Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a highly contagious disease with no specific treatment. Since it is common in immunocompromised children under the age of 5, there is a need to develop a safe vaccine. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are similar structures to viruses with the lack of genetic material which makes them impossible to replicate and infect, and therefore have a high level of biological safety and are considered to have high value as vaccines. In this study, the insect virus expression system that is widely used for vaccine and drug production due to its high post-translational modification efficiency, was used to produce VLPs for Coxsackievirus type A6 and A10, which are recently reported to be the main causes of HFMD. For this purpose, the selection of promoters that can control the timing and intensity of expression of 3CD protein, which is essential for VLPs assembly but has been reported to be cytotoxic, was conducted to construct an optimal expression form for HFMD-VLP.

In May 2023, a free-living marine nematode species from the genus Parapinnanema was identified in the subtidal zone of Ulleungdo Island, the East Sea, Korea. Specimens were collected using the Smith-McIntyre Grab. These specimens exhibited close similarities to Parapinnanema imbricatum from the sublittoral of Moneron Island, particularly in terms of general characteristics, such as the detailed structure of the buccal cavity, the complex and ringed structure of the cuticle, the copulatory apparatus, spinneret, and the female genital system. However, the Korean specimens of Parapinnanema imbricatum also displayed distinctive features compared to the original description, including a relatively elongated body (3,317-4,339 μm vs. 3,100-4,200 μm) and a narrower body width (66-77 μm vs. 71-85 μm). Additionally, the diameter of the head was relatively shorter (24-29 μm vs. 28-36 μm). This paper offers a comprehensive morphological description, along with illustrations and DIC photomicrographs, of P. imbricatum from Korean waters.

본 연구는 기존에 절화용으로 개발되지 않았던 벼룩이울타리를 절화로써의 가치와 가능성을 증명함으로써 새로운 관상식물로 개발하기 위해 수행되었다. 실험은 온도, 보존용액, 절화 수명연장제에 따른 절화 벼룩이울타리의 영향을 구명하고자 절화수명, 수분흡수량, 생체중을 조사하였다. 수확 후 절화는 4, 15, 20, 25°C의 온도 조건에 따른 영향력과 1, 3% sucrose 와 8-hydroxqui-noline sulfate(8-HQS) 10, 50, 100mg･L-1 혼 용보존용액, 절화수명연장제 Chrysal와 Floarlife을 처리하였다. 저장 온도에 따른 실험 결과, 절화 벼룩이울타리는 저온 (4°C)에서의 저장에서의 절화수명이 대조구(7.8일)보다 29일 연장되었다. 온도가 낮을수록 절화의 품질과 수명에 가장 효과적이었다. sucrose와 8-HQS의 효과 확인을 위해 가장 낮은 농도의 당과 살균제를 혼용한 1% sucrose+8-HQS 10mg･L-1를 제외한 나머지 3개의 보존용액 대조구(6.5±0.5일)에 비하여 절화수명이 약 2주 연장되었다. 또한, 절화수명연장제 Chrysal 과 Floarlife는 sucrose와 8-HQS의 혼용보존용액과 절화수명에 유의적인 차이는 없었다. 한편, 모든 실험 조건에서 수분흡수량과 생체중의 급격한 감소는 절화수명의 단축됨과 연관이 있다는 것을 확인하였다.

This study investigated the antidiabetic effect of amaranth grain ethanol extract (AEE) in a diabetic animal model, db/db mouse. The mice were divided into 4 groups: normal control mice (C57BL/6J), diabetic mice (C57BL/6J db/db), diabetic mice fed a lower concentration of AEE (0.3 mg/kg), and diabetic mice fed a higher concentration of AEE (0.5 mg/kg). After 10 weeks of treatment, body weights, blood insulin levels and blood glucose levels of each group were compared. At the end of treatment, the results showed that both AEE supplemented groups had lower body weights than those in the diabetic groups although higher than those in the normal groups. Moreover, in both AEE supplemented groups, serum insulin levels were higher and blood glucose levels were lower than those in the diabetic groups although both values were higher than those in the normal groups. The results of this study suggest that AEE can alleviate many of the common symptoms of diabetes in diabetic mice and, therefore, has potential as a therapeutic supplement for normalization of blood glucose and insulin levels in humans.

