• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.245-251
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• 2015

Alternative hosts increase the difficulty of disease management in crops because these alternate hosts provide additional sources of primary inoculum or refuges for diversity in the pathogen gene pool. Agropyron cristatum (crested wheatgrass), Bromus inermis (smooth bromegrass), Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass), Stipa viridula (green needlegrass), and Thinopyrum intermedium (intermediate wheatgrass), commonly identified in range, prairie, verge, and soil reclamation habitats, serve as additional hosts for Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, the cause of tan spot in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). A. cristatum (five lines), B. inermis (seven lines), P. smithii (four lines), S. viridula (two lines), and T. intermedium (six lines) were tested for their reactions to 30 representative P. tritici-repentis isolates from races 1-5. Plants were grown until the two-three-leaf stage in a greenhouse, inoculated individually with the 30 isolates, held at high humidity for 24 h, and rated after 7 days. All lines developed lesion types 1-2 (resistant) based on a 1-5 rating scale. Also, leaves from an additional plant set were infiltrated with two host selective toxins, Ptr ToxA as a pure preparation and Ptr ToxB as a dilute crude culture filtrate. All lines were insensitive to the toxins. Results indicate that these grass hosts have a limited or nonsignificant role in tan spot epidemiology on wheat in the northern Great Plains. Additionally, the resistant reactions demonstrated by the grass species in this research indicate the presence of resistance genes that can be valuable to wheat breeding programs for improving wheat resistance to P. tritici-repentis.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.306-309
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• 2022

Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer health benefits onto the host when administered at adequate doses. Most widely used probiotics, such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, are known to be elements of healthy gut microflora and hence are not considered a threat to the host. However, probiotics may pose a risk in certain populations with compromised immune systems or defects in gut barrier functions. Herein, we evaluated the safety of Bifidobacterium breve BB077, according to the safety evaluation guidelines for probiotics produced by the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation (NIFDS). The results show that B. breve BB077 is both non-hemolytic and non-cytolytic. In contrast, B. breve BB077 exhibited higher streptomycin and tetracycline resistance than the suggested NIFDS standard cut-off values. Hence, a genetic analysis of the streptomycin and tetracycline resistance genes was performed to determine the origin of antimicrobial resistance. Streptomycin and tetracycline resistance was shown have arisen from chromosomal mutations and considered intrinsic to the taxonomic group. In conclusion, the B. breve BB077 strain might be safe for human consumption.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.390-402
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• 2023

Salmonella are Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria commonly found in food animals such as poultry and swine and potentially constitute risks and threats to food safety and public health through transmissible virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. Although there are previous studies in the Philippines regarding genotypic and phenotypic AMR in Salmonella, there are very few on virulence and their associations. Hence, this study collected 700 Salmonella isolates from swine samples in abattoirs and wet markets among four districts in Metro Manila and characterized their genotypic virulence and β-lactam AMR profiles. Gene frequency patterns and statistical associations between virulence and bla genes and comparisons based on location types (abattoirs and wet markets) and districts were also determined. High prevalence (>50%) of virulence genes was detected encompassing Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs) 1-5 suggesting their pathogenic potential, but none possessed plasmid-borne virulence genes spvR and spvC. For bla, bla_TEM was detected with high prevalence (>45%) and revealed significant associations to four SPI genes, namely, avrA, hilA, mgtC, and spi4R, which suggest high resistance potential particularly to β-lactam antibiotics and relationships with pathogenicity that remain mechanistically unestablished until now. Lastly, comparisons of location types and districts showed variations in gene prevalence suggesting effects from environmental factors throughout the swine production chain. This study provides vital data on the genotypic virulence and AMR of Salmonella from swine in abattoirs and wet markets that suggest their pathogenicity and resistance potential for policymakers to implement enforced surveillance and regulations for the improvement of the Philippine swine industry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.70.1-70
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• 2003

It was investigated whether culture filtrates produced by X. fastiduosa could be used to determine varietal susceptibility in grape cultivars to anthracnose as a substitute for pathogen inoculation or field screening. Bioassay of grape leaves with culture filtrates showed that their phytotoxicities were active and host-selective. Ethyl acetate extracts from those also showed the toxicities and host selectivity among grape cultivars. The sensitive range of plants to culture filtrates and their ethyl acetate extracts was consistent with the host range to the pathogen. Susceptible cultivars were sensitive to even highly diluted culture filtrates but resistant cultivars were not affected even at original culture filtrates. Susceptible cultivars were sensitive to the undiluted culture filtrates than highly diluted culture filtrates and the younger leaves were the more sensitive to the culture filtrates and their ethyl acetate extracts in grapes.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.94-97
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• 1990

The restriction cleavage map of multi-copy recombinant plasmid, pJY502 (5.5 kb), carrying the thiostrepton resistance gene (tsr) was determined. Comparison of the restriction pattern with that of Streptomyces plasmids previously demonstrated that pJY502 was novel. The plasmid pJY502 had a broad host range in Streptomyces and contained single BgtII site for cloning purpose. Transformation frequency of pJY502 was $2.2 \times 10^5$ in S. lividans. E. coti-Streptomyces bifunctional plasmid, pJY504, was also constructed.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.22 no.2 s.55
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• pp.52-66
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• 1983

