• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.279-284
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• 2021

The dung beetle, Gymnopleurus mopsus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), is one of endangered species in South Korea. It was last recorded in 1971. To restore this species, we introduced G. mopsus populations from eastern and southern regions of Mongolia in July 2019 and August 2019, respectively. One of the main tasks for the restoration of endangered insects is to develop breeding techniques to eventually incorporate these insects into the restoration system. In a series of laboratory experiments, we investigated effects of short-term hibernation periods on life-history traits of G. mopsus. Adult G. mopsus that had hibernated for 30, 60, and 90 days had lower survival rates than adults that had hibernated for 120 days. We also compared developmental time of these four experimental groups and found a significant difference in the egg - phase. However, the duration of hibernation did not affect the fecundity, brood-ball size, or body size of F1 adults. Follow-up studies are currently being conducted to further investigate the effect of a short-term hibernation period on population growth of G. mopsus under laboratory conditions.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2012

Yellow bitterns (Ixobrychus sinensis) are a small wetland bird common to Asian countries including South Korea, Japan, and China. The aim of this study is to describe diet of yellow bitterns during the breeding season in artificial wetland of northeastern South Korea between May to August 1999-2001. For the purposes of this paper, we observe the frequency of nest visiting by parents during the chick rearing period. A total of 98 boluses regurgitated by 52 chicks aged 1 day to 11 days after hatching form the sample and are shown to contain 323 food items. A bolus contained mean 3.8 items and weighs 0.2 g to 7.7 g. The most regularly occurring food items recorded are fish (63%) and insets (33%). In terms of fish, top mouth minnows (Pseudorasbora parva) and crucian carps (Carassius auratus) are frequently observed. In terms of insects, there are mosquitoes (Diptera), instars of dragonfly (Libelluidae), damselflies (Coenagrinonidae) and water bugs (Diplonychus japonicus). Yellow bitterns were also shown to feed on bull frogs (Rana catesbeiana), shrimp (Palaemonidae), and spiders (Araneae). The size of fish in a bolus ranged from 15.56 mm to 93.73 mm (mean, 37.08 mm). The amount of food can be observed to increase with the age of chicks (r = 0.279, P = 0.025, N = 64) but parents did not provide larger fish as chicks grew. Parent birds visited nests more frequently when they have a larger brood ($F_{1,21}$ = 14.529, P = 0.001). Our results suggest that fish is the most important prey during the breeding season and that age of chicks is related to amount of diet in yellow bitterns.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.318-327
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• 2017

Background: A typical sewage treatment plant is designed for organic and nutrient removal from municipal sewage water and not targeted to eliminate micropollutants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and nano-sized metals which become a big concern for sustainable human and ecological system and are mainly discharged from sewage treatment plant. Therefore, despite contaminant removal by wastewater treatment processes, there are still remaining environmental risks by untreated pollutants in STP (sewage treatment plant) effluents. This study performed aquatic toxicity tests of raw wastewater and treated effluents in two sewage treatment plants to evaluate toxicity reduction by wastewater treatment process and analyze concentration of contaminants to reveal potential toxic factors in STP effluents. Methods: Water samples were collected from each treatment steps of two STPs, and acute and chronic toxicity tests were conducted following USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) guidelines. Endpoints were immobility for mortality and reproduction effect for estrogenicity. Results: Acute $EC_{50}s$ (median effective concentration) of influents for Seungki (SK) and Jungnang (JN) STPs are $54.13{\pm}32.64%$ and $30.38{\pm}24.96%$, respectively, and reduced to $96.49{\pm}7.84%$ and 100%. Acute toxicity reduction was clearly correlated with SS (suspended solids) concentration because of filter feeding characteristics of test organisms. Chronic toxicity tests revealed that lethal effect was reduced and low concentration of influents showed higher number of neonates. However, toxicity reduction was not related to nutrient removal. Fecundity effect positively increased in treated wastewater compared to that in raw wastewater, and no significant differences were observed compared to the control group in JN final effluent implying potential effects of estrogenic compounds in the STP effluents. Conclusions: Conventional wastewater treatment process reduced some organics and nutritional compounds from wastewater, and it results in toxicity reduction in lethal effect and positive reproductive effect but not showing correlation. Unknown estrogenic compounds could be a reason causing the increase of brood size. This study suggests that pharmaceutical residues and nanoparticles in STP effluents are one of the major micropollutants and underline as one of estrogenic effect factors.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.287-295
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• 2017

