We demonstrated an effective way of preparing melt spinnable mesophase pitches via catalytic hydrogenation of petroleum residue (fluidized catalytic cracking-decant oil) and their subsequent thermal soaking. The mesophase pitches thus obtained were analyzed in terms of their viscosity, elemental composition, solubility, molecular weight, softening point and optical texture. We found that zeolite-induced catalytic hydrogenation under high hydrogen pressure contributed to a large variation in the properties of the pitches. As the hydrogen pressure increased, the C/H ratio decreased, and the solubility in n-hexane increased. The mesophase pitch with entirely anisotropic domains of flow texture exhibited good meltspinnability. The mesophase carbon fibers obtained from the catalytically hydrogenated petroleum residue showed moderate mechanical properties.

Since methyl bromide(MB) has been designated as ozone deplete substance(ODS) by Montreal protocol (1989), many MBalternative fumigants like ethyl formate and phosphine gas were developed and commercialized. Ethyl formate(EF) is an effectiveMB alternative fumigant to control insect pests on imported fresh commodities. It is important to develop a proper evaporationmethod to apply EF on large scale fumigation because EF has a high boiling point(54℃). Recently, concurrent treatment ofethyl formate and nitrogen(EF+N2 treatment) has been newly developed. At preliminary test, EF+N2 treatment showed goodevaporation rate and showed high efficacy on quarantine pests without phytotoxicity on fresh commodities. In this trial, we’veapplied the EF+N2 treatment on imported orange and lemon at pilot scale (0.5m3, 10m3) containers and commercial scale containerto validate efficacy and phytotoxicity. 70g/m3 of EF liquid was applied on orange and lemon by EF+N2 treatment method,and showed 100% mortality on tested insect pest(Tetranychus urticae) without phytotoxicity at 0.5m3 and 10m3 scale fumigationtrials, respectively. At commercial scale trial, EF+N2 treatment also showed 100% efficacy on T. urticae and there was nophytotoxic symptoms on imported orange and lemon fruit. These results indicate that the newly developed EF+N2 treatmenthas a potential as a MB alternative, and can be applied on imported fresh commodities for quarantine and pre-shipment purpose.

The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae is one of potent biological control agents against a variety ofinsect pests. In this study, we investigated enzyme production of M. anisopliae strains A and B. They produced extracellularenzymes for degrading the epidermis of Monochamus alternatus, a crucial mediator of the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchusxylophilus. With Q-TOF MS/MS analysis, 29 kDa protein, a major band on a SDS-PAGE gel, was identified as subtilisin-likeserine protease PR1A. M. anisopliae A produced an extracellular enzyme more efficiently than M. anisopliae B: however,enzyme activities targeted for the cuticle were comparable. Our results suggest that the two strains of M. anisopliae havethe biological potential against M. alternatus with insecticidal protease production.

The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae B is a powerful biological control agent against Monochamusalternatus, a crucial mediator of the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. In this study, production of destruxins(dtxs), insecticidal cyclic hexadepsipeptides, was monitored in the submerged culture of M. anisopliae B. Three typesof dtxs, i.e., destruxin A, B, and E, were produced during the culture. Among the three dtxs, the production yield ofdestruxin A was best, followed by destruxin B and E. Destruxin A production was increased when pH was controlledat 6.0, whereas production of destruxin E was not affected by the pH control. The highest yield of dtxs A, B, and Ewere 16.4, 7.3, and 6.1 mg L-1, respectively. Considering that process for dtxs production has not been optimized, M.anisopliae B has more powerful implication as a biocontrol agent.

