Disheveled is a major regulator of WNT signalling pathway. It has been shown that WNT signaling is important for regulating synaptic plasticity. However, it is not still clear how Dsh is regulating synaptic plasticity. In this study, we used various methods to investigate how Dsh regulates synaptic plasticity. Our further studies will reveal unknown molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying WNT signaling dependent synaptic plasticity.

Aedes albopictus is one species of mosquito transmitting flavivirus causing Dengue, Zika, and West Nile fever. Although it is an important disease vector, the genetic study of Ae. alpopictus populations has not been undertaken yet in South Korea. Here, we investigated the genetic variation of 99 Ae. albopictus individuals collected from 29 sites in nine provinces in 2016, through mitochondrial COI gene analysis. Haplotype analyses revealed seven haplogroups in South Korea. The main haplogroup, comprising 76 individuals (77.8%), was genetically identical to the one from Nagasaki. Two groups from Jeju Island (11) and the southern coast of South Korea (nine) were closely related to different Ae. albopictus strains from Kumamoto and Guangdong/Fujian, respectively. However, the others (four) were distinct from these two countries. No geographic divisions of populations were found in the study regions. The results suggest the possibility that the currently prevalent Ae. albopictus in South Korea, represents a part of the descendants that originated from nearby countries. However, more comprehensive investigations are needed to explain its movement routes.

To replace methyl bromide (MeBr) due to its ozone depletion properties and the life-threatening to related worker as well as fumigators, ethyl formate (EF) fumigation on exported and imported fruits and vegetables has been developed by QIA in Korea since 2005. The benefits of using ethyl formate (EF) fumigant is considered as the safest practice among the commercially available chemical alternatives. The issues was that the cylinderized EF with carbon doxide (CO2) is not enough to extend their applications in terms of fumigation cost. We have developed the cost-effective liquid EF applications with nitrogen gas and demonstrated in quarantine trials (10m3) on imported bananas. We showed the new 35 gm-3 of EF applications with inert gas (nitrogen), were completely control all stage of citrus mealybug (Planoccous citri) for 4hr fumigation at 13°C. These applications meet the quarantine guidelines and protocols in terms of efficacies to target pest and safety concern as well as satisfactions of consumers showing no damages to imported bananas. Extensively, this cost effective EF technology could be acceptable to other fruit and vegetable commodities to reduce the fumigation costs and green house gas (CO2).

Pine wilt disease is currently the most deadly forest disease in the world and is known to be caused by infection of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Until now, no method has been developed to confirm the pine tres infected with pine wood nematodes. In order to develop a method to diagnose pine wood nematode infection, we produced a monoclonal antibody against Expansin B3, which was found to be secreted by pine wood nematodes. ELISA assay using various monoclonal antibody confirmed that the pine trees infected with the rewarming can be detected. Further studies using our antibodies may help to develop a diagnostic method that can quickly confirm infection of pine wood nematodes in the field.

Dengue is the most important arboviral disease in tropical and subtropical areas where 2.5 billion people are at risk of infection. Aedes albopictus will be a major vector transmitting dengue virus in Korea, where this virus overseas inflow is possible. We collected mosquitoes in Jeju, Busan, Gunsan, and Incheon using BG sentinel trap from April to October in 2016. Collected mosquitoes were conducted virus detection using real-time PCR method and analysis bloodmeal source of Ae. albopictus. A total of 15 species comprising 7 genera were identified and 4,854 female mosquitoes collected. The most dominant species ratio (SR) was 52.9% (Culex pippins complex) followed by 20.3% (Ae. albopictus), 10.8% (Ae. vexans nipponi) and Ochlerotatus dorsalis (3.8%). Dengue virus was not detected. Bloodmeal source of Ae. albopictus was mammals (80.9%) followed by birds (18.6) and amphibians (0.5).

The purpose of this monitoring is to survey the geographical distribution of tick species using dry ice bait traps and flagging methods at each ten provinces (GangwonⅠ,GangwonⅡ, Gyeonggi, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam and Jeju area) and one Metropolitan area in the Republic of Korea for eight months from April through November, 2016. A total of 65,339 ixodid ticks (8,200 females, 1,988 males, 31,453 nymphs and 23,698 larvae) was collected, belonging to three genera (Haemaphysalis, Ixodes and Amblyomma). Haemaphysalis longicornis was the most commonly collected species, which is represented for 96.88% of all the collected ticks and followed by H. flava (2.69%), I. nipponensis (0.35%), A. testudinarium (0.05%) and H. japonica (0.03%) in the Republic of Korea for the study period. Haemaphysalis longicornis was a dominant species observed in these eleven areas.

