We sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes (mt genomes) of four Apis species, such as A. cerana, A. dorsata, A. laboriosa, and A. mellifera ligustica. The A. m. ligustica used in this study was originated from United States and selected for a high hygienic behavior during several years of breeding program. Considering current phylogenetic hypothesis of Apis the positive relationships between phylogeny and gene rearrangement was not supported. Phylogenetic reconstruction using available Apoidea species has shown the relationships ((Apidae + Colletidae) + Crabronidae). Within Apis, a strong support for three groups was obtained: A. florea and A. andreniformis as a basal group to the other A. cerana and A. mellifera group and A. dorsata and A. laboriosa group. The test to find out suitable single mt gene for the phylogeny at the genus level and below-genus level of Apis provided an identical topology from ND4L and ND6 in the ML analysis and ND3 and NF4L in the BI analysis to that from whole mt genome, with relatively strong support, indicating that these individual genes can potentially be utilized for within-species level phylogeny of Apis.

Viral respiratory infections are common in horses, notably equine herpesvirus infection and equine influenza, which primarily initiate secondary bacterial respiratory infections such as strangles caused by Streptococcus equi equi. A decline in the production of stallions has been associated with these respiratory diseases leading to adverse financial implications. This study investigated the antibody responses against respiratory diseases in horses from Jeju Island a year after vaccination. A low level of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) (11.36%) antibodies was detected from stallions, however a high level of EHV-4 (95.84%) antibodies was detected from horses without vaccination against this infection suggesting that EHV-4 is ubiquitous in this horse population. In case of equine influenza, ranch stallions showed low positive rate (12.06%) whereas stallions from Subtropical Livestock Research Institute displayed higher positive rate (81.32%). Antibody responses against equine influenza and strangles revealed positive rates of 26.32% and 55.12%, respectively. These findings may draw attention towards the importance of developing an improved disease prevention and/or immunization program that will effectively control respiratory diseases in horses.

Entomopathogenic fungi infect some arthropod pest and have been used for biological control. Some entomopathogenic fungi have high potential in insect pest management worldwide, and most of researches were given to Hypocreales order of Ascomycota, but little in Zygomycota, such as Entomophthorales in our country. We have identified some species belonging to Entomophthorales and investigated cultural features and ecology of Entomophaga aulicae. E. aulicae in sweet potato fields, where Aedia leucomelas was a dominant pest, had caused epizootics from 2002–2005. E. aulicae-infected A. leucomelas larva were mostly found from August to October and its occurrence was significantly related to the precipitation. E. aulicae were mainly observed in dead A. leucomelas larval populations (infection rate = 41.3% in 2002), rather than other lepidopteran pests. E. aulicae was morphologically and genetically identified and its virulence was characterized in laboratory conditions. Additionally, pest infection by Zoophthora radicans, Neozygites floridana and some Entomophthorales have been identified. On the basis with this information, we need research to predict the prevalence and to develop biological control agent using Entomophthorales including E. aulicae that contribute to regulation of host populations.

We sequenced 17,329 bp of mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the black dwarf honey bee, Apis andreniformis (Hymenoptera: Apidae), that lacks ~200 bp of the A+T-rich region for the completion of the genomic sequence. The gene arrangement of A. andreniformis mitogenome is identical to that of A. cerana. However, the genome contains 5 additional tRNALeu(CUN) located 4 copies between tRNAMet and tRNAGln, and 1 copy between tRNAGln and tRNAAla, along with the typical sets of genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs) including regular tRNALeu(CUN) and the A+T-rich region (at least 923 bp). Only 1 copy of tRNALeu(CUN) differed by 1 bp from other 4 copies of tRNALeu(CUN). Each additional tRNALeu(CUN) is followed by nearly identical 68-bp long repeat sequence (95.6% identity). All 13 protein coding genes have typical start codons found in insect mitochondrial PCGs (2 ATA, 9 ATT, and 2 ATG).

