• ALGAE
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.187-198
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• 2019

The exploration of seaweed diversity in poorly studied habitats has often led to the discovery of new species. Sand-covered rocks are an example, as they received less attention than sand-free rocky intertidal habitats during seaweed diversity surveys in Brazil. In sand-covered rocks from Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro we found an alga whose morphology was unique among rhodomelacean species previously reported in Brazil. With the aim to clarify the taxonomic identity of this species we studied its morphology, as well as its phylogenetic relationships. Molecular analyses resolved this species in the genus Alsidium (tribe Alsidieae) and differed from sequenced congeners with divergences ${\geq}2.5$ and 4.2% in the rbcL and cox1 genes, respectively. Morphological characters were in agreement with the genus Alsidium, and differed from other species currently recognized in the genus. The species consisted of a basal crust and scarcely branched erect axes with seven pericentral cells covered by a continuous layer of cortical cells. Reproductive structures were formed on clusters of short determinate branches. Therefore, the new species A. oliveiranum is proposed based on morphological and molecular evidence. Our findings contribute to better understand the diversity of the tribe Alsidieae, which is particularly diverse in the Americas.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2019

The growth and maturation pattern of a commercial and endemic red algae Meristotheca papulosa were investigated in Jeju Island. Ecological researches were performed in a natural population of 10 m water depth in Sinheung from march 2014 to November 2015. Maximal blade length and weight of M. papulosa were 8.7 cm and 5.49 g in July 2014 and 10.7 cm and 10.17 g in September 2015, respectively. Growth in blade area of the species reached a maximum of $43.84cm^2$ and $67.41cm^2$ in July 2014 and 2015, respectively. Thalli in the field population were rarely observed from October to December but new recruits were found from January, following year. Carposporophytes were observed from June to September when bottom seawater temperatures were around $20^{\circ}C$. At the study site, seawater temperature was in the range of $14.9-25.7^{\circ}C$. Growth parameters of M. papulosa and relative abundance of carposporophytes showed significant correlation with environmental factors (temperature, salinity, DIN). In this result, we clarified the growth and maturation period of M. palpulosa, and provided effective data on the protection and management of natural populations and basic data for mass culture of the alga.

• Journal of Web Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.51-64
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• 2018

Gelidium elegans, a red alga native to the Asia Pacific region, contains biologically active polyphenols. We conducted a molecular biological study of the anti-diabetic effect of Gelidium elegans extract (GEE) in C57BL/KsJ-db/db mice. Mice that had been administered GEE had significantly lower body mass, water consumption, and fasting blood glucose than db/db controls. Moreover, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), an indicator of the glycemic status of people with diabetes, was significantly lower in mice that had been administered GEE. We also found that 200 mg/kg/day GEE upregulates the insulin signaling pathway by activating insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and increasing the expression of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4). In parallel, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity was lower in GEE-treated groups. In summary, these findings indicate that GEE regulates glucose metabolism by activating the insulin signaling pathway and downregulating the MAPK signaling pathway.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.359-369
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• 2018

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a serious problem for public health and fisheries industries, thus there exists a need to investigate the possible ways for effective control of HABs. In the present study, we investigated the algicidal effects of a newly developed GreenTD against the HABs (Chattonella marina, Heterosigma akashiwo, Cochlodinium polykriokides, and Heterocapsa circularisquama) and non-HABs (Chaetoceros simplex, Skeletonema sp. and Tetraselmis sp.), which is focused on the different population density and concentration gradients of algicidal substances. The time series viability of target alga was assessed based on the activity of Chl. a photosynthetic efficiency in terms of $F_v/F_m$, and in vivo fluorescence (FSU). Effective control of Raphidophyta, C. marina and H. akashiwo was achieved at a GreenTD concentration of $0.5{\mu}gL^{-1}$ and $0.2{\mu}gL^{-1}$, respectively, and regrowth of both the species was not observed even after 14 days. The inhibitory ratio of the dinoflagellate, C. polykriokides was more than 80% at $0.2{\mu}gL^{-1}$ of GreenTD. H. circularisquama was constantly affected in the presence of $0.2{\mu}gL^{-1}$ of GreenTD in the high- and low-population density experimental groups. On the other hand, diatoms, C. simplex, and Skeletonema sp. were not significantly affected even in the presence of $0.2{\mu}gL^{-1}$ of GreenTD and exhibited re-growth activity with the passage of incubation time. In particular, green alga Tetraselmis sp. remained unaffected even in the presence of the highest concentration of GreenTD ($1.0{\mu}gL^{-1}$), implying that non-HABs were not greatly influenced by the algicidal substances. As a result, the algicidal activity of GreenTD on the harmful and nonharmful algae was as follows: raphidophyte>dinoflagellates>diatoms>green alga. Consequently, our results indicate that inoculation of GreenTD substances into natural blooms at a threshold concentration ($0.2{\mu}gL^{-1}$) can maximize the algicidal activity against HABs species. If we consider the dilution and diffusion rate in the field application, it is hypothesized that GreenTD will demonstrate economic efficiency, thus leading to effective control against the target HABs in the closed bay.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.341-348
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• 2016

