털진드기 유충 (Acari: Trombiculidae)은 쯔쯔가무시증을 전파하는 주요 매개체이다. 털진드기 유충의 발생량 은 가을철에 증가하는 것으로 알려져 있지만, 환경 및 시기에 따라 발생 패턴이 다르게 나타날 수 있어 각 지역에 대한 조사가 필요하다. 이 연구는 충남 예산의 털진드기 발생 양상을 확인하기 위해 2017년부터 2023년까지 36-51 주차 (9-12월)에 걸쳐 현장 조사를 수행하였다. 논, 밭, 수로, 초지에 5m 간격으로 털진드기 트랩을 환경별로 5개씩 설치하여 채집하였다. 그 결과 총 3,257개체로 2017년 1,104마리, 2018년 785마리, 2019년 650마리, 2020년 160마 리, 2021년 139마리, 2022년 233마리, 2023년 186마리 채집되었다. 동정 결과 5속 12종이 확인되었으며 둥근혀털 진드기(Neotrombicula tamiyai)가 1,882개체(57.78%)로 우점도가 가장 높게 나타났다. 이러한 발생 양상에 관한 연구는 매개 질환의 예방 및 관리 전략 수립에 있어 중요한 기초 자료로 활용될 수 있으므로 지속적인 연구와 모니터링이 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

Bangladeshi medicinal plants (BMP) have a history of traditional use in treating chronic inflammatory diseases, but a BMP bark’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects remain largely unexplored. This study assessed methanolic extracts’ antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties from the bark of 15 medicinal plant species native to Bangladesh. The methanol extracts of BMP bark were evaluated for their total antioxidant activity and ability to counteract inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Among the 15 bark extracts from BMP, Albizia odoratissima (A. odoratissima), Engelhardia spicata (E. spicata), and Shorea robusta (S. robusta) showed the highest total phenolic contents and total antioxidant capacity by effectively scavenging free radicals. In particular, these three bark extracts significantly reduced the mRNA expression of LPS-induced inflammatory cytokines and enzymes inducible by inflammation in macrophages. Also, the mRNA expression of NADPH oxidase 2 was significantly suppressed by the three bark extracts in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. These results suggest that out of the 15 bark extracts obtained from medicinal plants in Bangladesh, the extracts from A. odoratissima, E. spicata, and S. robusta exhibit substantial total antioxidant capacity by efficiently scavenging free radicals and also inhibit LPS-induced inflammation in macrophages.

Ctenoplusia agnata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous pest that damage on crops belonging to the Fabaceae and Brassicaceae, and it is known as a migratory pest. In this study, we investigated pattern of occurrence to trace invasion characteristics using sex pheromone traps and conducted genetic analysis of captured individuals while also exploring their correlation with air currents. Our findings suggest that C.agnata exhibits an annual occurrence of four generations in Korea, with the second or third generation, primarily active from July to September, posing a significant threat to soybean. Genetic analysis revealed the presence of 17 haplotypes, and trajectory modeling confirmed the influence of air currents from Kyushu, Japan and Zhejiang, China etc. These results are expected to be used as a comprehensive management of C.agnata and other migratory moth species.

Canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) has been reported worldwide as a major pathogen associated with acute hemorrhagic enteritis. The disease is a major infectious cause of death, particularly in young dogs. The earliest type of CPV-2 was replaced with three main subspecies, CPV-2a, CPV-2b, and CPV-2c, within a few years. Vaccination is carried out regularly, but the emergence of antigenic variants and the influence of maternal antibodies have limited the efficacy of commercial vaccines. New vaccines, such as the subunit vaccine, have been developed for alternative, safe, and effective vaccination. The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is an excellent eukaryotic expression system with a high-level expression of foreign proteins and the ability of post-translational modification. Therefore, it is used widely to produce recombinant protein and subunit vaccines. In this study, the VP2 protein of CPV-2b cloned in the gateway vector system was generated using a baculovirus expression system in Spodoptera frugiperda (SF9) insect cells. Hemagglutination assay (HA) titers (24) were obtained, and the expression was detected in 6-His tagged VP2 and monoclonal antibody (mAb) against CPV-2 by western blotting. The VP2 protein of CPV-2b expressed in this study may provide a basis for a clinical diagnosis and vaccination applications for CPV-2.

