• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2005

A new bacterial disease of sesame(Sesamum indicum) was observed on field-grown plants in Suwon, Hongchun and Yeonchun in 2000. Leaf symptoms initially appeared as water-soaked spots that gradually enlarged, became necrotic and were often bordered by a small zone of lemon yellow tissue. In the case of severe infection, dead leaves were defoliated. Isolations made from diseased leaves on yeast extract dextrose calcium carbonate agar yielded nearly pure cultures of a yellow-pigmented bacterium typical of a xanthomonad. Two bacterial strains were purified and used for farther tests. Pathogenicity of strains was confirmed on 3-week-old sesame plants sprayed with bacterial suspensions containing $10^{8}cfu/ml$ of phosphate buffered saline. The Biolog and fatty acid analyses of the two strains(SL3451 and SL3476) 1mm sesame leaf blight showed that they could be identified as ft campestris pv. sesami because of their high similarity to the tester strain(X. campestris pv. sesami LMG865) with a match probability of $100\%$. The bacterium grew well between 18 and 36$^{\circ}C$, but optimum temperature was $27^{\circ}C$ on LB broth. This is the first report of bacterial blight of sesame in Korea. Symptoms of bacterial blight of sesame are difficult to differentiated with those of bacterial leaf spot caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. sesami.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.339-349
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• 2021

In recent years, the occurrence of bacterial diseases of soybean has been increasing due to the continuous rise in spring temperature and the humid weather as a result of rain concentrated at the middle and late stages of crop growth. The resulting severe economic damage is also a concern. Unfortunately, there are no precise data on the occurrence and damage to lay the foundation for bacterial disease control in soybean in the Chungbuk Province. Therefore, the present study investigated the occurrence of major bacterial diseases, namely bacterial pustules, bacterial blight, and wildfire, in different soybean varieties in 410 fields in the Chungbuk Province in 2017. The incidence rate of bacterial pustules in the affected fields was 76.6%, and the incidence rate of infected plants was 29.3%. The incidence rate of bacterial blight in the affected fields was 13.9%, and the incidence rate of infected plants was 4.6%. The incidence rate of wildfire in the affected fields was 23.2%, and the incidence rate of infected plants was 10.1%. The overall incidence rate of bacterial diseases in the soybean fields where the diseases originated was 37.9% for bacterial pustules, 21.0% for bacterial blight, and 25.0% for wildfire, indicating that the disease incidence rate in fields where the disease originated was generally high. Among different varieties, the incidence rate of bacterial pustules was the highest in sprout soybean (88.9%), followed by Seoritae (84.0%) and Daewon (81.2%). The incidence rate of bacterial blight was the highest in the Daewon (19.6%), followed by Seoritae (15.2%) and sprout soybean (12.5%). The incidence rate of wildfire was the highest in sprout soybean (25.0%), followed by Daewon (24.7%) and Seoritae (5.4%). Meanwhile, in Uram, the incidence rate of bacterial pustules (7.1%) was the lowest, and this variety was not affected by bacterial blight or wildfire.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.137-151
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• 2021

The present study describes the bacterial blight of walnut, caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis (Xaj) in the northern Gyeongbuk province, Korea. Disease symptoms that appear very similar to anthracnose symptoms were observed in walnut trees in June 2016. Pathogens were isolated from disease infected leaves, fruits, shoots, bud, flower bud of walnut, and cultured onto yeast dextrose carbonate agar plates. Isolated bacteria with bacterial blight symptoms were characterized for their nutrient utilization profiles using Biolog GN2 and Vitek 2. In addition, isolates were subjected to physiological, biochemical, and morphological characterizations. Furthermore, isolates were identified using 16S rDNA sequence analysis, and multi-locus sequence analysis using atpD, dnaK, efp, and rpoD. To confirm pathogenicity, leaves, fruits, and stems of 3-year-old walnut plants were inoculated with bacterial pathogen suspensions as a foliar spray. One week after inoculation, the gray spots on leaves and yellow halos around the spots were developed. Fruits and stems showed browning symptoms. The pathogen Xaj was re-isolated from all symptomatic tissues to fulfill Koch's postulates, while symptoms were not appeared on control plants. On the other hand, the symptoms were very similar to the symptoms of anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. When walnut plants were inoculated with combined pathogens of Xaj and C. gloeosporioides, disease symptoms were greater in comparison with when inoculated alone. Xaj population size was more in the month of April than March due to their dormancy in March, and sensitive to antibiotics such as oxytetracycline and streptomycin, while resistant to copper sulfate.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.170-177
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• 2010

