• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.287-306
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• 2023

According to our previous study, 500 species of yeast exist in Korea, including nine variants comprising 142 genera and 48 classes in two phyla. Additionally, 4,483 fungal species have been documented at the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR). However, despite the industrial use of several yeasts, only 173 species formed part of the National Species List of Korea (NSLK) as of December 2021, mainly due to the lack of taxonomic descriptions. This study aimed to investigate the taxonomy of seven newly isolated yeast species (Hyphopichia burtonii, Starmerella sorbosivorans, Cyberlindnera mycetangii, Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosum, Nakazawaea ernobii, Pichia kudriavzevii, and Schizosaccharomyces japonicus) for inclusion in the NSLK. The strains were clustered for the phylogenetic analysis of fungal rDNA (D1/D2-26S) sequences. This study provides descriptions of their cell morphology and physiological characteristics, the results of which confirm the indigenous origin of these seven species in Korea and recommend their inclusion in the NSLK.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.20 no.2 s.56
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• pp.29-32
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• 2005

We just carried out this study in order to obtain an appropriate information of the population of toxigenic fungi in crude drugs in seoul. Results of fungal examination on twenty-three kinds crude drugs were described in this report. In 21 crude drugs, colonies of fungi were possible to identify into 7 genera. Predominant genera of fungi in crude drugs were Aspergillus spp. $(14,\;46.6\%)$, Scopulariospsis spp. $(7,\;23.3\%)$, Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp., Fusarium spp $(2,\;6.6\%,\;respectively)$ and Phoma sp., Chaetomium sp. $(1,\; 3.3\%,\;respectively)$. Mycotoxin producing fungi like Aspergillus spp., Penicillum spp., and Fusarium spp. were 18 colonies$(60\%)$, totally.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.158-163
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• 2016

Mushroom surveys and collections were conducted in the western and eastern forest areas in Cambodia, and then fungal biodiversity was analyzed by identifying mushrooms. One thousand and three hundreds eighty three specimens were identified by morphological and genetical characteristics, and were classified into 238 species, 160 genera, 52 families, 15 orders, and 3 phylums. The collected mushrooms were immersed in 70% ethyl alcohol for DNA extraction, and the rest of them were dried in the portable mushroom dryer for 12 hrs. Among these mushrooms, the genera Mycena (8.7%), Ganoderma (5.6%), Microporus (5.3%), Marasmius (4.2%), Marasmiellus (3.0%), Phellinus (2.5%), Trametes (2.5%), Hygrocybe (1.9%) and Pycnoporus (1.5%) were dominant. In the western Cambodia, 1,061 specimens were collected from Koh Kong forests, while 263 specimens were collected from the eastern Cambodia, Seima and Mondulkiri forests. Elevations of surveyed sites were ranged from 0 to 750 m above sea level. The number of species observed in the elevation of 251-500 m was the highest as compared to the other ranges of elevation. Daldinia concentrica, Microporus vernicipes, Microporus xanthopus, Pycnoporus coccineus, Stereum hirsutum, and Stereum ostrea were commonly distributed in all ranges of elevation, while the distribution of Ceratomyxa fruticulosa, Panus fulvus, Schizophyllum, Trametes versicolor, and Tyromyces chioneus were limited under 500 m. One hundred and forty one species including Amauroderma sp., Bjerkandera adusta, Trichaptum abietinum, and Tyromyces chioneus were collected only in Cardamom, while 20 species including Auricularia auricula-judae, Coriolopsis sanguinaria, Rigidoporus microporus, and Xylaria polymorpha were collected only in Seima. Ganoderma sp., Mycena sp., Marasmius sp., Microporus xanthopus, Phellinus sp., and Russula sp. were dominant species in both the western and eastern Cambodia. Species diversity indices in the eastern and western survey sites were 1.83 and 1.77, respectively, while evenness indices were 0.92 and 0.90. The species similarity index between two survey sites was 0.42.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 2012

