We investigated the insect community along altitudinal gradient to gather basic data for distributional monitoring of insect species in the forest ecosystem. The investigation area was Seon-gaksan (Mt.) in Jinan-gun, Jeollabuk-do province, where the bucket-light trap and pit-fall trap for quantification were installed in Quercus vegetation at altitude of 300m, 600m and 900m. The field collecting was performed on May, July and September 2013 respectively. ANOVA analysis was conducted to analyze the significance between insect species along altitude using the collected insect community data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed statistically significant differences among ground-beetles and ants abundance with altitude as a response variable. Although we expected a distinct cluster with the difference of altitude at each study site, nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) showed distinct clusters with the moth, ground-beetles, and ant assemblage at altitudinal increase and sampling month. In the result, a total of 309 species in 18 families of nocturnal moths were collected by bucket-light trap. The insects collected in pit-fall trap were ground-beetles with 196 individuals of 26 species and ants with 11,276 individuals of 14 species respectively.

Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that inhibits the growth of oral streptococci, including Streptococcus mutans. In this study, we tested xylitol sensitivity among the oral streptococci. We also compared nucleotide homology of putative fructose phosphotransferase system (PTS) and xylitol sensitivity, since xylitol is transported via the fructose PTS. Among the tested Streptococci, S. pneumonia showed the highest resistance to xylitol while S. gordonii and S. sanguinis showed the most sensitive growth inhibition. These streptococci could be grouped according to their xylitol sensitivity. S. mutans and S. salivarius showed similar bacterial growth inhibition by xylitol. S. mitis, S. oralis, S. pneumonia, S. intermedius and S. anginosus showed relatively low sensitivity to xylitol. When the genetic homologies of five fructose PTSs were compared among the tested streptococci, closely related streptococci showed similar sensitivity to xylitol. Taken together, fructose PTSs may mediate the sensitivity to xylitol in oral streptococci.

Brucellosis is a notorious zoonotic disease with global implications. Efforts to control the spread of the disease have been restricted to the agricultural livestock. Increasing incidences of accidental human infection have motivated researches to start working on alternative vaccines. At present, live attenuated vaccines are the only accepted type of vaccines used in developed countries for the prevention of brucellosis. Although serodiagnosis is occasionally unreliable, some countries have already claimed to have eradicated the disease, based on this testing. Live attenuated vaccines are not suitable for use in pregnant and immune-depressed animals. Moreover, these vaccines are not tolerated in humans. Therefore, many researches have been striving to discover alternative methods of vaccination. Most research has focused on the generation of subcellular, subunit, and DNA vaccines that are as efficient as the live attenuated vaccines. At present, none of the available vaccines has been able to replace the live attenuated vaccines. Therefore, additional research is necessary in order to discover a new brucellosis vaccine that is suitable for human use.

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is an important pathogen in the development of localized aggressive periodontitis. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a virulent factor of periodontal pathogens that contributes to alveolar bone loss and connective tissue degradation in periodontal disease. Our present study was designed to investigate the cytokine expression and signaling pathways regulated by A. actinomycetemcomitans LPS (Aa LPS). Cytokine gene expression profiling in RAW 264.7 cells was performed by microarray analyses. The cytokine mRNA and protein levels and related signaling pathways induced by Aa LPS were measured by RT-PCR, ELISA and western blotting. Microarray results showed that Aa LPS strongly induced the expression of NF-κB, NF-κB-related genes, inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-1β in RAW 264.7 cells. NF-κB inhibitor pretreatment significantly reduced the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β mRNA and protein. In addition, the Aa LPS-induced TNF-α and IL-1β expression was inhibited by p38/JNK MAP kinase inhibitor pretreatment. These results show that Aa LPS stimulates TNF-α and IL-1β expression through NF-κB and p38/JNK activation in RAW 264.7 cells, suggesting the essential role of this pathway in the pathogenesis of localized aggressive periodontitis.

