• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.37-45
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• 2007

Phytoremediation has been used effectively for the biodegradation of oil-based contaminants, including diesel, by the stimulation of soil microbes near plant roots (rhizosphere). However, the technique has rarely been assessed for itsinfluence on soil microbial properties such as population, community structure, and diversity. In this study, the removal efficiency and characteristics of rhizobacteria for phytoremediation of diesel-contaminated soils were assessed using barnyard grass (Echinochloa crusgalli). The concentration of spiked diesel for treatments was around $6000\;mg\;kg^{-1}$. Diesel removal efficiencies reached 100% in rhizosphere soils, 76% in planted bulk soils, and 62% in unplanted bulk soils after 3weeks stabilization and 2 months growth(control, no microbial activity: 32%). The highest populations of culturable soil bacteria ($5.89{\times}10^8$ per g soil) and culturable hydrocarbon-degraders($5.65{\times}10^6$ per g soil) were found in diesel-contaminated rhizosphere soil, also yielding the highest microbial dehydrogenase. This suggests that the populations of soil bacteria, including hydrocarbon-degraders, were significantly increased by a synergistic rhizosphere + diesel effect. The diesel treatment alone resulted in negative population growth. In addition, we investigated the bacterial community structures of each soil sample based on DGGE (Denaturing Gel Gradient Electrophoresis) band patterns. Bacterial community structure was most influenced by the presence of diesel contamination (76.92% dissimilarity to the control) and by a diesel + rhizosphere treatment (65.62% dissimilarity), and least influenced by the rhizosphere treatment alone (48.15% dissimilarity). Based on the number of distinct DGGE bands, the bacterial diversity decreased with diesel treatment, but kept constant in the rhizosphere treatment. The rhizosphere thus positively influenced bacterial population density in diesel-contaminated soil, resulting in high removal efficiency of diesel.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.236-241
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• 2011

Soil microbial diversity was responsible for a strong effect on the chemical properties of orchard soils. This study evaluated a relationship between soil chemical properties and soil microbial diversities at 25 sites in orchard soils in Gyeongnam Province. The average nutrients in the orchard soils were 2.6 times for available phosphorous, 2.3 times for exchangeable potassium and 1.3 times for exchangeable calcium higher compared to recommend concentrations in the orchard soils. Contents of available phosphorous and organic matter in the inclined piedmont soils were higher than those in the other topographical soils (p<0.05). Populations of fungi and fluorescence Pseudomonas sp. in the silt loam soils were significantly higher than those in the sandy loam soils (p<0.05). In principal component analysis of chemical properties and microbial populations in the upland soils, our findings suggested that population of bacteria should be considered as potential factor responsible for the clear orchard soils differentiation. The soil organic matter was significantly negative correlation with population of bacteria whereas was positive correlation with population of fungi in orchard soils.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.305-317
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• 2024

To investigate the effect of changes in microbial communities on arsenic release in soil, experiments were conducted on arsenic-contaminated soils (F1, G7, and G10). The experiments involved three groups of the experimental sets; ① BAC: sterilized soil + Bacillus fungorum, ② IND: indigenous bacteria, and ③ MIX: indigenous bacteria + B. fungorum, and incubated them for seven weeks using lactate as a carbon source under anaerobic conditions. The experimental results showed that higher concentrations of arsenic were released from the IND and MIX soils, where indigenous bacterial communities existed, compared to BAC. Significantly higher levels of arsenic were released from the G10 soil, which showed higher pH, compared to the F1 and G7 soils. In the G10 soil, unlike other soils, the proportion of As(III) among the released arsenic was also low. These results may be attributed to differences in microbial community composition that vary depending on the soil. By the seventh week, the diversity of microbial species in the IND and MIX soils had significantly decreased, with dominant orders such as Eubacteriales and Bacillales thriving. Bacteroidales in the seventh week of the MIX in the F1 soil, Rummeliibacillus in the seventh week of the IND and MIX of the G7 soil, and Enterobacterales in the IND and MIX of the G10 soil were dominant. At present, it is not known which mechanisms of microbial community changes affect the geochemical behavior of arsenic; however, these results indicate that microbiome in the soil may function as one of the factors regulating arsenic release.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2001

