• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.580-589
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• 2015

The artificially grown forests of larch, planted in accordance with the nationwide afforestation policy in the 1970s, are located inside national parks. This study intended to induce a forestation system by which the forests develop into an ecologically healthy and broadleaved ecosystem with broad species diversity. For this, the aspects of natural regeneration of broadleaves from 2010 to 2013 after thinning by density (30%, 50%, and 70%) in 2009 were surveyed using the larch forest in the Woljeong Temple region inside Odaesan National Park. There were no trees that were larger than 2 cm in in diameter at breast height among the trees recently introduced between 2012 and 2013. A significant number of herbs have been introduced to the subsurface alongside young arboreal trees species such as Bumalda bladdernut, Acer triflorum, Cornus controversa etc and shrubs. However, many woody species did not survive the competition with herbs and repeated withering and regeneration. The number of woody species generated within the 30% cutting area was 440 species in 2013 and this figure has been increasing twofold each year. The number of woody plants within the 50% cutting area also showed an upward tendency and most plants did not survive in the competition with herbs and Sasa borealis and withered in only 1 ~ 2 years after generation. Unlike other thinning areas, the 70% cutting area showed 608 broadleaved trees, reflecting a decrease from 748 trees in 2012. This appeared to be attributed to the luxuriance of S. borealis and the sharp increase of fatsia following the inflow of total sunlight to the forest floor. Herbs were hardly generated due to the influence of S. borealis. Regarding the density for thinning at 50% or upper height, the forest treatment division shall maintain a proper density in the course of inducing artificial forestation of larch into natural broadleaved forests considering the luxuriance of sasa borealis and herbs due to the inflow of total sunlight to the forest floor.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.48-67
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• 2021

Plant species exhibit current characteristics as a result of interactions with environmental conditions. The plants of Viola sp. have selected chasmogamous flowers with vigorous vegetative propagation or development of cleistogamous flowers as an adaptation strategy. Viola websteri is distributed on the Korean peninsula and the eastern part of Jilin Province, China. The center and edge of the distribution are expected to exhibit different population-dynamics. It is necessary to investigate the cause of its current limited distribution even though V. websteri has a mixed-mating strategy. Firstly, We examined the vegetation environment of habitats and evaluated its characteristics. Growth characteristics were examined through plant phenology. We then evaluated the population structure, characteristics of chasmogamous flowers, and productivity of cleistogamous flowers. Moreover, we compared population sizes between 2014 and 2018. Most habitats were located in deciduous broadleaf mixed forests adjacent to valleys. V. websteri produced chasmogamous flowers with self-incompatibility in April-May and cleistogamous flowers in June-September. The cleistogamous flower production is a strategy ensuring seed production under uncertain environmental fluctuations; these were approximately twice as numerous as chasmogamous flowers. The population structure was distinguished into stable and very unstable regions. There were sites where the population experienced a sharp decline in the 2018 compared to that of 2014. This large decline was found in the edge populations. The habitats had different microsites depending on the natural disturbances of drought and the matrix constituting the habitat, thus supporting various plants. Ensuring the production of seeds through cleistogamous flowers, it was determined that rapid seedling re-establishment and population replenishment were possible when the natural disturbance factor was removed. Environmental factors did not equally affect all populations or individuals. Therefore, it was expected that it would be able to persisted in a long time, despite the rapid decrease in the number of individuals in the population regionally. Local extinction and re-establishment are likely to repeat according to environmental change. We propose the additional population investigation based on this works are required. We also suggest a need to assess the long-term population dynamics and the genetic characteristics of chasmogamous flowers and cleistogamous flowers to establish and implement effective conservation strategies.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2009

Implantation itself is governed by an array of endocrine, paracrine and autocrine modulators, of embryonic and maternal origin. Window of implantation is the unique temporal and spatial expression of factors allows the embryo to implant via signaling, appositioning, attachment, and invasion in a specific time frame of $2{\sim}4$ days. When the embryo has arrived in the uterine cavity, a preprogrammed sequence of events occurs, which involves the production and secretion of a multitude of biochemical factors such as cytokines, growth factors, and adhesion molecules by the endometrium and the embryo, thus leading to the formation of a receptive endometrium. Cytokines such as LIF, CSF-1, and IL-1 have all been shown to play important roles in the cascade of events that leads to implantation. Integrin, L-selectin ligands, glycodelin, mucin-1, HB-EGF and pinopodes are involved in appositioning and attachment. The embryo also produces cytokines and growth factors (ILs, VEGF) and receptors for endometrial signals such as LIF, CSF-1, IGF and HB-EGF. The immune system and angiogenesis play an important role. The usefulness of these factors to assess endometrial receptivity and to estimate the prognosis for pregnancy in natural and artificial cycles remains to be proven. Integrins, pinopodes, glycodelin and LIF (from biopsies) are promising candidates; from uterine flushings, glycodelin and LIF are also candidates. The ideal serum marker is not available, but VEGF, glycodelin and CSF have some clinical implications. Further evaluation that includes larger groups of infertile women and fertile controls are needed to elucidate whether their presence in plasma, flushing fluid, or endometrial samples can be used as some kind of a screening tool to assess endometrial function and prognosis for pregnancy before and after artificial reproductive therapy. A better understanding of their function in human implantation may lead to therapeutic intervention, thereby improving the success rate in reproduction treatment. New molecular techniques are becoming available for measuring both embryonic and endometrial changes prior to and during implantation. The use of predictive sets of markers may prove to be more reliable than a single marker. Ultimately, the aim is to use these tools to increase implantation in artificial cycles and consequently improve live-birth rates.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.35-42
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• 2020

