Hyojoong Kim

Barcoding aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) of the Korean Peninsula: updating the global data set

DNA barcode (mitochondrial COI) sequences are provided for species identification of aphids from the Korean Peninsula. Most (98%) of the 154 species had distinct COI sequences (average 0.05% intraspecific pairwise divergence) relative to the degree of sequence divergence among species (average value 5.84%). For species in common with other regions, barcodes for Korean samples fell near or within known levels of variation. Based on these results, we conclude that DNA barcodes can provide an effective tool for identifying aphid species in such applications as pest management, monitoring and plant quarantine.

A molecular phylogeny of the tribe Aphidini (Insecta: Hemiptera: Aphididae) based on the mitochondrial tRNA/COII, 12S/16S and the nuclear EF1α genes

Abstract A phylogeny of the tribe Aphidini (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was reconstructed from three gene fragments: two mitochondrial regions, partial tRNA‐leucineu2003+u2003cytochrome oxidase II (tRNA/COII), partial 12S rRNAu2003+u2003tRNA‐valineu2003+u200316S rRNA (12S/16S) and one nuclear gene, the elongation factor‐1 alpha (EF1α). Bayesian phylogenetic (BP) analyses were performed on each individual dataset of tRNA/COII, 12S/16S and EF1α, and maximum parsimony (MP), Bremer support test, maximum likelihood (ML) and BP analysis were performed on the combined dataset. After comparing our molecular phylogenetic results with the classic classification based on morphological and ecological data, we analysed three main issues: the monophyletic relationships among tribes and subtribes, the validities of the latest taxonomic positions of genera and species and the status of certain Aphis species groups. Our results indicate that 36 of the species analysed, with the exception of Cryptosiphum artemisiae, are clustered within the clade of Aphidini. Also, the 28 species representative of the subtribe Aphidina were separated from the eight species representative of Rhopalosiphina; each monophyletic subtribe was supported by significant P‐values in the combined analysis. According to our results, Cryptosiphum should be moved to Macrosiphini because it is more closely related to the genera Lipaphis and Brevicoryne. The genus Toxoptera was recovered as non‐monophyletic. In Rhopalosiphina, three genera, Hyalopterus, Rhopalosiphum and Schizaphis, were relatively closer to each other than to the genus Melanaphis. In the relationships between species‐groups among Aphis, most species were separated into two main lineages; the fabae group seemed to be more closely related to the spiraecola and craccivora group rather than to the gossypii group.

Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoridae: Aphaeninae) finally, but suddenly arrived in Korea

A history of name changes in two fulgorid species –Lycorma delicatula and Limois emelianovi– is reviewed. Lycorma delicatula was once mistakenly reported to occur in Korea. Now, it has suddenly become common in western Korea, creating the suspicion that it has recently arrived from China and settled in Korea. A brief morphological and biological description of L. delicatula is provided, and its original Korean name, “ggot‐mae‐mi”, is revalidated. Limois emelianovi, sometimes considered a synonym of emeljanovi, is the correct name for this species, as emeljanovi is simply another transliteration of the personal name Emelianov, Emeljanov or Emel’yanov. The name emelianovi stands correct based on the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature code 32.5.1, because there is no internal evidence of an inadvertent error, and an incorrect transliteration is not considered an inadvertent error. The cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcoding regions of both species were sequenced and compared for future reference.

Molecular and Morphological Identification of the Soybean Aphid and Other Aphis Species on the Primary Host Rhamnus davurica in Asia

ABSTRACT The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, was recently introduced into North America where it has become a serious pest of soybean, Glyine max (L.) Merr. In its native range of northeastern Asia, A. glycines undergoes host alternation between the soybean (summer host) and Dahurian buckthorn, Rhamnus davurica Pallas (winter host). On the primary host, it is difficult to discriminate A. glycines from coexisting, morphologically similar Aphis species, including seasonal polymorphisms of each species (e.g., gynopara, ovipara, and male). Two widely used molecular markers, the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) “barcode” region (658 bp) and the partial tRNA-leucine + cytochrome c oxidase II (tRNA/COII, 702 bp), were used to analyze 31 individuals of Aphis from R. davurica in Asia and compared with 26 closely related Aphis species. We found that three different species, Aphis gossypii Glover and two new and undescribed putative Aphis species, occur together with A. glycines on R. davurica. All these species were genetically close within the gossypii group. A study of 28 quantitative morphological characters showed that A. glycines, A. gossypii, and one of the new species were quite similar with only a few characters differing significantly between species.

