• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.198-208
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• 2022

Membrane can selectively separate various substances such as organic substances, liquids, solutes, vapors, gases, ions or electrons according to the separation technology and various uses. Membranes are largely divided into symmetric membranes and asymmetric membranes, and classified into porous and nonporous structure depending on the presence or absence of pores. Also, the interface of the membrane may be molecularly uniform, or chemically or physically non-uniform. Preparation techniques include melt extrusion, stretching, template leaching, track-etching, solution casting, phase inversion, and solution coating method. The prepared membrane can be applied to various applications such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, gas separation and energy fields. This review provides a tutorial on how to prepare membranes according to the classification and types.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.1427-1434
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• 2022

Two novel, halotolerant strains of Martelella soudanensis, NC18^T and NC20, were isolated from deep subsurface sediment, deeply sequenced, and comparatively analyzed with related strains. Based on a phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences, the two strains grouped with members of the genus Martelella. Here, we sequenced the complete genomes of NC18^T and NC20 to understand the mechanisms of their halotolerance. The genome sizes and G+C content of the strains were 6.1 Mb and 61.8 mol%, respectively. Moreover, NC18^T and NC20 were predicted to contain 5,849 and 5,830 genes, and 5,502 and 5,585 protein-coding genes, respectively. Both strains contain the identically predicted 6 rRNAs and 48 tRNAs. The harboring of halotolerant-associated genes revealed that strains NC18^T and NC20 might tolerate high salinity through the accumulation of potassium ions in a "salt-in" strategy induced by K⁺ uptake protein (kup) and the K⁺ transport system (trkAH and kdpFABC). These two strains also use the ectoine transport system (dctPQM), the glycine betaine transport system (proVWX), and glycine betaine uptake protein (opu) to accumulate "compatible solutes," such as ectoine and glycine betaine, to protect cells from salt stress. This study reveals the halotolerance mechanism of strains NC18^T and NC20 in high salt environments and suggests potential applications for these halotolerant and halophilic strains in environmental biotechnology.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.168-176
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• 2023

Silicon (Si) has the potential to improve plant growth and stress tolerance. The study aimed to explore Si-involving plant responses and molecular characterization of different Si-responsive genes in alfalfa. In this study, the exogenous supplementation of Si enhanced plant growth, and biomass yield. Si-acquisition in alfalfa root and shoot was higher in Si-supplemented compared to silicon deficient (-Si) plants, implying Si-acquisition has beneficial on alfalfa plants. As a consequence, the quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) was significantly increased in silicon-sufficient (+Si) plants. The quantitative gene expression analysis exhibited a significant upregulation of the Lsi1, Lsi2, Lsi3, NIP5;1, and NIP6;1 genes in alfalfa roots, while BOR1, BOR4, NIP2, and NIP3 showed no significant variation in their expression. The MEME results further noticed the association of four motifs related to the major intrinsic protein (MIP). The interaction analysis revealed that NIP5;1 and Lsi1 showed a shared gene network with NIP2, BOR1, and BOR4, and Lsi2, Lsi3 and NIP3-1, respectively. These results suggest that members of the major intrinsic proteins (MIPs) family especially Lsi1, Lsi2, Lsi3, NIP5;1, and NIP6;1 genes helped to pass water and other neutral solutes through the cell membrane and those played significant roles in Si uptake and transport in plants. Together, these insights might be useful for alfalfa breeding and genome editing approaches for alfalfa improvement.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2005

