• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.210-218
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• 2018

Background: Soil respiration (Rs) is a major factor of the absorption and accumulation of carbon through photosynthesis in the ecosystem carbon cycle. This directly affects the amount of net ecosystem productivity, which affects the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem. Understanding the characteristics of Rs is indispensable to scientifically understand the carbon cycle of ecosystems. It is very important to study Rs characteristics through analysis of environmental factors closely related to Rs. Rs is affected by various environmental factors, such as temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, litter supply, organic matter content, dominant plant species, and soil disturbance. This study was conducted to analyze the effects of micro-topographical differences on Rs in forest vegetation by measuring the Rs on the ridge and southern slope sites of the broadly established Quercus mongolica forest in the central Korean area. Method: Rs, Ts, and soil moisture data were collected at the southern slope and ridge of the Q. mongolica forest in the Mt. Jeombong area in order to investigate the effects of topographical differences on Rs. Rs was collected by the closed chamber method, and data collection was performed from May 2011 to October 2013, except Winter seasons from November to April or May. For collecting the raw data of Rs in the field, acrylic collars were placed at the ridge and southern slope of the forest. The accumulated surface litter and the soil organic matter content (SOMC) were measured to a 5 cm depth. Based on these data, the Rs characteristics of the slope and ridge were analyzed. Results: Rs showed a distinct seasonal variation pattern in both the ridge and southern slope sites. In addition, Rs showed a distinct seasonal variation with high and low Ts changes. The average Rs measurements for the two sites, except for the Winter periods that were not measured, were $550.1\;mg\;CO_2m^{-2}h^{-1}$ at the ridge site and $289.4\;mg\;CO_2m^{-2}h^{-1}$ at the southern slope, a difference of 52.6%. There was no significant difference in the Rs difference between slopes except for the first half of 2013, and both sites showed a tendency to increase exponentially as Ts increased. In addition, although the correlation is low, the difference in Rs between sites tended to increase as Ts increased. SMC showed a large fluctuation at the southern slope site relative to the ridge site, as while it was very low in 2013, it was high in 2011 and 2012. The accumulated litter of the soil surface and the SOMC at the depth range of 0~5 cm were $874g\;m^{-2}$ and 23.3% at the ridge site, and $396g\;m^{-2}$ and 19.9% at the southern slope site. Conclusions: In this study, Rs was measured for the ridge and southern slope sites, which have two different results where the surface litter layer is disturbed by strong winds. The southern slope site shows that the litter layer formed in autumn due to strong winds almost disappeared, and while in the ridge site, it became thick due to the transfer of litter from the southern slope site. The mean Rs was about two times higher in the ridge site compared to that in the southern slope site. The Rs difference seems to be due to the difference in the amount of litter accumulated on the soil surface. As a result, the litter layer supplied to the soil surface is disturbed due to the micro-topographical difference, as the slope and the change of the community structure due to the plant season cause heterogeneity of the litter layer development, which in turn affects SMC and Rs. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce and understand these micro-topographical features and mechanisms when quantifying and analyzing the Rs of an ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.424-429
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• 2010

To solve the problems with excessive accumulation of soil inorganic N and resulting saline soils from overuse of nitrogen fertilizer, the effect of sucrose application on decrease of soil inorganic N content and electrical conductivity (EC) was studied. Sucrose treatment greatly reduced ${NH_4}^+$-N content in soil. The amount of reduction was greater as the amount of sucrose treatment was increased. When ${NH_4}^+$-N content was reached the lowest point (about 10 mg $kg^{-1}$or lower), the C/N ratio, which determines the amount of sucrose treatment, was around 10 regardless of initial ${NH_4}^+$-N content. For the rate of ${NH_4}^+$-N reduction 15~36 hours was required to reduce the initial ${NH_4}^+$-N content to half, and 36~69 hours to lower ${NH_4}^+$-N content to the lowest point (about 10 mg $kg^{-1}$or lower). In addition, sucrose treatment greatly lowered ${NO_3}^-$-N content. In case of C/N ratio above 10, initial ${NO_3}^-$-N content of 348 mg $kg^{-1}$ was reduced to the lowest of 14~21 mg $kg^{-1}$. As for the rate of ${NO_3}^-$-N reduction by sucrose treatment, it took 36~60 hours for ${NO_3}^-$-N content to reach the lowest point for C/N ratio of 10 or higher, and it took 3 weeks, comparably longer time, for C/N ratio of 5. Lowering soil EC from sucrose treatment showed the same trend as ${NO_3}^-$-N content. As an important energy and carbon source for humankind, sugar should not be wasted and must be carefully applied to soil. In principle, the best way of preventing salt accumulation in soil is to optimize the fertilizer input. However, when over-fertilization should be dealt with, the sucrose treatment would be a possible and effective counter-measure to reduce overdosed nitrogen sources in soil.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2002

