• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.344-354
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• 2020

Identification of the target species of 2-MIB (2-methyllisoborneol) production is crucial in the management of off-flavor problem in the freshwater system. This study was conducted to identify 2-MIB-producing Pseudanabaena strains occurring in the North Han River system using molecular genetic method. Eleven phenotypes of Pseudanabaena were isolated from several mainstream sites of the North Han River, including Sambong-ri, Joam-myun, and Lake Uiam areas. Despite of morphological similarity of the strains, the phylogenetic analysis using 16S rDNA classified them into different species with low genetic similarity (40~55%). Isolated Pseudanabaena strains were converged to four species; Pseudanabaena cinerea, P. yagii, P. mucicola, and P. redekei. Among them, the 2-MIB synthesizing gene (mibC) was detected in P. cinerea, P. yagii, and P. redekei. However, actual 2-MIB production was detected only in P. cinerea and P. redekei based on gas chromatography analysis. This study is the first report of the molecular identification of Pseudanabaena strains and their 2-MIB production potential in Korea. The results of this study provides an evidence of species diversity of Pseudanabaena occurring in the North Han River.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.315-326
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• 2021

The clear-water phase (CWP) is a notable limnological phenomenon in freshwater systems caused by predatory interactions between large filter-feeding zooplankton and phytoplankton. However, the mechanisms and factors that influence the extent of CWP, particularly in complex water systems with both fluvial and lacustrine characteristics, remain poorly understood. The present study evaluated CWP occurrence patterns at different sites in a large reservoir located in a temperate monsoon region (Lake Paldang, Korea); the relationships among factors associated with CWP occurrence, such as transparency, zooplankton diversity, and chlorophyll a concentration were investigated. Transparency exhibited significant correlations with precipitation and retention time, as well as the relative abundance of zooplankton (p<0.01), suggesting that a change in the retention time due to precipitation can alter CWP. Data collected before and after CWP occurrence were analyzed using paired t-test to determine variations in CWP occurrence based on the water system characteristics. The results demonstrated that various factors were associated with CWP occurrence in the fluvial-type and lacustrine-type sites. The correlation between zooplankton biomass and transparency was stronger in the lacustrine-type sites than in the fluvial-type sites. The lacustrine-type sites, where cladoceran emergence is common and is associated with long retention times, favored CWP occurrence. The results suggest that lacustrine-type sites, which are conducive to zooplankton development and have relatively long retention times, enhance CWP occurrence. Furthermore, CWP occurrence was notable in spring, and the present study revealed that site-specific CWP could occur throughout the year, regardless of the season.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

Targeting Microcystin (MC), which is most abundantly detected in the North-Han River water area, we analyzed the relationship between the MC biosynthesis gene (mcyA gene), cyanobacteria cell density, and MC concentration, derived an RNA-MC conversion formula, and derived the cyanobacteria. The concentration of MC present in cells was predicted. In the North-Han River waters, the mcyA gene was found mainly at downstream sites of the North-Han River after Muk-Hyeon Stream junction, and higher copy numbers were found on average than other sites. In the Uiam Lake waters upstream of the North-Han River, the mcyA gene copy number increased at the Kong-Ji Stream point, and after September, the mcyA gene copy number decreased throughout the North-Han River waters. The expression of the mcyA gene was concentrated in the short period of summer due to the spatio-temporal difference between upstream and downstream water bodies. The mcyA gene expression level was not only highly correlated with MC concentration, but also correlated with the cell density of Microcystis aeruginosa and Dolichospermum circinale, which are known to biosynthesize MC. Six conversion formulas derived based on the RNA-MC relationship showed statistical significance (p<0.05) and exhibited high correlation coefficients (r) of 0.9 or higher. The expression level of MC biosynthesis gene present in eRNA determines the synthesis of cyanotoxin substances in water, quickly quantifies gene activity, and can be fully utilized for early warning of MC development.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 2023

