Six taxa of unrecorded Korean species of charophytes are described. Freshwater and aerial charophytes were collected from the bark of trees, reservoirs, small ponds and swamps from April 2017 to September 2017. The newly recorded species of Korea were Cosmarium quadrifarium f. octastichum, Euastrum turneri, Spondylosium nitens var. triangulare, Staurastrum kouwetsii, Staurodesmus dickiei var. latus, and Klebsormidium subtile. K. subtile was transferred from Stichococcus subtilis.

In 2017, the freshwater algae were collected from reservoirs, small ponds, soil, and rocks in Korea. Eight taxa of Chlorophyta (Chlorophyceae and Trebouxiophyceae) have been newly reported in Korea. The unrecorded indigenous species were Chlorolobion braunii, Coelastrum pseudomicroporum, Coelastrum reticulatum var. cubanum, Monoraphidium nanum, Tetrachlorella incerta, Ecdysichlamys obliqua, Gloeotila scopulina, and Stichococcus jenerensis.

Aedes albopictus is one species of mosquito transmitting flavivirus causing Dengue, Zika, and West Nile fever. Although it is an important disease vector, the genetic study of Ae. alpopictus populations has not been undertaken yet in South Korea. Here, we investigated the genetic variation of 99 Ae. albopictus individuals collected from 29 sites in nine provinces in 2016, through mitochondrial COI gene analysis. Haplotype analyses revealed seven haplogroups in South Korea. The main haplogroup, comprising 76 individuals (77.8%), was genetically identical to the one from Nagasaki. Two groups from Jeju Island (11) and the southern coast of South Korea (nine) were closely related to different Ae. albopictus strains from Kumamoto and Guangdong/Fujian, respectively. However, the others (four) were distinct from these two countries. No geographic divisions of populations were found in the study regions. The results suggest the possibility that the currently prevalent Ae. albopictus in South Korea, represents a part of the descendants that originated from nearby countries. However, more comprehensive investigations are needed to explain its movement routes.

Dengue is the most important arboviral disease in tropical and subtropical areas where 2.5 billion people are at risk of infection. Aedes albopictus will be a major vector transmitting dengue virus in Korea, where this virus overseas inflow is possible. We collected mosquitoes in Jeju, Busan, Gunsan, and Incheon using BG sentinel trap from April to October in 2016. Collected mosquitoes were conducted virus detection using real-time PCR method and analysis bloodmeal source of Ae. albopictus. A total of 15 species comprising 7 genera were identified and 4,854 female mosquitoes collected. The most dominant species ratio (SR) was 52.9% (Culex pippins complex) followed by 20.3% (Ae. albopictus), 10.8% (Ae. vexans nipponi) and Ochlerotatus dorsalis (3.8%). Dengue virus was not detected. Bloodmeal source of Ae. albopictus was mammals (80.9%) followed by birds (18.6) and amphibians (0.5).

The purpose of this monitoring is to survey the geographical distribution of tick species using dry ice bait traps and flagging methods at each ten provinces (GangwonⅠ,GangwonⅡ, Gyeonggi, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam and Jeju area) and one Metropolitan area in the Republic of Korea for eight months from April through November, 2016. A total of 65,339 ixodid ticks (8,200 females, 1,988 males, 31,453 nymphs and 23,698 larvae) was collected, belonging to three genera (Haemaphysalis, Ixodes and Amblyomma). Haemaphysalis longicornis was the most commonly collected species, which is represented for 96.88% of all the collected ticks and followed by H. flava (2.69%), I. nipponensis (0.35%), A. testudinarium (0.05%) and H. japonica (0.03%) in the Republic of Korea for the study period. Haemaphysalis longicornis was a dominant species observed in these eleven areas.

We performed a survey for flavivirus infection and distribution of Aedes albopictus that known as Zika and Dengue virus vector using black–light trap and BG-sentinel trap around urban area in Korea. Mosquitoes were collected in 27 cities during March to November (twice a month) year 2016. Total numbers of mosquitoes collected 102,102 including 19 species 8 genera during collecting period. Total 21,467 Ae. albopictus was collected that 20,961(24.3%) by BG-sentinel trap and 506 (3.2%) by Black-light trap in urban area. Trap index(trap/night) of Ae. albopictus was showed highest in Hamyang (TI:992.3) and lowest in Taebaek (TI:0.3) there was only collected by Black-light trap. A total of 894 pools from all collecting Ae. albopictus were performed a Flavivirus detection. Flavivirus was not detected during study period. This study may provide basic information for surveillance of imported diseases (include Zika virus) and vectors in Korea.