To compare the Carbon metabolic response to high temperature stress in Zoysiagrass [Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr.] and Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds) with respect to heat tolerance, C metabolites were determined from April to September. Sampling was carried out on an established golf course (Muan Country Club, Chonnam, Korea). Shoot mass(g Dry weight per hole cup) of creeping bentgrass started to decrease from June and recovered from August whereas that of zoysiagrass was less varied. Chlorophyll content in creeping bentgrass was significantly higher than zoysiagrass until July, and then decreased by 43% from July to August. Zoysiagrass contained higher soluble sugar than creeping bentgrass throughout experimental period. Soluble sugar in zoysiagrass increased about 58% from April to May, and less varied until August. Soluble sugar in creeping bentgrass slightly increased until July and sharply decreased at August. Starch concentration in zoysiagrass continuously decreased to September after a significant increase from April to May. A remarkable fluctuation in both starch and fluctuation concentration was observed between June and August showing high accumulation for June to July and high degradation for July to August. These results suggest that through creeping bentgrass suffers much severely from high temperature stress than zoysiagrass especially June to August. An active accumulation and degradation in nonstructural carbohydrate in creeping bentgrass during this period might be associated with heat stress.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.262-270
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Coal combustion bottom ash(BA) has high carbon and calcium content, and alkaline pH, which might improve nutrient cycling in soil related to microbial enzyme activities as it is used as soil amendment. However, it contains heavy metals such as copper(Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc(Zn), which could cause heavy metals accumulation in soil. Compost might play a role that stabilize BA. The objective of this study was to evaluate effect of combined application of BA and compost as soil amendment on heavy metals concentration, enzyme activities, chemical properties, and crop yield in upland soil. METHODS AND RESULTS: BA was applied at the rate of 0, 20, 40, and 80 Mg/ha under different rate of compost application (0 and 30 Mg/ha) in radish (Raphanus sativus var) field. Combined application of BA and compost more improved chemical properties such as pH, EC, OM, total nitrogen, available phosphate, and exchangeable cations of soil than single application of BA. Water soluble Mn and Zn concentration in soil significantly decreased with increasing application rate of BA. Decrease in those metals concentration was accelerated with combined application of BA and compost. Urease and dehydrogenase activities significantly increased with increasing application rate of BA. Phosphotase activities were not affected with single application of BA but increased with combined application of BA and compost. Radish yield was not affected by application rate of BA. CONCLUSION: From the above results, combined application of BA and compost could be used as soil amendment to improve chemical properties and enzyme activities of soil without increase in heavy metal concentration and decrease in crop yield in upland soil.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.2 s.58
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• pp.163-172
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• 2005

Field survey on the marine environmental characteristics by the distribution of dinoflagellate cysts and organic matter carried out bimonthly at 14 stations in the central parts of South Sea, Korea from April 2002 to January 2003. The range of environmental factors on surface sediments such as water content, ignition loss (IL), chemical oxygen demand (CODs), particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate organic nitrogen (PON) and phaeopigment were $38.7\~68.9\%,\;3.9\~12.5\%,\;9.60\~44.05mgO_2\;gdry^{-1},\;3.12\~13.14mgC\; gdry^{-1},\;0.49\~2.01mgN\;gdry^{-1}\;and\;1.61\~29.51{\mu}g\;gdry^{-1}\;gdry-1$, respectively. A total dinoflagellate cysts identified were 33 species, which belonged to 18 genera,31 species, and 2 unidentified species. A cysts density were $42\~2,880\; cysts\;gdry^{-1}$. The dominant species of dinoflagellate cysts were Spinrferites bulloideus and Scrippsiella trochoidea all the year and autotrophic species was more abundant than heterotrophic species. The organic matter and dinoflgellate cysts were more abundant nearshore than offshore, and the origin of organic matter was autochthonous rather than from terrestrial. The two factors derived from the loading factor of PCA. Factor 1 was 'accumulation of oragnic matter in the offshore', factor 2 was 'cysts abundance', and the central parts of Korean South Sea was separated with 3 regions by score distribution of PCA.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.206-215
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• 2020

