• Animal cells and systems
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2002

Phylogenetic relationships of Korean Acidiella species were tested using mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences. We used 16 published sequences as outgroup, and 10 new sequences for nine Korean Acidiella species as ingroup. The number of aligned sites was 1,281 bp, but 1,135 bp were used for the analysis after excluding sites with missing data or gaps. Among these 1,135 sites, 464 sites were variable and 340 were informative for parsimony analysis. Phylogenetic information was extracted from this data set using neighbor-joining, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods and compared to a morphology-based phylogenetic hypothesis. Our molecular data suggest that: (1) the tribe Trypetini appears to be monophyletic even when the nine additional Acidiella species are added to our previous phylogenetic analysis; (2) all the Korean Acidiella species belong to the Trypeta group, but the genus Acidiella is not supported as monophyletic; (3) the close relationship of A. circumvaga, A. issikii, and A. sapporensis is supported; (4) the close relationship of A. pachypogon and two additional new Acidiella species is strongly supported; and (5) the possible presence of two or more cryptic species among the specimens previously identified as A. obscuripennis is suggested. Sequence data from the mitochondrial 16S rDNA allowed us to better understand the systematic status of Korean Acidiella species. They indicated that the current concept about the genus Acidiella is insufficient and needs to be refined further. This study also showed a few interesting relationships, that had not been recognized by morphological study alone. Based on this study, we were able to plan further experiments to analyze relationships within the Trypeta Group.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.359-377
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• 1995

Morphological and isozyme analyses were used to examine closely related species of Tridentiger obscurus and \ulcorner: brevispinis, a pair of cryptic species which has intricate problem with regard to species boundary, and to clarify the taxonomic position. In this study, it was revealed from their 17 allopatric streams that there are differences of band ornamentation on the lateral side and three genetic markers between two species. However, genetic relationship between them (S = 0.813, D = 0.192) was within the intraspecific level of similarity. However, at the sympatry of two species no hybrid was found except at Bangjuk stream where the electrophoretic hybrids with slight deficiency of heterozygosity were observed. It is shown that at sympatry there is a finer microenvironmental subdivision between two species at all populations including Bangjuk stream. To manifest the extent of assortative mating, four syrnpatric subpopulations at Bangjuk stream were analyzed for departure from Hardy-Weinberg equillibrium by F-statistics. All subpopulations were deviated significantly from the expectation under random mating. The evidences presented here supports the recognition of Tridentiger obscurus and T. brevispinis as semispecies in the late stage of reproductive isolation

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.159-166
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• 2013

Oryzias latipes and Oryzias sinensis are indigenous species found in Japan, China, and other East Asian countries, including Korea. Based on morphological differences, the species have been classified distinctly. However, the range of morphological characters such as the number of gill rakers, vertebrae, and spots on the lateral body overlaps and is too vague for clear identification, so their classification based on their morphological characteristics remains uncertain. In this study, the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, which is used for DNA barcoding, was applied to clarify interspecific variation of O. latipes and O. sinensis. Intraspecific genetic diversity was calculated to identify correlations with geographic distributions. We studied two species collected from 55 locations in Korea. All individuals carried a 679-base pair gene without deletion or insertion. Between species, 525 base pairs of the gene were shared. The Kimura two parameter (K2P) distance of O. latipes and O. sinensis was 0.41% and 1.39%, respectively. Mean divergence within genera was 23.5%. Therefore, the species were clearly different. The distance between O. latipes and O. sinensis was 14.0%, which is the closest within genera. Interestingly O. latipes from the Japanese and Korean group represented 16.5% distant. These results were derived from geohistorical and anthropogenic environmental factors. The O. latipes haplotypes were joined in only one group, but O. sinensis was divided into two groups, one is found in the Han River and upper Geum River watershed; the other is found in the remaining South Korean watersheds. Further studies will address the causes for geographic speciation of O. sinensis haplotypes.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.193-206
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• 2022