West Nile Virus (WNV) is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Vector mosquitoes usually acquire these pathogens from feeding on an infected host, and transmit the pathogens to a naive host during feeding events. To understand the virus transmission dynamics and to survey WNV throughout country, the present study has been conducted. We collected mosquitoes in Jeju, Busan, Gunsan, and Incheon using CDC light trap and BG Sentinel trap from April to October in 2016. Among collected mosquitoes, blood-fed mosquitoes were conducted blood meal identification assay and the other mosquitoes were subjected to virus detection using real-time PCR method. A total of 29,603 mosquitoes representing 8 genera and 19 species were collected. The most dominant species was Culex pippins complex (35.0%) followed by Cx. bitaeniorhynchus (12.2%), Armigeres subalbatus (11.2%), Aedes albopictus (10.8%), Ae. vexans nipponii (10.3%), and Ochlerotatus dorsalis (8.4%). The blood meal source were of mammal (70.4%), birds (29.0%) and amphibian (0.6%). WNV was not detected in any mosquitoes.

We conducted a investigation for distribution and flavivirus infection of mosquitoes using black –light trap around Incheon international airport there was possible overseas inflow caused by global warming in Korea. Mosquitoes were collected once a week April to October during 6 years (2009~2015). The numbers of mosquitoes collected in Oseong and Eurwang mountain were 8,969 and 7,978 including 12 species 7 genera respectively during collecting period. Culex pipiens complex was dominant species in two collecting area as 4,621(51.5%) in Oseong and 3,761(47.1%) in Eurwang mountain. A total of 16 pools from 88 Aedes albopictus were performed a Dengue virus (DENV) detection and total 628 pools from 11,146 other mosquitoes performed a West nile virus (WNV) detection. Flavivirus was not detected during study period. This study may provide basic information for surveillance of imported diseases and vectors in Korea.

Dengue is the most important arboviral human infection worldwide. Approximately 50-100 million cases occur annually and more than 2.5 billion people are at risk of infection. This virus is possibility of overseas inflow to be high in Korea. We collected mosquitoes in Jeju, Busan, Gunsan, and Incheon using BG Sentinel trap from April to August in 2016. Collected mosquitoes were conducted virus detection using real-time PCR method. A total of 15 species comprising 7 genera were identified and 3,696 female mosquitoes collected. The most dominant species ratio (SR) was 49.4% (Culex pippins complex) followed by 21.8% (Aedes albopictus), 13.6% (Ae. vexans) and Ochlerotatus dorsalis (4.8%). Dengue virus was not detected in any mosquitoes until now.

West Nile Fever is one of most serious disease spreading throughout world since 1990. West Nile Virus (WNV) is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The possibility of overseas inflow of this virus seems to be high in Korea. To know the WNV infection of mosquitoes, we collected mosquitoes in Jeju, Busan, Gunsan, and Incheon using CDC light trap and BG Sentinel trap from April to August in 2016. Collected mosquitoes were conducted virus detection using real-time PCR method. A total of 22,632 mosquitoes representing 9 genera and 18 species were collected. The most dominant species was Culex pippins complex (36%) followed by Aedes vexans (13%), Ae. albopictus (10%) and Ochlerotatus koreicus (10%). WNV was not detected in any mosquitoes until now.

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.

Background : Cytochrome P450 enzymes belong to the superfamily of monooxygenases that are found in all living organisms with diversity in their reaction chemistry. These P450 enzymes are being used extensively by plants in their defense mechanism. Tetracyclic triterpenes reported as major ginsenoside constituents in Panax ginseng, formed by multiple hydroxylation of cytochrome P450. CYP P450 enzymes is effective in metabolising both natural and xenobiotic compounds. In this study, two ginseng CYP genes (PgCYP76C and PgCYP736A) were functionally characterized by overexpression in heterologous plant system. Methods and Results : In Arabidopsis thaliana and Panax ginseng, planta transformation was generated by floral and cotyledon dipping method using Agrobacterium tumefaciens (C58C1) individually. Spatial and temporal patterns of gene expression were analyzed by qRT-PCR against abiotic and biotic stresses. Herbicide (chlorotoluron) tolerance was performed at seedling stage by in vitro assay to check ectopic expressions. PgCYP736A expression were more abundant in leaves compared to roots and stem of 2-years-old ginseng, where as PgCYP76C gene was found to be highly expressive in rhizome, roots and leaves. Differential expressions were observed in response to abiotic stresses of two ginseng CYP genes, both expressed higher in response to NaCl and SA (salysilic acid) in ginseng. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing PgCYP76C gene showed small, rounded leaves and reduced height. This phenotype was found to be caused by down regulation of gibberellin biosynthesis-related genes. Another function revealed tolerance towards herbicides that belongs to phenyl urea. Conclusion : This study indicates the functional roles of CYP genes in plant growth and stress responses. Studied genes also can be used as a tool to make plants herbicide tolerant. Further investigation might focus on it’s function over terpene biosynthesis and defence mechansim against (a)biotic stress.

