Flower chafers (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) are globally distributed, comprising approximately 4,000 described species. They primarily feed on nectar and sap of deciduous trees. The larvae exhibit the unique characteristic of crawling on their backs, distinguishing them from other scarabs. Additionally, the majority of flower chafers fly with their elytra closed, unlike other scarabs that fly with fully opened wings. Šípek et al. (2016) conducted the first molecular phylogenetic study to investigate their phylogenetic relationships and characters of elytra related to the flight mode. Building upon this study, we infer the diversification times and rates of Cetoniinae and its subgroups, and reconstruct the evolutionary process of flight mode transformation. Furthermore, we discuss the current limitations and future directions of this topic.

The family Stathmopodidae, which belongs to to the superfamily Gelechioidea, has 6 genera and 18 species reported in Korea to date. This family is classified as pests, causing serious damage to grains or fruits, depending on the species. Therefore, precise control is necessary, however, there is a lack of taxonomic and ecological research. We aim to analyze the clade and speciation timing for phylogenetic analysis of Stathmopodidae using ChatGPT, a tool that has recently garnered much attention. ChatGPT, a conversational AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, is accessible to anyone and being able to improve itself through conversations with users. In this study, we utilized the lengths of the generated lineage branches and the molecular clock rate to predict when certain species of the family Stathmopodidae diverged, measured in millions of years. However, further study is required to obtain more accurate figures.

An estuary is a water ecosystem with a high abundance of the species diversity, due to a variety of complex physicochemical factors of the area where freshwater and ocean mixed. The identification of Corbicula species in the estuary environments is difficult because of various morphological characteristics. In this study, we provide taxonomic information on Corbicula species with taxonomic difficulties using morphological and genetic analysis. This study was conducted on clams from the Seomjin River-Gwangyang Bay, one of the major production area of marsh clam in Korea. As a result, we characterized Cytocrome C Oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of the Corbicula. The 636 bp nucleotide sequences of COI have 98% homology among Corbicula species collected from 2 sites of Seomjin River-Gwangyang Bay. The phylogenetic analysis with 17 species of Corbicula indicated that most of the species collected from Seomjin River-Gwangyang Bay were brackish water clam (Corbicula japonica), and only one Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea). The evolutionary distance between C. japonica and C. fluminea was less than 0.003. Therefore, it was confirmed that C. japonica is phylogenetically closely related to C. fluminea. In 9 species of Cyrenidae, phylogenetic tree was classified into three lineages. These results will be used as an important data for an identification of clam species by providing genetic information for Corbicula species with a morphological diversity. Key words: Corbicula japonica, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (

보구치는 난류성으로 전 세계적으로 널리 분포하며 해양 저층에 주로 서식하는 어종이다. 광양만에 서식하는 보구치의 미토콘드리아 DNA에서 cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) 유전자를 발굴하고 해양 어류종에서의 계통유전학적인 위치를 분석하였다. 발굴된 미토콘드리아 DNA 내 605 bp COI 시컨스의 다중배열 결과 광양만 보구치들 에서는 높은 염기서열 상동성을 확인하였다 (98~100%). 하지만 광양만 내해와 외해의 어획지점에 따라 염기서 열 변이가 다르게 나타나는 것을 확인하였다. 외해지점의 보구치들에서 COI 내 염기서열 변이가 높게 나타났다 (43.2~70.3%). 나아가 13종 어류의 COI 계통유전학적 분석결과 광양만 보구치는 타이완에서 보고된 보구치와 하나의 계통군 (clade)으로 묶이고 진화적 거리는 0.036으 로 나타났다. 또한 민어 (M. miiuy)와 대두이석태 (Pennahia Macrocephalus)에 속한 어종과 진화적 거리가 가까운 것으로 나타났다 (0.041~0.048). 본 연구의 결과는 국내산 보구치의 분자 계통유전학적 정보를 제공함으로 연안환경에 따른 어류자원 모니터링 및 종다양성 관리에 주요한 유전 적 자료로 활용될 것이다.

