To identify viruses and compare their abundance levels in the venom glands of hymenopteran species, we conducted venom gland-specific transcriptome assemblies and analyses of 22 Aculeate bees and wasps and identified the RNA genomes of picornaviruses. Additionally, we investigated the expression patterns of viruses in the venom glands over time following capture. Honeybee-infecting viruses, including black queen cell virus (BQCV), deformed wing virus (DWV), and Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), were highly expressed in the venom glands of Apis mellifera and social wasps. This finding suggests that the venoms of bees and wasps likely contain these viruses, which can be transmitted horizontally between species through their stinger usage. A. mellifera exhibited an increasing pattern of abundance levels for BQCV, DWV, IAPV, and Triatovirus, while the social wasp Vespa crabro showed increasing abundance levels of IAPV and Triatovirus over different capture periods. This suggests that the venom glands of honeybees and wasps may provide suitable conditions for active viral replication and may be an organ for virus accumulation and transmission. Some viral sequences clearly reflected the phylogeny of Aculeate species, implying host-specific virus evolution. On the other hand, other viruses exhibited unique evolutionary patterns of phylogeny, possibly caused by specific ecological interactions. Our study provides insights into the composition and evolutionary properties of viral genes in the venom glands of certain Aculeate bees and wasps, as well as the potential horizontal transmission of these viruses among bee and wasp species.

The clearwing moth, Synanthedon bicingulata (Staudinger, 1887), is a pest that infests various species of cherry trees. However, genetic information regarding the genus Synanthedon including S. bicingulata, is limited. In this study, we sequenced a complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the species. The 16,255 bp of S. bicingulata mitogenome differs from the typical gene arrangement formed in Lepidoptera: trnQ-trnS2-trnM-trnI arrangement between the A+T-rich region and the ND2 junction. Moreover, the genome has untranslated repetitive sequences in the intergenic space between lrRNA and trnV, as well as the CGA start codon in COI and the TTG start codon in ATP8. Similar observations are noted in species belonging to the tribe Synanthedonini within the genus Synanthedon.

벚나무류 수목은 생활권 수목(도시공원, 가로수 등)으로 전국에서 가장 많이 식재되고 있으며 전라 남도 또한 벚나무류 수목이 가로수 중 가장 많은 비율을 차지하고 있다. 복숭아유리나방은 농업환경 외에도 생활권 녹지공간에서도 벚나무류 수목을 가해하여 피해를 발생시키고 있는 것으로 보고되고 있으나, 생활권 수목과 산림에서의 관련 연구는 그 필요성에 비해 미흡한 상황이다. 본 연구는 전라남 도 내 생활권 수목을 기주로 하여 발생하는 복숭아유리나방의 발생소장을 조사하여 생활권 녹지공간 을 관리하는 기초자치단체들의 효용성 있는 방제 전략 수립에 기여하고자 한다. 복숭아유리나방의 발생 확인을 위해 육안 확인이 용이한 피해흔을 세 가지로 분류하였으며, 성페로몬 루어와 트랩으로 복숭아유리나방 성체를 유인･채집하였다. 그 결과, 4월 중순 첫 우화를 확인하였으며, 5월 중순과 8월 중순에 2번의 우화 최성기를 확인하여 이때의 유효적산온도를 조사하였다. 또한, 채집된 개체들 의 종 확인 및 유전적 다양성 확인을 위해 mitochondrial 내 cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) 유전자 염기 서열의 분석을 수행하였다.

Although the effect of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) on Phalaenopsis plant flowering, biomass, and photosynthesis has received intensive study, whether elevated CO2 affects plant requirements and sensitivity to potassium sulfate (SOP) during the reproductive growth stage remains unclear. To evaluate the combined effect of CO2 and SOP provision on crassulacean acid metabolism orchids, we cultivated Phalaenopsis Queen Beer ‘Mantefon’ under ambient and elevated CO2 treatments (≈ 400 or ≈ 720 μmol×mol-1, respectively) and four levels of SOP supply for 20 weeks after treatments (WAT): potassium and sulfate levels by 10.41 and 1.96 mmol·L-1 (SOP1), 5.98 and 0.90 mmol·L-1 (SOP2), 12.80 and 1.96 mmol·L-1 (SOP3), and 14.83 and 3.16 mmol·L-1 (SOP4), respectively. The number of floral buds and flowers decreased in the plants grown under elevated CO2 than in those grown under ambient CO2, regardless of the SOP level; however, the reduced production of floral buds and flowers did not affect the dry mass of shoot, root, and spike at 20 WAT. There were significant interactive effects of CO2 and SOP on root biomass accumulation and net CO2 uptake. The stimulation of biomass partitioning on the root, as a sink source, observed due to the uptake of elevated CO2 was improved under increased SOP supply. Under ambient CO2, the leaf critical SOP level was SOP1 for root and spike biomass accumulation. Plants grown under elevated CO2 were more sensitive to SOP treatments, with higher essential leaf levels of SOP.