Background : Ginseng seeds are harvested in immature stages and take 3 - 4 month to be germinated following cold stratification. Improvement of germination speed can be a valuable traits to be characterized for economically important medicinal plant. Modulation of cell wall compositions is also considered as another agricultural trait when the crops can be processed for foods and forages. Here we show the functional characterization of ginseng pPLAIIIβ focused on its possible values on germination and modulation of cell wall compositions. Methods and Results : Patatin-related phospholipase AIII family genes were identified from ginseng EST clones and further confirmed by PCR. Clone showing the highest homology with pPLAIIIβ was overexpressed in model plant Arabidopsis, and it displayed dwarf plants. qPCR analysis showed that pPLAIIIβ expressed in all organs of 2-years-old ginseng. Overexpression of ginseng pPLAIIIβ also displayed apparently enlarged seeds as well as altered germination speed in early stage compared to the control. Chemical stainings and direct quantification of lignin and cellulose were performed to understand the link of cell elongation patterns and cell wall compositions. Conclusion : Overexpression of ginseng pPLAIIIβ inhibited longitudinal cell elongation in all tested organs except seeds which is enlarged in both directions than the control. Shorter root length is related with auxin responsive genes and its dwarf morphological phenotype is resulted in altered cell wall compositions.

Background: The demand of recycling renewable agricultural by-products is increasing. Radiation breeding is a method used to improve saccharification efficiency. Thus, we investigated the effect of gamma ray irradiation on the pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of the stalks of Senna tora, an important medicinal plants. Methods and Results: S. tora seeds were irradiated with gamma ray at doses of 100, 200, 300, and 400 Gy. In the pretreated biomass, glucan and lignin content were higher in the M1 (1st generations of irradiation) S. tora stalks than in the M2 (2nd generations of irradiation) stalks, this can be explained by the higher degradation rate in M1. After oxalic acid pretreatment, the concentration of total phenolic compounds (TPCs) in the hydrolysate increased in the gamma ray treated seeds. The highest relative increase rate in crystallinity in the pretreated biomass was observed in M1-400 Gy and M2-100 Gy. The cellulose conversion rate was higher in M1 than in M2, except for 200 Gy. Conclusions: Gamma ray irradiation at an appropriate dose can be used to improve the efficiency of pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, thereby increasing biomass availability.

Background: Senna tora is a flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. Its seeds are roasted and consumed as tea in Asia, to reduce inflammation in the liver and improve eyesight. Thus, it has been considered as an important medicinal crops in Asia. However, breeding trials to improve its genetic properties are rare. Mutation breeding by gamma ray is known to be an effective and highly successful approach for the generation of agronomically useful cultivars. Here we analyzed the effects of several dosages of gamma ray on the biological conditions of Senna tora seeds. Methods and Results: The germination rate and growth patterns of Senna tora were examined following irradiation with gamma ray at 100, 200, 300 and 400 Gy. The total phenolic compound contents and antioxidant activities of Senna tora were analyzed. Germination increased at 100 and 200 Gy in the M1 and M2 generations compared with that of the control (M0). The total phenolic compound contents and antioxidant activity of the seeds significantly decreased as the radiation dosage increased above 100 Gy in the M1 generation. Conclusions: Senna tora, irradiated with gamma ray at dosages 100, 200, 300, and 400 Gy, showed maximum germination rate at 200 Gy in the M2 generation. Plant height and leaf size gradually decreased with increasing gamma ray intensity in the M2 generation. The total phenolic compound contents decreased significantly at 400 Gy, and the related antioxidant activity was also decreased as the radiation dosage increased.