• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.360-366
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• 2013

This study was it conducted on effluent or river water close to discharge locations from a treatment plant, which were analyzed for the presence, phenotype and antibiotic resistance rates of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE). The test results for isolation and identification of Enterococcus spp. showed that they all were VRE positive, with a total of 32 strains detected. Multiplex PCR was conducted for 32 strains, each of which were identified as E. faecium, and the results indicated that they were all confirmed as VRE, corresponding to the Van A phenotype. The results of E. faecium concentrations measured at various locations indicated that they were, on average, higher at the location of sewage treatment plants. The frequency of positive tests as well as the number of colonies was higher downstream of treatment plants. The minimum inhibitory concentration was inspected for 26 strains of discharged water samples from sewage water treatment plants, and 6 strains of river samples. Out of 19 antibiotics, 14 and 5 species showed resistance and sensitivity, respectively.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.161-168
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• 2020

It is known that different plant species have ability to deposit different amounts of particulate matter (PM) on their leaves and plants can absorb heavy metals in PM through their leaves. Heavy metals in PM can have toxic effect on human body and plants. Therefore, PM on different roadside trees at Chungbuk national University including box tree (Buxus koreana), yew (Taxus cuspidate), royal azalea (Rhododendron yedoense), and retusa fringetree (Chionanthus retusa) was quantified based on particle size (PM_>10 and PM_2.5-10). The metal concentration in PM accumulated on leaves was analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy. In this study, the mass of PM_>10 deposited on the surface of the tree leaves ranged from 6.11 to 32.7 ㎍/㎠, while the mass of PM_2.5-10 ranged from 0 to 14.8 ㎍/㎠. The royal azaleas with grooves and hair on the leaf surface retained PM particles for longer time, while the yews and box trees with wax on leaf surfaces accumulated more PM. The PM contained elements in crustal material such as Al, Ca, Mg, and Fe and heavy metals including Cu, Pb and Zn. The concentration of elements in crustal material was higher in the coarser size, while heavy metal concentration was relatively higher in the finer size fraction. The Mn, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations of leaves and PM_2.5-10 were significantly correlated indicating that PM was taken up through tree leaves.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1557-1562
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• 2005

A mechanism of hair cell damage caused by noise and ototoxic agents is mediated through generation of free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS). It is known that most of animals have defense systems to protect against ROS, and the cochlea of inner ear in animals also has ROS defense systems including several antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione (GSH), which efficiently detoxifying ROS generated under normal condition. Steamed roots of Rehmannia glutinosa have been traditionally used in Oriental medicine for the treatment of auditory disease such as tinnitus, vertigo, and hearing loss as well as inflammatory diseases, hectic fever, night sweat, and headache. In the present study, we showed that the ethanol extract from steamed roots of R. giutinosa (ESRG) increased the antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, CAT, GPX, and GR activities and GSH level in HEI-OC1 auditory cells. This extract itself did not show any significant cytotoxicity up to $50{\mu}g/ml$. Our results further support the view that ESRG is promising sources of potential antioxidants. Future studies will be aimed at investigating the effects of ESRG on the regulation of cellular mechanisms and isolating and identifying the substances responsible for the regulation of antioxidant enzyme system from the plant extracts.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2015

A universal DNA barcoding for agricultural noxious weeds is a powerful technique for species identification without morphological knowledge, by using short sections of DNA from a specific region of the genome. Two standard barcode markers, chloroplast rbcL and matK, and a supplementary nuclear ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region were used to examine the effectiveness of the markers for Pooideae barcoding using 163 individuals of 29 taxa across 16 genera of Korean Pooideae. The rbcL and ITS revealed a good level of amplification and sequencing success while matK did not. Barcode gaps were 78.6% for rbcL, 96.2% for matK, and 91.7% for ITS, respectively. Resolving powers were 89.3% for rbcL, 92.3% for matK, and 79.1% for ITS. The matK obtained the best both barcode gap and resolving power. However, it should be considered not to employ matK for Pooideae barcode because of low rate of PCR amplification and sequencing success. As a single DNA marker, rbcL and ITS were reasonable for Pooideae barcode. Barcode gap and resolving power were increased when ITS was incorporated into the rbcL. The barcode sequences were deposited to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database for public use.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.212-221
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• 2017

An actinomycetes isolate G-0299 obtained from a forest soil showed strong phytotoxic activity to Digitaria ciliaris. For the foliar application study, the culture filtrate of the isolate G-0299 showed strong herbicidal activity only to D. ciliaris among the 12 monocot and 5 dicot weed species. And herbicidal activity at a concentration of 500, 250, 125 and $62.5{\mu}gmL^{-1}$ of culture filtrate was 100%, 98%, 70% and 40%, respectively. Phytotoxic symptoms of the culture filtrate by foliar application were desiccation and burn-down or bleaching of leaves and finally plant death. And then the herbicidal activity was exhibited only under the light condition. Also, chlorophyll loss of D. ciliaris leaf tissues in the light condition was much higher than in the dark condition and then chlorophyll content decreased 82%, 5%, respectively. In conclusion, our results suggest that soil bacteria, isolate G-0299 could be a good candidate for new bio-herbicide and provide a new lead molecule for a more unique herbicide.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.579-586
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• 2010