Brucellosis is an important bacterial zoonotic infection worldwide responsible for economic losses in livestock industries which represents a considerable and increasing public health burden. The disease is caused by Brucella which possess the ability to invade and replicate within phagocytes and may result to chronic infection, leading to difficulty in medical therapy of the disease. The treatment for brucellosis employs conventional principles that have been applied for a long time and a combination of antibiotics is currently used due to low efficacy of monotherapies. However, vital effects with respect to health and safety are neglected. Nevertheless, the preventive methods and treatments for brucellosis using traditional medicine have not yet been thoroughly studied, hence, alternative therapies such as the use of natural plant extracts as traditional medicine that are safe, efficient and economical should be explored in order to identify candidates that eliminate complications due to brucellosis. Coptis chinensis Franch (Huanglian) is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb and its extract has been known to possess strong antibacterial activity. In this study, the antibacterial effects of C. chinensis Franch extracts, and the major components of the herb namely berberine and palmatine, were investigated on B. abortus. The C. chinensis Franch ethanol extracts (CCFE) showed bactericidal effects at 1,000 μg/ml concentration and berberine at 100 μg/ml concentration. However, C. chinensis Franch and its components did not affect invasion and intracellular growth of B. abortus in RAW 264.7 cells. In conclusion, C. chinensis Franch ethanol extracts, water extract and its major components such as berberine and palmatine would be a beneficial antimicrobial agent without affecting phagocytic pathway within macrophages, and further study for the precise mechanisms of antibacterial effect would be necessary.

Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that reduces the incidence of caries by inhibiting the growth of oral streptococci, including Streptococcus mutans. Since xylitol is transported via the fructose phosphotransferase system, we hypothesized that it could also affect the growth of other oral bacteria strains. We tested the effects of xylitol against non-periodontopathogenic oral bacteria frequently found in healthy subjects as well as periodontopathogens including Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, and Tannerella forsythia. With 5% xylitol, Streptococcus vestibularis and Gemella morbillorum showed marked growth inhibition. With 10% xylitol, all of the tested periodontopathogens and Actinomyces naeslundii showed marked growth inhibition, whereas the growth inhibition of Neisseria mucosa, Neisseria sicca and Veillonella parvula was mild only. Xylitol is a widely used sweetener and the concentration used in our experiment is easily achieved in the oral cavity. If xylitol reduces the growth of periodontopathogens more preferentially, it could also reduce the prevalence of these pathogens and have clinical utility in the prevention or treatment of periodontal disease.

The purpose of this study was performed to determine the whitening effect of organic solvent extracts from the centipede, Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans. We prepared different concentrations (50%, 70% and 100%) of ethanol, methanol, 100% ethyl acetate and water extracts. We tested melanin inhibitory effect and tyrosinase activity using B16/F10 melanoma cell. As a result, treatment of organic solvent extracts is decreased the biosynthesis of melanin and tyrosinase activity to 30~60%. Especially the 70% ethanol extracts was the most effective in B16/F10 melanoma cells. In the study on melanogenic protein expression, 70% ethanol extracts of Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans blocked glycosylation of tyrosinase. Therefore this result suggests that 70% ethanol extracts could be developed as a skin whitening agents.

The centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans has been a medically important arthropod species by using it as a traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases. In this study, we derived a novel lactoferricin B like peptide (LBLP) from the whole bodies of adult centipedes, S. s. mutilans, and investigated the antifungal effect of LBLP. LBLP exerted an antifungal and fungicidal activity without hemolysis. To investigate the antifungal mechanism of LBLP, a membrane study with propidium iodide was first conducted against Candida albicans. The result showed that LBLP caused fungal membrane permeabilization. The assays of the three dimensional flow cytometric contour plot and membrane potential further showed cell shrinkage and membrane depolarization by the membrane damage. Finally, we confirmed the membrane-active mechanism of LBLP by synthesizing model membranes, calcein and FITC-dextran loaded large unilamellar vesicles. These results showed that the antifungal effect of LBLP on membrane was due to the formation of pores with radii between 0.74 nm and 1.4 nm. In conclusion, this study suggests that LBLP exerts a potent antifungal activity by pore formation in the membrane, eventually leading to fungal cell death.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of macrophages on growth of human colon cancer cells. The results showed that co-culture of colon cancer cells with macrophages inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells (HCT116 and SW620) depending on the number of macrophages, RAW 264.7 cells, and activated THP-1 cells accompanied by down regulation of pSTAT3 in cancer cells. We also found that expression and release of cancer cell growth inhibitory cytokines, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and IL-10, was increased in macrophages. Blocking of the STAT3 pathway with specific inhibitor and siRNA of STAT3 abolished the growth of colon cancer cells and expression of IL-1ra and IL-10. In addition, neutralization of IL-1ra and IL-10 with antibodies resulted in reversal of macrophage-induced inhibition of cancer cell growth. These data showed that IL-1ra and IL-10 released from macrophages inhibit growth of colon cancer cells through inhibition of the STAT3 pathway.

