• ALGAE
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2012

Germanium dioxide ($GeO_2$) has been used for many years in the cultivation of red and green algae as a means of controlling the growth of diatoms. Brown algae are sensitive to $GeO_2$, however, the basis of this sensitivity has not been characterized. Here we use embryos of $Fucus$ $vesiculosus$ to investigate morphological and physiological impacts of $GeO_2$ toxicity. Morphometric features of embryos were measured microscopically, and physiological features were determined using pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry. At 5 mg $L^{-1}$ $GeO_2$, embryos grew slower than controls and developed growth abnormalities. After 24 h, initial zygote divisions were often oblique rather than transverse. Rhizoids had inflated tips in $GeO_2$ and were less branched, and apical hairs were deformed, with irregularly aligned, spheroidal cells. Minimum fluorescence ($F_0$) showed minor differences over the 10 days experiment, and pigment levels (chlorophylls $a$, $c$ and total carotenoids) showed no difference after 10 days. Optimum quantum yield increased from ca. 0.52 at 24 h to 0.67 at 5 days, and $GeO_2$-treated embryos had higher mean values (significant at 3 and 5 days). Optimum quantum yield of photosystem II (${\Phi}_{PSII}$) was stable in control thalli after 5 days, but declined significantly in $GeO_2$. Addition of silica (as $SiO_2$) did not reverse the effects of $GeO_2$. These results suggest that $GeO_2$ toxicity in brown algae is associated with negative impacts at the cytological level rather than metabolic impacts associated with photosynthesis.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2015

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is a widely used method for measuring the concentration of chlorophyll a as an indicator for estimating phytoplankton biomass and primary production and also for identifying carotenoids to determine phytoplankton composition. However, tissue grinding procedure requires a lot of time and experience in the analysis of multiple sample. Accordingly, we measured the concentrations of photosynthetic pigments before and after the grinding, in order to understand the grinding effects on the quantitative analysis of chlorophylls and carotenoids using samples from southwestern East Sea. When tissue grinding procedure was omitted, we found that Chl a concentrations were underestimated up to 45% in average. Also, concentrations of Zeaxanthin, 19'-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin, 19'-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin, biomarkers of pico and nano-size phytoplankton, were underestimated up to maximum 77~85% without grinding. We found that the smaller the phytoplankton, the bigger underestimation of their biomarker pigments concentration is likely to happen due to the incomplete extraction. Thus, tissue grinding procedure should be included for HPLC analysis in all cases, to prevent the underestimation of not only Chl a but also carotenoids pigments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.211-216
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• 2001

The growth of Selenastrum capricornutum in culture was investigated as a function of ionic copper concentrations to verify the toxicity and physiological variation. In a $Cu^{++}$ excess culture (E: $Cu^{++}$ of $130{\mu}g/l$), the growth rate (K)(0.32) was lower than that of the control culture (C: $Cu^{++}$ of $0.065{\mu}g/l$) (0.61) after 8 days and the exponential growth rate ($R_E$) was also found to be lower in culture E (1.1) than culture C (2.9). On the contrary, the K of S. capricornutum in trace $Cu^{++}$ culture ($T_1$ and $T_2$, 0.72) after 6 days tended to be more increased than culture C (0.68). From 8 to 14 days of culture, the amounts of chlorophyllls a and b were increased in culture C (chlorophyll a, $106->126{\mu}g/g$ dry wt; chlorophyll b, $158->208{\mu}g/g$ dry wt; chlorophyll b were decreased in culture E (chlorophyll a, $309->235{\mu}g/g$ dry wt; chlorophyll b, $405->352{\mu}g/g$ dry wt). The amounts of chlorophylls in ionic copper trace culture ($T_1$ and $T_2$) [(chl a/b) of $T_1$: $384/620\;{\mu}g/g$ dry wt; (chl a/b) of $T^2$:$320/467{\mu}g/g$ dry wt] were increased more than the culture C($260/387{\mu}g/g$ dry wt). Howeveer, when photosynthetic rates were normalized to the dry weight of algae, the control culture continued to showed higher values than the treated culture ($T_1$). An appropriate amount of ionic copper ($T_1:\;26\;{\mu}g/l$) stimulated the grwoth of S. capricornutum than the ionic copper content of $13\;{\mu}g/l$ ($T_2$), while the excess amount of ionic copper ($130\;{\mu}g/l$) resulted in the highest toxicity to the growth of S. capricornutum.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 1996

