Leuconostoc spp. are generally utilized as kimchi starters, because these strains are expected to have beneficial effects on kimchi fermentation, including improvement of sensory characteristics. Here, we developed a detection method for verifying the presence of the kimchi starter Leuconostoc mesenteroides WiKim33, which is used for control of kimchi fermentation. A primer set for multiplex polymerase chain reaction was designed based on the nucleotide sequence of the plasmids in strain WiKim33, and their specificity was validated against 45 different strains of Leuconostoc spp. and 30 other strains. Furthermore, the starter strain consistently tested positive, regardless of the presence of other bacterial species in starter kimchi during the fermentation period. Our findings showed that application of a strain-specific primer set for strain WiKim33 presented a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for detection of this kimchi starter strain during natural kimchi fermentation.

Pitch precursors affording excellent spinnability, high-level oxidation-resistance, and good carbonization yields were prepared by bromination–dehydrobromination of various ratios of pyrolyzed fuel oil and coal tar pitch. The pitches exhibited spinnabilities that were much better than those of pitches prepared via simple distillation. A pitch prepared using a 1:2 ratio of fuel oil and coal tar pitch exhibited the best tensile strength. Pitch fibers of diameter 8.9 ± 0.1 μm were stabilized at 270 °C without soaking time after heating at a rate of 0.5 °C/min and carbonized at 1100 °C for 1 h after heating at 5 °C/min. The resulting carbon fibers exhibited a tensile strength, elongation, Young’s modulus, and average diameter of 1700 ± 170 MPa, 1.6 ± 0.1%, 106 ± 37 GPa, and 7.1 ± 0.2 μm, respectively.

Low cost and scalable manufacturing of highly doped cellulose for enhanced multifunctional applications is still an issue. In this work, eco-friendly nanocomposites were fabricated by incorporating regenerated cellulose (RC) of 10, 30, and 50 wt% into an exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), resulting in the intercalation of GnPs. The thermal and electrical properties of hybrid nanocomposites were investigated. The structural property was conducted through scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction analyses. Strong frequency-dependent dielectric response was found due to the change of the permittivity and the loss tangent of nanocomposites by different content of RC, which is associated with the polarizations behavior. Non-elastic relaxation at the GNPs–RC chains interfacial areas in an alternating field was identified as the main cause of polarization losses among others. Detailed ferroelectric measurements provided the evidence of the ideal resistive behavior of the nanocomposites, which are confirmed by the resistivity measurements along the out-of-plane direction of the nanocomposite sheets.

To identify and compare the venom components and expression patterns of some bees/wasps, venom gland-specific transcriptome analyses were conducted for 14 Aculeate bees/wasps. Most of the allergens and pain-producing factors showed extremely high expression levels in social wasps, implying that social wasps have evolved to use venom to defend the colony against intruders. Acid phosphatase and tachykinin, which are known as allergens and neurotoxic peptides, were found with high frequencies in the venom glands of solitary wasps. This suggests that solitary wasps might use their venom for catching and preserving prey. In the venom glands of bumblebees, little or no transcripts of major allergens or pain producing factors were identified, implying that bumblebees venoms are relatively less toxic than those of social or solitary wasps. Taken together, the differential expression patterns of venom genes in some Aculeate bees/wasps implies that bees/wasps have unique groups of highly expressed venom components, which appear to have evolved in response to both ecological and behavioral influences.

Insect killing fungus Beauveria bassiana has been widely studied as a biological control agent. However, many studies have been focused on lab or field-based management. Herein this work, comparison of three B. bassiana strains was investigated under a molecular level. The whole genome sequences of ERL836, JEF-007 were analyzed by PacBio (35.5 Mb of ERL836 and 36.5 Mb of JEF-007) and ARSEF2860 referenced from GenBank (33.7 Mb). To compare the three strains, virulence, thermotolerance and chemical resistance were assayed. The transcriptomes of non-infecting B. bassiana and infecting B. bassiana against western flower thrips were analyzed using RNA-seq. This work can provide that genome features, functions, morphology and gene expression could be different under the molecular level, even if in the same species.

