• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.522-536
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• 2016

Fluorine is unique chemical element which occurs naturally, but is not an essential nutrient for plants. Fluoride toxicity can arise due to excessive fluoride intake from a variety of natural or manmade sources. Fluoride is phytotoxic to most plants. Plants which are sensitive for fluorine exposure even low concentrations of fluorine can cause leave damage and a decline in growth. All vegetation contains some fluoride absorbed from soil and water. The highest levels of F in field-grown vegetables are found up to $40mg\;kg^{-1}$ fresh weight although fluoride is relatively immobile and is not easily leached in soil because most of the fluoride was not readily soluble or exchangeable. Also, high concentrations of fluoride primarily associated with the soil colloid or clay fraction can increase fluoride levels in soil solution, increasing uptake via the plant root. In soils more than 90 percent of the natural fluoride ranging from 20 to $1,000{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$ is insoluble, or tightly bound to soil particles. The excess accumulation of fluorides in vegetation leads to visible leaf injury, damage to fruits, changes in the yield. The amount of fluoride taken up by plants depending on the type of plant, the nature of the soil, and the amount and form of fluoride in the soil should be controlled. Conclusively, fluoride is possible and long-term pollution effects on plant growth through accumulation of the fluoride retained in the soil.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.287-291
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• 1999

In order to examine the possible use of rock phosphate as P source, tomato seedlings with or without inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were grown in the pots of sterile volcanic ash soil from Cheju island with two levels of phosphorus (100 and 200 mg/kg) supplied either as fused or as rock phosphate. After three months of culture, plant dry weight, P and other nutrient uptake, root colonization and spore density in the soil were determined. Treatments of rock phosphate of both levels resulted in the significantly depressed plant growth in comparison to the treatments of fused phosphate, likely due to lower P availability in soil with rock phosphate. Mycorrhizal fungi inoculation increased the dry weight of plant at 200 mg/kg level of both fused and rock phosphate. Root infection and sporoulation were reduced in rock phosphate treatments. Nitrogen, K, Ca and Mg contents in plants were not significantly different at all treatments. As a P source, rock phosphate in combination with mycorrhizae was not satisfactory for optimum plant growth at $100{\sim}200\;mg/kg$ levels in Cheju volcanic ash soil.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.59-70
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• 2012

In this study, to select the best stabilizer for the heavy metals-contaminated soil from a smelter area during phytoremediation, a plant uptake experiment and a soil stabilization were simultaneously applied using Pteris multifida Poir. and five pre-screened stabilizers(zeolite, Mn dioxide, slag, Ca oxide, and magnetite). The extracted heavy metal was measured and compared using a 3 step sequential extraction for the soil samples. The growth rate of the plant was also evaluated. The stabilizers stabilized heavy metals in soil and reduced the extraction rate. Magnetite and calcium oxide showed better results than other stabilizers. The stabilizers enhanced the growth of the plant. All the heavy metals except for arsenic were concentrated in roots while arsenic was concentrated in leaves of the plant. It is concluded that the stabilizers can minimize the heavy metal release from the contaminated soil during phytoremediation and stimulated the growth of plant. These effects of stabilizers could compensate for some weak points of phytoremediation such as reaching of heavy metals by rainwater.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.271-274
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• 2016

This study examined variation in Cd and Pb uptake among different medi cinal plants grown under the same soil environment together with immobilizing effect of lime to decrease these metals accumulation by the medicinal plants. For this, lime was incorporated into a heavy metal-contaminated soil at 1% followed by cultivation of seven different annual and 5 different biennial medicinal plants. In order for comparison, control soil without lime treatment was included and all the pot trials were carried out four replicates. Cadmium and Pb concentrations in medicinal plant roots grown in the control soil varied between 0.5 and $2.8mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Cd and 3.2 and $82.4mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Pb. The highest accumulation occurred in C. officinale and the lowest in D. batatas. Lime application decreased average Cd and Pb concentrations in the examined medicinal plants from $1.3mg\;kg^{-1}$ and $25.7mg\;kg^{-1}$ to $0.6mg\;kg^{-1}$ and $11.9mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively in comparison with those grown in the control soil.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.145-149
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• 2014