In addition to the variation in nitrate accumulation of vegetables due to environmental conditions, there is also a distinct genetic variation. The variation of nitrate accumulation in some cultivars of lettuce and spinach commonly cultivated in Korea was investigated. Ten cultivars for both lettuce and spinach were grown in plastic containers filled with a 1:1 mixture of perlite and vermiculite with application of Hoagland No. 2 nutrient solution of high nitrate content (17.3 mM N) in a greenhouse condition. Plants were harvested four weeks after transplanting four-leaf stage seedlings. Plant growth was measured by fresh and dry matter of shoot, and contents of nitrate and other inorganic ions and organic solutes including sugar, amino acids and organic acids were measured. Large and significant genotypical variations in the nitrate content of the plants were found for both lettuce and spinach, and high negative correlations between nitrate content and fresh or dry weight were found in lettuce and spinach. Variation in nitrate accumulation of lettuce and spinach cultivars was not directly related to the differences in contents of organic and inorganic solutes, and this result indicates that photosynthesis and osmotic regulation are not directly related with the nitrate accumulation. Considering the correlations between nitrate content and plant growth of this study, it can be simply suggested that different cultivars of lettuce and spinach have their own inherited growth and physiological characteristics and also optimum nitrogen level required for the growth. Therefore when available nitrogen in root media is higher than the optimum level required for the inherited growth potential, some of the excess nitrate supplied can be accumulated in plants.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.397-406
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• 2000

In order to clarify the ecophysiological characteristics of Chenopodiaceae which widely distribute on saline and arid habitats, we collected 10 chenopodiaceous plant species, examined their inorganic and organic solute patterns, and confirmed several common physiological characteristics. In spite of high soil Ca/sup 2＋/ contents, chenopodiaceous plants had a little water-soluble Ca within cells, but contained high contents of acid-soluble Ca particularly as a result of Ca-oxalate formation. These plant species also showed accumulation of inorganic ions such as K/sup ＋/, NO₃/sup －/ and Cl/sup －/, and Na/sup ＋/especially in saline habitats instead of K/sup ＋/ Meanwhile, with respect to nitrogen metabolism they retained high N contents in leaves, but showed very low amino acid contents. Additionally, they contained very little proline known to act as a cytoplasmic osmolyte. To ascertain whether this physiological characteristics in the field also can be found under controlled conditions, 7 chenopodiaceous plants (Atriplex gmelini, Corispermum stauntonii, Salicornia herbacea, Suaeda aspayagoides, Suaeda japonica, Chenopodium album var. centrorubrum, C. serotinum) were selected and cultivated under salt treatments. As well as field-grown plants, selected plant species showed similar solute pattern in growth experiment. In summary, the family of Chenopodiaceae represents the following physiological properties; high storage capacity for inorganic ions (especially alkali cations, nitrate and chloride), oxalate synthesis to maintain lower soluble Ca contents within cytoplasm, and low contents of amino acids. In addition to some characteristics mentioned above, the physiological plasticities of Chenopodiaceae which can properly regulate their ion and solute pattern according to soil conditions may enable its representative to grow in dry sand dune and salt marsh habitats.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.727-736
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• 2022

Ice wedges are subsurface ice mass structures that formed mainly by freezing precipitation with airborne dust and surrounding soil particles flowed through the active layer into the cracks growing by repeating thermal contractions in the deeper permafrost layer over time. These ice masses characteristically contain high concentrations of solutes and solids. Because of their unique properties and distribution, the possibility of harnessing ice wedges as an alternative archive for reconstructing paleoclimate and paleoenvironment has been recently suggested despite limited studies. It is imperative to preserve the physicochemical properties of the ice wedge (e.g., solute concentration, mineral particles) without any potential alteration to use it as a proxy for reconstructing the paleo-information. Thawing the ice wedge samples is prerequisite for the assessment of their physicochemical properties, during which the paleo-information could be unintentionally altered by any methodological artifact. This study examined the effect of thawing conditions and procedures on the physicochemical properties of solutes and solid particles in ice wedge samples collected from Cyuie, East Siberia. Four different thawing conditions with varying temperatures (4 and 23℃) and oxygen exposures (oxic and anoxic) for the ice wedge sample treatment were examined. Ice wedge samples thawed at 4℃ under anoxic conditions, wherein biological activity and oxidation were kept to a minimum, were set as the standard thawing conditions to which the effects of temperature and oxygen were compared. The results indicate that temperature and oxygen exposure have negligible effects on the physicochemical characteristics of the solid particles. However, the chemical features of the solution (e.g., pH, electric conductivity, alkalinity, and concentration of major cations and trace elements) at 4℃ under oxic conditions were considerably altered, compared to those measured under the standard thawing conditions. This study shows that the thawing condition of ice wedge samples can affect their chemical features and thereby the geochemical information therein for the reconstruction of the paleoclimate and/or paleoenvironment.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.465-477
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• 1996