Ginger is generally consumed as food or medicine in Korea and mostly imported from China. During quarantine inspection,genus of nematodes, Meloidogyne spp. and Pratylenchus spp., are mainly detected and regulated under the procedure ofquarantine in Korea. We tested the susceptibility and mortality rates of Meloidogyne spp., which are infected in ginger,against a fumigant, Ethanedinitrile (EDN). Juveniles of the nematode showed 100 % mortality against EDN at 2.5 mg/Lfor 2 h at 13°C, meanwhile, egg mass showed 0 % hatching at 5 mg/L for 2 h at 13°C. A concentration × time product(CTP) was determined as 7.24 ghm-3. Under the 35% filling rate of ginger in cold chamber, 100% mortality was observedin both juveniles and eggs at 50 mg/L for 2 h at 13°C. At that condition, CTP was determined as 14.12 ghm-3. Basedon this study, EDN fumigation will be effectively apply to control of nematodes.

Wood pellets are used by Biomass-solid refuse fuel (Bio-SRF) has been imported from many East-Asia countries especially,Vietnam in Korea. Wood pellets are made through grind and high-pressure process shows different physical characterizationlike high methyl bromide (MB) absorption unlike other wood materials. Furthermore, detected pests in wood pellets havesimilarity with detected pests in stored grain. In this study, we analyzed susceptibility on pupa and adult stages of redflour beetle, Tribolium castaneum in wood pellets against mixture of MB and phosphine (PH3). Mixture treatment ofMB and PH3 was more effective than single MB treatment compare with control. Pupal stage showed more tolerant thanadult stage on each fumigant and 100% mortality was determined at 27 mg/L of MB only at 20°C. However, PH3 increasedMB toxicity on pupae that 100% mortality was observed at 100:1 ratio of MB (5 mg/L) and PH3 (0.05 mg/L) at 20°C.Based on this study, mixture treatment of different type of fumigant will be applied to control of quarantine pests.

Steamed and freeze-dried mature silkworm powders (SMSP) have various health improvement effects. However, westill do not know which substances are reponsible for varius health improvement effect yet. In this study, we comparedcontents of phytochemicals in SMSP to mulberry leaves and other silkworm powders. We found that SMSP have certainlevels of phyttochemicals and silk proteins. Our data suggested that various substances in SMSP are responsible for healthimprovements effect. (Project title: Elucidation the health improvement effects of boiled silk worm larvae, Project No:PJ010828012017)

The hawthorn spider mite, Amphitetranychus viennensis (Zacher), is an important tetranychid causing damage on fruittrees and woody ornamental plants. We investigated the effect of a mycoinsecticide BotaniGard® ES at different humiditylevels on the eggs and adults mortality of A. viennensis. In a laboratory condition, egg mortality was significantly influencedby the conidial concentration and RHs. Highest mortality of eggs was observed at 1×108 conidia/ml with 95% RH thanother conditions. In 1×108 conidia/ml, LT50 at 95 and 75% RH were significantly different from 55% RH. In BotaniGard®spray in cherry plants, mites decreased on day 6 at all the concentrations, but the mite populations rebounded exceptin 1×109 conidia/ml where it maintained 0 until 9 days after spraying. It is therefore concluded that B. bassiana hasa potential to be used against A. viennensis

In recent years, not only the cultivation area of Jujube in Korea but also the number of pest species has increased.The farmers farming environmentally friendly are in great difficulty because there are no effective control materials. Thisstudy was conducted to investigate the control effect of the environment friendly materials on two pest species (Caposinasasakii and Spodoptera litura) in jujube orchard. As a result, Sophora extract and paraffin oil showed over 70% controlefficacy to the C. sasakii and Sophora extract show over 90% control efficacy to the S. litura. Therefore, Sophora extractand paraffin oil were thought to be a envionment friendly effctive materials in controlling the C. sasakii and S. litura.

Ethyl formate has been used for the control of insect pests by fumigation. However, there were not many reports toshow its target site of fumigant toxicity on insect pests since its first use in the agricultural industry. In the present study,we showed the presumable target sites of ethyl formate fumigation in insect pests using Myzus persicae nymphs. Afterethyl formate fumigation, the nymphs of this species were collected and the changes at the biochemical and molecularlevel were determined. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) was approximately two-fold higher after ethyl formatefumigation. In addition, the expression levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) decreased gradually with increasing ethylformate concentration. These two findings suggested that COX and AChE might be the major target sites of ethyl formatefumigation. In addition to these results, the analysis of lipid content using MALDI-TOF MS/MS identified 9 phospholipidsdifferently generated 2-fold higher in the ethyl formate-treated nymphs than that in the control nymphs, thereby leadingto changes in cell membrane composition in M. persicae nymphs. Therefore, the ethyl formate fumigation caused lethaleffects on M. persicae nymphs by changing COX activity, AChE gene expression, and phospholipid production.

