• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2005

The feasibility of hydrogen production with a raw seed sludge through direct acclimation of feedstock was investigated at acidogenic stage, and methane was harvested at followed methanogenic stage in an anaerobic two-stage process. Hydrogen content was higher than 57% at all tested organic loading rates (OLRs) and the yield of hydrogen ranged from 1.5 to 2.4 mol H2/mol hexose consumed and peaked at 6 gVSl-1day-1. Normal butyrate and acetate were main volatile fatty acids (VFAs), whereas the concentration of propionate was insignificant. The hydrogen-producing bacteria, Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum, was detected with strong intensity at all tested organic loading rates (OLRs) by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. From COD balance in the process, the fraction of the feed-COD converted to the hydrogen-COD at acidogenic stage ranged from 7.9% to 9.3% and peaked at 6 gVSl-1day-1, whereas the fraction of feed-COD converted to the methane-COD at methanogenic stage ranged from 66.2% to 72.3% and peaked at 3 gVSl-1day-1.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2012

Influence of gamma rays on the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cells was investigated in terms of a bidirectional hydrogenase, which is encoded by hoxEFUYH genes and responsible for biohydrogen production. Irradiated cells revealed a substantial change in stoichiometry of photosystems at one day after gamma irradiation at different doses. However, as evaluated by the maximal rate of photosynthetic oxygen evolution, maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, and chlorophyll content, net photosynthesis or photosynthetic capacity was not significantly different between the control and irradiated cells. Instead, transcription of hoxE, hoxH, or lexA, which encodes a subunit of bidirectional hydrogenase or the only transcriptional activator, LexA, for hox genes, was commonly enhanced in the irradiated cells. This transcriptional enhancement was more conspicuously observed immediately after gamma irradiation. In contrast, hydrogenase activities were found to somewhat lower in the irradiated cells. Therefore, we propose that transcription of hox genes should be enhanced by gamma irradiation in a LexA-mediated and possibly photosynthesis-independent manner and that this enhancement might not induce a subsequent increase in hydrogenase activities, probably due to the presence of post-transcriptional and/or post-translational regulatory mechanisms.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.431-437
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• 2005

Molecular methods were employed to investigate microorganisms in a thermophilic continuous stirred tank reactor(CSTR) used for continuous $H_2$ production. The reactor was inoculated with heat-treated anaerobic sludge and fed with a glucose-based medium. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis showed dynamic changes of bacterial populations in the reactor during 43 days of operation. Gas composition was constant from approximately 14 days but population shift still occurred. Populations affiliated with Fervidobactrium gondwanens and Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum were dominant on 21 and 41 days, respectively. Keeping pH of the medium at 5.0 could suppress methanogenic activity that was detected during initial operation period. $CH_4$ and mcrA detected in the samples obtained from the reactor or inoculum suggested the heat treatment condition employed in this study is not enough to remove methanogens in the inoculum. PCR using primer sets specific to 4 main orders of methanogens suggested that major $H_2$-consuming methanogens in the CSTR belong to the order Methanobacteriales.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.425-430
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• 2005

Thermophilic $H_2$ was produced for 1 year using a bench-scale continuous stirred tank reactor(CSTR). The CSTR was inoculated with anaerobically digested sludge after heat treatment and fed with a glucose-based medium. The reactor showed relatively short start-up period(30 days) and high maximal $H_2$ yield(2.4 mol $H_2/mol$ glucose). Keeping pH 5.0 or less suppressed methanogenic activity. Bacteria affiliated with Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum kept being dominant from approximately 40 days as determined by DGGE. Environmental perturbation(pH or temperature) caused the decrease of biomass concentration in the reactor and the instability of reactor performance, $H_2$ production rate and $H_2$ yield. The unstable performance was accompanied with high concentration of lactate in the effluent. Taken together, the poor recovery of CSTR after perturbations could be partly explained by low biomass concentration and/or metabolic shift of the major population in the CSTR.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.270-274
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• 2005

