• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.3-13
• /
• 2007

The primary objective of this study was to compare water use efficiencies between subsurface drip irrigation and furrow irrigation. The uniformity of used drip lines was tested to determine if clogging would be a threat to the long-term success of a subsurface drip irrigation system. Three crops, cantaloupe, lettuce, and bell pepper, were grown in four plots for each irrigation system. Significantly less water was applied with subsurface drip irrigation than with furrow irrigation (29.5 % less for cantaloupe and 43.2 % less for bell poppet) in order to produce similar crop yields. Water use efficiencies with subsurface drip irrigation were significantly higher than those with furrow irrigation fur cantaloupe (P-value = 0.018) and bell pepper (P-value ${\leq}$ 0.001). Drip-irrigated lettuce, a shallow-rooted crop, had moderately higher water use efficiency during the first two seasons, while no difference was observed in the third season. After the experiment, the uniformity of the drip lines was 92.1 % on average and classified as good. The high values fur water use efficiency and uniformity indicate that subsurface drip irrigation can be a sustainable method for conserving irrigation water.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.251-257
• /
• 2003

Metabolic engineering has become a new paradigm for the more efficient production of desired bioproducts. Metabolic engineering can be defined as directed modification of cellular metabolism and properties through the introduction, deletion, and modification of metabolic pathways by using recombinant DNA and other molecular biological tools. During the last decade, metabolic flux analysis(MFA) has become an essential tool fur metabolic engineering. By MFA, the intracellular metabolic fluxes can be quantified by the measurement of extracellular metabolite concentrations in combination with the stoichiometry of intracellular reactions and mass balances. The usefulness and functionality of MFA are demonstrated by applying to metabolic pathways in E. coli. First, a large-scale in silico E. coli model is constructed, and then the effects of carbon sources on intracellular flux distributions and succinic acid production were investigated on the basis of the uptake and secretion rates of the relevant metabolites. The results indicated that succinic acid yields increased in order of gluconate, glucose and sorbitol. Acetic acid and lactic acid were produced as major products rather than when gluconate and glucose were used carbon sources. The results indicated that among three carbon sources available, the most reduced substrate is sorbitol which yields efficient succinic acid production.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.59-70
• /
• 2012

Carbon catabolite repression (CCR) is a key regulatory system found in most microorganisms that ensures preferential utilization of energy-efficient carbon sources. CCR helps microorganisms obtain a proper balance between their metabolic capacity and the maximum sugar uptake capability. It also constrains the deregulated utilization of a preferred cognate substrate, enabling microorganisms to survive and dominate in natural environments. On the other side of the same coin lies the tenacious bottleneck in microbial production of bioproducts that employs a combination of carbon sources in varied proportion, such as lignocellulose-derived sugar mixtures. Preferential sugar uptake combined with the transcriptional and/or enzymatic exclusion of less preferred sugars turns out one of the major barriers in increasing the yield and productivity of fermentation process. Accumulation of the unused substrate also complicates the downstream processes used to extract the desired product. To overcome this difficulty and to develop tailor-made strains for specific metabolic engineering goals, quantitative and systemic understanding of the molecular interaction map behind CCR is a prerequisite. Here we comparatively review the universal and strain-specific features of CCR circuitry and discuss the recent efforts in developing synthetic cell factories devoid of CCR particularly for lignocellulose-based biorefinery.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.62 no.3
• /
• pp.51-61
• /
• 2020