The medium-large cladoceran species Simocephalus spp. predominantly occur in habitats with developed aquatic vegetation. Accordingly, due to Simocephalus' high contribution to zooplankton community biomass in the lake's littoral zone and wetland habitats, estimating their biomass is important to understand the matter cycling based on biological interactions within the aquatic food web. In this study, we reviewed the length-weight regression equations used previously to estimate Simocephalus biomass, directly measured S. serrulatus' body specification (length, width and area) and their biomass(dry weight) using instruments such as a microscopic digital camera and a microscale, and performed regression analysis between each other. When S. serrulatus biomass was estimated using the equation (Kawabata and Urabe, 1998) presented in 『Biomonitoring Survey and Assessment Manual』, Korea, errors between estimates and measures were relatively large compared to the S. serrulatus species-specific biomass estimate equation developed by Lemke and Benke (2003). In addition, both equations showed not only increasing trends in error (estimate-measure) with increasing S. serrulatus' body length, but also in error variance among similar-sized individuals. The results of regression analysis with dry weight by body specifications indicated that the most appropriate equation for estimating the biomass of S. serrulatus was derived from the width-dry weight exponential regression equation (R²=0.9555). The review and development study of such species-specific biomass estimation equations for zooplankton can be used as a tool to understand their role and function in aquatic ecosystem food webs.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.444-452
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• 2012

We conducted a comprehensive monitoring for freshwater food web in a wetland system (Jangcheok Lake), from May to October, 2011. Monthly sampling for zooplankton, fish as well as organic matters, was implemented. In order to understand the food web structure and energy flow, we applied stable isotope analysis to the collected samples, based on ${\delta}^{13}C$ and ${\delta}^{15}N$ values of epiphytic particulate organic matter(EPOM) and particulate organic matter (POM), epiphytic and planktonic zooplankton, fish (Lepomis macrochirus). In the study site, epiphytic and planktonic zooplankton was 24 and 30 species, respectively, and coincidence species between epiphytic and planktonic zooplankton were 20 species. Epiphytic zooplankton were more abundant during the spring and early summer (May to July); however, planktonic zooplankton were more abundant during the autumn (September to October) season. Stable isotope analysis revealed that fish and epiphytic zooplankton had seasonal variations on their food sources. EPOM largely contributed epiphytic zooplankton in spring (May), but increasing contribution of POM in autumn (September) was detected. However, planktonic zooplankton depended on only POM in both seasons. Fish utilized both epiphytic and planktonic zooplankton, but small sized (1~3 cm), fish preferred epiphytic zooplankton, where as larger sized (4~7 cm) fish tended to consume planktonic zooplankton, and epiphytic zooplankton had important role in energy transfer. This pattern was clear when results of spring and autumn stable isotope analysis were compared. From the results of this study, we confirmed that wetlands ecosystem supported various epiphytic and planktonic zooplankton species, they depend on other food items, respectively. L. macrochirus also showed a difference of food source according to the body size, they depend on seasonal density change of zooplankton. In particular, epiphytic zooplankton was very important for growth and development of young fish in the spring.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2015

Single - and combined effects of a domestic freshwater bivalve Unio douglasiae (7.6~8.6 cm in shell length) and zooplankton Daphnia magna (1~2 mm in body size) were examined to understand whether they inhibit the growth of harmful cyanobacterial bloom (i.e. Microcystis aeruginosa) in a eutrophic lake. The experiments were triplicated with twelve glass aquaria (40 L in volume); three aquaria without mussel and zooplankton, served as a control, three zooplankton aquaria (Z, density=40 indiv. $L^{-1}$), three mussel aquaria (M, density=0.5 indiv. $L^{-1}$), and three mussel plus zooplankton aquarium (ZM, density=40 indiv.Z $L^{-1}$ plus 0.5 indiv.M/L), respectively. Algal growth inhibition (%) calculated as a difference in the concentration of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) before and after treatment. Chl-a in all aquaria decreased with the time, while a greatest algal inhibition was seen in the ZM aquaria. After 24 hrs of incubation, Chl-a concentration at the mid-depth (ca. 15 cm) in ZM aquaria reduced by 90.8% of the control, while 63.2% and 79.8% in Z and M aquaria, respectively. Interestingly, during the same period, the surface Chl-a was diminished by 51.9% and 65.4% relative to the control in Z and ZM aquaria, while 27.4% of initial concentration decreased in M aquarium, respectively. These results suggest that 1) this domestic freshwater filter-feeding bivalve plays a significant role in the control of cyanobacterial bloom (M. aeruginosa), and 2) the combination with zooplankton and mussel has a synergistic effect to diminish them, compared to the single treatment of zooplankton and mussel.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.402-411
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• 2008