Micro-algae, one of the biological resources for alternative energy, has been heavily studied. Among various methods to analyze the status of the micro-algae including counting, screening, and flocculation, the flocculation approach has been widely accepted in many critical applications such as red tide removal study or microalgae resource study. To characterize the flocculation status of the micro-alga. A traditional optical modality, i.e., photospectrometry, measuring the optical density of the flocs has been frequently employed. While this traditional optical method needs shorter time than the counting method in flocculation status analysis, it has relatively lower detection accuracy. To address this issue, a novel real-time micro-algae flocculation analysis method based on the lens-free shadow imaging technique (LSIT) is introduced. Both single cell detection and floc detection are simultaneously available with a proposed lens-free shadow image, confirmed by comparing the results with optical microscope images. And three shadow parameters, e.g., number of flocs, effective area of flocs, and maximum size of floc, enabling quantification of the flocculation phenomenon of micro-alga, are firstly demonstrated in this article. The efficacy of each shadow parameter is verified with the real-time flocculation monitoring experiments using custom developed cohesive agents.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2018

Objective: Gelidium amansii (Lamouroux) is a red alga belonging to the family Gelidaceae and is commonly found in the shallow coasts of many East Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan. G. amansii has traditionally been utilized as an edible alga, and has various biological activities. The objective of this study was to determine whether dietary supplementation of G. amansii could be useful for improving ruminal fermentation. Methods: As assessed by in vitro fermentation parameters such as pH, total gas, volatile fatty acid (VFA) production, gas profile (methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and ammonia), and microbial growth rate was compared to a basal diet with timothy hay. Cannulated Holstein cows were used as rumen fluid donors and 15 mL rumen fluid: buffer (1:2) was incubated for up to 72 h with four treatments with three replicates. The treatments were: control (timothy only), basal diet with 1% G. amansii extract, basal diet with 3% G. amansii extract, and basal diet with 5% G. amansii extract. Results: Overall, the results of our study indicate that G. amansii supplementation is potentially useful for improving ruminant growth performance, via increased total gas and VFA production, but does come with some undesirable effects, such as increasing pH, ammonia concentration, and methane production. In particular, real-time polymerase chain reaction indicated that the methanogenic archaea and Fibrobacter succinogenes populations were significantly reduced, while the Ruminococcus flavefaciens populations were significantly increased at 24 h, when supplemented with G. amansii extracts as compared with controls. Conclusion: More research is required to elucidate what G. amansii supplementation can do to improve growth performance, and its effect on methane production in ruminants.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1999

Numerous observations revealed strong evidence of increased middle ultraviolet radiation or UV-B (280 ~ 320 nm) at the earth's surface resulting from stratospheric ozone depletion. UV is the waveband of electromagnetic radiation which is strongly absorbed by nucleic acids and proteins, thus causing damage to living systems. It has been recorded in the East Sea, Korea that solar UV-B impinging on the ocean surface penetrates seawater to significant depths. Recent researches showed that exposure to UV-B for as short as 2h at the ambient level (2.0 Wm$^{-2}$) decreased macroalgal growth and photosynthesis and destroyed photosynthetic pigments. These may suggest that UV-B could be an important environmental factor to determine algal survival and distribution. Some adaptive mechanisms to protect macroalgae from UV-damage have been found, which include photoreactivation and formation of UV-absorbing pigments. Post-illumination of visible light mitigated UV-induced damage in laminarian young sporophytes with blue the most effective waveband. The existence of UV-B absorbing pigments has been recognized in the green alga, Ulva pertusa and the red alga, Pachymeniopsis sp., which is likely to exert protective function for photosynthetic pigments inside the thalli from UV-damage. Further studies are however needed to confirm that these mechanisms are of general occurrence in seaweeds. Macroalgae together with phytoplankton are the primary producers to incorporate about 100 Gt of carbons per year, and provide half of the total biomass on the earth. UV-driven reduction in macroalgal biomass, if any, would therefore cause deleterious effects on marine ecosystem. The ultimate impacts of increasing UV-B flux due to ozone destruction are still unknown, but the impression from UV studies made so far seems to highlight the importance of setting up long-term monitoring system for us to be able to predict and detect the onset of large -scale deterioration in aquatic ecosystem.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.64-71
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• 2020

