• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.134-144
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• 2020

In-situ stabilization is a remediation method using amendments to reduce contaminant availability in contaminated soil. We tested the effects of two amendments (furnace slag and red mud) on the availability of toxic trace elements (TTEs) and soil enzyme activities (dehydrogenase, phosphatase, and urease). The application of amendments significantly decreased the availability of TTEs in soil (p < 0.05). The decreased availability of TTE content in soils was accompanied by increased soil enzyme activities. We found significant negative relationships between the TTE content assessed using Ca(NO₃)_2^-, TCLP, and PBET extraction methods and soil enzyme activities (p < 0.01). Soil enzyme activities responded sensitively to changes in the soil environment (pH, EC, and availability of TTEs). It could be concluded that soil enzyme activities could be used as bioindicators or ecological indicators for soil quality and health in environmental soil monitoring owing to their high sensitivity to changes in soil.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.181-194
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• 2017

The biodegradability of polylactic acid(PLA) fabrics was evaluated by two methods: enzyme and soil degradation. Three different enzymes were selected to evaluate. Degradation times were measured at optimal enzyme treatment conditions. Biodegradation by enzymatic hydrolysis was compared with soil degradation. As a result, biodegradation created cracks on the fiber surface, which led to fiber thickening and shortening. In addition, new peak was observed at $18.5^{\circ}$ by degradation. Moreover, cracks indicating biofragmentation were confirmed by enzyme and soil degradation. By enzyme and soil degradation, the weight loss of PLA fabrics was occurred, there through, the tensile strength decreased about 25% by enzyme hydrolysis when 21 days after, and 21.67% by soil degradation when 60 days after. Furthermore, the biodegradability of PLA fabrics by enzymatic and soil degradation was investigated and enzymatic degradation was found to be superior to soil degradation of PLA fabrics. Among the three enzymes evaluated for enzymatic degradation, alcalase was the most efficient enzymes. This study established the mechanism of biodegradation of PLA nonwovens, which might prove useful in the textile industry.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2010

Soil microbes perform crucial roles in the nutrient cycles of forest ecosystems, by effecting the decomposition of organic matter. Enzyme activities have been used to evaluate decomposition rates, as well as microbial activities. The principal objectives of this study were to determine the activities of different soil enzymes, to compare enzyme activities at different elevations, and to elucidate the most important controlling variables for enzyme activities. We conducted a field survey at three sites in Mt. Jumbong on a monthly basis from May, 2004 to September, 2005. Enzyme activities did not change substantially over different seasons. However, the spatial differences were distinct; the lowest elevation site evidenced the lowest levels of enzyme activity. Soils at the lowest elevation were nutrient-depleted soils, and enzyme activities appeared to be affected by precipitation and temperature. However, enzyme activities in fertile soils at high elevations were associated with nutrients and organic matter. The enzyme activities detected in this study differed significantly at the three elevations, and their controlling variables also evidenced different factors.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2019

Use of cement in stabilizing the sulfate-bearing clay soils forms ettringite/ thaumasite in the presence of moisture leads to excessive swelling and causes damages to structures built on them. The development and use of non-traditional stabilisers such as alkali activated ground granulated blast-furnace slag (AGGBS) and enzyme for soil stabilisation is recommended because of its lower cost and the non detrimental effects on the environment. The objective of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of AGGBS and enzyme on improving the volume change properties of sulfate bearing soil as compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The soil for present study has been collected from Tilda, Chhattisgarh, India and 5000 ppm of sodium sulfate has been added. Various dosages of the selected stabilizers have been used and the effect on plasticity index, differential swell index and swelling pressure has been evaluated. XRD, SEM and EDX were also done on the untreated and treated soil for identifying the mineralogical and microstructural changes. The tests results show that the AGGBS and enzyme treated soil reduces swelling and plasticity characteristics whereas OPC treated soil shows an increase in swelling behaviour. It is observed that the swell pressure of the OPC-treated sulfate bearing soil became 1.5 times higher than that of the OPC treated non-sulfate soil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.49-59
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• 2021

The effects of green manure crops, hairy vetch and sesban, supplemented with HS (humic substance) on biological soil health indicators was studied in a pot containing two kinds of reclaimed soil previously contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons; a soil remediated by land-farming (DDC) and another soil by low-temperature thermal desorption (YJ). Treatments include no plant (C), plants only (H), and plants+2% HS (PH), which were evaluated in a pot containing respective soil. Biological indicators include microbial community analysis as well as soil enzyme activities of dehydrogenase, 𝛽-glucosidase, N-acetyl-𝛽-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), acid/alkaline phosphatase, arylsulfatase, and urease. Results showed an increase of enzyme activities in pot soils with plants and even greater in soils with plants+HS. The enzyme activities of DDC soil with plants (DDC_P) and with plants+HS (DDC_PH) increased 1.6 and 3.9 times on average, respectively than those in the control. The enzyme activities YJ soil with plants (YJ_P) and with plant+HS (YJ_PH) increased 1.8 and 3.8 times on average, respectively than those in the control. According to microbial community analysis, the relative abundance of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in DDC and YJ soil was increased from 1.5% to 7% and from 0 to 5%, respectively, after planting hairy vetch and sesban. This study showed that mixed planting of green manure crops with a supplement of humic substance is highly effective for the restoration of biological health indicators of reclaimed soils.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2017

