• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.211-217
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• 2012

Endophytic fungi were isolated from various tissues (root, stem, petiole, leaf, and flower stalk) of 3- and 4-year-old ginseng plants (Panax ginseng Meyer) cultivated in Korea. The isolated endophytic fungi were identified based on the sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 1-5.8-ITS 2. A morphological characterization was also conducted using microscopic observations. According to the identification, 127 fungal isolates were assigned to 27 taxa. The genera of Phoma, Alternaria and Colletotrichum were the most frequent isolates, followed by Fusarium, Entrophospora and Xylaria. Although 19 of the 27 taxa were identified at the species level, the remainder were classified at the genus level (6 isolates), phylum level (Ascomycota, 1 isolate), and unknown fungal species (1 isolate). Endophytic fungi of 13 and 19 species were isolated from 3- and 4-year-old ginseng plants, respectively, and Phoma radicina and Fusarium solani were the most frequently isolated species colonizing the tissues of the 3- and 4-year-old ginseng plants, respectively. The colonization frequency (CF%) was dependant on the age and tissue examined: the CFs of the roots and stems in the 3-year-old ginseng were higher than the CF of tissues in the 4-year-old plants. In contrast, higher CFs were observed in the leaves and petioles of 4-year-old plants, and endophytic fungi in the flower stalks were only detected in the 4-year-old plants. In conclusion, we detected diverse endophytic fungi in ginseng plants, which were distributed differently depending on the age and tissue examined.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.489-499
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• 2015

Background : Plants belonging to 5 species of the genus Eleutherococcus are currently distributed in the Korean peninsula. The traditional medicine 'Ogapi', derived from Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus and other related species, and 'Gasiogapi', derived from Eleutherococcus senticosus, are frequently mixed up and marketed. Therefore, accurated identification of their origins in urgently required. Methods and Results : Candidate genes from nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) of Eleutherococcus plants were analyzed. Whereas the nrDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were useful in elucidating the phylogenetic relationships among the plants, the cpDNA regions were not as effective. Therefore, a combined analysis with nrDNA-ITS was performed. Various combinations of nrDNA and matK were effective for discriminating among the plants. However, the matK and rpoC1 combination was ineffective for discriminating among some species. Based on these results, it was found that OG1, OG4, OG5, OG7, GS1, GS2, and GS3 were derived from E. sessiliflorus. In particular, it was confirmed that GS1, GS2, and GS3 were not derived from E. senticosus. However, more samples need to be analyzed because identification of the origins of OG2, OG3, OG6 and GS4 was not possible. Conclusion : The ITS2, ITS5a, and matK combination was the most effective in identifying the phylogenetic relationship among Eleutherococcus plants and traditional medicines based on Eleutherococcus.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.43-47
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• 2006

PMO-P4, being cultivated as "Sanghwang" in Korea, was proved to be P. baumii based on ITS (internal transcribed spacer) sequencing and RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) patterns along with some Phellinus species including P. linteus. The similaraty of ITS sequencing between PMO-P4 and other Phellinus species was given the range of 48.6%~72.2%, showing the highest homology from P. linteus and the lowest from P. gilvus.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.745-752
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• 2012

Compared to wide ranges of genetic variation of natural populations, very limited Miscanthus cultivar has been released. This study was the first report on the development of Miscanthus cultivar by means of radiation breeding. Seeds of M. sinensis were initially exposed to gamma rays of 250 Gy for 24 h, generated from a $^{60}Co$ gamma-irradiator. The irradiated seeds were sown and then the highly tiller-producing mutants were selected for this study. Biomass-related parameters including tiller number, plant height, stem diameter, and leaf number were measured. Ploidy level and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) were investigated to characterize the mutants compared to wild type (WT) Miscanthus. Plant height and tiller number were negatively related, where multi-tillering mutants were relatively short after 4 month growth. However stem diameter and leaf number were greater in mutants. All the materials used in this study were diploid, implying that the mutants with greater tiller numbers and stem diameter were not likely related to polyploidization. Based on the sequence of ITS regions, the mutants demonstrated base changes from the gamma irradiation where G+C content (%) was decreased in the ITS1, but increased in ITS2 when compared to WT sequence. ITS2 region was more variable than in ITS1 in the mutants, which collectively allows identification of the mutants from WT. Those mutants having enhanced tillers and allelic variations might be used as breeding materials for enhanced biomass-producing Miscanthus cultivars.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.58-63
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• 2015

