• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2004

In Korean Peninsula including neighboring islands and Japanese Islands identical firefly species or the species belonging to same genera occur together in both territories. These geographic firefly species, nonetheless, have never been subject to taxonomic consideration together until recently, lacking clear species status and phylogenetic relationships. A recent serial study of these fireflies using luciferase gene and/or portions of mitochondrial DNA sequences provided some insight into these populations in terms of validity of species name, phylogenetic relationships, and speciation event. In this article, thus, we have reviewed the recent progress on phylogenetic and/or population genetic aspects of these species, i.e., Hotaria-group fireflies, Luciola lateralis, and Pyrocoelia rufa to better understand the firefly species in these regions.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2020

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797), originated from tropical and subtropical America is one of sporadic agricultural pests in the world. Since the moth has high migration capacity, it rapidly expanded the world distribution such as Africa in 2016, India in 2018, and East-Asian countries in 2019. In Korea, this species was firstly found at maize fields of Jeju Island, in early June 2019, and subsequently detected at many counties of Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do in June and July 2019. The first invaded populations of S. frugiperda in Korea were genetically confirmed as one species, S. frugiperda by using a mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, and analyzed to be comprised of two haplotypes (hap-1 and hap-2) each belonging to different clades. Among 31 COI sequences, the hap-1 sequence was predominant, accounting for 93.5%.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2021

The Chironomidae is a benthic macroinvertebrate commonly found in freshwater ecosystems, along with Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera, which can be used for environmental health assessments. There are approximately 15,000 species of Chironomidae worldwide, but there are limited studies on species identification of domestic Chironomidae larvae. In the present study, we carried out species classification of the Chironomidae larvae that found in Jeju's tap water purification plants using morphological characteristics and genetic identification based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of the mitochondrial DNA. Body shape, mentum, antenna, mandible in the head capsule, and claws were observed in the larvae for morphological classification. Analysis of 17 larvae collected from faucets and fire hydrants of domestic tap water purification plants revealed the presence of two species, including 14 Orthocladius tamarutilus and 3 Paratrichocladius tammaater. These results will aid the use of the criteria information about species classification of the Chironomidae for water quality management in water purification plants and diversity monitoring of freshwater environments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2021

This study developed a species identification method for the salted opossum shrimp of Acetes japonicus, A. chinensis (Korea, China), A. indicus (I, II), and Palaemon gravieri based on PCR-RFLP markers. Genomic DNA was extracted from the salted opossum shrimp. The COI gene was used to amplify 519 base pairs (bp) using specific primers. The amplified products were digested by Acc I and Hinf I, and the DNA fragments were separated by automated electrophoresis for RFLP analysis. When the amplified DNA product (519 bp) was digested with Acc I, A. japonicus, A. chinensis (Korea), and A. indius (II) showed two fragments, whereas a single band of 519 bp was detected in A. chinensis (China) and A. indius (I). Also, in the RFLP patterns digested by Hinf I, A. chinensis (Korea) and A. chinensis (China) showed a single band of 519 bp, while two fragments were observed in A. japonicus and A. indius (I) and four fragments in A. indius (II). The PCR amplicon of P. gravieri was digested by Acc I into 3 bands of 271, 202, and 46 bp and by Hinf I into a single band of 519 bp. Therefore, salted opossum shrimp-specific RFLP markers showing distinct differences between four species and two sub-species by PCR-RFLP analysis. Thus, the PCR-RFLP markers developed in this study are a good method for identifying the six types of salted opossum shrimp.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.199-209
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• 2020

In order to clarify the taxonomic status of the Korean Macroramphosus species, which were previously confused, we investigated morphological and molecular variations of Macroramphosus (18 individuals) from Korea, and Macroramphosus (35 individuals) from Japan and Taiwan, and compared with those of M. scolopax from type locality (Mediterranean Sea). Although the Korean and Japanese specimens of Macroramphosus were clearly divided into two types in the first dorsal spine length (22.8~32.1% in A-type vs. 15.6~21.4% in B-type), distance between the first dorsal fin and second dorsal fin (6.4~9.7% vs. 8.6~13.3%), and body depth (20.0~28.0% vs. 17.3~22.6%), no genetic differences among all individuals of longspine snipefish between them were found at the specific level [d=0.0~3.3% in control region (CR); 0.0~1.3% in cytochrome b (cytb); 0.0~0.5% in cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI)]. Whereas, they were well distinguished in genetics (9.9~11.5% in CR; 3.8~4.6% in cytb; 1.2~3.6% in COI) from those of M. scolopax in Mediterranean Sea. It needs the scientific name of the longspine snipefish (M. scolopax) in Korea be changed as M. japonicus (and/or M. sagifue). However, our results could not find evidence of consistency between morphological and mitochondrial DNA variations which suggests that their differentiation event may occur fairly recently. Further studies using more sensitive markers such as microsatellite are needed to clarify the degree of gene flow between the two types.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.181-191
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• 2000

