• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.45-53
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• 2005

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of changes in soil temperature on biodegradation rate of diesel compounds from a field pilot test using hot air injection process. Total remediation time was estimated from in-situ biodegradation rate and temperature for optimum biodegradation. All tests were conducted by measuring in-situ respiration rates every about 10 days on highly contaminated area where an accidental diesel release occurred. The applied remediation methods were hot air injection/extraction process to volatilize and extract diesel compounds followed by a bioremediation process to degrade residual diesels in soils. Oxygen consumption rate varied from 2.2 to 46.3%/day in the range of 26 to $60^{\circ}C$, and maximum $O_2$ consumption rate was observed at $32.0^{\circ}C$. Zero-order biodegradation rate estimated on the basis of oxygen consumption rates varied from 6.5 to 21.3 mg/kg-day, and the maximum biodegradation rate was observed at $32^{\circ}C$ as well. In other temperature range, the values were in the decreasing trend. The first-order kinetic constants (k) estimated from in-situ respiration rates measured periodically were 0.0027, 0.0013, and $0.0006d^{-1}$ at 32.8, 41.1, and $52.7^{\circ}C$, respectively. The estimated remediation time was from 2 to 9 years, provided that final TPH concentration in soils was set to 870 mg/kg.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.304-313
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• 2016

One of the issues currently facing nuclear power plants is how to store spent nuclear waste materials which are contaminated with radionuclides such as $^{134}Cs$, $^{135}Cs$, and $^{137}Cs$. Bioremediation processes may offer a potent method of cleaning up radioactive cesium. However, there have only been limited reports on $Cs^+$ tolerant bacteria. In this study, we report the isolation and identification of $Cs^+$ tolerant bacteria in environmental soil and sediment. The resistant $Cs^+$ isolates were screened from enrichment cultures in R2A medium supplemented with 100 mM CsCl for 72 h, followed by microbial community analysis based on sequencing analysis from 16S rRNA gene clone libraries(NCBI's BlastN). The dominant Bacillus anthracis Roh-1 and B. cereus Roh-2 were successfully isolated from the cesium enrichment culture. Importantly, B. cereus Roh-2 is resistant to 30% more $Cs^+$ than is B. anthracis Roh-1 when treated with 50 mM CsCl. Growth experiments clearly demonstrated that the isolate had a higher tolerance to $Cs^+$. In addition, we investigated the adsorption of $0.2mg\;L^{-1}$ $Cs^+$ using B. anthracis Roh-1. The maximum $Cs^+$ biosorption capacity of B. anthracis Roh-1 was $2.01mg\;g^{-1}$ at pH 10. Thus, we show that $Cs^+$ tolerant bacterial isolates could be used for bioremediation of contaminated environments.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.336-342
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• 2013

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a widely used substance in commercial and industrial applications, yet it must be removed from the contaminated soil and groundwater environment due to its toxic and carcinogenic nature. We investigated bacterial community structure, dominant bacterial strain, and removal efficiency in a TCE contaminated groundwater treatment system using immobilized carrier. The microbial diversity was determined by the nucleotide sequences of 16S rRNA gene library. The major bacterial population of the contaminated groundwater treatment system was belonging to BTEX degradation bacteria. The bacterial community consisted mainly of one genus of Pseudomonas (Pseudomonas putida group). The domination of Pseudomonas putida group may be caused by high concentration of toluene and TCE. Furthermore, we isolated a toluene and TCE degrading bacterium, named Pseudomonas sp. DHC8, from the immobilized carrier in bioreactor which was designed to remove TCE from the contaminated ground water. Based on the results of morphological and physiological characteristics, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain DHC8 was identified as a member of Pseudomonas putida group. When TCE (0.83 mg/L) and toluene (60.61 mg/L) were degraded by this strain, removal efficiencies were 72.3% and 100% for 12.5 h, respectively. Toluene removal rate was 2.89 ${\mu}mol/g$-DCW/h and TCE removal rate was 0.02 ${\mu}mol/g$-DCW/h. These findings will be helpful for maintaining maximum TCE removal efficiency of a reactor for bioremediation of TCE.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.262-267
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• 1998

