• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.381-396
• /
• 2017

Understanding species distribution plays an important role in conservation as well as evolutionary biology. In this study, we applied a species distribution model to predict hotspot areas and habitat characteristics for endangered herpetofauna species in South Korea: the Korean Crevice Salamander (Karsenia koreana), Suweon-tree frog (Hyla suweonensis), Gold-spotted pond frog (Pelophylax chosenicus), Narrow-mouthed toad (Kaloula borealis), Korean ratsnake (Elaphe schrenckii), Mongolian racerunner (Eremias argus), Reeve's turtle (Mauremys reevesii) and Soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis). The Kori salamander (Hynobius yangi) and Black-headed snake (Sibynophis chinensis) were excluded from the analysis due to insufficient sample size. The results showed that the altitude was the most important environmental variable for their distribution, and the altitude at which these species were distributed correlated with the climate of that region. The predicted distribution area derived from the species distribution modelling adequately reflected the observation site used in this study as well as those reported in preceding studies. The average AUC value of the eigh species was relatively high ($0.845{\pm}0.08$), while the average omission rate value was relatively low ($0.087{\pm}0.01$). Therefore, the species overlaying model created for the endangered species is considered successful. When merging the distribution models, it was shown that five species shared their habitats in the coastal areas of Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongnam-do, which are the western regions of the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, we suggest that protection should be a high priority in these area, and our overall results may serve as essential and fundamental data for the conservation of endangered amphibian and reptiles in Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.30 no.11
• /
• pp.947-955
• /
• 2020

The foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), a member of the Aphthovirus genus in the Picornaviridae family, affects wild and domesticated ruminants and pigs. During replication of the FMDV RNA (ribonucleic acid) genome, FMDV-encoding RNA polymerase 3D acts in a highly location-specific manner. This suggests that specific RNA structures recognized by 3D polymerase within non-coding regions of the FMDV genome assist with binding during replication. One such region is the cis-acting replication element (CRE), which functions as a template for RNA replication. The FMDV CRE adopts a stem-loop conformation with an extended duplex stem, supporting a novel 15-17 nucleotide loop that derives stability from base-stacking interactions, with the exact RNA nucleotide sequence of the CRE producing different RNA secondary structures. Here, we show that CRE sequences of FMDVs isolated in Korea from 2010 to 2017 exhibit A and O genotypes. Interestingly, variations in the RNA secondary structure of the Korean FMDVs are consistent with the phylogenetic relationships between these viruses and reveal the specificity of FMDV infections for particular host species. Therefore, we conclude that each genetic clade of Korean FMDV is characterized by a unique functional CRE and that the evolutionary success of new genetic lineages may be associated with the invention of a novel CRE motif. Therefore, we propose that the specific RNA structure of a CRE is an additional criterion for FMDV classification dependent on the host species. These findings will help correctly analyze CRE sequences and indicate the specificity of host species for future FMDV epidemics.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.247-252
• /
• 2012

Seed morphology in the subtribe Agrimoniinae (Rosaceae) was examined using scanning electron microscopy to identify distinct characters and evaluate their evolution in a phylogenetic framework for five genera in the subtribe: Agrimonia L., Aremonia Neck. ex Nestl., Hagenia J.F. Gmel., Leucosidea Eckl. & Zeyh., and Spenceria Trimen. All genera have one or two mature achenes in a fruiting hypanthium. In the seed coats, the cell shape, size, wall features, and sculpturing vary across genera. Of most significance is the presence of papillae structures in both Agrimonia and Aremonia. Through the mapping of papillae features onto phylogenetic trees, either one or two changes in seed coats are hypothesized. The phylogenetic tree inferred from four nuclear and six chloroplast regions of sequence data suggests that at least two steps of papillae sculpturing on seed coats are required. On the other hand, in the phylogenetic tree of a low-copy nuclear gene, one independent evolutionary step is postulated to explain the current character states. In the latter hypothesis, the seed coat sculpturing also supports a monophyletic relationship for cosmopolitan Agrimonia and European endemic Aremonia. The seed coat sculpturing provides valuable information for inferring phylogenetic relationships at the generic level in the subtribe Agrimoniinae.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.13 no.2 s.19
• /
• pp.71-75
• /
• 1974