Differential gene expression profiles in the venom gland/sac of Orancistrocerus drewseni (Hymenoptera: Eumenidae)

To determine differential gene expression profiles in the venom gland and sac (gland/sac) of a solitary hunting wasp species, Orancistrocerus drewseni Saussure (1857), a subtractive cDNA library was constructed by suppression subtractive hybridization. A total of 498 expressed sequence tags (EST) were clustered and assembled into 205 contigs (94 multiple sequences and 111 singletons). About 65% (134) of the contigs had matched BLASTx hits (E< or =10(-4)). Among these, 115 contigs had similarity to proteins with assigned molecular function in the Gene Ontology database, and most of them (112 contigs, 83%) were homologous to genes from Hymenoptera, particularly to Apis mellifera (98 contigs). The contigs encoding hyaluronidase and phospholipase A2, known to be main components of wasp venoms, were found in high frequencies (27 and 4%, respectively, as judged by the number of ESTs) in the gene ontology category of catalytic activity. Full-length open reading frames of hyaluronidase and phospholipase A2 were characterized and their abundance in the venom gland/sac was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Several contigs encoding enzymes, including zinc-metallopeptidases that are likely involved in the processing and activation of venomous proteins or peptides, were also identified from the library. Discovery of venom gland/sac-specific genes should promote further studies on biologically active components in the venom of O. drewseni.

Molecular phylogeny and evolutionary habitat transition of the flower bugs (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae).

We performed a molecular phylogenetic study of the Anthocoridae, the flower bugs, based on maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian analyses of ∼ 3000 base pairs (bp) of DNA sequence from the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and nuclear 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA genes for 44 taxa. Our phylogenetic analyses indicates that (i) the tribe Cardiastethini (Dufouriellini) could be a paraphyletic group, as the genera Amphiareus and Dysepicritus are not included in the tribe; (ii) the main subgroups, Oriini and Anthocorini, are monophyletic within Anthocoridae; (iii) three tribes of Blaptostethini, Xylocorini, and Scolopini are separated from the main anthocorid clade which is composed of Anthocorini, Cardiastethini, and Oriini, suggesting that Anthocoridae could not be monophyletic. We compared our molecular phylogeny to previous hypotheses of evolutionary relationships within Cimicoidea based on different anthocorid classification systems using alternative hypothesis tests (Kishino-Hasegawa and Shimodaira-Hasegawa tests). BayesTraits were used to examine the ancestral character states inferring historical habitat patterns of the Anthocoridae. Reconstruction of the ancestral habitat patterns of the Anthocoridae suggests that dead plants may have served as an important habitat for the common ancestor of anthocorids. The biological events such as diversification of angiosperms and anthocorid prey might have provided anthocorids with more habitat options, such as living plants; thereafter, Anthocorini and Amphiareus appeared to have evolved increasingly specialized habitat relationships.

1/4-BPS M-theory bubbles with SO(3) ? SO(4) symmetry

In this paper we generalize the work of Lin, Lunin and Maldacena on the classification of 1/2-BPS M-theory solutions to a specific class of 1/4-BPS configurations. We are interested in the solutions of 11 dimensional supergravity with SO(3) × SO(4) symmetry, and it is shown that such solutions are constructed over a one-parameter familiy of 4 dimensional almost Calabi-Yau spaces. Through analytic continuations we can obtain M-theory solutions having AdS2 × S3 or AdS3 × S2 factors. It is shown that our result is equivalent to the AdS solutions which have been recently reported as the near-horizon geometry of M2 or M5-branes wrapped on 2 or 4-cycles in Calabi-Yau threefolds. We also discuss the hierarchy of M-theory bubbles with different number of supersymmetries.

Two New Species of Aulacorthum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Korea

ABSTRACT Two new species of the genus Aulacorthum, Aulacorthum asteriphagum sp. nov. and Aulacorthum corydalicola sp. nov., are recognized from Korea on Aster scaber Thunb. and Corydalis spp. (C. pallida Pers. and C. speciosa Maxim.), respectively. They are described and illustrated in comparison with the closely related species Aulacorthum solani Kaltenbach 1843. Aulacorthum asteriphagum is mainly characterized by many secondary rhinaria (4–12) on Antenna III, and A. corydalicola is distinguished by short antennae (2.30–2.75 mm) including dark Antenna III. A revised key to the identification of the Korean species of Aulacorthum is presented.

Three New Records of the Genus Aphis (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Korea

Abstract Aphis fabae Scopoli 1763, A. hederae Kaltenbach 1843 and A. oenotherae Oestlund 1887 are recognized for the first time in Korea: A. fabae , nation-widely on various host plants; A. hederae on Hedera rhombea and Schefflera actinophylla in Jeju Island; A. oenotherae nation-widely on Oenothera odorata. They are redescribed, illustrated, and measured for the apterous and alate viviparous females.

Taxonomic review of the genus Aulacorthum (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae) for the Korean peninsula, with the description of one new species

Twelve species of the genus Aulacorthum Mordvilko 1914 (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae) are recognized from the Korean Peninsula. One new species, Aulacorthum ixeridis n. sp., is described for apterous and alate viviparous females on Ixeris chinensis var. graminifolia (Ledeb.) H. C. Fu and Lactuca indica L. (Asteraceae). From the allied species, Aulacorthum nepetifolii Miyazaki 1968, Aulacorthum ixeridis n. sp. is distinguished by the relatively short ultimate rostral segment (0.83–1.07u2003× as long as the second segment hind tarsus), the dense spinules on head and the triangular short cauda. Host plants of the Korean Aulacorthum are reviewed and the identification key to subgenera and species is also presented.