• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2009

The characteristics of physico-chemical factors and the species compositions of phytoplankton were investigated to analyze the marine ecosystem at the depths during summer in the coast of Dokdo (stations DOK1$\sim$3). The mean values of conductivity (32 mS cm$^{-1}$), total dissolved solids (45 mg L$^{-1}$), salinity (35.5 psu), total suspended solids (39 mg L$^{-1}$) were the highest in DOK1. The biomass (chl-${\alpha}$) of phytoplankton was the highest in the surface of station DOK1 (3.1 ${\mu}g$ L$^{-1}$). By means of physico-chemical factors (salinity, turbidity, chl-${\alpha}$, T-N, T-P and Si), the coast of Dokdo was estimated to be more polluted than the previous results in 2000. A total of 72 species in Dokdo were composed of 54 species (76.1%) for Bacillariophyceae and 13 species (18.3%) for Dinophyceae, 3 species (4.2%) for Chrysophyceae and 1 species (1.4%) for Cyanophyceae. The standing crops of phytoplankton were the highest (8.5 $\times$ 10$^4$ cells L$^{-1}$) at 20 m of station DOK1, while they were the lowest (1.65 $\times$ 10$^4$ cells L$^{-1}$) at 30 m of station 1. The dominance index was maximum (0.73) at 10 m of station DOK1 and was minimum (0.4) at 30 m of station 1. The diversity index was the highest (2.92) in the surface of station 2, while it was the lowest at 20 m (1.58). The dominant species of phytoplankton were Chaetoceros affinis (3.3 $\times$ 10$^4$ cells L$^{-1}$) at 20 m, Climacosphenia moniligera (2.8 $\times$ 10$^4$ cells L$^{-1}$) at 40 m and Melosira juergensii (1.7 $\times$ 10$^4$ cells L$^{-1}$) at 10 m of station DOK1. At the surface of station DOK2, the dominant species were Bacillaria paxillifer and Richelia intracellularis (1.4 $\times$ 10$^4$ cells L$^{-1}$, respectively), while it was Paralia sulcata (1.6 $\times$ 10$^4$ cells L$^{-1}$) at the surface of station DOK3. The station DOKl, where affected by upwelling, turbulence and convection due to the East Korean Warm Current, was the most eutrophicated water body in three stations. The monitoring of marine ecosystem in the coast of Dokdo should be continued to show the alternatives for water and species conservation and to purify the eutrophicated water body due to artificial pollutants as well as physico-chemical factors by the global warming, the climatic change, CO$_2$ etc.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.367-382
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• 2022

Numerous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) produced by periodic combinations of organic ligands and metal ions or metal-oxo clusters have led the way for the creation of energy-efficient membrane-based separations that may serve as viable replacements for traditional thermal counterparts. Although tremendous progress has been made over the past decade in the synthesis of polycrystalline MOF membranes, only a small number of MOFs have been exploited in the relevant research. Intercrystalline defects, or nonselective diffusion routes in polycrystalline membranes, are likely the reason behind the delay. Postsynthetic modifications (PSMs) are newly emerging strategies for providing polycrystalline MOF membrane diversity by leveraging advanced membranes as a platform and improving their separation capabilities via physical and/or chemical treatments; therefore, neither designing and developing MOFs nor tailoring membrane synthesis techniques for focused MOFs is necessary. In this minireview, seven subclasses of PSM techniques that have recently been adapted to polycrystalline MOF membranes are outlined, along with obstacles and future directions.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.149-162
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• 2024

Ginseng, the roots of Panax species, is an important medicinal herb used as a tonic. As ginsenosides are key bioactive components of ginseng, holistic chemical profiling of them has provided many insights into understanding ginseng. Mass spectrometry has been a major methodology for profiling, which has been applied to realize numerous goals in ginseng research, such as the discrimination of different species, geographical origins, and ages, and the monitoring of processing and biotransformation. This review summarizes the various applications of ginsenoside profiling in ginseng research over the last three decades that have contributed to expanding our understanding of ginseng. However, we also note that most of the studies overlooked a crucial factor that influences the levels of ginsenosides: genetic variation. To highlight the effects of genetic variation on the chemical contents, we present our results of untargeted and targeted ginsenoside profiling of different genotypes cultivated under identical conditions, in addition to data regarding genome-level genetic diversity. Additionally, we analyze the other limitations of previous studies, such as imperfect variable control, deficient metadata, and lack of additional effort to validate causation. We conclude that the values of ginsenoside profiling studies can be enhanced by overcoming such limitations, as well as by integrating with other -omics techniques.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.83-96
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of natural degrading polymer film covering in rice paddies on the benthic macroinvertebrate community structure in Dangsu-dong, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do from May 2009 to September 2009. We compared 5 treatments: golden apple snail farming (GF), natural degrading polymer film + organic farming (NOF), natural degrading polymer film + chemical farming (NCF), conventional farming (CF), and no fertilization (NF) as the control. The total number of species was highest in NOF followed by GF, NF, NCF, and CF. The total number of individuals was highest in NOF followed by NCF, CF, NF, and GF. The Dominance index (DI) ranged from 0.43 to 0.95. The highest dominance index was in GF followed by NCF, NF=CF, and NOF. The species diversity index (H') for each experimental plot ranged from 0.49 to 2.93. The average species diversity index was highest in NOF followed by NF, GF, CF, and NCF. After the natural degrading polymer film covered the paddies, the benthic macroinvertebrates tended to recover, but leeches and aquatic beetles increased. Mollusca and Annelida, which are sensitive taxa, decreased in both species and individual numbers after the soil was covered with the natural degrading polymer film. The number of species tended to recover. However, the number of individuals continued to decrease.d, especially individuals. Since then, the number of species tended to recover. However, the number of individuals decreased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.18-25
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• 2002