17β-estradiol (E₂) is a natural hormone secreted by ovary, and continuously discharged from household and livestock wastewater into aquatic environment. Due to its strong estrogenic activity, it has adverse effects on development and reproduction in crustacean as an endocrine disrupting chemical. Although ecdysteroid signaling pathway play a key role in development in crustacean, little information on transcriptional modulation of ecdysteroid-related genes in response to E₂ is available in small crustacean. Here, we investigated the acute toxicity of E₂ to obtain 24-h LC_x values in the brackish water flea Diaphanosoma celebensis. Time-dependent expression patterns of seven ecdysteroid pathway - related genes (CYP314a1, EcRA, EcRB, USP, ERR, Vtg, VtgR) were further examined using quantitative real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). As results, 24-h LC₅₀ and LC₁₀ values were 9.581 mg/l and 4.842 mg/l, respectively. The mRNA expression of CYP314a1, EcRA, USP, VtgR was significantly up-regulated at 12 or 24 h after exposure to E₂. These findings indicate that E₂ can affect their molting and reproduction by modulating the expression of ecdysteroid pathway - related in D. celebensis. This study will be useful for better understanding of molecular mode of action of endocrine disrupting chemicals on molting process in small crustacean.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.291-297
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• 2020

This study was conducted to develop microsatellite markers in Seriola quinqueradiata using next-generation sequencing. A total of 28,873,374 reads were generated on an Illumina Hiseq2500 system, yielding 7,247,216,874 bp sequences. The de novo assembly resulted in 466,359 contigs. A total of 132 contigs (0.43%), including 60 microsatellite loci, were derived from 30,729 contigs longer than 518 bp. A total of 60 primer sets were designed from the 132 microsatellite loci. A total of 15 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci were chosen to evaluate population genetic parameters in the parents and offspring. The mean number of effective alleles was 18.5, ranging from 11 to 30. The observed heterozygosity (H_O) and expected heterozygosity (H_E) ranged between 0.431 and 0.972 with an average of 0.812 and from 0.782 to 0.949 with an average of 0.896, respectively. No significant linkage disequilibrium was observed after Bonferroni revision in any loci. The results show that the 15 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers can be used to study the population and conservation genetics of S. quinqueradiata in Korea. To ensure the success of artificial seedling production technology, genetic variations between the parent and offspring populations should be monitored, and inbreeding should be controlled.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.286-290
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• 2009

The stability of three different kinds of pUC-derived plasmids, pDsRed, pZsYellow, and pGFPuv, was investigated in Pectobacterium strains to utilize those plasmids as tracers. All three plasmids pDsRed, pZsYellow and pGFPuv showed their specific colors in Pectobacterium strains. Especially, the plasmid pDsRed conferred bright pink colonies on the Pectobacterium strains. When the bacteria lost the plasmid pDsRed, the colonies turned white, suggesting that the plasmid could be a good marker system for Pectobacterium strains on different environmental conditions. The effect of the antibiotic pressure on the stability of the plasmid was different depending on the host bacteria. P. carotovorum subsp. betavasculorum was more sensitive to the antibiotic pressure than P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum Pcc21. However, temperature change significantly affected plasmid stability on both Pectobacterium strains. Almost all strains lost the plasmids with the shift in temperature from $28^{\circ}C$ to $37^{\circ}C$. Presence of the plasmids did not affect bacterial pathogenicity on their own host plants. Among three plasmids, pZsYellow was not useful as a marker because the yellow fluorescent proteins from pZs Yellow were interfered with the yellow natural fluorescence of the plant tissues induced by the defense system. Since the red color of DsRed can be seen with naked eyes, plasmid pDsRed was applicable as a marker. However, the color change was slow so that additional manipulation to increase the expression speed was necessary. Plasmid pGFPuv could serve as a perfect marker without any problem, tracing the reproduction and spread of the plant pathogens perfectly.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 1998