Astringent persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) is an important fruit crop in Korea; it possesses significant medicinal potential. However, knowledge regarding the pathogens affecting this crop, particularly, viruses and viroids, is limited. In the present study, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and high-throughput transcriptome sequencing (HTS) were used to investigate the viruses and viroids infecting astringent persimmons cultivated in Korea. A one-step multiplex RT-PCR (mRT-PCR) method for the simultaneous detection of the pathogens was developed by designing species-specific primers and selecting the primer pairs via combination and detection limit testing. Seven of the sixteen cultivars tested were found to be infection-free. The RT-PCR and HTS analyses identified two viruses and one viroid in the infected samples (n = 51/100 samples collected from 16 cultivars). The incidence of single infections (n = 39/51) was higher than that of mixed infections (n = 12/51); the infection rate of the Persimmon cryptic virus was the highest (n = 31/39). Comparison of the monoplex and mRT-PCR results using randomly selected samples confirmed the efficiency of mRT-PCR for the identification of pathogens. Collectively, the present study provides useful resources for developing disease-free seedlings; further, the developed mRT-PCR method can be extended to investigate pathogens in other woody plants.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.650-657
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• 2020

We conducted a phylogeographic analysis of Korean endemic Zacco koreanus populations inhabiting the East-flowing river (Gangneung Yeongokcheon; GY, Yangyang Namdaecheon; YN), the Han River (Seomgang; SG, Soksacheon; SS), and the Nakdong River(Gilancheon; GA) using the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene (619 bp). Population genetic analysis was further performed to assess the population connectivity for the GY river where there is a large number of human-made artificial weirs with several fishways. The phylogeographic analysis revealed that while the populations of the East-flowing river and those of the Han River formed a monophyletic lineage, the Nakdong River individuals represented a distinct lineage with 3.7-4.2% (mean=4.0%) genetic distance from the other lineages. The population genetic analysis of the GY showed that a mid-stream population harbored relatively higher mitochondrial diversity relative to up- and down-stream populations, and there was no genetic differentiation between these three populations. The latter findings might suggest high genetic connectivity between the populations via genetic flow along the fishways. However, an analysis using faster-evolving genetic markers, such as microsatellites, is needed to confirm the findings of high population connectivity. Our study suggests the possibility of the presence of cryptic species in Z. koreanus in the Nakdong River basin. However, further study with more individual samples as well as additional markers or even more advanced genomic tools is required to test our hypothesis. Ecological or phenotypic analyses should be conducted to test whether the observed Nakdong River lineage represents a different or cryptic species, or simply hidden, but excessive, intraspecific diversity.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.165-174
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• 2021

Radicilingua Papenfuss and Calonitophyllum Aregood are two small genera of the family Delesseriaceae that consist of only three and one taxonomically accepted species, respectively. The type species of these genera, Radicilingua thysanorhizans from England and Calonitophyllum medium from the Americas, are morphologically very similar, with the only recognized differences being vein size and procarp development. To date, only other two species were recognized inside the genus Radicilingua: R. adriatica and R. reptans. In this study, we analysed specimens of Radicilingua collected in the Adriatic and Ionian Sea (Mediterranean), including a syntype locality of R. adriatica (Trieste, northern Adriatic Sea), alongside material from near the type locality of R. thysanorhizans (Torpoint, Cornwall, UK). The sequences of the rbcL-5P gene fragment here produced represent the first molecular data available for the genus Radicilingua. Phylogenetic reconstruction showed that the specimens from the Adriatic and Ionian Seas were genetically distinct from the Atlantic R. thysanorhizans, even if morphologically overlapping with this species. A detailed morphological description of the Mediterranean specimens, together with an accurate literature search, suggested that they were distinct also from R. adriatica and R. reptans. For these reasons, a new species was here described to encompass the Mediterranean specimens investigated in this study: R. mediterranea Wolf, Sciuto & Sfriso. Moreover, in the rbcL-5P tree, sequences of the genera Radicilingua and Calonitophyllum grouped in a well-supported clade, distinct from the other genera of the subfamily Nitophylloideae, leading us to propose that Calonitophyllum medium should be transferred to Radicilingua.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2010

The pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus causes pine wilt disease and is a serious economic concern for the forest industry of South Korea. To achieve effective control with limited resources, it is necessary to clarify the transmission routes and mechanisms of dispersal of this organism. Highly polymorphic and easy-to-use molecular markers can be used for investigating this aspect. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) for investigating the genetic variations of B. xylophilus and related individuals from China, Japan, and South Korea. The AFLP patterns obtained in our study were similar to the microsatellite patterns reported in a previous study; our AFLP patterns indicated high genetic variability and cryptic genetic structure, but did not indicate any peculiar geographic structure. Moreover, the genetic distances between individuals suggested that the Korean population was affected to a greater extent by the Chinese population than the Japanese population. Further, the gene flow among the related species appeared to be limited; however, there may be also the possibility of genetic introgression among species. These results confirm the usefulness of AFLPs for understanding the epidemiology of pine wilt disease, thereby contributing to the effective control of this disease.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.396-397
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• 2005

The polyene antibiotics are a family of most promising antifungal polyketide compounds, typically produced by actinomycetes species. Using the polyene CYP-specific PCR screening with served actinomycetes genomic DNAs, Pseudonocardia autotrophica strain was identified to contain a unique polyene-specific CYP gene. The genomic DNA library screening using the polyene-specific CYP gene probe revealed the positive cosmid clone containing an approximately 34.5 kb DNA fragment revealed a total of seven complete and two incomplete open reading frame (ORFs), which are highly homologous but unique to previously-known polyene biosynthetic genes. These results suggest that the polyene-specific screening approach should be an efficient way of isolating potectially-valuable cryptic polyene biosynthetic gene cluster from various rare actinomycetes.

• ALGAE
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.277-288
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• 2019

Freshwater red algae of the order Batrachospermales are poorly studied in India and Nepal, especially on a molecular basis. During a survey in northeast India and east Nepal, six populations of the genus Sheathia were found and analyzed using molecular and morphological evidence. Phylogenetic analyses based on the rbcL gene sequences grouped all populations in a large clade including our S. arcuata specimens and others from several regions. Sheathia arcuata represents a species complex with a high sequence divergence and several smaller clades. Samples from India and Nepal were grouped in three distinct clades with high support and representing new cryptic species: a clade formed by two samples from India, which was named Sheathia assamica sp. nov.; one sample from India and one from Nepal formed another clade, named Sheathia indonepalensis sp. nov.; two samples from Nepal grouped with sequences from Hawaii and Indonesia (only 'Chantransia' stages) and gametophytes from Taiwan, named Sheathia dispersa sp. nov. Morphological characters of the specimens from these three species overlap one another and with the general circumscription of S. arcuata, which lacks the heterocortication (presence of bulbous cells in the cortical filaments) present in other species of the genus Sheathia. Although the region sampled is relatively restricted, the genetic diversity among specimens of these three groups was high and not closely related in the phylogenetic relationship with the other clades of S. arcuata. These data corroborate information from other groups of organisms (e.g., land and aquatic plants) that indicates this region (Eastern Himalaya) as a hotspot of biodiversity.

• ALGAE
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.293-301
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• 2020

The applications of DNA barcoding have a wide range of uses, such as in taxonomic studies to help elucidate cryptic species and phylogenetic relationships and analyzing environmental samples for biodiversity monitoring and conservation assessments of species. After obtaining the DNA barcode sequences, sequence similarity-based homology analysis is commonly used. This means that the obtained barcode sequences are compared to the DNA barcode reference databases. This bioinformatic analysis necessarily implies that the overall quantity and quality of the reference databases must be stringently monitored to not have an adverse impact on the accuracy of species identification. With the development of next-generation sequencing techniques, a noticeably large number of DNA barcode sequences have been produced and are stored in online databases, but their degree of validity, accuracy, and reliability have not been extensively investigated. In this study, we investigated the extent to which the amount and types of erroneous barcode sequences were deposited in publicly accessible databases. Over 4.1 million sequences were investigated in three largescale DNA barcode databases (NCBI GenBank, Barcode of Life Data System [BOLD], and Protist Ribosomal Reference database [PR2]) for four major DNA barcodes (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 [COI], internal transcribed spacer [ITS], ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large chain [rbcL], and 18S ribosomal RNA [18S rRNA]); approximately 2% of erroneous barcode sequences were found and their taxonomic distributions were uneven. Consequently, our present findings provide compelling evidence of data quality problems along with insufficient and unreliable annotation of taxonomic data in DNA barcode databases. Therefore, we suggest that if ambiguous taxa are presented during barcoding analysis, further validation with other DNA barcode loci or morphological characters should be mandated.