• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.324-333
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• 2014

The Black Pine, Pinus thunbergii, is widely distributed along the eastern coast of Korea and its importance as a shelterbelt was highlighted after tsunamis in Indonesia and Japan. The root endophytic diversity of P. thunbergii was investigated in three coastal regions; Goseong, Uljin, and Busan. Fungi were isolated from the root tips, and growth rates of pure cultures were measured and compared between PDA with and without 3% NaCl to determine their saline resistance. A total of 259 isolates were divided into 136 morphotypes, of which internal transcribed spacer region sequences identified 58 species. Representatives of each major fungi phylum were present: 44 Ascomycota, 8 Zygomycota, and 6 Basidiomycota. Eighteen species exhibited saline resistance, many of which were Penicillium and Trichoderma species. Shoreline habitats harbored higher saline-tolerant endophytic diversity compared with inland sites. This investigation indicates that endophytes of P. thunbergii living closer to the coast may have higher resistance to salinity and potentially have specific relationships with P. thunbergii.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.281-291
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• 2022

Quantifying the abundance of Chattonella species is necessary to effectively manage the threats from ichthyotoxic raphidophytes, which can cause large-scale mortality of aquacultured fish in temperate waters. The identification and cell counting of Chattonella species have been conducted primarily on living cells without fixation by light microscopy because routine fixatives do not retain their morphological features. Species belonging to the Chattonella marina complex, including C. marina and C. marina var. ovata, had high genetic similarities and the lack of clear morphological delimitations between the species. To estimate the abundance of C. marina complex in marine plankton samples, we developed a protocol based on the droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) assay, with C. marina complex-specific primers targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA. Cell abundance of the C. marina complex can be determined using the ITS copy number per cell, ranging from 25 ± 1 for C. marina to 112 ± 7 for C. marina var. ovata. There were no significant differences in ITS copies estimated by the ddPCR assay between environmental DNA samples from various localities spiked with the same number of cells of culture strains. This approach can be employed to improve the monitoring efficiency of various marine protists and to support the implementation of management for harmful algal blooms, which are difficult to analyze using microscopy alone.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.1019-1025
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• 2011

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in the recognition of invading pathogens and the modulation of innate immune responses in mammals. The TLR4 and TLR7 are well known to recognize the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and single stranded (ssRNA) ligands, respectively and play important role in host defense against Gram-negative bacteria and ssRNA viruses. In the present study, coding exon fragments of these two TLRs were identified, cloned, sequenced and analyzed in terms of insertion-deletion polymorphism, within bovine TLRs 4 and 7, thereby facilitating future TLR signaling and association studies relevant to bovine innate immunity. Comparative sequence analysis of TLR 4 exons revealed that this gene is more variable, particularly the coding frame (E3P1), while other parts showed percent identity of 95.7% to 100% at nucleotide and amino acid level, respectivley with other Bos indicus and Bos taurus breeds from different parts of the world. In comparison to TLR4, sequence analysis of TLR7 showed more conservation among different B. indicus and B. taurus breeds, except single point mutation at 324 nucleotide position (AAA to AAM) altering a single amino acid at 108 position (K to X). Percent identity of TLR7 sequences (all 3 exons) was between 99.2% to 100% at nucleotide and amino acid level, when compared with available sequence database of B. indicus and B. taurus. Simple Modular Architecture Research Tool (SMART) analysis showed variations in the exon fragments located in the Leucine Rich Repeat (LRR) region, which is responsible for binding with the microbial associated molecular patterns and further, downstream signaling to initiate anti-microbial response. Considering importance of TLR polymorphism in terms of innate immunity, further research is warranted.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.392-403
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• 2020

