• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.43-48
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• 2022

Bombyx mori is a representative industrial insect and is used in silk production. Additionally, it serves as an insect model in molecular studies. To date, various molecular studies on its physiological characteristics, including the innate immune response and cuticular melanization, have been conducted. The melanization, including cuticular melanization, in insects is controlled by the prophenoloxidase-activating system, which is also involved in their innate immune response. In this review, to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the prophenoloxidase-activating system in the silkworm, the roles of five biomolecules, namely tyrosine hydroxylase, prophenoloxidase-activating enzyme, phenoloxidase, serine protease homolog, and immulectin, are discussed.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.74-80
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• 2018

The electronic industries require environmentally-friendly and highly functional materials to enhance the quality of human life. Home appliances require insect repellent steels that work to protect household microwave ovens from incurring damage by insects such as fire ants and cockroaches in tropical regions. Thus, POSCO has developed new types of functional steels, coated with an array of organic-inorganic hybrid composites on the steel surface, to cover panels in microwave ovens and refrigerators. The composite solution uses a fine dispersion of hybrid solution with polymeric resin, inorganic and a pyrethroid additive in aqueous media. The hybrid composite solution coats the steel surface, by using a roll coater and is cured using an induction curing furnace on both the continuous galvanizing line and the electro-galvanizing line. The new steels were evaluated for quality performances, salt spray test for corrosion resistance and biological performance for both insect repellent and antimicrobial activity. The new steels with organic-inorganic composite coating exhibit extraordinarily biological functionalities, for both insect repellent and antimicrobial activities for short and long term tests. The composite-coating solution and experimental results are discussed and suggest that the molecular level dispersion of insecticide on the coating layer is key to biological functional performances.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2001

This paper reports a few characteristics of seven insect mitochondrial genomes sequenced completely (Bombyx mori, Drosophila melanogaster, D. yakuba, Apis mellifera, Anopheles gambiae, A. quadrimaculatus, and Locusta migratoria). Comparative analysis of complete mt genome sequences from several species revealed a number of interesting features (base composition, gene content, A+T-rich region, and gene arrangement, etc) of insect mitochondrial genome. The properties revealed by our work shed new light on the organization and evolution of the insect mitochondrial genome and more importantly open up the way to clearly aimed experimental studies for understanding critical roles of the regulatory mechanisms (transcription and translation) in mitochondrial gene expression.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.171-174
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• 2009

The black soldier fly larvae are able to decompose various organic wastes such as livestock manures and food wastes. We tested whether the quality of the insect derived compost, i.e. larval feces, was comparable to that of a commercial fertilizer. The results show that the chemical composition and the growth rate of cabbages grown on the insect derived compost are virtually identical to those on the commercial fertilizer. Therefore the insect derived compost will be an ideal substitute to commercial fertilizers.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.157-162
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• 2003

The glutathione S-transferase (GSTs) are enzymes responsible for the protection of cells from chemical toxicants and oxidative stress. We describe here the cDNA sequence and mRNA expression of a putative GST from the mole cricket, Gryllotalpa orientalis. The G. orientalis GST cDNA sequences comprised of 621 bp encoding 207 amino acid residues. The multiple sequence alignment of G. orientalis GST gene with other known insect GSTs showed several conserved residues that may be essential for the enzymatic activity of the protein. Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences of G. orientalis GST gene with other insect GST sequences revealed that the G. orientalis GST gene belongs to class I GST, forming a strong monophyletic group (100% bootstrap value) exclusively for class I GSTs from a diverse insect species. Northern blot analysis confirmed midgut-specific expression at transcriptional level, evidencing the midgut as a site for GST synthesis.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.699-710
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• 2021

In this study, we propose a biomimetic optical structure design methodology for investigating micro-optical mechanisms associated with the compound eyes of insects. With these compound eyes, insects can respond fast while maintaining a wide field of view. Also, considerable research attention has been focused on the insect compound eyes to utilize these benefits. However, their nano micro-structures are complex and challenging to demonstrate in real applications. An effectively integrated design methodology is required considering the manufacturing difficulty. We show that photorealistic ray-traced visualization is an effective method for designing the biomimetic of a micro-compound eye of an insect. We analyze the image formation mechanism and create a three-dimensional computer-aided design model. Then, a ray-trace visualization is applied to observe the optical image formation. Finally, the segmented images are stitched together to generate an image with a wide-angle; the image is assessed for quality. The high structural similarity index (SSIM) value (approximately 0.84 to 0.89) of the stitched image proves that the proposed MATLAB-based image stitching algorithm performs effectively and comparably to the commercial software. The results may be employed for the understanding, researching, and design of advanced optical systems based on biological eyes and for other industrial applications.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.563-568
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• 2018