The pikromycin biosynthetic system in Streptomyces venezuleae is unique for its ability to produce two groups of antibiotics that include the 12-membered ring macrolides methymycin and neomethymycin, and the 14-membered ring macrolides narbomycin and pikromycin. The metabolic pathway also contains two post polyketide-modification enzymes, a glycosyltransferase and P450 hydroxylase that have unusually broad substrate specificities. In order to explore further the substrate flexibility of these enzymes a series of hybrid polyketide synthases were constructed and their metabolic products characterized. The plasmid-based replacement of the multifunctional protein subunits of the pikromycin PKS in S. venezuelae by the corresponding subunits from heterologous modular PKSs resulted in recombinant strains that produce both 12- and 14-membered ring macrolactones with predicted structural alterations. In all cases, novel macrolactones were produced and further modified by the DesVII glycosyltransferase and PikC hydroxylase leading to biologically active macrolide structures. These results demonstrate that hybrid PKSs in S. venezuelae can produce a multiplicity of new macrolactones that are modified further by the highly flexible DesVII glycosyltransferase and PikC hydroxylase tailoring enzymes. This work demonstrates the unique capacity of the S. venezuelae pikromycin pathway to expand the toolbox of combinatorial biosynthesis and to accelerate the creation of novel biologically active natural products. The polyketide backbone of rifamycin B is assembled through successive condensation and ${\beta}$-carbonyl processing of the extender units by the modular rifamycin PKS. The eighth module, in the RifD protein, contains nonfunctional DH domain and functional KR domain, which specify the reduction of the ${\beta}$-carbonyl group resulting in the C-21 bydroxyl of rifamycin B. A four amino acid substitution and one amino acid deletion were introduced in the putative NADPH binding motif in the proposed KR domain encoded by rifD. This strategy of mutation was based on the amino acid sequences of the corresponding motif of the KR domain of module 3 in the RifA protein, which is believed dysfunctional, so as to introduce a minimum alteration and retain the reading frame intact, yet ensure loss of function. The resulting strain produces linear polyketides, from tetraketide to octaketide, which are also produced by a rifD disrupted mutant as a consequence of premature termination of polyketide assembly. Much of the structural diversity within the polyketide superfamily of natural products is due to the ability of PKSs to vary the reduction level of every other alternate carbon atom in the backbone. Thus, the ability to introduce heterologous reductive segments such as ketoreductase (KR), dehydratase (DH), and enoylreductase (ER) into modules that naturally lack these activities would increase the power of the combinatorial biosynthetic toolbox. The dehydratase domain of module 7 of the rifamycin PKS, which is predicted to be nonfunctional in view of the sequence of the apparent active site, was replaced with its functional homolog from module 7 of rapamycin-producing polyketide synthase. The resulting mutant strain behaved like a rifC disrupted mutant, i.e., it accumulated the heptaketide intermediate and its precursors. This result points out a major difficulty we have encountered with all the Amycolatopsis mediterranei strain containing hybrid polyketide synthases: all the engineered strains prepared so far accumulate a plethora of products derived from the polyketide chain assembly intermediates as major products instead of just analogs of rifamycin B or its ansamycin precursors.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.151-157
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• 2003

