• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.315-328
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• 2023

Cyanobacteria have been used as pollution indicator species in freshwater ecosystems, and identifying their fluctuations can be an important part about management of surface waters globally. Cyanotoxins produced by cyanobacteria are directly or indirectly a threat to human and environmental health. In order to confirm the potential risk of these cyanotoxins, the fluctuations of phytoplankton and phylogenetic analysis of cyanotoxin synthetase genes were conducted at each point in the Yeongsan River water system in Gwangju from November 2021 to October 2022. Diatoms which grow well in winter were dominant at 99.4 ~ 99.5%, and diatoms and green algae were dominant from the spring to autumn when the water temperature rises. Stephanodiscus spp. were dominant at 92.7 to 97.5 % at all sites in the winter, and Aulacoseira spp., which grow in warm water temperatures, were dominant in summer and autumn. Microcystis aeruginosa was dominant at 25.2% in summer only at site 5. mcyB and anaC have been detected as cyanotoxin synthetase genes. The phylogenetic tree of anaC could be divided into two groups (Group 1 & Group 2). Group 1 contained Aphanizomenon sp. and Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi. It is combined with Aphanizomenon sp. and Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi, which are known to produce cyanotoxins.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.943-952
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• 2013

Algae blooms have soared recently in the lakes across the nation due to eutrophication. Blue-green algae cause unpleasant scene, produce taste and odor problem, and hinder processes in drinking water treatment. Algae toxicity monitoring has been strengthened, because the damages of wild lives and livestocks by algal toxins have been reported. Investigation on the characteristics of cyanobacterial occurrence and concentration distribution of Cyanotoxins in Hoeya reservoir have been conducted. Physical and chemical influences of water environment on cyanobacterial occurrences have also been studied. Movements of four species of Microcystin and five species of Anatoxin-a among Cyanotoxins were observed by LC-MS/MS analysis. Microcystis spp. among the cyanobacteria have mainly dominated in the Hoeya reservoir during the investigating period. The density of cyanobacteria were positively correlated with temperature and pH of water. Highest concentrations of Microcystin-LR and Microcystin-RR were $0.424{\mu}g/L$ and $0.117{\mu}g/L$ at the sampling points. Total concentration of Cyanotoxins in water coming into the water treatment plant was $0.182{\mu}g/L$, and they were not detected in treated water.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.20 no.2 s.56
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• pp.1-11
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• 2005

Cyanotoxin, microcystins commonly produced by cyanobacterial affect various aquatic organisms and even human health. Kinds, structures, measurement analysis, toxicity and removal of Microcystin-LR were explained and discussed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.67-79
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• 2016

Cyanotoxins in aquatic ecosystems have been investigated by many researchers worldwide. Cyanotoxins can be classified according to toxicity as neurotoxins (anatoxin-a, anatoxin-a(s), saxitoxins) or hepatotoxins (microcystins, nodularin, cylindrospermopsin). Microcystins are generally present within cyanobacterial cells and are released by damage to the cell membrane. Cyanotoxins have been reported to cause adverse effects and to accumulate in aquatic organisms in lakes, rivers and oceans. Possible pathways of microcystins in Lake Suwa, Japan, have been investigated from five perspectives: production, adsorption, physiochemical decomposition, bioaccumulation and biodegradation. In this study, temporal variability in microcystins in Lake Suwa were investigated over 25 years (1991~2015). In nature, microcystins are removed by biodegradation of microorganisms and/or feeding of predators. However, during water treatment, the use of copper sulfate to remove algal cells causes extraction of a mess of microcystins. Cyanotoxins are removed by physical, chemical and biological methods, and the reduction of nutrients inflow is a basic method to prevent cyanobacterial bloom formation. However, this method is not effective for eutrophic lakes because nutrients are already present. The presence of a cyanotoxins can be a potential threat and therefore must be considered during water treatment. A complete understanding of the mechanism of cyanotoxins degradation in the ecosystem requires more intensive study, including a quantitative enumeration of cyanotoxin degrading microbes. This should be done in conjunction with an investigation of the microbial ecological mechanism of cyanobacteria degradation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.2 s.112
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• pp.237-248
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• 2005