The brown planthopper, N. lugens (Stal), has become a serious pest of rice in tropical Asia during the last decade. At high pest density, its feeding damage causes 'hopperburn' or complete wilting and drying of the rice plant. It also transmits grassy and ragged stunt virus diseases. The estimated losses caused by the pest in tropical Asia exceed $US\$300$ millions. While cultivation of resistant rice varieties has proved to be highly effective against the pest, their long-term stability is threatened because of the evolution of prolific biotypes which can destroy these varieties. At present, identification of biotypes is based principally on the differential reactions of host rice varieties to the pest and on host-mediated behavioral and physiological responses of the pest. Recent findings of morphological differences in adult rostrum, legs, and antennae, body parts that possess receptors for host plant location and discrimination, and cytological differences in N. lugens populations maintained as stock cultures strongly complement other biotype studies. So far, three N. lugens biotypes have been identified in the Philippines. Biotype I can survive on and damage varieties that do not carry and genes for resistance, while Biotype 2 survives on resistant varieties carrying Bph 1 gene and Biotype 3 on varieties carrying gene bph 2. However, none of these biotypes can survive on varieties with genes Bph 3 or bph 4. Several varieties which are resistant in the Philippines are susceptible in India and Sri Lanka as the South Asian biotypes of N. lugens are more virulent than Southeast Asian biotypes. To monitor the pest biotypes in different geographical regions and to identify new sources of resistance, an International Brown Planthopper Nursery has been established in many cooperating countries. The evolution of biotypes is an exceedingly complex process which is governed by the interactions of genetic and biological factors of the pest populations and the genetic makeup of the cultivated varieties. While the strategy for sequential release of varieties with major resistance genes has been fairly successful so far, the monegenic resistance of these varieties makes them vulnerable to the development of the pest biotypes. Therefore, present breeding endeavors envisage utilizing both major and minor resistance genes for effective control of the pest.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 1988

Ozone, an atmospheric pollutant, can damage similar UV and X-rays DNA and its components. It is possible then that the KNA damage produced by this gas are similar, to some extent, to those of radiations and that they could be repaired by the same DNA repair mechanisms. It has been observed in Escherichia coli that radiosensitive strains such as lex A, rec A and pol A, all deficient to some extent for DNA repair, are more sensitive to ozone than a wild type strain. We have thendetermined the ozone resistance and host-cell reactivation of ozone-damaged T3 phages for the E. coli double mutants pol A, lex A, uvr B, lex A, uvr A, rec A and rec A lox A. According to the results, the DNA polymerase 1 plays a key role in ozone resistance and Type 11 mechanism and/or shory patch excision repair are the most important for it. The interactions between the different DNA repair mechanisms are secondary. There is a strong correlation between ozone resistance and the capacity to reactivate T3 phages damaged by ozone.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.61-61
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• 2015

Rice blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the most destructive diseases of rice worldwide. The rice - M. oryzae pathosystem has become a model in the study of plant - fungal interactions due to its economic importance and accumulating knowledge. During the evolutionary arms race with M. oryzae, rice plants evolved a repertoire of Resistance (R) genes to protect themselves from diseases in a gene-for-gene fashion. M. oryzae secretes a battery of small effector proteins to manipulate host functions for its successful infection, and some of them are recognized by host R proteins as avirulence effectors (AVR), which turns on strong immunity. Therefore, the analysis of interactions between AVRs and their cognate R proteins provide crucial insights into the molecular basis of plant - fungal interactions. Rice blast resistance genes Pik, Pia, Pii comprise pairs of protein-coding ORFs, Pik-1 and Pik-2, RGA4 and RGA5, Pii-1 and Pii-2, respectively. In all three cases, the paired genes are tightly linked and oriented to the opposite directions. In the AVR-Pik/Pik interaction, it has been unraveled that AVR-Pik binds to the N-terminal coiled-coil domain of Pik-1. RGA4 and RGA5 are necessary and sufficient to mediate Pia resistance and recognize the M. oryzae effectors AVR-Pia and AVR1-CO39. A domain at the C-terminus of RGA5 characterized by a heavy metal associated domain was identified as the AVR-binding domain of RGA5. Similarly, physical interactions among Pii-1, Pii-2 and AVR-Pii are being analyzed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1983-1993
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• 2017

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium, one of the most common foodborne pathogens, is transmitted mainly through contaminated food derived from infected animals. In this study, S. Typhimurium ST1120, an isolate from pig feces in Korea, was subjected to whole-genome analysis to understand its genomic features associated with virulence. The genome of ST1120 was found to have a circular chromosome of 4,855,001 bp (GC content 52.2%) and a plasmid of 6,863 bp (GC content 46.0%). This chromosome was predicted to have 4,558 open reading frames (ORFs), 17 pseudogenes, 22 rRNA genes, and 86 tRNA genes. Its plasmid was predicted to have three ORFs. Comparative genome analysis revealed that ST1120 was phylogenetically close to S. Typhimurium U288, a critical isolate in piggery farms and food chains in Europe. In silico functional analysis predicted that the ST1120 genome harbored multiple genes associated with virulence and stress resistance, including Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs containing SPI-1 to SPI-5, SPI-13, and SPI-14), C63PI locus, ST104 prophage locus, and various antibiotic resistance genes. In accordance with these analysis results, ST1120 showed competence in invasion and survival abilities when it was added to host cells. It also exhibited robust resistance against antibiotics in comparison with other S. Typhimurium strains. This is the first report of the complete genome sequence of S. Typhimurium isolated from swine in Korea. Comparative genome analysis between ST1120 and other Salmonella strains would provide fruitful information toward understanding Salmonella host specificity and developing control measures against S. Typhimurium infection.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.126-126
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• 2004