• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2005

Salinity of soils in greenhouse has been increased by massive application of fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizer was most popular, and thus nitrate became the majority of soil salinity. Accumulation of nitrate led to deleterious effects on the growth and development of crops and vegetables. Microbial strains able to utilize nitrate and thus remove excess nitrate from farm land soils were isolated from 15 different soils of greenhouses and plastic film houses. Four strains able to grow in medium containing 50 mM $KNO_3$ were isolated, among which only E0461 showed high capacity of nitrate uptake. Nitrate uptake by E0461 was dependent on culture medium and was increased by addition of tryptone and peptone. Although E0461 was able to grow without tryptone and peptone, growth was slow, and no nitrate uptake was observed. Nitrate appeared to facilitate E0461 growth in the presence of tryptone and peptone. Through kinetic analysis, nitrate uptake was measured at various concentrations of nitrate, and half-life was calculated. Nitrate concentration decreased with increasing incubation period, and plot between half-lives and initial concentrations of nitrate fitted to single exponential function. These results suggest one major factor plays an important role in microbial nitrate uptake.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.260-265
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• 2012

Soil respiration under flooded conditions is considered to be very small compared with aerobic soil respiration of soil organic matter. However, anaerobic decomposition of soil plays a key role in carbon cycling in flooded ecosystems. On the other hand, coal-ash wastes, such as fly ash and bottom ash, are known to function as a soil amendment for mitigating $CO_2$ emission and enhancing carbon sequestration in up land soils. In this study, we investigated bottom ash as a soil amendment for mitigating $CO_2$ emission, and thus enhancing carbon sequestration under anaerobic conditions. We observed that amendment of bottom ash without external organic source led to significant reduction in $CO_2$ emission rate and in total cumulative $CO_2$ emission flux over the incubation period, which was proportional to the amount of bottom ash applied. We also found that soil microbial biomass increased in response to application of bottom ash. These results suggest that bottom ash can be utilized to store $CO_2$ as a stable soil organic carbon in flooded ecosystems, as in aerobic situations.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2012

The active fraction of soil organic matter, which includes organic debris and light organic fraction, plays a major role in nutrient cycling. In addition, particulate organic matter is a valuable index of labile soil organic matter and can reflect differences in various soil behaviors. Since soil organic matter bound to soil mineral particles has its density lower than soil minerals, we partitioned soil organic matter into debris ($<1.5g\;cm^{-3}$), light fraction ($1.5-2.0g\;cm^{-3}$), and heavy fraction ($>2.0g\;cm^{-3}$), based on high density $ZnCl_{2-}$ sucrose solutions. Generally, partitioned organic bands were clearly separated, demonstrating that the $ZnCl_{2-}$ sucrose solutions are useful for such a density gradient centrifugation. The available gradient ranges from 1.2 to $2.0g\;cm^{-3}$. Although there was not a statistically meaningful difference in organic debris and organomineral fractions among the examined soils, there was a general trend that a higher content of organic debris resulted in a higher proportion of light organomineral fraction. In addition, high clay content was associated with increased fraction of light organomineals. Partitioning of soil organic carbon revealed that carbon content is reduced in the heavy fraction than in the light fraction, reflecting that the light fraction contains more fresh and abundant carbon than the passive resistant fraction. It was also found that carbon contents in the overall organic matter, debris, light fraction, and heavy fractions may differ considerably in response to different farming practices.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2023

Biodegradation of antibiotics in soil can be affected by various environmental factors. This study was set to investigate the effect of environmental conditions such as soil pH and temperature on the degradation of oxolinic acid (OA), one of the agricultural antibiotics used in South Korea, in soil. Rice paddy soil (RS) and field soil (FS) were contaminated with OA and the soil pH was adjusted to 5.7±0.2, 6.8±0.2, and 7.6±0.1. The soil samples were kept at different temperatures (2.3±0.2, 23.0±0.6, 30.5± 0.3℃) for 30 d. The changes in the OA concentrations were determined at selected times. With the RS and FS, the OA removal was not affected by the soil pH used in this study; however, at pH 7.6, the OA removal in the RS was greater than that in the FS, which can be attributed to the different soil properties. The OA removal was similar at 23.0 and 30.5℃ in both soils, but was lower at 2.3℃. The information on the effect of different environmental conditions on the degradation of antibiotics in soil is very limited. Therefore, further studies are needed to better manage the residual antibiotics in the agricultural environment.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2016

Heavy metal pollution in agricultural fields at the abandoned metal mines has been serious problems in Korea. In order to manage heavy metal pollution in surface water and soil, numerous remediation strategies have been established. Therefore, main purpose of this research was to examine feasibility of ecological toxicity assessment for establishing management strategy in heavy metal polluted agricultural fields. Heavy metal concentration in surface water and soil was monitored along with ecotoxicity experiment with Daphnia magna and Eisenia fetida. Result showed that high toxicity was observed in heavily polluted agricultural field with heavy metals. In case of mortality of Daphnia magna (85%) and Eisenia fetida (6.7%), the highest ratio was observed when heavy metal concentration in surface and soil was high. Calculated ecotoxicity index (EI) ranged 0.06-0.30 and the highest EI was observed in heavily polluted sites among 5 abandoned metal mines. Overall, ecological toxicity assessment is necessary to evaluate heavy metal pollution in agricultural fields near at the abandoned metal mines along with chemical concentration analysis.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.610-617
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• 2015