Bacillus licheniformis N1, previously developed as a biofungicide formulation N1E to control gray mold disease of plants, was investigated to study the bacterial traits that may be involved in its biological control activity. Two N1E based formulations, bacterial cell based formulation PN1E and culture supernatant based formulation SN1E, were evaluated for disease control activity against gray mold disease of tomato and strawberry plants. Neither PN1E nor SN1E was as effective as the original formulation N1E. Fractionation of antifungal compounds from the bacterial culture supernatant of B. licheniformis N1 indicated that two different cyclic lipopeptides were responsible for the antimicrobial activity of the N1 strain. These two purified compounds were identified as iturin A and surfactin by HPLC and LCMS. The purified lipopeptides were evaluated for plant disease control activity against seven plant diseases. Crude extracts and purified compounds applied at 500 ${\mu}g/ml$ concentration controlled tomato gray mold, tomato late blight and pepper anthracnose effectively with over 70% disease control value. While iturin showed broad spectrum activity against all tested plant diseases, the control activity by surfactin was limited to tomato gray mold, tomato late blight, and pepper anthracnose. Although antifungal compounds from B. licheniformis N1 exhibited disease control activity, our results suggested that bacterial cells present in the N1E formulation also contribute to the disease control activity together with the antifungal compounds.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.160-170
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• 2024

Erwinia amylovora is a plant pathogen that causes fire blight on apples and pears. Bacteriophages, which are viruses that selectively infect specific species of bacteria and are harmless to animal cells, have been considered as biological control agents for the prevention of bacterial pathogens. In this study, we aimed to use bacteriophages that infect E. amylovora as biocontrol agents against fire blight. We isolated bacteriophages Fifi044 and Fifi318 infecting E. amylovora, and characterized their morphology, plaque form, and genetic diversity to use as cocktails for disease control. The stabilities of the two phages were investigated at various temperatures and pH values and under sunlight, and long-term storage experiment was conducted for a year. To evaluate whether the two phages were suitable for use in cocktail form, growth curves of E. amylovora were prepared after treating the bacterial cells with single phages and a phage cocktail. In addition, a disease control test was conducted using immature apples and in vitro cultured apple plantlets to determine the biocontrol effects of the phage cocktail. The two phages were morphologically and genetically different, and highly stable up to 50℃ and pH value from 4 to 10. The phages showed synergistic effect when used as a cocktail in the inhibition of host bacterial growth and the disease control. This study demonstrated that the potential of the phage cocktail as a biocontrol agent for commercial use.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.129-133
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• 2006

A bacterial disease of small red bean (Phaseolus angularis) was observed on field-grown plants in Suwon in year 2003. Leaf symptoms initially appeared as water-soaked spots that gradually enlarged, became flaccid and necrotic and were often bordered by a small zone of lemon yellow tissue. In the case of severe infection, dead leaves were defoliated. Pod symptoms consisted of the lesions that were generally circular, slightly sunken and dark reddish brown. Isolation made from diseased leaves on yeast extract dextrose calcium carbonate agar yielded nearly pure cultures of a yellow-pigmented bacterium typical of a xanthomonad. Three bacterial strains were purified and used for further tests. Pathogenicity of strains was confirmed on 3-week-old small red bean plants sprayed with bacterial suspensions containing $10^8 cfu/ml$ of phosphate buffered saline. The representative Xanthomonas strains isolated from small red bean were compared with X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli and X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli var. fuscans type strains for fatty acid profiles, biochemical tests and metabolic fingerprints using Biolog GN2 microplate, showing that all outcomes were indistinguishable between our isolates and reference strains. Two of three strains produced a melanin-like brown pigment extracellularly on King's medium B agar. These results suggest that this new small red bean disease observed in Suwon is bacterial fuscous blight caused by X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli and X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli var. fuscans.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2006