To determine the content of hazard microcystin (MC) in Han River system and Ecological Ponds in Seoul City and Kyunggi district, a most toxic derivative, microcystin-LR (MCLR) of 15 samples of 7 ponds, 4 rivers and 4 reservoirs during low precipitation and cold season in 2003 were analyzed by ELISA method. With the change of water temperature ($0.4\;{\sim}\;21.9^{\circ}C$), cyanobacteria including Microcystis aeruginosa dominated the cold phytoplankton community in small ecological ponds such as Kyungbokgung Kyunghyaeru (KBP), Seokchon reservoir (SCR), Yangsoori Ryukgakji (YSS), having the long residence time. Contents of MCLR (the detection limit; $0.05\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$) were high in cyanobacteria-rich sites, especially, Microcystis aeruginosa. Total MCLR, cell extracted type plus dissolved type, were $1.39\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ in KBP, $0.55\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ in SCR and $0.59\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ in YSS, in the first sampling having a high temperature (>$20^{\circ}C$), while some detected only in YSS during the cold season. As expected, the MCLR content was correlated with Microcystis aeruginosa (r = 0.526 for cell extracted type, r = 0.433 for dissolved type). Therefore, low concentration of MCLR detected in small ponds and Han river system in Seoul metropolitan city and Kyunggi district, maybe hardly affect human recreation activity, especially the drinking water supply.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.597-605
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• 2009

Algae bloom occurred in reservoir in summer can cause taste and odor in water and disturb the flocculation and sedimentation processes in water treatment plant and cause sand filter plugging. It was also reported that microcystins, anatoxin and saxitoxin released from cyanobacteria had acute toxic effects on liver and nervous system. For these reasons, many advanced countries inclusive of WHO set the guideline for these toxins and cyanotoxins have been managed with regular monitoring in Korea as well. However, complex sample preparation steps such as a solid phase extraction (SPE) and derivatization are required with an existing analysis method with HPLC. We needed to improve an analysis method for low extraction efficiency and long sample preparation time. In this study, we have established a new LC/MS/MS method which can simultaneously determine 6 cyanotoxins (Microcystins-LR, Microcystins-RR, Microcystins-YR, Anatoxin-a, Saxitoxin, Neosaxitoxin) with only simple filtration step. When $75{\mu}L$ filterated sample was injected onto the LC-MS/MS, the recovery ranged from 86% to 112% and the MDL was $0.025{\sim}0.581{\mu}g/L$. We can make the MDL be lower than the guideline ($1{\sim}3{\mu}g/L$) of advanced countries with simple preparation.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2016

Objectives: Microcystin (MC) produced during cyanobacterial blooms is a worldwide problem presenting a serious health threats to humans and ecosystems. During July through October of 2013, the Ilwol Reservoir experienced a high biomass of phytoplankton (maximum $211.7mg/m^3$ of Chlorophyll-a) containing the toxigenic cyanobacterium Oscillatoria sp. The aim of this study is to analyze MC concentration in the reservoir water, as well as in representative fish species (Carassius cuvieri, Carassius auratus, Channa argus). We also evaluated the human health risk of exposure to MCs accumulated in the fish. Methods: Concentrations of MCs in the water and fish samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography with a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (LC/MS/MS) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The total levels of four MC variants, including MC-LR, MC-RR, MC-YR and MC-LA were below the WHO drinking water guideline limit (1 ug MC-LR per liter) both for the dissolved and particulate fraction present in the water samples. The mean MC concentrations in the livers of all species were significantly higher than in the gills (p < 0.01) and muscles (p < 0.05). The values of estimated daily intake of MCs in muscles, the edible part of the fish, would be only $0.005-0.015{\mu}g/kg{\cdot}day$, much lower than WHO's provisional tolerable daily intake of $0.04{\mu}g/kg{\cdot}day$. Conclusion: This study suggests that, owing to the spatial distribution or temporal variation of MC, there is a need for careful monitoring of cyanotoxin in reservoir water and aquatic animals to protect public health.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.657-667
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• 2015

