• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.137-141
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• 2008

We previously isolated and cloned a cDNA of abaecin from the Bombus ignitus. In an effort to produce a large amount of soluble abaecin at low cost, we successfully expressed the peptide in Escherichia coli that are highly sensitive to its mature form. For this, we fused the peptide encoding 39 amino acids of mature B. ignitus abaecin to the thioredoxin gene together with a C-terminal 6xHis tag. An enterokinase cleavage site was introduced between the 6xHis tag and mature abaecin to allow final release of the recombinant peptide. A high yield of 9.6 mg soluble fusion protein from 200 ml of bacterial culture was purified by $Ni^{2+}$-charged His-Bind resin affinity column, and 1.4 mg of pure active recombinant abaecin was readily obtained by enterokinase cleavage, followed by affinity chromatograph. The molecular mass of recombinant abaecin peptide was determined by Tricin-SDS-PAGE analysis. The recombinant abaecin exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.23-31
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• 2017

Bumblebees, more efficient than honeybees, provide important services for pollination especially in tomato, pepper, cucumber, strawberries and other crops grown under tunnel farming or glasshouse conditions to yield maximization. These bees require pollen and nectar to meet their dietary needs and maintain their colony structure, development and reproduction. Keeping in view their economic importance, the effect of five concentrations of sugar and honey solutions (1:1, 1:1.5, 1:2, 2:1,1.5:1) each as alternative to nectar were used to observe their effect on life history parameters of Bombus terrestris. The 1:1 ratio of sugar solution was found most effective followed by 1.5:1, 1:1.5, 1:2 and 2:1 and also more effective of all five concentrations of honey solutions on all three stages of colony development i.e., at colony initiation, colony development and colony maturation stages. At colony initiation stage, early pre-oviposition period ($6.40{\pm}0.97$ days), early emergence of first worker in the first batch ($25.40{\pm}1.21$ days) and maximum numbers of workers ($6.20{\pm}0.24$) emergence in the first batch were observed at 1:1 ratio of sugar solution. Colonies reared on 1:1 ratio of sugar solution reached earlier ($52.13{\pm}1.28$ days) at colony foundation stage with minimum mortality ($3.27{\pm}0.54$ workers). At colony maturation stage, maximum numbers of workers, sexual (males, queens) and maximum mother queen longevity was observed at the same 1:1 ratio of sugar solution. It can be suggested from present study that sugar solution as alternative of nectar at 1:1 ratio was better than other sugar concentration levels and also from those of honey solution.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.175-180
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• 2009

Recently, as the male silkworm pupae, bee pupae have the potential that strengths men's vitality on vascular endothelial nitric oxide in endothelial cells. Especially we prepared alcohol extract of pupae of bumblebee, native bee named Hobakbul, Bombus ignitus. The alcohol extract of pupae of B. ignitus was administered to rats at doses of 0, 0.04, 0.2, 1 or 2 g/kg as a single oral dose. There were no observed clinical signs or deaths related to treatment in all the groups tested. Therefore, the approximate lethal dose of the alcohol extract B. ignitus pupae was considered to be higher than 2 g/kg in rats. Mild decreases in body weight gain in male were observed dose-dependently within B. ignitus pupae alcohol extract treated groups in dose response manner over 2 weeks. Throughout the administration periods, no significant changes in diet consumption, ophthalmologic findings, clinical pathology (hematology, clinical chemistry and coagulation) or gross pathology were detected. Minor changes in male and female rats were found in hematological parameters for all or partial of B. ignitus pupae extract treated groups but all the changes observed were within the physiological range. From these results, it was concluded that there was no-evidence of specific toxicity related to the ingestion of alcohol extract of B. ignitus pupae.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.151-162
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• 2018

