evolution of multicellular organisms. Especially in insects, a large amount of bacterial symbionts are illustrated. Among the insect taxonomic group, sap feeding insects, mostly Heteroptera, that feeds on poor nutrient sources from plants, have developed special organs where symbiotic bacteria can reside. The bacteria mainly provide the host insects with some essential amino acids. This has built evolutionarily unbreakable tie between the symbionts and the their hosts. Here we present an obligate symbiont from Lycorma delicatula (Heteroptera: Fulgoridae) being thought to invade the Korean penninsula recently. Based on the partial 16s rRNA gene sequence, the symbiotic bacterium is identified as Cadidatus Sulcia mullleri. The Genbank data indicates that the bacterium is found in various heteropteran families. This may imply the acquisition of the bacterium precedes the hosts' divergence, though there is an alternative postulation. We discuss its distribution in the sap-feeding insects and potential role on survival of L. delicatula and paratransgenetic application of the bacterium in controlling L. delicatula.

• Gilsang Jeong(Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University)
• Eunjoo Choi(Institute of Ecological Engineering Co. Ltd.)
• Jaeha Ahn(Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University)
• Yikweon Jang(Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University)
• Hansu Choi(Institute of Ecological Engineering Co. Ltd.)