Haplodiploid sex determination is prevalent in nature comprising about 25% of higher taxa. Due to its uniqueness, selfish entity may relatively easily slip in the system. Here, I will introduce 3 different types of selfish entities. First, some microorganisms are known to distort sex ratio in favor of their own prosperity. Second, a genetic fragment, called paternal sex ratio chromosome, is classified as the extremely selfish element so far in haplodiploid. Finally, haploid genome itself can evolve selfishness. The first two result in skewed sex ratio, and the last in completely new genetic relatedness. I will also discuss their evolutionary significance and potential utilization in controlling pest populations.

All aspects of hosts’ life are affected not only by symbiotic bacterial community but also endosymbionts, such as physiological function, mating preference and fitness. Wolbachia, one of the most common endosymbionts, known as a manipulator of host sex ratio, may also have a huge effects on other symbionts. Here, we assessed the effects of Wolbachia on the diversity and structure of other symbiotic microbial communities in six ant species by using next-generation sequencing. Our results show that the diversity of the symbiotic microbial communities between Wolbachia-positive species and negative species is not different. However, according to the Wolbachia infection, dominant symbiotic microbes of each host species were different as well as the composition of the overall symbiotic microbial community. Thus, this study suggests that, as Wolbachia have an important role in shaping microbiome of hosts, endosymbiont infection status deserves special consideration in studying microbiome.

By definition, endosymbionts reside in the hosts' cells and are maternally inheritted to offspring as the mitochondriondoes. Recent progresses reveal that some endosymbionts have evolved their manipulabilities of hosts' reproduction. Inthis nature, once an endosymbiont shares its host with others, their association may last long unless their evolutionaryinterest or hosts' fitness is undermined.We tested whether the association existed among the endosymbionts; Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, Cardinium and Rickettsia.The results show that there are some multiple infection cases but there is no obvious pattern in their association.

Five species of the subfamily Cicadinae are typically found in urban areas of central Korea, including Cryptotympana atrata, Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata, Hyalessa fuscata, Meimuna mongolica, and Meimuna opalifera. These species form multi-species choruses. We hypothesized that there is a negative relationship between dominance of choruses among cicada species. We tested this hypothesis by conducting the 24-h recording experiments in four localities: Gawcheon, Jamsil, Ewha University, and Yangpyeong. Based on the enumeration surveys of exuviae, the results of 24-h recordings showed that choruses of C. atrata and H. fuscata were negatively correlated with other in Jamsil and Ewha University, but were positively correlated with other in Gawcheon and Yangpyeong. Thus, it seemed unclear cicada species competed with each other negatively over. Males of C. atrata produced calling songs usually during the day at temperatures typically higher than 28 C°. However, males of H. fuscata produced calling songs throughout the day at a wide range of temperatures. As a result, the chorus of C. atrata dominated during the day, but that of H. fuscata in urban areas where the densities of C. atrata were sufficiently high.

Present study aimed to determine the effect of ‘bitter melon’, a popularly used fruit in Bangladesh and several other Asian countries, on high-fat-diet-induced type 2 diabetes. To investigate the effect, ethanol extract from bitter melon (BME) as a dietary supplement with mouse chow was used. BME was found to significantly attenuate the high-fat diet (HFD) -induced body weight and total fat mass. BME also effectively reduced the insulin resistance induced by the HFD. Furthermore, dietary supplementation of BME was highly effective in increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing hepatic fat and obesity. These results indicate that BME could be effective in attenuating type 2 diabetes and could therefore be a preventive measure against type 2 diabetes.

Background : This study was performed to investigate by antioxidant activity, total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents, and effective component of Astragalus membranaceus treated with different artificial light Sources (fluorescent lamp, red, blue, green, white, LEP). Methods and Results : We investigated the effects of various artificial light sources on the DPPH radical activity, total phenol and flavonoid contents, tyrosinase activity and main flavonoid compounds contents (formononetin and calycosin) and other biological activities in A. membranaceus. Antioxidant activities were 53.6% as the highest level of activity under LEP light. Growth under LEP light also produced the highest total phenolic and flavonoid contents of 36.05 and 5.94 mg/ml, respectively. Extracts from plants grown under LEP light caused the highest inhibition of tyrosinase activity with inhibition of 35.37, 61.87, and 65.49%, respectively, for extract concentrations of 100 μg/ml, 500 μg/ml, and 1000 μg/ml compared with other artificial light treatments. Conclusion : Little information is available on the influence of LED and LEP light sources on antioxidant production or other biological activities in A. membranaceus. Our goal in this study was to determine the effects of LED and LEP artificial light sources on the production of new functional compounds in A. membranaceus.