• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.364-370
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• 1996

Sediments collected from the Jungnang-cheon and its tributaries were used to enumerate anaerobic bacteria by most probable number (MPN) methods. A simple method was developed to detect ferrous ion in the culture fluid in order to count the number of iron ion reducers, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and methanogens were detected by the presence of FeS precipitate in the culture or methane in the head space, respectively. The numbers of iron reducer was in the range of 10$^{7}$ - 10$^{8}$ /g in the sediment of the stream containing higher organic content than the tributaries. The sediments of tributaries were analyzed to contain iron reducers less than 10$^{7}$ cells/g. With one exception the numbers of SRB and methanogens were less than 10$^{3}$ cells/g in the sediment. From these results it is concluded that organics in the sediment support the growth of iron reducers, which out-compete SRB and methanogens.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.75-82
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• 2008

Two UASB reactors were operated to investigate the effect of high concentration of sulfate on anaerobic digestion of propionate using an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. An organic loading rate of $1.2kg\;COD/m^3{\cdot}d$ and a hydraulic retention time of 1.6 d were maintained during this study. In the absence of sulfate, the UASB reactor achieved about 95% removal of chemical oxygen demand whereas in the presence of $2,000\;SO_4^{2-}mg/L$, the COD removal rate decreased to 83% due probably to the inhibition of dissolved sulfide inhibition. Interactions between the methane producing bacteria (MPB) and sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) were measured to investigate the competition between MPB and SRB. The MPB consumed average 58% of the available electron donors at $COD/SO_4^{2-}$ ratio of 1. Propionate was consumed mainly by SRB, converting sulfate into sulfide and suppressing the methane production. The specific methanogenic activity (SMA) using acetate and propionate increased as microorganism acclimated to the substrate.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1468-1475
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• 2010

Sulfate reduction rates (SRR) using $^{35}SO_4^{-2}$, sulfide producing rates (SPR) using gas chromatography, the number of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) using the most probable number (MPN) method, and soil components (moisture, ammonium, total nitrogen, total organic carbon, total carbon, total inorganic phosphorus, total phosphorus, and sulfate) using standard methods in the organic/conventional rice paddy soils, cleaned/polluted reservoir soils, and cleaned/polluted foreshore soils were studied with the change of seasons. The average SRR was more related to the number of SRB and soil components (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) than sulfate concentration. SRR was also recorded to be highest in October soil samples. However, SPR was higher in foreshore soils containing a high concentration sulfate than in fresh water soils, and it was also recorded to be higher in the polluted areas than in clean areas. From these results, we can conclude that the SRR and SPR of anaerobic environments were affected by the number of SRB, soil components and temperature.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1005-1012
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• 2020

Acid mine drainage (AMD) has been a serious environmental issue that threatens soil and aquatic ecosystems. In this study, an acid-tolerant sulfate-reducing bacterium, strain S4, was isolated from the mud of an AMD storage pond in Vietnam via enrichment in anoxic mineral medium at pH 5. Comparative analyses of sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and dsrB gene involved in sulfate reduction revealed that the isolate belonged to the genus Desulfovibrio, and is most closely related to Desulfovibrio oxamicus (with 99% homology in 16S rDNA sequence and 98% homology in dsrB gene sequence). Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses of dsrB gene showed that strain S4 represented one of the two most abundant groups developed in the enrichment culture. Notably, strain S4 was capable of reducing sulfate in low pH environments (from 2 and above), and resistance to extremely high concentration of heavy metals (Fe 3,000 mg/l, Zn 100 mg/l, Cu 100 mg/l). In a batch incubation experiment in synthetic AMD with pH 3.5, strain S4 showed strong effects in facilitating growth of a neutrophilic, metal sensitive Desulfovibrio sp. strain SR4H, which was not capable of growing alone in such an environment. Thus, it is postulated that under extreme conditions such as an AMD environment, acid- and metal-tolerant sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB)-like strain S4 would facilitate the growth of other widely distributed SRB by starting to reduce sulfate at low pH, thus increasing pH and lowering the metal concentration in the environment. Owing to such unique physiological characteristics, strain S4 shows great potential for application in sustainable remediation of AMD.

• 한국가스학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.58-68
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• 2001

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of carbon steel gas pipeline in soil environments was investigated at field and laboratory MIC is very severe corrosion and it is not easy to distinguish this corrosion from Inorganic corrosion because of its localized, pitting-type character Therefore, it is important to provide proper assessment techniques for the prediction, detection, monitoring and mitigation of MIC. It is possible to predict the MIC risk, i.e., the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) through the analysis of soil environments. Chemical, microbiological and surface analysis of corrosion products and metal attacked could reveal the possibility of the occurrence of MIC. Various electrochemical and surface analysis techniques could be used for the study of MIC. Among these techniques, thin-film electrical resistance (ER) type sensors are promising to obtain localized corrosion rate of MIC induced by SRB. It is also important to study the effect of cathodic protection (CP) on the MIC In case of coated pipeline, the relationship between coating disbondment and the activity of SRB beneath the disbanded coating is also important.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.147-153
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• 2018