This study was carried out to examine the recovery of forest ecosystem by changes of soil chemical properties and soil microorganism at the burned areas of coniferous (Mt. Chocdae) and broad leaved forest (Samsinbong in Mt. Chiri). In the soil chemical properties of the burned area of Samsinbong, pH was 5.8, and contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, available P₂O/sub 5/, exchangeable K/sup ＋/, exchangeable Ca/sup ＋＋/ and exchangeable Mg/sup ＋＋/ were 7.42%, 0.73%, 28.5 ㎎/㎏, 1.3 me/100g, 13.3 me/100g and 2.2 me/100g, respectively. But they showed a tendency to decrease with time. In the soil chemical properties of the burned area of Mt. Chocdae, pH was 5.3, and contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, available P2O5, exchangeable K/sup ＋/, exchangeabe Ca/sup ＋＋/ and Exchangeable Mg/sup ＋＋/ were 6.42%, 0.25%, 24.4 ㎎/㎏, 0.7 me/100g, 3.7 me/100g and 2.1 me/100g, respectively, and they also showed a tendency to decrease with time. In contrast, they were not changed with time at the unburned areas. At the burned area of Samsinbong, soil microorganism showed to order of fungi (69×10⁴ CFU), actinomycetes (523×10⁴ CFU) and aerobic bacteria (291×10⁴ CFU), and at the unburned area, showed to order of actinomycetes (745×10⁴ CFU), fungi (594×10⁴ CFUU), and aerobic bacteria (160×10/sup 4/ CFU). At the burned area of Mt. Chocdae, soil microorganism showed to order of fungi (676×10⁴ CFU), actinomycetes (434×10⁴ CFU) and aerobic bacteria (350×10⁴ CFU), and at the unburned area, showed to order of fungi (461 ×10⁴ CFU), aerobic bacteria (328×10⁴ CFU) and actinomycetes (319×10⁴ CFU). Soil microorganisms of the aerobic bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi appeared at the burned areas were much more abundant than unburned areas. The aerobic bacteria appeared at the coniferous forest were also much more than the broad-leaved forest. The actinomycetes and fungi appeared at the broad-leaved forest were much more abundant than the coniferous forest.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.205-206
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• 2005

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.10 no.1_2
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• pp.21-30
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• 1967

The aim of present study is to elucidate the relationship between decay rate of soil organic matter, and the change of soil microbial population under the oak and pine forest soils in Kwang-nung plantation stand. The results obtained are as follows: 1) The correlation coefficient between decay rate and the soil bacteria is 0.84 and fungi 0.93. 2) The distribution of soil microbial population is higher in both F horizon of the oak forest soil, and F and H horizon of the pine forest soil. However, the number of soil microorganisms decreases with the depth in each forest soil. 3) The population of soil microbes is related to moisture content, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable calcium, except organic carbon in fungi. 4) The soil organic matter has been mainly decomposed by fungi, and the size of its population are governed by the factors such as moisture content, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable calcium.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.64-71
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• 2007

The necessity of disinfecting playground soil is an important issue, because pathogenic protozoa, bacteria, and parasite eggs remain viable for several months and can infect children. UV irradiation has been used to decontaminate water but its effectiveness on soil is unclear. We determined the efficacy of UV radiation for inactivation of an indicator bacteria, E. coli (strain ATCC 8739), on playground soil. While 99% inactivation of E. coli in the soil was readily achieved by UV radiation within 55 min at $0.4\;mW\;cm^{-2}$, complete inactivation was not achieved, even after prolonged treatment at $4\;mW\;cm^{-2}$. This was attributed to the irregular surface of the soil. A small number of E. coli escaped the UV radiation because they were situated in indentations or under small particles on the soil surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed that the surface characteristics of the soil is the major limiting factor in the inactivation of E. coli by UV radiation. Thus UV treatment may not be adequate for disinfecting some soils and should be carefully evaluated before being used on playground soils.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.101-105
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• 2009