We evaluated Ambrosia artemisiifolia var. elatior, Ambrosia trifida, Rumex crispus which were reported to have good phytoremediatibility in different concentrations of Cu and Cd. Different growth responses were found in different heavy metal concentrations. Good growth rate for A. trifida and A. artemisiifolia var. elatior in Cu and Cd treatments and poor growth for R. crispus in Cd treatment were found. Although growth was retared in all tested weeds up to 200ppm for Cu and 50ppm for Cd, the high amount of heavy metal uptake indicated that these weeds could be used as phytoremediation. The choice of proper plant for bioremediation in different sources of heavy metal pollution seems important. In this regard, A. trifida which showed little variation in Cu accumulation in shoot under different Cu concentrations could be used for phytoremediation and phytostabilization.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.2 s.82
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• pp.266-271
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• 2007

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been widely used as a monomer for production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics. The annual production of BPA exceeds 640,000 metric tons in worldwide. BPA, a suspected phenolic endocrine disrupter, is moderately soluble and frequently detected in industrial wastewater. To date, HPLC and GC has been used for BPA analysis. However, HPLC and GC-analysis need high operation lost, experts, and an elaborate pre-treatment of samples, and is difficult to apply on-time and mass analysis. Therefore, simple, mass and rapid detection of BPA in environments is necessary. In the present study, spectrophotometric method of BPA quantification was developed. Based on blue-color product formation with BPA and ferric chloride/ferricyanide under the optimized conditions, the standard curve was acquired $({\lambda}_{750}=0.061\;BPA\;[{\mu}M]+0.07155,\;R^2=0.992)$. Using an established method, the BPA contents in the soil extract, and different water samples and living products, including disposable syringe, cup and plastic tube, were analyzed. The results suggested that the method is useful for BPA determination from different massive samples. Since the BPA metabolites, nontoxic 4-hydroxyacetophenone or 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, did not form blue-color product, this method is also useful to screen a microorganism for BPA bioremediation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.92-97
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• 2014

Perchlorate ($ClO_4^-$) is an emerging contaminant of soil/groundwater and surface water. $ClO_4^-$ has been shown to inhibit iodide uptake into the thyroid gland and cause a reduction in thyroid hormone production. $ClO_4^-$ is highly soluble and very stable in water. Biodegradation by $ClO_4^-$-reducing bacteria (PRB) is considered the most important factor in natural attenuation of $ClO_4^-$. Rivers in an industrial complex have potential to be contaminated with $ClO_4^-$ discharged from point or non-point sources. In this study, water samples were taken from the rivers running through the Gumi industrial complexes and used for batch test to analyze $ClO_4^-$-degradation potential of river microorganisms. The results of 83-h batch culture showed that $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency of all samples was 0.77% or less without addition of an external electron ($e^-$) donor. However $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency was higher when an $e^-$ donor (acetate, thiosulfate, $S^0$, or $F^0$) was added into the batch culture, showing up to 100% removal efficiency. The removal efficiency was various depending on type of $e^-$ donor and site of sampling. When acetate was used as an $e^-$ donor, the highest $ClO_4^-$-removal efficiency was observed among the $e^-$ donors used in this study, suggesting that activity of heterotrophic PRB was dominant. The results of this study provide basic information on natural attenuation of $ClO_4^-$ by river microorganisms. The information can be useful to prepare a strategy to enhance efficiency of $ClO_4^-$ biodegradation for in situ bioremediation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.448-454
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• 2010

This study investigated the effect of PCE and TCE as electron acceptors on the bacterial composition of dechlorinating communities. The enrichment cultures reductively dechlorinating PCE and TCE were developed from three environment samples using acetate as electron donor. The cultures were prepared by sequential enrichment, which was seeded with sediment and dredged soil. Denatured gradient gel electrophresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA gene fragment was used to compare the microbial communities of these three enrichment cultures. After incubation for 4 weeks, the removal efficiencies of PCE and TCE were highest from Yeocheon site (87.37% and 84.46%, respectively). PCE and TCE as electron acceptors affected the bacterial diversity and community profiles in the enrichment cultures. DGGE analysis showed that the dominant bacteria in PCE and TCE enrichment were belonged to Clostridium sp., Desulfotomaculum sp., and uncultured bacteria.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.304-311
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• 2012

