Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) functions as an apoptotic adapter in mammals, recruiting caspases for death-inducing signaling complexes, while in lower animals, it interacts with IMD and DREDD to initiate antimicrobial responses. In this study, we examined the T. molitor FADD sequence (TmFADD) using molecular informatics methods to understand its involvement in the host's immune response against microorganisms. Knocking down TmFADD transcripts resulted in increased susceptibility of T. molitor larvae to E. coli, underscoring the significance of FADD in insect defense mechanisms and providing valuable insights into insect immunity.

Tenebrio molitor(T. molitor) is gaining attention as a sustainable food source with high nutrient content. Understanding their immune system, paricularly the role of Tak1 in the Imd pathway, is essential for mass breeding. This study investigates TmTak1 function in T. molitor. we investigated the immune function of TmTak1, followed by systemic infection using E. coli, S. aureus, and C. albicans. As a result, Silencing TmTak1 significantly affects expression levels of AMPs in the whole body, Fat bodies, and Integuments. These results showed lower expression levels of AMP compared to the control group during E.coli injection.

수염풍뎅이(Polyphylla laticollis manchurica)는 과거에는 흔히 발견되었으나, 1970년대 이후 한반도 내 개체수 가 급격히 감소하여 2005년 환경부에 의해 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅰ급으로 지정되었다. 또한 해당종의 분자생물학적 연구는 멸종위기종이라는 특성으로 인해 제한적으로 진행되었다. 그로 인해 NCBI 등 공공 데이터베이스에서 제공되는 서열정보들 또한 부족한 실정이다. 이 연구는 이러한 한계를 극복하고 수염풍뎅이의 유전적 특성을 규명하기 위해 생물정보학적 기술을 활용하여 전사체 분석을 진행하였다. Illumina HiSeq 2500 플랫폼을 사용하여 53,433,048개의 RNA reads를 얻었으며, Trinity와 TGICL을 이용한 De novo 어셈블리 분석을 통해 18,172개의 unigenes를 생성하였다. 생성된 unigenes는 GO, KOG, KEGG, PANM DB를 활용하여 annotation을 진행하였다. 그 결과, GO 분석에서는 ‘binding and catalytic activities’와 관련된 항목이 높은 발현을 보였으며, KOG 분석의 경우 ‘Cellular Processes and Signals’ 범주가 높은 비율을 나타내었다. KEGG 분석을 통해 2,118개의 unigenes가 metabolic 카테고리에 annotation된 것을 확인하였다. SSR 모티프 분석에서는 AT/AT (42.90%) 모티프, AAT/ATT (13.13%) 모티프 순으로 많이 나타나는 것을 확인하였다. 이 연구를 통해 분석한 결과 들을 이용하여 유전자원 및 종 정보를 실시간 제공 및 정보 공유가 가능하도록 Database 및 web-interface를 구축하 였으며, 이러한 자료들은 국내 멸종위기종인 수염풍뎅이의 고유한 유전적 특성을 발굴 및 확보할 수 있는 기반자 료로써 활용될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

장내 미생물 군집은 소화 과정, 면역 시스템, 질병 발생 등 숙주의 다양한 면에 광범위한 영향을 주는 것으로 알려져 있으며, 주요 장내 미생물 종은 숙주의 생리 기능에 핵심적인 역할을 수행한다고 발표된 바 있다. 곤충의 장내 미생물 군집에 관한 연구가 최근 활발히 이루어지고 있으며, 이들 연구는 주로 장내 미생물 군집과 기생충, 병원체 간의 상호작용, 종간의 신호 전달 네트워크, 먹이의 소화 과정 등을 중심으로 이루어지고 있다. 이러한 연구들은 대부분 Illumina MiSeq을 활용하여 16S rRNA 유전자의 V1부터 V9 영역 중 선택된 특정 부분을 대상으로 짧은 서열 정보를 대상으로 진행되었다. 그러나, 최근에는 PacBio HiFi 기술이 상용화되면서 16S rRNA의 전장 분석이 가능할 수 있게 되었다. 이번 연구는 장수말벌(Vespa mandarinia)의 해부를 통해 gut과 carcass 부분을 분리한 뒤, 각 샘플을 Illumina MiSeq과 PacBio HiFi 기술을 활용하여 미생물 군집 간의 차이점을 확인하기 위하여 수행되었다.

