Entomopathogenic fungus Aschersonia aleyrodis naturally occurred on citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri nymph was often observed in organic citrus orchards, Jeju. The genus Aschersonia is also known to be toxic against scale insects and other pests. However, little is known about artificial media for mass production of spores of Aschersonia species. Grains are excellent sources of media for mass conidia production of various entomopathogenic fungi. The yeast extract, which converts carbohydrates to carbon dioxides and alcohols, contains a large amount of vitamin B complexes which facilitate the carbohydrate metabolism. The more yeast extract content the more conidia production on artificial medium made from commercial corn flour and corn gluten feed. The number of conidium produced on oat, millet, sorghum, and unhulled barley medium containing 1% yeast extract were 1.8, 1.8, 1.6, and 2.1×1010/plate (90mm × 15mm), respectively. However, the greatest yeast effect among four media showed appeared on sorghum medium, which produced 25 times higher spore production than sorghum alone. Furthermore, the conidia from solid sorghum medium could be easily harvested with cell scraper.

Aschersonia aleyrodis was well-known to be a biological control agent for citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri. This entomopathogenic fungus is naturally occurred in organic farming citrus orchards in Jeju. Both lime-sulfur and Bordeaux mixtures are extensively used today to control citrus diseases like citrus melanose and citrus scab, especially in organic farming pest management program. The high concentrated lime-sulfur is also used for pest control such as pink citrus rust mite and scale insects. This study was focused to test the conidial germination and sporulation of Aschersonia aleyrodis on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium containing different concentrations of two fungicides. The conidia of Aschersonia aleyrodis grown on PDA mixed with commercial bordeaux mixtures, CM150-505, at dilution rate 1:200 (water : bordeaux mixture) were well-germinated but not sporulated at all. On the other hand, Aschersonia aleyrodis did not sporulate and germinate on lime sulfur treated PDA medium even at extremely low dilution rate 1:2,048,000 (water : lime sulfur). However, when the mycelial cells grown at 25o C for at least 7 days at soluble starch-tryptone medium were added to PDA, they were well-sporulated even at high dilution rate 1:100 (water : lime sulfur). This result suggested that the spore mixtures of Aschersonia aleyrodis should be applied to field quite long after lime-sulfur spray.

Beet armyworm (BAW), Spodoptera exigua (Hübner), is a polyphagous lepidopteran pest mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. BAW are known to migrate long distances to find suitable host plants and environmental condition. The possibility of its overwintering in temperate regions has been suspected. This study was conducted for investigating overwintering and phenology of BAW using by sex pheromone trap in Jeju during 2007 to 2011. BAW was able to overwinter at pupae stage regardless of temperature of winter season in Jeju. The times of BAW caught first on traps were different by surveyed years - early March in 2007, middle March in 2008 and 2011 and early April in 2009 and 2010. The times of BAW caught on trap tended to be more dependent on temperature variation during on November and December than on mean temperature of winter season. The peak season of adults of the overwintering generation was early to middle of May. The results of seasonal periodicity of BAW monitored by sex pheromone trap during 2009 and 2010 indicated that five generations were passed in Jeju. The peak season of 1st generation was on middle of April, 2nd generation on middle of July, 3rd generation on early of August, 4th generation on late of August and 5th generation on middle of September. There were similar patterns by different above sea levels except the season of overwintering generation adults occurrence (March to May).

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of sericin-calcium (SC) as therapy for ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in rats. Three weeks after ovariectomy (OVX), Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into three groups: sham-operated group (Sham), ovariectomized group, and SC-treatment group (OVX+SC). Rats in the OVX+SC group were given drinking water containing 0.07% SC for eight weeks. Bone breaking force, mineralization, and blood parameters related to bone metabolism were analyzed. In OVX animals, blood concentration of 17β-estradiol showed a significant decrease, while osteocalcin and type I collagen C-terminal telopeptides (CTx) showed an increase. Breaking force of femurs as well as bone mineral density (BMD), ash, calcium, and phosphorus in femurs showed a significant decrease following OVX. Treatment with SC (0.07% in drinking water) resulted not only in remarkable restoration of the decreased 17β-estradiol and increased osteocalcin and CTx concentrations, but also led to recovery of decreased femoral breaking force, BMD, ash, calcium, and phosphorus. It is suggested that SC effectively improves bone density by preventing bone turnover-mediated osteocalcin, CTx, and minerals, and that it could be a potential candidate for use in therapy or prevention of post-menopausal osteoporosis.

