• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.333-338
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• 2020

Dye markers are used in the study of subterranean termites to determine colony territories and population sizes. Dyes not only allow the study of termite biology, but can also be used for control purposes. Although Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis causes damage to wooden historical properties in Korea, the dye markers have not been applied. Therefore, we evaluated the applicability of Nile Blue A dye for R. s. kyushuensis. Filter papers dyed with concentrations of 0.05%, 0.10%, and 0.25% (w/w) were each fed to termite populations through a no-choice feeding test for 1, 3, or 7 days. After 4 weeks, the survival rate, dyeing rate, and maintenance of dyeing were recorded. The results showed high survival rates with lower dye concentrations and shorter feeding periods. Among the combinations of concentrations and days, high survival rates, dyeing rates, and dyeing maintenance periods were found at concentrations of 0.05% and 0.10% for 3 days of feeding. These maximized the survivorship and visibility. The results from the current study can be applied to investigate the ecology and control of R. s. kyushuensis in both the laboratory and field.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.429-436
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• 2010

Dyestuffs extracted from fifteen kinds of natural dyeing materials were researched on their antimicrobial performance against 3 kinds of bacteria and 2 kinds of fungi in order to develop conservation/storage materials of traditional and natural dyed papers. The three types of mordants were evaluated by using the same method and then mixed with the dyestuffs to research their antimicrobial performance. With those results, dyed paper was made by mixing mordants with 9 kinds of dyestuffs with excellent antimicrobial performance. Among the dyed papers, Cotinus coggygria, Coptis chinensis, Phellodendri amurense, Rhus javanica and Acer ginnala multiple mordant papers were found to have an antibacterial quality against fungi, while, in the insect repellent experiment using termites, Coptis chinensis and Phellodendri amurense dyed papers were found to have insect repellent qualities. Also, with regard to the research result about the affect of dyeing paper on other materials like metal, Coptis chinensis have relatively stable qualities. Also, the three types of dyeed paper by Cotinus coggygria, Coptis chinensis and Phellodendri amurense, were found to have a tendency to remove harmful gases. Not only can these dyed papers be used for making storage box for cultural properties to prevent various organic artifacts from bio-damaging, but they can also be utilized as functional finishing materials in various spaces.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.180-191
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• 2022

Wooden cultural heritage are exposed to the external environment as they and there are many difficulties in conservation due to their location and size. Among them, biological damage caused by termites or mold consumes a lot of money and time. Select and use wood preservatives to prevent biological damage: Wood preservatives were selected and the worst environmental conditions, temperature 60±3℃, humidity 55±5%, and light intensity of 0.35 W/m², were subjected to aging treatment to analyze chemical changes. Through the deterioration process, it was confirmed that the change in color difference decreased in the wood preservative treatment compared to the Control group. As a result of measuring the content of the active ingredient contained in the deterioration process of the wood preservative, it was confirmed that the active ingredient content of Gori22 and Bondex Preserve III was higher than that of the comparative Wood Keeper A. Through experiments, the shelf life and treatment period can be predicted by measuring the extent to which wood preservatives affect the change of wood specimens during the deterioration process and the content of active ingredients. In conclusion, various wood preservatives were prepared, and the possibility of selectively selecting wood preservatives according to the environment, topography and period was presented as a major evaluation factor.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.215-220
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• 2023

A recent discovery of drywood termites (Cryptotermes domesticus) in a residential facility in Seoul has raised significant concern. This exotic insect species, which can damage timber and wooden buildings, necessitates an immediate investigation of potential infestation. In this study, we assessed the climatic suitability for this termite species using a species distribution modeling approach. Global distribution data and bioclimatic variables were compiled from published sources, and predictive models for climatic suitability were developed using four modeling algorithms. An ensemble prediction was made based on the mean occurrence probability derived from the individual models. The final model suggested that this species could potentially establish itself in tropical coastal regions. While the climatic suitability in South Korea was generally found to be low, a careful investigation is still warranted due to the potential risk of colonization and establishment of this species.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.27-28
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• 2014