Haemaphysalis longicornis는 사람과 동물에게 여러 심각한 병원체를 전달하는 주요 매개체로, 한반도에 널리 분포하고 있다. H. longicornis는 Rickettsia spp., Borrelia spp., Francisella spp., Coxiella spp., 그리고 중증열성혈소판 감소증후군 바이러스 (SFTS virus) 등을 매개하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 국내에 서식하는 H. longicornis의 미생물 군집과 관련된 연구는 많이 진행되지 않은 것으로 확인되었다. 이 연구는 한반도 내 다양한 지역에서 채집된 H. longicornis의 미생물군집 다양성을 지역별, 성장 단계 및 성별에 따라 분석하였다. 2019년 6월부터 7월까지 질병관리청 권역별기후변화매개체감시거점센터 16개 지역에서 채집한 H. longicornis의 16S rRNA 유전자 V3-V4 영역을 PCR로 증폭 후 Illumina MiSeq 플랫폼으로 시퀀싱하였다. Qiime2를 활용한 미생물 다양성 분석을 통해 총 46개의 샘플에서 1,754,418개의 non-chimeric reads를 얻었으며, 평균 126개 의 operating taxonmic unit (OTU) 을 식별하여 총 1,398개의 OTU를 확인하였다. 대부분의 지역에서 Coxiella spp.가 우점종으로 나타났으며, 특히 Coxiella endosymbiont는 가장 높은 우점도를 보이며, Coxiella burnetii와 계통 발생 학적으로 유사한 것으로 확인되었다. 이 연구를 통해 분석된 결과는 각 지역의 H. longicornis 미생물군집 데이터 베이스 구축에 활용되었으며, 이를 통해 지역별 미생물군집의 특이성을 식별할 수 있게 하였다. 이는 한반도의 H. longicornis에 의한 질병 전파 연구와 이를 통한 공중보건 개선에 기여할 것으로 기대된다.

Chitin and chitosan, abundant biopolymers from shellfish, crustaceans, and fungal hyphae, have diverse applications in food, biomedical, and industrial sectors. Also, insects offer a one of the chitin and chitosan source, yet research into the biological processes of chitin and chitosan within insects remains inadequate. To investigates the safety and benefits of insect-derived chitin and chitosan, we orally administered crab-derived and insect-derived chitin and chitosan to mice and compared RNA expression. NGS derived sequences were obtained and DEG and GO analyses were performed. This study displays a chance to progress the application of edible insects.

Recently, it is demonstrate that the invertebrates have a immune memory, called Immune priming (IP). It was partially studied that the IP is mainly regulated by epigenetic modification. Here, to understand the IP on antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) production, we investigated larval mortality and time-dependent expression patterns of AMP genes in T. molitor larvae challenged with E. coli (two-times injection with a one-month interval). Interestingly, the results indicate that the higher and faster expression levels of most AMP genes were detected compared to the non-primed T. molitor larvae. Our results may used to improve the understanding of mechanisms of invertebrate immune memory.

Pellino, a highly conserved E3 ubiquitin ligase, is known to mediate ubiquitination of phosphorylated Interleukin-1 receptor-related kinase (IRAK) homologs in Toll signaling pathway. To understand the immunological function of TmPellino, we screened the knockdown efficiency of TmPellino by injecting TmPellino-specific dsRNA into T. molitor larvae. Subsequently, we investigated the larval mortality and the tissue-specific expression patterns of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) genes against microbial challenges. Interestingly, the results indicate that the expression of many AMP genes was upregulated in the Malpighian tubules of TmPellino-silenced T. molitor larvae. This study may provide basic information to understand how Tmpellino regulates AMPs production in T. molitor.

Tube, an intracellular protein of the Toll-pathway, forms a complex with Pelle and MyD88, and regulates a signal transduction to activate NF-κB in Drosophila. To understand the antimicrobial function of TmTube, the induction patterns of TmTube were investigated at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 h-post injection of pathogens into 10th to 12th instar larvae. In addition, we investigated the effects of TmTube RNAi on larval mortality and tissue specific AMP expression in response to microbial challenge. Our results will provide a basic information to elucidate the immunological function of TmTube

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor (TRAF) is known to regulate antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) production in mammals. Here, to understand the immunological function of TmTRAF against microbial challenge, the induction patterns of TmTRAF against microbial infection was investigated by qRT-PCR in the whole-body and tissue of young larvae. In addition, the effects of TmTRAF RNAi on larval mortality and expression of 15 AMP genes in response to microbial infection were investigated. Our studies may help to understand the basic role of AMP production.

