농작물의 수분 매개자이며 생태계 유지에 필수적인 역할을 하는 꿀벌의 노제마병(nosemosis)은 꿀벌 집단 붕괴현상(colony collapse disorder: CCD)의 원인 중 하나로 알려져 있다. 또한, 노제마병은 봉군 약화를 초래할 뿐 아니라 여러 가지 양봉 산물의 생산성을 낮추는 원인이기도 하다. 국내에서는 Nosema ceranae가 노제마병의 주요 병원체로 알려져 있다. 노제마 감염을 확인하기 위해서는 꿀벌의 중장을 적출한 후 노제마 포자의 확인 및 계수를 통해 감염 수준을 평가할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 더욱 빠르고 정확하게 노제마 감염 수준을 평가할 수 있는 새로운 방법으로 포자 염색법과 qPCR 방법을 개발하였다. 노제마 포자에 대해 특이적인 염색이 가능한 Fluorescent Brightener를 이용하여 노제마 감염 꿀벌 중장을 염색한 결과, 형광 발현으로 노제마의 감염 여부를 확인할 수 있었다. 또한, 중장내 포자량에 비례한 형광 발현도 확인할 수 있었다. 그러나, 노제마 감염에 대한 특이도 및 포자량에 비례한 형광 발현 민감도는 신뢰하기 어려웠다. 그에 비해, 노제마 특이 유전자를 이용한 qPCR 방법은 노제마의 감염 여부 뿐만 아니라 포자량에 비례한 감염 수준 결정이 가능함을 확인하였다. 특히, 많은 시료들에서 노제마 감염 수준의 신속하고 정확한 평가에 qPCR 방법은 유용하게 활용될 수 있을 것으로 기대되었다.

In this study, laser-induced graphene oxide (LIGO) was synthesized through a facile liquid-based process involving the introduction of deionized (DI) water onto polyimide (PI) film and subsequent direct laser irradiation using a CO2 laser (λ = 10.6 μm). The synthesized LIGO was then evaluated as a sensing material for monitoring changes in humidity levels. The synthesis conditions were optimized by precisely controlling the laser scribing speed, leading to the synthesis of LIGO with different structural characteristics and varying oxygen contents. The increased number of oxygen-containing functional groups contributed to the hydrophilic properties of LIGO, resulting in a superior humidity sensing capabilities compared with laser-induced graphene (LIG). The LIGO-based sensors outperformed LIG-based sensors, demonstrating approximately tenfold higher sensing responsivity when detecting changes at each humidity level, along with 1.25 to 1.75 times faster response/recovery times, making LIGO-based sensors more promising for humidity-monitoring applications. This study demonstrated laser ablation in a renewable and natural precursor as an eco-friendly and energy-efficient approach to directly synthesize LIGO with controllable oxidation levels.

Haemaphysalis longicornis는 사람과 동물에게 여러 심각한 병원체를 전달하는 주요 매개체로, 한반도에 널리 분포하고 있다. H. longicornis는 Rickettsia spp., Borrelia spp., Francisella spp., Coxiella spp., 그리고 중증열성혈소판 감소증후군 바이러스 (SFTS virus) 등을 매개하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 국내에 서식하는 H. longicornis의 미생물 군집과 관련된 연구는 많이 진행되지 않은 것으로 확인되었다. 이 연구는 한반도 내 다양한 지역에서 채집된 H. longicornis의 미생물군집 다양성을 지역별, 성장 단계 및 성별에 따라 분석하였다. 2019년 6월부터 7월까지 질병관리청 권역별기후변화매개체감시거점센터 16개 지역에서 채집한 H. longicornis의 16S rRNA 유전자 V3-V4 영역을 PCR로 증폭 후 Illumina MiSeq 플랫폼으로 시퀀싱하였다. Qiime2를 활용한 미생물 다양성 분석을 통해 총 46개의 샘플에서 1,754,418개의 non-chimeric reads를 얻었으며, 평균 126개 의 operating taxonmic unit (OTU) 을 식별하여 총 1,398개의 OTU를 확인하였다. 대부분의 지역에서 Coxiella spp.가 우점종으로 나타났으며, 특히 Coxiella endosymbiont는 가장 높은 우점도를 보이며, Coxiella burnetii와 계통 발생 학적으로 유사한 것으로 확인되었다. 이 연구를 통해 분석된 결과는 각 지역의 H. longicornis 미생물군집 데이터 베이스 구축에 활용되었으며, 이를 통해 지역별 미생물군집의 특이성을 식별할 수 있게 하였다. 이는 한반도의 H. longicornis에 의한 질병 전파 연구와 이를 통한 공중보건 개선에 기여할 것으로 기대된다.