Beauveria bassiana (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales, Ascomycota) is an anamorphic fungus having a potential to be used as a biological control agent because it parasitizes a wide range of arthropod hosts including termites, aphids, beetles and many other insects. A number of bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs) have been isolated from B. bassiana and functionally verified. Among them, beauvericin and bassianolide are cyclic depsipeptides with antibiotic and insecticidal effects belonging to the enniatin family. Non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) play a crucial role in the synthesis of these secondary metabolites. NRPSs are modularly organized multienzyme complexes in which each module is responsible for the elongation of proteinogenic and non-protein amino acids, as well as carboxyl and hydroxyacids. A minimum of three domains are necessary for one NRPS elongation module: an adenylation (A) domain for substrate recognition and activation; a tholation (T) domain that tethers the growing peptide chain and the incoming aminoacyl unit; and a condensation (C) domain to catalyze peptide bond formation. Some of the optional domains include epimerization (E), heterocyclization (Cy) and oxidation (Ox) domains, which may modify the enzyme-bound precursors or intermediates. In the present study, we analyzed genomes of B. bassiana and its allied species in Hypocreales to verify the distribution of NRPS-encoding genes involving biosynthesis of beauvericin and bassianolide, and to unveil the evolutionary processes of the gene clusters. Initially, we retrieved completely or partially assembled genomic sequences of fungal species belonging to Hypocreales from public databases. SM biosynthesizing genes were predicted from the selected genomes using antiSMASH program. Adenylation (A) domains were extracted from the predicted NRPS, NRPS-like and NRPS-PKS hybrid genes, and used them to construct a phylogenetic tree. Based on the preliminary results of SM biosynthetic gene prediction in B. bassiana, we analyzed the conserved gene orders of beauvericin and bassianolide biosynthetic gene clusters among the hypocrealean fungi. Reciprocal best blast hit (RBH) approach was performed to identify the regions orthologous to the biosynthetic gene cluster in the selected fungal genomes. A clear recombination pattern was recognized in the inferred A-domain tree in which A-domains in the 1st and 2nd modules of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases were grouped in CYCLO and EAS clades, respectively, suggesting that two modules of each synthetase have evolved independently. In addition, inferred topologies were congruent with the species phylogeny of Cordycipitaceae, indicating that the gene fusion event have occurred before the species divergence. Beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases turned out to possess identical domain organization as C-A-T-C-A-NM-T-T-C. We also predicted precursors of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases based on the extracted signature residues in A-domain core motifs. The result showed that the A-domains in the 1st module of both synthetases select D-2-hydroxyisovalerate (D-Hiv), while A-domains in the 2nd modules specifically activate L-phenylalanine (Phe) in beauvericin synthetase and leucine (Leu) in bassianolide synthetase. antiSMASH ver. 2.0 predicted 15 genes in the beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster of the B. bassiana genome dispersed across a total length of approximately 50kb. The beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster contains beauvericin synthetase as well as kivr gene encoding NADPH-dependent ketoisovalerate reductase which is necessary to convert 2-ketoisovalarate to D-Hiv and a gene encoding a putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator. Our syntenic comparison showed that species in Cordycipitaceae have almost conserved beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster although the gene order and direction were sometimes variable. It is intriguing that there is no region orthologous to beauvericin synthetase gene in Cordyceps militaris genome. It is likely that beauvericin synthetase was present in common ancestor of Cordycipitaceae but selective gene loss has occurred in several species including C. militaris. Putative bassianolide biosynthetic gene cluster consisted of 16 genes including bassianolide synthetase, cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, and putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator genes. Our synteny analysis found that only B. bassiana possessed a bassianolide synthetase gene among the studied fungi. This result is consistent with the groupings in A-domain tree in which bassianolide synthetase gene found in B. bassiana was not grouped with NRPS genes predicted in other species. We hypothesized that bassianolide biosynthesizing cluster genes in B. bassiana are possibly acquired by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from distantly related fungi. The present study showed that B. bassiana is the only species capable of producing both beauvericin and bassianolide. This property led to B. bassiana infect multiple hosts and to be a potential biological control agent against agricultural pests.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.102-111
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• 2022

Termites are a group of social insects that are one of the primary causes of damage to wooden architectural heritage. Since termite damage impairs the authenticity and structural stability of cultural heritage, it is imperative to prevent it. This study examines the extent of termite damage to wooden architectural heritage as part of efforts to prevent termite damage to nationally designated wooden architectural heritage sites across the country. The extent of termite damage to each cultural heritage was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively and comparatively analyzed by region using the results of the "Investigation on Biological Damage to Wooden Architectural Heritages" conducted by the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage from 2016 to 2019. It involved 362 nationally designated wooden architectural heritages(25 national treasures, 157 treasures, 180 national folklore cultural heritages) and 1,104 buildings. The results were as follows: termite detection dogs reacted at 317(87.6%) of the 362 wooden heritages, with visible termite damage observed in 185 cases(51.1%). Furthermore, termite damage was confirmed using one of two methods(detection dogs or visual inspection) in 324 cases(89.5%). Of the 1,104 buildings, termite detection dogs reacted at 668(60.5%), while 339(30.7%) showed visible termite damage. Employing one of the two methods, damage was confirmed in 702 buildings(63.6%). The country was categorized into nine regions(Seoul Metropolitan Area, Gangwon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and Jeju) to examine the termite damage rate and the degree of damage to each cultural heritage according to location. Termite detection dogs reacted to more than 70% of the cultural heritage in all regions. Visible damage was minimal in the Seoul metropolitan area(32.1%) and Gangwon(21.4%) but severe in Chungnam(65.6%), Jeonnam(67.3%), and Gyeongnam(68.2%). By quantifying the degree of termite damage of each cultural heritage as a ratio of the absence of termite damage among the total absence, the average termite damage of the cultural heritage across the country was 9.2%. Regional variance analysis showed that the cultural heritage in Jeonbuk and Jeonnam showed a statistically significantly higher degree of termite damage than the cultural heritage in the Seoul metropolitan area, Chungbuk, and Gyeongbuk. This paper comprehensively analyzed termite damage to nationally designated wooden architectural heritage. The findings are expected to be valuable in establishing policies for the preservation and management of cultural heritage sites in the future.