Arsenic (As) is one of the heavy metals which causes acute bio-toxicity even at low concentration and has disastrous effect on environment. In some countries, As contamination has become alarming and increasing day by day as consequences of unsustainable management practices. Many existing physical, chemical and biological processes for As removal from water system are not feasible due to techno-economic limitations. The present study highlights the scope of biological strategy for As removal through phytoextraction. Arsenic uptake and accumulation in the biomass of three plant species and their As tolerance abilities have been investigated to develop an efficient phytoextraction system in combination of these plant species. Three non-crop plant species, Pteris vittata; Mimosa pudica, and Eichhornia crassipus were treated with 0-200 mg/L As in liquid nutrient solution for 14 days. P. vittata accumulated total 9,082.2 mg (8,223 mg in fronds) As/kg biomass and Eichhornia total 6,969 mg (4,517 mg in fronds)/kg biomass at 200 mg/L As concentration, respectively. Bioaccumulation factor (BF) and translocation factor (TF) were estimated to differentiate between excluders, accumulators and accumulation in above ground biomass. Pteris and Eichhornia have highest BF (67 and 17) and TF (64 and 3), respectively. In contrast, Mimosa accumulated up to 174 mg As/kg plant biomass which is low in comparison with other two plants, and both BF and TF were ${\leq}1$. This study reveals that Pteris and Eichhornia are As hyperaccumulator, and potential candidates for As removal from water system.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.488-493
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• 2008

Phosphate, a favorable phosphorous form for plant, is one of major nutrient elements for growth and development in plants. Plants exhibit various physiological and biochemical responses in reaction to phosphate starvation in order to maintain phosphate homeostasis. Of them, expression of high affinity phosphate transporter gene family and efficient uptake of phosphate via them is a major physiological process for adaption to phosphate deficient environment. Although the various genetic resources of high affinity phosphate transporter are identified recently, little is known about their functions in plant that is prerequisite information before applying to crop plants to generate valuable transgenic plants. We demonstrated that Arabidopsis transgenic plants over-expressing two different high affinity phosphate transporter gens, OsPT1 and OsPT7, derived from rice, exhibit better growth responses compared with wild-type under phosphate starvation condition. Specially, OsPT7 gene has proven to be more effective to generate Arabidopsis transgenic plant tolerant to phosphate deficiency than OsPT1. Furthermore, the expression level of AtPT1 gene that is one of reporter genes specifically induced by phosphate starvation was significantly low compared with wild-type during phosphate starvation. Taken together, these results collectively suggest that over expression of OsPTl and OsPT7 genes derived from monocotyledonous plant function efficiently in the dicotyledonous plant, relieving stress response caused by phosphate starvation and leading to better growth rate.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.324-329
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• 2020

Reed (Phragmites spp.) is a rhizomatous plant of the Poaceae family and is known as high tolerant plant to heavy metal contaminants. This plant is widely recognized as a Cd root-accumulator, but improved heavy metal tolerance and uptake capacity are still required for phytoremediation efficiency. To enhance capacity of hyperaccumulator plants, ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) as chemical mutagen has been introduced and applied to remediation approaches. This study aimed to select EMS-mutagenized reeds representing high Cd resistance and large biomass and to investigate their ability of Cd accumulation. After 6 months cultivation of M₂ mutant reeds under Cd stress conditions (up to 1,500 µM), we discovered seven mutant individuals that showed good performances like survivorship, vitality, and high accumulation of Cd, particularly in their roots. Compared to wild type (WT) reeds as control, on average, dry weight of mutant type (MT) reeds was larger by 2 and 1.5 times in roots and shoots, respectively. In addition, these mutant plants accumulated 6 times more Cd, mostly in the roots. In particular, MT8 reeds showed the greatest ability to accumulate Cd. These results suggest that EMS mutagenesis could generate hyperaccumulator plants with enhanced Cd tolerance and biomass, thereby contributing to improvement of phytoremediation efficiency in Cd-contaminated soil or wastewater. Further studies should focus on identifying Cd tolerance mechanisms of such EMS-mutagenized plants, developing techniques for its biomass production, and investigating the practical potential of the EMS mutants for phytoremediation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 2023

