Previously, several levels of phylogenetic relationships in an insect order Odonata have been estimated using morphological and molecular markers. For the molecular phylogeny rRNA sequences were mainly, but other markers were not frequently employed. In this study, we sequenced both two mitochondrial genes (COI and 16S rRNA) and nuclear genes (28S rRNA and elongation factor-1α), composed of ~4,002 bp from 71 species of Odonata, occurring mostly in South Korea. These concatenated sequences were utilized to test the previous phylogenetic hypotheses of Odonata via Bayesian Inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) algorithms, along with the data partition option available in BI method. Each families and superfamilies represented by multiple taxa consistently supported monophylies with the highest nodal supports in both Anisoptera and Zygoptera. A close relationship of Anisozygoptera to Anisoptera represented by a single species was obvious. On the other hand, familial relationships within each suborder of Anisoptera and Zygoptera have shown two compelling topologies. The topology obtained by BI method with partitioning of the four genes showed an unresolved relationship among Gomphidae, Aeshnidae, and the suborder Anisozygoptera in Anisoptera clade, presenting the relationships ((((Libellulidae + Corduliidae) + Macromiidae) + (Gomphidae + Aeshnidae + Anisozygoptera)) + (((Coenagrionidae + Platycnemdidae) + Calopterygidae) + Lestidae)). Another topology obtained by both BI and ML methods without partitioning, on the other hand, placed Anisozygoptera the basal lineage of Anisoptera, but Lestidae in Zygoptera was placed as the sister to Anisoptera + Anisozygoptera, presenting the relationships (((((((Libellulidae + Corduliidae) + Macromiidae) + Aeshnidae) + Gomphidae) + Anisozygoptera) + Lestidae) + ((Coenagrionidae + Platycnemdidae) + Calopterygidae)). Topological test to find out better supported tree turned out a slight higher support for the former topology, but the monophyly of Zygoptera with the inclusion of Lestidae was supported only poorly (BPP = 0.68) in the former topology.

This study examines the effects of lightemitting diode (LED) light and temperature on lettuce growth. For plant growth, we used an LED bar composed of red, white and blue LEDs (4:1:2). Six types of cultivation equipment were used to measure the temperature. To compare their effects, the heights of the lettuces and the water temperatures were measured. The results demonstrated that the lettuce growth was optimal at 25ºC.

The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the nerippe fritillary butterfly, Argynnis nerippe, which is listed as an endangered species in Korea, is described with an emphasis on the A+T-rich region. The 15,140-bp long circular molecule consisted of 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and one control region, known in insect as the A+T-rich region, as found in typical metazoans. The 329-bp long A+T-rich region located between srRNA and tRNAMet possessed the highest A/T content (95.7%) than any other region of the genome. Along with the several conserved sequences found typically in the lepidopteran insects the genome contained one tRNAMet-like and tRNALeu(UUR) -like sequence in the A+T-rich region.

The seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), known also as the seven-spot ladybird, is natural enemy for aphids and has a broad ecological range, living almost anywhere there are aphids for it to eat. In order to understand the genetic diversity and geographic variation of the species we sequenced a portion of mitochondrial COI gene (658 bp) and complete nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) collected from nine Korean localities. A total of 21 haplotypes (CSCOI01 ~ CSCOI21), with the maximum sequence divergence of 4.56% (30 bp) were obtained from COI gene sequence (from 78 individuals), whereas 65 sequence types (CSITS201 ~ CSITS265), with the maximum sequence divergence of 2.06% (11 positions) were obtained from ITS2 (from 79 individuals), indicating substantially larger sequence divergence in mitochondrial gene sequence. Both COI gene and ITS2 shows the distribution pattern that only a few haplotypes or sequence types are widely distributed, whereas majority of them are highly restricted in one geographic location, even represented as a single individual. Unlikely the ITS2 sequence types the mitochondrial COI haplotypes evidenced the presence of two main phylogenetic groups, reciprocally monophyletic to each other. Geographically, these two groups are spread in all localities surveyed. Considering both COI gene and ITS2 sequence together, current our data may suggest the presence of ancestral polymorphism, rather than on-going speciation, but more scrutinized analysis will be performed soon. Due partially by the presence of both COI groups in all surveyed localities, the genetic diversity estimates of all localities are similar from the perspective of COI gene, but ITS data showed extremely lower genetic diversity of one islet locality, Anmyeon-do (locality 2; 0.002530 vs. 0.008054 ~ 0.012060). Analysis of gene flew estimates between localities indicates that most populations are highly interconnected to each other. However, one islet locality, Anmyeon-do (locality) has shown statistically significant distance from the remaining localities on the basis of only ITS2 data (FST = 0.19 ~ 0.34), requiring scrutinized phylogeographic inference on this population with expanded sampling. As more scrutinized analysis is performed, further fruitful inference on the geographic contour of the species might be available.

The seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) has a broad ecological range, living almost anywhere there are aphids for feeding. In this study, we isolated and characterized a total of 10 microsatellite loci from the species. The loci were validated and characterized using 25 samples collected from five Korean localities. The number of alleles and heterozygosity observed at each locus ranged from 4 to 16 and from 0.37 to 0.89, respectively. None of the loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and there was no indication of significant linkage disequilibrium among pairs of loci. These microsatellite markers should be very valuable markers for population genetic studies of Coccinella septempunctata.

Up to now only 17 coleopteran mitogenomes have been fully or near fully sequenced, but this chart does not include any complete mitogenome sequence of the coleopteran infraorder Scarabaeiformia, in which the monotypic Scarabaeoidea is included. In this study, we firstly present three scarabaeoid mitogenomes, two of which are completed and one is near completed. The complete nucleotide sequences of the white-spotted flower chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis (Scarabaeiformia: Scarabaeidae), was determined to be 20,319 bp, the two-spotted stag beetle, Metopodontus blanchardi (Scarabaeiformia: Lucanidae), was 21,678 bp, and the incomplete garden chafer, Polyphylla laticollis (Scarabaeiformia: Scarabaeidae), which lacks sequence information from whole A+T-rich region and a partial srRNA gene was 14,473 bp. Thus, the two complete mitogenome sequences are longest among the completely sequenced insect mitogenomes, followed by the 19,517 bp-long dipteran Drosophila melanogaster. Phylogenetic analysis using the concatenated 13 amino acid sequences of PCGs of the 13 coleopteran insects including three newly sequenced scarabaeoid successfully recovered a monophyly of suborder Polyphaga, a monophyly of infraorder Cucujiformia, a monophyly of infraorder Elateriformia, and also a monophyly of infraorder Scarabaeiformia within Polyphga. However, the Scarabaeiformia represented by three newly sequenced species was unexpectedly placed as a sister group to the Cucujiformia, instead of the placement to the sister to the Cucujiformia and Elateriformia group.

Eumenis autonoe, a member of the lepidopteran family Nymphalidae (superfamily Papilionoidea) is an endangered species, and is found only on one isolated remote island, Jeju in South Korea, on Halla Mt., at altitudes higher than 1,400 meters. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of E. autonoe. The 15,489-bp long E. autonoe genome evidenced the typical gene content found in animal mitogenomes, and harbors the gene arrangement identical to all other sequenced lepidopteran insects, which differs from the most common type found in insects, due to the movement of tRNAMet to a position 5’-upstream of tRNAIle. As has been observed in many other lepidopteran insects, no typical ATN codon for the COI gene is available. Thus, we also designated the CGA (arginine) found at the beginning of the COI gene as a lepidopteran COI starter, in accordance with previous suggestions. The 678-bp long A+T-rich region, which is second longest in sequenced lepidopteran insects, harbors 10 identical 27-bp long tandem repeats plus one 13-bp long incomplete final repeat. Such a repeat sequence has been, thus far, only rarely detected in lepidopteran mitogenomes. The E. autonoe A+T-rich region harbors a poly-T stretch of 19 bp and a conserved ATAGA motif located at the end of the region, which have been suggested to function as structural signals for minor-strand mtDNA replication.

Eumenis autonoe belonging to a lepidopteran family Nymphalidae (superfamily Papilionoidea) is an endangered species in Korea. Historically, the species was distributed in Europe and Asian region including a wide region in Korean peninsula. However, in Korean peninsula, the species is found only in two isolate dregions: South in a remote island Jeju, where altitude is higher than1, 400 meter on Halla Mt. and North in far northern Korean peninsula around Mt. Bekdu. In this study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of the endangered E. autonoe collected from Mt. Halla. The 15,489-bp long E. autonoe genome has a typical gene content found in animal mitochondrial genomes and contains the gene arrangement identical to all other sequenced lepidopteran insects, which differs from the most common type found in insects, as the result of the movement of tRNAMet to a position 5’-upstream of tRNAIle. As seen in many other lepidopteran insects, no typical ATN codon for COI gene is available. Thus, we tentatively designated the CGA (arginine) found at the beginning of the COI gene, as has been suggested for lepidopteran COI starter. The intergenic spacer sequence located between tRNASer (UCN) and ND1 of E. autonoe mitogenome also contains the ATACTAA motif which is conserved in all sequenced lepidopteran species. The 678-bp long A+T-rich region, which is longest in sequenced lepidopteran insects contains ten identical tandem repeats composed of 27 bp plus one 13-bp long identical incomplete final repeat. Such repeat sequence is rare in the lepidopteran mitogenomes known so far. The E. autonoe A+T-rich region also contains a poly-T stretch located at the end of the region as 19 bp and also contains the downstream conserved motif ATAGA that were previously suggested to serve as a structural signal for minor-strand mtDNA replication. Phylogenetic analysis using the concatenated 13 amino acid sequences of PCGs among available six lepidopteran superfamilies (Tortricoidea, Pyraloidea, Papilionoidea, Bombycoidea, Geometroidea, and Noctuoidea) rooted with three dipteran species with BI and ML analyses supported the following topology: ((((Bombycoidea + Geometroidea +Noctuoidea) + Papilionoidea) + Pyraloidea) + Tortricoidea). Within Papilionoidea, a closer relationship between Lycaenidae and Pieridae, excluding Nymphalidae was observed. Further fruitful information will be available after more analysis is done.

The complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) from the white-spotted flower chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae) was determined. The 20,319-bp long circular genome is the longest among the completely sequenced arthropods. This extraordinary length of the genome stemmed from 5,654-bp long A+T-rich region composed of twenty-eight 117-bp tandem repeats, seven 82-bp tandem repeats, and each two 19-bp and 38-bp tandem repeats. The P. brevitarsis contains a typical gene complement, order, and arrangement identical to most common type found in insects. The P. brevitarsis COI gene does not have typical ATN codon. Thus, we also designated it as AAC (asparagine), which is found in the start context of all sequenced Polyphaga within Coleoptera. All tRNAs showed stable canonical clover-leaf structure of other mt tRNAs, except for tRNASer (AGN), DHU arm of which could not form stable stem-loop structure. The 5bp-long motif sequence (TAGTA) that has been suggested to be the possible binding site for the transcription termination peptide for the major-strand also was found betweent RNASer (UCN) and ND1, as have been detected in all sequenced coleopteran insects.

The bumblebee, Bombus ardens, is a valuable natural resource, and is most notably utilized for greenhouse pollination. In order to gain a greater understanding of the population genetic structure and the genetic diversity of this species, we sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial COI gene corresponding to the “DNA Barcode” region (658 bp) from 160 individuals collected over 15 Korean localities. Uncorrected pairwise distances among the eight haplotypes suggested low intraspecific genetic diversity, with a maximum sequence divergence of 0.3%. Such a low level of intraspecific genetic diversity was further reflected in local populations, particularly to islet populations, such as those of Youngheungdo, Jakyakdo, and Ulleugdo, which had zero genetic diversity. Geographically, one haplotype (BARBA01) was widespread and dominant, with a frequency of 90.6% (145 among 160 individuals). Other haplotypes were restricted to one to three localities and had low frequency. Overall, a very high rate of per generation female migration ratio (Nm= 4.6 to infinite) and a very low level of genetic fixation (FST= 0 to 0.099) were detected between pairs of localities, suggesting that the B. ardens population sonthe Korean peninsula are panmictic, which is consistent with our understanding of their dispersal capability.

To understand geographic genetic variation of the species and relationships among populations of the bumble bee, Bombus ardens, that is utilized as green house pollinator we expanded our investigation by sequencing somewhat longer mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragment, covering some uninvestigated regions within the species distribution, and analyzing the sequence data in terms of population genetic structure. For the purpose of study, a portion of mitochondrial COI gene, corresponding to "DNA Barcode" region (658 bp) was sequenced from 160 individuals of B. ardens collected over 15 localities in Korea. The sequence data revealed overall relatively low genetic diversity within species, with a maximum sequence divergence of 0.3%. Geographically, one haplotype (BARBA01) was found in all localities surveyed, with the frequency of 91% (145 among 160 individuals), whereas other haplotypes were found in a locality mostly as a single individual, suggesting that haplotype distribution can be summarized as coexistence of widespread, one dominant haplotype and regionally restricted, other haplotypes. Overall, very high rate of per generation female migration (Nm = 4.6 ~ infinite) and very low level of geographic substitution (FST = 0 ~ 0.099) among localities were characteristic. Although some populations were genetically subdivided from the remaining localities in the hierarchical analysis, there was regional polarity on this subdivision. Taken together with gene flow estimates, the nature of genetic divergence of the bumble bee populations is characterized as one that possessing low genetic diversity, high gene flow, and wide spread of one dominant haplotype, consistent with the previous finding. To have further detailed information of this valuable genetic resource, further longer and variable molecular portion is under investigating.

To understand geographic genetic variation of the species and relationships among populations of the bumble bee, Bombus ardens, we sequenced a portion of mitochondrial COI gene, which corresponds to "DNA Barcode" region (658 bp) from 101 B. ardens individuals collected over 11 localities in Korea. The sequence data were used to investigate genetic diversity within populations and species, geographic variation within species, phylogeographic relationship among populations, and phylogenetic relationship among haplotypes. A total of nine haplortpes were found, but they very close to each other (a maximum sequence divergence of 0. 304%). Summarized, overall moderate to low genetic diversity within populations and species was characteristic, concordant with the high potential to disperse of B. ardens in Korea. There was no clear regional subdivision was observed and relatively high rate of gene flow among localities and low FST was characteristic.