The biocontrol agent Serratia plymuthica A21-4 was selected and proved as an excellent inhibitor of Phytophthora blight of pepper through in vitro and in vivo experiments in previous studies. To enhance the colonizing density of S. plymuthica A21-4 on plant root and rhizosphere soil, some soil conditions might effect on the colonization of the bacteria were examined. The results obtained from the study indicated that the soils containing more sand were favorable to root colonization of S. plymuthica A21-4. Organic amendment such as 3% maize straw(w/w) was helpful to colonize the bacteria in root and soil. The soil temperature about $20^{\circ}C$, water content around 40%, and soil pH near to neutral or slightly acidic, were optimum condition for the colonization of S. plymuthica A21-4 in the rhizosphere soil and roots of pepper. In addition, existence of indigenous biotic entities was beneficial to the colonization of S. plymuthica A21-4.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.113-121
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• 2015

The contaminated soil at abandoned smelter areas present challenge for remediation, as the degraded materials are typically deficient in nutrients, and rich in toxic heavy metals and metalloids. Bioremediation technique is to isolate new strains of microorganisms and develop successful protocols for reducing metal toxicity with heavy metal tolerant species. The present study collected metal contaminated soil and characterized for pH and EC values, and heavy metal contents. The pH value was 5.80, representing slightly acidic soil, and EC value was 13.47 mS/m. ICP-AES analytical results showed that the collected soil samples were highly contaminated with various heavy metals and metalloids such as lead (183.0 mg/kg), copper (98.6 mg/kg), zinc (91.6 mg/kg), and arsenic (48.1 mg/kg), respectively. In this study, a bacterial strain, Bacillus cereus KM-15, capable of adsorbing the heavy metals was isolated from the contaminated soils by selective enrichment and characterized to apply for the bioremediation. The effects of heavy metal on the growth of the Bacillus cereus KM-15 was determined in liquid cultures. The results showed that 100 mg/L arsenic, lead, and zinc did not affect the growth of KM-15, while the bacterial growth was strongly inhibited by copper at the same concentration. Further, the ability of the bacteria to adsorb heavy metals was evaluated.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.204-210
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• 1998

The experiment was conducted to obtain the basic data required to characterize and improve rhizosphere environment of salt-accumulated greenhouse(SAG) soils by comparing the soil properties and the microbial flora of such soils to those of unprotected arable upland(UAU) soils. Soils were sampled from greenhouses and unprotected upland fields around the country. Microbial propulation, biomass C content and soil chemical properties were of interest. Population density of fluorescent Pseudomonas was high in UAU soils, while those of pathogenic Fusarium sp. and fluorescent Pseudomonas were low in SAG soils. With increasing soil organic matter(OM) content, the population densities of Bacillus sp., fluorescent Pseudomonas sp., Enterobacteriaceae, and microbial biomass C content increased. As soil electrical conductivity(EC) increased higher than $5.1dS\;m^{-1}$, the ratios of bacteria to fungi(B/F) and actinomycetes to fungi(A/F) and the population density of fluorescent Pseudomonas decreased remarkably. The soil pH was positively related to the population density of aerobic bacteria, while it was negatively related to that of fungi. The soil OM content was significantly correlated to the population densities of actinomycetes($r=0.226^*$). Bacillus sp.($r=0.334^{**}$), Enterobacteriaceae($r=0.276^*$), and the microbial biomass C content($R=0.439^{**}$). The population density of actinomycetes was also significantly correlated with soil exchangeable Ca($r=0.334^{**}$) and Mg($r=0.352^{**}$).