Anti-diabetes activity of Catharsius molossus (Ca, a type of dung beetle) glycosaminoglycan (G) was evaluated to reduce glucose, creatinine kinase, triglyceride and free fatty acid levels in db mice. Diabetic mice in six groups were administrated intraperitoneally: Db heterozygous (Normal), Db homozygous (CON), Heuchys sanguinea glycosaminoglycan (HEG, 5 mg/kg), dung beetle glycosaminoglycan (CaG, 5 mg/kg), bumblebee (Bombus ignitus) queen glycosaminoglycan (IQG, 5 mg/kg) and metformin (10 mg/kg), for 1 month. Biochemical analyses in the serum were evaluated to determine their anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory actions in db mice after 1 month treatment with HEG, CaG or IQG treatments. Blood glucose level was decreased by treatment with CaG. CaG produced significant anti-diabetic actions by inhiting creatinine kinase and alkaline phosphatase levels. As diabetic parameters, serum glucose level, total cholesterol and triglyceride were significantly decreased in CaG5-treated group compared to the controls. Dung beetle glycosaminoglycan, compared to the control, could be a potential therapeutic agent with anti-diabetic activity in diabetic mice. CaG5-treated group, compared to the control, showed the up-regulation of 48 genes including mitochondrial yen coded tRNA lysine (mt-TK), cytochrome P450, family 8/2, subfamily b, polypeptide 1 (Cyp8b1), and down-regulation of 79 genes including S100 calcium binding protein A9 (S100a9) and immunoglobulin kappa chain complex (Igk), and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoenzymeAsynthase1 (Hmgcs1). Moreover, mitochondrial thymidine kinase (mt-TK), was up-regulated, and calgranulin A (S100a9) were down-regulated by CaG5 treatment, indicating a potential therapeutic use for anti-diabetic agent.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to quickly and effectively identify the Nosema disease of bumblebees in Gangwon Province in Korea. Bumblebees are crucial pollinators of various crops, and microsporidia are the critical pathogens of these hosts. When bumblebees are infected with Nosema bombi, their abdomens can become distended. Paralyzed and infected workers often become sluggish and die early. We have identified the morphology of the microsporidium by light and electron microscopy, and found it to have fairly small oval spores, as has been described previously in many other articles. For the specific and sensitive diagnosis of the microsporidian parasite N. bombi in bumblebees, we have developed an improved method of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for expeditious diagnosis. Two pairs of primers were tested on N. bombi and the related microsporidia Nosema apis and Nosema sp., both of which infect Bombus ignitus and Bombus hypocrita sapporoensis. Furthermore, we have verified and analyzed the 16SrRNA sequence data of N. bombi in bumblebees by using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) server at the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.458-463
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• 2016

New areas can be created by combining separate fields of study. Today, boundaries between fields are collapsing because of rapid progress in technologies, which is also the case in music. In 1969, jazz trumpeter and respected artist Miles Davis combined jazz, rock, and classical music into the fusion genre. Classical music is known to be strict, rigorous, and rigid, and it started to take a different form after experiments with musical crossovers. This study examines the potential of more diverse musical crossovers that musicians use to evolve a new genre. Several musicians in Korea have attempted musical crossovers by following global music trends. In the album, "Love and Peace," the classical music pieces "Flight of the Bumblebee" and Beethoven's "Fate" were arranged using a popular music style.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.189-193
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• 2012

To find diapause-related genes, we were performed by differential hybridization with three types of [${\alpha}-^{32}P$]dCTP-labeled total cDNA probes synthesized from diapause-prepared, diapause-maintained and diapause-activated stage of Bombus ignitus queen. Nine individual cDNA clones were found to be differentially expressed in diapause-maintained and diapause-activated stage. Among these clones, BIDC9(BIDC ; Bombus ignitus differentially expressed clone) was analyzed through full-length sequencing and expression pattern analysis. This clone was specifically expressed in the thorax organ. The effect of Juvenile hormone analog(JHA) and $CO_2$ treatment was examined. JHA treatment induced the expression of BIDC9 cDNA clone abruptly after 4 day of treatment. $CO_2$ treatment induced also the clone after 2 day of treatment. BIDC9 cDNA was identified as Bombus ignitus diapause gene contained an open reading frame of 1376 bp encoding 255 amino acids.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.395-407
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• 1999

