• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2006

Copper,zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD) plays a key role to the first antioxidant defense system against oxidative stress in diverse aerobic organisms. Due to the housekeeping action of Cu,Zn-SOD, it was reported that the structure and function have been conserved during evolution. In this study Cu,Zn-SOD from cloudy catshark Scyliorhinus torazame was subjected to phylogenetic analyses to know its evolutionary relationship in the vertebrate lineage. Molecular phylogenetic trees inferred by NJ, MP, ML and/or Bayesian analyses showed two shark species, Prionace glauca and S. torazame grouped together with high statistical supports. In general, they placed at the separated position from bony vertebrates. Thereafter, bony vertebrates composed of teleosts and birds/mammals (amniotes) formed a monophyletic group. Each teleost and amniote clade was also supported by relatively high statistical values. These phylogenetic relationships are well congruent with the phylogenetic hypothesis of the ancestral position of cartilaginous fishes to bony vertebrates.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.21 no.sup1
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• pp.73-73
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• 2009

The modern cartilaginous fishes, class Chondrichthyes, are small group of Pisces, and comprisingmore 1,000 described valid species, and including approximately 190 genera, 55 families, and 15 orders. The Chondrichthyes consists of two subclasses, the Holocephali (chimeras) and the Elasmobranchii(sharks and rays). The dominant subclass Elasmobranchii includes sharks (Selachii) and rays (Batoidea), the former is more diverse than the latter in higher taxa (order, family, genus) but has fewer species. The Batoidea, batoids or rays, has long been recognized as monophyletic, however, the interrelationships of the groups are problematic and uncertain. In order to review biodiversity and systematics of batoids, valid species name and supraspecific taxa from the published materials are studied. Batoids (including sawfishes, Pristiformes; electric rays, Torpediniformes; stingrays, Myliobatiformes; skates, Rajiformes; wedgefishes, Rhiniformes; and guitarfishes, Rhinobatiformes) is speciose and worldwide with about 580 species in 4 to 6 orders, 17 to 19 families, and about 75 genera. In East Asian waters, the previous records of the Batoidea reveal about 170 species belonging to 41 genera, 18 families, 6 orders. The largest group of batoid fauna in the area is order Myliobatiformes comprising about 80 species, 16 genera of 7 families. The predominant families are Dasyatidae (whiptail stingrays: 46 spp. of 6 genera), Arhynchobatidae (softnose skates: 26 spp. of 3 genera), and Rajidae (skates: 21 spp. of 6 genera). The predominant genera are Bathyraja (softnoseskates: 20 spp.), Himantura (whiprays:19spp.), and Dasyatis (fantailstingrays: 18 spp.). There are 23 species in the Yellow Sea, 70 species in the East China Sea, 82 species in the South China Sea, and 58 species in the North Pacific coast of Japan. Batoid fauna from the East Sea (Sea of Japan) is the poorest of the five regions, consisting of 14 species. Korean waters include only 28 species, 16 genera, 10 families and 5 orders of batoids. Two species is torpediniforms, 4 rhinobatiforms, arhynchobatiforms, 11 rajiforms and 10 myliobatiforms. By the earlier works, the systematics and a check list of the valid species of batoids will be presented.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.503-507
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• 2016

The genus Spirometra belongs to the family Diphyllobothriidae and order Pseudophyllidea, and includes intestinal parasites of cats and dogs. In this study, a plerocercoid labeled as Spirometra mansonoides from the USA was examined for species identification and phylogenetic analysis using 2 complete mitochondrial genes, cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 (nad3). The cox1 sequences (1,566 bp) of the plerocercoid specimen (USA) showed 99.2% similarity to the reference sequences of the plerocercoid of Korean Spirometra decipiens (GenBank no. KJ599679), and 99.1% similarity in regard to nad3 (346 bp). Phylogenetic tree topologies generated using 4 analytical methods were identical and showed high confidence levels with bootstrap values of 1.00, 100%, 100%, and 100% for Bayesian inference (BI), maximum-likelihood (ML), neighbor-joining (NJ), and maximum parsimony (MP) methods, respectively. Representatives of Diphyllobothrium and Spirometra species formed a monophyletic group, and the sister-genera status between these species was well supported. Trapezoic proglottids in the posterior 1/5 region of an adult worm obtained from an experimentally infected cat were morphologically examined. The outer uterine loop of the uterus coiling characteristically consisted of 2 complete turns. The results clearly indicated that the examined Spirometra specimen from the USA matched to S. decipiens very well, and indicated possible presence of the life cycle of this species in this region.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.777-786
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• 2016

