• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.214-219
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• 2008

Changes in stress-associated biomolecules can be used as an important criterion for assessing the levels of environmental pollution because living organisms demonstrate contamination-stimulated stress responses. This study was conducted to determine the environmental status of Masan-Jinhae Bay, Korea, and its effects on marine organisms by investigating the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) dysfunction in the organs of the flat fish, Limanda yokohamae. ER dysfunction was evaluated via Western blot analysis of the ER stress proteins, immunoglobulin heavy chain binding protein (BiP) and C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP), and the ER stress-associated protein caspase-12. The results showed that the amount of BiP and CHOP immunoreactivity in the flat fish from the bay area was much greater than that from the Gangneung, as a reference site. Similar to the ER stress proteins, the immunoreactivity of caspase-12 was also found to be elevated in the bay area when compared with that of Gangneung. These data suggest that the environmental status of Masan-Jinhae Bay induces the ER stress response, which is able to lead to phenotypic changes in marine organisms including fish.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2019

The extracts of Plathymenia reticulata and Connarus favosus are widely used in the folk medicine. The potential protective effects of these extracts have been evaluated against cadmium in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and against mercurial contamination in zebrafish Danio rerio. In yeast, both extracts efficiently protected the ${\Delta}ycf1$ mutant strain exposed to cadmium chloride restoring the growth, the expression of stress-response genes and decreasing the level of oxidative stress. In zebrafish, the supplementation of methylmercury-contaminated diet with both plant extracts similarly protected fish through the suppression of the methylmercury-induced lipid peroxidation, decrease of acetylcholinesterase activity, and restoring the expression levels of stress-response genes. This study particularly demonstrates the protective potential of both aqueous extracts against methylmercury, and could represent an interesting alternative for the Amazonian fish-eating communities to cope with the impact of chronic exposure to contaminated diets.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.633-638
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• 1998

To determine whether the enhanced UV-B causes oxidative stress, and to test the relationship between plant growth response and biochemical defense response to UV-B, two soybean plants, Keunolkong, a highly UV-B susceptible cultivar, and Danyeubkong, a less UV-B susceptible cultivar, were subjected to the enhanced UV-B [daily dose : 0.06 (control) and 11.32 (enhanced UV-B) kJ $m^{-2}$ ; $UV-B_{BE}$] for 3 weeks. Contents of malondialdehyde and total carotenold were increased in Keunolkong compared with Danyeubkong by UV-B. In control plants, ascorbate level of Danyeubkong was 3 times higher than that of Keunolkong. The ratio of dehydroascorbate/ascorbate was highly increased in Keunolkong by UV-B . The activities of antioxidative enzyme such as superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, monodehydroascorbate reductase and glutathione reductase were increased in both cultivars by UV-B. This results indicate that enhanced UV-B caused oxidative stress in both two cultivars, especially in Keunolkong. Susceptibility of two soybean cultivars to UV-B is closely related to the levels of antioxidants such as carotenoid and ascorbate.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.516-521
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• 2006

The use of gltA gene, as a new biomarker for environmental stress biomonitoring, was investigated because of its key position as the first enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. A recombinant bioluminescent Escherichia coli strain, EBJM2, was constructed using a plasmid carrying the citrate synthase (gltA) promoter transcribing the Photorhabdus luminescens IuxCDABE genes (gltA::luxCDABE). The responses from this strain were studied with five different classes of toxicants: DNA damage chemicals, phenolics, oxidative-stress chemicals, PAHs, and organic solvents. EBJM2 responded strongly to DNA damage chemicals, such as mitomycin C (MMC) and methyl-nitro-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and nalidixic acid with the strongest responses. In contrast, tests with several compounds from the other four classes of toxicants gave no significant response. Therefore, EBJM2 was found to be sensitive to DNA damage chemicals.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.213-216
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• 2014

Arsenic is a known hazardous metalloid not only to the animals but also to plants. With high concentrations, it can impede normal plant growth and cause even death of plants at extremely high levels. A known plant response to stress conditions such as toxic levels of metal (loids) is the production of stress ethylene, causing inhibitory effect on root growth in plants. When the effect of various arsenic concentrations was tested to maize plant, the stress ethylene emission proportionately increased with increasing concentration of As(V). The inoculation of two arsenic tolerant bacteria; Pseudomonas grimonti JS126 and Pseudomonas taiwanensis JS238 having respective high and low 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity reduced stress ethylene emission by 59% and 30% in maize grown in arsenic polluted soils. The result suggested the possible use of Pseudomonas grimonti JS126 for phytoremediation of arsenic polluted soils.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.252-260
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• 2019

