Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) plays a crucial role in animal cell culture; however, the increasing number of bovine fetuses used and sacrificed solely for FBS collection has raised ethical concerns globally. The welfare of fetuses during FBS blood collection has become a key focus of debate among animal welfare and ethics organizations worldwide. Previous studies indicate that heat-inactivated coelomic fluid (HI-CF) from the earthworm Perionyx excavatus may serve as a viable FBS alternative in adherent cell cultures. This study evaluates the potential of HI-CF as an FBS substitute during the in vitro maturation (IVM) stage of bovine embryo culture, with a focus on improving developmental rate through antioxidation effects. In this study, 2% HI-CF was incorporated into IVM media, assessing its impact on cell growth, differentiation, and the expression of genes related to antioxidation. The group of 2% of HI-CF exhibited a trend toward increased cleavage and blastocyst development rates compared to the control group. Although antioxidant genes such as NRF2 and GSR showed no statistically significant differences between the control and treatment groups, a trend toward increased expression was observed. Conversely, GPX1 displayed a trend of decreased expression. Notably, IGF1 and NQO1 were significant upregulated (p < 0.05) in the 2% HI-CF group. Additionally, oocytes stained with H2DCFDA showed a significantly reduced ROS levels (p < 0.05) in the 2% HI-CF group compared with controls. These findings suggest that HI-CF's antioxidative effects support enhanced cell growth and blastocyst development rate, surpassing those observed with FBS. Consequently, HI-CF shows promise as an effective alternative to FBS in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes.

This study evaluated the immunogenicity of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in a guinea pig model to refine preclinical assessment methods. 24 guinea pigs were divided into four groups for immunohistochemical, histopathological, and molecular analyses, including qRT-PCR and ELISA. The ELISA results revealed significant elevations in interleukin 2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN- ), and tuberculosis-specific antibodies in vaccinated guinea pigs, particularly γ notable after 6 weeks. Although lung cytokine levels remained unchanged, spleen gene expression showed significant differences in interleukin-17, interleukin-12, interleukin-1β, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 after 6 weeks. Immunohistochemistry revealed peak IL-2 expression at 8 weeks and significant IFN-γ and TNF-α expression at 6 weeks. This study confirmed the effectiveness of BCG vaccine in guinea pigs, providing crucial insights for future tuberculosis vaccine development and standardizing immune response indicators.

국립수목원 산림생물다양성연구과는 2023년부터 산림생태계 보전을 위한 화분매개곤충 특성연구 사업을 추진하면서 그 첫 번째 단계로 화분매개곤충 인벤토리 구축을 위한 연구를 수행하고 있다. 수목원 4개소(강원도 립화목원, 경상남도수목원, 국립수목원, 대구수목원)에서 9종의 식물(국수나무, 미선나무, 산수유, 산철쭉, 생강 나무, 수수꽃다리, 아까시나무, 진달래, 히어리)을 대상으로 각 식물에 어떤 곤충들이 방문하는지 쓸어잡기 방법 을 이용하여 확인하였다. 조사된 곤충 중에서 가장 많은 개체수를 차지하고 있는 곤충은 파리목(1,407개체)이었 으며, 26과의 다양한 파리목 곤충들을 확인할 수 있었다. 그중에서도 가장 많은 개체수를 차지하고 있는 과는 재니등에과 (4속, 5종, 651개체), 꽃등에과 (24속, 34종, 302개체), 기생파리과 (8속, 9종, 111개체)로 집계되었으며 이 중에서도 꽃등에과의 종다양성이 가장 높게 나타났다. 조사한 식물 중에서 가장 많은 파리목 곤충이 모인 식물은 수수꽃다리와 미선나무였고, 각각 314, 308개체 이상의 파리목 곤충을 확인하였다. 반면 파리목 곤충의 방문이 가장 저조한 식물은 국수나무와 아까시나무였으며 확인된 개체수는 각각 38, 45개체였다. 우리는 화분매 개곤충에 대한 인벤토리 구축을 통해 화분매개곤충에 대한 다양한 분류학 및 생태학적 데이터의 지속적인 확보 를 위해 노력하고 있으며, 본 소모임에서 이에 대한 발전방안 및 축적된 데이터의 활용방안에 대해 모색하고자 한다.

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.

Nicrophorus Fabricius, 1775, commonly known as necrophagous beetle, is associated with vertebrate carrion. Up to date, the genus consists of 72 species worldwide. In recent years, various phylogenetic studies explored on the evolution and relationship of the species in the genus. However, morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies produced conflicting results, continuing the problem over whether Nicrophrous quadraticollis is monotypic or not. The present study is to report the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of N. quadraticollis that was sequenced in prior to a systematic research of Silphinae. It was 17,747bp in length and comprised 12 protein-coding genes(PCGs), 2 rRNA Genes, 22 tRNA Genes and one non-coding region. The nucleotide composition is 40.9% for A, 36.7% for T, 9.0% for G and 13.4% for C.