Drought events are not clear when those start and end compared with other natural disasters. Because drought events have different timing and severity of damage depending on the region, various studies are being conducted using satellite images to identify regional drought occurrence differences. In this study, we investigated the applicability of drought assessment using the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images. The ESI is an indicator of agricultural drought that describes anomalies in actual and reference evapotranspiration (ET) ratios that are retrieved using remotely sensed inputs of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Leaf Area Index (LAI). However, these approaches have a limited spatial resolution when mapping detailed vegetation stress caused by drought, and drought hazard in the actual crop cultivation areas due to the small crop cultivation in South Korea. For these reasons, the development of a drought index that provides detailed higher resolution ESI, a 500 m resolution image is essential to improve the country's drought monitoring capabilities. The newly calculated ESI was verified through the existing 5 km resolution ESI and historical records for drought impacts. This study evaluates the performance of the recently developed 500 m resolution ESI for severe and extreme drought events that occurred in South Korea in 2001, 2009, 2014, and 2017. As a result, the two ES Is showed high correlation and tendency using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis. In addition, it will provide the necessary information on the spatial resolution to evaluate regional drought hazard assessment and and the small-scale cultivation area across South Korea.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.606-612
• /
• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Several medicinal properties of Smilax china L. have been studied including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. However, the antiobesity activity and mechanism by which the water-soluble fraction of this plant mediates its effects are not clear. In the present study, we investigated the lipolytic actions of the water-soluble fraction of Smilax china L. leaf ethanol extract (wsSCLE) in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. MATERIALS/METHODS: The wsSCLE was identified by measuring the total polyphenol and flavonoid content. The wsSCLE was evaluated for its effects on cell viability, lipid accumulation, glycerol, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) contents. In addition, western blot analysis was used to evaluate the effects on protein kinase A (PKA), PKA substrates (PKAs), and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL). For the lipid accumulation assay, 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with different doses of wsSCLE for 9 days starting 2 days post-confluence. In other cell experiments, mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated for 24 h with wsSCLE. RESULTS: Results showed that treatment with wsSCLE at 0.05, 0.1, and 0.25 mg/mL had no effect on cell morphology and viability. Without evidence of toxicity, wsSCLE treatment decreased lipid accumulation compared with the untreated adipocyte controls as shown by the lower absorbance of Oil Red O stain. The wsSCLE significantly induced glycerol release and cAMP production in mature 3T3-L1 cells. Furthermore, protein levels of phosphorylated PKA, PKAs, and HSL significantly increased following wsSCLE treatment. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the potential antiobesity activity of wsSCLE is at least in part due to the stimulation of cAMP-PKA-HSL signaling. In addition, the wsSCLE-stimulated lipolysis induced by the signaling is mediated via activation of the ${\beta}$-adrenergic receptor.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.26 no.7
• /
• pp.1278-1284
• /
• 2016

Rhizopus chinensis cells immobilized on loofah (Luffa cylindrica) sponges were used to produce biodiesel via the transesterification of soybean oil. In whole-cell immobilization, loofah sponge is considered to be a superior alternative to conventional biomass carriers because of its biodegradable and renewable properties. During cell cultivation, Rhizopus chinensis mycelia can spontaneously and firmly adhere to the surface of loofah sponge particles. The optimal conditions for processing 9.65 g soybean oil at 40℃ and 180 rpm using a 3:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio were found to be 8% cell addition and 3-10% water content (depending on the oil's weight). Under optimal conditions, an over 90% methyl ester yield was achieved after the first reaction batch. The operational stability of immobilized Rhizopus chinensis cells was assayed utilizing a 1:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio, thus resulting in a 16.5-fold increase in half-life when compared with immobilized cells of the widely studied Rhizopus oryzae. These results suggest that transesterification of vegetable oil using Rhizopus chinensis whole cells immobilized onto loofah sponge is an effective approach for biodiesel production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.30 no.10
• /
• pp.1597-1606
• /
• 2020