This study was carried out to evaluate the antifungal and antioxidative activities of ethanol extracts from Magnoliaceae to investigate the possibility for the natural fungicides and food preservatives. The antifungal activities of ethanol extracts were evaluated as a hyphal growth inhibition rate using four plant pathogenic and five wood rot fungi. The high inhibition activity on the growth of fungi was shown in bark of Magnolia obovata that indicated more than 50% hyphal growth inhibition rate except Trametes versicolor, one of the white rot fungi. The antifungal activity was the highest in the ethanol extracts from M. obovata and the following was in order of M. kobus and M. sieboldii. The extract from bark in M. obovata showed higher antifungal activity than that from wood in the same species. Especially, the extracts from flower of M. denudata and M. liliflora indicated the high antifungal activities, while the other portions of same plants showed the low activities. On the other hand, a free radical scavenging method was adopted with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrohydrazyl (DPPH) in order to test the antioxidative activities of ethanol extracts. The free radical scavenging activity was very high in the extracts from branch of Schizandra nigra and Kadsura japonica that showed more than 90% at the concentration of 100 ${\mu}g/m{\ell}$. It also turned out that the antioxidative activity of branch of S. nigra and K. japonica was similar to ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and butylated hydroxytoluene, one of the effective synthetic antioxidants. From these results, it can be suggested that the branches of S. nigra and K. japonica have the positive antioxidative activities and can be applied for the food preservatives and cosmetic ingredient.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.117-131
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• 2000

The flora and vegetaion of the high moor in Mt. Daeam($128^{\circ}07^{\prime}E$, $38^{\circ}13^{\prime}N$) was investigated by the phytosociological method of Braun-Blanquet's from 13 - 14th June to 7 - 8th August, 1998. The flora of plants recorded in high moor was 191 taxa belonging to 53 families, 131 genera, 160 species, 30 varieties, 1 formas. The high moor vegetation of Sanguisorba tenuifolia var. alba community group in this survey trip was classified into 11 communities as follows : Carex dispalata community and Sphagnum palustre community at the interior of moor, Carex biwensis community and Juncus papillosus community at the regenerated area and Malinia japonica community, Spiraea salicifolia community, Geranium eriosteman var. megalanthum - Calamagrostis langsdorffii community, Juncus effusus var. decipiens community, Salix koreensis community, Caltha palustris var. membranacea community and Sparganium stoloniferum community at the margin of moor. As a result of this study, the change of plant communities on high moor was closely influenced by landization in relation to the disturbance of human since 1969.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.20-23
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• 2001

Several unusual fatty acids including myristic acid (14 : 0) and lauric acid (12 : 0) were investigated in the Iris family and other related plants. Especially the roots of Iris tecorum contained 75.9% myristic acid in total fatty acid contents and that of Iris germanica contained 57% myristic and 15.5% lauric acid (12 : 0) whereas 10.7% lauric acid and 9.5% capric acid (10 : 0) were detected in the roots of iris ensata as compared to the total fatty acid contents. The total fatty acid contents in the seeds of Foeniculi fructus and Torilis japonica was relatively higher 193.3 mg/g dry wt and 128.2 mg/g dry wt, respectively. 64.5% linoleic acid (18 : 2) and 48.9% ${\alpha}-linolenic$ acid (18 : 3) were observed in the seeds and leaves of iris tectorum whereas its lateral roots contained 9.5% caprylic acid (8 : 0) and 8.6% capric acid. The percentage of myristic acid of the total fatty acid in the immature seeds of iris tectorum and Iris germanica was 10.8% and 15.6%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.428-434
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• 2008

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the level of $CO_2$ (370 and $650{\mu}mol\;mol^{-1}$) and temperature (ambient and ambient+$5^{\circ}C$) on tomato growth and fruit characteristics as affected by the application rate of N-fertilizer (68 and $204\;N\;kg\;ha^{-1}$), for the purpose of evaluating the influence of elevated $CO_2$ and temperature on tomato crop. The elevated atmospheric $CO_2$ and temperature increased the plant height and stem diameter for tomato crop, while the differences among the nitrogen(N) application rates were not significantly different. Under the elevated $CO_2$, temperature, and a higher N application rate, the biomass of aerial part increased. The fruit yield showed the same result as the biomass except for the elevated temperature. The elevated temperature made the size of fruit move toward the small, but the elevated $CO_2$ and the application of N-fertilizer were vice versa. The sugar content and pH of fruit juice were affected by nitrogen application rate, but not by the elevated $CO_2$ and temperature. These results showed that both the elevated $CO_2$ and temperature stimulated the vegetative growth of aerial parts for tomato, but each effects on the yield of fruit showed an opposite result between the elevated temperature and $CO_2$. In conclusion, the elevated $CO_2$ increased tomato yield and the ratio of large size of fruit, but the elevated temperature did not. Therefore, to secure the productivity of tomato as nowadays in future environment, it will need to develop new breeder as high temperature-tolerable tomato species or new type of cropping systems.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.256-262
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Seed of perilla (Perilla frutescens var. japonica Hara) is short-lived in conventional storage conditions. For long-term conservation of plant species, cryopreservation is the method currently available. This study was performed to find out reliable methods for a long-term storage of seeds of perilla as a genetic resource. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using seeds of 9 perilla cultivars, the effects of desiccation, aging, and cryopreservation on seed germinability and ascorbate peroxidase activity in the seeds were investigated. Initial germinability of the seeds was various, and dry seeds of all cultivars survived cryopreservation without loss of viability. The highest germination was achieved at 4-5% moisture content, and stimulatory effect of cryogenic temperature on the seed germination was observed in some cultivars. Accelerated aging of perilla seeds led to reduction in germination and ascorbate peroxidase activity, and the susceptibility of seeds to aging was different among the tested cultivars. No significant difference in germination was observed for the aged seeds of control and liquid nitrogen exposed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that cryopreservation at 4-5% moisture content would be a suitable method for long-term conservation of perilla seeds without detrimental effects on germination.