• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.104-114
• /
• 2023

In this study, the distribution, bait preference, hosts, symbionts, habitat status, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the ant Linepithema humile were analyzed. This species habitat comprised approximately 1.5 km along stone crevices, flower gardens, roadsides, and container yards in the vicinity of Busan station, Korea. Feeding activity of this species was confirmed in 9 species of 7 families of plants. Which was approximately 14% of total flora (63 species of 37 families) in the studied area. Particularly, it was observed that Dendranthema indicum and Camellia japonica were the most frequently visited. Further, we verified that they interacted with four species of aphids. We identified 22 species of ants (17 genera, 4 subfamilies) inhabiting the Busan station area, including L. humile, Tetramorium tsushimae, Nylanderia flavipes and the alien species Paratrechina longicornis. In areas where L. humile was the dominant species, the habitat of local native ants was reduced by approximately 30%. Bait preference was ranked in the following order: jelly, water with glucose (25%), and yogurt, with the highest preference for baits containing sugar and protein. The 630-bp cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences of the local L. humile populations were 99% identical to those of L. humile in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, and the Argentine ants that invaded Korea had a sequence identical to that of other invasive populations from China, Japan, and New Zealand. As L. humile rapidly increases due to domestic adaptation, continuous monitoring and control strategy for eradication are needed to protect domestic biodiversity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.30 no.7
• /
• pp.1027-1036
• /
• 2020

Stipa purpurea is a unique and dominant herbaceous plant species in the alpine steppe and meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). In this work, we analyzed the composition and diversity of the culturable endophytic fungi in S. purpurea according to morphological and molecular identification. Then, we investigated the bioactivities of these fungi against plant pathogenic fungi and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase (ACCD) deaminase activities. A total of 323 fungal isolates were first isolated from S. purpurea, and 33 fungal taxa were identified by internal transcribed spacer primers and grouped into Ascomycota. The diversity of endophytic fungi in S. purpurea was significantly higher in roots as compared to leaves. In addition, more than 40% of the endophytic fungi carried the gene encoding for the ACCD gene. The antibiosis assay demonstrated that 29, 35, 28, 37 and 34 isolates (43.9, 53.1, 42.4, 56.1, and 51.5%) were antagonistic to five plant pathogenic fungi, respectively. Our study provided the first assessment of the diversity of culture-depending endophytic fungi of S. purpurea, demonstrated the potential application of ACCD activity and antifungal activities with potential benefits to the host plant, and contributed to high biomass production and adaptation of S. purpurea to an adverse environment.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.274-281
• /
• 2020

This study aimed to investigate the autumn spawning by bitterling (A. rhombeus) inside mussel (Unio douglasiae) and the adaptation characteristics at the Bongseocheon Stream of Mankyeonggang River. The survey was carried out between August 2015 and July 2016. The spawning season was from September to November, and 17-75 (36.2 ± 16.44) eggs were found from mature females. During the survey period, 476 mussels were collected, 129 (27.1%) of spawned A. rhombeus. Mussels that spawned eggs, embryos, and larva of A. rhombeus (46.3 ± 4.55 mm, n = 129) were larger than than those that did not spawn (42.6 ± 8.51 mm, n = 347). The appearance frequency of A. rhombeus larva before and after the formation of lens was 99.8% (n = 597) vs. 0.2% (n = 1) from October 2015 to March 2016, 25.6% (n = 23) vs. 74.4% (n = 67) in April 2016, 0% (n = 0) vs. 100% (n = 40) on May 2016. The number of eggs, embryos, and larvae of A. rhombeus inside the mussels were 1-18 (5.6 ± 3.81). The number and appearance frequency of A. rhombeus eggs, embryos, and larvae inside the mussel according to mussel gill demibranchs position were 1 (0.01 ± 0.09, n = 1) and 0.78% in the left outer demibranch, 1-18 (2.33 ± 3.31, n = 63) and 48.84% in the left inner demibranch, 1-15 (2.97 ± 3.79, n = 76) and 58.91% in the right inner demibransh, and 1-12 (0.33 ± 1.71, n = 7) and 5.43% in the right outer demibransh. The highest frequency of the developmental position of eggs, embryos, and larvae occurred 71.8% (n = 445) in lower part 3 (L3) before formation lens and 94.4% (n = 102) in L3 after formation lens, indicating that L3 was dominating position for eggs, embryos, and larvae. More eggs, embryos, and larvae of A. rhombeus were found more often in the inner demibranshs than outer demibranchs. Since A. rhombeus is a species that spawn in the autumn and thus avoids the competition with interspecific and glochidia. However, they have to spend the winter in low water temperature. Consequently, we assume that A. rhombeus have evolved toward embryonic diapause under the low water temperature before the formation of lens and spawning inside the supracranchial cavity to save the transit energy from the water space to the suprabranchial cavity after the achieving movement ability with the formation of lens.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.161-169
• /
• 2011

Methane production during anaerobic fermentation in the rumen represents an energy loss to the host animal and induces emissions of greenhouse gases in the environment. Our study focused on comparison in methane production from growing Korean native steers fed different grain sources. Six Hanwoo steers (BW = $180.6{\pm}3.1$ kg) were fed, on a DM basis (TDN 2.80 kg), 40% timothy and 60% barley concentrate (Barley) or corn concentrate (Corn), respectively, based on the Korean Feeding Standards. Each period lasted 18 days including a 14-day adaptation and a 4-day measuring times. The steers were in the head hood chamber system (one cattle per chamber) during each measuring time to measure heat and methane production per day. Different grain sources did not affect digestibilities of dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, NDF, ADF and nitrogen-free extract. The mean methane concentrations per day were 202.0 and 177.1 ppm for Barley and Corn, respectively. Methane emission averaged 86.8 and 77.7 g/day for Barley and Corn, respectively. Methane emission factor by maintenance energy requirement for the growing steers fed barley based concentrate was higher than the steers fed corn based concentrate (Barley vs. Corn, 31.7 kg $CH_4\;head^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ vs. 28.4 kg $CH_4\;head^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$). Thus, methane conversion rate was 0.065 (6.5%) and 0.055 (5.5%) for Barley and Corn, respectively.