The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), has potential of serious damage to various vegetables or fruits,especially genus of Citrus, such as mandarin orange and tangerine in Korea, where its larvae do damages. Animal andPlant Quarantine Agency of Korea and Animal Systematics Laboratory of Kunsan National University have collected thesamples of oriental fruit fly in East Asian countries, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, India, Nepal andLaos. To confirm genetic differences and structure of B. dorsalis population samples collected from those countries, weanalyzed 192 individuals from 28 locations over 7 countries using 15 microsatellite loci. In total samples, number ofdifferent alleles, number of effective alleles and Shannon's Information Index were 6.421±0.364 (standard error, SE), 3.664±0.137(SE) and 0.902±0.030 (SE), respectively. Grand means (±SE) of observed and expected heterozygosity over all loci andpopulations were 0.534 (±0.018) and 0.597 (±0.017), respectively. Among all populations, Fst values ranged from 0.016to 0.705 with averaging 0.194 (±0.026).

The objectives of this study are to examine the genetic variation and the origin elucidation in oriental fruit flies (Diptera:Tephritidae) using DNA barcode, in prepartion for their future introductions into Korea. About 1,600 specimens of B.dorsalis sp. complex and B. correcta were collected from 10 countries, the Indochina peninsula, the Philippines, Taiwanand South China. A total of 182 cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequences were obtained and aligned from these regionalspecimens. Three chinese sequences from the GenBank reference were also included. Six hundreds base pair fragmentswere aligned and trimmed and used for a barcode. The phylogenetic tree was generated using the neighbor-joining methodwith 1,000 bootstrap replicates. There were two distinct groups in the phylogenetic tree, Bactrocera dorsalis sp. complexand B. correcta. Three specimen, intercepted in the hand-carried mango at the airport inspection and collected in the confiscatedmango, smuggled from Vietnam were included for a test. The DNA sequences from the airport were 100% identical toone of various Vietnam specimens, and that from the confiscated mango was mostly similar to those of Vietnam, suggestingthe usefulness of the barcode for elucidating the origin of oriental fruit fly.

The symptoms of pine wilt disease caused by the pine wood nematode (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), whichis recognized as a major forest pest. The PWN is transmitted by Monochamus saltuarius adults to healthy Korean whitepine (Pinus koraiensis). Because flight capacity of vector insects is important to protect pine forests, we tested flightdistance of M. saltuarius adults using flight mills in relation to biological characters (sex, age, and body weight). In addition,flight distance of M. saltuarius adults was compared between mated and unmated beetles to test effect of sexually matureon flight capacity. Although unmated adult beetles were more rapidly die compared with mated adults, total cumulatedflight distance during entire lifespan was differed according to whether mating or not, i.e., unmated adult beetles moretraversed than mated adults. Proportion of intermittent flights in mated females was significantly lower than others.

Walnuts are economically important for forestry workers in recent, but there are few available data for insect pestsin walnut orchards. In 2017, walnut fruits and leaves were damaged by Conogethes punctiferalis and Acrocercops transecta,respectively. In late summer, damage rates by C. punctiferalis in Buyeo, Gimcheon, and Hwaseong were 22.1%, 20.5%,and 11.7%, respectively. According to A. transecta, damage rates in seedlings (58.5% in average) were higher than inolder trees (11.2% in average) irrespective of study locations.