This study was conducted to observe egg and larvae morphological development of carp to obtain basic data for resource conservation and taxonomic research. Brood carp used in the research (total length 67.3-75.5 cm, average $71.0{\pm}3.45cm$) were bred in a circular rearing aquarium ($600{\times}300{\times}100cm$) using a running water system from January to July, 2015. Breeding water temperature was maintained at $23.0-25.0^{\circ}C$(average $24.0^{\circ}C$). Fertilized carp eggs were translucent and globular, and their size was 1.75-1.89 mm (average $1.82{\pm}0.06mm$). Blastoderms formed 10 min after fertilization and reached the two-cell stage 30 min after fertilization. Then, the embryo turned dark and exhibited melanophores, and blood started flowing from the heart across the egg yolk at 42 hrs and 50 min after fertilization. Hatching began 70 hrs and 26 min after fertilization larvae emerged through the egg membrane, starting from the head. The length of prelarvae immediately after hatching was 5.23-5.38 mm (average $5.31{\pm}0.11mm$) the mouth and anus were closed, and the pectoral fin was formed. Postlarvae at 18 days after hatching had a total length of 11.9-13.9 mm (average $12.9{\pm}1.40mm$), separate anal fin and back membranes, and fin ray. Juveniles fish at 35 days after hatching had a total length of 29.9-30.2 mm (average $30.1{\pm}0.13mm$), with the body covered with scales, and the same number of fin rays, color, and shape as their broodstork.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.211-215
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• 1997

Experiments were performed to find out the proper conditions of diluents for the short-tenn storage of sperm of black seabream, Acanthopagrus schlegeli. For milt collection, brood stock was reared in a recirculating seawater system. The following results indicated that short-term storage methods with fresh condition could tie employed in black seabream sperm. When the black seabream's serum was used as a diluent for the fresh storage, sperm activity index (SAI), fertilization rate and survival rate derived the best result in $7\~10\;days$ of storage. pH 7 and 8 showed the highest SAI in the same storage condition. In order to keep high SAI and survival rate of the sperm, addition of 800 ppm neomycine into the diluent revealed the best storage results.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2007

This study selected the optimal microalgal species for mass culture of a brackish water copepod Paracyclopina nana. Fifteen microalgal species were tested to examine nauplius production and the survival and maturation of brood females. Total and daily nauplius production were highest in P. nana fed Tetraselmis suecica followed Isochrysis galbana, Dunaliella tertiolecta, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. With a monospecific microalgal diet, the total density was highest with P. nana fed I. galbana, at 63.3 inds./mL. With a mixed microalgal diet, the total density of P. nana fed T. suecica+I. galbana was higher than that fed other mixed diets, although there was no difference between a monospecific diet of I. galbana and a mixed diet of T. suecica+I. galbana. Examining the fatty acid composition of P. nana, the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was highest in P. nana fed T. suecica at 5.4% while the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content was highest I. galbana diet at 31.9%. Although no DHA was detected in T. suecica, P. nana fed this microalgal species had a high DHA composition of 24.3%. We suggest that the optimal microalgal species for the mass culture of P. nana is T. suecica which is easy to culture on masse and has a high linolenic acid content.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.527-533
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• 2017

We investigated the infection of nervous necrosis virus (NNV) in seven band grouper Hyporthodus septemfasciatus broodstocks, which have been reared in aquaculture farms in South Korea during 2012-2014. To investigate the prevalence of NNV within the broodstock, egg, sperm, and blood were sampled in the spawning season. The egg and sperm samples were subjected to a nested reverse transcription (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect NNV and were inoculated on SSN-1 cells to culture the virus. Blood samples were used to detect antibodies against NNV using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELSIA). Positive values from ELISA were found in 39 of 162 samples (24%) in 2012, and 13 of 28 samples (46%) in 2014. Additionally, 4 of 34 broodstocks (11%) investigated in 2013-2014 were determined to be carriers from the nested RT-PCR and in vitro cultivation. The broodstocks in which antibodies against NNV were detected by ELISA, or in which NNV was detected by the nested RT-PCR assay, posed a risk of vertical transmission of NNV. Therefore, it is necessary to select virus-free broodstocks in seed production to reduce the possibility of the vertical transmission of NNV.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.121-123
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• 1990