Grazing effects of two freshwater shellfish, Unio douglasiae (UNIO) and Cipangoplaudina chinese malleata (CCM), on the hibernal diatom communities in eutrophic water was examined in a laboratory. Two animals having different feeding types used in the study were collected from Keum River (Boryeong, Korea), acclimatized in the artificial management system in a laboratory over at least one month, and starved in a laboratory for 2 days before the experiment. Experimental waters, which dominated by Synedra ulna-Scenedesmus sp. (ca. 80%), was collected from eutrophic lake, Lake Ilgam (Seoul) in Feb., 19, 2008 at AM 10:00, and used in the study after the filtration with 1 mm Nylon mesh. Feeding experiments were largely divided into three kinds of animal treatments; five densities of UNIO (U0, U1, U2, U3, U4) and CCM (C0, C1, C2, C3, C4), and four combined densities of two shellfish (M0, M1, M2, M3). U0 and C0 were control (no addition of UNIO or CCM), U1 or C1 (each animal density at 0.5 ind. $L^{-1}$), U2 or C2 (1.0 ind. $L^{-1}$), U3 or C3 (1.5 ind. $L^{-1}$), and U4 or C4 (2.0 ind. $L^{-1}$), respectively. Four combined treatments were consisted of M0 (no animals), M1 (U1+C3), M2 (U2+C2), and M3 (U4+C1), respectively. Under the presence of animal, the concentration of Chl-a and algal abundance were clearly decreased with the increase of UNIO density and the treated time, while in combined group a strong decrease of algal density showed with the increase of UNIO density. Total phytoplankton density shifted as the similar patterns to that of Chl-a concentration (r=0.6527, p<0.0001), however, there showed the differences following a species. There were strong decreases of dominant species Synedra ulna, Scenedesmus sp., Ankistrodesmus falcatus in UNIO treatment group, Diatoma vulgare in combined group, while Cryptomonas ovata in high density of CCM increased about 20% in algal density. Grazing rates (GRs) based on the concentration of Chl-a was depend on the kind of shellfish and treatment time; a strong feeding of CCM showed in the initial stage, and four hours later, UNIO and combined group with high UNIO density showed the high GRs. Interestingly, faeces production of shellfish was highest in combined group with high density of CCM, while their size over 60 ${\mu}m$ was much higher in production magnitude than that less 60 ${\mu}m$. Collectively, these results suggest that two domestic shellfish and its combined treatment have a strong potential as an effective biological controller of diatom bloom in cold eutrophic waters.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.131-145
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• 2014

The new passive sampler called "artificial mussel (AM)" offers a potential device to study the spatiotemporal changes of metal concentrations in different marine environment worldwide. The purpose of this study is to characterize metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb) accumulation on the AM and transplanted mussel (Mytilus edulis) at 5 sites of Lake Shihwa. Both the AMs and mussels showed increasing concentrations of all five metals during the 12 weeks exposure period. Higher concentrations of Zn were showed in both the AMs and Mytilus edulis relative to other metals. The AMs accumulated higher concentrations of Cd, Cr and Zn, but they presented lower levels of Cu and Pb than Mytilus edulis. The correlations for Cd, Cu and Pb were statistically significant between the AMs and Mytilus edulis, indicating that the accumulation patterns for those metals were similar. However, no similarities for Cr and Zn were observed between two monitoring devices across all of the sites in Shihwa Lake. According to relationship for metal concentrations between dissolve phase in seawater and both the AMs and Mytilus edulis, the AMs for Cd, Cu and Zn represent more metal contamination than Mytilus edulis. Our results indicated that the AMs give a better resolution to reveal the spatial differences in dissolved metal concentration. This study suggests that the AMs can provide a time-integrated estimate of metal pollution in marine environments as well as freshwater environments of Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.460-467
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• 2016

A filamentous cyanobacterium, Limnothrix sp. KNUA012, was axenically isolated from a freshwater bloom sample in Lake Hapcheon, Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. Its morphological and molecular characteristics led to identification of the isolate as a member of the genus Limnothrix. Maximal growth was attained when the culture was incubated at 25℃. Analysis of its lipid composition revealed that strain KNUA012 could autotrophically synthesize alkanes, such as pentadecane (C₁₅H₃₂) and heptadecane (C₁₇H₃₆), which can be directly used as fuel without requiring a transesterification step. Two genes involved in alkane biosynthesis－an acyl-acyl carrier protein reductase and an aldehyde decarbonylase－were present in this cyanobacterium. Some common algal biodiesel constituents－myristoleic acid (C_14:1), palmitic acid (C_16:0), and palmitoleic acid (C_16:1)－were produced by strain KNUA012 as its major fatty acids. A proximate analysis showed that the volatile matter content was 86.0% and an ultimate analysis indicated that the higher heating value was 19.8 MJ kg⁻¹. The isolate also autotrophically produced 21.4 mg g⁻¹ phycocyanin－a high-value antioxidant compound. Therefore, Limnothrix sp. KNUA012 appears to show promise for application in cost-effective production of microalga-based biofuels and biomass feedstock over crop plants.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.116-186
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• 1983