This experiments were conducted using color films for investigation of suitable light environment on the growth of Allium senescens var. minor. The results obtained were as follows ; In characteristics of light transmittance of the color films tested, it shows that glass and transparent film passed nearly all visible rays, but the other films were reduced and filtered certain wavelength of light. On the tested films, the light transmittance amount of transparent film and green film were the greatest, 75.5% and smallest, 13.2% based on the glass 100%, respectively. The growth of Allium senescens var. minor increased at transparent, yellow and pink film, but decreased at blue and green film. It shows that the greatest chlorophyll content was founded in the blue film, 0.27mg/g, the smallest founded in the yellow film, 0.16mg/g. The content of mineral elements was founded that the green film was the highest at N, P, K, Ca, Mg, but the orange and pink film were the lowest at P, K and N, Ca, Mg, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.72-72
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• 2017

We found a new stay-green mutant from 'Pyeongwon' which is an early-maturing rice variety in Korea. The mutant showed green leaves after grain ripening period and it maintained higher SPAD value than wild type rice plant and original variety 'Pyeongwon'. The stay-green trait in rice, three genes have been identified up to date. The non-yellow coloring1 (NYC1) gene encodes a chloroplast-localized short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) with three transmembrane domains. The non-yellow coloring3 (NYC3) gene encodes a plastid-localizing alpha/beta hydrolase-fold family protein with an esterase/lipase motif. The Sgr gene encodes a novel chloroplast protein and regulates the destabilization of the light-harvesting chlorophyll binding protein (LHCP) complexes of the thylakoid membranes, which is a prerequisite event for the degradation of chlorophylls and LHCPs during senescence. After sequencing the PCR products, we found a single nucleotide variation($A{\rightarrow}T$) in the NYC1 gene, which changes the amino acid lysine to methionine. The NYC1 gene encodes a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase(SDR) protein. And we confirmed the co-segregation between SNP and stay-green trait from genotyping the progenies of the mutant.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.805-814
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• 2013

Lotus root, dried laver, and perilla leaf bugak, Korean traditional fried cuisine, were prepared with fermented glutinous rice batter and unroasted sesame oil or wheat flour batter and soybean oil and their physicochemical characteristics was evaluated. Bugak with fermented glutinous rice batter and unroasted sesame oil showed higher hardness, possibly brittleness than bugak with wheat flour batter and soybean oil. Oil absorption was higher in bugak with fermented glutinous rice batter and unroasted sesame oil than bugak with wheat flour batter and soybean oil, however, the lipid oxidation, evaluated by conjugated dienoic acid and p-anisidine values, was significantly lower in bugak with fermented glutinous rice batter and unroasted sesame oil. Frying oil strongly influenced the degree of lipid oxidation and fatty acid composition of bugak lipid. Different preparation of bugak did not show great effects on the contents of chlorophylls and carotenoids of dried laver and perilla leaf bugak, possibly due to protection by rice or wheat flour batter coating.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.189-195
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• 2012

In plants, the fifth step of the plastidial 2-Cmethyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway is catalyzed by 2-C-Methyl-D-erythritol 2,4-cyclodiphosphate synthase (MECP; EC: 4. 6. 1. 12), an enzyme proposed to play a key role in the regulation of isoprenoid biosynthesis. Here we report the isolation and functional characterization of a 823 bp Brassica rapa MECP (Brmecp) cDNA encoding a deduced polypeptide of 230 amino acid residues. Transcription levels of Brmecp were two-fold higher in petal compared to leaves. In addition, Brmecp expression in cabbage seedlings treated with ABA, $H_2O_2$ and drought was higher than control seedlings. These results were consistent with changes in chlorophyll contents in transgenic Arabidopsis. Thus, the Brmecp may contribute to the production of primary (chlorophylls and carotenoids) isoprenoid end-products in chloroplasts.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.950-957
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• 2009