In insects, the glutathione S-transferase is initiated in both the detoxification process and the protection of cellular membranes against oxidative damage. In this study, we identified the open reading frame (ORF) sequence of GST-iso1 and 2 from Tenebrio molitor (TmGST-iso1 and 2). To investigate the expression patterrns of TmGST-iso1 and 2 in response to herbicide, 0.06, 0.6, and 6 ㎍/㎕ of butachlor (FarmHannong, Seoul, South Korea) was challenged into T. molitor larvae, resulting that the TmGST-iso1 were highly induced at 3 and 24 h-post injection. Whereas, the highest expression of TmGST-iso2 was detected at 24 h after treatment. This study may contribute to basic information about the detoxifying activities of T. molitor.

Pelle, a serine/threonine kinase, is an intracellular component of the Toll pathway and is involved in antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) production due to pathogenic infection. It is known that the Pelle phosphorylates Cactus and activates the NF-κB signaling pathway in Drosophila, but it is not studied in Tenebrio molitor. In this study we investigated the tissue-specific expression patterns of the Pelle following pathogenic infection at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours. Additionally, larval mortality and AMP expression against microbial injection were investigated in dsPelle-treated T. molitor larvae. Our results may help to understand the antimicrobial function of TmPelle.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) catalyze the oxidative cleavage of glycosidic bonds in crystalline polysaccharides including chitin and cellulose. The recent discovery of LPMO family proteins in many insect species suggests that they presumably play a role in chitin degradation in the cuticle/exoskeleton, tracheae and peritrophic matrix during insect development. Insect LPMOs belong to auxiliary activity family 15 (AA15/LPMO15) and have been classified into at least four groups based on phylogenetic analysis. In this study, we identified and investigated the physiological functions of group I LPMO15 (MaLPMO15-1 and PhLPMO15-1) in two longhorn beetle species, Monochamus alternatus and Psacothea hilaris. In both species, depletion of LPMO15-1 transcripts by RNAi resulted in a lethal pupal-adult molting defect. The insects were unable to shed their old pupal cuticle and died entrapped in their exuviae. Furthermore, TEM analysis revealed a failure of degradation of the chitinous procuticle layer of their old cuticle, retaining intact horizontal laminae and vertical pore canals containing perpendicularly oriented chitin fibers (pore canal fiber, PCF) in their core. These results indicate that MaLPMO15-1 and PhLPMO15-1 are required for turnover of the chitinous old cuticle, which is critical for insect molting.

It is well known that the JNK pathway regulates AMP production against pathogenic infection in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Tenebrio molitor hep (Tmhep) is an homolog of MAP kinase kinase in mammals. Here, we investigate the immunological function of Tmhep in responses in microbial infection using RNA interference technology. The results showed that silencing of Tmhep increased the larval mortality against microbial challenge, as well as reduced AMP production compared to the control group (dsEGFP-treated group). Conclusively, Tmhep plays an critical role in antimicrobial defense in T. molitor larvae.

Stoneflies (Plecoptera) are known for being sensitive to water pollution and are used as bioindicators for evaluating water quality. Among them, Nemouridae, especially the genus Nemoura, which are commonly referred to as winter stoneflies, can be found around streams even during the cold winter months. Nemoura geei Wu, 1929, among them, was originally described from Beijing and is widely distributed in Korea, China, Japan, and the Russian Far East. Here, we report the development and characterization of new functional microsatellite markers of N. geei using high-throughput sequencing technology. A total of 80,661 microsatellite loci were identified with a total length of 1,801,591 bp. The average length was 22.34 bp, and microsatellites occupied 0.42% of the entire sequence. The novel 20 microsatellite markers developed in this study can be usefully applied to the population genetics analyses as important genetic resources for understanding the ecological and evolutionary characteristics of a stonefly species at the population level in Korea.