To identify and compare the venom components and expression patterns of some bees/wasps, venom gland-specific transcriptome analyses were conducted for 14 Aculeate bees/wasps. Most of the allergens and pain-producing factors showed extremely high expression levels in social wasps, implying that social wasps have evolved to use venom to defend the colony against intruders. Acid phosphatase and tachykinin, which are known as allergens and neurotoxic peptides, were found with high frequencies in the venom glands of solitary wasps. This suggests that solitary wasps might use their venom for catching and preserving prey. In the venom glands of bumblebees, little or no transcripts of major allergens or pain producing factors were identified, implying that bumblebees venoms are relatively less toxic than those of social or solitary wasps. Taken together, the differential expression patterns of venom genes in some Aculeate bees/wasps implies that bees/wasps have unique groups of highly expressed venom components, which appear to have evolved in response to both ecological and behavioral influences.

In this study, we sequenced two complete mitogenomes, belonging to the families Scythrididae (Scythris sinensis Felder & Rogenhofer, 1775) and Coleophoridae (Coleophora therinella Tengström, 1848) firstly in each family. Gelechioidea is one of the controversial lineages of Lepidoptera in its phylogenetic position and number of families. Phylogenetic analyses with concatenated sequences of the 13 PCGs and two RNA genes using the maximum likelihood method, placed Coleophoridae, represented only by C. therinella, as a sister group to the families Depressariidae and Autostichidae, with very low nodal support (7%). Scythrididae represented only by S. sinensis was placed as the sister to the family Stathmopodidae, with relatively high nodal support (86%). As more mitogenome sequences from the extended taxonomic groups are obtained further robust phylogenetic inference will be possible.

To identify the venom components and their expression patterns of some Aculeata bees/wasps, venom gland-specific transcriptome analysis was conducted. FPKM values were normalized with the average of the transcription level of reference gene (a-tubulin). Common components in both solitary and social wasp venoms include hyaluronidase, phospholipase A2, metalloendopeptidase, etc. Although it has been expected that more diverse bioactive components with the functions of prey inactivation and physiology manipulation are present in solitary wasps, the information on venom compositions of solitary wasps obtained in this study was not sufficient to generalizae this notion. Nevertheless, some neurotoxic peptides (e.g., pompilidotoxin and dendrotoxin-like peptide) and proteins (e.g., insuline-like peptide binding protein) appear to be specific to solitary wasp venom. In contrast, several proteins, such as venom allergen 5 protein, venom acid phosphatase, and various phospholipases, appear to be relatively more abundant in social wasp venom. In the venom gland trancsriptome of bumblebees, major allergens or pain producing factors were barely identified, implying that bumblebee venoms are relatively less toxic than those of social or solitary wasps.

국내 판매되고 있는 사슴벌레종[넓적사슴벌레(Dorcus titanus), 참넓적사슴벌레(Serrognathus consentaneus), 남방넓적사슴벌레(D. titanus jejuensis, 가칭), 애사슴벌레(D. rectus) 및 왕사슴벌레(D. hopei)]과 부산 지역에서 채집한 넓적사슴벌레 12개체와 경남 의령군에서 채집한 1개체의 미토콘드리아 DNA 중 cytochrome oxidase I(COI) 를 이용하여 계통을 비교분석하였다. 아울러 NCBI에 기등록된 북한, 일본, 대만, 필리핀, 인도네시아 및 태국의 넓적사슴벌레의 COI 서열을 이용하여 추가 분석하였다. 먼저 판매되고 있는 사슴벌레종은 넓적사슴벌레, 남방넓적사슴벌레 및 참넓적사슴벌레의 group I과 애사슴벌레 및 왕사슴벌레의 group II로 구분되었다. 부산지역 및 의령에서 채집한 넓적사슴벌레의 경우 COI 및 COII로 분석 결과 북한에서 기보고 된 3개체를 포함해 유전적 변이에 있어 큰 차이가 나타내지 않았다. 또한 한반도와 일본 일부지역에서 높은 상동성을 확인하였는데 그 외 아시아 지역에 서식하는 넓적사슴벌레와는 다른 그룹을 형성함을 확인하였다. 이러한 결과들은 국내 서식 사슴벌레 종의 유전적 분석과 함께 외래 유입종을 판별하는 근거자료로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

An intensive analysis was conducted of the maternal lineages of the Jeju native pigs (JNPs). A total of 100 mtDNA sequences from Asian wild boars (AWB), European wild boars (EWB), Asian domestic pigs (ADP), European domestic pigs (EDP), and JNPs were used for the phylogeny and network analyses. Two distinct JNP groups were found JNPA and JNPE in the Asian and European cluster. The maternal lineage of JNPE was the closest to that of EWB and a clear haplogroup sharing an identical haplotype (hap16) among 15 individuals of JNPE and 2 individuals of EWB was identified. However, except for hap18, no EDP shared any identical haplotypes with JNPE, suggesting that no obvious maternal contribution of EDP has occurred in JNPE in recent years. The possible existence of an additional and unknown path of maternal lineage from EDP into JNPE could therefore be postulated, in addition to those from AWB and ADP into the JNPA groups. Thus, JNPE appeared to have a pure maternal lineage that had no recent contact with EDP, and both the JNPA groups and JNPE are pure Jeju native pigs.