Transcription factor engineering to regulate multiple genes has shown promise in the field of microalgae genetic engineering. Here, we report the first use of transcription factor engineering in Chlorella sp. HS2, thought to have potential for producing biofuels and bioproducts. We identified seven endogenous bZIP transcription factors in Chlorella sp. HS2 and named them HSbZIP1 through HSbZIP7. We overexpressed HSbZIP1, a C-type bZIP transcription factor, in Chlorella sp. HS2 with the goal of enhancing lipid production. Phenotype screening under heterotrophic conditions showed that all transformants exhibited increased fatty acid production. In particular, HSbZIP1 37 and 58 showed fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yields of 859 and 1,052 mg/l, respectively, at day 10 of growth under heterotrophic conditions, and these yields were 74% and 113% higher, respectively, than that of WT. To elucidate the mechanism underlying the improved phenotypes, we identified candidate HSbZIP1-regulated genes via transcription factor binding site analysis. We then selected three genes involved in fatty acid synthesis and investigated mRNA expression levels of the genes by qRT-PCR. The result revealed that the possible HSbZIP1-regulated genes involved in fatty acid synthesis were upregulated in the HSbZIP1 transformants. Taken together, our results demonstrate that HSbZIP1 can be utilized to improve lipid production in Chlorella sp. HS2 under heterotrophic conditions.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.638-643
• /
• 1996

The efficiency of dewatering of soybean milk residue was improved by hydraulic pressing after pH adjustment to 4.5 with organic acids such as acetic and lactic acids. Water content of raw soybean milk residue was reduced from 80% to 72% by pressing after pH adjustment, while only to 78% by the conventional hydraulic press. The water content of the residue after pH adjustment was further reduced to 63% by hydraulic pressing with ohmic heating. The pH adjustment facilitated separation of cake from the filter cloth and reduced the solid content of the expressed liquid from 10 to 3%.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.111-118
• /
• 1996

For the screening and the development of the new bio-material, cultural conditions for the exo-biopolymer (EBP) production throught the submerged cultivation of Ganoderma lucidum mycelium were investigated. Also, the fractionations and the purifications of the exo-biopolymer were carried out and the chemical compositions of the exo-biopolymer were examined. The optimal culture conditions for the exo-biopolymer production were pH 5.0, 30$^{\circ}C$ and 100 rpm of agitation speed in the medium containing of 5% (w/v) glucose, 0.5%(w/v) yeast extract, 0.1% (w/v) ($(NH_4)_2HPO_4$, and 0.05% (w/v) $KH_2PO_4$. In the flask cultivation for 7 days under these conditions, the concentration of the maximum exo-biopolymer and the cell mass were 15.4g/l and 18.8g/l, respectively. The specific growth rate was 0.039 $hr^{-1}$. In addition, the substrate consumption rate, and the exo-biopolymer production rate were 0.043$gg^{-1}$$hr^{-1}$ and 0.025$gg^{-1}$$hr^{-1}$, respectively. The exo-biopolymer was fractionated into BWS (water soluble exo-biopolymer) and BWI (water insoluble exo-biopolymer) by the water extraction, and the sugar contents of two fractions were higher than 97% (based on dry basis). The components sugar of BWS and BWI fractions were glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, and fucose. Their molar ratios were 3.6:1.5:2.1:0.5: trace and 2.9:3.1:2.0:1.6:0.3, respectively.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.200-204
• /
• 2000

Protein conjugation of curdlan belonging to $\beta$-1, 3-glucan was carried out to improve it surface functionalities. The glucan was mixed with phosvitin, {TEX}$$\alpha$_{s}${/TEX}-casein, lysozyme or ovalbumin, respectively. The mixture was freeze-dried, and he resulting powder was incubated at 6$0^{\circ}C$ and 79% relative humidity for 12 days in order to generate a controlled Maillard reaction between curdlan and proteins. conjugation with unfolding proteins, i.e., phosvitin and {TEX}$$\alpha$_{s}${/TEX}-casein, drastically increased the solubility of the glucan, whereas lysozyme and ovalbmin did not. The solubility in water of curdlan was 3.44% for the phosvitin conjugate and 1.09% for the {TEX}$$\alpha$_{s}${/TEX}-casein conjugate. SDS-slab polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that curdlan was solubilized due to covalent binding with phosvitin. Emulsifying properties of curdlan were substantially improved by the conjugation with phosvitin and {TEX}$$\alpha$_{s}${/TEX}-casein. Emulsion stability of the curdlan-phosvitin conjugate was about 2.9 times greater than that of the curdlan-phosvitin mixture.