An epidemiological study on Clonorchis sinensis infection along the Nam-river (total length ; 186km) flowing in Gyeongsang-nam-do, southern part of Korea, was carried out. Formalin-ether concentration technique and Stoll's egg counting method were employed to figure out the prevalence of C. sinensis infection. For the detection of cercariae from Parafossarulus sp., the snail host of C. sinensis, each snail was placed in aerated tap water, and examined for expelled cercariae. For observing the metacercariae the fresh water fish favorably eaten in raw conditions wore prepared by means of pressing the muscles between two slide glasses and/or by digesting them with artificial gastric juice. The fresh water fish were fed to the rabbits to get the worms and to identify the morphology of adult C. sinensis. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Overall Prevalence of C. sinensis infection was 38.75 from 5,291 examinees; 44.15 (1,408 out of 3,196) in male and 30.4% (637 out of 2,095) in female. 2. The prevalence rates were 42.0% at the upper stream, 41.2% around the vicinity of Jinyanglake, 34.2% at Jinju city, 34.2% at middle stream and 40.3% at down stream regions, respectively. 3. By age, the highest positive rate (53.4∼54.3%) was observed in 30 to 59 years of age. In this age group, the rate in males was 59.7∼62.2%, and in females 42.2∼44.4%, In the age group of less than 19 years it was 7.5∼20.9%. 4. By social strata, the positive rate was 16.5% in the primary school children, 22.6% in school students, 46.2% in teachers and local officers and 49.6% in the general inhabitants. 5. The quantitative examinations with the stool collected from clonorchiasis cases revealed that the light infection (less than 4,000/EPG) was 53.6%, moderate infection (4,001∼10,000 /EPG) 30.3% and heavy infection (more than 10,001/EPG) 16.1%, respectively. More than half of total cases examined were light infection, and 73.2% of female examinees were lightly infected with this cuke. 6. The average value of EPG was 4,963 (male, 6,057; female, 2,557 and the highest value was obtained from the age group of 30 to 59 years (5,240∼6,454). 7. The prevalence of Metagonimus yokogawai infection in humans was 5.5%, and 89.8% of metagonimiasis cases wore double-infected arith C. sinensis. The highest prevalence rate was observed in Jinju city (11.2%). 8. Total of 5,005 Parafossarulus sp., the snail intermediate host of C. sinensis, were examined for the detection of cercariae. The cercarial expulsion rate was 0.34%, and the snails collected in Jin-yang-lake side and in the down stream expelled mainly the cercariae of C, sinensis. 9. About 788 cercariaejday (range: 127∼1,503) were expelled daily from a snail naturally infected with C. sinensis. The snails which released more than 1,000 cercariae/day were 30.8% out of total collected. A snail uniquely released 5,840 cercariae/day in this study. 10. The other trematode cercariae besides C. sinensis were also detected, and the rates out of total snails were the cercariae of Losogenes liberum 6.71%, Cyathocotyle orientalis 0.26%, Notocotylus attenuatus 2.52% and Mucobucaris 0.54%, 11. Ten out of 18 species of fresh water fish caught along the river harbored the metacercariae of C, sinensis. The highest rate of metacercarial infection in fish was detected in Pseudorasbora larva (85.9%). The fish mainly eaten by the inhabitants along the Nam-river, and the metacercarial infection rates were: Zacco platypus 8.0%, Hemibarbus sp. 18.2∼26.7%, Gnathepcgcn sp. 37.5%, Ischikauia steenackeri 42.9% and Pseudogobio esocinus 16.7%. 12. Out of 36 P. larva, the number of metacercariae were about 109 (ranEe; 18∼446) per fish and 27 per gram of flesh. The fish caught in spring harbored the highest number of metacercariae. As indicated above, the prevalence of C. sinensis infection in the inhabitants residing around the Nam-river was relatively high. The farther toward the upper stream areas, the higher was the positive rate of C. sinensis infection, and most of clonorchiasis cases were lightly infected. The snail hosts of C. sinensis distributed all around the Nam-river. Several species of freshwater fish were infected with the metacercariae of C. sinensis and the infection rates were relatively high. To prevent C. sinensis infection in the endemic areas, the effective health education system is suggested as a control measure, although mass treatment is also expected to be useful, using chemotherapeutic agents such as "praziquantel", a recently developed anthelminthic for C. sinensis inftraction.