Mustard Leaf Kimchi (MLK) is a traditional fermented Korean vegetable food. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of part vacuum treatment on MLK packed in a glass bottle during fermentation. There have been a few previous studies that examined the chemical and microbial changes during MLK fermentation. However, the major object of this study was to investigate the antioxidative activities of vacuum treated MLK. In this study, the antioxidative activity of vacuum treated mustard leaf Kimchi (VM) and control mustard leaf Kimchi (CM) were examined. VM and CM were fermented at $5^{\circ}C$ for 8 weeks. A model system was designed to evaluate the antioxidative activity of crude chlorophylls and carotenoids (CCC) extracts from Mustard leaf Kimchi. The oxidative reaction of the linoleic acid mixture system at $30^{\circ}C$ in the dark was quantified determining the peroxide value and conjugated dienoic acid content. The effect of the CCC extracts on lipid peroxidation in a rat liver homogenate was examined. Formation of lipid peroxides was estimated by the TBA value, and the CCC extracts were found to inhibit the TBA value. Chlorophyll a and b, and carotenoids, Which are the major components in the CCC extracts of Kimchi were isolated on a DEAE-sepharose CL-6B and Sepharose CL-6B column and TLC. The effects of chlorophyll a and b, caroteins on linoleic acid autoxidation were measured by determining the peroxide value. In addition, their effects on free radical scavenging were investigated by DPPH. In this assay, chlorophyll a showed the greatest antioxidative activity followed by chlorophyll b, and carotenoids. MLK contains a sufficient content of chlorophyll a and b, and carotenoid which have strong antioxidative activities.

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.08a
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• pp.83-90
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• 1999

Electron crystallography of two-dimensional crystalsand electron cryo-microscopy is becoming an established method for determining the structure and function of a variety of membrane proteins that are providing difficult to crystallize in three dimension. In this study this technique has been used to investigate the structure of a ~160 kDa reaction centre sub-core complex of photosystem II. Photosystem II is a photosynthetic membrane protein consisting of more than 25 subunits. It uses solar energy to split water releasing molecular oxygen into the atmosphere and creates electrochemical potential across the thylakoid membrane, which is eventually utilized to generate ATP and NADPH. Images were taken using Philips CM200 field emission gun electron microscope with an acceleration voltage of 200kW at liquid nitrogen temperature. In total, 79 images recorded dat tilt angles ranging from 0 to 67 degree yielded amplitudes and phases for a three-dimensional map with an in-plant resolution of 6$\AA$ and 11.4$\AA$ in the third dimension shows at least 23 transmembrane helices resolved in a monomeric complex, of which 18 were able to be assigned to the D1, D2, CP47 , and cytochrome b559 alfa beta-subunits with their associated pigments that ae active in electron transport (Rhee, 1998, Ph.D.thesis). The D1/D2 heterodimer is located in the central position within the complex and its helical scalffold is remarkably similar to that of the reaction centres not only in purple bacteria but also in plant photosystem I (PSI) , indicating a common evoluationary origin of all types of reaction centre in photosynthetic organism known today 9RHee et al. 1998). The structural homology is now extended to the inner antenna subunit, ascribed to CP47 in our map, where the 6 transmembrane helices show a striking structural similarity to the corresponding helices of the PSI reaction centre proteins. The overall arrangement of the chlorophylls in the D1 /D2 heterodimer, and in particular the distance between the central pair, is ocnsistent with the weak exciton coupling of P680 that distinguishes this reaction centre from bacterial counterpart. The map in most progress towards high resolution structure will be presented and discussed.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.141-151
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• 2021

Insects affect crop harvest yield and quality, making plant response mechanisms to insect herbivores a heavily studied topic. However, analysis of plant responses to honeybees is rare. In this study, comprehensive metabolic profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to honeybees was performed to investigate which metabolites were changed by the insect. A total of 85 metabolites-including chlorophylls, carotenoids, glucosinolates, policosanols, tocopherols, phytosterols, β-amyrin, amino acids, organic acids, sugars, and starch-were identified using high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The metabolite profiling analysis of Arabidopsis exposed to honeybees showed higher levels of stress-related metabolites. The levels of glucosinolates (glucoraphanin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin), policosanols (eicosanol, docosanol, tricosanol, tetracosanol), tocopherols (β-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol), putrescine, lysine, and sugars (arabinose, fructose, glucose, mannitol, mannose, raffinose) in Arabidopsis exposed to honeybees were higher than those in unexposed Arabidopsis. Glucosinolates act as defensive compounds against herbivores; policosanols are components of plant waxes; tocopherols act as an antioxidant; and putrescine, lysine, and sugars contribute to stress regulation. Our results suggest that Arabidopsis perceives honeybees as a stress and changes its metabolites to overcome the stress. This is the first step to determining how Arabidopsis reacts to exposure to honeybees.