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are members of the family Orthomyxoviridae and genus Orthomyxovirus. Avian and mammalian species are the host of IAVs, which includes humans and dogs. Canine influenza virus (CIV) is an emerging pathogen that causes severe and acute respiratory diseases in dogs. This study monitored the antigen and antibody against CIV in dogs in the Republic of Korea (ROK) from 2016 to 2021. One thousand and seventy-two nasal swabs and 1,545 blood samples were collected from animal hospitals and animal shelters. Five nasal swabs in 2017 and seven in 2018 from stray dogs were positive for CIV according to RT-PCR. The prevalence of H3N2 CIV ranged from 9.5% to 24.8%, according to the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. On the other hand, none of the serum samples from 2018 to 2021 showed seropositivity against the avian H5, H7, and H9 viruses. The HI titers for H3N2 ranged from 16 to 512. The distribution of HI titer 16–32 was 57.6% in seropositive samples. The pet dogs were vaccinated against CIV, but the stray and military dogs were unvaccinated. In 2017 and 2018, the seroprevalence of CIV in stray dogs was higher than in the other years, and viral RNA was detected in nasal swabs. It may mean previous exposure of stray dogs to CIV. With the increasing number of pet dogs and the close contact between humans and dogs, canines could serve as an intermediate host for transmitting IAVs to humans. Therefore, continuous surveillance of CIV is needed for public health and the potential emergence of novel zoonotic viruses.

1. 본 연구는 베트남 쌀 농장의 농업 기계화 서비스 제공의 재무 성과를 분석하였다. 2. 2014년 베트남 가계생활수준조사 결과를 활용하여 타 농가의 쌀 생산에 농업 기계화 서비스를 제공한 164명의 농가를 추출하였으며, 분석한 결과 해당 서비스의 제공이 농가당 약 1700 만 VND / 년의 수익을 발생시켰다는 것이 발견되었다. 3. 자산 감가 상각, 노동 아웃소싱, 농업 신용 및 쌀 토지 면적의 경우 그 값이 커질 수록 농업 서비스 제공자의 재정 효율성을 저하시키는 것으로 발견되었다. 4. 한편, 남성이거나 주 수입이 쌀 생산인 농부들은 재정적 효율성이 더 높은 것으로 분석되었다. 5. 본 연구는 베트남 농민들이 쌀 생산의 재정적 효율성 향 상에 농업 기계화가 긍정적인 영향을 주고 있음을 시사하지만, 농업 기계의 짧은 운용시간을 고려하였을 때 농업 기계 구입을 위한 신용 대출 정책에 있어 베트남 정부가 신중하게 접근할 필요가 있음을 제시하고 있다.

1. 본 연구는 유기질 비료 사용의 효과와 쌀 생산에 유기질 비료 채택에 영향을 미치는 요인을 평가하였다. 2. 2014년 베트남 가계생활수준조사 결과를 활용하여 분석한 결과 무기질 비료만을 사용하는 농민의 쌀 생산량, 수익 및 비용이 유기질 비료를 사용하는 농민의 경우보다 더 크다는 것이 발견되었다. 3. 반면 쌀 생산에 있어 재정적 효율성은 유기질 비료를 사용한 농민이 더 높은 것으로 나타났으며, 융자가 있거나 넓은 토지를 가진 농민들은 유기 비료를 덜 사용하는 경향이 있음이 분석되었다. 4. 한편, 높은 교육 수준의 농민이나 조합에 가입한 농민의 경우 유기질 비료를 사용할 가능성이 더 높은 것으로 분석되었다. 5. 본 연구는 베트남 농민들이 쌀 생산의 재정적 효율성과 지속 가능성을 높이기 위해 유기질 비료를 적용해야 함을 시 사하며, 이에 베트남 정부는 유기질 비료의 생산과 활용에 동기를 부여하는 정책을 도입할 필요가 있다.

