As a part of a study on insect food, the nutritional and harmful components in the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) were analyzed. In addition, due to a recent introduction of live Chinese mealworm in the Korea market, those components between the Korean and Chinese mealworms were compared. Analysis of the composition of the general components (moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, crude fiber, and carbohydrates) showed that abundant crude protein (50.32– 52.79%) was present in both Korean and Chinese mealworm powders, and the protein content in the Chinese mealworm powder was higher than that in the Korean mealworm powder by 2.67%. The amino acid compositions were similar, but the fatty acid composition differed with respect to each component in the Korean and Chinese mealworm powders. The unsaturated fatty acid contents were 76.80-80.55% of the total fatty acid content in the mealworms. The linoleic acid contents in the Korean and Chinese mealworms were 20.8±1.1% and 34.69±1.9%; the linolenic acid contents, 0.47% and 1.31%; and the oleic acid contents, 51.40±0.9% and 40.20±1.5%, respectively. With respect to harmful components such as heavy metals and bacteria that cause food poisoning, bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. were not detected in both Korean and Chinese mealworms, and the mercury content was below the standard value for common food (Korea, 0.03 mg/kg; China, 0.08 mg/kg).

To examine the expression profile of oxidative stress responsive genes in Spodoptera litura, we constructed a cDNA library from S. litura injected with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Using a microarray chip composed of 2,964 cDNAs, we screened gene expression at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 h post H2O2 injection. Data were clustered into 15 groups of genes that behave similarly across each time course. Seventy-three genes were identified as being at least 2-fold up- or downregulated after treatment with H2O2 in S. litura. We constructed expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for genes that changed at least 2-fold after treatment with H2O2. The functional classification of these ESTs based on Gene Ontology showed that the ESTs are rich in genes involved in oxidoreductase activity (5.7%), defense (14.3%), cellular process (22.9%), and development (17.1%).

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic disorders of unknown etiology characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Recent data showed that the development of IBD is associated with the interplay of genetic, bacterial, and environmental factors and dysregulation of the intestinal immune system. We investigated how the gut cells were repaired after injury in Drosophila melanogaster. In this study we made D. melanogaster intestine damage model by oral feeding with variety IBD inducer such as pathogenic bacteria Serratia marcescens, Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS) and bleomycin, because its function is very similar with human, even though D. melanogaster has relatively simple organism. We repeated oral feeding with variety IBD inducer and got the survival rate and 50% lethal dose (LD50). After feeding with IBD inducer, we investigated the change of the intestinal stem cells, innate immune-related gene expression, and apoptosis in D. melanogaster gut. We examined the Delta, stem cell marker, staining image in the gut after feeding with DSS and S. marcescens with LD50 concentration. The Delta positive cells greatly increased in gut cells damaged by DSS or S. marcescens. This result supports the idea that intestinal gut stem cells are increased after gut cell damage and play very important role in damaged cell repair. Expression level of antimicrobial peptides was dramatically up-regulation after gut damage. As a result of TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated X-dUTP nick end labeling) assay, we confirmed that cell death by apoptosis was very increased in DSS feeding flies. Accordingly, we suggest that D. melanogaster is a proper IBD model organism to study how intestine damage can be repaired.

Clubroot, caused by a soil borne fungus Plasmodiophora brassicae Woronin, is a common disease of cabbages and other plants belonging to the genus Brassica, which is the most extensively cultivated vegetable crops worldwide. This present study was to evaluate the utilization possibility of SNP primers, which we designated as molecular markers linked to disease resistance based on B. rapa genome, it may be possible to apply them to B. oleracea, and to survey SNP marker related to clubroot resistance of cabbages. In total, 425 SNP markers can be applied to B. oleracea were selected from 8,000 SNP markers based on B. rapa genome linked to disease resistance. New 123 SNP markers of them were designed to be analysed to High Resolution Melt (HRM), and tested for clubroot resistance using 6 cabbage varieties, including 3 clubroot resistances (YR Chunrok, YR Dongjanggun, and Grandmart Cabbage) and 3 susceptibilities (Chungam-45, Bogam-1, and Junggam-21). Of them, 118 SNP primers amplified cabbage genomic DNA using HRM analysis, suggesting that it is possible to apply SNP markers based on B. rapa genome to B. oleracea. A total of 4 candidate SNP markers related to clubroot resistance were detected at 80.2℃ of melt temperature in BRS6, 79.2℃ in BRS18, 82.2℃ in BRS79, and at 84.4℃ in BRS114, respectively. These results provide valuable information that can be used for the utilization of the genus Brassica genome study and breeding for clubroot resistance in cabbages.