• Korean Journal of Ornithology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.94-100
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• 2018

Bird electrocution on contact with electricity lines is well reported and is quite common in Mongolian open areas. We visited 15-kV electricity distribution pole lines in a Southern Mongolian semi-desert region three times in 2017, in April, July, and September, to assess their risks to birds. The carcasses of 45 electrocuted birds representing 12 species were identified from 250 poles (overall mortality rate of 1.12% every 10 km). The majority of these electrocuted birds were endangered Saker Falcon (n=11) and common Black Kite (n=11). The lacks of roosting or perching sites in our study sites (indeed other open areas in Mongolia) may resulted for such high rate bird electrocution. A 751-base pair (bp) cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene was amplified for DNA sequence-based identification of carcasses that were difficult to identify directly. Our findings revealed the high electrocution risk for birds in Mongolian open areas, especially for the birds of prey, with relatively low-efficiency electrocution mitigation approaches. The findings also indicate that there is a need for better understanding of the risk of bird electrocution, particularly in the open areas. This will contribute to the conservation of endangered species.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.263-268
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• 2016

Metallothionein (MT) family of metal-binding proteins are involved in maintaining homeostasis and heavy metal poisoning. Recently, MT has been considered as a biomarker that can identify a particular species, very similar to the use of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. Satsuma myomphala species of land snails have been reported from North-East Asia, including South Korea and Japan. In particular, the land snail species have been known from only a limited area of Geoje Island, Gyeongsangnam-do province of South Korea. Genetic studies of S. myomphala has been limited with only 6 nucleotide, 2 protein registered on the NCBI server. For elucidating the genetic information of S. myomphala, we conducted RNA sequencing analysis using Illumina HiSeq 2500 next-generation platform. We screened the MT gene from the RNA-Seq database to confirm the molecular phylogenetic relationship. After sequencing, the de novo analysis and clustering generated 103,774 unigenes. After annotation against PANM database using BLAST program, we obtained MT sequence of 74 amino acid residues containing the coding region of 222 bp. Based on this sequence, we found about 53 sequences using the BLAST program in NCBI nr database. Using ClustalX alignment, Maximum-Likehood Tree of MEGA program, we confirmed the molecular phylogenetic relationships that showed similarity with mollusks such as Helix pomatia and H. aspersa, Megathura crenulata.