• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.319-326
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• 2010

An interest in the production of seed-oil based fuel and raw materials, which comes from renewable plant sources, has been intrigued by the phenomenon of global warming and shortage of fossil fuels. Rapeseed (Brassica napus) is the most important oilseed crop, which produces seeds with 40% oil. It is desirable to develop genetically modified rapeseed producing oils, which can be easily converted to biodiesel. As an initial step for development of genetically modified rapeseed for the production of biofuels or bio-based materials, Korean rapeseed cultivars, Naehan, Youngsan, Tammi and Halla, were analyzed. Four Korean rapeseed cultivars produce 32 to 40% oil of seed dry weight, which is rich in oleic acid (more than 60 mole%). The cotyledonary petioles of rapeseed cultivar, Halla, were transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3101, carrying the uidA gene encoding $\beta$-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter gene and the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) gene as a selectable marker. The stable integration of PAT gene in the genome of transgenic rapeseeds was confirmed by PCR analysis. Expression of uidA gene in various rapeseed organs was determined by fluorometric assay and histochemical staining. Transformation efficiency of a Korean rapeseed Halla cultivar was 10.4%. Genetic inheritance of transgenes was confirmed in $T_2$ generation.

• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2015

Microalgae research is gaining momentum because of their potential biotechnological applications, including the generation of biofuels. Genome sequencing analysis of two model microalgal species, polar free-living Coccomyxa sp. C-169 and symbiotic Chlorella sp. NC64A, revealed insights into the factors responsible for their lifestyle and unravelled biotechnologically valuable proteins. However, genome sequence analysis under-explored cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s), heme-thiolate proteins ubiquitously present in species belonging to different biological kingdoms. In this study we performed genome data-mining, annotation and comparative analysis of P450s in these two model algal species. Sixty-nine P450s were found in two algal species. Coccomyxa sp. showed 40 P450s and Chlorella sp. showed 29 P450s in their genome. Sixty-eight P450s (>100 amino acid in length) were grouped into 32 P450 families and 46 P450 subfamilies. Among the P450 families, 27 P450 families were novel and not found in other biological kingdoms. The new P450 families are CYP745-CYP747, CYP845-CYP863, and CYP904-CYP908. Five P450 families, CYP51, CYP97, CYP710, CYP745, and CYP746, were commonly found between two algal species and 16 and 11 P450 families were unique to Coccomyxa sp. and Chlorella sp. Synteny analysis and gene-structure analysis revealed P450 duplications in both species. Functional analysis based on homolog P450s suggested that CYP51 and CYP710 family members are involved in membrane ergosterol biosynthesis. CYP55 and CYP97 family members are involved in nitric oxide reduction and biosynthesis of carotenoids. This is the first report on comparative analysis of P450s in the microalgal species Coccomyxa sp. C-169 and Chlorella sp. NC64A.

• 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.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2018

This study was conducted to isolate the cellulolytic bacteria able to grow on LB- Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) agar trypan blue medium from the mixed forest and Larix leptolepis stands. Three bacterial strains with high activity against both CMC and xylan were isolated. Both API kit test and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the three different isolates belong to the gene Bacillus. Therefore, the isolates named as Bacillus sp. EFL1, Bacillus sp. EFL2, and Bacillus sp. EFP3. The optimum growth temperature of Bacillus sp. EFL1, EFL2, and EFP3 were $37^{\circ}C$. The optimum temperature for CMCase and xylanase from Bacillus sp. EFL1 were $50^{\circ}C$. The optimum pH of Bacillus sp. EFL1 xylanase was pH 5.0 but the optimum pH of CMCase from Bacillus sp. EFL1 was pH 6.0. The optimum temperature of CMCase and xylanase from Bacillus sp. EFL2 was $60^{\circ}C$, respectively. The optimum pH of CMCase of Bacillus sp. EFL2 was 5.0, whereas xylanase showed high activity at pH 3.0-9.0. The optimum temperature for CMCase and xylanase of Bacillus sp. EFP3 was $50^{\circ}C$. The optimum pH for CMCase and xylanse was 5.0 and 4.0, respectively. CMCases from Bacillus sp. EFL1, EFL2, and EFP3 were thermally unstable. Although xylanase from Bacillus sp. EFL1 and EFP3 showed to be thermally unstable, xylanase from Bacillus sp. EFL2 showed to be thermally stable. Therefore, Bacillus sp. EFL2 has great potential for animal feed, biofuels, and food industry applications.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.328-336
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• 2020

Parachlorella sp. is an efficient fatty acid producer that can be used in the production of biofuels, feeds, and fertilizers. Microalgae show varying responses to culture conditions, even those within the same species. In this study, growth and fatty acid composition of a newly isolated Parachlorella sp. from the Nakdong river of Korea in different culture media were investigated. The microalga was cultivated in 400 ml bubble column photobioreactors using BG-11, BBM, TAP, and modified TAP (MTAP) media. It was shown that using BBM led to greater fatty acid accumulation (34%), while using TAP medium led to greater biomass productivity (0.34 g/l/day). Composition of the TAP medium was modified to have the N:P ratio of BBM while also varying concentrations of N and P to improve fatty acid productivity. One of the modified TAP media, MTAP-1 (104.8 mgN/l, 135.2 mgP/l, N:P ratio = 0.77), showed the highest fatty acid concentration of 0.69 ± 0.04 g/l, while those from TAP and BBM were 0.48 ± 0.06 g/l and 0.40 ± 0.02 g/l, respectively. The results showed that microalgal fatty acid productivity could be enhanced by changing the N:P ratio and concentrations.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.132-135
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• 2009

