorganism (LMO) is released into the soil environment, the survival of microorganisms in the environment would be one of the major factors for the transfers of foreign genes to other organisms and diffusion into the soil environment.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.143-148
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• 1994

The relationships between microbial activity and physico-KDICical characteristics of soils were investigated in three golf courses of Kwanak, Gold and Korea Country Clubs, with different open years. The soil samples were collected in tee, fairway and rough. There were ranges of 4.80-5.55 in pH, $25.55-98.50{\mu}S$ / cm in conductivity, 10.96-16.73% in moisture content, 0.18-0.36g / g in water holding capacity, 3.68-5.39% in organic matter, and 0.10-0.25% in total nitrogen. Dehydrogenase activity(DHA) as an index of soil microbial activity was determined. DHA values of soil were $69.83-314.43{\mu}$g / g in three courses and showed the order of Kwanak>Gold>Korea Country Club with open year. This indicates that DHA was affected by several fertilizer treatments rather than herbicide and pesticide treatments. DHA was significantly different with golf clubs as well as golf courses and positively correlated with water holding capacity and total nitrogen.

• 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.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.267-279
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• 1992

The relationship between pb, zn, cd, and the microbial biomass and activity were investigated in three public park soils of central and outer london. Variability with distance from the roadside and profile were studied. The heavey metal concentrations were the highest in hampstead heath and hyde park with high trafic density and the lowest in hainault. The highest concentrations of heavy metals were found adjacent to the roadside in the upper parts of the soil profile. Dehydrogenase activity, adenosine tri-phosphate and ergosterol contents used as indices of micrbial biomass and activity, were generally higher in hainadult, and also higher in the upper pats of the soil profile. Simple regression analysis indicated that the microbial biomass and activity were affected significantly by moisture content, water holding capacity, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and organic mater rather than heavy metal concentration. Highest inputs of nitrogen and carbon were associated with high inputs of heavey metals, all three being derived from vehicle emissions adjacent to the road. The hyde park and hampstead heath microbial populations were able to respond to the c and n input positively by increase in biomass and activity, whereas the hainault populations could not. This rsult suggrsts adaptation in he former to heavy matals, but not in the latter.