A residual contact vial plus water (RCVpW) bioassay method was established to monitor insectiside resistance in field populations of the melon thrips, Thrips palmi. Resistance level against six major insecticides were evalutated in five regions to test applicability of RCVpW as an on-site resistance monitoring tool. Reduced mortality in response to six test insecticides were exhibited compared to the RDA susceptable strain showing 100 % mortality, indicating different degree of resistance. An apparently reduced mortality to emamectin benzoate and chlofenapyr was observed in some field populations, suggesting uneven distribution of resistance to these insecticides in field populations. In addition, spinosad resistance was high and widely distributed in the test regions. Synergistic bioassay revealed that cytochrome P450-mediated metabolic factor is involved in spinosad resistance in the Korean population.

Leptotrombidium pallidum is the major vector mites for Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub typhus. To understand the molecular mechanism of L. pallidum, we sequenced the whole genome using Illumina sequencing technology. Totally four genomic libraries with different insert sizes ranging from 280 bp to 8 kb were used to generate 45.1 Gb of genome in the combination of paired-end and mate-pairs sequencing reads. Quality filtering and correction of paired-end reads for very small and/or bad-quality sequences yielded 26.9 Gb of high-quality sequences, which are used to estimate the genome size as 175 Mbusing kmer methods and assembled into a 193.7 Mb genomic sequence scaffolds with N50 length of 92,945 bp. Furthermore, 94% of CEGMA completeness score were obtained from genome scaffold assembly. To facilitate gene annotation, we used a combination of de novo and homology based tools to predict gene models in the chigger mite genome. A combination of evidence-based and de novo approaches predicted 15,842 high-confidence protein-coding genes with an average transcript length of 1,511 bp and 2.4 exons per gene which corresponds to about 12.4% total gene length. Bacterial endosymbiosis are very common in mite species and can range from mutualistic to pathogenic associations. Henceforth, the endosymbionts in L. pallidum were predicted using the NCBI microbial draft genomes and mitochondrial genome. Besides, this L. pallidum draft genome can be used as a significant reference for comparative genomic studies across mite species.

Leptotrombidium pallidum is the major vector mite for Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub typhus, in Asian countries, including Korea. The genome size of L. pallidum was previously estimated to be 191 ± 7 Mb (Kim et al., 2014). Genomic DNA (gDNA) was extracted from a single female from a 9-generation inbred L. pallidum colony and used for whole genome amplification (WGA). The resulting amplified gDNA was used for the construction of paired-end and mate-pair libraries and sequenced using Illumina platforms (HiSeq2000 and MiSeq). An unamplified gDNA sample extracted from 20 female mites was also used for sequencing in parallel. More than 45Gb sequence reads from both paired-end and mate-pair libraries of the WGA gDNA were trimmed and then de novo assembled using the CLC Asembly Cell v.4.0 for contig assembly and SSPACE for scaffolding. The assembly generated approximately 6,545 scaffolds with N50 value of 92,945 and total size of ~193Mb, which was in a good agreement with our previous estimation. Repeat analysis showed that about 30% of genome (~58Mb) was masked as repeats, most of which were unclassified novel elements. For gene predictions, generated were the PASA models based on genomic alignments of RNA-seq reads from 4 different chigger mite samples (i.e. male, female, larva, and protonymph) and the GeneWise models based on genomic alignments of protein sequences from 4 closely related species with chigger mite. Independently, ab initio gene predictions were performed with AUGUSTUS and FgeneSH with custom trained matrices optimized for L. pallidum and GENEID with pre-trained matrix for Acyrthopsiphon pisum. By combining all together, 15,842 genes were predicted finally. Manual curation is in progress for various groups of genes, including chemosensory receptor genes, immune-related genes, acaricide target genes, etc.

Leptotrombidium pallidum and Leptotrombidium scutellare are the major vector mites for Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub typhus. Before these organisms can be subjected to whole-genome sequencing, the genome sizes of L. pallidum and L. scutellare were estimated by a method based on quantitative real-time PCR. In addition, k-mer analysis of the genome sequences obtained from Illumina sequencing was conducted to verify the mutual compatibility and reliability of results. The genome sizes estimated by qPCR were 191.3±7 Mb for L. pallidum and 262.1±13 Mb for L. scutellare. The estimated genome sizes based on k-mer analysis were 175.5 Mb for L. pallidum and 286.6 Mb for L. scutellare. The estimates from two independent methods were mutually complementary and in a similar range to those of other Acariform mites. The relatively small genome size would facilitate genome analysis, which could contribute to understanding Arachnida genome evolution and mite vector competence and provide key information for scrub typhus prevention.

