Five spider species from the genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805, namely Pholcus geogeum sp. nov., Pholcus hongseong sp. nov., Pholcus gochang sp. nov., Pholcus jeocheon sp. nov., and Pholcus yongin sp. nov., are newly described from Korea. These five new species, which belong to the phungiformes group within the genus, can be distinguished from their congeners by the shape and structure of the genital organs of both males and females. They are found on rock walls and at cave entrances in mountainous and hilly mixed forests. This study provides diagnoses, detailed descriptions, and taxonomic photographs of the newly described species.

The present study describes Philodromus paiki sp. nov., which was previously misidentified as P. fuscomarginatus (De Geer, 1778), P. poecilus (Thorell, 1872), and P. spinitarsis Simon, 1895 in Korea, as a new species with diagnosis, detailed descriptions, and taxonomic photographs. Additionally, P. spinitarsis is also described to correct previous misidentifications of Korean records of the species.

A male Spheropistha melanosoma Yaginuma, 1957 from Korea in the family Theridiidae Sundevall, 1833 is described with measurements and morphological photos of the diagnostic characteristics. This species was collected with a sweep net around arable lands in a mountainous mixed forest during the investigation of spider fauna on Ulleungdo Island in 2019.

Two species of the genus Oxytate L. Koch, 1878 have been recorded in Korea to date. The spider fauna was surveyed in the mountainous terrain of Mt. Hallasan National Park in 2019. A female of Oxytate lobia sp. nov. was collected with a sweep net between shrubs in mixed forests during a seasonal spider survey and is described with measurements, morphological illustrations, and a diagnosis. The new species can be easily distinguished from similar species within the genus by the long copulatory duct conjugated with a spermatheca, a pair of triangular pits at the bottom, and no ditches.

Two linyphiid spiders, Saitonia kawaguchikonis Saito & Ono, 2001 and Asthenargus niphonius Saito & Ono, 2001 were confirmed from Korea for the first time. Males of S. kawaguchikonis and a female of A. niphonius were collected with pitfall traps in a leaf litter of mixed forests in three National Parks (Hallyeohaesang National Park, Mt. Naejangsan, and Mt. Sobaeksan) during the seasonal surveys for the spider fauna in mountainous terrain from 2018 to 2020. These two species were formerly known from China and Japan, or only from Japan, respectively. The present study describes these two species with measurements, morphological illustrations, and a distribution map. This report adds the genus Asthenargus Simon & Fage, 1922 from Korea to the Korean spider fauna for the first time.

This study was aimed to evaluate the dose-response the effects of nano-encapsulated conjugated linoleic acids(CLAs) on in vitro ruminal fermentation profiles. A fistulated Holstein cow was used as a donor of rumen fluid. Nano-encapsulated CLAs(LF, 5% of nano-encapsulated CLA-FFA; HF, 10% of nano-encapsulated CLA-FFA; LT, 5% of nano-encapsulated CLA-TG; HT, 10% of nano-encapsulated CLA-TG) were added to the in vitro ruminal fermentation experiment. In the in vitro ruminal incubation test, the total gas production on incubation with nano-encapsulated CLAs was increased significantly according to the incubation time, compared with the control(p<0.05). The tVFA concentrations on addition of LF and HT were significantly higher than that of the control(p<0.05). Thus, nano-encapsulated CLAs might improve the ruminal fermentation characteristics without adverse effects on the incubation process. In addition, the population of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens which is closely related to ruminal biohydrogenation was increased by adding HT, while decreased by adding LF at 12 h incubation. These results showed that nano-encapsulated CLA-FFA could be applied to enhance CLA levels in ruminants by maintaining the stability of CLA without causing adverse effects on ruminal fermentation profiles considering the optimal dosage.

