Chromosomal level of Korean Diadegma fenestrale (Jeju strain, JK-2023a) of genome assembly was achieved through a combined approach utilizing Nanopore long-read sequencing and Illumina NovaSeq short-read sequencing (approximately 217.2× coverage). The assembled genome spans 221.1 Mb, comprises 68 scaffolds, with most of the genome contained within 11 chromosomal level scaffolds. The completeness of the assembly is reflected in BUSCO assessment, with values reaching 99.6%. Scaffold N50 was 17.4 Mb, and GC % was 40%. RNAseq was performed using RNA extracted from larvae, pupae, and adults at various developmental stages (trimmed RNA-Seq data, 11.3 Gb), and a total of 13,544 genes were predicted by synthesizing the transcriptome information with the annotation information of five closely related species such as, Campoletis sonorensis (GCA_013761285.1), Venturia canescens (GCF_019457755.1), and Nasonia vitripennis (GCF_000002325.3, and GCF_009193385.2). Of these, 13,498 genes were identified by BLAST and are being further analyzed. Although the frequency of DfIV genome integration into the host’s 11 chromosomes varies from 0 to 32%, it was confirmed that all 62 DfIV genome fragments were inserted into the Hymenopteran host genome.

Riptortus pedestris is known to acquire their symbiotic bacteria, Caballeronia insecticola, from soil environments in every generation. The symbionts have been demonstrated to affect behavioral and physiological traits of the host insect such as the enhancement of development. In particular, symbiotic effects on female adults could directly entail changes in their population growth. Therefore, we investigated a suite of symbiotic effects of C. insecticola on behaviors and fitness-related parameters of female R. pedestris. Overall, symbiotic females showed an behavioral enhancement in both feeding efficacy and movement capacity including walking and flight. In addition, the survival rates under exposure to overwintering conditions and insecticide resistance level were significantly higher in symbiotic females than the aposymbiotic. Finally, although symbiotic females exhibited shorter longevity, their fecundity was found higher compared to the apo-symbiotic.

This research explores the complex interdependencies and dynamic interactions governing the adaptation of species co-evolving within the framework of Eco-Evo-Neuro-Devo, using the fascinating fig-wasp mutualism as a model system. Figs, which have many flowers blooming inside the fruit, are completely dependent on fig wasps as pollinators. The fig-wasp mutualism is a symbiotic relationship where fig trees provide a habitat and food source for specific wasp species, while the wasps, in turn, facilitate pollination and seed dispersal for the fig tree. The fig wasp is born and grows inside the fig fruit and becomes an adult. After mating, the female fig wasp is covered with pollen and enters another fruit, pollinates it and lays eggs there. In addition to the fig-wasp mutualism, additional interactions among hyperparasitic wasps, called non-pollinating fig wasp (NPFW), and flies, nematodes are frequently observed, shaping the co-evolution of the symbionts in the fig community. This study aims to identify the symbionts that make up the symbiotic system, their ecological interactions and genome evolution, and build a model to explore the mechanisms of symbiotic evolution at the molecular level. Sampling and identifying figs and fig-related insects through fieldwork in Korea, various techniques including GC-MS, in situ staining, electrophysiology, and diverse omics tools including WGS, RNA-seq will be implemented to investigate how chemical ecologies of the fig community shape the chemosensory systems of species. Additionally, we will build a cross-platform with Drosophila to narrow the distance between model species and non-model species, facilitating comparative studies across different model organism systems.

Chromosomal level genome draft was assembled using a Korean Diadegma fenestrale (Jeju strain, KJ09). This assembly was achieved through a combined approach utilizing Nanopore long-read sequencing (approximately 134X coverage) and Illumina NovaSeq short-read sequencing (approximately 83X coverage). The assembled genome spans 243 Mb, comprises 160 scaffolds, with most of the genome contained within 11 chromosomal level scaffolds. The completeness of the assembly is reflected in BUSCO assessment, with values reaching 99.6%. Gene annotation is not completed. A symbiotic virus, Diadegma fenestrale Ichnovirus (DfIV) genome revealed 62 non-overlapping circular DNA segments the aggregate genome size was approximately 240 kb. Although the frequency of DfIV genome integration into the host’s 11 chromosomes varies from 0 to 32%, it was confirmed that all 62 DfIV genome fragments were inserted into the host genome. A total of 123 ORFs were predicted from the DfIV genome and most of those were expressed in the host’s ovary. This result may be contradictory to existing theories, but we propose a new hypothesis that some genes possessed by viruses may play different roles depending on the type and state of the host. Additionally, this phenomenon can be considered in relation to coevolution with the hosts.

