• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.88-93
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• 2009

In 2008, leaf rot and blight on pepper seeding ("Dokya-chungchung") occurred in a pepper farm at Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. The typical symptom is water-soaking and dark brown leaf blight at edges and tips of leaves. The fungal colonies isolated from infected tissues were pinkish at first and turned gradually to gray. Conidia were fusiform, non-septum, and $8.1-17.0{\times}2.0-3.8{\mu}m$ in size. Several specific PCR primers derived from the sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA, such as CaINT, CgINT and CcINT were used for the identification of the fungal pathogen. The C. acutatum-specific primer CaINT was amplified single fragment of 496 bp that discriminated C. acutatum from the other species. The pathogenicity test was performed on seedlings and fruits of red pepper. On the basis of the morphological, molecular characteristics and pathogenicity test, we identified as Colletotrichum acutatum. This is the first report on leaf rot and blight on pepper seedling caused by C. acutatum in Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2009

Ninety isolates of Colletotrichum species from new persimmon tree twigs and 50 isolates from pepper plant fruits were isolated via single-spore isolation. Of the 140 isolates, 26 were examined for mycelial growth, carbendazim sensitivity, and ITS sequence. Four of the isolates from the persimmon trees, which were cultivated exclusively in an orchard, showed fast mycelial growth and sensitivity to carbendazim, while five of the pepper isolates showed slower mycelial growth and were resistant to the fungicide. However, 17 isolates from persimmon trees cultivated with pepper plants in the same orchard showed slow mycelial growth like the pepper isolates and they were sensitive to carbendazim like the persimmon isolates. ITS sequence analysis of these 27 isolates led to the identification of the 22 persimmon isolates as C. gloeosporioides and the five pepper isolates as C. acutatum. PCR with species-specific primers confirmed that the 90 isolates from persimmon were C. gloeosporioides whereas the 50 isolates from pepper were C. acutatum. The 90 persimmon isolates of C. gloeosporioides and 50 pepper isolates of C. acutatum were compared by a wound inoculation test to determine their capacity for host cross-infection. All of the C. acutatum isolates from pepper caused typical symptoms of anthracnose on the fruits of pepper plants and twigs of persimmon; they differed from the C. gloeosporioides isolates from persimmon, more than 90% of which were able to infect only persimmon. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis revealed the existence of two groups (C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum isolates group). At 80% genetic similarity, the C. gloeosporioides group was defined within four clusters, while the C. acutatum group was within three clusters. However, these clusterings were unrelated with the virulence of Colletotrichum species against pepper fruits.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2008

As an effort to search new bacterial biocontrol agents against pepper anthracnose, we screened myxobacteria, which might inhibit the growth of Colletotrichum acutatum, the agent of that plant disease. When 93 myxobacterial strains including 59 Myxococcus spp. and 34 Corallococcus spp. were tested against C. acutatum ACYSJ001 on agar plates, 10 strains identified as the genus Myxococcus significantly obstructed the growth of C. acutatum, whereas the majority of strains belonging to the genus Corallococcus did not demonstrate any counteractive effect. Such results have indicated that the strains of the genus Myxococcus have a high potential to play roles of biocontrol agents for control of pepper anthracnose. These also have revealed that the strains of the genus Myxococcus could be used as excellent microbial resources for screening novel antifungal substances.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.273-279
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• 2010

We evaluated 209 Capsicum accessions from the National Agrobiodiversity of RDA, for their reaction against of anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum acutatum. Two hundred nine accessions of Capsicum were almost composed with Capsicum annuum var. annuum originated from 37 countries. The percentage of infection due to C. acutatum ranged from 11.1% to 100% on immature and matured pepper fruits at 21 days after inoculation. On immature fruits of pepper, one hundred seventy three accessions of tested pepper were found infected with C. acutatum. Out of the 173 accessions, eighty five accessions were susceptible to anthracnose with dark brown to black lesions and slowly increased in size at 21 days after inoculation. Only thirty six accessions showed resistance against C. acutatum. On mature fruits of pepper, one hundred ninety eight accessions were infected with C. acutatum at 21 days after inoculation. Twenty one accessions showed a resistance reaction against C. acutatum. The results of this work indicated that all of resistance accessions to C. acutatum were have a genetic potential for the resources of resistance can be further used in pepper breeding programme against anthracnose and also demand more detailed investigation in this.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2012

Resistance of pepper (Capsicum spp.) to anthracnose (Colletotrichum acutatum) was evaluated during regeneration of Capsicum spp. in National Agrobiodiversity Center. Disease severity of 896 pepper accessions (430 accessions of C. annuum, 219 accessions of C. baccatum, 14 accessions of C. chacoense, 153 accessions of C. chinense, 70 accessions of C. frutescens, 2 accessions of C. pubescens, and unidentified 8 accessions) was investigated at 14 days after inoculation in $28^{\circ}C$ humid chamber. Forty nine accessions of pepper germplasm were resistant to C. acutatum. Among them, nine accessions were highly resistant to C. acutatum without wounding spray inoculation. Four accessions belonged to the species C. baccatum, one accession to C. chacoense, and four accessions to C. frutescens. Forty two resistant candidate accessions were inoculated with pin-prick wounding using a syringe needle. Five accessions were resistant as a less than 3% of disease severity to C. acutatum with wounding inoculation 5 days after inoculation. All resistant accessions were C. baccatum. These five pepper germplasm might be used as breeding resources for the anthracnose resistance breeding program.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.37-44
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• 2007

