Incursions of red imported fire ant (RIFA), Solenopsis invicta into Korea have been increasing. After a first interception of a colony of S. invicta on Gamman pier, Pusan port while intensive surveillance by Animal & Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) in September 2017, three more RIFA colonies have been found in sea port piers of Pyeongtek, Incheon and Pusan cities. The social forms and mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of the intercepted RIFA colonies were analysed by allelic discrimination assay (peptide nucleic acid probe based RT-PCR) of Gp-9 gene and mt-DNA fragment of 768 bp, which is part of the Cytochrome oxidaseⅠ gene. The colony on Gamman pier, intercepted in Sep. 2017 was previously reported as a haplotype 5 (H5) of mitochondrial DNA and a social form of polygyne. The colony on Hutchison pier of Pusan port, intercepted in June 2018 were confirmed as a H22 haplotype and a monogyne. Those different social forms show different origins of each colonies. Those on piers of Pyeongtek and Incheon ports, also found in 2018 were confirmed samely as H22 and monogyne. However, it could be putatively assumed that those two colonies were differently introduced via different container cargoes, considering those colonies were found in container yards of distantly located different sea ports. More genetic variation analyses using diverse sets of molecular markers such as microsatellites, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms, etc. in nuclear gens are being proceeded for more exact introduction routes (origins).

This study characterizes three Anabaena strains and 5 Trichormus strains isolated from Korean waters and 3 Anabaena flos-aquae strains procured from the UTEX based on morphological features and molecular analyses. The Anabaena and Trichormus isolates were morphologically assigned to A. variabilis Kützing and T. variabilis (Kützing ex Bornet et Flahault) Komárek et Anagnostidis, respectively. The Anabaena and Trichormus strains differed significantly in the mean length of their vegetative cells. The 16S rRNA genes from the Anabaena strains showed a 100% identity to that from A. variabilis ATCC 29413, while the 16S rRNA genes from the Trichormus strains showed a 99.9% identity to that from T. variabilis GREIFSWALD. The overall topology was in agreement for the 16S rRNA gene and cpcBA-IGS trees in the both tree-constructing methods. In a neighbor-joining tree based on the 16S rRNA gene, the 3 Anabaena strains were asso-ciated with A. variabilis, the 5 Trichormus strains with T. variabilis, and the 3 Anabaena (UTEX) strains were with Nostoc. To date, this is the first report on A. variabilis and T. variabilis strains originating from Korea.

In a revision of four Eurydema speices recorded in Far East Asia, we confirm only two species, one of which consists of two subspecies: E. dominulus (Scopoli 1763) [=E. pulchra (Westwood 1837), syn. nov.], E. gebleri gebleri Kolenati 1846, and E. gebleri rugosa Motschulsky 1861 [stat. nov.]. In order to prove the above taxonomic changes, we compared three major characters; (1) the color patterns, (2) the mitochondrial COI (DNA barcoding) and (3) cross– breeding fertility (inter–specific copulation). Two subspecies, E. g. rugosa and E. g. gebleri, preserve their own unique coloration patterns, confirmed by the intra–subspecific copulation and breeding. Interestingly, the 1st progeny from the inter–subspecific copulation of E. g. rugosa♂ X E. g. gebleri♀ (or E. g. gebleri♂ X E. g. rugosa♀) take the coloration patterns inherited from E. g. gebleri.

Systematic studies within the family Pterophoridae have been determined by external morpholgical characteristics (Yano 1963, Spuler 1910, Meyrick 1910). However, it is sometimes to be the result of species misplacement by the variation, depending on geographic isolation and genetic drift (Moran, 1986; Shufran et al., 2000; Anstead et al., 2002; Margaritopoulos et al., 2006). The genus Platyptilia Hübner [1925] is one of the largest genera of the family comprising more than 100 species according to the World’s Catalog by Gielis (2003) mainly distributed from Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions. Within the genus, Platyptilia ignifera has been suspected as very differentiated from other congeneric species in the morphological characters. In this study, to ascertain a placement of the species, we performed molecular analysis with one mitochondrial gene, COI and one nuclear gene, 28S, and morphometric analysis based on six ratios characters using principal components analysis (PCA). The sequences of the two genes, COI, 28S, implied that Platyptilia ignifera separated from Platyptilia spp. In addition, P. ignifera exhibited morphological characteristics distinct from other congeneric species. Based on these results, we propose that Neoplatyptilia gen. nov., for Platyptilia ignifera.

