• Applied Microscopy
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.435-446
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• 1998

It is suggested that Urechis unicinctus is a filler feeder as like many tide and watery invertebrates which filtrate food materials by ciliary movement. However, the structure of the filter is not yet known in U. unicinctus, nor the filtering mechanism is not well understood. This study reveals ciliated epithelial cells in the foregut and the features of the cilia are good accord with that of known filtrating apparatus of other tide animals. This may implies that the foregut is in function of filtration and the food materials are filtrated by the ciliary movement. With the observation of the filtrating apparatus in the foregut, the intestine of U. unicinctus can be functionally compartmented into 3 parts. These are already known midgut and hindgut in function of digestion and respiration respectively, and the foregut in function of filtrating apparatus for foods. The filtrating apparatus of U. unicinctus is composed of the pseudostratified columnar epithelial cells with numerous cilia. The cilia are well differentiated kinocilia with the typical microtubule pattern, kinetosome and cilia roots. There are two kinds of striated cilia roots, the main root and the accessory root. The main root is extended perpendicularly from the cell surface to basement membrane and the short accessory root is branched with an acute angle of about $80^{\circ}$ from the main root at level of basal plate of the kinetosome. The spacial approaches of the main root with the large fused form of mitochondria is one of the characteristic features which might be in structural consideration an intimate association between energy source and energy mass consuming cell organelles.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.187-191
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• 2004

Actin is a ubiquitous and highly conserved protein found in eukaryotic organisms. In this study, we describe the cDNA cloning and mRNA expression of an actin gene from the mulberry longicorn beetle, Apriona germari. The A. germari actin cDNA is 1524 bp containing a complete 1128 bp open reading frame that encodes a polypeptide of 376 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular weight of about 41.5 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of the A.germari actin cDNA showed 99% protein sequence identity to Homalodisca coagulata actin, differing at only two amino acid positions, and 92-98% protein sequence identity to known insect species actins. The predicted three-dimensional structure of A. germari actin revealed the four residue hydrophobic pulg loop characteristic of the actin family. Northern blot analysis showed that A. germari actin is highly expressed in epidermis and muscle, and less strongly in midgut, but not in the fat body of A. germari larva.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.117-130
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• 2024

Ticks host different pathogens as endosymbiont and nonpathogenic microorganisms and play an important role in reproductive fitness and nutrient provision. However, the bacterial microbiomes of white-tailed deer ticks have received minimal attention. This study aimed to examine the bacterial microbiome of ticks collected from Odocoileus virginianus on the Mexico-United States border to assess differences in microbiome diversity in ticks of different species, sexes, and localities. Five different tick species were collected: Rhipicephalus microplus, Dermacentor nitens, Otobius megnini, Amblyomma cajennense, and A. maculatum. The tick microbiomes were analyzed using next-generation sequencing. Among all tick species, the most predominant phylum was Proteobacteria, followed by Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. The ticks from Tamaulipas and Nuevo León presented the highest bacterial species diversity. Acinetobacter johnsonii and A. lwoffii were the common bacterial species in the microbiome of all ticks, Coxiella were present in R. microplus, and Dermacentor nitens also exhibited a Francisella-like endosymbiont. The microbiome of most females in D. nitens was less diverse than that of males, whereas R. microplus occurs in females, suggesting that microbiome diversity is influenced by sex. In the bacterial communities of A. maculatum and O. megnini, Candidatus Midichloria massiliensis, and Candidatus Endoecteinascidia fumentensis were the most predominant endosymbionts. These results constitute the initial report on these bacteria, and this is also the first study to characterize the microbiome of O. megnini.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.11-36
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• 1982