We performed a survey for flavivirus infection and distribution of Aedes albopictus that known as Zika and Dengue virus vector using black–light trap and BG-sentinel trap around urban area in Korea. Mosquitoes were collected in 27 cities during March to November (twice a month) year 2016. Total numbers of mosquitoes collected 102,102 including 19 species 8 genera during collecting period. Total 21,467 Ae. albopictus was collected that 20,961(24.3%) by BG-sentinel trap and 506 (3.2%) by Black-light trap in urban area. Trap index(trap/night) of Ae. albopictus was showed highest in Hamyang (TI:992.3) and lowest in Taebaek (TI:0.3) there was only collected by Black-light trap. A total of 894 pools from all collecting Ae. albopictus were performed a Flavivirus detection. Flavivirus was not detected during study period. This study may provide basic information for surveillance of imported diseases (include Zika virus) and vectors in Korea.

The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae, is one of the most important pests of vegetable crops worldwide. This species cause direct damage by feeding on plant nutrients and indirect damage as transmits many virus vectors. The control of aphid has relied on the use of chemical insecticides and their intensive use over many years has led to the development of resistance. To surmount or avoid these problems, we screened the entomopathogenic fungi against green peach aphid and evaluated their virulences. Several entomopathogenic fungal isolates were selected with high virulence to green peach aphid. Additionally, the antimicrobial activity of the selected fungal isolates was tested and analyzed to phytopathogens. Consequently, these entomopathogenic fungi would be used effectively for dual control agents for the green peach aphid and phytopathogen.

To investigate unknown molecualr and cellular mechanisms underlying polyphenisms in the migratory locusts, we performed whole transcriptome analysis from 12 different groups. Significantly differentially expressed coding and long non-coding (LNC) RNAs were present according to habitats, phases, and genders. Those differentially expressed coding and LNC RNAs were confirmed by quantitative-realtime-reverse transcriptase PCR. Those identified coding and LNC RNAs could be a target for developing environmental friendly management tools in the near future.

Polyphenism is one of the most intriguing phenomenon observed from various insect species. Polyphenism is changing morphological, behavioral, and physiological phenotypes without changing genome informations. Therefore, polyphenism is thought to be controlled by epigenetic methods. Epigenetic controls are including DNA methylation, histone acetylation, small RNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and protein phosphorylation. To investigate the mechanism involved in polyphenism, various genomic researches have been completed. However, metabolite changes in different phases have not been reported yet. Thus, we studied the metabolite changes and found the changed metabolites. These studies will make an important contribution to reveal the difference between gregrious and solitary phases and reveal eco - friendly control techniques.

Insect resistance to crop protecting chemicals is developing very rapidly, which is a major problem in the production of crops. Recently, the mechanism of resistance to various pseticides s has been revealed in Helicoverpa armigera. However, to date, no technology has been developed to quickly diagnose resistance yet. In this study, we present the results of developing method of rapid diagnosis of resistance

Worldwide, increasing numbers insecticide resistant insect is one of the main problem in agriculture not only in the field but also in the storage. The rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus is one of the cosmopolitan insect that infests a wide range of stored cereals and related commodities. Until quite recently, phosphine (PH3) has been effective in controlling this species in worldwide including Korea. However, strongly resistant populations of RGB have been detected in Australia that could threaten market access of infested commodities. Resistant populations detected in Australia showed extremely high levels of resistance to phosphine, up to 1300 folds higher than that of susceptible strain. So here we tried to identify their phosphine resistance mechanism based on transcriptome analysis using RNaseq in adult stage. Over 10Gb were sequenced in each strains and some of specific P450 were over expressed in resistance strain.

The objectives of this study are to examine the genetic variation in oriental fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and to use it as a barcode for the origin elucidation, in preparation for the their incursions into Korea. About 1,600 specimens of B. dorsalis sp. complex and B. correcta were collected from 10 countries, the Indochina peninsula, the Philippines, Taiwan and South China. A total of 182 cytochrome c oxidase (COI) sequences were obtained and aligned from these regional specimens. Three sequences from the Genebank reference were also included. Six hundreds base pair fragments were aligned and trimmed and used for a barcode. The phylogenetic tree was generated using the neighbor-joining method with 1,000 bootstrap replicates. There were two distinct groups in the phylogenetic tree, Bactrocera dorsalis sp. complex and B. correcta. Three specimen, intercepted in the hand-carried mango at the airport inspection and collected in the confiscated mango, smuggled from Vietnam were included for a test. The DNA from the airport were 100% identical to that of one of various Vietnam specimens, and that from the confiscated mango was mostly similar to those of Vietnam, suggesting the usefulness of the barcode for the origin elucidation tool of oriental fruit fly.

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 and Plant Quarantin Agency of Korea and Animsl Systematics Laboratory of Kunans National University have collected the samples of oriental fruit fly in East Asian countries, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, India and Nepal. To confirm genetic differences and structure of B. dorsalis population samples collected from those countries, we analyzed 192 individuals from 28 locations over 7 countries using 15 microsatellite loci. In total samples, number of different 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 and populations were 0.534 (±0.018) and 0.597 (±0.017), respectively. Among all populations, Fst values ranged from 0.016 to 0.705 with averaging 0.194 (±0.026).