A study was conducted to investigate the relationships between the rice weevil and associated storage molds. The results are as follows; 1. All of the developmental stages of the rice weevils are carrying some storage molds in their bodies, and the order of magnitute in the number was the adult, larva and pupa. 2. The molds persist in the body of the rice weevil for 10 days who.1 they were fed on the mold free wheat, and the most persistant mold species was A. candidus. 3. When the mold free weevils were reared on the pure culture of the molds on the wheat, the number of eggs laid by the Lveevil were the greatest for A. candidus. following A. ruber, and the . least number Lvere obtained with A. niger 4. The rice weevil could complete in the pure mold culture on the wheat except for A. niger where the larvae had developed by 2nd or 3rd instars. 3. The shortest developmental periods was obtained with A. candidus and the first adult emerged in 4th week. 6. The unfavorable effects of A. niger on the development of the rice weevil might be associated with the fast growth of the mold together with some unknown effects. 7. There seems to be a protocooperative interaction between these two oraganisms having been developed through the long evolutionary course in common habitat.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.40 no.12
• /
• pp.954-965
• /
• 2017

Mammalian genomes are well established, and highly conserved regions within odorant receptors that are unique from other G-protein coupled receptors have been identified. Numerous functional studies have focused on specific conserved amino acids motifs; however, not all conserved motifs have been sufficiently characterized. Here, we identified a highly conserved 18 amino acid sequence motif within transmembrane domain seven (CAS-TM7) which was identified by aligning odorant receptor sequences. Next, we investigated the expression pattern and distribution of this conserved amino acid motif among a broad range of odorant receptors. To examine the localization of odorant receptor proteins, we used a sequence-specific peptide antibody against CAS-TM7 which is specific to odorant receptors across species. The specificity of this peptide antibody in recognizing odorant receptors has been confirmed in a heterologous in vitro system and a rat-based in vivo system. The CAS-TM7 odorant receptors localized with distinct patterns at each region of the olfactory epithelium; septum, endoturbinate and ectoturbinate. To our great interests, we found that the CAS-TM7 odorant receptors are primarily localized to the dorsal region of the olfactory bulb, coinciding with olfactory epithelium-based patterns. Also, these odorant receptors were ectopically expressed in the various non-olfactory tissues in an evolutionary constrained manner between human and rats. This study has characterized the expression patterns of odorant receptors containing particular amino acid motif in transmembrane domain 7, and which led to an intriguing possibility that the conserved motif of odorant receptors can play critical roles in other physiological functions as well as olfaction.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.28 no.6
• /
• pp.529-536
• /
• 2009

Genome sequencing of the pig is being accelerated because of its importance as an evolutionary and biomedical model animal as well as a major livestock animal. However, information on expressed porcine genes is insufficient to allow annotation and use of the genomic information. A series of expressed sequence tags of 5' ends of five full-length enriched cDNA libraries (SUSFLECKs) were functionally characterized. SUSFLECKs were constructed from porcine abdominal fat, induced fat cells, loin muscle, liver, and pituitary gland, and were composed of non-normalized and normalized libraries. A total of 55,658 ESTs that were sequenced once from the 5′ ends of clones were produced and assembled into 17,684 unique sequences with 7,736 contigs and 9,948 singletons. In Gene Ontology analysis, two significant biological process leaf nodes were found: gluconeogenesis and translation elongation. In functional domain analysis based on the Pfam database, the beta transducin repeat domain of WD40 protein was the most frequently occurring domain. Twelve genes, including SLC25A6, EEF1G, EEF1A1, COX1, ACTA1, SLA, and ANXA2, were significantly more abundant in fat tissues than in loin muscle, liver, and pituitary gland in the SUSFLECKs. These characteristics of SUSFLECKs determined by EST analysis can provide important insight to discover the functional pathways in gene networks and to expand our understanding of energy metabolism in the pig.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.127-133
• /
• 2006

[ $17\;{\alpha}-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase(P450_{C17})$ ] is the key enzyme mediating the conversion of progesterone to $17\;{\alpha}-hydroxyprogesterone$, ultimately to androstenedione during steroidogenesis. R. dybowskii's ovarian $P450_{C17}$ cDNA was cloned to understand the regulatory mechanism of ovarian steroidogenic pathway at the molecular level in amphibian. A 2.5kb cDNA clone encoding a single open-reading frame with a 519 deduced amino acid was isolated with the screening of ovarian cDNA library. This sequence contained the three highly conserved domains as seen in $P450_{C17}$ of other species. The comparison of amino acid sequence of Rana $P450_{C17}$ with other animal's $P450_{C17}$ showed relatively high identity with 76% in Xenopus, 63% in chicken, 60% in rainbow trout, and 45% in human. Phylogenic analysis also indicated that Rana $P450_{C17}$ gene was evolutionary well conserved among vertebrate. Northern analysis indicated that the two different sizes of $P450_{C17}$ transcripts with approximately 2.5 and 3.6kb were detected in ovary tissue, but not in other tissues. The expression vector of Rana $P450_{C17}$ clearly showed the $17\;{\alpha}-hydroxylase$ activity converting the exogenous progesterone into $17\;{\alpha}-hydroxyprogesterone$ in the nonsteroidogenic COS-1 cells. Therefore, Rana $P450_{C17}$ cDNA is very useful to investigate the molecular mechanism of the ovarian steroidogenesis in amphibian.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.63-70
• /
• 1994

