To discover and characterize indigenous species in Korea, a total of 31 bacterial strains that belong to the phylum Actinobacteria were isolated from various niches in Korea. Each strain showed the high sequence similarity (>99.1%) with the closest bacterial species, forming a robust phylogenetic clade. These strains have not been previously recorded in Korea. According to the recently updated taxonomy of the phylum Actinobacteria based upon 16S rRNA trees, we report 25 genera of 13 families within 5 orders of the class Actinobacteria as actinobacterial species found in Korea. Cellular morphology, Gram staining, basic biochemical characteristics are described in the species description.
Recent field and herbarium studies have yielded three vascular plant taxa of the family Poaceae that have been documented in Korea. All of the three species, collected from Jeolla-do and adjacent areas, were introduced and naturalized. Three species are identified as Vulpia bromoides (L.) Gray, Agrostis capillaris L. and Eragrostis pectinacea (Michx.) Nees. We provide the descriptions and descriptive photos of these species. Keys to the newly recorded species and related taxa are also provided.
Five bacterial strains designated DY37, BS333, JJ521, BM1, and DG13-2 were assigned to the genus Deinococcus were isolated from forest soil samples collected from Deogyusan, Busan, Changwon, and Seoul of South Korea. The isolates were Gram-staining negative or positive, and pale pink- or red-pigmented, short-rod shaped. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strains DY37, BS333, JJ521, BM1, and DG13-2 were most closely related to Deinococcus aquatilis CCM 7524T (with 99.0% similarity), D. ficus CC-FR2-10T (100.0%), D. grandis KS 0485T (99.2%), D. roseus TDMA-uv51T (98.9%), and D. yunweiensis YIM007T(100.0%), respectively. These 5 species have never been proposed in Korea; therefore 5 species of 1 genera in the family Deinococcaceae in the order Deinococcales within the class Deinococci are reported for proteobacterial species found in Korea.
Four mite species (Acari: Scutacaridae: Scutacarus acarorum (Goeze, 1780), Chaetodactylidae: Sennertia alfkeni (Oudemans, 1900); Ascidae: Proctolaelaps longanalis (Westerboer, 1963), Laelapidae: Hypoaspis (Pneumolaelaps) marginepilosa (Sellnick, 1938) are found on the body of bees deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. The host bee species were collect in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; the found four species are collected at first time in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Twelve new species of two genera Smenospongia and Cacospongia (Demospongia: Dictyoceratida: Thorectidae) are described from Gageodo Island and Ulleungdo Island, Korea. Of these, ten new species of the Smenospongia are distinguished from the other nine reported species of the genus by the skeletal structure and sponge colour. Primary fibres of the genus Smenospongia are mostly dense, dark colour, and invisible inside of fibres, but they are mostly cored detritus and echinated with spicules. Especially, the end of primary fibres at the surface shows densely cored with spicules. All these new species changed the colour. Two new species of the genus Cacospongia are compared with nine other reported species. In skeletal structure, primary fibres of the genus Cacospongia are light colour, visible inside and more heavily cored with spicules and sands. The skeleton of this genus has large meshes. The colour of the genus Cacospongia does not change.
Fourteen new species and A. coreana Morimoto, 1970 of Allobathynella Morimoto and Miura, 1957 are (re-)described and illustrated from the Korean Penninsula. Comparison of the external morphology of these species and two previously known species, A. japonica Morimoto and Miura, 1957 and A. shinjongieei Park and Cho, 2008 enables us to amend the generic diagnosis. A 7-segmented antennule turns out to be inconsistent character due to A. wonjuensis sp. nov., which has a 6-segmented antennule. On the other hand, the exopodal distal segment of thoracopods I-VII with a tiny terminal knob and with outer seta covered by long and strong barbs is proved to be a autapomorphic character of the genus. The 14 new species belong to the mirabilis-group and display more or less similar morphology. However, they differ from A. coreana, A. japonica and A. shinjongieei and from each other not only in quantitative but also in qualitative characters. These differences are summarized in tables. The species inhabit hyporheic zones of rivers and each appears to be highly endemic to a given tributary, having a range limit less than 100 km.
The hyporheic zone is an ecologically important area for investigating habitat biodiversity. However, only few studies have been conducted on this aspect in Korea. This study aimed to investigate the distribution of arthropod communities in the hyporheic zone of Nakdonggang River between 2012 and 2013. The meiobenthic arthropod communities found in the hyporheic zone were identified using a stereomicroscope and classified into 9 taxanomic groups. The abundance of arthropod communities was higher in the hyporheic zones of streams having well-formed sandbanks and gravelly areas. The arthropod communities found along the Nakdonggang River differed depending on the conditions of levees and the regions of the river from where they were collected. The frequency of species of the order Harpacticoida was high in the Nakdonggang main stream and western downstream region. The abundance of species belonging to Cyclopidae was high in the upstream region, midstream region, and eastern downstream region of the river. The frequency of species of the order Bathynellacea was high in the riverside parks or cement levees, but that of species belonging to Cyclopidae was high in the natural levees and gabion levees. Our findings suggested that arthropod communities preferred natural levees.
An outcome of the study to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total of 26 bacterial species assigned to the classes Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were isolated from diverse environmental samples collected from soil, tidal flat, freshwater, seawater, wetland, plant roots, and fermented foods. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>99.0%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species, it was determined that each strain belonged to each independent and predefined bacterial species. There is no official report that these 26 species have been described in Korea; therefore 14 strains for the order Flavobacteriales and two strains for the order Cytophagales were assigned to the class Bacteroidetes, and 8 strains for the order Bacillales and 4 strains for the order Lactobacillales were assigned to the class Firmicutes are reported for new bacterial species found in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are also described in the species description section.
As a subset investigation to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in Korea, a total of 21 bacterial strains assigned to the class Betaproteobacteria were isolated from a wide range of environmental samples which collected from fresh water, roots of plants, mineral water and soil from ginseng farm. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that 21 isolated strains were most closely related to the class Betaproteobacteria, with high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>99.1%) and constructed a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species in the class Betaproteobacteria. These isolated species have no previous report or publication in Korea; therefore 17 species in 14 genera of 6 families in the order Burkholderiales, 1 species in the order Methylophilales, 2 species in 2 genera of 1 family in the order Neisseriales are reported for betaproteobacterial species found in Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are also described in the species description section and as an image.
During recent screening to discover indigenous prokaryotic species in South Korea, a total of 31 bacterial strains assigned to the class Gammaproteobacteria were isolated from a variety of environmental samples including soil, tidal flat, freshwater, seawater, and plant roots. From the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (>98.7%) and formation of a robust phylogenetic clade with the closest species, it was determined that each strain belonged to each independent and predefined bacterial species. There is no official report that these 31 species have been described in South Korea; therefore 5 species of 3 genera in the order Alteromonadales, 11 species of 3 genera in the order Pseudomonadales, 8 species of 6 genera in the order Enterobacteriales, 2 species of 1 genera in the order Vibrionales, 1 species of 1 genera in the order Oceanospirillales, 3 species of 3 genera in the order Xanthomonadales, and 1 species in the order Spongiibacter_o within the Gammaproteobacteia are reported for proteobacterial species found in South Korea. Gram reaction, colony and cell morphology, basic biochemical characteristics, isolation source, and strain IDs are also described in the species description section.