This research was conducted to investigate about structural characteristics of vegetation by change of the environmental factors for prolific open-pollinated progeny forest in Pinus koraiensis stands. Stand slope of Kapyung area was slower than Youngdong area. On the other hand, contents rate of the soil chemical properties in Kapyung was lower than Youngdong area. And relative intensity of light was higher Youngdong than Kapyung area. On the whole, growth of the Pinus koraiensis was more dominant Kapyung area than Youngdong. Analysis result of the relative density, - frequency, - coverage and importance value to shrub layer in each local stands, Quercus mongolica and Quercus acutissima were dominant species in Kapyung area. Dominant species In Youngdong area was Quercus acutissima. In Kapyung area, appearance species of the vegetation layer was consisted that live in moist soil and shaded lot. Youngdong area showed fewer species than Kpyung area. Species diversity of shrub and vegetation layer in Kapyung and Youngdong area was higher than Youngdong. This result was judged by slope difference between each areas. Kapyung area need enforce thinning and Youngdong area conduct tending management on shrub layer.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.173-182
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• 2016

Although the ecosystem extends numerous functions for the benefit of humankind, construction of horticultural facilities can potentially lead to the degeneration of some of these functions owing to the expansion of impervious regions and loss of habitats. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effect of construction of horticultural facilities on plant biodiversity. Analysis of the vegetation distribution characteristics showed that horticultural facilities had significantly lower plant diversity than did rice paddies. Hence, the proposed approach involved low-impact development, arrangement of habitat space, plant preservation, restricted use of chemical fertilizer, habitat creation, and reduced preservation cost. Lifestyle analysis suggested the importance of developing favorable environments for the growth of annual plants and aquatic plants. In all, 20 species of naturalized plants belonging to 10 families were identified. Furthermore, the proportion of these naturalized plants was higher in glass greenhouses and multi-span greenhouses, suggesting the advantages of employing natural soil mulching while avoiding concrete mulching. Statistical analysis was performed to validate the results, which suggested that impervious regions be converted to natural soils. Collectively, the findings of this study are expected to be used for establishing policies for the construction of eco-friendly and ecological horticultural facilities; this may aid the maintenance of sustainable agricultural landscapes and large-scale development of the reclaimed lands.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.spc
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• pp.20-28
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• 2009

The sustainability of conventional agriculture which is characterized by input dependent and ecologically simplified food production system is vague. Chemicals and present practices used in agriculture are not only costly but also have widespread implications on human and animal health, food quality and safety and environmental quality. Thus there is a need for alternative farming practices to sustain food production for the escalating population and conserve environment for future generations. The present research scenario in the area of plant microbe interactions for maintaining sustainable agriculture suggests that the level of internal regulation in agro-ecosystems is largely dependent on the level of plant and microbial diversity present in the soil. In agro-ecosystems, biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services beyond the production of food, including recycling of nutrients, regulation of microclimate and local hydrological processes, suppression of undesirable organisms and detoxification of noxious chemicals. Controlling the soil microflora to enhance the predominance of beneficial and effective microorganisms can help improve and maintain soil chemical and physical properties. The role of beneficial soil microorganisms in sustainable productivity has been well construed. Some plant bacteria referred to as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can contribute to improve plant growth, nutrient uptake and microbial diversity when inoculated to plants. Term PGPR was initially used to describe strains of naturally occurring non-symbiotic soil bacteria have the ability to colonize plant roots and stimulate plant growth PGPR activity has been reported in strains belonging to several other genera, such as Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Arthrobacter Bacillus, Burkhokderia, Methylobacterium, and Pseudomonas etc. PGPR stimulate plant growth directly either by synthesizing hormones such as indole acetic acid or by promoting nutrition, for example, by phosphate solubilization or more generally by accelerating mineralization processes. They can also stimulate growth indirectly, acting as biocontrol agents by protecting the plant against soil borne fungal pathogens or deleterious bacteria. Present review focuses on some recent developments to evolve strategies for better biotechnological exploitation of PGPR's.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.172-182
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• 2009

This study was to analyze characteristics based on tolerance and trophic guilds and to determine the level of total mercury in tissues of sentinel species, Zacco platypus at 3 sampling sites of the Mangyeong River in 2007. Total sampled fishes were 26 species and the most dominant species was Zacco temminckii (47%). Fish community analysis was resulted that eveness index and diversity index showed low value at S1. However, diversity index and richness index at other sites showed high. According to various guilds analysis, relative abundance of sensitive species was 70% and 42% at S1 and S2, respectively. While sensitive species were decreased (1%) and tolerant species were increased (60%) at S3. It was mainly carried to the impacts of wastewater treatment plants near the location. Relative abundance of insectivore species was decreased from up (S1) to midstream area (S3). In addition, chemical water quality, based on analyses of BOD, COD, TP, TN, EC, MPN and SS concentration showed similar trends. Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) was averaged 164, judged as "good" habitat condition. Average concentrations of total [Hg] was 146.9 ${\mu}g$ $kg^{-1}$. In the muscles of total [Hg] was the highest, and then followed by kidney, vertebrae, liver, and gills. According to FDA standards (500 ${\mu}g$ $kg^{-1}$) of Korea, total [Hg] has not affected to the individual fish health.