Nitric oxide(NO) has recently been shown to play an important role on central nervous system(CNS) function in mammals. It is synthesized from L-arginine by the enzyme NO synthase. In this study, we examined this enzyme's existence in CNS of rainbow trout(Oncorhynchus mykiss) and described the forms of microglia. astrocytes. and oligodendrocytes. Two forms of microglia are distributed in CNS. one resembling their mammalian counterpart(large microglia : LM). and the other comprising small microglia(SM) with very little cytoplasm. CNS contained astrocytes of a distinct type which form reticular network, but lack connections to capillaries. The oligodendrocyte was generally a much denser cell than the astrocyte. We have detected NOS($1.04{\pm}0.12\;pg/min/mg$) from rainbow trout CNS. It could be inhibited reversibly or irreversibly by $N^{G}MMA$ and EGTA. These result suggest that the formation of NO from L-arginine in CNS is calcium-dependent and a pathway of early evolutionary orgin.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.147-155
• /
• 2008

The diversity of sulfate reducing bacteria was investigated in different depths of sediments in Lake Sihwa, Korea and Lake Aha, China by PCR amplification, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone libraries targeting dissimilatory sulfite redectase (dsr) gene. In the analysis of DGGE band patterns, the community compositions of dsr gene in the sediments of both lakes were significantly different whereas bands in all depths of each environment revealed similar patterns. Bands from Lake Sihwa were produced much more than those from Lake Aha, demonstrating a higher diversity of dsr gene in Lake Sihwa. Total 68 clones containing dsr gene were obtained to analyze their sequences. Sequences from the sediment of Lake Sihwa were affiliated to Deltaproteobacteria, the Gram-positive thermophilic sulfate reducers belonging to the genus Desulforomaculum and archaeal thermophilic SRB belonging to the genus Archaeoglobus, whereas sequences from the sediments of Lake Aha were related to genus Desulfotomaculum. Clones retrieved from sediment of Lake Sihwa revealed a higher numbers than those of Lake Aha, demonstrating a higher diversity of dsr gene in Lake Sihwa. Most of clones (59%) were distantly related to the known cultivated SRB with $60\sim65%$ of similarity, which were clustered only the sequences from the environments showed less than 90% similarity. These habitat specific sequences suggested that the clustered dsr sequences represent species or groups of species that were indigenous to these environments. This study showed that these lakes have a specific bacterial communities having dsr gene distinct from those in other environments such as soil and marine ecosystems around the world.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.393-403
• /
• 1989

Using starch gel electrophoresis of proteins, we examined variation at 24 genetic loci in five species (three general of the Subfamily Danioninae (Class Pisces, Family Cyprinidae) inhabiting In Korea. The average degree of genic variation of the Subfamily Danioninae (A=1.8, P=16.5%, HD=0.043, HG=0.049) was far less than that of the fresh water fishes in general. But the degree of genic variation of A. chinensis (P=32.5 HD=0.100, HG=0.119) was highe, than other fishes and the value of O. biders was the lowest (P=4.2%, HD=0.008, HG=0.008). The average genetic similarities among the populations in each species of A. chinensis, Z. platypus, Z. temmincki MS type, Z. temmincki W type, and O. widens were S=0.902, 0.899, 0.990, 0.914, and 0.992, respectively. The average genetic similarity of A. chinensis to the other species was the lowest value of S=0.235, whereas that between two species of Z. temmincki was the highest of S=0.822. Genetically, Z. plypus is more similiar to O. widens than ho species of the same genus Zacco. Based on estimated divergent time of 5 species of the Subfamily Danioninae (7.6 to 0.9 million years) it is assumed that they are speciated during late Pliocene to middle Pleistocene epoch.