• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2006

Harmful algal blooms (HABs or red tides), caused by uncontrolled proliferation of marine phytoplankton, impose a severe environmental problem and occasionally threaten even public health. We sequenced the genome of an EPS-producing marine bacterium Hahella chejuensis that produces a red pigment with the lytic activity against red-tide dinoflagellates at parts per billion level. H. chejuensis is the first sequenced species among algicidal bacteria as well as in the order Oceanospirillales. Sequence analysis indicated a distant relationship to the Pseudomonas group. Its 7.2-megabase genome encodes basic metabolic functions and a large number of proteins involved in regulation or transport. One of the prominent features of the H. chejuensis genome is a multitude of genes of functional equivalence or of possible foreign origin. A significant proportion (${\sim}23%$) of the genome appears to be of foreign origin, i.e. genomic islands, which encode genes for biosynthesis of exopolysaccharides, toxins, polyketides or non-ribosomal peptides, iron utilization, motility, type III protein secretion and pigment production. Molecular structure of the algicidal pigment was determined to be prodigiosin by LC-ESI-MS/MS and NMR analyses. The genomics-based research on H. chejuensis opens a new possibility for controlling algal blooms by exploiting biotic interactions in the natural environment and provides a model in marine bioprospecting through genome research.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.304-312
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• 1991

The distribution of dinoflagellate cysts have been investigated at 6 stations in Masan Bay, a well known area of red tide in the southern coastal waters of Korea, from May 1986 to March 1987. During the study, a total of 11 species in dinoflagellate cysts were isolated from surface sediments, representing 6 genera, 9 species and 2 unidentified species. The standing crops of dinoflagellate cyst varied extensively by month and station; ranging from 48 to 1,279 cells/cm$^3$ and showing major peaks in July. August and February. At stations, the distribution was most abundant at st. 4 (mouth of the bay), whereas it was very low at st. 1 (inner bay), where motile cell's blooms occur throughout the year. Thus, It is speculated that the distribution between the plankton and cyst populations of dinoflagellates show the different temporal and spatial patterns in a semi-closed bay like this survey area.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2009

Pfiesteriaand Pfiesteria-like organisms were reported to be linked to major fish kills(involving well over a billion fish) in North Carolina and Maryland estuaries on the U.S. east coast during the 1990s. Occurrences of these species have been recently reported from Korean waters including Chinhae Bay and the coast of Yeosu. In this study, the life cycle of Cryptoperidiniopsis brodyi and Pfiesteria piscicida were examined using DAPI staining. Their excystment and growth were stimulated directly by the addition of prey cells such as Rhodiminas salina. Amoeboid stages in C. brodyi and P. piscicida were never observed in culture, even after addition of filter-sterile fish mucus and tissue. The dominant life cycle stages consisted of motile flagellated zoospores and cysts. A typical dinoflagellate life cycle was demonstrated by direct observation and DAPI staining.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.173-178
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• 2004

Chronic Cochlodinium blooms in the southern waters of Korea have brought about considerable economic losses for about a decade, This paper aims to reframe current perspectives on the outbreak mechanism and the remediation schemes through a thought experiment in a context of mass balance and mathematical ecology. Far different explanations emerge from a careful examination of the scientifically unnoticed clues and a through discussion on the phytoplankton conservation equation. Logic of the eutrophication-induced red tide subjects to criticism. It is strongly recommended that the current remediation scheme to exterminate the target species should be rerouted to an environmentally sound competition enhancement tactics. Finally a novel convergence-float-aggregation hypothesis is proposed as an outbreak mechanism.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.475-486
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• 2009

