Ground seawater quality was investigated, and the algal growth potential (AGP) tests were performed along the Tongyeong coast to examine the inflow of materials, which is needed for the red tide species Cochlodinium polykrikoides to grow. The study was conducted to determine the mechanism for C. polykrikoidesred tides. Water temperature, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) ranged from 16.05 to 20.74°C, 18.20 to 32.11 psu, 6.00 to 7.61, and 3.41 to 7.91 mg/L (41.4– 96.1%), respectively. No seasonal variation was observed in water temperature. The salinity, pH, and DO saturations at most stations were lower than those of coastal seawater at Tongyeong. The NH4 +-N, NO2+3 --N, PO4 3--P concentrations ranged from 0.43 to 16.00μM, 1.50 to 132.38μM, and 1.30 to 6.29μM, respectively; the values at some stations were much higher than observed in Tongyeong coast seawater. Using seawater from station B, C. polykrikoides grew consistently, with a high growth rate, similar to the red tide in nature. This seawater appeared to contain materials needed by C. polykrikoides to grow. Therefore, C. polykrikoides red tides seem to occur wherever the ground sea water contains materials that are needed for its growth.

We examined the horizontal distribution of salinity and the concentrations of DIN and DIP after heavy rainfall events in coastal areas of South Korea from Yeoja Bay to Narodo and from Gwangyang Bay to Geomodo to determine whether fresh water actually flows into areas of Cochlodinium polykrikoides red tides and to observe its effect on the growth of this organism after heavy rainfall. Following heavy rainfall (155 mm) in the Yeosu and Suncheon regions, the average salinity was 21 and 29 psu at Yeoja Bay and in the coastal waters of Narodo, respectively. After 126 mm of rainfall, the values were 19 and 25 psu in the coastal waters of Yeosu and Geomodo, respectively. This may have been caused by an influx of fresh water, after the rainfall event, into the open sea coastal areas around Narodo and Geomodo from the Dong and Seomjin Rivers, which are about 3540 km away. After the rainfall, the concentrations of NH4-N, NO2-N, and PO4-P were slightly increased; however, the concentration of NO3-N was greatly increased and diffused throughout the coastal areas of Narodo and Geomodo, which frequently experience C. polykrikoides blooms. The influence of NH4-N, NO2-N, and PO4-P on the occurrence of C. polykrikoidesred tides in coastal areas around Narodo and Geomodo after heavy rainfall does not appear to be great. Instead, the occurrence C. polykrikoides red tides in the coastal areas of Narodo and Geomodo seems to be facilitated by NO3-N.

Oil spill caused severe effects on the marine fauna and flora due to direct contact of organisms with the oil and even in regions not directly affected by the spill. This study was conducted to understand the effects of the oil spill accidents and the use of dispersant on the red tide of Cochlodinium polykrikoides. Crude oil produced in Kuwait, bunker-C, kerosene and diesel oil, and a chemical dispersant produced in Korea, were added with a series of 10 ppb to 100 ppm in the f/2-Si medium at 20℃ under a photon flux from cool white fluorescent tubes of 100 mol m-2 s-1 in a 14: 10 h L:D cycle for the culture of C. polykrikoides. In low concentrations of ≤1 ppm of examined oils no impact on the growth of C. polykrikoides was recorded, while in high concentration of ≥10 ppm, cell density was significantly decreased with the range of 10 to 80% in comparison with the control. The growth of C. polykrikoides after the addition of the dispersant and the mixtures combined with oils and a dispersant of ≥10 ppm appeared to decrease, whereas the growth of C. polykrikoides exposed to ≤100 ppb showed little serious impact. However, almost all the C. polykrikoides cells were died regardless of a dispersant and combined mixtures within a few days after the addition of high concentrations.

To analyze the water characteristics in the dry and wet seasons, the data for temperature, salinity, nutrients and chl-a were used, which were observed in the south coastal area of Korea during April to October 2000. At Yeosu in the south coast of Korea, the higher values of 35.0 psu in salinity were shown in March and April, the lower values of 23.0 psu in salinity were shown in August and September. The annual range of salinity was 12.0 psu. The total amount of precipitation in the wet season (July to October) was occupied 68% (about 846 mm) during 2000. The precipitation of the dry season (November to June) was occupied 32% (about 394 mm) in the year. In the coastal area, the salinity variation is distinct in the period of July to October. Based on this result, we divided the season into two parts: the dry season during April to June and the wet season during July to October. Factor analysis was shown that temperature has strong negative relation and nutrients show positive relations in the dry season by the factor 1, which explains the total variance of 50.6% at the surface water. In the wet season, salinity has negative relation and nutrients show positive relation by the factor 2, which explains the total variance of 33.5%. The bottom layer also showed similar to those of surface water in the results of factor analysis. These mean that nutrients become rich due to the freshwater inflow in the wet season. The low saline water is shown not only in the south coast but also in the overall region in the South Sea of Korea. It is suggested that the South Sea of Korea may call a ROFI (Region of Freshwater Influence) system in summer.

An algal assay procedure using an indigenous phytoplankton assemblage was tested to estimate the propagation of red tide phytoplankton species and determine the optimal time interval at which to measure growth yield in eutrophic marine waters where red tides frequently occur. Various red tide phytoplankton species were propagated on a large scale by adding nitrogen or phosphorous. This procedure was useful for estimating the limiting nutrient, elucidating the mechanisms underlying red tides, and determining the levels of increases in organic matter in eutrophic coastal waters. The algal assay using indigenous C. polykrikoides showed that this species did not always propagate, apparently because of very low concentrations of trigger elements that are necessary for its growth, rather than as a result of other environmental characteristics, e.g., water temperature or stress from sampling. In the winter, when water temperatures are lower than in spring, summer, or autumn, maximum propagation and the limiting nutrient could be estimated by measuring phytoplankton biomass at 2–3-day intervals. However, in the other seasons, when water temperatures are higher, phytoplankton biomass should be measured at 2-day intervals. In particular, daily monitoring will be required to determine precise growth yields in warm seasons.

With 3 diferent recurrent parents (RPs) (‘Suwon 345’, ‘Iri 390’ and ‘Milyang 95’) and 3 diferent donor parents (‘Dae-cheongbyeo’, ‘RantaiEmas’ and ‘Chugoku 69’ for Xa1, Xa2 and Xa3, respectively), 9 near isogenic lines (NILs) were developedand subjected t