The black pine bast scale, Matsucoccus thunbergianae Miller et Park, is one of the severe pest to pine forests in South Korea. In 1963, a severe pine damage by unknown causes were reported at Goheung region and it turned out that the damage was caused by the black pine bast scale, M. thunbergianae 20 years later. The black pine bast scale have been causing serious damage to Japanese black pine forests in the east and southwestern coastal area of South Korea and its distribution has been expanded. The areas of Japanese black pine forests damaged by M. thunbergianae was 4,043ha in 41 cities or districts in 2017. In males, two nymphal instars are followed by wingless preadult, the pupa, and the adult, whereas the female adult directly emerges from the second nymphal instar. According to recent sex pheromone survey for male adult, M. thunbergianae occur mainly single generation in South Korea with possibility its phenology was advanced probably due to climate change. Until now, the most effective measure to control the black pine bast scale is to trunk injection with insecticides after thinning of a damaged pine forest.

The objective of the study was to measure the beneficial effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculation on the nutritive value of oat silage collected from thirteen regions in the Republic of Korea. The contents of crude protein, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and crude ash (CA) were slightly lower in LAB inoculated silage when compared with the control silage, whereas inoculation of LAB resulted in increased total digestible nutrient (TDN). Higher number of LAB, but lower count of yeast and fungi indicated the effectiveness of the LAB inoculation on oat silage fermentation. LAB inoculation resulted in low pH silage, which may prevent undesirable microbial growth. The LAB inoculation promoted lactic acid dominant fermentation with marginal levels of acetic acid and butyric acid in oat silage. These data suggest that the LAB inoculation may preserve oat silage at better quality for ruminant animal production.

An experiment was carried out to determine the homofermentative activity of Lactobacillus plantarum KCC-10 and KCC-19 on the ensiling of whole crop barley (WCB). The crude protein in the silages was slightly higher in the KCC-10 and KCC-19 treatments compared to the control, but there was no significant difference between the two inoculant-treated silages. Nutrient parameters such as acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber and in vitro dry matter digestibility in L. plantarum KCC-10 and KCC-19 treated silages did not differ from those in the control silage. The lactic acid content increased in KCC-10 and KCC-19 treated silage when compared with the control silage but the contents of acetic acid and butyric acid produced in KCC-10 and KCC-19 treated silages were similar with the control silage. Further, the number of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in KCC-10 treated silage demonstrated a significant increase when compared to the control. Especially, KCC-19 treated silage showed greater lactic acid bacterial growth potential. Other microbes such as yeast and fungi were not detected in KCC-10 and KCC-19 treated WCB silages. Hence, this study suggests that the addition of L. Plantarum KCC-10 and KCC-19 to the WCB silage can improve fermentation quality for the production of high-quality silage.

An investigation was carried out to evaluate the potential role of Lactobacillus Plantarum KCC-10 and KCC-19 on the quality and fermentation characterization of Italian ryegrass (IRG) silages. The physiochemical properties of IRG silage such as crude protein content, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, total digestible nutrient and in vitro dry matter digestibility were not affected by KCC-10 and KCC-19. The pH of IRG silage in KCC-10 and KCC-19 treatments decreased compared to the control (p<0.05), while the lactic acid content in KCC-10 and KCC-19 treatments increased compared to the control (p<0.05). In addition, the number of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the KCC-10 treatment increased compared to the control (p<0.05). The number of lactic acid bacteria in KCC-19 increased, but there was no significant difference in all treatments. Therefore, we recommend L. plantarum KCC-10 and KCC-19 as potential additive candidates in IRG silage with lots of advantages.

Lilium lancifolium (LL) is widely cultivated in East Asia and used to attenuate airway diseases. Our current study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of LL on pain level and inflammatory response in a rat model of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis (OA). We first examined the effect of LL on inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory mediators in IL-1β-treated HTB-94 cells. The LL extract was found to significantly inhibit the levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Interleukin-8 (IL-8), and prostaglandin-E2 (PGE-2) in Interleukin-1 β (IL-1β)-stimulated HTB-94 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, chronic oral administration of LL effectively restored the weight-bearing distribution in the rat model of MIA-induced OA. In addition, administration of LL inhibited inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory mediators, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, leukotriene B4 (LTB-4), PGE-2, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). Our findings collectively suggested LL as one of the potential therapeutic agents for OA, owing to its properties of reducing pain and inflammatory responses.