Kudzu vine(Pueraria montana var. lobata) is an invasive climbing woody vine that envelops trees and shrubs, pressing physically and shutting out sunlight, which needs to be controlled. Kudzu vine pathogens were surveyed as a way to seek its biocontrol agents in 2002. Occurrence of a bacterial halo blight disease of kudzu vine was observed at several localities in Korea including Euiwang and Suwon in Gyeonggi Province, Daejon, and Gochang and Buan in Jeonbuk Province. Symptoms of brown to black spots with a surrounding yellowish halo appeared from June and lasted till the rainy season without much expansion, but accompanying often leaf blight and defoliation. Isolated bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola based on physiological and cultural characteristics, Biolog, fatty acid and 16S rDNA sequencing analyses. In artificial inoculation test, these bacteria produced the same halo spot symptoms on kudzu vine and bean plants. They also induced hypersensitive responses (HR) on tobacco, tomato, and chili pepper leaves. This is the first report of a bacterial disease of kudzu vine in Korea, and the bacterial pathogen can be used as a biocontrol agent against the pest plant.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.418-426
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• 2013

Pseudomonas isolates from different crop plants were screened for in vitro growth inhibition of Phytophthora capsici and production of biosurfactant. Two in vivo experiments were performed to determine the efficacy of selected Pseudomonas strains against Phytophthora blight of pepper by comparing two fungicide treatments [acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) and ASM + mefenoxam]. Bacterial isolates were applied by soil drenching ($1{\times}10^9$ cells/ml), ASM ($0.1{\mu}g$ a.i./ml) and ASM + mefenoxam (0.2 mg product/ml) were applied by foliar spraying, and P. capsici inoculum was incorporated into the pot soil three days after treatments. In the first experiment, four Pseudomonas strains resulted in significant reduction from 48.4 to 61.3% in Phytophthora blight severity. In the second experiment, bacterial treatments combining with olive oil (5 mL per plant) significantly enhanced biological control activity, resulting in a reduction of disease level ranging from 56.8 to 81.1%. ASM + mefenoxam was the most effective treatment while ASM alone was less effective in both bioassays. These results indicate that our Pseudomonas fluorescens strains (6L10, 6ba6 and 3ss9) that have biosurfactant-producing abilities are effective against P. capsici on pepper, and enhanced disease suppression could be achieved when they were used in combination with olive oil.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.194-202
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• 2022

Erwinia amylovora and Erwinia pyrifoliae cause fire blight and black-shoot blight, respectively, in apples and pears. E. pyrifoliae is less pathogenic and has a narrower host range than that of E. amylovora. Fire blight and black-shoot blight exhibit similar symptoms, making it difficult to distinguish one bacterial disease from the other. Molecular tools that differentiate fire blight from black-shoot blight could guide in the implementation of appropriate management strategies to control both diseases. In this study, a primer set was developed to detect and distinguish E. amylovora from E. pyrifoliae by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The primers produced amplicons of different sizes that were specific to each bacterial species. PCR products from E. amylovora and E. pyrifoliae cells at concentrations of 10⁴ cfu/ml and 10⁷ cfu/ml, respectively, were amplified, which demonstrated sufficient primer detection sensitivity. This primer set provides a simple molecular tool to distinguish between two types of bacterial diseases with similar symptoms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.740-747
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• 2014

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is a very serious disease in rice-growing regions of the world. In spite of their economic importance, there are no effective ways of protecting rice plants from this disease. Bacteriophages infecting Xoo affect the population dynamics of the pathogen and consequently the occurrence of the disease. In this study, we investigated the diversity, host range, and infectivity of Xoo phages, and their use as a bicontrol agent on BLB was tested. Among the 34 phages that were isolated from floodwater in paddy fields, 29 belonged to the Myoviridae family, which suggests that the dominant phage in the ecosystem was Myoviridae. The isolated phages were classified into two groups based on plaque size produced on the lawn of Xoo. In general, there was a negative relationship between plaque size and host range, and interestingly the phages having a narrow host range had low efficiency of infectivity. The deduced protein sequence analysis of htf genes indicated that the gene was not a determinant of host specificity. Although the difference in host range and infectivity depending on morphotype needs to be addressed, the results revealed deeper understanding of the interaction between the phages and Xoo strains in floodwater and damp soil environments. The phage mixtures reduced the occurrence of BLB when they were treated with skim milk. The results indicate that the Xoo phages could be used as an alternative control method to increase the control efficacy and reduce the use of agrochemicals.