Genetic divergence between the South Korean and Mongolian populations of the dung beetle, Gymnopleurus mopsus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences

Abstract

The locally extinct dung beetle, Gymnopleurus mopsus Pallas, 1781 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), has not been found in South Korea since the 1970s. This research was conducted to understand the genetic divergence between the South Korean and Mongolian populations of G. mopsus as a part of its reintroduction program in South Korea. The genetic distance and diversity were determined using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequence (658 bp) corresponding to the DNA barcode region. The mitochondrial COI gene sequences of 64 individuals of G. mopsus collected in South Korea (7 individuals) and Mongolia (57 individuals) showed a relatively high level of genetic diversity (nucleotide diversity, 0.0078 ± 0.0007; Haplotype diversity, 0.965 ± 0.017). The genetic distances between the South Korean and Mongolian populations lay within the intraspecific level and the phylogenetic reconstruction using the neighbor‐joining (NJ) method showed that all individuals belonged to a single clade. This result indicates that the current Mongolian population of G. mopsus is a good candidate source population to restore the locally extinct population of the species in South Korea.

Historical domestication-driven population expansion of the dung beetle Gymnopleurus mopsus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from its last refuge in Mongolia

“…The resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers MF674025–MF674381. Previously published COI sequences collected in South Korea from 1931 to 1964 (KT454107-454111, KX879011-879012) and from Mongolia (KT454096-454106, KX879013-879046, KX879050-879055) and China (KX879047-879049) were also included 12 .…”

“…As a result, the National Institute of Biological Resources in South Korea launched a restoration program in 2012, which re-introduced G . mopsus from Mongolia to South Korea, based on the high genetic diversity of the Mongolia population and its genetic similarity to populations in South Korea 12 .…”

Evaluation of Chalcone Derivatives as Photosynthesis and Plant Growth Inhibitors

“…Chalcones, members of the flavonoid class of secondary metabolites, are composed of two aromatic ring moieties linked by an α,β‐unsaturated ketone, [23] and are obtained from the leaves, stems, roots and flowers of plants [24] . Additionally, chalcones can be readily synthetized through a wide array of methodologies, [25] providing easy access to a broad structural diversity, and thus affording a variety of biological activities, [26] as anti‐inflammatory, [27,28] antitumoral, [29] antiviral, [30] insecticide, [31,32] nematicide, [33] larvicide [34,35] and herbicide [36,37] . Due to their potent capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species as well as the electrophilic nature of the α,β‐unsaturated ketone moiety, chalcones have also been used as antioxidant agents [38–40] .…”

Phylogeographic Investigation of an Endangered Longhorn Beetle, Callipogon relictus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), in Northeast Asia: Implications for Future Restoration in Korea

“…The vast majority of the reintroduction projects have dealt with vertebrate faunas, whereas only 3% have dealt with invertebrates [23]. Reintroduction or translocation have been performed for several endangered insect species of Orthoptera, Odonata, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera all over the world (see Table S1) [20][21][22][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. In fact, reintroduction or translocation of endangered insect species within a specific domestic region may be a relatively modest task as long as a potential release site has a decent habitat quality [38].…”