The insect industry is a promising agricultural resource and expected to grow steadily. In Korea, Gryllus bimaculatus and the larvae of Tenebrio molior, Protaetia brevitarsis, and Allomyrina dichotoma were listed as general food ingredients. As interest in these edible insects increases, rearing techniques and nutritious food sources are needed for mass production. In this study, wheat bran, dog feed, and pig feed were investigated for their effects on the larval growth of P. brevitarsis and A. dichotoma. When fermented sawdust with 30% wheat bran was used, the larval survival rate of P. brevitarsis and A. dichotoma (p=0.244341 and p=0.007966, respectively) and growth rate (p=0.001400 and p=0.000051, respectively) were significantly lower than those of the control (fermented sawdust with no supplement). Therefore, fermented sawdust with a high density of wheat bran was inappropriate for both insects. When fed fermented sawdust with 2.5 or 5% of dog and pig feed, the survival rate and growth rate of the larvae were higher than those of the control. Interestingly, the maximum larval weight with 2.5% dog feed was increased by $3.35{\pm}0.10g$ and $32.59{\pm}0.79g$ for P. brevitarsis and A. dichotoma, respectively. In addition, the larval period of both was shorter than that of the control by 40 days or more. Therefore, it is considered that animal feed can be used as a feed source for these edible insects.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1501-1506
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• 2018

Edible insects have recently been increasingly promoted as a source of protein. As the number of farms rearing these insect increases, it is important to develop safe and nutritious feed sources to improve their commercial quality. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of food by-products as feed supplements for the Korean rhinoceros beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma, which has been registered as a general food ingredient in Korea. We compared the effects of waste citrus peel, soybean curd cake, soybean oil meal, and brewers' dried grain on the growth of third instar larvae of A. dichotoma. Groups of larvae were fed with fermented sawdust and nine different combinations of the above by-products and the effects on their growth were measured until pupation. The highest survival rate was with feed supplemented with 10% brewers' dried grain (66.7%, p<0.05), and these larvae were also 26% heavier (p<0.05) than the control group that received no supplementation. In the 10% brewers' dried grain group, the larval period of third instar was shortened by almost 28 days (p<0.01) compared to the control group. Of all the groups, only that which was fed the brewers' dried grain supplement showed more than a 90% pupation rate (p<0.05). Therefore, brewers' dried grain may be useful as a source of feed for A. dichotoma.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.15-24
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• 2018

N-glycosylation is an important posttranslational modification that results in a variety of biological activities, structural stability, and protein-protein interactions. There are still many mysteries in the structure and function of N-glycans, and detailed elucidation is necessary. Baculovirus expression system (BES) is widely used to produce recombinant glycoproteins, but it is not suitable for clinical use due to differences in N-glycan structure between insects and mammals. It is necessary to develop adequate model glycoproteins for analysis to efficiently alter the insect-type N-glycosylation pathway to human type. The previous research shows the recombinant alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (${\alpha}1AGP$) secreted from silkworm cultured cells or larvae is highly glycosylated and expected to be an excellent research candidate for the glycoprotein analysis expressed by BES. Therefore, we improved the ${\alpha}1AGP$ to be a better model for studying glycosylation. The modified ${\alpha}1AGP$ (${\alpha}1AGP{\Delta}$) recombinant protein was successfully expressed and purified by using BES, however, the expression level in silkworm cultured cells and larvae were lower than that of the ${\alpha}1AGP$. Subsequently, we confirmed the detailed profile of N-glycan on the ${\alpha}1AGP{\Delta}$ by LS/MS analysis the N-glycan structure at each glycosylation site. These results indicated that the recombinant ${\alpha}1AGP{\Delta}$ could be usable as a better model glycoprotein of N-glycosylation research in BES.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.409-417
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• 2015

This study aimed to summarize the characteristics of visitor experience for different market segments based on insect experience orientation in order to develop Ptecticus tenebrifer (Diptera: Stratiomyidae [Walker]) experience programs using local resources in the insect industrial market. A total of 325 effective samples were collected, and the attributes of insect experience orientation were connected to education, emotion, society, and ego. The survey respondents were students and parents of school-age children. Cluster analysis showed that the respondents were classified into two or three groups that were all found to be high in the prediction validity and discriminant analysis. Based on this result, the respondents were properly subdivided into three clusters for final analysis. Those three groups were: the passive group, the moderate group, and the active-orientation group. As a group aiming for various insect experiences, the active-orientation group consisted of parents whose children range in age from either 5 to 9 or from 10 to 14. This group was willing to spend 7 ~ 8,000 won on each experience program, and they preferred emotional experience programs. The passive and moderate orientation groups were most interested in having an educational experience. In order to increase people's interest in experience programs, education-oriented programs should be developed and promotional marketing should be reinforced. The results and implications of this study may be useful for the development of insect experience programs that can meet various visitor experience orientations as basic data that can contribute to the vitalization of the 6th industrialization plan for the insect industry.