The queens of Korean native bumblebee species, Bombus ignitus were collected from the field in the spring of 1997 and reared under the various temperatures as 15$^{\circ}C$$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$, 2$0^{\circ}C$$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$ $\pm$1$^{\circ}C$, 3$0^{\circ}C$$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$, 60%$\pm$5% of relative humidity and 14L : 10D, to investigate their ecological characteristics, as comparing with control(29$^{\circ}C$$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$, 60%$\pm$5% of relative humidity and red light). As a result, eggs were laid by foundation queen at 15$^{\circ}C$, but they didn't hatched out while at 2$0^{\circ}C$ eggs were laid by them and they hatched out. When a foundation queen laid eggs at $25^{\circ}C$ and they all were hatched out and normally grown. Finally they were developed to the normal colony. B. ignitus worker survived for 77days at 2$0^{\circ}C$, about 69days at $25^{\circ}C$, about 68days at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and about 63days at 29$^{\circ}C$(control). The first brood workers emerged in 25-27days from the egg which a foundation queen laid. At the various temperatures, the captive queens stand to lay eggs in about 18days at 15$^{\circ}C$, 15days at 2$0^{\circ}C$, 11days at $25^{\circ}C$, 11days at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and 4days in control. The first worker and the first drone from the egg cell of the collected queens appeared in about 27days and 72days at 2$0^{\circ}C$, 26days and 88days in $25^{\circ}C$, 24days and 65days at 3$0^{\circ}C$, 25days and 71days in control, respectively. In colony foundation, 33% of the collected queen at 2$0^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$, 100% of the disposed queen at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and in control, and 67% of them at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and in control both produced new queens in 66days and 88days, respectively. The life span of the colony founded covered fro about 3 months at $25^{\circ}C$, 3$0^{\circ}C$ and in control. At lower temperatures, the life span of queen is shorter; 2 months at 15$^{\circ}C$ and 3 months at 2$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. A colony which normally developed, varied in size with rearing temperatures; about 20heads at 2$0^{\circ}C$, 482heads at $25^{\circ}C$, 330heads at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and 452heads in control. A foundation queen monthly oviposited 1.5egg cells at 15$^{\circ}C$, 3.0egg cells at 2 $0^{\circ}C$, 21.7egg cells at $25^{\circ}C$, 42.3egg cells at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and 47.0egg cells in control. As a colony developed in June and July, egg cells as well as daily average cells increased in number, as compared to those in May and August. Also, in June and July, interval(days) of egg laying is shorter than in May and August. Number of nectar pots during the colony development varied with rearing temperatures; 31pots at $25^{\circ}C$, 39pots at 3$0^{\circ}C$, 23pots in control. The emergence of new queen showed a distinctively different two patterns; early emerging type and late emerging type. Workers are rapidly increased from early in July to early in August at $25^{\circ}C$, but at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and in control, emergence of workers are remarkably increased from the middle of June and last until July. No new queen emerged at 15$^{\circ}C$, 2$0^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$. New queens at 3$0^{\circ}C$ and in control emerged between late in June and early in July. Thus emergence of new queen was temperature dependent.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.293-298
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• 2008

This study was surveyed the effects by pollinating activity of Apis mellifera and Bombus terrestris released in the paprika vinyl-houses. The foraging activity and behaviour of A. mellifera and B. terrestris visited on the paprika flowers were nearly alike. The pick times of pollinating activity by A. mellifera and B. terrestris were showed the hightest at 11:00 and 15:00, and 09:00 to 11:00, respectively. The rate of fruit set by A. mellifera and B. terrestris released for pollinating paprika were same level with 94%, and these rate were higher than the fruit setting rate which was 92% by fan operated. The qualities of paprika produced by pollinators released were higher than those by fan operated. And weight per fruit, number of seeds per fruit and economical profit per 2,310 $m^2$ were over 10% higher than those by fan operated. Therefore the economical effects by the pollinating activities of A. mellifera and B. terrestris released in the paprika vinyl-houses were obviously demonstrated.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 2008

We compared colony development and survival rate after artificial hibernation between the bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, produced from domestic and foreign companies. The number of worker and queen produced from foundation colony of three domestic and one foreign companies was 232.4-270.8 and 62.0-181.8, respectively, but there was no statistical difference. In colony development of B. terrestris queens which were terminated diapause by $CO_2$ narcosis at different companies, oviposition rate, colony foundation and progeny-queen production of bumblebees produced from domestic companies were superior to those from foreign company. But foreign company in the number of worker and queen was superior to domestic companies. On the other hand, survival rate and colony development of B. terrestris queens, which were terminated diapause by artificial hibernation at three domestic and two foreign companies, were no significant differences. These results indicate that oviposition, colony foundation, progeny-queen production, and survival rate after artificial hibernation showed no differences between the bumblebees produced from domestic and foreign companies.