Mycetophagids, the family of primitive tenebrionoid beetles, are commonly fugivorous. They mainly feed and inhabit in the fruiting bodies of higher fungi, fungus-grown bark, and moldy vegetative materials. Some species are associated with a large variety of moldy substances and are found both outdoors in natural environments and indoors in association with a variety of stored products. They are not serious pests, and their presence is usually indicative of poor storage conditions and moldy produce. There are only five Mycetophagidae species previously recorded for Korea, Mycetophagus antennatus (Reitter 1879), M. ater (Reitter, 1879), M. hillerianus Reitter, 1874, Typhaea pallidula Reitter, 1874, and T. stercorea (Linnaeus 1758). In the course of this study, 60 specimens from 12 sites of Korean Mycetophagidae were examined. We reviewed taxonomically four genera and nine species in Korea. Among them, four species including Eulagius ussuriensis Nikitsky, 1988, Litargus japonicus Reitter, 1877, Mycetophagus irroratus (Reitter,1879), and Mycetophagus pustulosus (Reitter,1889) are newly recorded in Korea. We also obtained additional bionomic data for the seven species including their host fungi and habitat based on field observations and laboratoryrearing data in part.

In North Korea, the Tortricidae has been poorly studied until Byun et al. (1998) reviewed 350 species from Korea, including 63 species of Tortricinae and 40 species of Olethreutinae. Then Razowski (1999) presented a checklist of 358 species of Tortricidae from Korea, including 176 species of the North Korean Tortricidae with mostly based on the avaialble materials in Poland and previous literatures. Later, a serial studies on the family Tortricdae of North Korea with the material deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum provided several additional data for the North Korean tortricid fauna (Byun 2009; Byun 2011a; Byun 2011b; Byun 2011c; Byun et al. 2007) During the course of the study on the Tortricidae of North Korea deposited in Hungarian Natural History Museum, the author found three species of Olethreutes for the first time from North Korea. Of them, Olethreutes aviana Falkovitsh is also newly reported to the Korean peninsula. The aim of the present study is to report the three species of Olethreutes as new to North Korean fauna. In the present study, three species of the genus Olethreutes: O. aviana Falkovitsh, O. obovata (Walsingham), and O. orthocosma (Meyrick), based on the material deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, are reported for the first time from North Korea. Among them, O. aviana Falkovitsh is recorded as new to the Korean peninsula. Photographs of the adults and genitalia of the species are presented.

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) adapted themselves to different geographical and climatical conditions since they had been introduced in Korea. Beekeepers have tried to breed valuable lineages with artificial insemination or conventional mating techniques. However, evaluation of breeding resultants still relies on timeconsuming observation data. Genetical characterization of breeds has proven its usefulness to preserve genetic resources of livestock. In recent years, microsatellites are most commonly used to evaluate population structures and diversities of living organisms in that the characteristics of locus specificity, rich polymorphism, abundant and random distribution over the genome, and their co-dominant inheritance. Determining classic genetic distances using neutral, highly polymorphic microsatellite markers is a reliable method to investigate genetic relationships and breed differentiation. This methodology can be used to establish preservation priorities for livestock breeds. The final aim of this study was to develop potent markers for assessing genetic structure of lineages after artificial insemination. In this study, the genetic structure of ten microsatellite markers were sequenced or analysed with polymerase chain reaction for eleven European honeybee populations. The results may help to develop reliable microsatellite markers for more efficient preservation strategies of valuable honeybee breeds.

To identify whether higher expression of carboxylesterase (CbE) E4 in Myzus persicae is due to gene duplication, gene copy number was determined by quantitative real-time PCR. In addition, to determine the actual protein concentration of CbE E4 and it activity, Western blotting and activity staining were conducted. CbE gene copy number was highly correlated with carbamate resistance ratio (r2=0.934). However, CbE E4 expression level was little correlated with insecticide resistance ratio (r2<0.046) and no apparent correlation was observed among the gene copy number, protein quantity and total activity of CbE E4. Therefore, it was assumed that not only quantitative changing but also qualitative alteration of CbE E4 occurred in M. persicae. To investigate any potential alteration of CbE E4, mutation survey was conducted by sequencing of CbE E4 from various local strains of M. persicae. G137D and W251L mutations have been known as the main mutations associated with structural change leading to resistance. Interestingly, a new G134C mutation, which is in proximity of G137D mutation, was identified in the oxyanion hole of CbE E4. To predict the functional role of this mutation in resistance, 3-dimensional structure modeling was conducted. In summary, CbE E4 appears to be involved in resistance to both pyrethroids and carbamates as a nonspecific hydrolase or sequestration protein in M. persicae.

Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande and F. intonsa Trybom (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) are polyphagous insect pests on numerous crops. These two species reduce the crop production in two ways: by sucking sap from the plant parts and by serving as vectors for tospoviruses. In this study, we tried to confirm the previous observation of F. intonsa dominance on certain crops during recent years. Thrips populations were examined on greenhouse strawberry by installing circular yellow sticky cards with black background and on field pepper by destructive sampling of pepper flowers during season of 2012 in Songcheon, Andong. Eighty two to 92% and 3-5% of thrips collected from the both crops were F. intonsa and F. occidentalis respectively. Frankliniella. intonsa was 4-8 times more abundant than F. occidentalis in sticky cards and on pepper flowers. In conclusion, asymmetrical dominance of F. intonsa was found both in strawberry and pepper plant as we found in past on those crops. Underlying reasons such as interspecific competition and climate change were discussed.