Gloiopeltis tenax is one of the most economically useful species in China and Japan that has been applied to glue and food since ancient times. The material used in the experiment was a large quantity of basal crusts obtained from the culture of tetraspores that were released from the mature tetrasporophytes collected at Gyeokpori, Byeonsan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do in Korea. The basal crusts were cut into quadrisect under a dissecting microscope so as to monitor the process of regeneration and growth. The cut crusts were cultured under varying conditions, where the photoperiod was 16:8 h L:D; the temperature range was 10, 15, 20, and 25℃; the irradiance range was 30 and 85 µmol photons m^-2s^-1. The quadrisect basal crusts grew to an oval shape, then formed a vertical axis of cylindrical shape. The maximum growth of basal crusts was 9.61±3.59 mm² under the condition of 15℃ temperature and 85 µmol photons m^-2s^-1 irradiance, after 12-weeks culture. The mean relative growth rate after 12-weeks culture showed the maximum rate of 5.15±0.80 %day^-1 at 15℃ and the minimum growth rate was 3.15±0.94 %day^-1 at 10℃, with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). In conclusion, it has shown the possibility that growth of basal crusts of G. tenax is one of the good farming method of potential alga.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 2010

In the present study, experiments have been performed to investigate the possibility of removing Cochlodinium polykrikoides using the dredged sediment from a coastal fishery and then to derive the optimal conditions; the amount and particle size of dredged sediment besprinkled into water, the thermal treatment, the types and amounts of additives, and the depth profile of Cochlodinium polykrikoides. Results showed that the optimal amount of dredged sediment besprinkled into water was 6~10 g/L, and the removal efficiency of Cochlodinium polykrikoides after the reaction time for 60 min was 73~93%. Note that, in the real sea water, it is necessary to besprinkle 6~10 $kg/m^3$ of dry dredged sediment on a unit area (1 $m^2$). With decreasing particle size, Cochlodinium polykrikoides could be more efficiently removed. The removal efficiency was 93% with the dredged sediment smaller than 100 ${\mu}m$, whereas it was 51% with that of 100 ${\mu}m$ ${\mu}m$. Since most of dredged sediment (over 90%) was smaller than 100 ${\mu}m$, high efficiency could be obtained by besprinkling only the dredged sediment without pre-treatment. CaO was found to be an effective additive in promoting the removal efficiency (up to 99%). The optimal amount of additive was 5~10%, however, it was necessary to use as small amount of an additive as possible in order to avoid the sharp increase in pH. The removal efficiency increased with increasing depth profile of Cochlodinium polykrikoides. The removal efficiency was 83% at 5 cm depth, whereas it was 93% at 50 cm depth. In the sea water, red tide occurred within 3 m depth, and furthermore most Cochlodinium polykrikoides existed within 1 m depth. It was, therefore, expected that higher removal efficiency of Cochlodinium polykrikoides could be obtained when the dredged sediment was besprinkled into the sea water. The removal efficiency of Cochlodinium polykrikoides was up to 93% when the dredged sediment (<100 ${\mu}m$) was besprinkled into water at the ratio of 10 g/L. This result was comparable to that obtained with loess (90~97%). All the results in the present study indicated that the dredged sediment from a coastal fishery could be successfully used as a substitute of loess for removing the red tide alga.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.503-511
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• 2008

An edible marine red alga, Grateloupia filicina, collected from Jeju Island of Korea was hydrolyzed by cheap food-grade carbohydrases (Viscozyme, Celuclast, AMC, Termamyl, and Ultraflo) to investigate its anticoagulant activity. Among the tested enzymatic extracts of G. filicina, a Termamyl extract showed the highest anticoagulant activity. Anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and gel-permeation chromatography on Sepharose-4B were used to purify the active polysaccharide from the crude polysaccharide fraction of G. filicina. The purified sulfated polysaccharide (0.42 sulfate/total sugar) showed ${\sim}1,357kDa$ molecular mass and was comprised mainly of galactose(98%) and 1-2% of glucose. The sample showed potential anticoagulant activity on activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) thrombin time (TT) assays. The purified G. filicina anticoagulant (GFA) inhibited the coagulation factor X (92%), factor II (82%), and factor VII (68%) of the coagulation cascade, and the molecular interaction (protein-polysaccharide) was highly enhanced in the presence of ATIII (antithrombin III). The dissociation constant of polysaccharide towards serine proteins decreased in the order of FXa (58.9 nM) >FIIa (74.6 nM) >FVII (109.3 nM). The low/less cytotoxicity of the polysaccharide benefits its use in the pharmaceutical industry; however, further studies that would help us to elucidate the mechanism of its activity are needed.