We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Vespa velutina nigrithorax and V. ducalis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). The genomes were 16,475-bp and 15,779-bp long and contained typical sets of genes. The V. velutina and V. ducalis A+T-rich region was 132-bp long and 166-bp long and was the shortest of all sequenced Vespoidea genomes. Start and stop codons in several Vespa species—including V. velutina and V. ducalis—were diversified, despite these species belonging to the same genus. In comparison with the ancestral mitogenomes, Vespa mitogenomes showed substantial gene rearrangement; however, we detected no gene rearrangement among Vespa species. We conducted phylogenetic reconstruction based on concatenated sequences of 13 PCGs and two rRNAs in available species of Vespoidea—22 species in six subfamilies in two families (Vespidae and Formicidae). The Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood (ML) methods revealed that each family formed strong monophyletic groups.

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is one of the most important sap sucking pests causing economic losses in a variety of vegetables in Bangladesh and as well as around the world. In the present study, the mtCOI sequence of B. tabaci was analysed using samples collected from different host plants (Potato, Brinjal, Tomato, Sweet potato, Bean) from district Gazipur, Patuakhali, Rajshahi and Nilphamari of Bangladesh. Phylogenetic analysis of our samples and relative sequences of B. tabaci in NCBI database was shown three independent clusters. Samples in Bangladesh were most similar with those of Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, China and India but did not show any B and Q aggressive biotypes.

NGS data was yielded by using Illumina Hiseq platform. The short reads were filtered by quality score and read length were mapped against the reference genome (KACC42780). Genome-wide reanalyzed data of Flammulina strains were compared against the reference genome to establish a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). The rate of mapping differences between the strains reflected in the strain variation in its result. The genome-wide SNPs distribution divided into types of homozygous SNP and heterozygous SNP moreover all of the strains demonstrated a wide variation in all of the regions. In the further study of topological relationship between the collected strains, phylogenetic tree was separated into 3 major groups. Group I contained F. velutipes var. related strains of ASI 4062, 4148, 4195. Group Ⅱ contained strains that were different species of ASI 4188 F. elastica, ASI 4190 F. fennae, and ASI 4194 F. rossica. The other 19 strains F. velutipes were classified as a single group. Polymorphic SNPs of F. velutipes strains representing the phylogenetic segregation of whiteand brown-fruiting body forming groups were compared. As previously reported, white gene expression is recessive to brown in fruiting body color gene expression. The white strains produced 131,874 SNPs to be aa type and homozygous from of SNP. 407,947 SNPs were detected as AA, Aa type from the brown-fruiting body of SNP. We constructed a SNP matrix with 8 white strains and 12 brown strains. To develop the molecular marker related in to fruiting body color and geographical origin, we isolated 240 SNPs from the white-and brown-fruiting body forming. To determine the chromosome relationship on polymorphic SNP between Korea and Japan strains producing white-fruiting body, we analyzed that the Korea white strains detected 185,695 SNPs and the Japan white strains produced 263,811 SNPs. Using the constructed SNP matrix with 3 Korea white strains and 3 Japan white strains, the experiment generated 475 SNPs of phylogenetic SNPs fromKorea and Japan white-fruiting body. As a result, we regarded as they are potentially related to the white color. White and brown color and origin specific SNPs could be used as an identification marker for selection of F. veluipes strains in the breeding program.

Field surveys for the Bemisia tabaci complex were conducted from 2009 to 2013 in Korea, and the results were compared with published data of the B. tabaci complex. Three species, MED, MEAM1, and JpL, were collected from several provinces. The MED was mainly collected in greenhouses, displacing the earlier invasive species, MEAM1, and the JpL species was collected in the field. JpL is newly confirmed as a unique species of B. tabaci species complex in Korea and Japan.