Harmful algal blooms (HAB) caused by the dominant species Cochlodinium polykrikoides (C. polykrikoides) appear in the South Sea of Korea and are particularly present in summer and fall seasons. Environmental factors such as water temperature, weather conditions (air temperature, cloud cover, sunshine, precipitation and wind) influence on the initiation and subsequent development of HAB. The purpose of this research was to study spatial and temporal variations of HAB in the Yeosu area using environmental (oceanic and meteorological) and satellite data. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were calculated using Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) images by an Ocean Chlorophyll 4 (OC4) algorithm, and HAB were estimated using the Red tide index Chlorophyll Algorithm (RCA). We also used the surface velocity of sequential satellite images applying the Maximum Cross Correlation method to detect chlorophyll-a movement. The results showed that the water temperature during HAB occurrences in August 2002-2008 was $19.4-30.2^{\circ}C$. In terms of the frequency of the mean of cell density of C. polykrikoides, the cell density of the HAB found at low (<300 cells/ml), medium (300-1000 cells/ml), and high (>1000 cells/ml) levels were 27.01%, 37.44%, and 35.55%, respectively. Meteorological data for 2002-2008 showed that the mean air temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and sunshine duration were $22.39^{\circ}C$, 6.54 mm/day, 3.98 m/s (southwesterly), and 1-11.7 h, respectively. Our results suggest that HAB events in the Yeosu area can be triggered and extended by heavy precipitation and massive movement of HAB from the East China Sea. Satellite images data from July to October 2002-2006 showed that the OC4 algorithm generally estimated high chlorophyll-a concentration ($2-20\;mg/m^3$) throughout the coastal area, whereas the RCA estimated concentrations at $2-10\;mg/m^3$. The surface velocity of chlorophyll-a movement from sequential satellite images revealed the same patterns in the direction of the Tsushima Warm Current.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.149-161
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• 2022

Noctiluca scintillans is a heterotrophic dinoflagellate that causes red-colored oceans during the day (red tides) and glowing oceans at night (bioluminescence). This species feeds on diverse prey, including phytoplankton, heterotrophic protists, and eggs of metazoans. Thus, many scientists have conducted studies on the ecophysiology of this species. It is easy to cultivate N. scintillans at a scale of <1 L, but it is difficult to cultivate them at a scale of >100 L because N. scintillans cells usually stay near the surface, while prey cells stay below the surface in large water tanks. To obtain mass-cultured N. scintillans cells, we developed an automatic system for cultivating N. scintillans on a scale of 100 L. The system consisted of four tanks containing fresh nutrients, the chlorophyte Dunaliella salina as prey, N. scintillans for growth, and N. scintillans for storage, respectively. The light intensities supporting the high growth rates of D. salina and N. scintillans were 300 and 20 µmol photons m^-2 s^-1, respectively. Twenty liters of D. salina culture from the prey culture tank were transferred to the predator culture tank, and subsequently 20 L of nutrients from the nutrient tank were transferred to the prey culture tank every 2 d. When the volume of N. scintillans in the predator culture tank reached 90 L 6 d later, 70 L of the culture were transferred to the predator storage tank. To prevent N. scintillans cells from being separated from D. salina cells in the predator culture tank, the culture was mixed using an air pump, a sparger, and a stirrer. The highest abundance of N. scintillans in the predator culture tank was 45 cells mL^-1, which was more than twice the highest abundance when this dinoflagellate was cultivated manually. This automatic system supplies 100 L of N. scintillans pure culture with a high density every 10 d for diverse experiments on N. scintillans.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-25
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• 2022

The aquaculture industry has developed rapidly over the last three decades and is an important industry that supplies over 15% of humans' animal protein intake; therefore, there is a need to increase production to meet the continuous demand. The fish cage farms on the southern coast (Kyengsangnam-do and Jeollanam-do) of Korea are critical resources in aquaculture because they account for approximately 90% of the national total fish cage farms by water area ratio. However, the current aquaculture environment is being gradually affected by climate change, which is a global issue, and its effects are expected to intensify in the future. Therefore, it is urgently imperative to accurately evaluate the effects of climate change on South Korean aquaculture industries and to develop social and national strategies to minimize damage to the fishing industry. The damage to fish farmed in cage farms on the southern coast is increasing annually and the leading causes are high and low water temperature and red tides, which are directly or indirectly related to climate change. At present, global warming can provide opportunities for aquaculture industrialization of fish or other novel species, with economic implications. However, despite such opportunities, the influx of new species can also cause problems such as ecological disturbances, increase in the reproduction frequency of microalgae such as red tide, increase in disease incidence, and occurrence and periods of high water temperatures in summer. The scale of farmed fish mortality is increasing due to the complex effects of these factors. Increased damages due to fish mortality not only have severe economic impacts on the aquaculture industry, but the social costs of responding to the damage and follow-up measures also increase. various active responses can reduce the mortality damage in fish farms such as improving the management skills in aquaculture, improved species breeding, efficient food management, disease prevention, proactive responses, and system-wide improvements. This review article analyzes the large-scale mortality cases occurring in fish cage farms on the southern coast of Korea and proposes measures to mitigate mortality and enhance responses to such scenarios.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.37-50
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• 2021

