Pumping bottom water to prevent Korean red tide damage caused by Cochlodinium polykrikoides Margalef.

Cochlodinium polykrikoides Margalef produces annual massive blooms in Korean coastal waters which cause great damage to aquaculture and fisheries. Although various methods have been developed to remove the red tide of C. polykrikoides, release of yellow loess has been regarded as the most desirable technique for mitigation for over 10 years. Each August, strong irradiation generates water column stratification separating warm surface from colder bottom waters. Water from a distance of 0 (St. 1), 5 (St. 2), 10 (St. 3), and 15 m (St. 4) was pumped by running a pump for 0, 10, 30 and 90 min and characterized water temperature, salinity collected, suspended solids, Chl-a, and phytoplankton including C. polykrikoides. After running for 30 min, was temperature and salinity in surface water was similar to those of bottom water, and water column stratification completely reversed after 90 min. Likewise, suspended solids, Chl-a, and total phytoplankton cell density decreased after 30 min, but C. polykrikoides did not show strong removal because of low cell density during sampling. However, the number of C. polykrikoides was significantly diluted (80%) after 90 min. These results suggested that pumping device was as an environmentally-friendly method convenient to be install in fish cages and effective to remove C. polykrikoides stratified water column conditions.

Real time detecting of harmful dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides using unmanned surface vehicle in dynamic environments.

Since the first occurrence in 1982, red tides have been observed annually in Korean coastal waters in the form of harmful dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms. The distinction in the proposed method for red tide monitoring is the focus on the narrow stripe red tide at an early stage to allow for advanced actions. The distance graph between Head of Narrow Red tide (HNR) and location of the robot have suggested in reference to unknown searching area. With mapping and path planning, then, it can quickly keep tracking out even if the magnitude and direction of current flow was changed. The one-hundred times simulations of different situations were attempted to comparison by box plot both algorithms of speed by reaching the right side of simulation window. Consequently, the red tide tracking algorithm is based on the red tide probability map and the tracking & recovering path planner. Inputs to the algorithm include the measured flow velocities and the detection or non-detection state at each robot location. Furthermore, a USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) model is added to evaluate the effectiveness of the algorithm. This approach for red tide monitoring may lead to a breakthrough in the field of environmental surveillance.

Genetic analysis of the purplish Washington clam (Saxidomus purpuratus Sowerby) of Korean coastal waters.

To investigate the genetic structure of the purplish Washington clam population, Saxidomus purpuratus Sowerby, in Korea. A portion of mitochondrial COI gene sequences (605 bp) for phylogenetic comparison was determined. Sequence analysis of 62 individuals collected from six regions revealed 13 haplotypes. Phylogenetic analysis using Phylogeny Inference Package (PHYLIP) subdivided the purplish Washington clam into two clades (termed clade A and B), weak supported groups (< 65 of bootstrap value). This haplotype subdivision was also in accordance with geographic separation; one each at Masan, Yeosu, Samcheonpo, Jubyeon and Geojedo, and the other at Sineju. Population genetic analysis subdivided these two population groups with a geographic distance (d = 0.431, p = 0.379). Furthermore, in the Sineju population, the maximum sequence divergence (2.67%) and minimum nucleotide diversity (0.0012426) were shown in which might be reflective of a relatively small population size and the geographical isolation of the population as compared with other populations. However, a very high migration rate (N(m) = 59.62-infinite) and a very low level of geographic distance (F(ST) = -0.076-0.055) were noted to exist among the South and East Sea populations, suggesting that individuals between populations should show a significantly active genetic mixing and migration regardless of geography. These findings allowed us to conclude that the purplish Washington clam populations occurring in the South and East Sea were formed with randomly dispersed individuals.

Effect of environmental impact to molecular expression of heat-shock protein (HSP70) in oyster Crassostrea gigas from Gamak bay, Korea.

The cDNA of Crassostrea gigas HSP70 was cloned and rapid amplification of cDNA (RACE) techniques were used. The full length of HSP70 cDNA was 2045 bp, consisting of a 5' terminal untranslated region (UTR) of 80 bp, a 3' terminal UTR 146 bp, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 1829 bp encoding deduced 620 amino acids. The HSP70 cDNA contained HSP70 family signatures, ATP-GTP binding site motif, tetrapeptide (GGMP) and conserved carboxyl terminal region (EEVD) at C-terminal of deduced amino acid sequence. BLAST analysis revealed that the HSP70 gene has an extreme similarity of 98.9% with C. gigas (AF144646). Northern blotting was used to examine the expression of HSP70 mRNA in the gill tissue of the oyster obtained from surface, middle and bottom layers. The HSP70 mRNA observed the samples taken from middle and bottom layers in September and February, but samples from the surface layer did not find a signal intensity of HSP70 mRNA transcript. Consequently, it seems that the oyster occurring middle and bottom layer have been stressed during the period of summer and winter, which is associated with the massive mortality in Gamak bay.

Population genetic structure of the ark shell Scapharca broughtonii Schrenck from Korea, China, and Russia based on COI gene sequences.

Haplotype distribution, gene flow, and population genetic structure of the ark shell (Scapharca broughtonii) were studied using a partial sequence of a mitochondrial COI gene. The sequence analysis of 100 specimens obtained from a total of seven localities-five in Korea, one in China, and one in Russia- revealed 29 haplotypes, ranging in sequence divergence from 0.1% to 2.1%. Among these, the most frequent haplotype, SB16, was extensively distributed over study areas, especially in all Korean localities. This extensive distribution consequently resulted in the near absence of statistically significant genetic distance. Also, a high rate of gene flow was characteristic among localities in Korea. A test of genetic population structure showed that the ark shell in Korea formed a large genetic group. Moreover, an AMOVA test to determine the allocation of the genetic variance showed that most of the variance was distributed between localities, instead of within localities. However, a significant population differentiation was found between geographic populations [i.e., Jinhae (locality 6) in Korea and Sangdong (locality 5) in China and Vladivostok (locality 7) in Russia] based on geographic distance and population structure. These distinct groups may be associated with geographic characteristics and barriers. The results suggest that most of the ark shell populations in Korea caused considerable distribution to form a genetically homogeneous and intermixing structure, whereas some of the Korean and Chinese and Russian populations had a significantly different genetic structure.