The chigger mite, Leptotrombidium pallidum, is widely distributed throughout South Korea and is a major vector for Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub typhus. In this study, the genome size of the chigger mite was estimated to determine the necessary coverage level prior to whole genome sequencing. Cloning of EF1α and RpS3 as putative single copy reference genes were conducted and their partial sequences were determined. Using the serially diluted reference genes with known amount as standard templates, the weight of a single copy of the genome was predicted by a method based on quantitative real time PCR. The average genome length estimated from the weight using two methods was 191 ± 7 Mb. When the genome size of other arthropods (Drosophila melanogster, Apis mellifera and Tetranychus urticae), with their genome analysis completed, were estimated using the same method and compared with actual values, the estimation accuracy was 79.8-98.9%, suggesting our current estimation of L. pallidum genome size is reliable. The estimated L. pallidum genome size is in a similar range to other Acariform mites, such as the dust mite and scabie mite, but appoximately 10-fold smaller compared to the deer tick, which belongs to Parasitiform. Our finding provides key information for further genome sequencing and understanding of mite genome evolution.

Body and head lice (Pediculus humanus humanus and Pediculus humanus capitis, respectively) are typical ectoparasites of humans. They differ not only in the ecological habitat but also in the vector competence in spite of their conspecific nature. Only body lice transmit several bacterial pathogens to humans, including Bartonella quintana, Rickettsia prowazekii and Borrelia recurrentis. In this study, the proliferation rates of two model bacteria, a gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and a gram negative Escherichia coli, were determined following bacterial challenge by cuticular injection. Both bacteria proliferated rapidly in body lice at the early stage of bacterial challenge but not in head lice, suggesting that head lice have more sensitive immune responses to these bacteria. In vivo phagocytosis assay revealed that head lice have much higher phagocytic activity against E. coli than body lice whereas only slight differences in phagocytic activity against S. aureus were observed between the two lice species. Taken together, these findings suggest that the reduced phagocytosis activity of body lice contributes, at least in part, to their higher vector competence.

고무화합물 형태로 구성된 조영제의 병에 Syringe Connector의 Spike를 연결 시 고무의 찢김 정도를 알아보고 찢김 및 분쇄로 인한 합성고무의 혼입 유무와 분쇄된 합성고무가 검출 시 분쇄물의 크기를 실험을 통해 알아보고자 하였다. 그 결과 찢김 정도의 경우 Syringe Connector의 끝과 최초 접촉하는 앞면이 약 3.14±0.04 ㎜로 뒷면 보다 많이 찢겼으며, 실험 대상인 10 병의 조영제에서 평균 7 개에서 15 개로 모두 분쇄물이 검출되었다. 검출된 분쇄물을 이용하여 크기를 측정한 결과 평균크기는 약 7.89±0.31 ㎛이었다. 향 후 다양한 실험 및 분석방법을 통한 추가실험과 더불어 흡인된 분쇄물 차단을 위한 미세 필터타입 자동주입장치의 개발이 필요하며, 분쇄물 유입 시 치명적 사고를 대비하여 관련기관의 관심 또한 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

Platycodon grandiflorum is a perennial herbal plant belongs to Campanulaceae family. It has very important genetic value as a major plant in Asterids order. The major ingredients are platycosides, terpenoid saponins. In Korean industrial plants market, it was produced 5,633 tons in 2013, and the total amount of production was less than only five species, omija, ginger, raspberry, yam and deodeok. P. grandiflorum is called ‘Gilgyung’ and is used as a fresh vegetable and an ornamental plant. Nowadays, various components of P. grandiflorum were already published. But, genetic research is in the starting stage. In this study, 11 cultivars; 1. MariesⅡ, 2. Hakone double white, 3. Hakone double blue, 4. Fuji white, 5. Fuji pink, 6. Fuji blue, 7. Astra white, 8. Astra pink, 9. Astra blue, 10. Astrasemi double blue, 11. Jangback, were analyzed using 60 Operon Universal RAPD primers. The results were phylogenetically analyzed and related to the morphological characteristics of the cultivars.