Tyrosine-mediated cuticle tanning (pigmentation and sclerotization) is a vital process for insect growth and development. In this metabolism, dopamine and N-β-alanyldopamine (NBAD) are major precursors to black melanin-like and yellowish quinonoid pigments, respectively. NBAD synthase (Ebony) catalyzes the synthesis NBAD by conjugation of dopamine and β-alanine, while NBAD hydrolase (Tan) dose a reverse reaction of NBAD synthesis catalyzed by Ebony. In this work, we cloned cDNAs of ebony and tan from two beetle species, Tribolium castaneum and Tenebrio molitor. Loss of function phenotypes produced by RNAi for these genes indicate that Ebony, but not Tan, is required for cuticle pigmentation in both beetles. This work was supported by NRFs (NRF-2015R1A2A2A01006614).

The eggs of Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, possess high desiccation resistance, which could lead rapidly spreading this mosquito across the world. Melanization and/or hardening of mosquito eggshell are critical for desiccation resistance to protect embryo from adverse environment. Dopachrome-conversion enzymes (Yellows) catalyze melanin synthesis in insects. Here we report functional importance of two ovary-specific yellow genes, AalY-g and AalY-g2, in desiccation resistance of Ae. albopictus egg. Loss of function of these genes by RNAi causes the fragile exochorion and delay initial melanization of the endochorion. Furthermore, eggs from control females exhibit high desiccation resistance under the air-dry condition, whereas those from AalY-g- or AalY-g2-deficient females are collapsed. TEM analysis reveals ultrastructural defects in the endochorion and serosal cuticle in these eggs. The results indicate that AalY-g and AalY-g2 are critical for integrity and desiccation resistance of the Ae. albopictus egg.

In this paper, two species of Mirine plant bug, Polymerus amurensis Kerzhner, 1988 and Rhabdomiris striatellus Fabricus, 1794 are newly recorded from Korean peninsula. The dorsal habitus and genital structure of each species were provided. Also, figure of related species, P. pekinensis Horvath, 1901 and R. pulcherrimus Lindberg, 1934 were also documented to aid in the identifications of newly recorded species respectively.

Abaecin is a proline-rich anti-bacterial peptide which is known to have high activity against Gram-negative bacteria and it is originally isolated from honeybee Apis mellifera. Since the anti-bacterial peptides including abaecin were identified in the hemolymph of A. mellifera infected with Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, this result implies that honeybees express abaecin for defense against natural infection. Anti-microbial peptides including abaecin were also identified in the adult hemolymph of bumblebees. To investigate pharmacological and toxicological properties of abaecin from Bombus ussurensis, biological activities were evaluated by conducting anti-tumor, anti-microbial and cytotoxic activity assays. Abaecin exhibited significantly high anti-tumor activity against ovarian tumor cells SK-OV-3 and NIH; OVCAR-3 at 100 μM after 72 h treatment. Interestingly, abaecin showed none of anti-microbial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Since abaecin exhibited extremely low level of hemolytic activity against human erythrocytes, it may serve as a good model peptide for studying its potential as a selective anti-tumor drug.

West Nile Virus (WNV) is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Vector mosquitoes usually acquire these pathogens from feeding on an infected host, and transmit the pathogens to a naive host during feeding events. To understand the virus transmission dynamics and to survey WNV throughout country, the present study has been conducted. We collected mosquitoes in Jeju, Busan, Gunsan, and Incheon using CDC light trap and BG Sentinel trap from April to October in 2016. Among collected mosquitoes, blood-fed mosquitoes were conducted blood meal identification assay and the other mosquitoes were subjected to virus detection using real-time PCR method. A total of 29,603 mosquitoes representing 8 genera and 19 species were collected. The most dominant species was Culex pippins complex (35.0%) followed by Cx. bitaeniorhynchus (12.2%), Armigeres subalbatus (11.2%), Aedes albopictus (10.8%), Ae. vexans nipponii (10.3%), and Ochlerotatus dorsalis (8.4%). The blood meal source were of mammal (70.4%), birds (29.0%) and amphibian (0.6%). WNV was not detected in any mosquitoes.

RNAi (RNA interference) is a tool for silencing of target genes through sequence-specific manner. Spodoptera exigua belongs to Noctuidae family of Lepidoptera and is serious threat to crops of economic importance. One of S. exigua chymotrypsin gene (SeCHY2) was cloned into the L4440 vector to produce sequence specific dsRNAs (double-stranded RNAs). Recombinant L4440 vectors were transformed into Escherichia coli strain HT115 (DE3). Oral delivery of bacterially expressed dsRNA gave significant larval mortality. Quantitative real-time PCR results showed that expression level of target SeCHY2 gene in the larval gut tissue was significantly down-regulated. Pretreatment with an ultra-sonication and heating to disrupt bacterial cell wall/membrane significantly increased the insecticidal activity of the transformed bacteria