This study analyzed the distribution characteristics of invasive alien plants on the islands of the Korean Peninsula. Ten species, Rumex acetosella, Sicyos angulatus, Solanum carolinense, Ambrosia artemisiaefolia var. elatior, Ambrosia trifida, Aster pilosus, Eupatorium rugosum, Hypochaeris radicata, Lactuca scariola, and Paspalum distichum were present on 68 islands. These ecosystem-disturbing invasive alien plants appeared extensively on the islands of Gyeonggi province and Jeollanam province. The proportion of the plants on the inhabited islands (41 places, 2.15 species on average) was higher than that on the uninhabited islands (27 places, 1.07 species on average). This means that the distribution of invasive alien plants was closely related to human activity. The distribution of Ambrosia artemisiaefolia var. elatior(32 islands) and Rumex acetosella (31 islands) was the widest, and there were distinct distribution differences according to species. In the island area, the physical environment is poor compared to the mainland, and the native space is limited. Therefore, when invasive alien species enter and settle on the island, the native island plants can be damaged more than those on the mainland. In this regard, the discussion of the distribution of invasive alien plants in the island region can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity in the region.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.247-263
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• 2008

A two-dimensional (2D) reservoir hydrodynamics and water quality model, CE-QUAL-W2, is employed to simulate the hydrothermal behavior and density current regime in Andong Reservoir. Observed data used for model forcing and calibration includes: surface water level, water temperature, dissolved oxygen and suspended solids concentration. The model was calibrated to the year of 2003 and verified with continuous run from 2000 till 2004. Without major adjustments, the model accurately simulated surface water levels including the events of large storm. Deep-water reservoirs, like Andong Reservoir, located in the Asian Monsoon region begin to stratify in summer and overturn in fall. This mixing pattern as well as the descending thermocline, onset and duration of stratification and timing of turnover phenomenon were well reproduced by the Andong Model. The temperature field and distinct thermocline are simulated to within $2^{\circ}C$ of observed data. The model performed well in simulating not only the dissolved oxygen profiles but also the metalimnetic dissolved minima phenomenon, a common1y occurring phenomenon in deep reservoirs of temperate regions. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values of model calibration for surface water elevation, temperature and dissolved oxygen were 0.0095 m, $1.82^{\circ}C$, and $1.13\;mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The turbid storm runoff, during the summer monsoon, formed an intermediate layer of about 15 m thickness, moved along the metalimnion until being finally discharged from the dam. This mode of transport of density current, a common characteristic of various other large reservoirs in the Asian summer monsoon region, was well tracked by the model.

• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.415-427
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• 2012

$CO_2$ is the most important trace gas related to climate change. Therefore, understanding surface carbon sources and sinks is important when seeking to estimate the impact of $CO_2$ on the environment and climate. CarbonTracker, developed by NOAA, is an inverse modeling system that estimates surface carbon fluxes using an ensemble Kalman filter with atmospheric $CO_2$ measurements as a constraint. In this study, to investigate the capability of CarbonTracker as an analysis tool for estimating surface carbon fluxes in Asia, an experiment with a nesting domain centered in Asia is performed. In general, the results show that setting a nesting domain centered in Asia region enables detailed estimations of surface carbon fluxes in Asia. From a rank histogram, the prior ensemble spread verified at observational sites located in Asia is well represented with a relatively flat rank histogram. The posterior flux in the Eurasian Boreal and Eurasian Temperate regions is well analyzed with proper seasonal cycles and amplitudes. On the other hand, in tropical regions of Asia, the posterior flux does not differ greatly from the prior flux due to fewer $CO_2$ observations. The root mean square error of the model $CO_2$ calculated by the posterior flux is less than the model $CO_2$ calculated by the prior flux, implying that CarbonTracker based on the ensemble Kalman filter works appropriately for the Asia region.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 1999

The physical map of bacteriophage $\PhiFC1$ DNA was constructed with the restriction endonucleases SalI, BamHI, EcoRI, XbaI, and AvaI. The 40.5-kb DNA restriction map is shown to be circularly permuted representing the headful packaging mechanism of the phage. The DNA restriction fragments containing the packaging initiation site(pac) was localized on the restriction map and the nucleotide sequences of the region were analyzed. Four open reading frames (ORFs), following one another with the same orientation, were found at the region. The 2nd ORF (ORF-ts) has significant amino acid sequence homologies to the previously known terminase small subunits of other bacteriophages. The putative terminase small subunit gene has a presumptive NTP-hydrolysis motif and a helix-turn-helix motif. The cleavage site for the first round of packaging was found to be located at the coding sequence of the putative terminase small subunit gene. The fourth ORF, even if partially sequenced, has a good amino acid sequence homology to the portal vertex proteins of other bacteriophages representing the evolutionarily conserved arrangements of genes near the pac site of this bacteriophage, $\PhiFC1$.

• Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2013

Low-temperature stress is an important factor controlling the growth and development of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in temperate region. In this study, a molecular linkage map consisting of 136 SSR markers was employed to identify QTL associated with cold tolerance at the seedling stage. 80 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from an intersubspecific cross between Milyang23 (O. sativa ssp. Indica) and Hapcheonaengmi3, a japonica weedy rice and the parents were evaluated for leaf discoloration and SAPD value of seedlings. Rice plants were grown for 15 days in the low-temperature condition (13/20℃ day/night) and the control condition (25/20℃ day/night) in the growth chamber. The degree of leaf discoloration showed a highly significant correlation with the SPAD value in the low-temperature plot (r = -0.708, P < 0.0001). A total of four QTLs for SPAD were identified and the phenotypic variance explained by each QTL ranged from 5.4 to 16.0%. Two QTLs detected in the control condition were located on chromosomes 2 and 5, respectively. Two QTL on chromosomes 1 and 4 were detected at the low-temperature condition and Hapcheonaengmi3 alleles increased the SPAD values at these loci. Substitution mapping was conducted to delimit the position of qSPA-4 using introgression lines derived from the same cross. Results indicated that qSPA-4 was located in a 810-Kb region flanked by RM16333 and RM16368. The results indicated that Hapcheonaengmi3 contains QTL alleles that are likely to improve cold tolerance of Indica rice.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 1993

The Study was conducted to develope the low temperature tolerant methane-producing bacteria(LTTB) and to increase the efficiency of anaerobic fermentation for the treatment of agricultural and livestock wastes at low temperature. The samples were collected from muddy soil, water logged sediment, organic layer and anaerobic sludge at three latitudes, $34.8{\sim}37.4\;^{\circ}N(Korea)$, $41.4\;^{\circ}N(USA)$ and $54.5{\sim}56.9\;^{\circ}N(Canada)$. They were used for determination of the methanogenesis rates for isolation and identification of the LTTB. The methanogenesis rate of smaples at low temperature were higher in the cellulose medium than methanol medium. The methanogenesis rate in the samples of subarctic region were $15{\sim}19$ moles/ml during 30 days at low temperature($8\;^{\circ}C$), whereas not detected in the samples of temperate region. The methanogenesis rate in the enrichment culture of subarctic samples were inhibited by the $40\;{\mu}g/ml$ of streptomycin + vancomycin or ampicillin + oleandomycin which were not effect to the methanogens. An inhabitation of high temperature tolerant methane producing bacteria was identified in the samples of temperate region, whereas that of the LTTB growing at $8{\sim}13^{\circ}C$ was identified in the subarctic region.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.85-93
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• 2008

The MAEULSOOP, Korean traditional village groves have been installed and survived since 7th Century to serve local village dwellers as a community forest. The common sense of their reasons for being is related to the surroundings such as hills, waterways and wind-ways. To understand the roles in a local community, spatial characteristics of distribution, locations and shapes were tested at the two-characterized regions, the Southwestern Flat Region and the Eastern Hilly Region. Approximately more than 500 written evidences related to trees and forests were surveyed, for example village names, folk tales and lists of designated trees for protection. Twenty sites in each region were selected and tested for the spatial analysis. Aerial photographs, DEM and the ArcGIS with a modified AML for slope analysis are applied based on the criteria of the KLCIS(Kwon, 2002; 권진오, 2008). The major factors in the role of the MAEULSOOP based on the spatial character of two regions are; the array and locations of hills for encircling or exposure, locations against corridors and waterway or not, locations of the community to serve, the conservation of energy. Although locations and shapes of the MAEULSOOP are slightly different, it seems that one of the prime roles is what makes their everyday life difficult the most in the community.