Copper is used in various applications in environments favoring and enabling formation of biofilms by naturally occurring microbes. Copper is also the chosen corrosion barrier for nuclear waste in Finland. The copper canisters should have lifetimes of 100,000 years. Copper is commonly considered to be resistant to corrosion in oxygen-free water. This is an important argument for using copper as a corrosion protection in the planned canisters for spent nuclear-fuel encapsulation. However, microbial biofilm formation on metal surfaces can increase corrosion in various conditions and provide conditions where corrosion would not otherwise occur. Microbes can alter pH and redox potential, excrete corrosion-inducing metabolites, directly or indirectly reduce or oxidize the corrosion products, and form biofilms that create corrosive microenvironments. Microbial metabolites are known to initiate, facilitate, or accelerate general or localized corrosion, galvanic corrosion, and intergranular corrosion, as well as enable stress-corrosion cracking. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are present in the repository environment. Sulfide is known to be a corrosive agent for copper. Here we show results from corrosion of copper in anoxic simulated ground water in the presence of SRB enriched from the planned disposal site.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2013

There was a study for biological characteristics, except for physico-chemical and mineralogical properties, on the natural bentonite that is considered as a buffer material for the high-level radioactive waste disposal site. A bentonite slurry that was prepared from a local 'Gyeongju bentonite' in Korea was incubated in a serum bottle with nutrient media over 1 week and its stepwise change was observed with time. From the activated bentonite in the nutrient media, we can find a certain change of both solid and liquid phases. Some dark and fine sulfides began to be generated from dissolved sulfate solution, and 4 species of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were identified as living cells in samples that were periodically taken and incubated. These results show that sulfate-reducing (or metal-reducing) bacteria are adhering and existing in the powder of bentonite, suggesting that there may be a potential occurrence of longterm biogeochemical effects in and around the bentonite buffer in underground anoxic environmental conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.527-537
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• 2018

Column tests of a sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) bioreactor were conducted to determine the design factors for sulfate-rich mine drainage. Various substrates were applied to the bioreactor, including cow manure and its mixture with a mushroom compost, with rice straw and limestone as subsidiary materials. This procedure provided a removal efficiency of up to 82% of the total sulfur with the mixture of cow manure (70%), mushroom compost (10%) and rice straw (20%), and higher efficiencies were observed after 2 days of retention time. In the downflow condition of the flow direction, oxygen supply and re-oxidation of the sulfates occurred, causing a decrease in sulfate removal efficiency. The addition of an inorganic sludge containing heavy metals, which was intended for production of metal-sulfides in the bioreactor, had a negative effect on the long-term operation owing to arsenic release and toxicity to the SRB. The results thus show that a bioreactor using a mixed substrate with cow manure and operating in the downflow direction could reduce sulfates and total dissolved sulfur content; this process confirms the applicability of the SRB bioreactor to sulfate-rich saline drainage.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2008

The diversity of sulfate reducing bacteria was investigated in different depths of sediments in Lake Sihwa, Korea and Lake Aha, China by PCR amplification, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone libraries targeting dissimilatory sulfite redectase (dsr) gene. In the analysis of DGGE band patterns, the community compositions of dsr gene in the sediments of both lakes were significantly different whereas bands in all depths of each environment revealed similar patterns. Bands from Lake Sihwa were produced much more than those from Lake Aha, demonstrating a higher diversity of dsr gene in Lake Sihwa. Total 68 clones containing dsr gene were obtained to analyze their sequences. Sequences from the sediment of Lake Sihwa were affiliated to Deltaproteobacteria, the Gram-positive thermophilic sulfate reducers belonging to the genus Desulforomaculum and archaeal thermophilic SRB belonging to the genus Archaeoglobus, whereas sequences from the sediments of Lake Aha were related to genus Desulfotomaculum. Clones retrieved from sediment of Lake Sihwa revealed a higher numbers than those of Lake Aha, demonstrating a higher diversity of dsr gene in Lake Sihwa. Most of clones (59%) were distantly related to the known cultivated SRB with $60\sim65%$ of similarity, which were clustered only the sequences from the environments showed less than 90% similarity. These habitat specific sequences suggested that the clustered dsr sequences represent species or groups of species that were indigenous to these environments. This study showed that these lakes have a specific bacterial communities having dsr gene distinct from those in other environments such as soil and marine ecosystems around the world.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.261-270
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• 2010

Increasing atmospheric $CO_2$ affects the soil carbon cycle by influencing microbial activity and the carbon pool. In this study, the effects of elevated $CO_2$ on extracellular enzyme activities (EEA; ${\beta}$-glucosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, aminopeptidase) in salt marsh sediment vegetated with Suaeda japonica were assessed under ambient atmospheric $CO_2$ concentration (380 ppm) or elevated $CO_2$ concentration (760 ppm) conditions. Additionally, the community structure of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) was analyzed via terminal restriction fragments length polymorphism (T-RFLP). Sediment with S. japonica samples were collected from the Hwangsando intertidal flat in May 2005, and placed in small pots (diameter 6 cm, height 10 cm). The pots were incubated for 60 days in a growth chamber under two different $CO_2$ concentration conditions. Sediment samples for all measurements were subdivided into two parts: surface (0-2 cm) and rhizome (4-6 cm) soils. No significant differences were detected in EEA with different $CO_2$ treatments in the surface and rhizome soils. However, the ratio of ${\beta}$-glucosidase activity to N-acetylglucosaminidase activity in rhizome soil was significantly lower (P < 0.01) at 760 ppm $CO_2$ than at 380 ppm $CO_2$, thereby suggesting that the contribution of fungi to the decomposition of soil organic matter might in some cases prove larger than that of bacteria. Community structures of SRB were separated according to different $CO_2$ treatments, suggesting that elevated $CO_2$ may affect the carbon and sulfur cycle in salt marshes.