Heterotrophic dinoflagellates Gyrodinium spp. are one of the major grazers of phytoplankton in many coastal waters. Gyrodinium dominans, G. jinhaense, and G. moestrupii have similar morphologies but different edible prey species. To explore the variations in the ecological niches of these three species, we investigated their spatial-temporal distributions in Korean waters. Because of the high similarity in morphology among these three Gyrodinium species, we used real-time polymerase chain reactions to quantify their abundance in water samples that were seasonally collected from 28 stations along the Korean Peninsula from April 2015 to October 2018. Cells of G. dominans were found at all sampling stations, G. jinhaense at 26 stations, and G. moestrupii at 22 stations, indicating that all three species were widely distributed in Korea. Furthermore, all three species displayed strong seasonal distributions. The largest numbers of the stations where G. dominans and G. jinhaense cells were present were found during the summer (26 and 23 stations, respectively), but that for G. moestrupii was found in the autumn (15 stations). The abundance of G. dominans was positively correlated with that of G. jinhaense, but not with that of G. moestrupii. The highest abundances of G. dominans (202.5 cells mL-1) and G. jinhaense (20.2 cells mL-1) were much greater than that of G. moestrupii (1.2 cells mL-1). The highest abundances of G. dominans and G. jinhaense were found in July, whereas that of G. moestrupii was found in March. The abundances of G. dominans and G. jinhaense, but not G. moestrupii, were positively correlated with water temperature. Therefore, the spatial-temporal distributions of G. dominans and G. jinhaense were closer than those of G. moestrupii and G. dominans or G. jinhaense. This differs from results based on the relative differences in ribosomal DNA sequences and the types of edible prey reported in the literature. Thus, the variations in spatial-temporal distributions and prey species of these three Gyrodinium species suggest that they may have different ecological niches in Korean coastal waters.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 1991

Masan Bay is infamous for its severe eutrophication, exemplified by frequent red tide incidences and anoxic conditions. We carried out daily observations for 16 days at one site immediately after the summer rainy season in 1988 on the basis that shorter observation intervals be necessary to observe a process with high turnover rate. in spite of the relatively short survey period, we could observe dramatic changes in abundance and composition of the phytoplankton populations. Cell densities and chlorophyll concentrations changed in the magnitude of 70 and 10 times, respectively, Skeletonema costatum, a diatom species, dominated the first peak of phytoplankton biomass and was followed by Prorocentrum minimum, a dinoflagellate species, which occurred dominantly in the second peak after about a week, form the viewpoint of time scale, we suggest that at least a weekly sampling might be appropriate in complex coastal environments as Masan Bay. While stratification enabled high production in the surface layer, it hindered the transport of silicate from bottom to the surface, which in turn limited the prolonged growth of diatoms. Ensued second peaks of silicate and diatom abundance in the surface layer suggest periodic flux of silicate from bottom across the discontinuity driven by tidal currents.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.289-309
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• 2019

Marine microalgae have long been used as food additives and feeds for juvenile fish and invertebrates as their nutritional content is beneficial for humans and marine aquaculture species. Recently, they have also been recognized as a promising source for cosmeceutical, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical products as well as biofuels. Marine microalgae of various species are rich in multiple anti-oxidant phytochemicals and their bioactive components have been employed in cosmetics and dietary supplements. Oil contents in certain groups of marine microalgae are extraordinarily rich and abundant and therefore have been commercialized as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid supplements and mass production of microalgae-based biodiesels has been demonstrated by diverse research groups. Numerous natural products from marine microalgae with significant biological activities are reported yearly and this is attributed to their unique adaptive abilities to the great diversity of marine habitats and harsh conditions of marine environments. Previously unknown toxin compounds from red tide-forming dinoflagellates have also been identified which opens up potential applications in the blue biotechnology sector. This review paper provides a brief overview of the biotechnological potentials of Korean marine microalgae. We hope that this review will provide guidance for future marine biotechnology R&D strategies and the various marine microalgae-based industries in Korea.