The polysialic acid (polySia) glycotope covalently modifies cell surface glycoconjugates on cells as evolutionarily diverse as microbes and human. The recent chemical identification of polysialylated glycoproteins in the jelly coat and on the cell surface of the sea urchin egg raises important questions about their biosynthesis and possible function. Using CMP-[$^{14}$ C]Neu5Ac as substrate and cell free preparations from eggs and embryos of the sea urchin Stronglylcentrotus nudus, we have identified a membrane associated CMP-Neu5Ac:poly-$\alpha$2, 8 sialosyl sialyltransferase (polyST) that transfers Neu5Ac to an endogenous acceptor. Optimal conditions for the polyST activity were found to be 2$0^{\circ}C$ in 20 mM MOPS buffer (pH 7.0). The polyST activity was increased 2.7 times by the addition of 10 mM $Mg^2$$^{+}$. The membrane-associated polyST also catalyzed the polysialylation of mammalian ganglioside GD3. Given that no structurally similar natural polysialylated gangliosides have been described, nor were observed in the present study, we conclude that a single polyST activity catalyzes sialylation of the endogenous acceptor and the gangliosides. Using an excess of GD3 as an exogenous acceptor, it was established that the expression of the polyST in S. nudus embryos increased rapidly at the mesenchyme blastula stage and reached at maximum at the gastrula stage. The finding that this polyST in the sea urchin embryo is developmentally regulated raises the possibility that it may play a role in the changing cell and tissue interactions that occur during gastrulation and the early stages of spicule formation.n.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.41-45
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• 2006

The spawning behavior of Liobagrus obesus was observed at Kumgang river, Yeongdong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do from Apirl to July 2004. The fertilized eggs collected by dip net and skimming net were carried to the laboratory of Chonnam National University, and then egg, larvae and juvenils development were studied. Hatching of the embryo began about at 225 hrs 15 mins after morula stage in water temperature of $19.5{\sim}24.9^{\circ}C$(mean $22.8^{\circ}C$). The newly-hatched larvae were $7.30{\sim}7.90mm$(mean 7.66mm) in total length (TL), their mouth and anus were already opened with 14+28=42 myotomes. Sixteen days after hatching, the postlarvae were $13.00{\sim}14.05mm$(mean 13.48mm) TL, the yolk sac was completely absorbed. The juvenile stage was reached when all fin-rays were formed at 24 days after hatching, and $15.31{\sim}17.20mm$(mean 16.31mm) TL.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2011

One-step dilution and direct transfer would be a practical technique for the field application of frozen embryo. This study was to examine whether Jeju Black Cattle (JBC, Korean Cattle) can be successfully cloned from vitrified and one-tep diluted somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) blastocyst after direct transfer. For vitrification, JBC-SCNT blastocysts were serially exposed in glycerol (G) and ethylene glycol (EG) mixtures [10%, (v/v) G for 5 min., 10% G plus 20% EG (v/v) for 5 min., and 25% G plus 25% EG (v/v) for 30 sec.] which is diluted in 10% FBS added D-PBS. And then SCNT blastocysts were loaded in 0.25 ml mini straw, placed in cold nitrogen vapor for 3 min. and then plunged into $LN_2$. One-step dilution in straw was done in $25^{\circ}C$ water for 1 min, by placing vertically in the state of plugged-end up and down for 0.5 min, respectively. When in vitro developmental capacity of vitrified SCNT blastocyst was examined at 48 h after one-step dilution, hatched rate (56.4%) was slightly lower than that of control group (62.5%). In field trial, when the vitrified-thawed SCNT blastocysts were transferred into uterus of synchronized 5 recipients, a cloned female JBC was delivered by natural birth on day 299 and healthy at present. In addition, when the short tandem repeat marker analysis of the cloned JBC was evaluated, microsatellite loci of 11 numbers was perfectly matched genotype with donor cell (BK94-14). This study suggested that our developed vitrification and one-step dilution technique can be applied effectively on field trial for cloned animal production, which is even no longer in existence.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2008

The comparative toxicity of recommended rates of three acaricides, fluacrypyrim, cyflumetofen and spiromesifen to the predatory mite, Neoseiulus womersleyi and its prey, Tetranychus urticae was bioassayed in the laboratory. Fluacrypyrim and cyflumetofen were much less toxic to adult females of N. womersleyi than to those of T. urticae. Adult female predators treated with these two acaricides produced $88{\sim}93%$ as many eggs as did control females. Fluacrypyrim and cyflumetofen did not affect the hatch of N. womersleyi eggs or the development of surviving immature predators, and $92{\sim}96%$ of immature predators reached adulthood. Spiromesifen at its treated concentration did not significantly affect the survival and reproduction of adult female predators but caused 100% mortality in larvae of N. womersleyi. Adult female predators survived on a diet of spider mites treated with fluacrypyrim and cyflumetofen, and their fecundity was not significantly affected. Moreover, immature predators developed normally on prey treated with these two acaricides. The results indicate that fluacrypyrim and cyflumetofen are promising candidates for use in integrated mite management programs where N womersleyi is the major natural enemy.