Chlorinated ethylenes such as perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) are widely used as industrial solvents and degreasing agents. Because of improper handling, these highly toxic chlorinated ethylenes have been often detected from contaminated soils and groundwater. Biological PCE dechlorination activities were tested in bacterial cultures inoculated with 10 different environmental samples from sediments, sludges, soils, and groundwater. Of these, the sediment using culture (SE 2) was selected and used for establishing an efficient PCE dechlorinating enrichment culture since it showed the highest activity of dechlorination. The cathode chamber of bioelectrochemical system (BES) was inoculated with the enrichment culture and the system with a cathode polarized at -500 mV (Vs Ag/AgCl) was operated under fed-batch mode. PCE was dechlorinated to ethylene via TCE, cis-dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride. Microbial community analysis with polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) showed that the microbial community in the enrichment culture was significantly changed during the bio-electrochemical PCE dechlorination in the BES. The communities of suspended-growth bacteria and attached-growth bacteria on the cathode surface are also quite different from each other, indicating that there were some differences in their mechanisms receiving electrons from electrode for PCE dechlorination. Further detailed research to investigate electron transfer mechanism would make the bioelctrochemical dechlorination technique greatly useful for bioremediation of soil and groundwater contaminated with chlorinated ethylenes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.7 s.80
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• pp.1158-1163
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• 2006

Bisphenol A (BPA), 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane, has been widely used as a monomer for production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, and final products of BPA include adhesives, protective coatings, paints, optical lens, building materials, compact disks and other electrical parts. Since BPA is a toxic chemical to elicit acute cell cytotoxicity and chronic endocrine disrupting activity, the degradation of BPA has been focused during last decades. To overcome the problem of photo-, and chemical-degradation of BPA, in this study, a bacterium that is able to biodegrade BPA, was isolated. The bacterium, isolated froln the soil of plastic factory, was identified as Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (strain BP-2) based on physiological and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis. A. calcoaceticus BP-2 was able to grow in the presence of $1140{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}$ BPA. Biodegradation experiments showed that BP-2 mineralized BPA via 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 4-hydroxyacetophenone, and average degradation rate was $53.3{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;day^{-1}$ under optimal conditions (pH 7 and $30^{\circ}C$). In high density resting cell $(3.5g-dcw.1^{-1})$ experiments, the maximal degradation rate was increased to $89.7{\mu}g\;ml^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. Our results suggest that BP-2 has high potential as a catalyst for practical BPA bioremediation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.1322-1332
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• 2019

In this paper, we systematically investigated the influence of some selected ligands on the U-phosphate precipitation induced by soil bacteria. These organics are widely ranging from acetate, lactate, salicylate and citrate to oxalate. The results revealed that uranium could be biomineralized on bacteria as $UO_2HPO_4{\cdot}4H_2O$ or $(UO_2)_3(PO_4)_2{\cdot}4H_2O$. The influence of organic ligands on the biomineralization had clear-cut correlations with its complexation abilities to uranyl. It was clearly found that the U-phosphate biomineralization was affected noticeably by the strong ligands (oxalate and citrate). Further study discovered that when the organic ligands were uncompetitive with biotic $PO_4^{3-}$ for uranyl, the transformation of uranyl species from ${\beta}-UO_2(OH)_2$ colloidal particles to free $UO_2^{2+}$-ligands ions could facilitate the U-phosphate biomineralization. However, when the organic ligands competed with biotic $PO_4^{3-}$ for uranyl, the U-phosphate biomineralization were inhibited. Our results highlight the importance of complex interactions of strong organic ligands with uranyl during the bacterial precipitation of U-P compounds and thus for the mobilization and immobilization of radio-nuclides in the nature.