Raillietina species are prevalent in domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Phayao province, northern Thailand. Their infection may cause disease and death, which affects the public health and economic situation in chicken farms. The identification of Raillietina has been based on morphology and molecular analysis. In this study, morphological observations using light (LM) and scanning electron microscopies (SEM) coupled with molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region and the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1) gene were employed for precise identification and phylogenetic relationship studies of Raillietina spp. Four Raillietina species, including R. echinobothrida, R. tetragona, R. cesticillus, and Raillietina sp., were recovered in domestic chickens from 4 districts in Phayao province, Thailand. LM and SEM observations revealed differences in the morphology of the scolex, position of the genital pore, number of eggs per egg capsule, and rostellar opening surface structures in all 4 species. Phylogenetic relationships were found among the phylogenetic trees obtained by the maximum likelihood and distance-based neighbor-joining methods. ITS2 and ND1 sequence data recorded from Raillietina sp. appeared to be monophyletic. The query sequences of R. echinobothrida, R. tetragona, R. cesticillus, and Raillietina sp. were separated according to the different morphological characters. This study confirmed that morphological studies combined with molecular analyses can differentiate related species within the genus Raillietina in Thailand.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2017

Background: Species in the heterokont genus Synura are colonial and have silica scales whose ultrastructural characteristics are used for classification. We examined the ultrastructure of silica scales and molecular data (nuclear SSU rDNA and LSU rDNA, and plastid rbcL sequences) to better understand the taxonomy and phylogeny within the section Petersenianae of genus Synura. In addition, we report the first finding of newly recorded Synura species from Korea. Results: We identified all species by examination of scale ultrastructure using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). Three newly recorded species from Korea, Synura americana, Synura conopea, and Synura truttae were described based on morphological characters, such as cell size, scale shape, scale size, keel shape, number of struts, distance between struts, degree of interconnections between struts, size of base plate pores, keel pores, base plate hole, and posterior rim. The scales of the newly recorded species, which belong to the section Petersenianae, have a well-developed keel and a characteristic number of struts on the base plate. We performed molecular phylogenetic analyses based on sequence data from three genes in 32 strains (including three outgroup species). The results provided strong statistical support that the section Petersenianae was monophyletic, and that all taxa within this section had well-developed keels and a defined number of struts on the base plate. Conclusions: The phylogenetic tree based on sequence data of three genes was congruent with the data on scale ultrastructure. The resulting phylogenetic tree strongly supported the existence of the section Petersenianae. In addition, we propose newly recorded Synura species from Korea based on phylogenetic analyses and morphological characters: S. americana, S. conopea, and S. truttae.

• ALGAE
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.205-217
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• 2016

Freshwater red tides due to dinoflagellates have caused spectacular and regular “summer reddening” in recent years in Baishihai Lake, a temperate, meromictic, meso- or oligotrophic, high-altitude, landslide-dammed, deep lake located at the eastern edge of Tibetan Plateau in China. Based on morphological and molecular analyses, the causative organism has been identified as a new woloszynskioid dinoflagellate, Tovellia diexiensis Q. Zhang et G. X. Liu sp. nov. The vegetative cells are 20-32 μm long and 16-24 μm wide. They have a hemispherical episome and a broadly rounded hyposome with a short characteristic antapical spine. Usually cells are bright red due to the presence of numerous red-pigmented bodies, which often masked the yellowish green discoid chloroplasts. The amphiesma of motile cells comprise mainly quadrilateral, pentagonal or hexagonal thin plates, arranged in 4-5 latitudinal series on the episome, 1 in the cingulum and 4 on the hyposome. Molecular phylogenies based on small subunit ribosomal DNA and large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU) indicate T. diexiensis from Baishihai Lake to belong to the family Tovelliaceae, which was monophyletic in our LSU phylogenies. During the bloom-forming period in 2005, cell density of T. diexiensis reached 9.15 × 10⁵ cells L⁻¹. Astaxanthin and its diester were found to be the major pigments in T. diexiensis, resulting in a characteristic blood-red color of the water in Baishihai Lake.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.171-181
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• 2004

Partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit Ⅰ(mtCOI) gene of veneroid clams were obtained to eluciadate molecular phylogeny. A total of nine veneroids and one corbiculid were collected from southern and western sea of Korea. The mtCOI sequences of the clams obtained from the present study and three veneroids sequences from GenBank were analyzed by maximum parsimony and neighbor-joining methods. The subfamilies Samarangiinae, Dorsiniinae, Cyclinae, Meretricinae and Chioninae were monophyletic, but Pitarinae was paraphyletic. One transitions and two transversions among two samples of Ruditapes philippinarum and a R. variegata were observed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2009

A freshwater bacterium, designated $IMCC1713^T$, was isolated from a highly eutrophic artificial pond. Cells of the strain were Gram-negative, chemoheterotrophic, poly-$\beta$-hydroxybutyrate granule containing and obligately aerobic short rods that were motile with a single polar flagellum. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity analysis showed that the novel strain was most closely related to the species Roseateles depolymerans (96.3%), Mitsuaria chitosanitabida (96.2%), Ideonella dechloratans (96.2%), and Pelomonas saccharophila (96.1%) in the Sphaerotilus-Leptothrix group within the order Burkholderiales. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate formed an independent monophyletic clade within the order Burkholderiales. The relatively low DNA G+C content (57.4mol%), together with several phenotypic characteristics, differentiated the novel strain from other members of the Sphaerotilus-Leptothrix group. From the taxonomic data, therefore, the strain should be classified as a novel genus and species, for which the name Inhella inkyongensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the proposed species is strain $IMCC1713^T$ (=KCTC $12791^T$=NBRC $103252^T$=CCUG $54308^T$).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.643-649
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• 2010

Evaluation of the primary etiologic agents that cause aseptic meningitis outbreaks may provide valuable information regarding the prevention and management of aseptic meningitis. In Korea, an outbreak of aseptic meningitis caused by echovirus type 30 (E30) occurred from May to October in 2008. In order to determine the etiologic agent, CSF and/or stool specimens from 140 children hospitalized for aseptic meningitis at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital between June and October of 2008 were tested for virus isolation and identification. E30 accounted for 61.7% (37 cases) and echovirus 6 accounted for 21.7% (13 cases) of all the human enteroviruses (HEVs) isolates (60 cases in total). For the molecular characterization of the isolates, the VP1 gene sequence of 18 Korean E30 isolates was compared pairwise using the MegAlign with 34 reference strains from the GenBank database. The pairwise comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the VP1 genes demonstrated that the sequences of the Korean strains differed from those of lineage groups A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Reconstruction of the phylogenetic tree based on the complete VP1 nucleotide sequences resulted in a monophyletic tree, with eight clustered lineage groups. All Korean isolates were segregated from other lineage groups, thus suggesting that the Korean strains were a distinct lineage of E30, and a probable cause of this outbreak. This manuscript is the first report, to the best of our knowledge, of the molecular characteristics of E30 strains associated with an aseptic meningitis outbreak in Korea, and their respective phylogenetic relationships.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.759-763
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• 2008

Halophila ovalis (R. Br.) Hook. fil. was first collected from the Ando, Yeosu, Korea in 2007. H. ovalis is Widely distributed from sub-tropical to even tropical areas and produces the seeds using bisexual reproduction. Its leaf shape was oblong to ovate. Its leaf blades were rigid in texture, with a strong support to the leaf. Erect shoots arose at irregular intervals along the rhizome. The distance between the intramarginal vein and leaves margin was small. Nucleotides in ITS 1 and ITS 2 regions between the Korean and Japanese H. ovalis were found to be 100% similar, whereas Korean H. ovalis was found to have four nucleotides in the positions of 202 bp to 206 bp for 5.8S. In the analysis of the phylogenetic relationship using NJ method, Korean H. ovalis had a monophyletic genetic tree with Japanese H. ovalis, but no phylogenetic relationship with types from the Philippines, Australia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The first occurrence of H. ovalisin Korea was associated with a strong migration of gene flow from Japan and high water temperature caused by the variations in climate.