• Animal cells and systems
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.27-40
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• 2006

Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima Swingle) as an invasive alien plant, appeared usually in the disturbed locations such as road-side, incised slope, and trampling path-side. They appeared abundantly in the trampling pathside but they did not appear or were rare in the interior of forest. Density and importance value of tree of heaven were proportionate to the relative light intensity measured according to distance from the trampling path toward forest interior and closely related to the breadth of trampling path as well. They were associated with annual, other exotic species or ruderal plants well. Distributional pattern of mature trees of them in the study area and its surrounding environments implied that they were introduced intentionally. Size class distribution of them showed that they are in expansion and artificial interferences such as, installing physical training space and developing hiking course functioned as trigger factors in their invasion and expansion. The results support the facts known generally in relation to invasion and expansion of the invasive alien plants. In this viewpoint, we suggest a management plan that applies ecological restoration principles to address ecosystems infected with tree of heaven by restoring the integral feature of the degraded nature and conserving the remained nature more thoroughly.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.93-102
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• 2016

An invasive disturbance species has caused harm to biodiversity and ecosystem. To address the issue, identifying the characteristics of a habitat for invasive disturbance species is considered for forest management. This study analyzed a status of plant species by field survey based on belt transect method in the capital areas and established a predictive model for invasive disturbance species by logistic regression. As results of the study, the number of herb, vine, and invasive disturbance species and a canopy cover of tree would decrease from the forest edge to core areas (p<0.001). The predictive model was derived with variables of altitude, Topographic Wetness Index, distance to forest edge, and canopy cover of tree. It can be useful in estimating the presence or absence of species and predicting its spatial distribution. Further studies are needed to identify the pathway of introduction, spread, and possibility of germination for understanding the status of invasive disturbance species in more depth.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2022

Two tree frogs, Dryophytes suweonensis and Dryophytes japonicus, inhabiting Korea, are morphologically similar and share the same habitats. Therefore, they are identified mainly through their calls, especially for males. Dryophytes suweonensis is registered as an endangered (IUCN: EN grade) and protected species in South Korea. Thus, it is necessary to develop a method to rapidly identify and discriminate the two species and establish efficient protection and restoration plans. We identified significant genetic variation between them by sequencing a maternally-inherited mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA region. Based on the sequence data, we designed a pair of primers containing 7bp differences for high resolution melting(HRM) analysis to rapidly and accurately characterize their genotypes. The HRM analysis using genomic DNA showed that the melting peak for D. suweonensis was 76.4±0.06℃, whereas that of D. japonicus was 75.0±0.05℃. The differential melt curve plot further showed a distinct difference between them. We also carried out a pilot test for the application of HRM analysis based on immersing D. suweonensis in distilled water for 30 min to generate artificial environmental DNA(eDNA). The results showed 1.10-1.31℃ differences in the melting peaks between the two tree frog samples. Therefore, this HRM analysis is rapid and accurate in identifying two tree frogs not only using their genomic DNA but also using highly non-invasive eDNA.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2015

Ailanthus altissima, which is recognized as an invasive tree in the Western world, has been widely observed in Japan. To investigate how A. altissima expanded within-population and to new populations within a region, 446 A. altissima trees were sampled from three separate sites (A, B, and C) including 35 distantly positioned patches, with three chloroplast DNA markers and nine nuclear microsatellite markers. We detected 2, 2, and 3 chloroplast haplotypes in sites A, B, and C, respectively. In addition, 271, 40, and 41 nuclear genotypes were detected in sites A, B, and C, respectively. The clonal richness value was 0.85, 0.78, and 0.53 in sites A, B, and C, respectively. Most trees with the same genotypes were distributed in the same patch, indicating that range expansion by asexual reproduction was limited to a maximum of 45 meters. According to autocorrelation analysis, the extent of nonrandom spatial genetic structure was approximately 0-2 km in sites A and C. KINGROUP analyses showed that 812, 74, and 111 nuclear genotype pairs were detected to have kinship in sites A, B, and C, respectively. Most nuclear genotype pairs were detected within the same patches or sites. These results indicate that the number of A. altissima trees gradually increased from seeds, some of which were produced by trees within sites, meaning that this species could regenerate naturally. This shows the need for the future management of A. altissima as an invasive species in Japan.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2021