Arrowhead scale, Unaspis yanonensis, is a serious scale insect pest of citrus in Jeju. The sticky taping of 1.0 cm diameter twig was a good survey method for arrowhead scale crawler. There are three times crawler occurrence season - late May to early July, late July to middle September and late September to late October. But the third occurred crawlers are all died during overwintering in open-field groves. This study was conducted to provide information on efficient sampling plan for arrowhead scale within the tree. Twig and fruit was fit for secondary sample unit by two-stage variance analysis. Both sample number per tree (primary sample unit) was eight twigs or fruits. Taylor’s power law was better described the distribution characteristic of arrowhead scale than Iwao’s patchiness regression. The slope of both linear regressions was greater than “1” which means aggregative distribution pattern. Minimum sample size to estimate the density was calculated using by two parameters of Taylor’s power law. To estimate the mean density on twig and fruit by binomial sampling plan, the optimum tally threshold was 5 and 7, respectively.

공학적 안전설비 공기정화계통의 규제지침인 Reg. Guide 1.52(Rev.3)의 변경사항중 성능시험과 관련 한 운전가능성 시험시간 단축, HEPA 필터 현장누설시험용 시험물질 변경 및 활성탄 성능시험 Methyl Iodidie 투과허용율 상향 변경을 영광 5,6호기에 적용하고자, 모사실험장치와 현장 설비를 활용하여 기술 적 타당성을 확인하는 실험을 수행하였다. 10시간 이상의 장시간 운전가능성 시험을 통해 계통내 습분을 제거하여도 시험후 1∼4일만에 회복됨을 확인하여 운전가능성 시험은 기기적 운전가능성 점검에 적합한 매월 15분 이상의 시험을 수행하는 것이 타당함을 확인하였다. HEPA 필터 현장누설시험용 시험물질 변 경을 위해 DOP와 PAO의 에어로졸 입자크기, 발생량, 누설인지도를 비교한 결과 PAO는 원전에서도 DOP 대체시험물질로 사용 가능함을 확인하였다. 베드깊이 4 인치 이상의 활성탄여과기에 대한 Methyl Iodide의 투과율 허용치가 0.175 %에서 0.5 %로 상향 변경된 것은, ASTM D3803(1989)으로의 활성탄 성 능시험 방법 변경에 따른 것으로서, 30 ℃ 상대습도 95 %에서의 Methyl Iodide 투과허용율 0.5 %가 사용 중 활성탄의 성능을 시험하기에 충분히 보수적인 시험방법임을 확인하였다. 본 실험 결과를 바탕으로 영 광 5,6호기는 인허가변경을 완료하였다.

Enterococcus faecalis, a gram-positive bacterium, has been implicated in endodontic infections, particularly in chronic apical periodontitis. Proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), are involved in the pathogenesis of these apical lesions. E. faecalis has been reported to stimulate macrophages to produce TNF-α. The present study investigated the mechanisms involved in TNF-α production by a murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7 in response to exposure to E. faecalis. Both live and heat-killed E. faecalis induced high levels of gene expression and protein release of TNF-α. Treatment of RAW 264.7 cells with cytochalasin D, an inhibitor of endocytosis, prevented the mRNA up-regulation of TNF-α by E. faecalis. In addition, antioxidant treatment reduced TNF-α production to baseline levels. Inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase also significantly attenuated E. faecalis-induced TNF-α expression by RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, activation of NF-κB and AP-1 in RAW 264.7 cells was also stimulated by E. faecalis. These results suggest that the phagocytic uptake of bacteria is necessary for the induction of TNF-α in E. faecalis-stimulated macrophages, and that the underlying intracellular signaling pathways involve reactive oxygen species, ERK, p38 MAP kinase, NF-κB, and AP-1.

Effects of Vegemil® containing soybean proteins and isoflavones on the growth and bone density of broiler chickens were investigated. One-week-old male and female Arbor Acres broiler chickens were fed on Vegemil® A containing 3% soybean proteins and 162 ppm isoflavones, instead of water, for 30 days and their growth indices (body weight, leg weight and femur length) and bone density were analyzed. The body weight gains in male and female chickens were increased by 15.6% and 31.7%, respectively, following feeding Vegemil® A compared to normal water. Vegemil® A increased leg weight as well as femur length of females by 22.9% and 15.0%, respectively. In addition, Vegemil® A feeding enhanced femoral bone density by 21.3% in comparison with water feeding. Therefore, it is suggested that Vegemil® A not only facilitates body growth, but also strengthens bone density of normal chickens, and that it could be a promising candidate for the improvement of infant growth and for the prevention of menopausal osteoporosis.

