• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.373-382
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• 2020

Candidatus Carsonella ruddii is an endosymbiont that resides in specialized cells within the body cavity of plant sap-feeding insects called psyllids. The establishment of symbiotic associations is considered one of the key factors for the evolutionary success of psyllids, as it may have helped them adapt to imbalanced food resources like plant sap. Although C. ruddii is defined as a psyllid primary symbiont, the genes for some essential amino acid pathways are absent. Complete genome sequences of several C. ruddii strains have been published. However, in-depth intra-species comparison of C. ruddii strains has not yet been done. This study therefore aimed to perform a comparative genome analysis of six C. ruddii strains, allowing the interrogation of phylogenetic group, functional category of genes, and biosynthetic pathway analysis. Accordingly, overall genome size, number of genes, and GC content of C. ruddii strains were reduced. Phylogenetic analysis based on the whole genome proteomes of 30 related bacterial strains revealed that the six C. ruddii strains form a cluster in same clade. Biosynthetic pathway analysis showed that complete sets of genes for biosynthesis of essential amino acids, except tryptophan, are absent in six C. ruddii strains. All genes for tryptophan biosynthesis are present in three C. ruddii strains (BC, BT, and YCCR). It is likely that the host may depend on a secondary symbiont to complement its deficient diet. Overall, it is therefore possible that C. ruddii is being driven to extinction and replacement by new symbionts.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2016

We conducted the study on the relationship between the distribution of coastal sand dune plants and edaphic factors from the shoreline to inland in sand dune ecosystem. The application of TWINSPAN classification based on 10 species, led to the recognition of three vegetative groups (A-C), which associated with their habitats (foredune, hummuck in semistable zone and stable zone). The associations were separated along soil gradient far from the seashore. The relationships between species composition and environmental gradients were explained by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Distance from the shoreline was an important indicator to determine soil properties (pH, total ion contents, sand particle sizes, organic matters and nitrogen contents) from the seaward area to inland area and distribution pattern of coastal sand dune plants. Group A is foredune zone, characterized by Calystegia soldanella; group included typical foredune species such as Elymus mollis, Carex kobomugi, Ixeris repens, C. soldanella and Glehnia littoralis. Group B on semi-stabilized zone was characterized by Vitex rotundifolia, a perennial woody shrub. This group was associated the proportion of fine sand size (100 to 250 μm). The results on the proportion of soil particle size showed a transition in sand composition, particularly with respect to the proportion of fine sand size that occurred from the foredune ridge at 32.5 m to the Vitex rotundifolia community at 57.5 m from the shoreline. Group C on stabilized zone was characterized by Zoysia macrostachya, Lathyrus japonicus and Cynodon dactylon and were associated soil organic matter and nitrogen contents. The spatial distribution of plants in the Goraebul coastal sand dune system may result from the interactions between the plant species and environmental heterogeneity.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.42-45
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• 1963

In a plant breeding program, an efficient selection of desired characters in a population is important. Generally, many agronomic characters in a given population are determined by polygenes and quantitatively inherited. In practice, the genetic relationship between two observed characters which are undoubtedly subjected to the environmental influence is difficult to identify. In recent years, many workers have attempted to understant the genetic relationship between characters in terms of genotypic correlation, and the knowledge thus gained should furnish many important and useful information for the planning of breeding, selection, and interpretation of the result. The genotypic correlation is the result of pleiotropy, linkage of genes(2, 3, 5, 6, 8) and natural or artificial selection(4). The purposes of this study were to estimate genotyric and phenotypic correlations between all possible pairs of nine characters. and to seek certain characters which may be useful as indicators of certain important agronomic characters. Weber and Moorthy(10), Johnson et al. (5) and Sheth(7) found that in general, the genotypic correlations were higher than the phenotypic correlations. Weiss et al. (11) obtained significant positive correlations between maturity and oil content, maturity and low protein content, and high protein content and low oil content. Weber and Moorthy(10) reported the positive genotypic correlations between flowering and maturity, yield and maturity, yield and plant height, yield and seed weight, and negative genotypic correlations between maturity and oil content, and oil content and seed weight. Johnson et al. (5) studied the genotypic and phenotypic correlations among 24 characters and concluded that selection based entirely on a long fruiting period, lateness, heavy seed, low protein, high oil and resistance to lodging would be effective in increasing yield. Sheth(7) found the following positive associations among characters; height and maturity, yield and lodging, low protein content and high oil content, and yield and low protein content. Hanson et al.(1) also reported high negative correlation between seed yield and protein content.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.176-186
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• 2014