Trichoderma reesei is the major filamentous fungus used to produce cellulase and there is huge interest in promoting its ability to produce higher titers of cellulase. Among the many factors affecting cellulase production in T. reesei, the mycelial phenotype is important but seldom studied. Herein, a close homolog of the Neurospora crassa COT1 kinase was discovered in T. reesei and designated TrCOT1, which is of 83.3% amino acid sequence identity. Functional disruption of Trcot1 in T. reesei by RNAi-mediated gene silencing resulted in retarded sporulation on potato dextrose agar and dwarfed colonies on minimal medium agar plates containing glucose, xylan, lactose, xylose, or glycerol as the sole carbon source. The representative mutant strain, SUS2/Trcot1i, also displayed reduced mycelia accumulation but hyperbranching in the MM glucose liquid medium, with hyphal growth unit length values decreased to 73.0 ㎛/tip compared to 239.8 ㎛/tip for the parent strain SUS2. The hyperbranching phenotype led to slightly but significantly increased cellulase secretion from 24 to 72 h in a batch culture. However, the cellulase production per unit of mycelial biomass was much more profoundly improved from 24 to 96 h.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.184-192
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• 2014

Various types of unit packaging methods were applied for 'Fuji' apples during short-term cold storage and export simulation. Gas tightness of the package was controlled stepwise in the successive two-year experiments using different perforation treatments (none, punch hole, or pinhole) and sealing methods (tie v s. heat seal). Risk of tight packaging and effectiveness of macroperforation on weight loss and quality maintenance were analyzed as related to changes in gas concentration inside the packages. Immediately after harvest, each 5 apple units were packaged in $40{\mu}m$ polypropylene (PP) film bags, stored 4 weeks at $0^{\circ}C$, and then put on the shelf for one week at ambient temperature in the preliminary experiment, In the main experiment, export process was imposed after storage simulating 2 week refrigerated container shipment at $0^{\circ}C$ plus one week local marketing at ambient temperature. Non-perforated film packaging with relatively high gas tightness induced flesh browning caused by carbon dioxide accumulation regardless of the sealing methods. Among perforated film packaging, in contrast, atmospheric modification was partly established only in the pinhole treatment and flesh browning symptom was not observed in all the treatments. Even the punch hole perforated film packaging without gas tightness effectively reduced the weight loss, whereas had slight benefits for quality maintenance. Reduced perforation using pinhole treatment seemed to improve sensory texture, while effects on physicochemical quality were insignificant. Overall results suggest the need of more minute perforation treatments on the packaging film to ensure modified atmosphere effects on quality maintenance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.880-884
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• 2001