Background: Increases in the average global temperature cause heat stress-induced disorders by disrupting homeostasis. Excessive heat stress triggers an imbalance in the immune system; thus protection against heat stress is important to maintain immune homeostasis. Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) has been used as a herbal medicine and displays beneficial biological properties. Methods: We investigated the protective effects of Korean ginseng extracts (KGEs) against heat stress in a rat model. Following acclimatization for 1 week, rats were housed at room temperature for 2 weeks and then exposed to heat stress ($40^{\circ}C$/2 h/day) for 4 weeks. Rats were treated with three KGEs from the beginning of the second week to the end of the experiment. Results: Heat stress dramatically increased secretion of inflammatory factors, and this was significantly reduced in the KGE-treated groups. Levels of inflammatory factors such as heat shock protein 70, interleukin 6, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were increased in the spleen and muscle upon heat stress. KGEs inhibited these increases by down-regulating heat shock protein 70 and the associated nuclear $factor-{\kappa}B$ and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Consequently, KGEs suppressed activation of T-cells and B-cells. Conclusion: KGEs suppress the immune response upon heat stress and decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines in muscle and spleen. We suggest that KGEs protect against heat stress by inhibiting inflammation and maintaining immune homeostasis.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.18.1-18.10
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• 2016

In this study, to clarify the function of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$, in response to stress challenge, we examined the $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ expression pattern in response to external stress (pathogen-associated molecular pathogen challenge and environmental challenge including temperature and salinity). $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ expression analysis of tissue from olive flounder showed that the messenger RNA (mRNA) was predominantly expressed in the brain, heart, eye, liver, spleen, and stomach. We also tested the mRNA expression of the $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ in the spleen and kidney of olive flounder by RT-PCR and real-time PCR following stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), concanavalin A (ConA), or polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (PolyI:C) and compared with the inflammatory cytokines IL-1b and IL-6 in the stimulated flounder tissues. Each of the spleen and kidney and mRNA transcripts of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ were increased 30- and 10-fold than normal tissue at 1-6 h post injection (HPI) with PolyI:C when the expression of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ transcript was similar to LPS and ConA. We also tested the expression of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ in response to temperature and salinity stress. The expression of $PoPLC-{\beta}1$ also was affected by temperature and salinity stress. Our results provide clear evidence that the olive flounder $PLC-{\beta}1$ signal pathways may play a critical role in immune function at the cellular level and in inflammation reactions. In addition, $PLC-{\beta}1$ appears to act as an oxidative-stress suppressor to prevent cell damage in fish.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.322-330
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• 2003

The unicellular green alga Haematococcus pluvialis has recently attracted great inter-est due to its large amounts of ketocarotenoid astaxanthin, 3,3'-dihydroxy-${\beta}$,${\beta}$-carotene-4,4'-dione, widely used commercially as a source of pigment for aquaculture. In the life cycle of H. pluvialis, astaxanthin biosynthesis is associated with a remarkable morphological change from green motile vegetative cells into red immotile cyst cells as the resting stage. In recent years we have studied this morphological process from two aspects: defining conditions governing astaxanthin biosynthesis and questioning the possible function of astaxanthin in protecting algal cells against environmental stress. Astaxanthin accumulation in cysts was induced by a variety of environmental conditions of oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species, intense light, drought, high salinity, and high temperature. In the adaptation to stress, abscisic acid induced by reactive oxygen species, would function as a hormone in algal morphogenesis from veget ative to cyst cells. Furthermore, measurements of both in vitro and in vivo antioxidative activities of astaxanthin clearly demonstrated that tolerance to excessive reactive oxygen species is greater in astaxanthin-rich cysts than in astaxanthin-poor cysts or astaxanthin-less vegetative cells. Therefore, reactive oxygen species are involved in the regulation of both algal morph O-genesis and carotenogenesis, and the accumulated astaxanthin in cysts can function as a protective agent against oxidative stress damage. In this study, the physiological roles of astaxanthin in stress response and cell protection are reviewed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.85-97
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• 2017

With a special attention to the different stages of a typical loading path travelled in a fluid confined concrete test, this paper introduces a physically consistent model for the stress-strain curve of actively confined normal-strength concrete in the axial direction. The model comprises of the five elements of: (1) a criterion for the peak or failure strength, (2) an equation for the peak strain, (3) a backbone hydrostatic curve, (4) a transient hardening curve linking the point of departure from the hydrostatic curve to the failure point, and finally (5) a set of formulas for the post-peak region. Alongside, relevant details and shortcomings of existing models will be discussed in each part. Finally, the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed model have been verified in a set of simulations which compare well with the experimental results from the literature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.282-287
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• 2004