Mold contamination is one of the detrimental factors affecting sawdust media-based shiitake cultivation in greenhouses. During mold monitoring of indoor air of greenhouses, several fungi were isolated. Among them, Aspergillus pulverulentus and Cosmospora butyri were found to be new in Korea and Lecanicillium psalliotae and L. antillanum were known in Korea without taxonomic validation. In this study the morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region or ${\beta}$-tubulin gene of the four identified species were described.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.102-109
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• 2018

Thistle is a perennial plant that is widely used for medicinal purposes. Information on the genetic diversity of thistle populations are great important for their conservation and germ plasmic utilization. Although thistle is an important medicinal plant species registered in South Korea, no molecular markers are currently available to distinguish them from other similar species from different countries. In this study, we developed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers derived from the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of genomic sequences to identify distinct Korean-specific thistle species via an amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS)-PCR and high resolution melting (HRM) curve analyses. We performed molecular authentication of four different kinds of thistle species from different regions using DNA sequences in the ITS intergenic region. We also developed a quantitative PCR assay using species-specific ITS primers, which allowed us to estimate the ratio of Korean-specific thistle species using varying ratios of mixed genomic DNA templates from the two species. The SNP markers developed in this study are useful for rapidly identifying specific thistle species from different countries.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2016

This study focused on isolation and identification of wild yeasts from soils in fields near mountains and elucidation of its yeast distribution. Several kinds of yeasts were isolated from various soils of Daejeon metropolitan city and Chungcheongnam-do in Korea and identified by BLAST search of nucleotide sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region including 5.8S rRNA and D1/D2 region of 26S rDNA. Ninety-seven strains of 20 species from 61 soil samples were isolated, of which Cryptococcus podzolicus (11 strains), Debaryomyces hansenii (6 strains), and Trichosporon asahii (6 strains) were dominant species.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.2
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• pp.172-178
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• 2010

The status of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal colonization in Pinus thunbergii seedlings was investigated 2 years after planting in an eastern coastal area of Korea. We established three $10{\times}10$ m plots at a P. thunbergii plantation in Gangneung and sampled lateral roots from 10 seedlings in each plot. ECMs were classified into morphological groups and the number of root tips of each morphotype was counted. In total, 8 ECM morphotypes were observed and fungal species that form each morphotype were identified by sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear rDNA. Suillus granulatus was the most abundant species (44.1-65.7% of relative abundance) in all plots, followed by Tomentella ellisii (14.0-37.8%) and unidentified fungus belonged to Atheliaceae (10.6-20.1%). These 3 fungal species accounted for almost all of the ECM abundance in each plot (94.9-99.8%). The remaining 5 fungal species were uncommon and rare. There was no clear difference in ECM fungal communities among plots. Community structure of ECM fungi in the young P. thunbergii plantation was simple and composed of fungal species that were also observed in mature coastal pine forests.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.252-258
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• 2016

In this study, endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaves of five species of woody plants in Jeju, Korea, namely Chamaecyparis obtusa, Cryptomeria japonica, Torreya nucifera, Ilex crenata, and Camellia japonica. The isolated fungal endophytes were identified based on their morphological and molecular characteristics including a sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer and 26S regions of rDNA and ${\beta}$-tubulin genes. Ten species of fungal endophytes have not been previously reported in Korea, namely Mycosphaerella aleuritidis, Neofusicoccum eucalyptorum, Neofusicoccum parvum, Phyllosticta citrichinensis, Phyllosticta cryptomeriae, Phomopsis cotoneastri, Sphaerulina rhododendricola, Guignardia mangiferae, Lophodermium jiangnanense, and Lophodermium minus.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.365-370
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• 2016

We collected leaves of Pinus koraiensis and Thuja koraiensis and roots of Bletilla striata from various sites in Korea. The leaf and root samples were surface-sterilized and endophytic fungi were isolated. Fungal isolates were identified based on their morphological characteristics and a phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer regions, large subunit regions, and the ${\beta}$-tubulin gene. Consequently, we identified five species of endophytic fungi, namely Colletotrichum simmondsii, Fusarium sterilihyphosum, Diatrypella pulvinata, Ochroconis globalis, and Sphaeria chrysosperma. These species have not been previously reported in Korea and we report them here with descriptions and illustrations.