Endophytic fungi were isolated from the roots of halophytes, Suaeda japonica and Carex scabrifolia in the Suncheonbay. The ITS region in rDNA of 15 endophytic fungal strains were amplified using PCR with universal primers ITS1 and ITS4, and those amplified fragments were sequenced. Based on ITS sequence, five fungal genera were identified in S. japonica and seven fungal genera were identified in C. scabrifolia. The Shannon's diversity index (H') of endophytic fungi isolated from S. japonica and C. scabrifolia was 1.561 and 1.889, respectively. In phylogenetic analysis, it was shown that Ascomycota and Pezizomycotina was widely distributed both in S. japonica and C. scabrifolia. Also, Sordariomycetes, Dothideomycetes and Eurotiomycetes were shown to be distributed in these halophytes used in this experiment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1654-1663
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• 2013

Rice straw is closely associated with meju fermentation and it is generally known that the rice straw provides meju with many kinds of microorganisms. In order to elucidate the origin of meju fungi, the fungal diversity of rice straw was examined. Rice straw was collected from 12 Jang factories where meju are produced, and were incubated under nine different conditions by altering the media (MEA, DRBC, and DG18), and temperature ($15^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, and $35^{\circ}C$). In total, 937 strains were isolated and identified as belonging to 39 genera and 103 species. Among these, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Eurotium, Fusarium, and Penicillium were the dominant genera. Fusarium asiaticum (56.3%), Cladosporium cladosporioides (48.6%), Aspergillus tubingensis (37.5%), A. oryzae (31.9%), Eurotium repens (27.1%), and E. chevalieri (25.0%) were frequently isolated from the rice straw obtained from many factories. Twelve genera and 40 species of fungi that were isolated in the rice straw in this study were also isolated from meju. Specifically, A. oryzae, C. cladosporioides, E. chevalieri, E. repens, F. asiaticum, and Penicillium polonicum (11.8%), which are abundant species in meju, were also isolated frequently from rice straw. C. cladosporioides, F. asiaticum, and P. polonicum, which are abundant in the low temperature fermentation process of meju fermentation, were frequently isolated from rice straw incubated at $15^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$, whereas A. oryzae, E. repens, and E. chevalieri, which are abundant in the high temperature fermentation process of meju fermentation, were frequently isolated from rice straw incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ and $35^{\circ}C$. This suggests that the mycobiota of rice straw has a large influence in the mycobiota of meju. The influence of fungi on the rice straw as feed and silage for livestock, and as plant pathogens for rice, are discussed as well.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.109-119
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• 1991

The vertical distribution of the fungal population for the soil samples from two sites of producing and nonproducing of Tricholoma matsutake, song-yi mushroom, were examined at Yang­yang and Myung-joo, Gangweon province. By the dilution plate method, a total number of propagu­les of fungi per gram of soil was observed to be low at the song-yi producing sites but high at the song-yi nonproducing sites under the communities of Pinus densiflora. The tendency of the number of fungal propagules were decreased with the increasing vertical depth. In the incuhation method at $42^{\circ}C$, six genera and nineteen species of the fungi were isolated from two sites; Aspergillus fumigatus, Acremonium sp., Talaromyces stipitatus, Penicillium lilacinum, P. oxalicum and Westerdykella multispora. The most dominant species by this method was A. fumigatus. From heat treatment method at $70^{\circ}C$, seven genera and nineteen species were isolated; Aspergillus fumigatus, Alternaria alternata, Neurospora sitophila and Mucor sp.. In the ethanol treatment method, one genera and one species was isolated Mortierella sp.. From the three isolation methods, it was found that the total number of the soil fungi and the frequency of species appeared were the highest at the soil of upper layer whereas the lowest at the soils of lower layer in its vertical distribution.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.79-85
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• 2014

Forty-two endophytic fungi were isolated from the roots of coastal plants, such as Aster sphathulifolius Maxim., Aster tripolium L., Phragmites australis, and Puccinellia nipponica Ohwi, naturally growing in Taean peninsula. The identity of the endophytic fungal strains was analyzed using the sequence of internal transcribed spacer regions. All fungi belonged to the phylum Ascomycota, and they were classified into eight orders (Botryosphaeriales, Capnodiales, Diaporthales, Dothideales, Eurotiales, Helotiales, Hypocreales, and Pleosporales) and thirteen genera (Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Cadophora, Cladosporium, Davidiella, Diaporthe, Fusarium, Gibberella, Macrophomina, Metarhizium, Neosartorya, Penicillium, and Phoma). Among the analyzed fungi, the fungi belonging to the genus Penicillium in Eurotiales were the most widely distributed. The host plant Aster tripolium L. was found to contain the most diverse endophytic fungal species among the coastal plants.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.261-267
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• 2012