본 연구에서는 한국산 미기록속인 이마줄불청객파리속(신칭)과 미기록종인 작은눈이마줄불청객파리(신칭)를 처음으로 보고한다. 우리는 이 종이 포식성 거미의 섭식과정에 관여하는 phoretic relationship의 습성을 갖는 것을 확인하였다. 이 종의 성충에 대한 기재문과 사진 및 DNA바 코드 서열을 제공한다.

We analyzed comparatively the ground beetle communities of 1993 and 2023, with 30 year interval, in broadleaf and coniferous stands of the Gwangneung forest, a biosphere reserve in South Korea. 2,906 individuals (53 species, 38 genera, and 15 families) were collected from broadleaf stands and 1,782 individuals (36 species, 32 genera, and 14 families) from coniferous stands in 1993. The dominant species was Synuchus cycloderus in both stands. In 2023, 1,682 individuals (110 species, 78 genera, 21 families) were collected from broadleaf stands and 990 individuals (92 species, 67 genera, 22 families) from coniferous stands. In 2023, the dominant species were Eucarabus (Parhomopterus) sternbergi sternbergi in broadleaf stands and Coptolabrus jankowskii jankowskii in coniferous stands. Species richness (R'), species evenness (E'), species diversity (H'), and dominance (DI) were all higher than in broadleaf (R'=15.472, E'=0.336, H'=1.601, and DI=0.371) and coniferous (R'=13.756, E'=0.369, H'=1.324, and DI=0.326) forests in 2023.

Until now, in case of Palaearctic region, only one species, Nesendaeus monochrous in this genus was recorded from China. but the biology and life cycle are not clearly known, yet. This species collected from the bud of Glochidion chodoense in Korea for the first time and closely related to Heterochyromera imerodeus Kojima & Morimoto which was recorded only in Japan,. But Nesendaeus monochrous is easily distinguishable from H. imerodeus by the relatively longer elytra with bisinuately round apices. Heterochyromera imerodeus Kojima & Morimoto can be found from Eurya emarginata and Glochidion obovatum in Japan. So, this two species are closely related each other and need more taxonomic study about the generic synonymy or changing the generic position.

Curtonotidae, known as the quasimodo flies, in Diptera currently includes about 100 described species in five genera (Axinota Wulp, 1886; Curtonotum Macquart, 1844; Cyrtona Séguy, 1938; Depressonotum Grimaldi & Kirk-Spriggs, 2012; Tigrisomyia Kirk-Spriggs, 2010) worldwide. Curtonotid species have great potential as case studies for biological diversity, evolution, and zoogeography based on wide distribution and sufficient diversity. In the present study, Curtonotum maritimum Ozerov, 2007 is newly added to Korean insect fauna. This is also the first record of Curtonotidae from the country. We here provide morphological diagnosis and images including genitalic structures for accurate identification.

Milichiidae Schiner, 1862 is a small family of Diptera, with 19 genera and 360 described species worldwide. In Korea, only two species in a single genus, Aldrichiomyza Hendel, 1914, have been recorded. Milichiid species, small-sized acalyptrate flies, are generally associated with decaying plants and animals. In particular, Desmometopa Loew, 1866 in the family has a commensalistic habit, more precisely the phoretic relationship, that has been observed with predacious insects and spiders, in which adults feed on the juices of the prey. In this study, we recognized Desmometopa microps Lamb, 1914 for the first time in the Korean Peninsula. This is also the first record of the genus from the country. Herein, we provide diagnosis of D. microps based on the Korean specimens with images.

Necrophila (Calosilpha) brunnicollis brunnicollis (Kraatz, 1877) is a common necrophagous beetle in the Palaearctic region. The species is often encountered on the corpses of large vertebrates, such as human and pig, and is well recognized as a potentially group of beetles in forensic entomology. All of the developmental stages can be found in the corpse and under the soil near a corpse, which can be used to reconstruct the site, such as estimating PMI(Postmortem interval). However, its larval instar stages were never thoroughly described for identification. In this study, we redescribe the morphological characters of all larval stages of N. brunnicollis for quantitative and qualitative morphological information. In addition, we provide the images of larvae and an indentrifiaction key to larval instars.

The genus Silpha Linnaeus, 1758 in Silphinae includes 33 species worldwide. This group is flightless and known to feed on invertebrate carcasses from the ground surface. In South Korea, 3 species have been recorded, and S. koreana Cho& Kwon, 1999 is an endemic species, distributed only Mt. Taebaek and Mt. Mindung. Up to date the immature stages of the species has never been studied although the species has significant value as an endemic species. The present study is the very first one ever conducted describing the larval morphological characters of S. koreana along with images of larval stages. Furthermore, we report observations on developmental lengths for each stages of the species.

The bacterial soft-rot disease is one of the most critical diseases in vegetables such as Chinese cabbage. The researchers isolated two bacteria (Pseudomonas kribbensis and Pantoea vagans) from diseased tissue samples of Chinese cabbages and confirmed them as being the strains that cause soft-rot disease. Lactic-acid bacteria (LAB), were screened and used to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The researchers tested the treatments with hypochlorous acid water (HAW) and LAB supernatant to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The tests confirmed that treatments with the HAW (over 120 ppm) or LAB (Lactobacillus plantarum PL203) culture supernatants (0.5 mL) completely controlled both P. kribbensis and P. vagans.