Entomopathogenic fungi formulated as wettable powders and suspension concentrates have been sprayed to crop pests for pest management. However, the use of fungal granules to control paddy field pests has not been fully explored. Herein, several Beauveria bassiana isolates (ERL 1170, 1578 and 836) were produced as granules using a millet-based solid culture. The granules were applied to the rice nursery 3 days before transplanting and their control efficacy against rice water weevils was determined in paddy fields. The solid cultures produced ~1×108conidiag-1ofmilletgrains10daysaftertheinoculation. The granules were applied to the soil in the rice nursery 3 days before the rice seedlings were transplanted in the paddy fields. Rice in plots with granules of ERL1578 had 17.3% leaf damage (74% control efficacy) 14 days post application, whereas rice plants in the non-treated control had 66.5% damage. Rice plants treated in the nursery with ERL1170 and ERL836 had 52~54% damage. In the rice plots previously treated with ERL1578 the smallest numbers of larvae and adults were observed 38 days post application. In laboratory conditions, ERL1578-treated larvae were tuned pink and covered with mycelial mass. Applications of millet-based B. bassiana granules on rice nursery soil can be an effective and efficient biological control strategy for the management of rice water weevils. This method is relatively inexpensive and requires less labor compared to practices involving the spraying of fungi directly on rice in paddy fields.

In the present study, the 17,694-bp long complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the dwarf honey bee, Apis florea (Hymenoptera: Apidae), is described with an emphasis on the noteworthy triplicated tRNAser(AGN) region and an extraordinary long A+T-rich region with repeat regions. The gene arrangement of A. florea mitogenome is identical to that of A. mellifera, but has triplicated tRNASer(AGN), each of which contains the precedent 44 bp-long and following another 64 bp-long repeats plus one complete first repeat abutting to tRNAMet. A total of 1,610-bp long two repeat regions in 1,987 bp-long A+T-rich region is composed of nearly identical 141 ~ 219-bp long five tandem repeats and 50 ~ 52-bp long 12 tandem repeats that are encompassed by three non-repeat sequences. One of the common interpretations for such repeat sequence is slipped-strand mispairing and unequal crossing-over events during DNA replication.

Previously, several levels of phylogenetic relationships in an insect order Odonata have been estimated using morphological and molecular markers. For the molecular phylogeny rRNA sequences were mainly, but other markers were not frequently employed. In this study, we sequenced both two mitochondrial genes (COI and 16S rRNA) and nuclear genes (28S rRNA and elongation factor-1α), composed of ~4,002 bp from 71 species of Odonata, occurring mostly in South Korea. These concatenated sequences were utilized to test the previous phylogenetic hypotheses of Odonata via Bayesian Inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) algorithms, along with the data partition option available in BI method. Each families and superfamilies represented by multiple taxa consistently supported monophylies with the highest nodal supports in both Anisoptera and Zygoptera. A close relationship of Anisozygoptera to Anisoptera represented by a single species was obvious. On the other hand, familial relationships within each suborder of Anisoptera and Zygoptera have shown two compelling topologies. The topology obtained by BI method with partitioning of the four genes showed an unresolved relationship among Gomphidae, Aeshnidae, and the suborder Anisozygoptera in Anisoptera clade, presenting the relationships ((((Libellulidae + Corduliidae) + Macromiidae) + (Gomphidae + Aeshnidae + Anisozygoptera)) + (((Coenagrionidae + Platycnemdidae) + Calopterygidae) + Lestidae)). Another topology obtained by both BI and ML methods without partitioning, on the other hand, placed Anisozygoptera the basal lineage of Anisoptera, but Lestidae in Zygoptera was placed as the sister to Anisoptera + Anisozygoptera, presenting the relationships (((((((Libellulidae + Corduliidae) + Macromiidae) + Aeshnidae) + Gomphidae) + Anisozygoptera) + Lestidae) + ((Coenagrionidae + Platycnemdidae) + Calopterygidae)). Topological test to find out better supported tree turned out a slight higher support for the former topology, but the monophyly of Zygoptera with the inclusion of Lestidae was supported only poorly (BPP = 0.68) in the former topology.

True hermaphrodites are animals of equivocal sex in which both male and female gonads develop simultaneously. The frequency of true hermaphroditism is higher in pigs than in other domestic animals. Two Korean pigs were diagnosed with true hermaphroditism showing ovotestes, epididymes, penes, and uteri. Histomorphologically, the testicular tissues consisted of Sertoli cells that were devoid of spermatogenic germ cells and showed proliferation of interstitial cells. However, the uteri were of normal architecture and had well-developed uterine endometrial glands. The samples were 38, XX female karyotype without the sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene. The findings of this study could contribute to the understanding of true hermaphroditism in the Korean pig industry. * This work was supported by a grant (Code# PJ008148) from BioGreen21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