Rumen microbiology research has undergone several evolutionary steps: the isolation and nutritional characterization of readily cultivated microbes; followed by the cloning and sequence analysis of individual genes relevant to key digestive processes; through to the use of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) sequences for a cultivation-independent examination of microbial diversity. Our knowledge of rumen microbiology has expanded as a result, but the translation of this information into productive alterations of ruminal function has been rather limited. For instance, the cloning and characterization of cellulase genes in Escherichia coli has yielded some valuable information about this complex enzyme system in ruminal bacteria. SSU rRNA analyses have also confirmed that a considerable amount of the microbial diversity in the rumen is not represented in existing culture collections. However, we still have little idea of whether the key, and potentially rate-limiting, gene products and (or) microbial interactions have been identified. Technologies allowing high throughput nucleotide and protein sequence analysis have led to the emergence of two new fields of investigation, genomics and proteomics. Both disciplines can be further subdivided into functional and comparative lines of investigation. The massive accumulation of microbial DNA and protein sequence data, including complete genome sequences, is revolutionizing the way we examine microbial physiology and diversity. We describe here some examples of our use of genomics- and proteomics-based methods, to analyze the cellulase system of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 and explore the genome of Ruminococcus albus 8. At Illinois, we are using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vectors to create libraries containing large (>75 kbases), contiguous segments of DNA from R. flavefaciens FD-1. Considering that every bacterium is not a candidate for whole genome sequencing, BAC libraries offer an attractive, alternative method to perform physical and functional analyses of a bacterium's genome. Our first plan is to use these BAC clones to determine whether or not cellulases and accessory genes in R. flavefaciens exist in clusters of orthologous genes (COGs). Proteomics is also being used to complement the BAC library/DNA sequencing approach. Proteins differentially expressed in response to carbon source are being identified by 2-D SDS-PAGE, followed by in-gel-digests and peptide mass mapping by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry, as well as peptide sequencing by Edman degradation. At Ohio State, we have used a combination of functional proteomics, mutational analysis and differential display RT-PCR to obtain evidence suggesting that in addition to a cellulosome-like mechanism, R. albus 8 possesses other mechanisms for adhesion to plant surfaces. Genome walking on either side of these differentially expressed transcripts has also resulted in two interesting observations: i) a relatively large number of genes with no matches in the current databases and; ii) the identification of genes with a high level of sequence identity to those identified, until now, in the archaebacteria. Genomics and proteomics will also accelerate our understanding of microbial interactions, and allow a greater degree of in situ analyses in the future. The challenge is to utilize genomics and proteomics to improve our fundamental understanding of microbial physiology, diversity and ecology, and overcome constraints to ruminal function.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2017

The nitrogen phosphotransferase (PTS) system is a regulatory cascade present in most Proteobacteria, where it controls different functions. The nitrogen PTS is usually composed of $EI^{Ntr}$ (encoded by the ptsP gene), NPr (encoded by the ptsO gene), and $EIIA^{Ntr}$ (encoded by the ptsN gene). While $EIIA^{Ntr}$ plays a role in a variety of cellular processes, such as potassium homeostasis, regulation of ppGpp accumulation, nitrogen and carbon metabolisms, and regulation of ABC transporters, little information is available for a physiological role of NPr. A recent study showed that dephosphorylated NPr affects adaptation to envelope stresses in Escherichia coli. In this study, we provide another phenotype related to NPr. The ptsP mutant showed a filamentation phenotype. The filamentation phenotype of the ptsP mutant was recovered by additional deletion of the ptsO gene, but not by additional deletion of the ptsN gene, suggesting that an increased level of dephosphorylated NPr in the ptsP mutant renders cells the filamentous growth. This idea was confirmed by the fact that cells with increased levels of dephosphorylated NPr shows the filamentation phenotype. Additionally, we showed that cell size of E. coli increases with incremental dephosphorylated NPr concentrations. These results suggested that dephosphorylated NPr induces morphological change of E. coli.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.477-490
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• 2003

Bottom sediments from Youngil Bay, East Coast of Korea, were analyzed for grain composition as well as elemental compositions and total organic carbon (TOC) content in order to investigate the spatial variability and content of metal elements. Grain size distribution of the sediments seems to be controlled by anticlockwise current pattern with bottom topography of the study area. Spatial variability of TOC and all elemental contents reflects those of grain size, but an exception was found in the harbor area (Old-Port): their contents are high in the central part of the bay with the muddy sediment and decrease toward the sand-dominated coastal zone. However, contents of Ca, Sr, K are high in the sand-dominated coastal zone and contents of some heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Zn) are high in the Old-Port area and the mouth of Hyeongsan River. The correlation matrix and R-mode factor analyses reveal that four important factors controlling the distribution of metals in the bay are sediment grain size (or quartz dilution effect), the formation of sulfide minerals associated with decomposition of organic matters under anoxic geochemical environment, calcium carbonate (mainly shell fragments) and coarse-grained feldspar mineral. According to the metal content of labile fraction an CER (concentration enrichment ratio) value, high accumulation of some heavy metals in the harbor area seems to result not formed by early diagenetic processes under anoxic environment.