The potential sources and spatial distribution of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in the leaf plants of Al-Zubair city. A total of 14 samples of conocarpus lancifolius plant leaf were collected and analyzed for their heavy metals and PAHs content using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and a 7890 Agilent capillary gas chromatograph (GC) respectively. Bioaccumulation factor calculation revealed the highest pollution of heavy metals , due to the activity of a petrochemical in the area. The diagnostic ratio of Ant/(Phe+Ant), BaA/BaA+Chr), In/(In+BghiP), Flu/Pyr, FlA/FlA+Pyr), FlA/FlA+Pyr), ∑LMW/∑HMW are commonly used for determining the origin and source of PAHs in various environmental media. The diagnostic ratio indicated the anthropogenic origin. PAHs with five-to-six membered rings were dominant in the plant leaf, which likely results from anthropogenic activities. The leaves of C. lancifolius have a preponderance of high molecular weight PAHs compared to low molecular weight PAHs, indicating a combustion origin (car exhaust, petroleum emissions, and fossil fuel). C. lancifolius leaves are a reliable indication of atmospheric PAHs absorption. The background level of heavy metals in the city (or the near environment) is in the order of Fe > Cu > Ni > Cr. On the other hand, the bioaccumulation in plant leaves showed greater tendencies as follows: Co>Cd>Zn=As>Cu>Mn>Ni>Pb>Cr>Fe. Cobalt showed high bioaccumulation, indicating strong uptake of Co by plant leaves. These findings point to human activity and car emissions as the primary sources of roadside vegetation pollution in Al-Zubair city.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2016

In order to obtain the optimum application time of liquid pig manure (LPM) for growth and nutrient contents of green manure crops (GMCs), the growth and nutrient characteristics of GMCs were evaluated under different application times of LPM in pot experiment. GMCs were sown in Sept. 1, 2012. LPM was treated in soil surface at 15 days before sowing (15DBS), at 0 days after sowing (ASD) and at 25 days after sowing (25DAS). At 60 days after seeding, plant heights of barley and hairy vetch were higher in 15DBS treatment than those in other treatments. Biomass of barley was higher in the order of 15DBS (50.2g plant^-1) > ASD (49.8g plant^-1) > 25DAS (48.5g plant^-1) > control treatment (37.5g plant^-1). Biomass of hairy vetch in 15DBS treatment was higher than that in other treatments. Nutrient contents of barley and hairy vetch were not different regardless of LPM application times. On the other hand, the amounts of nutrients uptake in 15DBS treatment were higher than those in other treatments. Therefore, in considering growth status and nutrient contributions of GMC, the optimum application time of LPM was 15DBS.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.163-172
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• 2006

Pot experiments were conducted from 1999 to 2001 to compare the different methods of available phosphorus (P) for estimation of biomass and P uptake by tomato and cucumber grown on different soils (25 soils for tomato and 8 soils for cucumber cultivation) collected from plastic film house of Chungbuk area. Supplementary experiment was conducted to estimate the relationship among several extraction methods of available P such as P adsorption, water extractable-P, Lancaster-P, Olsen-P, Bray No 1 and No 2-P, and Mehlich 1 and 3-P for a total of 71 soils that included 33 soils collected for tomato and cucumber cultivation and 38 soils taken from other sites of plastic film house. All the extraction methods of available phosphorus except P adsorption were mutually positive correlated with r ranging from 0.81 to 0.96 while the correlation coefficient between P adsorption and other methods ranged from -0.57 to -0.80. Phosphorus uptake by tomato plant applied with no fertilizer was significantly correlated with the available P extracted by different methods except P adsorption in all the experiments showing positive correlation coefficients from 0.49 to 0.76 in April, 1999, 0.53 to 0.71 in April, 2000, and 0.59 to 0.68 in October, 2000. Consequently relative amount of P uptake by tomato plant for all the experiments also significantly correlated with available P in soils showing correlation coefficients of r=0.64~0.73 (P<0.0000001) in the order of Mehlich 1-P > Mehlich 3-P > Lancaster-P. For tomato, critical concentrations of available P in soils estimated by Cate and Nelson split method were $1700mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Mehlich 3-P, $1,050mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Mehlich 1-P, and $95mg\;kg^{-1}$ for water extractable P. Also P uptake by cucumber plant was significantly correlated with Olsen-P, water extractable P, and Bray No 2-P with r value of 0.62, 0.59, and 0.51, respectively, in soils of no fertilization.