Pyrethroid resistance in cockroach populations has been a public health challenge since the 1950s. The pyrethroid resistance in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is primarily attributed to knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations (E434K, C764R, and L993F) in the voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene (vssc). In this study, the pyrethroid resistance state of the German cockroach in the Republic of Korea (ROK) was assessed by analyzing the frequencies of kdr mutations using one-step PCR with total RNA. The results revealed that among the 25 populations examined, 14 populations exhibited the L993F kdr mutation, while no other mutations were detected. Since other cockroach species are also commonly found in human dwellings in ROK, the vssc genes were cloned from four other species, including Blattella nipponica, Periplaneta americana, Periplaneta japonica, and Periplaneta fuliginosa. Based on the genomic DNA (gDNA) sequences obtained from the vssc cloning, primer sets were designed to amplify the vssc fragment spanning the L993F mutation for each species and used to monitor the development of pyrethroid resistance in cockroach populations in the ROK. The study will facilitate the implementation of a nationwide monitoring program to assess cockroach resistance and select suitable alternatives.

단백질의 구조 예측은 생명 과학 및 의약학 분야의 핵심적인 연구 주제 중 하나로, 단백질의 기능 및 상호작용을 이해하기 위한 주요 정보를 제공할 수 있어 다양한 연구가 수행되고 있다. 이러한 연구의 일환으로 최근 Google DeepMind의 AlphaFold2가 등장하였으며, 단백질 구조 예측 성능을 대폭 향상시켜 CASP(Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction)에서 뛰어난 평가점수를 받아 단백질 구조 예측 분야의 최신 기술을 크게 향상시켰다. 이러한 컴퓨터 기반의 단백질의 구조 예측 방법은, 고전적인 방법을 사용하여 직접 단백질 구조를 결정하는 방법 에 비해 매우 정확하고 빠르며 경제적인 비용으로 수행될 수 있어 단백질 구조 예측 및 생리학 연구를 수행하는 연구자들에게 유용한 방법론이 될 것으로 사료된다. 따라서 본 연구소에서는 곤충을 포함한 무척추 자생동물을 연구하는 연구자들을 위해 단백질 구조 예측을 수행할 수 있도록 64Core/128Threads의 CPU, 256GB의 RAM과 6장의 GeForce RTX 3090으로 이루어진 GPU(Graphical Processing Unit) 고성능 컴퓨터 시스템에 AlphaFold2 program을 구축하였다. 최근 인간을 대상으로 한 단백질 구조 예측 연구는 상당한 진전을 보이고 있지만, 곤충을 포함한 자연계의 동물을 대상으로 한 연구는 여전히 미비한 상황이다. 이러한 자생동물자원연구의 확대를 위해 본 연구소에서 구축한 GPU 시스템 및 생물정보학적 분석 방법이 많이 활용되어야 하며, 이를 위해서는 연구자들 의 협력과 참여가 필요하다.

In this study, antibody responses after vaccination against equine influenza were investigated among 1,591 horses in the Republic of Korea using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Equine influenza has not occurred since 2011 and a commercial vaccine against H3N8 has been used. The equine influenza virus, A/equine/South Africa/4/03 (H3N8), was used as the antigen in the HI assay. The mean seropositive rate was 90.5% in 2019. Except for stallion whose seropositive rate was 78.5%, all seropositive rates of other horse types were over 90%. Regionally, except for Gangwon-do and Jeju-do whose seropositive rates were 89.0% and 87.1%, all seropositive rates in other provinces were over 90%. In the future, more through vaccination against equine influenza needs to be done based on this investigation result.

국가기관과 기업은 정비사를 양성을 위한 고등학교부터 대학교, 기업 훈련센터 같은 교육기관을 만들어 숙련된 정비사로 훈련시키려고 많은 노력을 하고 있다. 하지만 교재를 이용한 이론교육과 현장에서 사용하지 않는 장비를 이용한 실습교육으로는 제대로 된 정비교육을 진행하지 못하며 특수 장비를 활용한 교육이나 위험한 상황을 가정한 정비의 교육은 매우 위험하여 영상이나 사진으로 교육을 진행하고 있었다. 최근에는 VR과 AR을 접목하여 단순정비에서 특수정비까지 시뮬레이션으로 안전하게 상황을 체험하고 문제를 해결하는 효과적인 교육 시뮬레이션이 연구되고 개발되는 사례가 많이 있다. 본 논문에서는 다누리 VR과 DisTi Engine, Remote AR을 비교분석하고, 유니티 엔진 기반으로 외부에서 전달된 정보를 기반으로 콘텐츠를 디바이스 화면에 최적화하여 출력하는 AR API 를 소개하고, VR 디바이스인 HTC Vive의 컨트롤러와 HMD의 정보를 실시간으로 수집하고 수집된 정보를 파일에 저장하는 VR API를 구현한 사례를 소개했다. 본 연구에서 구현한 API를 사용하면 콘텐츠를 제작할 때 도움을 줄 수 있을 것이다.

