• The Korean Journal of Soil Zoology
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• v.8 no.1_2
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• pp.17-22
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• 2003

An endemic entomopathogenic nematode, Heterorhabditis megidis, was evaluated by its control efficacies against housefly, Musca domestica, and flower beetle, Gametis jucunda. In Petri-dish assay, the pathogenicity of H. megidis showed 456.4 infective juveniles/larva (IJs/larva) in median lethality (LC$_{50}$) against the second instar larvae of M. domestica and 238.9 IJs/larva against the second instar larvae of G. jucunda. This was contrasted with those of the other well-known entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae, which showed 115.9 IJs/larva against M. domestica and 388.6 IJs/larva against G. jucunda. In field experiment, H. megidis were applied per square meter of pork farm with 1,000,000 IJs of H. megidis or apple orchard with 370,000 IJs, which were infested with M. domestica or G. jucunda, respectively. H. megidis showed 56.9% and 57.3% of control efficacies against M. domestica and G. jucunda, respectively. These results suggest a promising control technique in the field using H. megidis against M. domestica and G. jucunda.a.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.1057-1062
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• 2004

The entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is the most widely used biopesticide. Insecticidal proteins, coded by genes located in plasmids, form typical parasporal, crystalline inclusions during sporulation. We isolated a Bacillus thuringiensis strain having insecticidal activity against larvae of the house fly (M. domestica) from the soils at a pig farm in Korea, and named it Bacillus thuringiensis SM. The culture filtrate from Bacillus thuringiensis SM showed strong lethality (83.3%) against M. domestica larvae. The parasporal crystal is enclosed within the spores' outermost envelope, as determined by transmission electron microscopy, and exhibited a bipyramidal form. The crystal proteins of strain SM consisted of five proteins with molecular weights of approximately ~130, ~80, ~68, ~42, and ~27 kDa on a 10% SDS-PAGE (major band, a size characteristic of Cry protein). Examination of antibiotic resistance revealed that the strain SM showed multiple resistant. The strain SM had at least three different plasmids with sizes of 6.6, 9.3, and 54 kb. Polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) revealed the presence of cry1, cry4A2, and cry11A1 genes in the strain SM. The cry1 gene profile of the strain SM appeared in the three respective products of 487 bp [cry1A(c)], 414 bp [cry1D], and 238 bp [cry1A(b)]. However, the strain SM has not shown the cry4A2 md cry11A1 genes. In in vivo toxicity assays, the strain SM showed high toxicity on fly larvae (M. domestic) [with $LC_{50}$ of 4.2 mg/ml, $LC_{90}$ of 8.2 mg/ml].

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.46-50
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• 1999

Methanol extracts of 9 kinds of native medicinal plants(Taraxacum platycarpum, leaf; Pinus densiflora, leaf; Artemisia prinseps, leaf; Allium tuberosum, leaf; Cassia obtussifolia, whole; Sophora angestifolia, root; Stemonae sessilifolia, root; Lonicera japonica stem, leaf, flower; and Clivia miniata) were investigated for insecticidal effect. Methanol extracts of Pinus densiflora leaves and Sophora angestifolia radix showed relatively good insecticidal activity against Culex pipiens pallens larvae. Strong larvicidal activity against the Musca domestica larvae was produced from methanol extracts of Taraxacum platycarpum leaves and Allium tuberosom leaves. while Stemonae radix showed moderate activity. All materials tested revealed little or weak insecticidal activity against M. domestica adults.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.13 no.2 s.19
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• pp.93-97
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• 1974

This paper describes experiments made to develop a technique for marking insects and get the informations for ecological studies as a means of tagging flies with radioactive phosphorus, and also to learn the effect on the subsequent generation of flies. Tests were conducted with house flies, Musca domestica L. emerged front the larvae that had reared in a media containing various concentrations of P-32. Radioactivity of the flies was measured with end-window type $(2mg/cm^2)$ Geiger-Muller counter and proportional counter made by Aloka. In following the daily increases in counting rates by 6-day-old larvae it was apparent the larvae in the starting media containing the higher concentrations of P-32 were showing high counting rates. It was found that about 13.2 per cent of the radioactive material remained in the empty puparia after the flies emerged. Radioactivity of the emerged flies decreased gradually and the biological halflife of phosphorus-32 was approximately 6.14 days with considerable variation. A significant amount of P-32 were detected in the abdominal and thoracic sections as compared with other parts of adult. The activity of phosphorus·32 in eggs and larvae produced by adults reared in medium containing 0.2 microcurie or more of P-32 per gram were readily detected with Geiger-Mi·lier counter. On the other hand, the radioactivity of eggs and larvae produced by the treated males crossed with untreated normal females could be only detected in the medium containing more of 2.0 microcurie with G.M. counter. There was no apparent damage to the flies at dosages as high as 0.5 microcurie per gram of medium. For field studies a concentration of 0.5 microcurie of P-32 per gram of artificial medium appears to give adequate labeling for positive identification of flies and their egg masses.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2006

BmCu/Zn SOD was isolated from early embryo of Bombyx mori using microarray analysis. The BmCu/Zn SOD gene was observed during the early embryonic stage with the strongest signal found at the unfertilizaion, fertilization and blastoderm stages. The BmCu/Zn SOD gene encodes a protein of 154 amino acids with a calculated Mr of 15 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of BmCu/Zn SOD indicated that the residues that form on the Cu/Zn binding site are conserved and that the sequence is a 60% identity to that of M. domestica. In a phylogenetic tree, Bm SOD was also close to Drosophila SODs rather than other insect SODs. The BmCu/Zn SOD gene exists as a single copy in the genome. Transcripts of BmCu/Zn SOD cDNA were identified by northern blot analysis. The expression of the BmCu/Zn SOD gene was observed weakly in most of larvae, pre-pupae, pupae and adult tissues. Also, the BmCu/Zn SOD gene was observed in early embryonic stage. Although the roles of SODs remains to be further elucidated, the high expression of BmCu/Zn SOD gene at before 24 h post fertilization suggests that this gene is of general importance during early embryogenesis in the Bombyx mod.