• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.508-514
• /
• 2017

Water-bloom and red tide due to eutrophication have been overgrown and have caused various environmental problems. Recently, however, research on bid-diesel that can utilize algae as an energy source has been actively carried out. In particular, many studies variously have been conducted to utilize algal photosynthesis oxygen as a supply method for reducing the energy by an air blower in MWTP. In this study, a lab scale algae-nitrification reactor was operated to replace the oxygen required for nitrogen removal and the operation period was largely divided into three sections. In the first section, ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency was 24 ~ 38% according to the MLSS (Mixed Liquer Suspended Solid) concentration. In the second section, ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency was 38 ~ 50% according to the micro-algae concentration and in the last section ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency was 61 ~ 80% according to HRT (Hydraulic Retention Time). As a result, as the MLSS decreased and algae biomass increased, the ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency tended to increase, but the effect of Algae biomass was greater than that of MLSS.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.309-324
• /
• 2017

Recently, the heterotrophic nanoflagellate Katablepharis japonica has been reported to feed on diverse red-tide species and contribute to the decline of red tides. However, if there are effective predators feeding on K. japonica, its effect on red tide dynamics may be reduced. To investigate potential effective protist predators of K. japonica, feeding by the engulfment-feeding heterotrophic dinoflagellates (HTDs) Oxyrrhis marina, Gyrodinium dominans, Gyrodinium moestrupii, Polykrikos kofoidii, and Noctiluca scintillans, the peduncle-feeding HTDs Luciella masanensis and Pfiesteria piscicida, the pallium-feeding HTD Oblea rotunda, and the naked ciliates Strombidium sp. (approximately $20{\mu}m$ in cell length), Pelagostrobilidium sp., and Miamiensis sp. on K. japonica was explored. We found that none of these heterotrophic protists fed on actively swimming cells of K. japonica. However, O. marina, G. dominans, L. masanensis, and P. piscicida were able to feed on heat-killed K. japonica. Thus, actively swimming behavior of K. japonica may affect feeding by these heterotrophic protists on K. japonica. To the contrary, K. japonica was able to feed on O. marina, P. kofoidii, O. rotunda, Miamiensis sp., Pelagostrobilidium sp., and Strombidium sp. However, the specific growth rates of O. marina did not differ significantly among nine different K. japonica concentrations. Thus, K. japonica may not affect growth of O. marina. Our findings suggest that the effect of predation by heterotrophic protists on K. japonica might be negligible, and thus, the effect of grazing by K. japonica on populations of red-tide species may not be reduced by mortality due to predation by protists.

• ALGAE
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.373-378
• /
• 2016

Cochlodinium polykrikoides is a red-tide forming dinoflagellate that causes significant worldwide impacts on aquaculture industries and the marine ecosystem. There have been extensive studies on managing and preventing C. polykrikoides blooms, but it has been difficult to identify an effective method to control the bloom development. There is also limited genome information on the molecular mechanisms involved in its various ecophysiology and metabolism processes. Thus, comprehensive genome information is required to better understand harmful algal blooms caused by C. polykrikoides. We estimated the C. polykrikoides genome size using flow cytometry, with detection of the fluorescence of DNA stained with propidium iodide (PI). The nuclear genome size of C. polykrikoides was 100.97 Gb, as calculated by comparing its mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) to the MFI of Mus musculus, which is 2.8 Gb. The exceptionally large genome size of C. polykrikoides might indicate its complex physiological and metabolic characteristics. Our optimized protocol for estimating the nuclear genome size of a dinoflagellate using flow cytometry with PI can be applied in studies of other marine organisms.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.520-527
• /
• 2016

Phycocyanin (PC) is one of the water-soluble accessory pigments of cyanobacteria species, and its concentration is used to estimate the presence and relative abundance of cyanobacteria. In laboratory experiments, PC content of field data were determined using Sarada's freeze-thaw method in algal bloom season. The effectiveness of three selected extraction methods (repeated freeze-thaw method, homogenization, power control) for PC were determined. The extraction efficiency of phycocyanin was the highest (of the methods compared) when a single freezing-thawing cycle was followed by pre-sonication. Applying this optimized method to surface water of Korean inland waters, the average concentration distribution was estimated at $2.9{\sim}51.9mg/m^3$. It has been shown that the optimized pre-sonication method is suitable to measure cyanobacteria PC content for the characterization of inland waters. The approach and results of this study indicates the potential of effective methods for remote monitoring and management of water quality in turbid inland waters using hyperspectral remote sensing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
• /
• 2006.11a
• /
• pp.285-289
• /
• 2006

In screening of algicidal bacteria, we isolated a marine bacterium which had potent algicidal effects on harmful algal bloom (HAB) species. This organism was identified as a strain very close to Bacillus subtilisby 16S rRNA gene sequencing. This bacterium, Bacillus sp. SY-1, produces very active algicidal compounds against the harmful dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides. We isolated three algicidal compounds (MS 1056, 1070, 1084) and identified them by amino acid analyses, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS), infrared spectroscopy (IR), $^1H$, $^{13}C$, and extensive two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR) techniques including $^1H-^{15}N$ HMBC analysis. One of them, MS 1056, contains a b-amino acid residue with an alkyl side chain of $C_{15}$. MS 1056, 1070, and 1084 showed algicidal activities against C. polykrikoides with an $LC_{50}$ (6 hrs) of 2.3, 0.8, $0.6\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. These compounds also showed significant algicidal activities against other harmful dinoflagellates and raphidophytes. In contrast, MS 1084 showed no significant growth inhibition against various organisms coexisting with HAB species in natural environments, including bacteria, eukaryotic microalgae, and cyanobacteria, although it inhibited growth of some fungi and yeasts. These observations imply that algicidal bacterium Bacillus sp. SY-1 and its algicidal compounds could play an important role in regulating the onset and development of HABs in the natural environments.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.125-132
• /
• 2010