There are studies on the assessment of non-edible transgenic plants on soil microbial communities. In this research we evaluated the effect of virus-resistant trigonal cactus on soil microbial communities of the rhizosphere. Soil samples are collected and compared in genetically modified (GM) and non-GM trigonal cactus cultivation fields during vegetative growth period and post-harvest period. Biolog EcoplateTM was used to evaluate the functional diversity of soil microbial communities. There were no significant differences between the GM and non-GM soil samples collected during the vegetative growth period. However, we observed temporary difference in carbon substrate utilization. Principal component analysis showed that soil microbiota was influenced not by presence of GM or non-GM trigonal cacti, but rather by the cultivation period. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting revealed that virus-resistant trigonal cactus cultivation had insignificant effect on soil microbial communities including dominant rhizosphere bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi. We found no clear evidence of GM trigonal cactus cultivation affecting the functional diversity of soil microbial communities.

An assessment was made of the toxicity of 12 insecticides, three essential oils and Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) alone or in combination with the oil major constituents, (E)-anethole (AN), (E)-cinnamaldehyde (CA) and eugenol (EU), to third instars from bamboo forest collected Aedes albopictus and rice paddy field collected Anopheles sinensis resistant to various groups of insecticides. The toxicity of the test insecticides, essential oils and binary mixtures of Bti and the oil constituents (1:1 ratio) was evaluated using a direct-contact mortality bioassay. Binary mixtures of B.t.i. and CA, AN or EU were significantly more toxic against Ae. albopictus larvae (LC50, 0.0084, 0.0134 and 0.0237 mg/l) and An. sinensis larvae (0.0159, 0.0388 and 0.0541 mg/l) than either B.t.i. (1.7884 and 2.1681 mg/l) or CA (11.46 and 19.43 mg/l), AN (16.66 and 25.11 mg/l) or EU (24.60 and 32.14 mg/l) alone. Based on the co-toxicity coefficient (CC) and synergistic factor (SF), the three binary mixtures operated in a synergy pattern (CC, 140.7–368.3 and SF, 76–213 for Ae. albopictus CC, 75.1–245.3 and SF, 40–136 for An. sinensis).The binary mixtures of Bti and essential oil constituents described, particularly (E)-cinnamaldehyde, merit further study as potential mosquito larvicides for the control of malaria vector mosquito populations in light of global efforts to reduce the level of highly toxic synthetic insecticides in the aquatic environment.

This study describes the development of a web-based system that collects all data generated in the research conducted to set pre-harvest residue limits (PHRLs) for agricultural product safety control. These data, including concentrations of pesticide residues, limit of detection, limit of quantitation, recoveries, weather charts, and growth rates, are incorporated into a database, a regression analysis of the data is performed using statistical techniques, and the PHRL for an agricultural product is automatically computed. The development and establishment of this system increased the efficiency and improved the reliability of the research in this area by standardizing the data and maintaining its accuracy without temporal or spatial limitations. The system permits automatic computation of the PHRL and a quick review of the goodness of fit of the regression model. By building and analyzing a database, it also allows data accumulated over the last 10 years to be utilized.

Density of malaria vector mosquito was monitored at 24 sites in Korea to estimate malaria epidemic from 2004 to 2009. Twenty four locations include six in Gwangwon province and nine in Kyonggi province and nine in Incheon metropolitan city. Mosquitoes collected by public health centers in 24 sites were sent to each RIPHE(Research Institute of Public Health & Environment) then the RIPHE identified the malaria vector mosquitoes. KCDC analysed the results. Number of malaria vector mosquito collected in 2009 shapely decreased over 33 % when compared with number of mosquito collected from 2004 to 2009. In 2009, malaria vector mosquitoes firstly were collected at Injegun on 2nd week of April (6-13, April) and the highest peak of collected mosquito was demonstrated on 3rd week of August. Number of collected mosquito sharply decreased below 10 at 3rd week of september and None of mosquito was collected 2nd week October. Decrease of number of malaria vector mosquito collected in 2009 seem to be related with lowest temperature around midnight and precipitation days per month.

Freshwater green algae are one of the important sources of bioenergy in the future. Spirogyra is a conjugating filamentous zygnematacean green algal genus that is widely distributed worldwide with more than 400 species. Despite its widespread occurrence throughout the world, cytological studies of the genus have been limited. We investigated karyological features and chromosome numbers for seven Korean Spirogyra species. Most of the species examined in the present study showed significant karyological features, inner organization of nucleolus, heavily stainable nucleolar substance and the diffuse-centric nature of chromosomes, typical of the Conjugales. Chromosome number ranged from n=12 in S. varians to n=38 in S. africana. Aberrant cytokinesis resulted in binucleate and tetranucleate cells, which sometimes provide cytological explanation for different morphology and ploidal changes in clonal culture of Spirogyra or even different cells within the same filament. The present chromosome data also substantiates the earlier held assumption that aneuploidy must have been the chief driving force for speciation and evolution of the genus Spirogyra.