This study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics of geosmin production of Anabaena circinalis under different environmental condition. The test cyanobacterium was isolated from Lake Paldang. The growth rate and geosmin production of A. circinalis were examined with different variables including temperature (10, 15, 20, 25℃), light intensity (60, 120, 240 μmol photons m-2 s-1), and phosphorus concentration (0.01, 0.05, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 mg L-1). The highest growth rate and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration appeared at 25℃, 60 μmol photons m-2 s-1 and 1.00 mgP L-1 for temperature, light intensity, and P concentration, respectively. Total geosmin production was highest at the optimal growth condition of each variable, while chlorophyll-specific geosmin production (the ratio of geosmin to Chl-a) was higher at the less favorable growth condition, indicating high potential of the off-flavor problem during low temperature period, e.g., late fall and early winter. Our results demonstrated that geosmin production of A. circinalis was directly related to chlorophyll synthesis and varied with cellular growth condition.

최근 먹는물 수질 기준 강화에 따라 정수처리시설에 고분자 나노여과(Nanofilatration, NF)막이 도입되고 있으나, 화학 세정으로 인한 막의 주기적인 교체가 불가피하다. 반면, 세라믹 막은 강한 물리/화학적 내구성을 지니고 있으나, NF막 제조 기술의 한계로 상용화되지 못하고 있다. 연구에서는 알루미나-지르코니아 나노물질을 여과코팅 방법으로 세라믹 막의 평균 공극 크기를 감소시켰고, SEM-EDX, 분획분자량, 자연유기물, 염(CaCl2) 제거를 통해 막의 특성 변화를 분석하였다. 제조된 막은 분획분자량이 400 Da.이고, Suwannee river 자연유기물과 염의 제거율이 각각 92%와 58%였다. 이취미 물질인 지오스민 제거평가 결과, 실험조건에서 65%의 지오스민이 제거됨을 확인하였다.

Recently, the production of taste and odor (T&O) compounds is a common problem in water industry. Geosmin is one of the T&O components in drinking water. However, geosmin is hardly eliminated through the conventional water treatment systems. Among various advanced processes capable of removing geosmin, adsorption process using granular activated carbon (GAC) is the most commonly used process. As time passes, however GAC process changes into biological activated carbon (BAC) process. There is little information on the BAC process in the literature. In this study, we isolated and identified microorganisms existing within various BAC processes. The microbial concentrations of BAC processes examined were 3.5×105 colony forming units (CFU/g), 2.2×106 CFU/g and 7.0×105 CFU/g in the Seongnam plant, Goyang plant and Goryeong pilot plant, respectively. The dominant bacterial species were found to be Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Novosphingobium rosa and Afipia broomeae in each plants. Removal efficiencies of 3 μg/L geosmin by the dominant species were 36.1%, 36.5% and 34.3% in mineral salts medium(MSM) where geosmin was a sole carbon source.

This study was carried out in the Bukhan River in the summer of 2014 and 2015, to identify the relationship between geosmin and the morphological changes in Anabaena. Identification of Anabaena was conducted using morphological and molecular analyses. Anabaena in this study was similar to Anabaena circinalis, A. crass, and A. spiroides with regard to regular coils, vegetative cell, akinete shape, and size, hoever, it was distinguishabl from A. crass and A. spiroides because of its larger trichome coil size. Additionally, the sequences of phycocyanin (PC) gene from Anabaena showed a 99% genetic similarity with A. circinalis NIES-1647 strain. The coil diameter of trichome ranged from 106 to 899 μm, and the diameter and abundance showed an insignificant positive correlation (r=0.544, p<0.05). The result of relationship between the coil diameter and the cell number per 360-degree rotation was kept at 33.8±5.2 cells per 100 μm diameter despite variable diameter. The average geosmin concentrations in 2014 and 2015 were investigated to be 99 ng/L and 35 ng/L, respectively. A. circinalis cell density contributed considerably to the change in geosmin and was positively correlated with geosmin concentration (2014; r=0.599, p<0.01, 2015; r=0.559, p<0.01). Our results suggest that geosmin and coil diameter could be estimated with the help of cell density.