Yellow flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis is mainly controlled using chemical control methods. But the continuous use of chemical pesticides in greenhouse may contribute to development of insecticide resistance. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the insecticidal activity of eleven insecticides against the WFT occurring in greenhouse pepper cultivation in the Gyeonggi province. The results showed no resistance in treatments with emamectin benzoate, fluxametamide, and flometoquin while high levels of resistance were recorded in treatments with acrinathrin, acetamiprid, and dinotefuran. The Anseong and Yeoju population was more resistant against spinetoram and chlorfluazuron, respectively, than populations from other regions.

본 연구에서는 주요 발생지인 구례 지역의 산수유, 때죽나무를 중심으로 2018년 8월에서 9월 사이에 갈색날개매미충 월동 난괴를 채집하여 날개매미충알벌(phanuromyia spp.)의 온도별(15℃, 20℃, 25℃, 30℃) 발육기간, 수명 및 우화 후 15일간의 총 산란수를 조사하였다. 날개매미충알벌의 발육기간은 25℃에서 알 2.6일, 유충 5.4일, 번데기 15.0일, 30℃에서 알 1.9일, 유충 7.6일, 번데기 13.7일이 소요되었다. 날개매미충알벌 성충의 온도별 수명은 15℃에서 암컷 77.4일, 수컷 66.6일, 20℃에서 암컷 49.0일, 수컷 44.0일, 25℃에서 암컷 27.6일 수컷 28.4일, 30℃에서 암컷 18.0일, 수컷 14.0일로 암수 모두 사육온도가 높아질수록 수명이 짧아졌으며 15℃와 30℃에서만 암수 수명의 차이가 있었다. 또한 온도별 총 산란 수는 15℃를 제외한 나머지 세 가지 사육온도에서 산란 수 차이는 없었으나 25℃에서 평균 23.2개로 가장 높았다.

This study investigated the effect of Charcoal:Dextran Stripped fetal bovine serum (CDS FBS) and heat-inactivated FBS (HI FBS) in embryo culture medium on their ability to support in vitro development of bovine embryos. The developmental ability and quality of bovine embryos were determined by assessing their cell number, lipid content, mitochondrial activity, gene expression, and cryo-tolerance. The percentages of embryos that underwent cleavage and formed a blastocyst were significantly (P<0.05) higher in medium containing CDS FBS than in medium containing HI FBS (42.84 ± 0.78% vs. 36.85 ± 0.89%, respectively). Furthermore, the beneficial effects of CDS FBS on embryos were associated with a significantly reduced intracellular lipid content, as identified by Nile red staining, which increased their cryo-tolerance. The post-thaw survival rate of blastocysts was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the CDS FBS than in the HI FBS group (85.33 ± 4.84% vs. 68.67 ± 1.20%). Quantitative real-time PCR showed that the mRNA levels of acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 3, acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase long-chain, hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase, and insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor were significantly increased upon culture with CDS FBS. Moreover, the mRNA levels of sirtuin 1, superoxide dismutase 2, and anti-apoptotic associated gene B-cell lymphoma 2 in frozen-thawed blastocysts were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the CDS FBS group than in the HI FBS group, however, the mRNA level of the pro-apoptotic gene BCL2-associated X protein was significantly reduced. Taken together, these data suggest that supplementation of medium with CDS FBS improves in vitro bovine embryo developmental competence and cryo-tolerance.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of caffeine and theophilline on sperm motility during in vitro fertilization (IVF). Briefly, commercial boar semen was centrifuged and resuspended (5x107 sperms/ml) with fertilization medium (mTBM) supplemented with 2 mM caffeine (Caf), 5 mM theophylline (The), 2 mM caffeine + 5mM theophylline (Caf + The), and not supplemented control. The semen parameters of the four groups were analyzed by computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA, Medical Supply Co. Ltd) system at 6 h as time for IVF at 38.5 C under 5 % CO2 in air. The groups were examined 11 semen parameters such as total motility (TM), curvilinier velocity (VCL), straight-line velocity (VSL), average-path velocity (VAP), and hyperactivated (HYP), etc. A total motility of control group (41.3 %) at 6 h showed significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of other groups (Caf, 37.2; The, 35.2; Caf + The, 30.1 %). Results from many other sperm parameters indicated that the theophylline and caffeine negatively affected on sperm motility during IVF. These results suggested that the supplementation of caffeine and/or theophylline was not essential for IVF in pigs. To prove this suggestion, further studies are needed to analyze fertility and embryonic development after IVF with or without the supplementation of caffeine and/or theophylline.

