In order to industrialization of the entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) isolated in Korea, it is necessary to switch to infective juveniles. Since the conversion to infective juveniles in the end of solid culture is important against the outside environment, it has a great influence on insecticidal efficacy and shelf life. We investigated whether the concentration of CO2 and NH3 at the end of the solid culture was artificially increased to affect the infective juvenile induction rate. Optimal exposure time for conversion to infective juveniles was 5 minutes for CO2 and 3 minutes for NH3. Optimal treatment time was 9 days after EPN inoculation for both CO2 and NH3. And optimum concentration was 80~90% for both CO2 and NH3 for EPN infective juveniles stage conversion.

Pine tree, a dominant species in the flora of Korea is the most beloved tree in Korea. However, recent outbreak of pine wilt disease caused by the pine wood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus threatens the vegetation of Pinus species seriously. Furthermore, Pinus densiflora and P. thunbergii, the predominant species in Korea forest are highly susceptible to PWN. Therefore, there has been an urgent demand for the development of a new nematocidal compounds to control PWN, which spurred the national research for the development of new compounds. To find novel sources for nematocidal agents, we used various plant resources for the development. In addition to the foreign plant extracts themselves, we also used the extracts of endophytes composed of over 300 endophytic fungi and 1,000 endophytic bacteria from plants which was reported to contain nematocidal activity. Several extracts of endophytes and plant extracts contained strong nematocidal activity, and the resources are analyzed to identify the active nematocidal compounds. These integrated approach of finding effective nematocidal compounds from plants could be a novel way to elucidate the sources for brand-new nematocidal agents.

In order to develop solid mass cultivation technology that maximizes insecticide of entomopathogenic nematode(EPN) isolated from Korea, we have studied the optimization of solid culture medium and production conditions. The optimized conditions from the harvest yields and the insecticidal activity against the Galleria mellonella larvae were yeast extract 2.0%, soybean flour 20%, whole milk powder 3%, olive oil 5% and egg yolk 5%. It was also found that the optimum condition of the carrier(polyurethane) content was about 8-12%, the culture time of symbiotic bacteria was about 48 hours, and the inoculation concentration of nematode was 4,000-5,000 per g medium. And the optimal harvesting point in solid culture conditions was confirmed after 12 days of inoculation.