Forty-nine plant species as additives to silkworm artificial diet and 5 species as cellulose sources for artificial diet were screened for their economic values as feed-resources for the silkworm. Feeding response to artificial diet was tested on 82 silkworm strains. The effect of rearing conditions on feeding response and enzyme activities in the silkworm was investigated. The results were summarized as follows. 1. Seven species out of 49, Vigna sinensis ENDL, Ipomoea vatatas Lamarck, Cyperus anuricus Var. Laxus, Alnus japonica Stendel, Trifolium repens L, Prunus serrulata Lindley. Var, Glycine max L increased feeding response, compared with the basic formula of artificial diet. 2. The economic values of Vigna sinensis ENDL, Ipomoea vatatas Lamarck, Cyperus anuricus Var. Laxus, Ainus japonica Stendel, Cassia tera L, Erigeron canedensis L as feed-resources for artificiale diet were recognized, through feeding experiment during the entire larval stage. 3. Mulberry cellulose showed the best results in rearing and cocoon characteristics. 4. The extent of feeding response varied according to strains and varieties. Varieties in japanese strains showed higher feeding response than those in chinese and european varieties, with considerable variations among a varieties in strains. 5. The begining of 4th instar seems to be a proper time to convert from mulberry to artificial diet, or artificial diet to mulberry, however the middle of 3rd instar seems acceptable. 6. The optimum temperature for artificial diet rearing is 30$^{\circ}C$ during the period of 1st-3rd instar and 28$^{\circ}C$ for 4th-5th instar. 7. Electrophoretic isozyme patterns of esterase and acid phosphatase on agarose gel, as affected by strain. rearing temperature and feed-resources, were observed as follow. (1) Isozyme patterns of mid-gut esterase varied, depending on instar. One or two more isozyme bands were observed in the larvae than feed on the mulberry fed for the artificial diet. (2) A strain, chinese-15 with a higher feeding response, had 1∼2 more bands than chinese-60 with a lower feeding response. (3) Five bands of mid-gut esterase in 3rd and 4th instar larvae reared at 28$^{\circ}C$. and 4 for 3rd instar and 6∼7 for 4th instar larvae at 35$^{\circ}C$ were observed. (4) No similar esterase bands could be found among mid-gut, blood and silkgland. There are five esterase bands in the midgut, one in blood and three in silkgland. (5) There was rather small digerence in acid phosphatase types of mid-gut and blood according to varieties and rearing temperature. No active band was shown in silkgland. In midgut, there was one acid phosphatase band at 3rd instar, two at 4th instar and three at 5th instar. In blood, one active band at 3rd or 4th instar and three bands at 5th inster wire detected.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.209-220
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• 2015

In this study, gut bacterial communities in xylophagous insects were analyzed using the pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes for their potential biotechnological applications in lignocelluloses degradation. The result showed that operational taxonomic units (OTUs), species richness and diversity index were higher in the hindgut than in the midgut of all insect samples analyzed. The dominant phyla or classes were Firmicutes (54.0%), Bacteroidetes (14.5%), ${\gamma}-Proteobacteria$ (12.3%) in all xylophagous insects except for Rhinotermitidae. The principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) showed that the bacterial community structure mostly clustered according to phylogeny of hosts rather than their habitats. In our study, the two carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-degrading isolates which showed the highest enzyme activity were most closely related to Bacillus toyonensis $BCT-7112^T$ and Lactococcus lactis subsp. hordniae $NCDO\;2181^T$, respectively. Cellulolytic enzyme activity analysis showed that ${\beta}-1,4-glucosidase$, ${\beta}-1,4-endoglucanase$ and ${\beta}-1,4-xylanase$ were higher in the hindgut of Cerambycidae. The results demonstrate that xylophagous insect guts harbor diverse gut bacteria, including valuable cellulolytic bacteria, which could be used for various biotechnological applications.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.82-87
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• 2020

The gene expression of amylase, trypsin, and lipase in the digestive organs of the two-spotted cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) was tested to understand how it overcomes starvation. Amylase gene expression in the foregut was reduced by digesting no food until starvation-3 days. Although that expression persisted to starvation-6 days, it returned to normal at refeeding-2 days. The expression of trypsin peaked at around 8 times as starvation started and at around 4 times at starvation-3 days. After refeeding, trypsin expression rose up to 14 times and then fell back to normal as feeding continued. Lipase gene expression remained elevated at 1.5-2 times when starvation started and returned to normal at refeeding-2 days. In the midgut, amylase expression decreased until starvation-3 days, increasing to about 2 times at starvation-6 days; it did not rise again by refeeding. Trypsin was constantly expressed regardless of starvation and refeeding, while lipase expression was reduced by 0.6-0.7 times by starvation and refeeding. Amylase gene expression in the hindgut was 0.2-0.3 times lower than starvation-6 days, and it increased by 0.5 times on refeeding-1 day and more than 1.5 times on refeeding-3 days. The gene expression of trypsin was almost identical to amylase.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.187-198
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• 2013