Two species entomopathogenic fungi most widely used and valued in traditional Asian medical practice are Ophiocordyceps sinensis (formely Cordyceps sinensis) and Cordyceps militaris. Although O. sinensis may be the more famous and expensive fungus, it is also comparatively rare and cannot be grown or made to fruit readily in culture whereas C. militaris occurs worldwide, can be easily cultured, and is the easist of all Cordyceps species to fruit in culture. There is a well establihed cottage industry in Korea to produce C. militaris as a dietary supplement or even as a culinary ingredient used to promote improved health. Most of the Korean farmers raising C. militaris obtain fruiting bodies from silkworms that are injected with suspensions of hyphal bodies grown in liquid cultures. This study seeks to facilitate and to simplify the injection process used to produced this fungus by finding a simple cullture medium on which abundant supplies of the Lecanicillium conodial state of C. militaris are produced and can be used with simplified injection protocols involving spraying or dipping in conidial suspensions than the more material- and labor- intensive injection protocol. The studies to be repored include quantitative tests of conodial yields on varying carbon sources, varying nitrogen sources, and attempted to optimize the carbon/nitrogen ratio and pH of the medium for conidial production.

Pyrifluquinazon, as a quinazinalone chemical group, based on a new mode of biological activity. It is reported that mode of action is modifies insect behavior, rapidly stopping feeding such that insects starve to death. Time-release feature and mortality effect on M. persicae using different pyrifluquinazon nano type and non-nano type were compared. Pyrifluquinazon nano type was formulated with different molecular weight and density of used chitosan (CS 30000 0.1% and CS 3000 0.3%). In the CS 30,000 0.1%, the mortality was weakly occurred at early time, but steadily increased after 4days. Finally, we confirmed more than 70% mortality as a peak at 16days. In CS 3000 0.3%, the mortality showed about 70% until 18days as a effective controlled release. Also, We examine time-release feature and mortality effect on M. persicae according to the different pyrifluquinazon nano type(CS 30000 0.1% and CS 3000 0.3%) of concentrations. The CS 30000 0.1% bioassay results of different concentration were showed that the highest concentration(100ppm) was measured better mortality than other concentration at 0 day, but cannot confirm different effect about dissimilar concentration. However, increasing rates of M. persicae were low as treatment concentrate was high. In CS 3000 0.3% 100ppm concentration bioassay result, aphid mortality reached peak at 24 days and increasing rate also low. Additionally, for the comparing of bioassay and feeding behavior of M. persicae against pyrifluquinazon nano types and non-nano type, EPG technique was carried out. In case of non nano type, feeding inhibition efficacy was showed during 4 days after treatment, but appeared similar level with control after 10days. In CS 3000 0.3% 50ppm, residual efficacy was specially showed until 28days after treatment whereas treatments with CS 30000 0.1% were similar to the control after 22days. These result show that the change of feedinng behavior and motrality of M. persicae is correlated with the change of nano type or non nano type of pyrifluquinazon.

Several species of the genus Aphidius are used in biological control programs against aphid pests throughout the world and their behavior and physiology are well studied. But despite knowing the importance of sensory organs in their behavior, their antennal structure is largely unknown. In this study, the external morphology and distribution of the antennal sensilla on the antennal of both female and male adults of A. colemani were described using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Generally, the filaform antennae of males (1,515.20±116.48 ㎛) are longer than females (1,275.06±116.42㎛). Antennae of this species is made up of scape, pedicel and flagellomeres. Male and female antennae differed in the total number of flagellomeres as 15 in males and 13 in females. Female and male antennae of A. colemani has samely seven types of sensilla. We classified sensilla placodea, Bohm bristles, 2 types of sensilla coeloconica, , 2 types of sensilla basiconica as with a tip pore and with wall pores, sensilla trichodea. In addition, the possible functions of the above sensilla types are discussed in light of previously published literature; mechanoreception(Bohm bristles, sensilla coeloconicaⅡ and sensilla trichodea) and chemoreception(sensilla coeloconicaⅠ, sensilla basiconicaⅠ,Ⅱ and sensilla placodea). Future studies on the functional morphology of the antennal sensilla of A. colemani using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with electrophysiological recordings will likely confirm the functions of the different sensilla identified in this study.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of heat appli˗ cation on the immune activities of the human body. To exam, further˗ more, the immune effect from the healthy volunteer(male:15, female:15) by monitoring changes of immune substances such as various leukocytes[total white blood cell(WBC), eosinophil, neutrophil, basophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte], a comparative study with warm water immersion(40.8±0.3℃) and infrared(250W) was carried out. The plasma analysis showed that the count of white blood cell, eosinophil, and neutrophil were elevated in warm water immersion- or infrared˗ stimulated group compared with control group. However, the count of basophil was decreased in both warm water immersion- and infrared-stimulated group than control group. Therefore, these results suggest that the thermostimulation improved immune activity.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is toxic to living organisms, because its high reactivity causes oxidative damage to proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an enzyme facilitating the removal of superoxide anions from living organisms. This study focused on the cloning of MnSOD cDNA from Hyphantria cunea and its induction upon bacterial infection and various stresses. The open reading frame of MnSOD is composed of 645 bp, encoding 215 amino acid residues. The theoretical molecular mass and pI of putative MnSOD was evaluated to be 24276 Da and 9.14, respectively. The MnSOD from H. cunea is highly similar to human MnSOD (59.5%) as well as Bombyx mori MnSOD (76.2%). MnSOD showed no big induction upon bacterial infection and stresses, compared to that of Cu/ZnSOD.