A greenhouse experiment was conducted for evaluation of ecological effects of transgenic melon plants in the rhizospheric soil in terms of soil properties, enzyme activities and microbial communities. Organic matter content of soil under transgenic melon plants was significantly higher than that of soil with non-transgenic melon plants. Significant variations were observed in organic matter, total P and K in soil cultivation with transgenic melon plants. There were also significant variations in the total numbers of colony forming units of fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria between soils treated with transgenic and non-transgenic melon plants. Transgenic and non-transgenic melon significantly enhanced several enzymes activities including urease, acid phosphatase, alkalin phosphatase, arysulphtase, ${\beta}$ glucosidase, dehydrogenase, protease and catalase. Soil polyphenoloxidase activity of $T_1$ transgenic melon was lower than that of $T_0$ transgenic melon and a non-melon plant during the same period. The first generation transgenic melon plants ($T_0$) showed significantly greater (p<0.05) effect on the activitiy of arylsulfatase, which increased from $2.540{\times}10^6CFU\;g^{-1}$ (control) to $19.860{\times}10^6CFU\;g^{-1}$ ($T_0$). These results clearly indicated that transgenic melon might change microbial communities, enzyme activities and soil chemical properties.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.122-128
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• 1988

The enzymatic properties of soil cellobiohydrolase were examined and compared with those of cellobiohydrolase-active extracts from soil in the forms of enzyme-humic complex and humicfree enzyme, and cellobiohydrolase partially pruified from Aspergillus niger. The pH optima of soil cellobiohydrolase and cellobiohydrolase-humic complex were greater by 1.5-3.0 pH units than those of cellobiohydrolase in humic-free extract and from A. niger. Soil cellobiohydrolase and cellobiohydrolase-humic complex were remarkably resistant to thermal denaturation and proteolysis. These results confirm that cellobiohydrolase in soil is atable in conditions which rapidly inactivate microbial cellobiohydrolase and that its stability is due to the immobilization of this enzyme by association with humic substances. The Michaelis-Menten constants (Km) for soil, cellobiohydrolase-humic complex, humic free extract and cellobiohydrolase from A. niger were 22.1mg/ml, 11.3mg/ml, 10.6mg/ml and 4.5 mg/ml of Avicel, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.211-214
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• 2004

MTBE로 오염된 토양에서 생태독성학적 접근 방법으로 3가지 토양 효소의 활성도를 측정해 보았다. MTBE의 잠재적 위험성으로 인한 논란은 계속되고 있으나 토양 오염에 대한 지표로써 토양 효소 활성도의 사용타당성 여부에 대한 실험은 이전에 행해지지 않았다. 따라서 중금속 오염 토양에 대해 좋은 지표로 사용되고 있는 토양 미생물 효소의 활성도를 MTBE에 적용하여 실험해 보았다. 사용한 토양 효소는 Acid Phosphotase, $\beta$-Glucosidase 그리고 Arysulfatase였다. 그러나 실험 결과 MTBE로 오염된 토양의 경우 중금속으로 오염된 토양에 비해 토양 미생물 활성도의 감소가 매우 적었다. 따라서 MTBE의 오염 토양의 경우 본 연구에서 측정된 효소의 활성도는 좋은 지표로 적합하지 않다는 것을 확인했다.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.503-512
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• 1995

The present paper describes partial results of the study on the activities of microbes in the soil of Quercus mongolica forest from July, 1994 to April, 1995. To determine the relationship between structure and function of soil microbial ecosystem, the author investigated the seasonal change of physical environmental factors, microbial population and soil enzyme activities. The changes of pH was not significant and the temperature of surface soil was 2℃ higher than lower soil through out the year. Moisture contents (％) of soil samples ranged from 7.64％ to 42.11％. However, soils of site 3 at Mt. Komdan in which vegetation is successional have higher moisture content than the others. The bacterial population increased in summer, but continuously decreased in autumn and winter, and then reincreased again in spring. Bacterial population of surface soil was higher than those of 30 cm depth all the year round. Dehydrogenase activity (DHA) was about two-fold higher throughout in surface soil compared to those of lower soil. And the correlation coefficient between DHA and bacterial population size was 0,713, It was suggested that DHA could be used as a primary index of soil microbial population and activity in soil ecosystem.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2010

Atmospheric $CO_2$ concentrations have increased exponentially over the last century and, if continued, are expected to have significant effects on plants and soil. In this study, we investigated the effects of elevated $CO_2$ on the growth of Pinus densiflora seedling and microbial activity in soil. Three-year-old pine seedlings were exposed to ambient as well as elevated levels of $CO_2$ (380 and 760 ppmv, respectively). Growth rates and C:N ratios of the pine seedlings were also determined. Dissolved organic carbon content, phenolic compound content, and microbial activity were measured in bulk soil and rhizosphere soil. The results show that elevated $CO_2$ significantly increased the root dry weight of pine seedling. In addition, overall N content decreased, which increased the C:N ratio in pine needles. Elevated $CO_2$ decreased soil moisture, nitrate concentration, and the concentration of soil phenolic compounds. In contrast, soil enzymatic activities were increased in rhizosphere soil, including ${\beta}$-glucosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase and phosphatase enzyme activities. In conclusion, elevated $CO_2$ concentrations caused distinct changes in soil chemistry and microbiology.