• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.102-112
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• 2022

This study investigated dietary habits and intra- and inter-specific food resource partitioning of co-occurring walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) and Pacific cod (G. macrocephalus) from the waters off the north-eastern coast of South Korea using stomach contents and stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) analyses. Both species are mesopelagic carnivores that consumed mainly benthopelagic crustaceans, but teleosts were also abundant in the diet of Pacific cod. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordination and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) of dietary data revealed significant intra- and inter-specific dietary differences, i.e., food resource partitioning. Nitrogen stable isotope values (δ¹⁵N) were similar between walleye pollock and Pacific cod, but carbon stable isotope values (δ¹³C) were significant different, suggesting different trophic positioning. Canonical analysis of principal coordinate (CAP) ordination plot further demonstrated that differences in the type and range of prey ingested by the two species contributed such an inter-specific difference in the diet compositions. Ontogenetic changes in diet compositions were evident. As walleye pollock, they preyed more upon carid shrimps and cephalopods, but no such trend was observed in the diets of Pacific cod. While stable isotope values indicated that large-sized specimens of both species were significantly enriched in ¹⁵N relative to smaller conspecifics thus supporting these data. Consequently, in this study, both methodologies, i.e., stomach contents and stable isotope analyses, provided evidence of inter- and/or intra-specific dietary segregations and trophic niche partitioning between co-occurring walleye pollock and Pacific cod off eastern Korean waters.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.45-51
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• 2002

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.477-494
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• 2008

Stable isotope analyses on lake or wetland sediments are useful to reconstruct paleoclimate. Organic and inorganic carbonates obtained from lake sediment are isotopically analyzed to get oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios. Oxygen isotope ratios can be used to quantitatively and qualitatively reconstruct paleo-temperature or humidity while carbon isotope ratios be used to reveal environmental changes around the lake or human impacts on the area. Peat mosses in peat bogs are nice samples for the carbon isotope analysis, which derives paleo-temperature and paleo-atmospheric $CO_2$ changes. In coastal area, the reconstruction of past sea-level is possible because terrestrial originated organic matter is carbon isotopically different from marine originated organic matter. Also, scientists can do research on Asian Monsoon based on the fact that $\delta^{13}C$ of C3 plants and C4 plants are consistently different each other and that they are distributed differently with respect to salinity. In Korea, paleoenvironmental studies using stable isotopes are not popular yet because of low academic interests on the methodology and difficulties of obtaining proper sediment samples. Interesting results can be produced to answer paleoenvironmental questions of Korea if scientists isotopically analyze sediment cores from a paleo-lake such as Hanon in Jeju island, peat bogs such as Mujechi-Neup and Yong-Neup, and coastal wetlands.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.83-88
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• 2008

Using micromill, discrete carbonate powders from the otolith of Argyrosomus argentatus were sampled along the growth band, and high-resolution stable isotope profiles were obtained. The ${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}^{13}C$ values are increasing gradually from the core to the margin. However, such increases do not seem to be attributed to the environmental property changes during the growth, but to the dominant effect of metabolic carbons during the early growth, and then, the isotopic composition seems to be equilibrium to the environmental condition. This paper allows the diverse applicability of high-resolution isotope research to the fish otoliths in the future.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.485-495
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• 2018

Background: The geographical origin of Panax ginseng Meyer, a valuable medicinal plant, is important to both ginseng producers and consumers in the context of economic profit and human health benefits. We, therefore, aimed to discriminate between the cultivation regions of ginseng using the stable isotope ratios of C, N, O, and S, which are abundant bioelements in living organisms. Methods: Six Korean ginseng cultivars (3-yr-old roots) were collected from five different regions in Korea. The C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratios in ginseng roots were measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry, and then these isotope ratio profiles were statistically analyzed using chemometrics. Results: The various isotope ratios found in P. ginseng roots were significantly influenced by region, cultivar, and the interactions between these two factors ($p{\leq}0.001$). The variation in ${\delta}^{15}N$ and ${\delta}^{13}C$ in ginseng roots was significant for discriminating between different ginseng cultivation regions, and ${\delta}^{18}O$ and ${\delta}^{34}S$ were also affected by both altitude and proximity to coastal areas. Chemometric model results tested in this study provided discrimination between the majority of different cultivation regions. Based on the external validation, this chemometric model also showed good model performance ($R^2=0.853$ and $Q^2=0.738$). Conclusion: Our case study elucidates the variation of C, N, O, and S stable isotope ratios in ginseng root depending on cultivation region. Hence, the analysis of stable isotope ratios is a suitable tool for discrimination between the regional origins of ginseng samples from Korea, with potential application to other countries.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.419-427
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• 2023

