Acinetospora filamentosa and Microspongium stilophorae are reported as new records from South Korea based on morphological and molecular analyses. A. filamentosa is mainly characterized by having the sparsely branched erect filaments, the scattered meristematic zones, forming crampons, plurilocular sporangia on both prostrate filaments and lower part of erect filaments, and spherical to oval unilocular sporangia formed either sessile or with a pedicel. M. stilophorae is an epiphytic thalli mostly on Stilophora sp. It is characterized by prostrate filaments with irregular cells, short erect filaments with short ramuli, phaeophycean hairs, uniseriate plurilocular sporangia on the terminal part of erect filament. Our molecular analyses of rbcL and cox1 genes reveals that A. filamentosa and M. stilophorae are nested within the clades of Acinetospora and Microspongium, respectively.

Feldmannia chitonicola is reported as a new record from Korea based on morphological studies in laboratory-cultured materials and molecular analyses. F. chitonicola is mainly characterized by a small size (1-2 mm), erect filaments mostly unbranched, plurilocular sporangia produced on both prostrate and laterally on the basal part of erect filaments, and 2 types (lanceolate and ovate) of sporangia. In our cultures, sporangia production was slower at 10°C than in 16°C and 20°C. Our molecular analyses of rbcL and cox1 genes supported its independence from other congeners reported for Korea. This is the first report of F. chitonicola for western Pacific.

Many transcription factors are involved in directing the growth of porcine oocytes. The localization and expression level of a given transcription factor often differ at each stage of early embryonic growth, which spans from fertilization to the formation of the blastocyst. A hallmark of the blastocyst stage is the separation of the endodermal and mesodermal ectoderm. The embryo's medium and its effects are known to be crucial during early development compared to the other developmental stages, and thus require a lot of caution. Therefore, in many experiments, early development is divided into the quality of oocyte and cumulus cells and used in experiments. We thought that we were also heavily influenced by genetic reasons. Here, we examined the expression patterns of five key transcription factors (CDX2, OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and E-CADHERIN) during porcine oocyte development whose expression patterns are controversial in the pig to the literature. Antibodies against these transcription factors were used to determine the expression and localization of them during the early development of pig embryos. These results indicate that the expressions of key transcription factors are generally similar in mouse and pig early developing embryos, but NANOG and SOX2 expression appears to show species-specific differences between pig and mouse developing embryos. This work helps us better understand how the expression patterns of transcription factors translate into developmental effects and processes, and how the expression and localization of different transcription factors can crucially impact oocyte growth and downstream developmental processes.

Here, we investigated antioxidant defense mechanism in the spermatheca of A. mellifera queens via RNA-seq analysis of spermathecae in both mated and virgin queens. We identified the genes encoding antioxidant proteins, which were differentially expressed in the spermatheca of mated queens. The concentrations of antioxidant proteins, such as superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GTPX), and transferrin (Tf) together with the levels of ROS, H2O2, and iron were higher in the spermathecal fluid of mated queens as opposed to those in the spermathecal fluid of virgin queens; this indicated that increase in antioxidant protein concentration is an antioxidant defense mechanism occurring in the spermathecal fluid of mated queens against ROS; this mechanism involves conversion of ROS using antioxidant enzymes and Tf-mediated inhibition of the Fenton reaction occurring between Fe2+ and H2O2. Our data indicate that an increased expression of antioxidant proteins could facilitate prolonged storage and survival of sperms in the spermatheca of mated queens, suggesting the role of antioxidant proteins in antioxidative defense against ROS.

여행객 휴대 수입금지식물에서 발생하는 금지해충(과실파리류, 코드린 나방 등)의 유입 가능성이 높아짐에 따라 지속적인 모니터링을 통하여 품목별, 국가별로 검출되는 해충의 정보 축적이 필요하며, 검역해충 종 동정을 위하여 표본 확보 및 분류학적 정보가 필요하다. 2018년 1월부터 12월까지 인천공항 및 인천항으로 반입되어 압수한 휴대식물 중 사과, 배, 복숭아에서 검출되는 해충을 조사하였다. 그 결과 형태학적 동정 및 DNA 바코딩 분석을 통하여 Carposina sasakii (복숭아심식나방), Grapholta molesta (복숭아순나방), Grapholita dimorpha (복숭아순나방붙이) 등이 검출되었지만 우려하는 코드린나방은 검출되지 않았다. 본 연구결과는 휴대 반입식물에서 검출되는 해충 종 구성에 대한 검역자료로 활용될 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

We investigated developmental characteristic of life cycle of the lawn cutworm, Spodoptera depravata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which is one of the most economically damaging pests to grasses. For larval culture the turfgrass, Zoysia japonica (Poales: Poaceae), was provided at 25℃ and 60 ± 5% humidity. Developmental period of each stage was as follows: 4.11 ± 0.19 days for eggs, 25.17 ± 3.02 for larvae, 8.80 ± 0.28 for pupae and 7.57 ± 0.95 for adults. Larvae was grown to 7th instar, unlike pre-existing data, which indicated the final age as the 6th instar. Body length of larvae changed on average from 2.772 mm immediately after hatching to 2.3 cm at 7th instar and head capsule width changed on average from 0.423 mm at 1st instar to 2.82 mm at 7th instar. Pre-period of eggs deposition was 2 days, oviposition period was 4.6 days, average fecundity per female was about 419 eggs, and hatching rate was about 83%.

Periodontal diseases have been associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases. Accumulating evidences have indicated that Porphyromonas gingivalis , a major periodontopathic pathogen, plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we demonstrated that P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) increases the mRNA and protein expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. We showed that the MMP-9 expression induced by P. gingivalis LPS is mediated by the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in vascular smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, the inhibition of STAT3 activity reduced P. gingivalis LPS-induced migration of vascular smooth muscle cells. Overall, our findings indicate that P. gingivalis LPS stimulates the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells via STAT3-mediated MMP-9 expression.