Cyanobacteria frequently dominate the freshwater phytoplankton community in eutrophic waters. Cyanotoxins can be classified according to toxicity as neurotoxin (Anatoxin-a, Anatoxin-a(s), Saxitoxins) or hepatotoxin (microcystins, nodularin, cylindrospermopsin). Microcystins are present within cyanobacterial cells generally, and they are extracted by the damage of cell membrane. It has been reported that cyanotoxins caused adverse effects and they are acculmulated in aquatic oganisms of lake, river and ocean. In natural, microcystins are removed by biodegradation of microorganisms and/or feeding of predators. However, in process of water treatment, the use of copper sulfate to remove algal cells caused extraction of a mess of microcystins. Microcysitns are removed by physical, chemical and biological methods according to reports. The reduction of nutrients (N and P) inflow is basic method of prevention of cyanobacteria bloom formation. However, it is less effective than investigation because nutrients already present in the eutrophic lake. In natural lake, cyanobacteria bloom are not formed because macrophytes invade from coastal lake by eutrophication. Therefore, a coastal lake has to recover to prevent of cyanobacteria bloom formation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

Targeting Microcystin (MC), which is most abundantly detected in the North-Han River water area, we analyzed the relationship between the MC biosynthesis gene (mcyA gene), cyanobacteria cell density, and MC concentration, derived an RNA-MC conversion formula, and derived the cyanobacteria. The concentration of MC present in cells was predicted. In the North-Han River waters, the mcyA gene was found mainly at downstream sites of the North-Han River after Muk-Hyeon Stream junction, and higher copy numbers were found on average than other sites. In the Uiam Lake waters upstream of the North-Han River, the mcyA gene copy number increased at the Kong-Ji Stream point, and after September, the mcyA gene copy number decreased throughout the North-Han River waters. The expression of the mcyA gene was concentrated in the short period of summer due to the spatio-temporal difference between upstream and downstream water bodies. The mcyA gene expression level was not only highly correlated with MC concentration, but also correlated with the cell density of Microcystis aeruginosa and Dolichospermum circinale, which are known to biosynthesize MC. Six conversion formulas derived based on the RNA-MC relationship showed statistical significance (p<0.05) and exhibited high correlation coefficients (r) of 0.9 or higher. The expression level of MC biosynthesis gene present in eRNA determines the synthesis of cyanotoxin substances in water, quickly quantifies gene activity, and can be fully utilized for early warning of MC development.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.137-147
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• 2017

The identity of toxin producers remains only hypothesis unless there were identified by strain isolation and analytical confirmation of both the cyanotoxin production and the genetic identity of the monoculture. The purposes of this study were to identify a morphologic and phylogenetic classification in Aphanizomenon flos-aquae strains isolated from the Nakdong River and to investigate the potential ability of the strains to produce toxins such as saxitoxin and cylindrospermopsin using target genes. The 16S rRNA and sxtA, sxtI, cyrA, cyrJ genes were analyzed on two strains (DGUC001, DGUC003) isolated from the Nakdong River. Morphological features of the strains were observed a shape of aggregated trichomes in parallel fascicles which can reach up to macroscopic size and a hyaline terminal cell without aerotope. In addition, the 16S rRNA phylogenetic analyses showed that the strains were identified as the same species with high genetic similarity of 98.4% and grouped within a monospecific andsupported cluster I of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae selected from GenBank of the NCBI. The cyrA and cyrJ genes encoding for the cylindrospermopsin-biosynthesis were not detected in the present study. The sxtA gene was in detected both the two strains, whereas the sxtI gene which had been suggested as a suitable molecular marker to detect saxitoxin-producing cyanobacteria was not found both the strains. Thus, the two strains isolated from Nakdong River were identified as the same species of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae Ralfs ex Bornet et Flahault 1888, the two strains were confirmed as potential non-producing strains of the saxitoxin and cylindrospermopsin.