Apolipophorin-Ⅲ (apoLp-Ⅲ) is a hemolymph protein whose function is to facilitate lipid transport in an aqueous medium in insect. Recently, apolipophorin-Ⅲ in Galleria mellonella and Hyphantria cunea was shown to play an unexpected role in insect immune activation. We show here a novel possible function/role of apoLp-Ⅲ in insects. To investigate the genes which have a relationship with apoLp-Ⅲ in fall webworm larvae, we reduction of endogenous Hc apoLp-Ⅲ mRNA levels in larvae via RNA interference (RNAi). The RNAi-mediated Hc apoLp-Ⅲ reduction resulted in the reduction of antioxidants, like MnSOD, catalase, and glutathione S transferase as well as immune proteins. In particular, expression of MnSOD commonly decreased in fat body, midgut, and hemocytes following the knockdown of Hc apoLp-Ⅲ, which induced an elevated level of superoxide anion in H. cunea larvae. The observed effect of Hc apoLp-Ⅲ RNAi suggests that Hc apoLp-Ⅲ is related to the action/expression of antioxidants.

Innate immunity responses are triggered by the immune challenge and therefore involve signaling processes. The cellular response is initiated by hemocytes and mainly involves phagocytosis and encapsulation of intruders by these cells. To address whether Hc-STAT is activated upon bacterial challenge, we examined the subcellular location of STAT protein in hemocyte by immunostaining. A new insect member of the STAT family of transcription factors (Hc-STAT) has been cloned from the lepidopteran, Hyphantria cunea. The domain involved in DNA interaction and the SH2 domain are well conserved. The gene is transcribed at a low level during all stages of development, and the protein is present in hemocytes, fat body, midgut, epidermis, and Malphigian tuble (Mt). Especially, hemocytes and Mt showed transcriptional activation of Hc-STAT upon Gram (-) bacteria and fungal challenge. Gram (-) bacteria and fungal challenge specifically results in nuclear translocation of Hc-STAT protein and induction of DNA-binding activity that recognizes a STAT target site in H. cunea hemocyte. In vitro treatment with pervanadate translocates Hc-STAT to the nucleus in hemocyte cells. Here we report the first evidence for the involvement hemocyte JAK/STAT pathway upon microbial infection in lepidopteran insect.

As indigenous aphid parasitoid, Aphelinus varipes kill aphids for feeding in addition to parasitization. Because of this characteristic of A. varipes, this parasitoid may have the possibility of biological control agent against aphids. So we have evaluated traits such as daily paratization, total parasization, number of aphids killed by host feeding, sex ratio, development time, pupal mortality of A. varipes parasitizing green peach aphid, Myzus persicae. At 25°C and 16L:8D, longevity, total paratization and host feeding of A. varipes female was 11.0, 25.3, and 63.3 days, respectively. And development time of male and female, sex ratio (M:F), pupa mortality of offspring of A. varipes were 12.0 days, 12.5 days, 0.88, and 11.6%, respectively. However, because these results are not enough to estimate potential of A. varipes as biological control agents/factors, other factors such as host suitability (Macrosiphum euphorbiae, Aulacorthum solani), effect of temperature, and host seeking behavior of A. varipes continually will be investigated.

The multicolored Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is common to a wide range of natural and agricultural habitats. Applications of gamma irradiation minimized the losses of stored food and the death or failure of emergence in larval and pupal stages. On the other hand, degrade toxin waste as one of alternative to chemical pesticide for both quarantine and sprout control purposes of storage crop pest. So, we have investigated whether gamma irradiation exposed to eggs, lava, pupa and adults of H. axyridis. It may be affected the emergence, fertility, fecundity, development period and sex ratio of H. axyridis. Some changes of physiological characteristics may be applied to more efficient agents as biological control of several aphids. Insects were exposed to gamma irradiation from 0 to 500 Gy of 60Co depended on their developmental stages. The results showed that the first instar, eggs, third instar, pupae, and adults were more sensitive in order of irradiation dose. And fecundity and fertility of female adults were significantly decreased with increasing gamma irradiation dose at all tested individuals.