Athalia japonica (Klug, 1815) is a significant insect pest of turnips in Korea. The complete mitochondrial genome of this species isolated in Korea is reported in this study, which is the first attempt to study Korean Athalia species. The circular genome is 15,662 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and an A+T-rich region. Consistent with most members of the genus Athalia, five of the tRNA genes are rearranged from the typical ground pattern of ancestral insect gene order. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from the nucleotide sequences of 25 mitochondrial genomes indicate that the Korean A. japonica is a distinct member of the genus Athalia. This study accumulates mitochondrial genome data of A. japonica from various countries, providing useful information on mitochondrial genetic differences across geographical distances in the East Asian region.

본 연구는 장수풍뎅이(Allomyrina dichotoma) 유충을 가수분해한 후 발생한 가수분해물 시료의 항비만 효능에 관한 결과이다. 먼저 3T3-L1 세포에 대한 시료의 독성을 테스트하였다. 시료 F10, P10, P30은 세포에 62.5ug/ml 처리 시 세포 생존율은 ~87.5% 정도로 나타났으며 F30의 경우 세포가 모두 건강하게 성장하는 것을 알 수 있었다. 다음으로 지질합성 관여 단백질인 SREBP-1과 FAS에 대한 발현 억제 실험을 진행하였다. 시료 F10과 F30을 처리 하였을 때 SREBP-1과 FAS의 발현을 가장 잘 억제한다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 3T3-L1 지방세포 분화 과정을 Oil Red O staining 방법으로 염색 후 관찰을 진행하였다. 컨트롤과 비교하여 시료 F10, F30, P10과 P30을 처리한 지방 세포들은 모두 세포 분화 억제가 관찰되었으며 특히, 시료 F10에서 지방세포 분화 억제가 활발히 발생한다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 위 결과를 종합해 보면, 시료 F10과 F30을 혼합하여 사용한다면 반려동물에 대하여 효과 있는 항비만 사료를 개발할 수 있으리라 판단된다.

Wasp venom is rich in bioactive substances, such as proteins, peptides, and small molecules. The venom significantly affects the mammalian cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems, causing mild to severe symptoms following stings. It exhibits both procoagulant and anticoagulant activities, and significant research has identified its ability to modulate the mammalian coagulation system. Active substances that inhibit clotting were identified and purified through patient case reports and experimental studies. The study reviewed the findings on how wasp venom interacts with platelets and coagulation factors, such as fibrinogen and prothrombin, and demonstrated its dual influence on the coagulation cascade. This highlights the potential of the venom in therapeutic applications, especially as an anticoagulant, as evidenced by the inhibition of coagulation factors and prolonged clotting times after envenomation, suggesting its utility in developing novel anticoagulant therapies. This review focuses on the anticoagulant effects of social wasp venom, which is prevalent in sting incidents, summarizing the research and observations on its therapeutic potential. This emphasizes the significance of further studies to identify and utilize venom components as innovative anticoagulant treatments.

Silk fibroin (SF) from silkworms has special qualities, and these qualities have drawn a lot of interest lately in SF-based hydrogels for a range of biological applications. However, because there is a dearth of naïve silk materials to collect and prepare, research on the SF-based hydrogels isolated from spider silks has been rather limited. Thus, this study compared the microstructural properties of silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel scaffold, which was taken from the cocoon of the insect silkworm Bombyx mori, with those of hydrogel scaffolds derived from two types of woven silk glands in the orb-web spider Trichonephila clavata: the major ampullate gland (MAG) and the tubuliform gland (TG). The SF hydrogel, which is stabilized by connected SF fibers, has a loose top structure, high porosity, and translucency, according to our FESEM investigation. While the TG hydrogel showed greater porosity, ridge-like or wall-like structures, and stable biocapacity generated by physical cross-linking, the MAG hydrogel showed even higher porosity, elongated fibrous structures, and superior mechanical properties. It is anticipated that the unique microstructural properties of MAG and TG hydrogels will be advantageous when choosing customized substrates to support particular cell types for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.

In contrast to conventional silk fibroin, spider silk's potential as a scaffold material for tissue engineering is examined in this work. The remarkable qualities of spider silk are being researched for use in making films for tissue regeneration. In comparison to silk fibroin films, the study's analysis of orb-web spider Trichonephila clavata films highlights their improved cell adhesion and nanofibrous network structure. Tests for solubility substantiate the durability of spider silk films, while in vitro investigations demonstrate low cytotoxicity and enhance cellular viability. The conclusion highlights the exceptional properties of spider silk, which make it a viable option for tissue engineering applications and a step forward for in vitro cell culture and regenerative bioengineering.