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is a species of ant native to South America. The fire ant was inadvertently introduced into USA, Australia, New Zealand, and other Asian countries including China and Taiwan. Since the first report of the fire ant in port city of Busan, Korea in 2017, it was found in many other cities of Korea in following year. To obtain the molecular information of this invasive species, total RNA was extracted from the abdominal segment of the ants collected in Incheon, and subjected to transcriptome sequencing. By using Illumina sequencer platform, 101 base pared-end sequencing generated 2 × 50,064,081 of raw reads to obtain 2 × 45.95 Gbase of quality filtered nucleotide sequences. The in silico cDNA library was constructed by Trinity de novo assembler followed by TransDecoder ORF finder and CD-HIT clustering program to streamline the library. The final version of cDNA library contains 20,442 contigs with protein coding capability. To survey the virome of this ant, these contigs were searched against the viral reference sequences from NCBI RefSeq database with BLASTN program. As a result, contigs which showed high sequence identities with several RNA viruses including previously reported SINV-2 were found from the fire ant. This virome information might give an idea of a shift of virological environment of this newly found ant isolate or population in Korea.

붉은불개미는 세계 100대 침입외래 해충 중의 하나로 우리나라에서는 관리 해충으로 1996년도에 지정되었다. 2017년 9월28일 부산항 감만 부두에서 국내 최초로 발견된 후, 2018년에 부산항, 평택항 과 인천항에서 발견이 되었고, 9월18일에 대구의 아파트 공사장에서 내륙에서는 처음으로 발견이 되었다. 대구에서 발견된 붉은불개미도 아파트 건설을 위하여 중국에서 수입한 석재에 혼합되어 수입된 토양과 식물체와 같이 혼입된 것으로 추측이 된다. 그러므로, 현재까지 국내에서 붉은불개미가 번식을 하여 토착화되었다는 증거는 없다. 현재까지 붉은불개미에 대한 종 판명은 전문가에 의한 형태적인 분류가 대부분이다. 그래서, 붉은불개미에 대한 확증을 위해서는 채집된 개체를 검역기관으로 이송하여 분자진단을 실시해야 하므로, 최소 이틀의 시간이 필요하다. 현재 항원항체 반응을 이용한 붉은불개미 진단 키트가 해외에서 개발되어 판매되고 있지만, 낮은 민감도로 최소 3~5개의 충체가 필요한 실정이다. 현재 판매되고 있는 진단키트가 가지는 문제점은 이를 대신할 새로운 키트의 개발이 필요함을 보여주고 있다. 신속한 붉은불개미의 검역현장에서 진단을 가능하게하기 위한 노력 중의 하나로 우리는 붉은불개미의 복부에서 발현되는 유전체에 대한 연구를 수행하였다. 본 발표에서는 그에 대한 현재까지의 연구 진행과 결과를 설명하도록 하겠다. (본 연구는 농림축산 검역본부의 연구비 지원으로 이루어졌음).

Aging are both global and domestic issues. In Korea, the population aged 65 and over accounted for 14.8% of the total population in 2018 and 14.4% in Jeju island. The Korea National Statistical Office estimates it will reach 41% by 2060. As the elderly population increases, socioeconomic policy changes and researches on health aging have been carried out especially in developed countries. Representative studies are telomere studies and molecular inflammation. Korean researchers also have made efforts to elucidate the secret of aging including TLR5 (Toll-like receptor 5)/caveolin study in Jeolla province, and ROS (reactive oxygen species) and molecular inflammation in Gyungsang province. However, Research on aging is still underway and research on gut microbiota started in Jeju province, centering on progeria, is expected to give hope.

Insect growth regulators (IGRs) are insecticides that disrupt the normal development of target insects. Among the IGR insecticides, juvenile hormone (JH)-related IGRs are of particular interest because they stimulate or interfere with the formation of JH receptor complex. In the precious studies, novel JH-related IGRs with JH agonist (JHA) and antagonist (JHAN) activity were identified by using yeast two-hybrid system transformed with the Aedes aegypti JH receptor complex. In this study, the transcriptomic responses of Aedes albopictus were investigated upon JHA and JHAN, respectively. These results will provide important information about understanding of impact of JH-related IGRs in transcription level.

The varroa mite, Varroa destructor, is a small ectoparasitic mite which attacks honeybee, Apis mellifera, and also known to harbor small RNA viruses which infect honeybees. To survey the transcriptome of varroa mite, total RNA of female adult mites was subjected to RNA-seq to construct an in silico cDNA library. 2 × 8.3 Gbase of quality filtered paired-end nucleotide sequences were obtained to construct 28,302 of protein-coding contigs by de novo assembly, and subsequent BLAST search revealed the viruses infect honeybee or associated with varroa mites. Six of the contigs showed high sequence identity to Iflavirus, picorna-like virus, rhabdovirus, and macula-like virus were discovered. It implies that the viral flora in varroa mites and honeybees might be more complex than previously studied, and suggests the importance of further virome studies for better understanding of honeybee health.