A reactor-scale hydrogen (H2) production via the water-gas shift reaction of carbon monoxide (CO) and water was studied using the purple nonsulfur bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas palustris P4. The experiment was conducted in a two-step process: an aerobic/chemoheterotrophic cell growth step and a subsequent anaerobic $H_2$ production step. Important parameters investigated included the agitation speed. inlet CO concentration and gas retention time. P4 showed a stable $H_2$ production capability with a maximum activity of 41 mmol $H_2$ g $cell^{-1}h^{-1}$ during the continuous reactor operation of 400 h. The maximal volumetric H2 production rate was estimated to be 41 mmol $H_2 L^{-1}h^{-1}$, which was about nine-fold and fifteen-fold higher than the rates reported for the photosynthetic bacteria Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rubrivivax gelatinosus, respectively. This is mainly attributed to the ability of P4 to grow to a high cell density with a high specific $H_2$ production activity. This study indicates that P4 has an outstanding potential for a continuous H2 production via the water-gas shift reaction once a proper bioreactor system that provides a high rate of gas-liquid mass transfer is developed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.83-94
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• 2012

The research on microbial fuel cells (MFCs) needs various knowledge of different fields such as electrochemistry, microbiology, environmental engineering, and material engineering. Although electrochemically active bacteria are very diverse, the performance of MFCs is affected primarily by the structure of the reactor system. Thus, the development in the system architecture is critical to lower internal resistance and increase power generation for commercialization. This paper summarizes the principles of MFCs and demonstrates the infinite potential of MFCs in various applications including wastewater treatment, biosensors, biohydrogen production, remote power sources, implantable medical devices, etc.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.2180-2184
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• 2010

We synthesized and tested the anti-HIV activity of the SATE prodrug of a 2'-methyl 5'-norcarbocyclic adenine analogue. The introduction of a methyl group in the 2'-position was performed by the addition of a carbonyl using isopropenyl magnesium bromide. The adenine base was efficiently coupled using the Mitsunobu reaction. The chemical stability study of the bis(SATE) derivative 18 was measured at neutral (pH 7.2) and slightly acid (milli-Q water, pH 5.5) pH, and compounds 16 and 18 were evaluated as potential anti-HIV-1 agents.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.668-672
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• 2007

A microcosmal experiment using a metagenomic technique was designed to assess the effect of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) on an indigenous bacterial community in a Daejeon forest soil. A compositional shift of bacterial groups in an artificial BTEX-contaminated soil was examined by the 16S rDNA PCR-DGGE method. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNAs in the dominant DGGE bands showed that the number of Actinobacteria and Bacillus populations increased. To confirm these observations, we performed PCR to amplify the 23S rDNA and 16S rDNA against the sample metagenome using Actinobacteria-targeting and Bacilli-specific primer sets, respectively. The result further confirmed that a bacterial community containing Actinobacteria and Bacillus was affected by BTEX.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.2989-2992
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• 2009

An efficient synthetic route of novel 2′(${\alpha}$)-C-fluoro-2′(${\beta}$)-C-methyl carbocyclic nucleoside analogues is described. The key fluorinated intermediate 7 was prepared from the epoxide intermediate 5 via selective ring-opening of epoxide. Coupling of 7 with nucleosidic bases under the Mitsunobu reactions followed by deprotection afforded the target carbocyclic nucleoside analogues. The synthesized compounds were evaluated as inhibitors of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Huh-7 cell line in vitro.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.470-473
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• 2006

생물학적 수소생산을 위해 토양으로부터 새로운 균주인 Enterobacter asburiae SNU-1이 분리되었다 이 균주의 경우 다른 균주와는 달리 미생물 생장과 수소생산 phase가 분리되는 특징을 가지고 있다. 이러한 정지기에서의 수소생산은 미생물 내에 존재하는 formate hydrogen lyase를 사응하여 formate 분해에 의해 일어난다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 미생물 생장 phase에서 formate hydrogen lyase가 발현된 미생물을 얻고 이를 formate만 있는 배지에서 수소생산 가능성에 대한 연구를 수행하였다. 앞으로 formate분해를 위한 조건을 최적화한다면 높은 수소생산성을 나타낼 것이라 기대된다. 또한, 이는 formate로부터 미생물촉매를 이용하여 수소를 생산하고 이를 연료전지로 공급하는 생물학적 reformer로써의 이용 가능성을 보여준다.