Insect pollinators of the endanger orchid Cypripedium japonicum were surveyed and identified during two years, as a part of a conservation project of the orchid at Jukyeup-san and Hwaak-san (Mt.), South Korea. In total 40 individuals of 16 species in 4 families were identified. The dominant family was Halictidae, and Lasioglossum exiliceps Vachal visited the most frequently C. japonicum during the surveys. The average visiting frequency was 2.5 individuals per hour and the highest 4.3, from 12:00 – 13:00 in a day. After 15:00 insects did not visit the flowers at all. However, all of the visiting insects were found to not carry a pollinium or pollens of the orchard on their bodies; pollen carryover by any of the visiting insects did not occur at all. The orchid seems to require certain pollinators in particular body thickness due to its unique pollination mechanism. The orchid has two exit route openings, around 1 cm in diametre, where the entrapped insects can exit and an anther is situated just in front of each opening. It was inferred that a pollen carrier should be around 1 cm in body thickness. Therefore, the candidate species as the proper pollen carriers can be Tetralonia nipponensis Perez, Xylocopa appendiculata circumvolans Smith and Bombus consobrinus Dahlbom among the surveyed visitors.

Polyhedrin is the major component of the nuclear viral occlusions produced during replication of the baculovirus Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). To enhance the production efficiency of foreign protein in baculovirus expression system, the effects of various polyhedrin fragments were investigated by fusion expressing them with the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Recombinant viruses were generated to express EGFP fused with polyhedrin fragments based on the previously reported minimal region for self-assembly and the KRKK nuclear localization signal (NLS). The marked increase of EGFP by these fusion expressions was confirmed through protein and fluorescence intensity analyses. Among the fusion-expressed protein in nucleus and cytoplasm, the most hyper-expression was observed in the fusion of amino acids 19 to 110 and 32 to 59 of polyhedrin. Also these fragments, some degradation of only the fused polyhedrin was observed in the fusion of amino acids 19 to 85 and 32 to 85. The production of E2 protein, which is a major antigen of classical swine fever virus, was dramatically increased by fusion expression with polyhedrin amino acids 19 to 110, and its preliminary immunogenicity was verified using experimental guinea pigs. The production of luciferase was approximately two folds increased by fusion expression with polyhedrin amino acids 32 to 59, and its activity was measured using Luminometer. This study suggests a new option for higher expression of useful foreign recombinant protein using the partial polyhedrin fusion expression in baculovirus.

Grapevines are cultivated globally, and are also damaged by a large number of insect pests especially including leafhoppers. Leafhoppers are one of the important insect pests on various crops including grape. Among them, the genus Arboridia Zachvatkin (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae) was known as insect pests against grape farming. Eighty species were described in the genus in the world, and eight species were recorded in the Korean Peninsula so far, which are: Arboridia apicalis, A. kakogawana, A. koreacola, A. maculifrons, A. nigrigena, A. okamotonis, A. silvarum, A. suzukii. Among them, A. apicalis, A. kakogawana, A. maculifrons, A. nigrigena, A. suzukii have been known as important insect pests on grapes. In this talk, we propose a new species from the Korean Peninsula, and confirmed two new records: A. agrillacea and A. lunula. Additionally we present differential diagnoses of the Arboridia species damaging on grapevines for the field of applied biology.

Flexible transparent conducting films (TCFs) were fabricated by dip-coating single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) onto a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film. The amount of coated SWCNTs was controlled simply by dipping number. Because the performance of SWCNT-based TCFs is influenced by both electrical conductance and optical transmittance, we evaluated the film performance by introducing a film property factor using both the number of interconnected SWCNT bundles at intersection points, and the coverage of SWCNTs on the PET substrate, in field emission scanning electron microscopic images. The microscopic film property factor was in an excellent agreement with the macroscopic one determined from electrical conductance and optical transmittance measurements, especially for a small number of dippings. Therefore, the most crucial factor governing the performance of the SWCNT-based TCFs is a SWCNT-network structure with a large number of intersection points for a minimum amount of deposited SWCNTs.

To enhance the production efficiency of foreign protein in baculovirus expression system, the effects of polyhedrin fragments were investigated by fusion expression them with the enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP). Recombinant viruses were generated to express EGFP fused with polyhedrin fragments based on the minimal region for self-assembly and the KRKK nuclear localization signal (NLS). The increase of EGFP production by fusion expressions was confirmed through protein and fluorescence intensity analyses. The importance of nuclear localization for enhanced production of EGFP was shown by the mutation of the NLS within the fused polyhedrin fragment. Among the fusion expressed protein in cytoplasm, the most hyper-expression was observed in the fusion of amino acids 32 to 59 of polyhedrin. Polyhedrin fragment fusion expression with classical swine fever virus E2 protein also resulted hyper-enhanced expression of E2 protein. However, the fusion expression of porcine circovirus ORF2 with polyhedrin fragment did not show significant enhance of ORF2 production. These results suggested that the enhancement of foreign protein production when fused with polyhedrin is caused by the enhanced stability of expressed protein.