The impact of 1 pound of nitrous oxide ($N_2O$) on warming the atmosphere is almost 310 times that of 1 pound of carbon dioxide. Agricultural soil management is the largest source of $N_2O$ emissions, accounting for about 73% of total $N_2O$ emissions. This study was conducted to evaluate the nitrous oxide emission in the cultivation of soybean during the first year of No-tillage (NT) and Conventional-tillage (CT) practices, under the various conditions such as different kinds of fertilizers, soil temperature, and moisture level. In the experiment, we set CT and NT treatments into 4 different groups - control treatments (no fertilization), green manure treatments, chemical fertilizer treatments and organic manure treatments. In the case of chemical fertilizer treatments, $N_2O$ emission of NT treatment was 7.78 to 22.59% lower than CT treatment. In organic manure treatment, $N_2O$ emission of NT treatment was 6.62% higher than CT treatment in August. But In July and September, $N_2O$ emission of NT treatment was 9.50% 28.38% lower than CT treatment, respectively. Soil temperature was correlated with $N_2O$ emission positively. In the future, continued long-term research on influence of various environmental factors on the generation of $N_2O$ and the economic value of no-till farming is required.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.88-96
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• 2007

Organic farming systems based on ecological concepts have the potential to produce sustainable crop yields with no decline in soil and environmental qualities. Recent expansion of sustainable agricultural systems, including organic farming, has brought about need for development of sustainable farming systems based on value judgments for key properties of importance for farming. Chemical and microbiological properties were chosen as indicators of soil quality and measured at soil depth intervals of 5-20 and 20-35 cm in conventional and organic-based apple orchards located in Yeongchun, Gyeongbuk. The orchards were two adjacent fields to ensure the same pedological conditions except management system. Soil pH in organic farming was around 7.5, whereas below 6.0 in conventional farming. Organic farming resulted in significant increases in organic matter and Kjeldahl-N contents compared to those found with conventional management. Microbial populations, biomass C, and enzyme activities (except acid phosphatase) in apple orchard soil of organic farming were higher than those found in conventional farming. Higher microbial quotient ($C_{mic}/C_{org}$ ratio) and lower microbial metabolic quotient for $CO_2(qCO_2)$ in organic farming confirmed that organic farming better conserves soil organic carbon. Biological soil quality indicators showed significant positive correlations with soil organic matter content. These results indicate organic-based farming positively affected soil organic matter content, thus improving soil chemical and biological qualities.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2015

Adverse effect of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) released into environment has been issued recently and concerns about analysis and management for VAs in the environment were increased. Main objective of this research was to calculate predicted environmental concentration (PEC) of the VAs in soil based on avaiable statistical data and result of previous study such as consumption rate and physiological properties of VAs. Total of 5 VAs, Chlortetracycline (CTC), Oxytetracycline (OTC), Sulfadimethoxine (SDX), Sulfamethazine (SMT), and Tylosin (TYL) were examined. Result showed that calculated PEC value in manure and soil was ordered as SMT > TYL > SDX > CTC > OTC. Range of calculated value for manure and soil was 0.50-67.04 and $0.48-64.45mg\;kg^{-1}$ respectively. Comparing to measured concentration of VAs in manure and soil, lower concentration of VAs in manure and soil was evaluated due to fate and degradation of VAs in manure and soil. Overall, evaluated simple modeling for calculating PEC of VAs in manure and soil can be adapted for preliminary screening purpose in environmental risk assessment and more refined modeling is necessary to examine detailed assessment of VAs in manure and soil.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.89-92
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• 2022

In this study, the effects of soil conditions on antioxidant activities of the aerial and underground parts of rosemary were assessed to determine the most effective soil conditions for cultivation. The antioxidant activity was the highest (51.58±2.93 ㎍/mL) when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil and vermiculite using DPPH assay. The antioxidant activity of underground parts the highest (127.48±12.38 ㎍/mL) when cultivated in the mixture of soil, vermiculite, and perlite. ABTS assay showed that the antioxidant activity of aerial parts was 230.34±57.93 ㎍·mL^-1 when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil and vermiculite and that of underground parts was 320.98±16.04 ㎍·mL^-1 when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil, vermiculite, and perlite. The total phenolic content of aerial parts was the highest (155.25±2.96 mg GAE/g) when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil. The total flavonoid content of aerial parts was the highest (67.32±5.27 mg QE/g) when cultivated in the mixture of gardening soil. Therefore, the mixture of gardening soil, vermiculite, and perlite is superior to gardening soil alone for cultivation of rosemary to increase its antioxidant activity as well as total phenolic and flavonoid content.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.53-67
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• 2008

The principle goal of environmentally-friendly agriculture is to maintain and conserve water and agriculture environment including drinking water resources by properly using agricultural materials such as agricultural chemicals, chemical fertilizers, and other agricultural materials according to act 19 of foster law of environmentally-friendly agriculture. To achieve these goals, we have to establish Integrated Nutrient Management(INM) and Integrated Pesticide Management(IPM) which are most important core technologies for environmentally-friendly rice cultivation. However, there are lack of criteria and technology for evaluation category according to soil management and its soil classes to practice an environmentally-friendly agriculture. Therefore, we should eatablish the standards to produce the safe agricultural products based on the soil physical and chemical characteristics which are basic properties of soil to accomplish the principle aims of environmentally-friendly agriculture.