최근 안전한 먹거리에 대한 관심 제고와 고품질 대추 생산에 대한 관심 급증으로 친환경적인 해충방제법의 필요성이 높아지고 있다. 친환경적 해충방제를 위하여 비가림하우스 별 방충망을 설치하여 해충방제 효과와 과실 생육을 조사하였다. 시험에 사용된 방충방 규격은 각각 25, 18, 6mesh로 대추나무잎혹파리, 장님노린재, 복숭아심식나 방의 차단효과를 보았다. 대추나무잎혹파리의 경우 피해엽율이 1.2%, 10.8%, 14.3%, 무처리구는 15%였으며 장님노린 재의 경우 피해눈율이 6.9%, 5.8%, 20.41%, 28.2%였고, 심식나방은 피해과율이 0.0%, 1.0%, 0.0%, 32.0%로 나타났다. 방충망처리에 따른 대추생육은 처리구와 무처리구에서 차이가 거의 없었다. 대추재배농가의 방충망 도입이 해충 방제에 효과가 큰 것으로 판단되며 문제가 되고 있는 세가지 해충을 모두 방제하기 위해서는 25mesh로 처리하는 것이 가장 효과적인 것으로 판단된다.

We monitored the population of Haemaphysalis longicornis, in Andong, Gyungbuk from April to November, 2018. Among total 2,994 ticks collected for 8 months, H. longicornis 1,677(56%), H. spp Larva 1,074(35.9%), H. flava 213(7.1%), Ixodes nipponensis 30(1.0%) were identified. In addition, considering the environment, 1,727(57.7%), 907(30.3%), 192(6.4%) and 168(5.6%) ticks were collected in the grassland, graves, copse, mountain path, respectively. In the pathogen diagnosis with PCR using SFTS virus specific primers, positive viruses were detected in H. longicornis, H. flava and H. spp from June to October. The minimum field infection rate of June, July, August, September and October were 0.4%, 0.8%, 1.2%, 0.8% and 2.3%. respectively.

Melon thrips, Thrips palmi Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a worldwide polyphagous pest. The management of this pest have mainly relied on chemical agents. However, the overuse is harmful to the environment and results in insects resistance. Therefore, alternative eco-friendly control methods that have different mode of action, such as biological control, are necessary to overcome the current issue. In this study, we isolated entomopathogenic fungi from Korean soil, and characterized them via morphological and molecular techniques and pathogenicity assay against Tenebrio molitor larvae. The isolated fungi were screened for virulence against T. palmi under laboratory conditions and the results were used to establish a thrips-pathogenic fungal library. The highly virulent isolates were selected and further characterized for optimum culture conditions and application as biopesticide in the field.

The global biopesticide market was estimated to become about 4% of the total crop protection market in 2015, mainly due to variability of their efficacy, narrow spectrum or difficulties in long-term storage. Therefore, many people focus on overcoming these issues as a big trend. Suggested solutions include the investigation of synergy between microorganisms, the use of genetic engineering, improving the pesticide life shelf, etc. As a result, biopesticides market has grown by more than 17% over the last decade. In this context and aiming to develop new entomopathogenic fungi–based pest management tools, we constructed a fungal library by isolating insect pathogenic fungi from soil. A total of 581 isolates belonging to 35 species were isolated and characterized. Beauveria bassiana was the most abundant, representing 38.55% of the total strains, followed by Metharizium anisopliae (22.55%) and bubillosa (8.6). …% of the total isolates were highly virulent against Tenebrio molitor killing most of the treated insects in 2 to 3 days.

Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus, is the main pest that mediates pine wilt nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, that causes serious damage to pine forests. In this study, we studied the strategy to control M. alternatus using entomopathogenic fungi. The fungi were collected from soil by an insect-baiting method and two fungal isolates (Metarhizium anisopliae JEF-197 and JEF-279) showed high virulence against M. alternatus. The Metarhizium isolates were evaluated for insecticidal activity against M. alternatus by spray treatment on live pine trees and wintering trees, and the M. anisopliae JEF-197 showed high insecticidal activity. In addition, the interaction of fungi and M. alternatus were analyzed by RNA-seq. This result can contribute to the development of insect control agents using entomopathogenic fungi.

The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is an economically important pest, which harms various kinds of important agricultural crops, such as tomato. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of ionizing radiations (electron beam, X-ray, gamma-ray) on the development and reproduction of H. armigera and to determine the optimal dose of three ionizing radiations for the construction of quarantine technology applicable to tomato export.

Whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) pests, including the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, and the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, are economically important in agriculture. With the annual growth of the domestic fresh fruit export market, various quarantine treatment methods are being used to export strawberries of better quality. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of ionizing radiations (electron beam, X-ray, gamma-ray) on the development and reproduction of two species of whitefly and to determine the optimal dose of three ionizing radiations for the construction of quarantine technology applicable to strawberry export.

본 조사지인 돌리네 습지보호지역은 경북 문경시 산북면 굴봉산 정상부에 위치하였으며, 물이 고이기 힘든 돌리네(doline) 지형에 형성된 희귀 습지이다. 뿐만 아니라 멸종위기종과 법적보호종이 분포하는 등 생물다양성 또한 매우 풍부한 것으로 평가되고 있다. 그러나 습지보호지역 주변으로 과수원 등 경작지가 형성되어 있어, 관리 및 보전을 위한 조사 및 대책이 필요하다. 따라서 본 조사에서는 습지보호지역의 체계적인 관리를 위하여 돌리네 습지의 곤충상을 조사하였다. 조사 방법에는 곤충의 다양한 습성과 서식환경을 고려하여, Searching, Sweeping, Pitfall trap, Bucket trap으로 총 4가지의 채집방법으로 조사를 실시하였다. 그 결과 총 11목 82과 188속 237종이 확인되었으며, 이중 딱정벌레목이 가장 많이 출현하였다. 특이사항으로 환경부지정종 51종(중복포함)이 조사되었으며, 그중 멸종위 기종 1종이 확인되었다. 본 연구를 통해 돌리네 습지보호지역의 곤충상을 파악하고 관리 및 보전에 대한 기초자료를 제공하고자 한다.

Beauveria bassiana is widely studied for its potential as biopesticide. However, little is known about the factors to influence genetic diversity among isolates. In this work, we aimed to study the gene diversity of 42 isolates to figure out the impact of sequences variability on various biological features. The accumulated data showed no correlation between sequence variability and the fungal geographic localization. Meanwhile, weak to strong correlations have been obtained between the sequence diversity of various genes and the studied biological features. Interestingly, Biotrophy-associated gene 2 gene variability was correlated with all the studied biological features, being an important marker to determine isolates of interest for biological control. Therefore, the obtained data would serve as a database to focus on interesting genes related to improving or screening highly virulent isolates as biological control agents.

A species of Beauveria bassiana is widely used for biological pest management in many countries. Many efforts have been given to figure out the clear fungal mode of action to enhance the insecticidal activity. Homologous recombination (knock-out) or hairpin RNA (knock-down) is popularly used in fungal gene function study, but gene cloning and generation of knock-out or -down mutants takes long time or temporarily knock-downed. Here in this work, we used previously generated egfp-expressing B. bassiana strain (Bb-egfp #3) and integrated dsegfp to the Bb-egfp #3 using a protoplast integration method. This work suggests that protoplast integration with dsRNA possibly generate significantly reduced gene expression in B. bassiana and the reduction is quite stable over generations which provide easy of functional study for fungal mode of action.