Inspection of deteriorated rices in Korea for fungal occurrence revealed that Aspergillus was the most frequently observed genus and some isolates of the Aspergillus spp. turned out to produce aflatoxin. Diverse fungal genera including Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, or Alternaria spp. were observed in most of the rice samples. Aflatoxin occurred infrequently and the levels of aflatoxin present in the rice samples were lower than regulatory limit but Fusarium toxins such as deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, zearalenone, and fumonisin occurred frequently. In rice processing complexes, fungal and mycotoxin contamination of rice decreased by milling process, resulting in the lowest level of mycotoxin and fungi in polished rice. Currently, it appears that Korean rice and milled by-products need a safety control for Fusarium toxins rather than aflatoxin.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.359-367
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• 2020

Objectives: Exposure to mold is strongly associated with adverse health effects (development or exacerbation of allergic diseases). We reviewed the health effects of mold exposure and explored to determine the annual distribution of indoor mold in facilities with susceptible populations. Methods: The health effects of mold exposure were mainly summarized by reviewing related papers and WHO research reports. We selected 10 facilities, including daycare centers, postpartum care centers, medical institutions, and elderly care facilities within the Seoul Metropolitan. Mold sampling was performed once every week or once every quarter from February 2016 to 2017. In addition, fungal species analyses was performed, and distribution status by month and facility was analyzed in the same manner as concentration. Results: Adverse health effects attributed to fungal exposure are largely divided into allergic symptoms, toxic effects, and infectious effects. Monthly mean concentrations of mold indoors and outdoors was 368.8 CFU/㎥ (geometric mean 213.4 CFU/㎥) and 496.0 CFU/㎥ (327.9 CFU/㎥), respectively. The indoor concentration has begun to increase in February, peaked in July, declined in August, increased again until October, and then decreased in November. About 36 genera of indoor fungal species were found in each facility. Cladosporium sp., Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Aspergillus sp., Alternaria sp., and Arthrinium sp. were observed as the dominant species. Conclusions: Our findings showed that the overall level of indoor mold was below the 500 CFU/㎥ level recommended by the Ministry of Environment. The development of DNA-based assessment and expanding facilities to be monitored for mold would be necessary for preventive aspects.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.101-111
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• 2008

The fungal genus Alternaria is comprised of many saprophytic and endophytic species, but is most well known as containing many notoriously destructive plant pathogens. There are over 4,000 Alternaria/host associations recorded in the USDA Fungal Host Index ranking the genus 10th among nearly 2,000 fungal genera based on the total number of host records. While few Alternaria species appear to have a sexual stage to their life cycles, the majority lack sexuality altogether. Many pathogenic species of Alternaria are prolific toxin producers, which facilitates their necrotrophic lifestyle. Necrotrophs must kill host cells prior to colonization, and thus these toxins are secreted to facilitate host cell death often by triggering genetically programmed apoptotic pathways or by directly causing cell damage resulting in necrosis. While many species of Alternaria produce toxins with rather broad host ranges, a closely-related group of agronomically important Alternaria species produce selective toxins with a very narrow range often to the cultivar level. Genes that code for and direct the biosynthesis of these host-specific toxins for the Alternaria alternata sensu lato lineages are often contained on small, mostly conditionally dispensable, chromosomes. Besides the role of toxins in Alternaria pathogenesis, relatively few genes and/or gene products have been identified that contribute to or are required for pathogenicity. Recently, the completion of the A. brassicicola genome sequencing project has facilitated the examination of a substantial subset of genes for their role in pathogenicity. In this review, we will highlight the role of toxins in Alternaria pathogenesis and the use of A. brassicicola as a model representative for basic virulence studies for the genus as a whole. The current status of these research efforts will be discussed.