This study, analyzed the stomach contents, stable isotope signatures (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) in muscle tissue, and potential food sources (particulate organic matter, Zostera marina, epiphytes, and zooplankton) of Sardinops melanostictus in the southern coast of Korea to evaluate its dietary changes across seasons (summer and autumn 2022). The diet of S. melanostictus predominantly comprised organic detritus (99%) regardless of the season. The isotope results showed that S. melanostictus had mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of -17.7±0.4‰ and 10.6±0.5‰, respectively and seasonal variations were observed (t-test, P=0.010, P=0.002). However, the isotopic mixing model showed that particulate organic matter was a major nutritional source for S. melanostictus in summer and autumn (88.7% and 90.2%, respectively). Based on the stomach contents and stable isotope signatures, these results may help improve the understanding of S. melanostictus and establish the management measures for their conservation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2022

Dissolved organic matter (DOM), which changes according to various factors, is ubiquitously present from natural environments to engineered treatment systems. Only limited information is available regarding the environmental functions of DOM after bulk analyses are only applied for characterization. In this paper, latest DOM analytical techniques are briefly introduced, which include fluorescence excitation-emission matrix with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), size-exclusion chromatography with an organic carbon detector (SEC-OCD), carbon/nitrogen stable-isotope ratio, and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectroscopy (FT-ICR-MS). Recent examples of using advanced analyses to interpret the phenomena associated with DOM occurring in natural and engineered systems are presented here. Through EEM-PARAFAC, different components like protein-like, fulvic-like, and humic-like can be identified and tracked individually through the investigated systems. SEC-OCD allows researchers to quantify different size fractions. FT-ICR-MS provides thousands of molecular formulas present in bulk DOM samples. Lastly, carbon/nitrogen stable-isotope ratio offers reasonable tools for tracking the sources in environments. We also discuss the advantages and weakness of the above-mentioned characterizing tools. Specifically, they focus on single environmental factors (different sourced-DOM and interaction of sediment-pore water) or simple changes after individual treatment processes. Through collaboration with the advanced techniques later, they help the researchers to better understand environmental behaviors in aquatic systems and serve as essential tools for addressing various pending problems associated with DOM.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.339-347
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• 2023

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a key component in the biogeochemical cycling in freshwater ecosystem. However, it has been rarely explored, particularly complex river watershed dominated by natural and anthropogenic sources, such as various effluent facility and livestock. The current research developed a new analytical method for TOC/TN (Total Organic Carbon/Total Nitrogen) stable isotope ratio, and distinguish DOM source using stable isotope value (δ¹³C-DOC) and spectroscopic indices (fluorescence index [FI] and biological index [BIX]). The TOC/TN-IR/MS analytical system was optimized and precision and accuracy were secured using two international standards (IAEA-600 Caffein, IAEA-CH-6 Sucrose). As a result of controlling the instrumental conditions to enable TOC stable isotope analysis even in low-concentration environmental samples (<1 mgC L^-1), the minimum detection limit was improved. The 12 potential DOM source were collected from watershed, which includes top-soils, groundwater, plant group (fallen leaves, riparian plants, suspended algae) and effluent group (pig and cow livestock, agricultural land, urban, industry facility, swine facility and wastewater treatment facilities). As a result of comparing characteristics between 12 sources using spectroscopic indices and δ¹³C-DOC values, it were divided into four groups according to their characteristics as a respective DOM sources. The current study established the TOC/TN stable isotope analyses system for the first time in Korea, and found that spectroscopic indices and δ¹³C-DOC are very useful tool to trace the origin of organic matter in the aquatic environments through library database.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.39
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• pp.39-58
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• 2006

This study reviews recent shell midden studies in Korea. With more interest in biological materials, recent shell midden studies have attempted to reconstruct palaeoenvironment, and understand subsistence economy, the formation processes and function of sites and past culture. Especially, one of the major topics in prehistoric Korean shell midden studies is the transitional process from hunter-gatherer to farmer. To solve these questions related with shell middens, new sampling strategies and excavation techniques have been adopted. Analytical methods combined with scientifical technologies also have been introduced to shell middle studies. These methods indude stable isotope analyses(Oxygen isotope and Carbon and Nitrogen isotope analyses) and growth-line analysis, etc.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.422-427
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• 1996

The anti-Ex-A IgG was specifically labeled with stable isotopes, DL-His-2,4-$d_2$, L-Phe-$d_5$, L-Trp-$d_5$, L-Tyr-2,6-$d_2$ and L-[1-$^{13}C$]Trp, by growing hybridoma cell in serum-free medium. By use of NMR spectroscopy with selectively labeled Fab fragment, we applied a paratope mapping on antigen-antibody complex. Assignments of the observed carbonyl carbon resonances have been determined by using $^{13}C$-$^{15}N$ double labeling method in order to assign the Trp resonances. Photo CIDNP was also applied to investigate the antigen-binding site(s) on the surface residues of antibody. We found that Trp 36, which is located at the $V_H$ domain, is an important residue to bind to Ex-A, however, two Tyr on the surface of anti-Ex-A IgG plays no crucial role to bind to antigen. On the basis of these results, we demonstrate that stable isotope-aided NMR strategy can be extended to molecular structural analyses of the complex of an Fab fragment and a protein antigen.