In this study, we measured the morphometric and histological changes in the cyprinid loach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, during the early period of growth. Eyes, yolk length, yolk height, and yolk volume of the larva decreased for 16 days post hatching (DPH) (P<0.05). During 60 DPH (P>0.05), the most anterior extension of the head ${\times}$ the posterior end of the supraoccipital, the most anterior extension of the head ${\times}$ the origin of the dorsal fin, the most anterior extension of the head ${\times}$ the origin of the pectoral fin, the posterior end of the supraoccipital ${\times}$ the origin of the pelvic fin, and the origin of the dorsal fin ${\times}$ the ventral origin of the caudal fin gradually decreased, whereas the most anterior extension of the head ${\times}$ the dorsal origin of the caudal fin, the origin of the dorsal fin ${\times}$ the origin of the anal fin, the origin of the dorsal fin ${\times}$ the origin of the pectoral fin, and the insertion of the dorsal fin ${\times}$ the origin of the pelvic fin gradually increased (P<0.05). In the cyprinid loach, the retina is composed of six layers: the epithelial layer, ganglion cell layer, inner nuclear layer, inner plexiform layer, outer limiting membrane, and rod and cone layer (RCL). After hatching, part of the RCL gradually increased in density. The kidney and midgut epithelium were already formed in the cyprinid loach just after hatching and grew gradually in subsequent days.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2011

This study analyzed effects of different sound treatments in frequencies and intensities on digestion and immune physiological processes of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua larvae. Without effect on egg hatch, sound treatments with 100-5,000 Hz at 95 dB suppressed feeding behavior and inhibited a digestive enzyme activity. In addition, two dimensional electrophoresis of midgut luminal proteins indicated a marked difference of the sound-treated larvae. In response to 5,000 Hz at 95 dB, larvae showed a significant decrease in hemocyte nodule formation against fungal challenge along with significant suppression in phospholipase $A_2$ activity in hemocyte and plasma. With increase of sound frequencies, the treated larvae showed an enhanced susceptibility to insecticides. Such sound frequency effect was significantly modulated with different sound intensities. These results suggest that sound treatment may give adverse stress to physiological processes of S. exigua larvae and may be applied to a nonchemical insect pest control.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 1989

The parasporal crystals of Bacillus thuringinsis subspecies kurstaki, dendrolimus, finitimus, aizawai and israelensis were compared by polyacrylamide electrophoresis, amino acid composition and immunological analysis. In the subspecies of kurstaki, dendrolimus, finitimus and aizawai, the molecular weights of main subusnits of crystal solubilized by alkaline solution were 1.3${\times}$105 and 6.5${\times}$104 while those of subsp. israelensis were 4${\times}$104 and 1,4${\times}$104. The degradation of lepidopteran toxic subspecies crystals by silkworm midgut protease showed 6.0-6.4${\times}$104 molecular weight and the pattern of degradation of subsp. israelensis crystals was similar to that of alkaline solution treatment. In the amino acid composition, aspartic acid in subsp. israelensis and glutiamic acid in the other four subspecies were the most abundant. The immunological characteristics of the crystals revealed that the antibody produced against the alkali-solubilized crystal protein of subsp. israelensis reacted with only its antigen, but the crystal antigens from the other four lepidopteran toxic subspecies did cross-react with each other as well as with their own homologous antisera.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.11-19
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• 2001

This review discusses the effects and roles of insect hormones and insect growth regulators (IGRs) on vitellogenesis in adult insects. Insect vitellogenesis is regulated by hormones such as juvenile hormone (JH), ecdysteroids, and neurosecretory hormones (ovaryecdysteroidogenic hormone : OEH) released by neurosecretory cells, diet, and other elements(male specific protein of sperm fluid). In the fat bodies, the vitellogenins are synthesized by the stimulation of JH released by corpus allatum (CA) and ecdysteroids produced by follicle cells with the ovary in most insects. Furthermore, vitellogenins are released into the hemolymph, transported to the ovarioles by carrier protein, and incorporated into oocytes for the developing ovary. Of IGRs, juvenile hormone and its mimics such as methoprene and pyriproxifen appear to have pharmacological effects such as membrane lysis, destruction of salivary grand and midgut epithlial cells, fat body cells, and ovarian tissue, and also anti-juvenile hormone such as precocenes I and II appear to have specific cytotoxicity such as inhibition of corpus allatum and oocytes development. These results suggest that IGRs may be useful as agents for integrated pest management.