• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.167-174
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• 2017

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is one of the most common forms of community-acquired pneumonia in children and adolescents. Outbreaks of MPP occur in 3- to 7-year cycles worldwide; recent epidemics in Korea occurred in 2006-2007, 2011, and 2015-2016. Although MPP is known to be a mild, self-limiting disease with a good response to macrolides, it can also progress into a severe and fulminant disease. Notably, since 2000, the prevalence of macrolide-resistant MPP has rapidly increased, especially in Asian countries, recently reaching up to 80%-90%. Macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MRMP) harbors a point mutation in domain V of 23S rRNA with substitutions mainly detected at positions 2063 and 2064 of the sequence. The excessive use of macrolides may contribute to these mutations. MRMP can lead to clinically refractory pneumonia, showing no clinical or radiological response to macrolides, and can progress to severe and complicated pneumonia. Refractory MPP is characterized by an excessive immune response against the pathogen as well as direct injury caused by an increasing bacterial load. A change of antibiotics is recommended to reduce the bacterial load. Tetracyclines or quinolones can be alternatives for treating MRMP. Otherwise, corticosteroid or intravenous immunoglobulin can be added to the treatment regimen as immunomodulators to downregulate an excessive host immune reaction and alleviate immune-mediated pulmonary injury. However, the exact starting time point, dose, or duration of immunomodulators has not been established. This review focuses on the mechanism of resistance acquisition and treatment options for MRMP pneumonia.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.223-233
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• 2013

Rice stripe virus (RSV) is one of the most destructive viruses of rice, and greatly reduces rice production in China, Japan, and Korea, where mostly japonica cultivars of rice are grown. RSV is transmitted by the small brown plant-hopper (SBPH) in a persistent and circulative-propagative manner. Several methods have been developed for detection of RSV, which is composed of four single-stranded RNAs that encode seven proteins. Genome sequence data and comparative phylogenetic analysis have been used to identify the origin and diversity of RSV isolates. Several rice varieties resistant to RSV have been selected and QTL analysis and fine mapping have been intensively performed to map RSV resistance loci or genes. RSV genes have been used to generate several genetically modified transgenic rice plants with RSV resistance. Recently, genome-wide transcriptome analyses and deep sequencing have been used to identify mRNAs and small RNAs involved in RSV infection; several rice host factors that interact with RSV proteins have also been identified. In this article, we review the current statues of RSV research and propose integrated approaches for the study of interactions among RSV, rice, and the SBPH.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.133-144
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• 2016

Powdery mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) causes severe damage to pumpkin crops grown in open fields and plastic house. Initially, we used ten accessions of pumpkin species; Cucurbita pepo (3), C. maxima (2), C. moschata (2), and C. argyrosperma (3) to study the disease progress in different stages of seedling development. Commercial pumpkin varieties were used as susceptible host for inoculum management and young seedlings were inoculated by dusting powdery mildew spores on the cotyledons, 1-true-leaf and 2-true-leaf seedling stages. Based on initial study, we further evaluated 218 pumpkinaccessions for their resistance to powdery mildew in different seedling stages under plastic house. Area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) and relative AUDPC (rAUDPC) was higher in cotyledonary and 1-true-leaf than 2-true-leaf stage. Seedlings at cotyledons and 1-true-leaf seedling stage displayed more susceptibility to powdery mildew. Based on evaluation of 2-true-leaf stage, IT 110859 and IT 278459 from C. pepo and C. argyrosperma identified as resistant (<0.2). Of the 228 pumpkin accessions, 21 (9.2%) pumpkin accessions consisting of C. pepo (2), C. maxima (5), C. moschata (13), and C. argyrosperma (1) exhibited intermediate resistance (<0.4) to powdery mildew and these accessions are useful to growers for its rational management.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.365-373
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• 2005

This study was carried out for looking into the status of susceptibility of pest insects to insecticides. Each insect Brown planthopper(BPH), Green leaf hopper(GLH), Smaller brown plant hopper(SBPH), Rice water weevil(RWW), were captured at various areas where the host crops were being cultivated and the susceptibility level of each pest insect was investigated. The susceptibility of each pest insect varied by insect species and areas where they were caught. BPHs kept higher level of susceptibility comparing to susceptible reference strain except to most of tested insecticides except imidacloprid (Resistance ratio was 68). The susceptibilities of GLH and SBPH to most of insecticides for their control did not developed markedly since 1976 except fipronil and imidacloprid which is widely used for WRR control. The insecticides used for control of WRR were very effective even at the concentration of one fourth of recommending concentration, but in 2000 suwon strain of WRR showed markedly reduction of susceptibility to carbofuran.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.115-122
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• 2021

Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) are responsible for regulating biofilm formation, persister cell formation, pmtR expression, host cell lysis, and anti-bacterial effects. To determine the effect of psm deletion on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, we investigated psm deletion mutants including Δpsmα, Δpsmβ, and Δpsmαβ. These mutants exhibited increased β-lactam antibiotic resistance to ampicillin and oxacillin that was shown to be caused by increased N-acetylmannosamine kinase (nanK) mRNA expression, which regulates persister cell formation, leading to changes in the pattern of phospholipid fatty acids resulting in increased anteiso-C15:0, and increased membrane hydrophobicity with the deletion of PSMs. When synthetic PSMs were applied to Δpsmα and Δpsmβ mutants, treatment of Δpsmα with PSMα1-4 and Δpsmβ with PSMβ1-2 restored the sensitivity to oxacillin and slightly reduced the biofilm formation. Addition of a single fragment showed that α1, α2, α3, and β2 had an inhibiting effect on biofilms in Δpsmα; however, β1 showed an enhancing effect on biofilms in Δpsmβ. This study demonstrates a possible reason for the increased antibiotic resistance in psm mutants and the effect of PSMs on biofilm formation.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