The objective of the current study was to describe in vitro embryo production in Hanwoo, analyzing oocytes yield and embryo production. The effects of oocytes production and the number of OPU procedures per animal on embryo production were also evaluated. OPU was done every 3～4 days during experimental period and collected oocytes were fertilized in vitro in both OPU and needle puncture groups. First, we compared the recovery rate of oocytes based on OPU session (Experiment 1). The average of collected oocytes was calculated from every 10 session. The average number of total oocytes recovered per animalonsessionwas 5.16 (mean). Second, we compared the recovery rate base on collection period of OPU (Experiment 2). The following results show the difference of the number of recovered oocytes in every month during the procedure between the months of session. Every animal shows the constant number of recovered oocytes for the first 5 months. However, the recovery rate of oocytes was decreased from month 6 to 8. Third, we compared the developmental rate to blastocyst in two groups (Experiment 3). Oocytes by needle puncture were fertilized with frozen-thawing semen; the cleavage rate 24～48 h after in vitro fertilization (IVF) was 75.8% and blastocyst development rate was 18.8% in needle puncture group. Even though there is lower cleavage rate after IVF in OPU group (61.1%), blastocyst development rate was higher compared with needle puncture group (28.4%). In conclusion, Blastocyst developmental rate could be increased by OPU than classical method of needle puncture. Improvement of bio- technique in collecting oocytes could be applied to understand the reproductive physiology in cattle, expecially Hanwoo. Therefore, further investigation should be done to clarify the efficiency and advantage of OPU involved in reproduction in animals and human being.

Opioid receptors have been pharmacologically classified as µ, δ, κ and ε. We have recently reported that the antinociceptive effect of morphine (a µ-opioid receptor agonist), but not that of β-endorphin (a novel µ/ε-opioid receptor agonist), is attenuated by whole body irradiation (WBI). It is unclear at present whether WBI has differential effects on the antinociceptive effects of µ-, δ-, κ- and ε-opioid receptor agonists. In our current experiments, male ICR mice were exposed to WBI (5Gy) from a 60 Co gamma-source and the antinociceptive effects of opioid receptor agonists were assessed two hours later using the hot water (52℃) tail-immersion test. Morphine and D-Ala2,N-Me-Phe4,Gly-ol-enkephalin (DAMGO), [D-Pen2-D-Pen5]enkephalin (DPDPE), trans-3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)- cyclohexyl]¬benzeneacetamide (U50,488H), and β-endorphin were tested as agonists for µ, δ, κ, and ε-opioid receptors, respectively. WBI significantly attenuated the antinociceptive effects of morphine and DAMGO, but increased those of β-endorphin. The antinociceptive effects of DPDPE and U50,488H were not affected by WBI. In addition, to more preciously understand the differential effects of WBI on µ- and ε¬opioid receptor agonists, we assessed pretreatment effects of β-funaltrexamine (β-FNA, a µ-opioid receptor antagonist) or β-endorphin1-27 (β-EP1-27, an ε-opioid receptor antagonist), and found that pretreatment with β-FNA significantly attenuated the antinociceptive effects of morphine and β endorphin by WBI. significantly reversed the β-EP1-27 attenuation of morphine by WBI and significantly attenuated the increased effects of β-endorphin by WBI. The results demonstrate differential sensitivities of opioid receptors to WBI, especially for µ- and ε-opioid receptors.

장수명 핵분열생성물인 79Se와 99Tc는 자연수 중에서 용해도가 클 뿐더러 음이온으로 존재하여 방사성폐 기물 처분장에서 주요 관심핵종들로 고려되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 KURT 지하수의 다양한 pH와 산화-환 원 조건에서 셀레늄과 테크네튬의 Solubility Limiting Solid Phase (SLSP)로 알려진 FeSe2와 TcO2의 용해 도를 측정하였다. 또한, 지화학코드를 이용하여 실험과 유사조건에서 이들의 용해도와 주요 화학종을 계 산하였다. 실험 및 계산으로부터 pH 8∼9.5와 Eh=-0.3∼-0.4 V 조건에서 FeSe2의 용해도는 1x10-6 mol/L 이하이며, 주 용해 화학종은 HSe-로 판단된다. TcO2의 경우는 pH 6∼9.5와 Eh<-0.1 V 영역에서 용해도와 주 용해 화학종이 각각 5x10-8∼1x10-9 mol/L와 TcO(OH)2로 나타났지만, Eh=-0.35 V조건에서는 주 용해화학종이 pH가 10.5∼12와 12이상에서 각각 TcO(OH)3 -와 TcO4 -로 계산되었다.