The influence of dehydrocholic acid, cholesterol and phosphstidylcholie to the fine structure of vacuolar apparatus was investigated to better understand the mechanism of intracellular transport of bile constituents in the hepatocytes of rats. The cis Golgi cisterns faced toward the bile canaliculi both in normal and experimental groups. In the hepatocytes from the rats of experimental groups, the primary organic solutes in bile influence the Gogi apparatus, ER and lysosome in the way of increase, cisternal dilation or budding to form the vacuoles. In the dehydrocholic acid group, the cis Golgi cisterns appeared to be sacculated and showed buds, which were probably separated to be vacuoles. Some of the vacuoles appeared to be fused to the bile canaliculi. In the cholesterol and phosphatidylcholine groups, the Golgi cisterns appeared to be dilated and lysosomes were increased in the vicinity of bile canaliculi. The cis Golgi cisterns showing linear saccular fashions were occasonally observed. The increase of lysosomes were more predominant in the cholesterol group. The evidence suggests that dehydrocholic acid is mainly transported through the ER and cis Golgi cisterns, and cholesterol and phosphatidylcholine are mainly transported through the ER and lysosomes via the trans Golgi cisterns, but the cholesterols are frequently transported via the lysosomes.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.666-671
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• 1995

The conformational properties of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in aqueous solutions are studied by viscometry with respect to the water structure perturbing capabilities of a series of urea solutes at $16^{\circ}C$, and experiments for the effect of amounts of urea and methylurea on PEO at 16 and $25^{\circ}C$ are also performed. The results show that the chain expansion, by ureas, of PEO of $1.0{\times}10^5$ molecular weight at $16^{\circ}C$ is similar to that of PEO of $8.0{\times}10^3$ molecular weight at $25^{\circ}C$ with respect to the water structure perturbation. Urea and methylurea make the PEO chain expand by the perturbation of water structure around PEO and by the hydrophobic interaction between methylurea and PEO, respectively. PEO of $1.0{\times}10^5$ molecular weight has hydrophobic sites on it, which are roughly classified into two parts; one is the inner hydrophobic groups which can interact between themselves (intramolecular hydrophobic interaction) and prevails at $16^{\circ}C$, and the other is the outer, exposed hydrophobic groups which can interact with the added hydrophobic solute (intermolecular hydrophobic interaction) and prevails at $25^{\circ}C.$

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 1976

Equivalent conductances of ammonium salts such as $NH_4Cl,\;CH_3NH_3Cl,\;(CH_3)_2NH_2Cl,\;(CH_3)_3NHCl\;and\;(CH_3)_4NCl$ have been measured in methanol-water mixtures of various composition (0.0${\sim}$0.6-mole frcation: m. f.) in the concentration range from 0.01 to 0.04 M at $25^{\circ}C$, and limiting equivalent conductances (${\Lambda}_0$) are determined by the analysis of Fuoss Onsager's semiempirical equation.The experimental results are discussed in terms of varing the size of ${\Lambda}_0$ due to the salts species and solvent composition. It has been observed in quite common over all salts that ${\Lambda}_0$ decreases with the increase of m. f. methanol, and the maximum decrement in ${\Lambda}_0$ shows between water and 0.1 m. f., while the plot of ${\Lambda}_0$ vs. m. f. goes through a minimum at 0.4 m. f. and then turns slightly upward. On the other hand, the ${\Lambda}_0$ decrease with the increase of the size of ammonium cation and the larger values ${\Lambda}_0$ are showed in comparison with those of values observed for the corresponding $n-RNH_3Cl$ under the same experimental procedure. All these behaviors are considered to be closely correlated with the structures of solvents and solutes and the significant similarities are compared with the behaviors of partial molar volumes for amine salts in same solvent system.