Objectives: Epidemiological studies have suggested that a higher consumption of whole grain foods can significantly reduce the risk of chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and obesity. The objective of the current study was to examine associations among the consumption of whole grains and nutrient intakes and biochemical indicators associated with chronic diseases among generally healthy middle-aged Korean women. Methods: Using 24-hour recall data from the 2008-2009 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, whole grain intake (g/day) was calculated for a total of generally healthy 1,953 subjects. The subjects were divided into three groups by the level of whole grain consumption (0 g/day, > 0 and < 20 g/day or ${\geq}20g/day$). Mean values or proportions of various nutrient intakes and metabolic risk factors were compared according to the level of whole grain consumption. All statistical analysis was conducted using SAS software version 9.2. Results: We observed that the overall consumption of whole grains was quite low. Specifically, 58.2% of subjects reported no whole grain consumption on the day of the survey, and the mean whole grain intake was only 15.3 g/day. The whole grain consumption was positively associated with intakes of various macro and micronutrients, namely, plant proteins and fats, dietary fiber, calcium, plant iron, potassium, zinc, vitamin A, ${\beta}$-carotene, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin $B_6$ and folic acid. In addition, we found significantly decreasing trends in abdominal obesity and hypertriglyceridemia as whole grain intake levels increase. Conclusions: The study findings suggested the importance of promoting whole grain consumption as an efficient tool for improving various dietary aspects and preventing chronic diseases.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.685-691
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• 2016

Chewing lice (Phthiraptera) that parasitize the globally threatened swan goose Anser cygnoides have been long recognized since the early 19th century, but those records were probably biased towards sampling of captive or domestic geese due to the small population size and limited distribution of its wild hosts. To better understand the lice species parasitizing swan geese that are endemic to East Asia, we collected chewing lice from 14 wild geese caught at 3 lakes in northeastern Mongolia. The lice were morphologically identified as 16 Trinoton anserinum (Fabricius, 1805), 11 Ornithobius domesticus Arnold, 2005, and 1 Anaticola anseris (Linnaeus, 1758). These species are known from other geese and swans, but all of them were new to the swan goose. This result also indicates no overlap in lice species between older records and our findings from wild birds. Thus, ectoparasites collected from domestic or captive animals may provide biased information on the occurrence, prevalence, host selection, and host-ectoparasite interactions from those on wild hosts.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.385-394
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• 2020

To elucidate the molecular phylogeny of Neottia japonica, which is a terrestrial orchid distributed in East Asia, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear DNA and the matK of chloroplast DNA were used. A total 22 species of 69 accessions for ITS and 21 species of 114 accessions for matK phylogeny were analyzed with the maximum parsimony and Bayesian methods. In addition, we sought to establish a correlation between the distribution, morphology of the auricles and genetic association of N. japonica with phylogenetic data. The phylogenetic results suggest that N. japonica is monophyletic and a sister to N. suzukii in terms of the ITS phylogeny, while it is paraphyletic with N. suzukii in terms of the matK phylogeny. N. japonica and N. suzukii show similar morphologies of the lip and column, they both flower in April, and they are both distributed sympatrically in Taiwan. Therefore, it appears to be clear that N. japonica and N. suzukii are close taxa within Neottia, although there is incongruence between the nrDNA and cpDNA phylogenies of N. japonica. The incongruence between the two datasets may have various causes, meaning that further studies are needed to confirm the evolutionary process of N. japonica. The phylogenetic status of N. kiusiana, which was not included in previous studies, was as a sister to N. nidus-avis. Meanwhile, the ITS and matK phylogenies are unsuitable for identifying genetic associations with the characteristic of auricles. The phylogenetic topologies of Korean, Taiwanese and mainland Chinese individuals suggest that the populations of N. japonica in Korea originated from China's mainland and island areas. The characterization of regional gene differences could provide useful preliminary data for future studies.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.33.1-33.9
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• 2023

