The hemipteran whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is one of the most destructive pests damaging more than 600 agricultural crop species worldwide. The B and Q biotypes are most widely spread in Korea but they are not distinguishable based on morphological characters. In order to search for protein markers that can be employed for rapid and accurate diagnosis of biotypes, two-dimensional PAGE (2DE) in conjunction with mass spectroscopic analysis were conducted. Eleven biotype-specific spots were repeatedly identified during three repetitions of 2DE and analyzed by Q-TOF. One of the B type-specific protein spots was identified as carboxylesterase 2 (Coe2). The transcript level of coe2 was determined to be 6 times higher in B type than in Q type by quantitative real-time PCR. In addition, comparison of genomic DNA sequence of coe2 between B and Q types identified a biotype-specific intron, from which specific primer sets were designed. One-step PCR using these biotype-specific primers successfully distinguished the two biotypes in a high accuracy. Availability of the biotype-specific protein and DNA markers will greatly improve the detection of B. tabaci biotype in the field.

Acinetobacter baumannii is usually considered an opportunistic pathogen that it responsible for a variety of nosocomial infections, such as, pneumonia, tracheobronchitis, meningitis, endocarditis, peritonitis, skin and soft tissue infections, and urinary tract infections. However, over the years, the organism has developed substantial antimicrobial resistance, and thus, the management of infections has become more difficult. The less common infective endocarditis is one of the more serious consequences of nosocomial bacteremia. Here, we report the successful treatment of the first case of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii endocarditis in a 33-year-old patient.

The aim of this study was to isolate chicken feather-degrading bacteria with high keratinolytic activity and to investigate cultural conditions affecting keratinolytic enzyme production by a selected isolate. A chicken feather-degrading bacterial strain CH3 was isolated from poultry wastes. Isolate CH3 degraded whole chicken feather completely within 3 days. On the basis of phenotypical and 16S rDNA studies, isolate CH3 was identified as Bacillus thuringiensis CH3. This strain is the first B. thuringiensis described as a feather degrader. The bacterium grew with an optimum at pH 8.0 and 37℃, where maximum keratinolytic activity was also observed. The composition of optimal medium for keratinolytic enzyme production was feather 0.1%, sucrose 0.7%, casein 0.3%, K2HPO4 0.03%, KH2PO4 0.04%, MgCl2 0.01% and NaCl 0.05%, respectively. The keratinolytic enzyme had a pH and temperature optima 9.0 and 45℃, respectively. The keratinolytic activity was inhibited ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and metal ions like Hg2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+. The enzyme activated by Fe2+, dithiothreitol and 2-mercaptoethanol.

Poongmi is the first ginger variety developed by pure line selection from 54 Korean local accessions. The selected pure line having high quality and high yielding was tested for regional adaptation, and it was superior to those traditional accessions in g