This study was conducted to investigate the distributional characteristics of ground beetles and to provide basis information for biodiversity management including the ground beetles in the Naejangsan National Park area. Pitfall traps were installed throughout 20 sites within Naejangsan National Park during 2008 to 2011 to collect ground beetles. A total of 2,409 collected ground beetles were identified with 35 species belonging to 19 genera of 8 subfamilies. Coptolabrus jankowskii jankowskii, Eucarabus sternbergi sternbergi, and Pterosticus audax were dominant at the core area, while Pheropsophus jessoensis, Synuchus nitidus, Synuchus cycloderus, and Chlaenius naeviger were dominant at the border of the National Park and adjacent to the road or grassland. These differences of dominant species also affected to the similarity of species composition between core and border area, and caused increasing dissimilarities between sites with cluster analysis. Although the result of the present study was a case study using ground beetles, it will be helpful to develop a management strategy of biodiversity conservation in Naejangsan National Park and its surroundings.

Spider community was surveyed at Nakdonggang River which is the longest river (525 km and 23,384 km2) located East-south part of Korea. Nakdonggang river is developing for water management and environmental conservation including restoration of river ecosystem under “The Four-River Restoration Project”. Sampling was made 3 occasions from June to August in 2009. Eight survey sites were selected from both sides of river in Andong, Sangju, Gumi and Seongju prefectures. Spiders were collected with sweep net for on the plants above ground and pitfall traps for on the ground. A total of 94 species of 71 genera in 24 families were identified from 805 collected spiders. Species richness was high in Salticidae (18 species, 19.1%), Araneidae (12 species, 12.8%), Lycosidae (9 species, 9.6%) in order. Wandering spiders (55 species occupied 58.5%, 493 individuals occupied 61.2%) were higher than webbing spiders (39 species occupied 41.5%, 493 individuals occupied 61.2%) in species richness and abundance. Dominant species were Tetragnatha praedonia (Tetragnathidae) and Neoscona adianta (Araneidae) in webbing spiders, and Anahita fauna (Ctenidae), Pirata procurvus (Lycosidae) and Gnaphosa kompirensis (Gnaphosidae) in wandering spiders with abundance. Collectively, most spiders collected from this study were water preferring spiders and showed different community structure compared to other reports from terrestrial spider fauna. Present result will bevaluable to compare the effect of development on the arthropod fauna after completion of the project.

Background : Ixeris genus has been used in traditional medicines as stomachics, sedatives, and diuretics. Ixeris dentata var albiflora is a kind of perennial herbaceous plant and one of the plants of the genus Ixeris (Asteraceae). It is well-known for edible wild vegetable in Korea, China, Japan, and Mongolia. Specially, Korean has its root and young leaf with appetizing vegetable due to bitter taste. Methods and Results : We isolated 8 genes that are involved in carotenoid biosynthesis using the Illumina/Solexa HiSeq2000 platform. In this study, a full-length cDNA clone encoding phytoene synthase (IdPSY), phytoene desaturase (IdPDS), ξ-carotene desaturase (IdZDS), lycopene β-cyclase (IdLCYB), and zeaxanthin epoxidase (IdZEP) and partial-length cDNA clones encoding lycopene ε-cyclase (IdLCYE), ε-ring carotene hydroxylase (IdCHXE), and β-ring carotene hydroxylase (IdCHXB2) were identified in I. dentata. The theoretical molecular weight (MW) and isoelectric point values of 8 genes were investigated. Sequence analyses revealed that these proteins shared high identity and conserved domains with their orthologous genes. IdPSY, IdPDS, IdZDS, IdLCYB, IdCHXB2, and IdZEP were constitutively expressed in the roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of I. dentata. Conclusion : Our study on the biosynthesis of carotenoids in I. dentata will provide basic data for elucidating the contribution of carotenoids to the considerable medicinal properties of I. dentata.

“Surabyeo” is a new japonica rice cultivar developed from a backcrossed combination between the F1 of “Suweon 345/ Kanto PL4” and “Suweon 345” of lodging tolerant, semi-dwarf, high-quality rice line by the rice breeding team of National Crop Experiment St