We have sequenced a portion of mitochondrial CO! gene (403 bp) of the firefly, Pyrocoelia rufa, to investigate genetic diversity within population, geographic variation, and phylogenetic relationships among haplotypes. A total of seven mtDNA haplotypes ranging in sequence divergence from 0.2% to 1.2% were obtained from 26 fireflies collected at four localities in Korea: Namhae, Pusan, Muju, and Yongin. The samples collected at the urban area, Pusan, were all fixed with one haplotype, differently those collected at the forest and/or agricultural areas. This appears to suggest that habitat fragmentation and population bottleneck caused by urbanization might have been severe in Pusan. On the other hand, from Muju known as the largest habitat and sanctuary for the firefly, four haplotypes with the maximum sequence divergence of 1.0% were obtained, and this estimate was the highest among the areas studied. The fireflies collected at the isolated islet, Namhae, revealed relatively low haplotype diversity(H=0.25), but one haplotype (PR7) was phylogenetically differentiated from others. This phenomenon was explained in terms of biogeographic history of the island and gene flow in the recent past. Grouping of Muju- Y ongin and Pusan-Namhae, respectively, in the hierarchical genetic analysis suggests the presence of historically occurred, biogeographic barrier against gene flow between them.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.454-461
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• 2019

Background: Ikonnikov's whiskered bat (Myotis ikonnikovi) is found throughout the Korean Peninsula, as well as in Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, China, and Japan. It is small-sized and primarily inhabits old-growth forests. The decrease and fragmentation of habitats due to increased human activity may influence the genetic structure of bat populations. This study was designed to elucidate the population genetic structure of M. ikonnikovi using mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase I and cytochrome b). Results: The results showed that M. ikonnikovi populations from Korea have high genetic diversity. Although genetic differentiation was not detected for the COI gene, strong genetic differentiation of the Cytb gene between Mt. Jeombong and Mt. Jiri populations was observed. Moreover, the results indicated that the gene flow of the maternal lineage may be limited. Conclusions: This study is the first to identify the genetic population structure of M. ikonnikovi. We suggest that conservation of local populations is important for sustaining the genetic diversity of the bat, and comprehensive studies on factors causing habitat fragmentation are required.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1331-1339
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• 2017

DNA barcoding is the identification of a species based on the DNA sequence of a fragment of the cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) gene in the mitochondrial genome. It is widely applied to assist with the sustainable development of fishery-product resources and the protection of fish biodiversity. This study attempted to verify horse-head fish (Branchiostegus japonicus) and fake horse-head fish (Branchiostegus albus) species, which are commonly consumed in Korea. For the validation of the two species, a real-time PCR method was developed based on the species' mitochondrial DNA genome. Inter-species variations in mitochondrial DNA were observed in a bioinformatics analysis of the mitochondrial genomic DNA sequences of the two species. Some highly conserved regions and a few other regions were identified in the mitochondrial COI of the species. In order to test whether variations in the sequences were definitive, primers that targeted the varied regions of COI were designed and applied to amplify the DNA using the real-time PCR system. Threshold-cycle (Ct) range results confirmed that the Ct ranges of the real-time PCR were identical to the expected species of origin. Efficiency, specificity and cross-reactivity assays showed statistically significant differences between the average Ct of B. japonicus DNA ($21.85{\pm}3.599$) and the average Ct of B. albus DNA ($33.49{\pm}1.183$) for confirming B. japonicus. The assays also showed statistically significant differences between the average Ct of B. albus DNA ($22.49{\pm}0.908$) and the average Ct of B. japonicus DNA ($33.93{\pm}0.479$) for confirming B. albus. The methodology was validated by using ten commercial samples. The genomic DNA-based molecular technique that used the real-time PCR was a reliable method for the taxonomic classification of animal tissues.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2016

The genetic structure of marine animals that inhabit the seashore is affected by numerous factors. Of these, gene flow and natural selection during recruitment have strong influences on the genetic structure of seashore-dwelling species that have larval periods. Relative contributions of these two factors to the genetic structure of marine species would be determined mainly by the duration of larval stage. The relationship between larval period and genetic structure of population has been rarely studied in Korea. In this study, genetic variations of cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) were analyzed in two dominant species on rocky shore habitats in the Korean peninsula: periwinkle Littorina brevicula and acorn barnacle Fistulobalanus albicostatus. Both species are not strongly structured and may have experienced recent population expansion. Unlike periwinkle, however, barnacle populations have considerable genetic variation, and show a bimodal pattern of mismatch distribution. These results suggest that barnacle populations are more affected by local adaptation rather than gene flow via larval migration. The bimodal patterns of barnacle populations observed in mismatch distribution plots imply that they may have experienced secondary contact. Further studies on seashore-dwelling species are expected to be useful in understanding the evolution of the coastal ecosystem around Korean waters.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.678-688
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• 2023

Flatfish are one of the largest families in the order Pleuronectiformes and are economically important edible marine fish species. However, they have similar morphological characteristics leading to challenges in classifying correctly, which may result in mislabeling and illegal sales, such as fraudulent labeling of processed food. Therefore, accurate identification is important to ensure the quality and safety of domestic markets in Korea. Species-specific primers were prepared from the mainly consumed eleven species of the order Pleuronectiformes. To rapidly identify the 11 flatfish species, a highly efficient, rapid, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with species-specific primers was developed. Species-specific primer sets were designed for the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. Species-specific multiplex PCR (MSS-PCR) either specifically amplified a PCR product of a unique size or failed. This MSS-PCR analysis is easy to perform and yields reliable results in less time than the previous Sanger sequencing methods. This technique could be a powerful tool for the identification of the 11 species b the family Pleuronectidae and can contribute to the prevention of falsified labeling and protection of consumer rights.