Colletotrichum contains many important pathogens which cause economically significant diseases of crops like pepper, strawberry, tomato and apple. Forty four isolates were collected to characterize the diversity of Colletotrichum causing apple anthracnose in various regions of Korea. They were analyzed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA and partial $\beta$-tubulin gene DNA sequence, and culture characteristics on PDA and PDA-Benomyl. From the results of molecular analyses, 31 strains belonged to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, ribosomal DNA group (RG) 4 of Moriwaki et al. (2002), 8 strains belonged to C. acutatum, A2 group of Talhinhas et al. (2005) and 5 strains to C. acutatum, A3 group of Talhinhas et al. (2005). Most isolates of C. gloeosporioides RG4 grew faster on PDA than strains of C. acutatum, A2 and A3 groups and most RG4 strains were sensitive to Benomyl. However, a few strains of RG4 grew slower and were resistant to Benomyl. On the basis of molecular characteristics, apple isolates of C. acutatum were clearly differentiated from red pepper isolates of the species, but apple isolates of C. gloeosporioides were not.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.80-83
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• 2008

Anthracnose symptoms were frequently observed on fruits of peach trees grown in Yeongi in Korea during disease survey in August from 2000 to 2005. The disease incidence was as high as 40% at its maximum in the orchards investigated. A total of 24 isolates of Colletotrichum species were obtained from the anthracnose symptoms, out of which 20 were identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and the four remaining ones as C. acutatum based on their morphological and cultural characteristics. Two isolates of each C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum caused anthracnose symptoms on the fruits by both wound and unwound inoculation, which were similar to those observed in the orchard. The symptoms appeared more rapidly by the wound inoculation than by the unwound inoculation. There was no difference in pathogenicity between the C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum isolates tested. In Korea, only C. gloeosporioides has been recorded as the causal fungus of anthracnose of peach tree. This is the first report that C. acutatum also causes anthracnose of peach tree in Korea.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 2016

During the year 2014, black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) had been observed with dark brown spots on the leaves at Andong, Cheongsong, Mungyeong in Korea. Symptoms initially appeared as small, black lesions on the leaves, and sometimes, the leaves become yellow and ultimately leads to fall off the leaves. The pathogenic fungus grown in potato dextrose agar was white or sometime gray with mycelia in tufts and from which numerous conidia were produced. The conidia were straight and fusiform in shape and measured $8.3-17.2{\times}2.5-4.1{\mu}m$. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA sequence analysis for sequence similarity of the ITS region revealed 100% identity with nucleotide sequences for Colletotrichum acutatum. The morphological characteristics, pathogenicity and molecular data have been confirmed that the symptomatic pathogen was C. acutatum. This is the first report of anthracnose caused by C. acutatum on black locust in Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.310-312
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• 2009

A total of 82 isolates of Colletotrichum species were obtained from anthracnose symptoms of highbush blueberry trees grown in the Gochang area of Korea during a disease survey in 2008. Out of the isolates, 75 were identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and the others as C. acutatum based on their morphological and cultural characteristics. Twenty six of C. gloeosporioides isolates produced their teleomorph Glomerella cingulata in PDA culture. Three isolates of each C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum caused anthracnose symptoms on the leaves by artificial inoculation, which were similar to what was observed in the orchards. Previously in Korea, only C. gloeosporioides has been reported as causing anthracnose in blueberries. This is the first report that C. acutatum causes anthracnose in the highbush blueberry in Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2009

Colletotrichum acutatum was the main cause of the recent outbreaks of anthracnose on pepper fruit in Korea. To facilitate molecular analysis of C. acutatum, we generated an arginine auxotrophic mutant of the C acutatum strain JC24 using a targeted gene replacement strategy. A 3.3-kb genomic region carrying an ortholog (designated CaARG2) of the fungal gene encoding N-acetylglutamate synthase, the first enzyme of arginine biosynthesis in fungi, was deleted from the fungal genome. The mutant exhibited normal growth only when arginine was exogenously supplied into the culture medium. Transformation of the arginine auxotrophic mutant with a plasmid DNA carrying an intact copy of CaARG2, which was smaller than the deleted region in the mutant, not only caused random vector insertions in the fungal genome, but also recovered both hyphal growth and pathogenicity of the mutant to the wild-type level. Using this new selection system, we have successfully developed a restriction enzyme-mediated integration procedure, which would provide an economically efficient random mutagenesis method in C. acutatum.