Varroa destructor is a devastating ectoparasitic mite which attacks Honeybee, Apis mellifera. V. destructor feeds on honeybee hemolymph, and often harbors small RNA viruses such as the deformed wing virus to transmit these viruses in the infested bee hive. To survey the genes of V. destructor, total RNA was subjected to high-throughput transcriptome sequencing to construct in silico cDNA library by using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Total of 2×107,748,792 paired-end short reads were obtained and quality filtered reads were subjected to Trinity de novo assembler followed by TransDecoder, and CD-HIT program to make a V. destructor reference cDNA library containing 28,023 of clustered contigs with protein coding capacity. These cDNA sequences will help us to understand the molecular biology of V. destructor.

Both Nilaparvata lugens Stål and Laodelphax striatellus Fallén has been known as the major rice pests which were irregularly migrated into Korea by wind current from China. We re-arranged and compared the resistance profiles to detect the existence convergent adaptation by using the previously published dataset (N. lugens at 2014, 17:711-716 and L. Striatellus at 2016, 19:247-252 in J. Asia Pac. Entomol., respectively). Both species commonly exhibited the high level of resistance to imidacloprids. Especially, the immigrant populations of L. Striatellus exhibited higher resistance level to indigenous populations, suggesting that they would settle down in Korea with insecticide resistance traits being predisposed. To detect the convergent adaptation to insecticide, pearson correlation analysis were employed by comparing mean dosage of LD50 and resistance ratio to nine insecticides. Strikingly, high and similar dosage responses were observed between the two species with high correlation coefficients of 0.928 (df=7, P <0.001) and 0.950 (df=7, P <0.001), respectively, in the comparison of LD50 vs. resistance ratio. This finding indicates that convergent adaption has occurred in both species through consistent selection by insecticides with similar usage patterns.

The aim of this study was to carry out the comparative analysis of the brushing force following various brushing techniques bytoothbrush mounted pressure sensing unit. The study group consisted of 10 dental hygienist participants. The brushing forces (on buccal area of each first molar) were monitored on 8 different kinds of brushing techniques; Fones, Bass, Rolling, Scrub, Charters, stillman, Modified bass and Modified stillman. In Bass, Charters, Fones and Scrub method, force distributions showed a small gap of maximum and minimum value (Max/Min) while a big difference was noted in Modified bass, Modified stillman, Rolling and Stillman methods. Especially, the biggest difference of Max/Min value was observed in the area of lower left first molar. In conclusion, highly delicate manual skill is needed in showing big error range of force distribution. It means that careful force needs to be focused during toothbrushing instruction when a delicate manual skill was carried out.

Porcine parvovirus (PPV), a member of the genus Parvovirus, family Parvoviridae, is a significant causative agent in porcine reproductive failure, causing serious economic losses in the swine industry. PPV is a non-enveloped virus and its capsid is assembled from three viral proteins (VP1, VP2, and VP3). The major capsid protein, VP2 is the main target for neutralizing antibodies in PPV. When VP2 was expressed in large amounts, it assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs) similar in size and morphology to the original virions. In this study, we generated the recombinant Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) to express the VP2 protein. Expression of the VP2 protein was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The recombinant VP2 protein of approximately 64 kDa was detected by both analyses. The formation of VLP by recombinant VP2 was confirmed through transmission electron microscopy examination. The purified VP2 protein assembled into spherical particles with diameters ranging from 20 to 22 nm.

In this experiment, a highly porous scaffold of biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) was prepared using the spongereplica method. The BCP scaffold was coated with 58S bioactive glass (BG) and sintered for a second time. The resulting scaffold was coated with gelatin (Gel) and cross-linked with [3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide] and N-Hydroxysuccinamide (EDC-NHS). The initial average pore size of the scaffold ranged from 300 to 700μm, with more than 85 % porosity. The coating of BG and Gel had a significant effect on the scaffold-pore size, decreasing scaffold porosity while increasing mechanical strength. The material and surface properties were evaluated by means of several experiments involving scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Cytotoxicity was evaluated using MTT assay and confocal imaging of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells cultured in vitro. Three types of scaffold (BCP, BCP-BG and BCP-BG-Gel) were implanted in a rat skull for in vivo evaluation. After 8 weeks of implantation, bone regeneration occurred in all three types of sample. Interestingly, regeneration was found to be greater (geometrically and physiologically) for neat BCP scaffolds than for two other kinds of composite scaffolds. However, the other two types of scaffolds were still better than the control (i.e., defect without treatment).