Morphology of antennal sensilla and their distribution were investigated in male and female adults of Plautia stali,a major pest of tree fruits, using scanning electron microscopy. Antennae of P. stali was composed of a scape, a pediceland three flagella in both sexes. Four types of sensilla (s. trichodea, s. basiconica, s. chaetica, s. coeloconica) were identifiedfrom both sexes. Among them, s. trichodea and s. basiconica were multiporous, others are not. They distributed in varyingnumbers. Sexual dimorphism was not shown in the distribution of the four sensilla types. But their distribution was characterizedalong antennal segments in both sexes. This study will be useful in electrophysiological and behavioral studies on theolfactory sensory function of each morphological type of sensilla.

Wildfire is one of important disturbances in forests, which may effect on insects distribution. In Sangju, about 13 haof pine forests was burned in March, 2017. We investigated the response of insects to fire severity in burned pine forests,Sangju. Study area was classified by fire severity as 5 classes, such as unburned, light, light-moderate, moderate-severe,and severe. We placed 4 multi-funnel traps in each fire severity class. A total of 729 insects belonging to 42 specieswere collected during May 24 to October 12, 2017. Spondylis buprestoides (447 individuals), Sipalinus gigas (50 individuals),and Acanthocinus carinulatus (43 individuals) were dominant species accounted for 74.1% of total. According to fire severity,abundance and species richness were increased with fire severity, especially in high-medium area. Interestingly, two Monochamusspecies, vector insects of pine wood nematodes, were more caught in more severed area than in other classes.

Korea has been importing large quantities of plant materials from countries annually all over the world. Accordingly,various kinds of pests have been also detected during import inspections. In addition, these days the weather in Koreahas been getting warmer and a number of imported subtropical and tropical crops are being cultivated in greenhouses.In these regards, conducting a monitoring survey by using pheromone traps is required in order to prevent introductionand settlement of invasive species to Korea. we provide a list of insects collected from five types of pheromone trapscollected while monitoring exotic pests over the last seven years. Data from the monitoring surveys of pheromone trapsfrom 2010 to 2016 was extracted from database of the Plant Quarantine Integration System (PQIS) developed by theAnimal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA). As a result of our review on the PQIS database, 119 species were identified.The families forming the main groups are Tephritidae, Tortricidae, Camillidae and Cosmopterigidae. We believe that researchersand inspectors in charge of quarantine need to be well aware of the species collected from monitoring traps.

Epipleminae is the most species-rich lineage within Uraniidae and can be characterized by its unusual resting posture.Since Leech (1897) first reported two species, Epiplema moza (Butler, 1878) and Gathynia fasciaria Leech, 1897, therehave been 5 genera and 9 species of Epipleminae recorded from Korea (Sohn & Yen, 2005). We reported three speciesof Epipleminae new to Korea: Dysaethria meridiana (Inoue, 1982), Phazaca theclata (Guenee, 1857), and Europlemaleleji Sinev, 2016. Taxonomic status of Europlema leleji Sinev is revised. A revised checklist of the Korean Epipleminaeis provided.

Biological activities of bombolitins from Bombus ardens, B. consobrinus, B. terrestris and B. ussurensis (bombolitinsA, C, T and U, respectively) were examined using hemolytic, anti-microbial, anti-fungal and anti-tumor activity assays.Among the four bombolitins tested, bombolitin T showed the highest hemolytic and anti-tumor activities. All bombolitinsexhibited strong anti-microbial and anti-fungal activities, and bombolitin A specifically possessed the highest anti-microbialactivity against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. Circular dichroism spectrometry analysis revealed that allfour bombolitins had over 61.7% and 45.5% of α-helicity in 30 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate and 50% trifluoroethanolbuffers, respectively, which form lipid-membrane-mimicking environments. Bombolitin T showed the lowest IC50 valuesof 8.5 μM and 8.8 μM against SK-OV-3 and NIH-OVCAR-3 cell lines, respectively, after 72 h of treatment, but itsrelative hemolytic activity at a concentration of 200 μM was 2.3-fold higher than that of 0.1% Triton X-100. Thisstudy provides new information on the biological and molecular properties of venom peptides of bumblebees. However,further studies on reducing cytotoxicity of bombolitins are needed for designing selective anti-tumor peptides.