Background: Studies on the association between occupational stress and depression have been frequently reported. However, the cross-sectional designs of studies limited insight into causal associations. In this study, we investigated the longitudinal association between occupational stress and new-onset depression among employees in a single manufacturing plant. Methods: The annual health checkup data of employees at a manufacturing plant in Korea were collected. A total of 1,837 male employees without depression who completed a health checkup during two consecutive years were included. Occupational stress was measured using a short form of the Korea Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS-SF), and depression was assessed using a Patient Health Questionnaire-2. The association between occupational stress change over the two years and newly developed depression was investigated using two logistic regression models. Results: Across all sub-factors of KOSS-SF, employees who reported increased occupational stress had a higher risk of new-onset depression. Newly developed depression was significantly associated with job demand (odds ratio [OR]: 4.34; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.37-7.96), job insecurity (OR: 3.21; 95% CI: 1.89-5.48), occupational climate (OR: 3.18; 95% CI: 1.91-5.31), lack of reward (OR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.26-4.12), interpersonal conflict (OR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.18-3.86), insufficient job control (OR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.05-3.56), and the organizational system (OR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.01-3.36). Conclusions: For every sub-factor of the KOSS-SF, occupational stress increase and persistent high stress were associated with the risk of developing new-onset depression. Among the seven sub-factors, job demand had the most significant effect. Our results show that occupational stress should be managed to promote employee mental healthcare.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.115-126
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• 2023

A hydroponics experiment was performed to study the physiological and biochemical changes in Moroccan barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties cultivated under salt stress conditions. Four barley varieties were grown under exposure to three salt concentrations, including 0, 200, and 300 mM NaCl. The ANOVA for both salt stress-sensitive and resistant varieties indicated that salt treatment represented the main source of variability in all studied traits. Salt treatment significantly reduced root and shoot dry weight (RDW and SDW), relative water content (RWC), and chlorophyll content (Chl a, Chl b, and Chl T). However, increases in electrolyte leakage (EL) along with proline and total soluble sugar (TSS) contents were recorded. In addition, large variations in all measured traits were found between varieties. The 'Massine' and 'Laanaceur' varieties displayed relatively higher RDW and SDW values. The 'Amira' and 'Adrar' varieties showed lower RWC values and Chl contents than those of the controls indicating their relative sensitivity to salt stress. Principal component analysis revealed that most of the variation was captured by PC1 (72% of the total variance) which grouped samples into three categories according to salt treatment. Correlation analyses highlighted significant associations between most parameters. Positive relationships were found between RDW, SDW, RWC, Chl content, and soluble proteins contents, while all of these parameters were negatively associated with EL intensity, proline content, and TSS content. The results from this study showed that the 'Massine' and 'Laanaceur' varieties were relatively salt-tolerant. These two salt-tolerant varieties present a good genetic background for breeding of barley varieties showing high salt tolerance.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.48
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• pp.41-48
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• 2003

The number of natural products obtained from plants has now reached over 100,000 and new chemical compounds are being discovered ever year. Medicinal and Aromatic plants and their extracts have been used for centuries to relieve pain, aid healing, kill bacteria and insects are important as the antifungal and anti-herbivore agents with further compounds being involved in the symbiotic associations. Although their functions in plants have not been fully established, it is Known that some substances have growth regulatory properties while others are involved in pollination and seed dispersal. The complex nature of these chemicals are usually produced in various types of secretory structures which is an important character of a plant family and also influenced and controlled by genetic and ecological factors. Detailed anatomical description of these structures ave relevant to the market value of the plants, the verification of authenticity of a given species and for the detection of substitution or adulteration. Volatile oils are used for their therapeutic action for flavoring of lemon, in perfumery of rose or as starting materials for the synthesis of other compounds of turpentine. For therapeutic purposes they are administered as inhalations of eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, as gargles and mouthwashes of thymol and transdermally many essential oils including those of lavender, etc. With these current trend for using volatile components in essential oil will be increasing in the future in Korea and in the world as well.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1013-1017
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• 2020

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) harbor diverse microbial symbionts that play essential roles in host physiology, ecology, and evolution. In this study we aimed to reveal microbial communities associated with two different mealybugs, papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) and two-tailed mealybug (Ferrisia virgata) collected from the same host plant. Comparative analysis of microbial communities associated with these mealybugs revealed differences that appear to stem from phylogenetic associations and different nutritional requirements. This first report on both bacterial and fungal communities associated with these mealybugs provides a preliminary insight on factors affecting the endomicrobial communities.