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major etiologic agent of chronic periodontitis and cytokines produced by macrophages play important roles in the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. In this study we investigated the cytokine response of phorbol myristate acetatedifferentiated THP-1 cells exposed to P. gingivalis. Compared with the prominent cell wall components of P. gingivalis (lipopolysaccharide and the major fimbrial protein FimA), live P. gingivalis stimulated much higher levels of cytokine production. In addition, whereas low multiplicity of infection challenges (MOI=10) of P. gingivalis 381 stimulated high levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-1β, high dose challenges with this bacterium (MOI = 100) resulted in a substantially diminished production of MCP-1 and IL-6. Moreover, high MOI P. gingivalis challenges achieved only low levels of induction of MCP-1 and IL-6 mRNA. The decreased production of MCP-1 and IL-6 appeared to be mediated by P. gingivalis proteases, because high MOI challenges with congenic protease mutant strains of this microorganism (MT10 and MT10W) did not result in a diminished production of MCP-1 and IL-6. Similar to its protease mutant strains, leupeptin (a protease inhibitor)- treated P. gingivalis at high doses induced high levels of MCP-1 production. To examine the mechanisms underlying the diminished production of MCP-1 by P. gingivalis proteases, the activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases and NF-xB was compared between the 381 and MT10W strains. Whilst high doses of both 381 and MT10W similarly activated the three members of the MAP kinase family, the DNA binding activity of NF-xB, as revealed by gel shift assays, was greatly increased only by MT10W. Taken together, our data indicate that P. gingivalis stimulates the production of high levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and MCP-1 but that high dose challenges with this bacterium result in a diminished production of MCP-1 and IL-6 via the protease-mediated suppression of NF-B activation in THP-1 macrophagic cells.

The gap between the increasing amount of raw sequence data and qualified biological information is widening: it is not possible to provide qualified annotation for new genomes with the same speed at which sequences are generated -- especially with next generation sequencing technologies. Additionally, managing the huge number ofavailable bioinformatics algorithms represents a challenge of its own. Thus, a systemwhich provides maximum annotation quality with approved methods in a minimum of time is absolutely critical as the basis for the R&D pipeline in industrial biotechnology. Also using those various genome annotation, comprehensive knowledge of a fungal’s biosynthetic capacities is the indispensable basis of its usefulness in the biotechnology research. Comparative genomics is on the rise as a potent tool in molecular biology. The publicly available genomes from yeasts and several fungal species are used to comparative genomics method for discovery of functional information in our research. Also we had integrated information from different data sources to dynamically build semantic networks representing up-to-date knowledge, which can then be mined and analyzed. Through those methods, we could inspect the common features and uniques between yeasts and fungal species in the new aspect.

The tribe Atimiini LeConte containing two genera (Atimia and Paratimia) and about 12 species is distributed in East Asia and North America. The systematic position of the Atimiini has long puzzled the Coleopterist due to the Lamiid-like aspect of the Atimia. But the Atimiini has regarded as a tribe of the subfamily Aseminae since Webb (1912) associated the Atimia with the Asemum on the basis of larval characters. The tribe is very specialized in food habits, the species of Atimia are all restricted to trees of the Cupressaceae and Taxodiaceae, including Cupressus, Libocedrus, Thuja, Chamaecyparis, Juniperus, Taxodium, Sequoia, and their relatives. Members of the Atimiini are characterized by the combination of following features: head transverse, front short, vertical, mouthparts nearly horizontal; antennae 11-segmented, shorter than the body in both sexes, eyes large, moderately granulated, deeply emarginate, embracing antennal insertion; labrum transverse, ciliated; palpi unequal in length, the maxillary longer; pronotum quadrate, transverse; anterior coxae rounded, cavities usually not angulated, completely closed behind; mesonotum with a large, divided, stridulatory area; scutellum subquadrate; intermediate coxal cavities closed; metasternum deeply emarginate posteriorly, metepisterna narrow, attenuated behind; legs short; femora feebly clavate; tibiae armed with short spurs; wings with a closed cell in the anal sector. Here, we report the tribe Atimiini for the first time in Korea based on provisional identified species, Atimia spec. okayamensis Hayashi. We also provide a diagnosis, habitus photo, and drawings of diagnostic characters.