A CRD experiment with unequal numbers of hens were assigned at random to three treatment groups, 1) separation of chicks from hen at 21 days after hatching 2) separation of chicks from hen at 7 days and 3) hens were allowed to brood the chicks(no separation) up to 10 weeks of age, to determine the productive and reproductive performance of hens and their chicks. The mean cycle length (one hatch to another) was 72.8 days for the 7-day group as compared with 87.7 days and 83.4 days for the 21-day and the no separation groups, respectively (p<.0l). The broody period was 28.5 days for the 7-day group compared with 43.9 and 42.6 days for the 21 days and the no separation groups, respectively (p<.0l). The end of the broody period to the start of lay varied from 8.0 to 8.7 days. The number of eggs laid per clutch were 12.3 for the 21-day group, compared with 11.5 and 10.1 for the 7-day and no separation groups, respectively (p<.05). This is due to the longer (p<.05) clutch length of the 21-day group as compared with the 7-day and no separation groups, respectively. The chicks separated from the hens at 21 and 7 days were heavier (p<.01) than the chicks not separated from the hens. Mortalities were highest (p<.05) for chicks separated at 7 days as compared with chicks separated at 21 days and those not separated. We concluded that separating chicks at 7 days from the hen gave the shortest cycle length and broody period, separating the chicks at 21 days gave the longest clutch length and the maximum number of eggs, separating the chicks at 21 and 7 days resulted in heavier chicks and separating the chicks at 7 days resulted in the highest mortality.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 1998

Experiments were performed to obtain cryopreservation techniques of black seabream (Acanthopagrus schlegeli) sperm. For sperm collection, brood stock reared in recirculating seawater system and fed with the commercial feed during experimental period. The results indicated that following cryopreservation method in block seabream sperm could be employed. Post-thaw survival rate of sperm revealed the highest value ($80{\pm}1.4$%) in 3% sodium citrate as a diluent for the cryopreservation. Cryopreserved sperm diluted with 5.4% glucose showed the highest fertilization rate to the ovulated eggs. Glycerol was a better cryoprotectant than dimethyl sulfoxide in sperm cryopreservation : survival rate and fertilizing capacity of cryopreserved sperm were decreased according to increase of glycerol concentration and varied in renges of 0.8~59.3% and 32.5~69.4% with 5~30% glycerol, respectively. A few of cryopreserved spermatozoa showed the enlarged head with granulated chromatin and ruptured plasma membrane by freezing and thawing injuries compared with unfrozen normal spermatozoa.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.236-242
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• 2015

Intake of caffeine during pregnancy can cause retardation of fetal development. Although the significant influence of caffeine on animal development is widely recognized, much remains unknown about its mode of action because of its pleiotropic effects on living organisms. In the present study, by using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, the effects of caffeine on development were examined. Brood size, embryonic lethality, and percent larval development were investigated, and caffeine was found to inhibit the development of C. elegans at most of the stages in a dosage-dependent fashion. Upon treatment with 30 mM caffeine, the majority ($86.1{\pm}3.4%$) of the L1 larvae were irreversibly arrested without further development. In contrast, many of the late-stage larvae survived and grew to adults when exposed to the same 30 mM caffeine. These results suggest that early-stage larvae are more susceptible to caffeine than later-stage larvae. To understand the metabolic responses to caffeine treatment, the levels of expression of cytochrome P450 (cyp) genes were examined with or without caffeine treatment using comparative microarray, and it was found that the expression of 24 cyp genes was increased by more than 2-fold (p < 0.05). Among them, induction of the cyp-35A gene family was the most prominent. Interestingly, depletion of the cyp-35A family genes one-by-one or in combination through RNA interference resulted in partial rescue from early larval developmental arrest caused by caffeine treatment, suggesting that the high-level induction of cyp-35A family genes can be fatal to the development of early-stage larvae.