Development of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel for commercial uses is a recent phenomenon. However, the growth of ethanol and biodiesel has been impressive during the period 2000-2007yr. Globally, production of biodiesel stands around 8.3 billion liters. Europe leads the world in biodiesel production with 80% share of the global biodiesel production total. Today biodiesel fuels have been in commercial use in many countries and recently the world-wide biodiesel market has experienced considerable growth, which is partly due to various tax concession programs and other financial incentives. In Korea, biodiesel has already been used for transportation fuel, but not used for power generation fuel yet. Korean government has a strategy for renewable energy propagation, especially the goal of power generation amount by renewable energy is 3% of total power production by 2012. This paper focuses on the estimation study for effect of using biodiesel as power generation fuel. The study also has the plan to replace the fuel of thermal power plant, gas turbine and distributed power generation system. As the increase of biodiesel fuel, I look forward to environment-friendly power generation and the strategy of Renewable Portfolio Standards(RPS).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1836-1840
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• 2009

Recently, hydroxymethylfurfrual (HMF) has been highlighted as a key intermediate for the production of liquid biofuels and other valuable compounds. We used sesame roots as a biocatalyst to synthesize HMF using flask cultures. The synthesis of HMF was identified by GC-mass analysis. The highest root growth was observed in cultures with 1.0 mg/l NAA at $30^{\circ}C$, while root growth was not found in those without NAA treatment. When silver nitrate ($AgNO_3$) was added, the root growth was greatest in those treated with 0.5 mg/l $AgNO_3$ and cultured at $30^{\circ}C$. In the case of HMF synthesis, its highest yield was obtained in those treated with 0.5 mg/l NAA at $25^{\circ}C$, but low HMF was detected in those treated without naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). The addition of $AgNO_$ to the culture medium showed a 8-10% reduction in HMF yield compared to that of the control, indicating its inhibitory effect on the synthesis of HMF. On the whole, an optimal culture temperature for HMF synthesis seemed to be between $25-30^{\circ}C$.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2003

Microalgae are a diverse group of photosynthetic organisms and abundant in every ecosystem in the biosphere. They are common in aqueous environments including marine, brackish and fresh waters and in some habitats that lack eukaryotic life such as some hot springs and highly alkaline lakes. Microalgal biotechnology that is focused on the microalgae-based production of a variety of useful materials such as pharmaceutical comfounds, health foods, natural pigments, and biofuels is considered as an important discipline with the development of biotechnology. In addition, the mass cultivation of microalgae can also contribute to improving the environmental quality by reducing the concentration of $CO_2$ which is one of major gases lead to global warming. Consequently, it seems that the microalgae can be used as an efficient, renewable, environmentally friendly source of high-value biomaterials such as chemicals, pigments, energy, etc. and the microalgal biotechnology will most likely represent a larger portion of modern biotechnology.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.561-567
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• 2013

Mixed hardwood chips were pre-pulping extracted with green liquor prior to kraft pulping in order to recover hemicelluloses for use as biofuels. This green liquor solution containing mainly sodium sulfide and sodium carbonate was applied at different alkali charges (expressed as $Na_2O$) of 0, 1, 3, and 5% on dry wood weight. The extractions were performed at $160^{\circ}C$ for residence times ranging from about 1-2 h to determine the effect of extraction severity on composition of the pre-pulping extract. The severity of hemicellulose extraction time and green liquor charge controls the concentration of acetic acid and monosaccharide sugars available for downstream processing, the accumulation of degradation products such as organic acids and furans in the extract. As the alkali charge was increased, the amount of acetate side chains on the hemicelluloses and the dissolved lignin in the extract increased but the carbohydrate and sugars in the extract decreased appreciably. Hot water extraction (0% alkali addition) released the greatest amount of carbohydrates, up to 29.80 g/L measured as component sugars, but resulted in the greatest decrease in pulp yield. Meanwhile, pre-pulping extraction with 3% green liquor increased the pulp yield while greatly reducing the component sugars to 7.08 g/L. Fundamental data obtained in this study will allow selection of optimum hemicellulose extraction conditions for integrating the extraction operation into the Kraft pulping process.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2014

Seed oils (triacylglycerols) of plants are used as a source of essential fatty acids and nutrition for human. In addition, triacylglycerols have been used as industrial raw materials and biofuels. Triacylglycerols are mainly accumulated in seeds by complicated biochemical pathways. Fatty acids are synthesized in the plastids and transported into the endoplasmic reticulum for synthesizing triacylglycerols. It is known for a long time that biosynthesis of triacylglycerols is performed by a de novo synthesis, the Kennedy pathway. However recent studies have revealed that phosphatidylcholine, a major component of cell membrane, plays a central role for triacylglycerols biosynthesis. Phosphatidylcholine is a key regulator determining the relative proportions of unsaturated fatty acids in seeds. It may be a major carrier for the fluxes of fatty acids from the plastid to the endoplasmic reticulum. This finding further suggests that studies of the functions of enzymes involved in the fluxes of fatty acids from phosphatidylcholine to triacylglycerols elucidate the specialized subdomains in the endoplasmic reticulum for triacylglycerols biosynthesis.