Fusarium culmorum is one of the most important causal agents of root rot of wheat. In this study, 10 F. culmorum isolates were collected from farms located in five agro-ecological regions of Morocco. These were used to challenge 20 durum wheat genotypes via artificial inoculation of plant roots under controlled conditions. The isolate virulence was determined by three traits (roots browning index, stem browning index, and severity of root rot). An alpha-lattice design with three replicates was used, and the resulting ANOVA revealed a significant (P < 0.01) effect of isolate (I), genotype (G), and G × I interaction. A total of four response types were observed (R, MR, MS, and S) revealing that different genes in both the pathogen and the host were activated in 53% of interactions. Most genotypes were susceptible to eight or more isolates, while the Moroccan cultivar Marouan was reported resistant to three isolates and moderately resistant to three others. Similarly, the Australian breeding line SSD1479-117 was reported resistant to two isolates and moderately resistant to four others. The ICARDA elites Icaverve, Berghisyr, Berghisyr2, Amina, and Icaverve2 were identified as moderately resistant. Principal component analysis based on the genotypes responses defined two major clusters and two sub-clusters for the 10 F. culmorum isolates. Isolate Fc9 collected in Khemis Zemamra was the most virulent while isolate Fc3 collected in Haj-Kaddour was the least virulent. This work provides initial results for the discovery of differential reactions between the durum lines and isolates and the identification of novel sources of resistance.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2024

Objectives: Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen that occurs as harmless commensals in the intestine, urogenital tract, and skin. It has been influenced by a variety of host conditions and has now evolved as a resistant strain. The aim of this study was thus detect the fluconazole resistant C. albicans from the root caries specimens and to computationally evaluate the interactions of an opaque-phase ABC transporter protein with the Psidium guajava bio-active compounds. Methods: 20 carious scrapings were collected from patients with root caries and processed for the isolation of C. albicans and was screened for fluconazole resistance. Genomic DNA was extracted and molecular characterization of Cdrp1 and Cdrp2 was done by PCR amplification. P. guajava methanolic extract was checked for the antifungal efficacy against the resistant strain of C. albicans. Further in-silico docking involves retrieval of ABC transporter protein and ligand optimization, molinspiration assessment on drug likeness, docking simulations and visualizations. Results: 65% of the samples showed the presence of C.albicans and 2 strains were fluconazole resistant. Crude methanolic extract of P. guajava was found to be promising against the fluconazole resistant strains of C. albicans. In-silico docking analysis showed that Myricetin was a promising candidate with a high docking score and other drug ligand interaction scores. Conclusion: The current study emphasizes that bioactive compounds from Psidium guajava to be a promising candidate for treating candidiasis in fluconazole resistant strains of C. albicans However, further in-vivo studies have to be implemented for the experimental validation of the same in improving the oral health and hygiene.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2008

Invasion mechanisms of pathogens and counteracting defense mechanisms of plants are highly diverse and perpetually evolving. While most classical studies of plant defense have focused only on defense-specific factor-mediated responses, recent work is beginning to shed light on the involvement of non-stress signal components, especially growth and developmental processes. This shift in focus links plant resistance more closely with growth and development. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of how pathogens manipulate host developmental processes and, conversely, of how plants deploy their developmental processes for self-protection. We conclude by introducing our recent work on UNI, a novel R protein in Arabidopsis which mediates cross-talk between developmental processes and defense responses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.30-31
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• 2003

Total 291 isolates of Ampelomyces quisqualis were obtained from 32 species of powdery mildew fungi and a selected isolate, Ampelomyces quisqualis 94013 (AQ94013) effectively hyperparasitized 6 species of Sphaerotheca and one species of Erysiphe which cause serious damage on many important crops in Korea. Moreover, AQ94013 showed antagonistic effects against 12 major fungal plant pathogens as well. Results indicated that the present isolate is not a host specific hyperparasite and has a broad spectrum of biocontrol potential. Providentially, AQ94013 revealed resistance to a number of agrochemicals so as to be applied with the chemicals reciprocally.(중략)

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.80.2-81
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• 2003

Since hot peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) are getting reputation as an important source of vitamins, medicine and many other areas, consumption and cultivation is being increased in the world. In spite of this usefulness, so little attention has been given to the hot pepper plants. To date, less than 500 nucleotide sequences including redundancy has been identified in NCBI database. Therefore we started to EST sequencing project for initial characterization of the genome, because of the large genome size of hot pepper (2.7 3.3 ${\times}$ 109 bp), To date, a set of 10,000 non-redundant genes were identified by EST sequencing for microarray-based gene expression studies. At present, cDNA microarrays containing 4,685 unigene clones are used for hybridization labeled targets derived from pathogen infected and uninoculated leaf tissues. Monitoring of gene expression profiles of hot pepper interactions with soybean pustule pathogen (Xag；Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycine) will be presented.