We performed molecular and morphological analyses to determine generic limit of the genus Aulacorthum including several species with controversial taxonomic histories. The sequences of four mitochondrial genes, COI, COII, srRNA and lrRNA, and one nuclear gene, EF1a, implied that Aulacorthum is not monophyletic, with Aulacorthum magnoliae and Aulacorthum nipponicum forming a clade that is not sister to other currently recognized Aulacorthum species. Morphometric analysis based on 20 morphological characters also showed that A. magnoliae and A.nipponicum exhibited morphological characteristics distinct from congeneric species. Based these results, we propose a new genus, Neoaulacorthum ge. n. for A.magnoliae and A.nipponicum.

The multicolored Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis, which demonstrates typical genetic polymorphism in its elytra color patterns. Early studies have color polymorphism in terms of geographical clines while a few investigated temporal populations in Coccinellidae. Nevertheless, note that geographical and temporal morph variation does not always correspond to what is expected from thermal and industrial adaption theories. A recent study of transformation and RNAi of the ladybird beetle, however, there is yet no evidence to indicate the variation is genetic or environmental factors. Here we describe a relatively new molecular fingerprinting technique, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Because we think that color polymorphism in Coccinellidae is affected by genetic polymorphism. In total 38 markers were scored from which some markers were polymorphic. Supsequent UPGMA cluster analysis revealed 3 major group of Harmonia axyridis populations. But for strains that are more genetically similar, different primer combinations may be need to generate enough polymorphic marker.

돼지 페르몬성 분자를 탐색하기 위하여 일련의 green odorant로서 기질 분자인 2-(cyclohexyloxy)tetrahydrofurane 유도체들의 정량적인 구조와 수용체인 porcine odorant binding protein (pOBP) 사이의 결합 친화력 상수(p(Od)50)에 대한 비교 분자 유사성 지수 분석(CoMSIA)을 실행하였다. 가장 양호한 CoMSIA 모델(I-AI)은 기질 분자내 입체 중심의 절대 배열이 I: C1'(R),C2(S)인 분자를 atom based fit 정렬하였을 경우의 입체장 조건에서 유도되었으며 PLS 분석 결과, 예측성이 r2cv.(q2)=0.856 그리고 적합성이 r2ncv.=0.964이었다. 모델의 CoMSIA 등고도 상, pOBP와 냄새 분자 사이의 상호작용으로부터 가장 높은 결합 친화력을 나타내는 분자의 구조적 특징들을 이해할 수 있었다.

Background : Cudrania tricuspidata Bureau is a widely used medicinal perennial woody plant. Obtaining information about the genetic diversity of plant populations is highly important for conservation and germplasm utilization. In this study, we developed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers derived from chloroplast genomic sequences to identify distinct Korean-specific ecotypes of C. tricuspidata via amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS)-PCR analyses. We performed molecular authentication of twelve C. tricuspidata ecotypes from different regions using DNA sequences in the chloroplast TrnL-F intergenic region. Methods and Results : SNPs were identified based on the results of nucleotide sequence for the intergenic region of TrnL-TrnF gene (chloroplast). Molecular markers were designed for those SNPs with additional mutations on the second base from SNPs for amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR). HRM pattern analyses were performed using the Mx3005P QPCR System (Agilent Technologies, CA, USA). Conclusion : We collected 12 individual lines of C. tricuspidata from various region in South Korea and China. Based on the nucleotide sequence in the trnL-trnF intergenic region of these lines, six SNPs and a deletion of 12 bps were identified and 12 individual lines were able to be grouped in one Korean ecotype and two different ecotypes of chinese lines, chinese line 1 and 2. The SNP markers developed in this study are useful for rapidly identifying these specific C. tricuspidata ecotypes collected from different regions.

We isolated low temperature inducible genes using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method and were able to obtain to clone MLT7 gene encoding peroxiredoxin and aminotransferase. The full-length cDNA of MLT7 is 1,049 bp with an open reading frame (ORF) consisting of 261 amino acid (aa). Genomic southern blot confirmed that mungbean genome has two copies of MLT7 gene. Northern blot analysis was also carried out for the gene expression during ABA, NaCl, drought, wounding and H2O2 stresses. The expression of MLT7 gene significantly decreased by ABA, NaCl and drought stress, but wounding and H2O2 stress significantly induced MLT7 gene expression. Especially, H2O2 strongly induced the MLT7 gene expression. The expression of MLT7 gene during low temperature stress started to increase in 3 h after treatment, and than slightly decreased and again increased at 24 h. Using GFP fusion vector, GFP-MLT7 was targeted both to mitochondria and chloroplast. However, it was mostly targeted to mitochondria and partially targeted to chloroplast. For the functional analysis of MLT7, MLT7 recombinant protein was heterologously expressed in E. coli. The MLT7 recombinant cells showed enhanced antioxidant activity compared to that of vector control cells.