South Korea presently harbors less than 800 long-tailed gorals (Naemorhedus caudatus), an endangered species. I report for the first time on the taxonomic status and genetic diversity of the Korean species using non-invasive fecal sampling based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence analyses. To determine the taxonomic status of this species, I reconstructed a consensus neighbor-joining tree and generated a minimum spanning network combining haplotype sequences obtained from feces with a new goral-specific primer set developed using known sequences of the Korean goral and related species (e.g., Russian goral, Chinese goral, Himalayan goral, Japanese serow, etc.). I also examined the genetic diversity of this species. The Korean goral showed only three different haplotypes. The phylogenetic tree and parsimony haplotype network revealed a single cluster of Korean and Russian gorals, separate from related species. Generally, the Korean goral has a relatively low genetic diversity compared with that of other ungulate species (e.g., moose and red deer). I preliminarily showcased the application of non-invasive fecal sampling to the study of genetic characteristics, including the taxonomic status and genetic diversity of gorals, based on mitochondrial DNA. More phylogenetic studies are necessary to ensure the conservation of goral populations throughout South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2023

We have determined the complete chloroplast genome of Erigeron Canadensis isolated in Korea. The circular chloroplast genome of E. canadensis is 152,767 bp long and has four subregions: 84,317 bp of large single-copy and 18,446 bp of small single-copy regions are separated by 25,004 bp of inverted repeat regions including 133 genes (88 protein-coding genes, eight rRNAs, and 37 tRNAs). The chloroplast genome isolated in Korea differs from the Chinese isolate by 103 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 47 insertions and deletion (INDEL) regions, suggesting different invasion sources of E. canadensis in Korea and China. A nucleotide diversity analysis revealed that the trend of the nucleotide diversity of E. canadensis followed that of 11 Erigeron chloroplasts, except for three peaks. The phylogenetic tree showed that our E. canadensis chloroplast is clustered with E. canadensis reported from China. Erigeron canadensis can be a good target when attempting to understand genetic diversity of invasive species.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.508-513
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• 2000

The aspergillus tracheobronchitis is distinctive manifestation of invasive aspergillosis, in which infection is limited completely or predominantly to the tracheobronchial tree. It accounts for about 7 to 10 percent of cases of invasive disease. Grossly, such disease may take the mucosal exudate and obstruct partially the airway lumen or completely the occlusive mucous/fungus plugs. Microscopically, the superficial portion of the airway wall is acutely inflamed and contain fungal hyphae. However, infection is often limited to the mucosa. We report a case of aspergillus tracheobrochitis in a 54 year-old man who presented cough, progressive dyspnea with wheezing, and mucus plug. Bronchoscopy showed mucosal exudate and plug. Bronchoscopic biopsy showed aspergillus hyphae and inflammation in the mucosa. He was successfully treated with itraconazole.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2014

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is currently a prevalent disease from which many people suffer. Early detection and treatment could reduce the risk of heart attack. Currently, the golden standard for the diagnosis of CAD is angiography, which is an invasive procedure. In this article, we propose an algorithm that uses data mining techniques, a fuzzy expert system, and the imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA), to make CAD diagnosis by a non-invasive procedure. The ICA is used to adjust the fuzzy membership functions. The proposed method has been evaluated with the Cleveland and Hungarian datasets. The advantage of this method, compared with others, is the interpretability. The accuracy of the proposed method is 94.92% by 11 rules, and the average length of 4. To compare the colonial competitive algorithm with other metaheuristic algorithms, the proposed method has been implemented with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The results indicate that the colonial competition algorithm is more efficient than the PSO algorithm.

• The Korean Journal of Legal Medicine
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.164-167
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• 2018

Aspergillus infection is the most common cause of death due to fungi in immunocompromised hosts. Aspergillus tracheobronchitis is an uncommon but severe form of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, which is limited entirely or mainly to the tracheobronchial tree and can often be life-threatening. We report a case of a 54-year-old man who died from Aspergillus tracheobronchitis without an underlying disease. Autopsy revealed an extensive yellowish plaque adhering to the trachea and bronchial wall. The microscopic examination of the trachea and bronchus revealed septate branching hyphae of Aspergillus.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.50-54
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• 2024

On August 21, 2023, the National Institute of Ecology reported the sighting of an invasive slug resembling Limax maximus Linnaeus, 1758. near Bambat Tree Frog Park, Suwon-si, Korea. This slug is known for its aggressiveness. Specimens were collected around the park and from nearby farms. Through barcoding analysis and sequence comparison, it was identified as L. maximus, confirming its presence in Republic of Korea, alongside two previously identified Limax species, Limax flavus Linnaeus, 1758 and Lehmannia marginatus O. F. Müller, 1774. This study represents the first documented report of L. maximus in the country.