• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.1582-1588
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• 2011

Caposiphon fulvescens was dried by the hot-air (50$^{\circ}C$), vacuum (50$^{\circ}C$), and freeze drying methods. The green alga contained high proportions of carbohydrates (38.10~41.54%), ash (31.86~33.28%), and crude proteins (17.46~23.03%) regardless of the drying methods used to prepare the sample. The total sugar contents of the hot-air and vacuum dried samples were higher than that of the freeze dried sample (p<0.05). Vitamin C content of the freeze dried sample was higher than that of either the hot-air or vacuum dried samples (p<0.05). The major amino acids were glutamic acid, proline, and aspartic acid, which amounted to 33.34~34.80% of the total amino acid content depending on the drying methods used. Total mineral content of either the hot-air or vacuum dried samples was significantly higher than that of the freeze dried sample (p<0.05). Regardless of the drying methods, Na, K, Mg, Ca, and P were the most abundant elements in the samples while trace elements were identified as Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2012

Recently, energy security is one of the most important world-wide issues. Biodiesel derived from microalgae has received much attention as a renewable bioenergy. The green colonial alga, $Botryococcus$ $braunii$, is characterized by the ability to produce and accumulate large amounts of hydrocarbons and fatty acids. In this study, we have isolated 5 strains of $B.$ $braunii$ from Korean surface waters using a microcapillary-pipetting method and identified them by morphological features and phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that 5 strains of $B.$ $braunii$ are placed in the class of Trebouxiophyceae, and strains belong to race A type producing hydrocarbons which are alkadienes and alkatrienes. In addition, we need further studies to find out optimal growth conditions for producing biodiesel.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.400-407
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• 2016

A unicellular green alga, Chlorella vulgaris KNUA027, was isolated from the roots of Panax ginseng seedlings and its biotechnological potential was investigated. The results of GC/MS analysis showed that C. vulgaris KNUA027 was rich in nutritionally important polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as alpha-linolenic acid (C_18:3 ω3, 45.8%, 50.8 mg/g) and hexadecatrienoic acid (C_16:3 ω3, 11.8%, 13.1 mg/g). Therefore, this Korean indigenous microalga may have potential as a source of omega-3 PUFAs. It was also found that the saturated palmitic acid (C_16:0, 37.1%, 41.2 mg/g), which is suitable for biodiesel production, was one of the major fatty acids produced by strain KNUA027. The proximate analysis showed that the volatile matter content was 88.5%, and the ultimate analysis indicated that the higher heating value was 19.8 MJ/kg. Therefore, the results from this research with C. vulgaris KNUA027 may provide the basis for the production of microalgae-based biofuels and biomass feedstock.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.409-416
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• 1998

Owing to their high growth rate, marine microalgae such as Chlorella, Spirulina, Porphpidium and Dunaliella have been believed to be potentially useful for the production of foods, drugs and energy from light, $CO_2$ and minerals. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the growth and fatty acid composition in the blue green alga Spirulina platensis when the temperature and light intensity of culture conditions were changed. The optimal growth conditions for Spirulina platensis from the biomass and lipid contents were $30^{\circ}C$ on 6391 $\mu$E/$m^3$/sec and $35^{\circ}C$ on 4235 $\mu$E/$m^3$/sec. The difference of lipid contents between exponential phase and stationary phase were very large according to growth conditions. According to growth conditions the fatty acid compositions of Spirulina platensis differed, but regardless of growth conditions the main fatty acids were C16 : 0 and C20 : 0 in saturated fatty acid, C16 : 1, C18 : 1 and C 18 : 2 in unsaturated fatty acid.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2016

Just like UV radiation, heat increases collagen degradation and accumulation of abnormal elastin fiber and this is termed thermal skin aging. Dunaliella salina (DS), a green alga, is known for its beta-carotene accumulation, having various applications in the health and nutritional products. However, the effects of DS on heat-induced skin aging remain unexplored. In this study, we performed anti-thermal aging tests of the ethanol extract of DS (DSE). We measured the cellular levels of type I procollagen and MMP-1 using ELISA in human dermal fibroblast cells after heat shock. DSE reduced the expression of MMP-1 protein and increased the expression of type I procollagen. In addition, DSE upregulated the mRNA expression of HSP47 reduced by heat shock, which is involved in collagen synthesis. Also, DSE reduced the expression of inflammation mediator (TGF-${\beta}$, IL-12, etc). We demonstrate that DSE regulates the heat-induced solar elastosis through the regulation of tropoelastin and fibrillin-1, two major proteins of elastic fibers, and MMP-12 expression. These results suggest that DSE may be effective for preventing thermally induced skin aging.

• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2015

The growth and hole formation of Ulva australis were examined at seven coastal areas of Korea between July and August, 2013. Animal species and weight growing on the Ulva fronds were estimated at Haseom, Pohang, and Woedo. The effects of wave exposure on the morphological features and residential animals of Ulva fronds were investigated at wave-exposed and sheltered sites of Seongsan on October 19, 2013. U. australis had different frond areas ($82-665cm^2$), hole areas ($2.5-6.3cm^2$), and hole numbers (9.8-41.3 holes) at the seven sites. Within $0.1m^2$ of Ulva frond, hole areas ranged from 0.37 to $5.94cm^2$, and between 4.9 and 36.2 holes were observed. Fourteen residential animal species were observed at the three evaluated sites, 75.0 (Haseom) to 408.7 individuals $100g^{-1}$ Ulva (Pohang) per site. The dominant residential species at each site differed with Amphithoe sp. at Haseom, Monodonta spp. at Pohang, and Pagurus sp. at Woedo. The growth (frond area, wet weight) and hole number of Ulva fronds, and the number of residential animals were significantly greater in samples collected from the sheltered shore than the wave-exposed shore of Seongsan. The present results showed U. australis grew well at sheltered shores and had more holes on the fronds due to abundance of residential animals. The dominant residential animals (crabs, gammaridea, and snails) were similar in the Ulva populations of sheltered and wave-exposed shores, but greater species diversity was observed at the exposed shore (18 species ver. 11 species). In conclusion, U. australis is a keystone species providing habitat to various invertebrates and frond holes are positively correlated to the number of residential animals.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.372-378
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• 2013

An alginate-degrading bacterium, identified as Shewanella oneidensis PKA 1008 by 16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis, was isolated from the green alga Ulva pertusa. Optimal conditions for the alginate-degrading ability of its crude enzyme were then determined. The optimal culture conditions for the growth of S. oneidensis PKA 1008 were pH 9, 2% NaCl, $30^{\circ}C$, and 24 hours incubation time. The crude enzyme produced by S. oneidensis PKA 1008 showed the highest alginate-degrading activity at pH 9, $30^{\circ}C$ and produced 1.001 g of reducing sugar per liter in 3.5% (w/v) sodium alginate for 1 hour.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2001

The biological carbon dioxide fixation using microalgae and photo-bioreactor has been known as an effective carbon dioxide reduction technology. As algae has many other environmental factor for its growth, the desirable cultivation factors were investigated using a green alga, Euglena gracilis Z. In this study, Euglena gracilis Z showed good $CO_2$ fixation ability in high $CO_2$ concentration of 10-20% and it contained the high protein and vitamin E enough to be used as fodder. For the mass cultivation, the continuous and semi-continuous cultivation methods were employed. The optimum hydraulic retention time (HRT) for the continuous cultivation was 4 days at carbon dioxide concentration of 10%. In this condition, the final cell number was $3.57{\times}10^6/m{\ell}$. The growth of Euglena gracilis Z increased according to the light intensity.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.219-228
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• 2015

Excessive microglial activation and subsequent neuroinflammation lead to synaptic loss and dysfunction as well as neuronal cell death, which are involved in the pathogenesis and progression of several neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, the regulation of microglial activation has been evaluated as effective therapeutic strategies. Although dieckol (DEK), one of the phlorotannins isolated from marine brown alga Ecklonia cava, has been previously reported to inhibit microglial activation, the molecular mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, we investigated here molecular mechanism of DEK via extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), Akt and nicotinamide adenine dinuclelotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase-mediated pathways. In addition, the neuroprotective mechanism of DEK was investigated in microglia-mediated neurotoxicity models such as neuron-microglia co-culture and microglial conditioned media system. Our results demonstrated that treatment of anti-oxidant DEK potently suppressed phosphorylation of ERK in lipopolysaccharide (LPS, $1{\mu}g/ml$)-stimulated BV-2 microglia. In addition, DEK markedly attenuated Akt phosphorylation and increased expression of $gp91^{phox}$, which is the catalytic component of NADPH oxidase complex responsible for microglial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Finally, DEK significantly attenuated neuronal cell death that is induced by treatment of microglial conditioned media containing neurotoxic secretary molecules. These neuroprotective effects of DEK were also confirmed in a neuron-microglia co-culture system using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-transfected B35 neuroblastoma cell line. Taken together, these results suggest that DEK suppresses excessive microglial activation and microglia-mediated neuronal cell death via downregulation of ERK, Akt and NADPH oxidase-mediated pathways.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2016

It is important to design photobioreactor by cheap material for economical microalgal biomass production. In this study, two types of marine photobioreactors (MPBR), made by either polyvinyl chloride (MPBR-PVC) or high density poly ethylene (MPBR-HDPE), are used and performance of these were compared. Tetraselmis sp. KCTC 12236BP is a green marine alga that isolated from Ganghwa Island, Korea, and the strain was used for marine cultivations using MPBR-PVC and MPBR-HDPE. The cultivations were performed three times in the spring season of 2012 using MPBR-PVC and of 2013 using MPBR-HDPE in the coastal area of Young Heung Island. As the results, MPBR-PVC shows higher biomass productivities than MPBR-HDPE, due to its high light transmittance. In the cultivations using MPBR-PVC, the average sea water temperature was $11.5^{\circ}C$ during the first experiment and $16.5^{\circ}C$ during the second and third experiments. Average light intensities during three times for experiments were 407.5, 268.1 and $273.0{\mu}{\cdot}E{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, respectively. The maximum fresh cell weight and average biomass productivity were $1.2g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ and $0.12g{\cdot}L^{-1}{\cdot}day^{-1}$. These results showed that Tetraselmis sp. KCTC12236BP were adapted well with the environmental conditions from ocean, and grow in the MPBR-PVC and MPBR-HDPE.