Riptortus pedestris has established symbiotic interactions with specific bacteria from soil environment in every generations. The soil environment is extremely heterogeneous with microbial diversity, suggesting that bacterial composition of the R. pedestris can be affected by surrounding environments. Therefore, we investigated spatiotemporal variation of bacterial communities in wild R. pedestris collected from five mainland areas and Jeju Island in South Korea across insect generations. Among the 390 R. pedestris adults collected, we detected a total of 28 bacterial genera from the symbiotic region of insects. Among the bacterial genera, genus Caballeronia bacteria was the most abundantly detected regardless of sampling site and generation. Nevertheless, bacterial richness varied among the insect generations with 10 genera detected in overwintered generation, 15 genera in the 1st generation and 18 genera in the 2nd generation. Moreover, we found five bacterial genera that were exclusively detected from the Jeju island compared to the mainland areas surveyed.

Nutrient acquisition by insect herbivores affect all aspect of the the lifespan of individauls. For seed-sucking insect herbivores, they face challenges with nutrient acquisition due to requirement for extra-oral digestion of seed contents into a readily-ingestible state. In this study, we demonstrated environmentally-transmitted Caballeronia insecticola allow seed-sucking R. pedestris to overcome challenges with extra-oral digestion. Through the evaluation, first, we found symbiotic insects exhibited enhanced feeding efficiency by consuming significantly larger amount of food per feeding attempt compared to apo-symbiotic insects (P<0.05). Then, we observed feeding behavior modification in the symbiotic insects from the behavior tracking evaluation. Symbiotic insects displayed dichotomic behavior which can be generally divided into early focused feeding and later subdued resting periods. By contrast, apo-symbiotic insects displayed unordered behavior by frequent switches between feeding and walking behavior.

We observed the symbiotic star AG Dra for a total of 61 nights between April 2004 and December 2021 using the 1.8-m telescope and the high-resolution Echelle spectrograph BOES at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory and obtained 355 frames of spectroscopic data to investigate the variations in its spectral lines. Overnight short-term and long-term changes in prominent emission lines are examined. No short-term changes are found in the line profiles. However, the peak intensity of the Hα emission line exhibits very small variation. In the long-term period, many emission lines including He I λ5875, λ6678, λ7065 and Fe II λ5018 are found to vary reflecting the symbiotic outburst activities. It is noted that He II λ4686 and Raman-scattered O VI λ6830, λ7088 are exceptions, where no significant variations are discernible. One of the noticeable lines is the λ5018 line. Its appearance and disappearance pattern are different from other emission lines, and the line is found to appear in outburst states. The Hα and Hβ lines remain very similar in our spectroscopic monitoring campaign.

We analyze high dispersion emission lines of the symbiotic nova AG Pegasi, observed in 1998, 2001, and 2002. The Hα and Hβ lines show three components, two narrow and one underlying broad line components, but most other lines, such as HI, HeI, and HeII lines, show two blue- and red-shifted components only. A recent study by Lee & Hyung (2018) suggested that the double Gaussian lines emitted from a bipolar conical shell are likely to form Raman scattering lines observed in 1998. In this study, we show that the bipolar cone with an opening angle of 74°, which expands at a velocity of 70 km s-1 along the polar axis of the white dwarf, can accommodate the observed double line profiles in 1998, 2001, and 2002. We conclude that the emission zone of the bipolar conical shell, which formed along the bipolar axis of the white dwarf due to the collimation by the accretion disk, is responsible for the double Gaussian profiles.