In order to assess the effect of pollution on marine ecosystem, we examined the plankton health assessment at 16 stations during summer season in Jinhae Bay. The organic and inorganic pollutant sources (dissolved organic carbon; DOC, chemical oxygen demand; COD and Chlorophyll a; Chl.a), including planktonic orangism such as enterobacteria Escherichia coli, heterotrophic bacteria (HB), autotrophic nano-flagellates (ANF), heterotrophic nano flagellates (HNF), ciliate and harmful algal bloom species (HABs) were used to characterize marine ecosystem health assessment. Of these, we tentatively selected those items Chl.a, HABs, HB and E. coli for plankton health index (PHI). Also, the scoring criteria for each metric were based on a statistical analysis and then, the grades are rated on four levels. As a result, the ecological assessment of these data reveals that PHI in Jinhae Bay is rated as "Good or fair" for overall conditions. The present study suggests that the PHI might be considered as one of important management tool to assess marine ecosystem health of Jinhae Bay.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.723-731
• /
• 2015

We investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of water quality in the Gangjung-Goryoung weir that is located in the middle area of the Nakdong river, Korea. The monitoring results indicated that there are discernible vertical differences in water quality during the pre- and post-monsoon periods (May to September). During this period, it was observed that the weak thermal stratification formed at the maximum level, and pH, Chl-a, and DO concentrations in the surface layer were higher than those in the bottom layer. This vertical difference was especially noticeable for DO concentrations: there were DO depletions at the bottom layer in late June to early August. During the summer monsoon period with heavy rainfall, there was a decline in vertical differences in water quality. From this study, it was suggested that continuous monitoring of vertical profiles could become a useful tool for identifying the spatial and temporal distributions of water quality and for developing the best management policy for water quality in the Nakdong river.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.37 no.2 s.107
• /
• pp.241-247
• /
• 2004

Isolation and identification of alga-lytic bacteria were carried out. Fifteen isolates of alga-lytic bacteria were screened by the double layer method using A. cylindrica NIES-19 as a sole nutrient and four isolates among them were compared with their alga-lytic activity. The isolate AK-05 exhibiting the highest alga-lytic activity was identified as Acidovorax temperans base on its 16S rDNA sequence. The culture supernatant of the isolate AK-05 was reliable for the alga-lytic. Alga-lytic activity assays of culture supernatant revealed that the major substances for alga-lytic activity were non-proteins and heat stable. The highest alga-Iytic activity was practical under alkaline conditions and at 25${\sim}$$30^{\circ}C$. It is indicating an advantage for the application of water blooms by cyanobacteria in eutrophic lakes where the pH is generally in alkaline region.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.538-545
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate growth response and toxigenicity under various temperature and nutritional conditions, in order to understand the physioecological characteristics of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, which is a bloom-forming cyanobacterium in the Nakdong River. The strain was inoculated into media under combinations of four temperatures (4, 12, 21, $30^{\circ}C$) and three nutrients (modified CB medium, P-depleted CB medium, N-depleted CB medium) for 28 days. The algae-inhibition tests were performed to assess the potential allelopathic effects of the strains' filtrates on the growth of four algae strains (Microcystis aeruginosa, Aulacoseria ambigua f. spiralis, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, Scenedesmus obliquus). Toxin production of a strain was measured by Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSolbent Assay (ELISA). The optimal growth temperature (Topt) of strains was $19.9^{\circ}C$ ($18.3-21.2^{\circ}C$), and the temperature range for growth was from $-0.3^{\circ}C$ to $34.3^{\circ}C$. Specific growth rate (${\mu}$) in modified CB medium varied from 0.10 to $0.16day^{-1}$, and the maximum growth rate (${\mu}_{max}$) was $0.17day^{-1}$. Although growth curves under N-existed and N-depleted conditions were almost the same, growth under N-depleted condition was relatively slowed (${\mu}=0.09$ to $0.14day^{-1}$), with a decreased maximum cell density. However, growth under the P-depleted condition was restricted for all temperatures, Two stains of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae were confirmed as not producing toxins, because saxitoxin and cylindrospermopsin were not detected by ELISA. The exudates or filtrates from the Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (DGUC003) resulted in significant inhibition of algal growth on the Aulacoseira ambigua f. spiralis (DGUD001) and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (DGUC001) (p < 0.01).

• Journal of Aquaculture
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.86-91
• /
• 2005

Three haptophyte algae, Isochrysis galbana, Prymnesium parvum and P. patelliferum were offered to the marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus as food. Growth rate of larvae, egg production, mortality and comsumption rates of T. japonicus were measured for each of the haptophyte species offered. The growth rate of larvae, egg production and algal ingestion of T. japonicus fed on P. parvum and P. patelliferum were much lower than those fed on I. galbana and corresponding high mortality rates were also observed during the experimental period. The harmful effects observed during the present study indicate that bloom-forming haptophyte algae, P. parvum and P. patelliferum are not suitable feed species for culture of copepod, T. japonicus.