Among hemipteran insects which is the most important insect vector of plant viruses, small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus, transmits the rice stripe virus (RSV) causing rice stripe disease. For effective control of RSV, it is important to understand interaction between RSV and L. striatellus. Therefore, in this study, expressed sequence tag (EST) databases were generated based on 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing for comparative transcriptome analysis between nonviruliferous and RSV-viruliferous L. striatellus. By comparing the two EST libraries, we showed that 108 host genes were significantly up-regulated and 28 host genes were significantly down-regulated in viruliferous insects. Interestingly, genes encoding ribosomal proteins were mainly up-regulated in viruliferous L. striatellus, whereas genes related to translation were concentrated in the downregulated cohort. These RSV-dependently regulated genes may have important function in the behavior of planthopper or the transmission of RSV.

Bacillus thuringiensis serovar mogi of a novel serogroup (H3a3b3d), which showed mosquitocidal activity against Anopheles sinensis and Culex pipiens pallens, was isolated from fallen leaves in Mungyeong city, Republic of Korea. In contrast to the complicated plasmid profiles of B. thuringiensis H3 serotype strains, the B. thuringiensis serovar mogi contained only megaplasmid (> 30 MDa) on which the toxin genes were occasionally located. Sequence analysis using 454-pyrosequencing revealed that the megaplasmid harbored at least seven putative cry genes, showing about 84%, 75%, 73%, 58%, 84%, 39% and 75% similarities in amino acid sequences with Cry27Aa, Cry19Ba, Cry20-like, Cry56Aa, Cry39ORF2, Cry8Ba and Cry40ORF2, respectively. These cry genes were cloned to the Escherichia coli-B. thuringiensis shuttle vector, pHT1K, and then introduced into an acrystalliferous B. thuringiensis Cry-B strain for further molecular characterization. To investigate the role of these genes in crystal production, the expression profiles of these toxin genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qrtPCR) from the wild type strain as well as transformant strains. The results clearly indicate that the cry39orf2 was the dominant ingredient in the crystal. This novel 3a3b3d type strain, B. thuringiensis serovar mogi, could be used as a good resource for studying unknown mosquitocidal cry genes.

The baculovirus expression system is one of the most popular methods used for the production of recombinant proteins but has several complex steps which have proved inherently difficult to meet a multi-parellel process. We have developed a novel recombinant bacmid, bEasyBm that enabling easy and fast generation of pure recombinant virus without any purification step. In the bEasyBm, attR recombination sites were introduced to facilitate the generation of recombinant viral genome by in vitro transposition. Moreover, extracellular RNase gene from bacillus amyloliquefaciens, barnase, was expressed under the control of Cotesia plutellae bracovirus early promoter. Therefore, only when the barnase gene was replaced to gene of interest, the bEasyBm could replicate in host insect cells. When the bEasyBm was transposed with pDualBac-EGFP and pDualBac-LUC respectively, there were no non-recombinant backgrounds were detected from unpurified BmEasy-EGFP or BmEasy-LUC stocks. In addition, the resulting recombinant virus, BmEasy-EGFP, showed comparable level of EGFP expression efficiency with the plaque-purified recombinant virus, BmEGFP, which was constructed using bBmGOZA system. Based on these results, high-throughput condition for generation of multiple recombinant viruses in a time was established.

Varieties of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal proteins, Cry proteins, have so far been found as one of the most successful biological control agents which are safe to natural environments for a long time. Recently, cry genes encoding these Cry proteins have been widely applied for construction of transgenic crops resistant to pest insects. In this study, through the 3D structure prediction and accompanying mutagenesis study for the Mod-Cry1Ac, 7 and 16 amino acid residues from domain I and II, respectively, responsible for its insecticidal activity against larvae of Spodoptera exigua and Ostrinia furnacalis were identified. To construct novel cry genes with improved insecticidal activity, we randomly mutated these 23 amino acid sequences by in vitro muti site-directed mutagenesis, resulting in totally 24 mutant cry genes. For further characterization, these mutant cry genes were expressed as a fusion protein with polyhedrin using baculovirus expression system. SDS-PAGE analysis of the recombinant polyhedra revealed that expressed Cry proteins was occluded into polyhedra and activated stably to 65 kDa by trypsin. In the further study, we plan to investigate their insecticidal activity against Plutella xylostella, S. exigua and O. furnacalis larvae.

Insecticidal and repellent activity of sandalwood oil (Santalum austrocaledonium) and its components was tested against cotton aphid , Aphis gossypii in laboratory and field. The activity was estimated by calculating survival rate of aphid after application of sandalwood oil and its components. Analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry led to identification of 5 compounds, alpha-santatol, bergamotol, epi-beta-santalol, and beta-satalol. The components of sandalwood oil was isolated by column chromatography for testing insecticidal and repellent activity. Santalol showed strong insecticidal and repellent activity as a commercial insecticide, imidachloprid. Sandalwood oil and isolated alpha-santatol and beta-santatol also showed strong insecticidal and repellent activity, however there was no significant difference among them.