Background : Curcuma longa L., in the family Zingiberaceae, is distributed in tropical and/or sub-tropical regions mainly in India and China. This species is commonly called turmeric, powder is used as medicinal herbs and/or flavor enhancer. It has been cultivated in southern region mainly Jindo. However, it might be possible to extend cultivation regions due to rise in average temperature. In order to select superior lines based on agronomic characteristics, we analyzed multivariate and estimated selection effects from C. longa germplasm. Methods and Results : The C. longa germplasm were cultivated in an experimental field located in Eumseong, NIHHS, RDA. The harvested roots were investigated in agronomic characteristics included in yield and then considered its relationship among the 9 germplasm by multivariate analysis method. Results from principal component analysis (PCoA) showed that it represented 70.00% and 80.44% accumulated explanation from four and five principal compounds (PC). PCoA was conducted from 9 agronomic characteristics and then correlation coefficient has been showed by analysis between each main component value and agronomic characteristics. Value of the first PC was 2.25, 24.96% explanation of total dispersion, plant height, number of rootlet and weight of rootlet were correlated with a somewhat higher level as 0.41, 0.43 and 0.52. Value of the fifth PC was 0.94, 10.43% explanation of total dispersion, the number of shoots was correlated with a higher level as 0.87. Selection effects with outstanding candidate lines including higher lines were estimated at 126.13% in yield. Conclusion : These data on multivariate based on agronomic characteristics will be give us invaluable breeding information by selection of superior lines.

Seed color is an important factor affecting physiological and developmental process in wheat. One of the plant pigments, anthocyanins are a group of flavonoid compounds well known as pigments responsible for blue, purple, red, or yellow coloration of plant tissues. In this study, we investigated the pigmentation of purple and yellow color seed according to wheat grain developmental stages. The contents of anthocyanin and chlorophyll in the purple and yellow seeds were measured. Chlorophyll contents were changed similarly in both purple and yellow color seed, and no significant difference was observed between them. In purple color seed, the content of anthocyanin was significantly induced compared with yellow color seed. The individual anthocyanin components were investigated by ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Cyanidine-3-glucoside (C3G) and peonidine-3-glucoside (P3G) were detected as predominant anthocyanin in purple color wheat. To investigate whether structural genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis were involved in the trait differences between purple and yellow color seed, we examined the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes (CHS, CHI, F3H, DFR, ANS, UFGT) and MYB transcription factor in developing wheat grains by using qRT-PCR. This study indicates that the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes and MYB transcription factors correlate with anthocyanin levels of grain.

Gamma irradiation has been used as a tool for plant mutation breeding to select new cultivar with improved characteristics. Generally, the irradiation of seeds with high doses of gamma rays disturbs the synthesis of protein, hormone balance, and enzyme activity. And also, high dose of gamma rays to reduce plant height, number of tiller, and root length, although the effect of gamma-irradiated plants may depend on the species and cultivar or stress conditions. Biological effects of radiations can be divided into two types according to dose range and periods of exposure. Acute irradiation represents exposure to high-dose of irradiation over short period time, whereas the chronic irradiation is comprised of exposure to low doses of radiation over extended period of time. To compare the effects of acute and chronic exposure to ionizing radiation on two wheat cultivars (K4191 and Geumgangmil), we measured their germination rate, seedling height, and root length. In order to understand the influence of antioxidant-related genes and DNA repair-related genes, we used qRT-PCR methods to identify their expression levels. To study the behavior of a radiation-induced free radical, gamma-irradiated seeds were used for ESR spectroscopy. Plant growth pattern was showed positive correlation with ESR results. This study indicates that low level chronic radiation exposure is even more serious effects than short doses of high level radiation according to different wheat cultivar.

본 연구에서는 감태 효소 추출물과 그것의 폴리페놀 추출물의 화장품 원료로서의 효능을 알아보기 위하여 항산화, 항당화, 미백, 항염 효과와 관련된 실험을 실시하였다. 감태 효소 추출물과 폴리페놀 추출물은 강력한 라디컬 소거능을 가지고 있으며 BSA/Glucose 시스템에서 최종당화생성물의 형성을 저해하는 항당화 활성과 타이로시네이즈 저해를 통한 우수한 미백력을 가지고 있음을 확인하였다. 또한 두 추출물 모두 세포 내에서 PGE2와 NO 생성 저해를 통한 항염 효과를 나타내었다. 이러한 결과를 종합해 볼 때, 감태 효소 추출물과 그 폴리페놀추출물은 화장품 원료로서의 응용 가능성이 있을 것으로 사료된다.