• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.11-11
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• 2015

A total of sixty-six samples of Nuruk, a fermention starter used to make the Korean traditional rice wine, Makgeolli, were collected from central and southern regions of Korea in 2013 and 2014. We classified two groups of the Nuruk samples, "commercial" and "home-made", according to the manufacturing procedure and purpose of use. Commercial Nuruks were made in a controlled environment where the temperature and humidity are fixed and the final product is supplied to Makgeolli manufacturers. Home-made Nuruks were made under uncontrolled conditions in the naturally opened environment and were intended for use in the production of small amounts of home-brewed Makgeolli. We obtained more than five hundred isolates including filamentous fungi and yeasts from the Nuruk samples followed by identification of fungal species. Also we stored glycerol stocks of each single isolate at $-70^{\circ}C$. We identified the species of each isolate based on the sequences of ITS regions amplified with two different universal primer pairs. We also performed morphological characterization of the filamentous fungi and yeast species through observations under the microscope. We investigated the major fungal species of commercial and home-made Nuruks by counting the colony forming units (CFU) and analyzing the occurrence tendency of fungal species. While commercial Nuruks contained mostly high CFU of yeasts, home-made Nuruks showed relatively high occurrence of filamentous fungi. One of the representative Nuruk manufacturers used both domestic wheat bran and imported ones, mainly from US, as raw material. Depending on the source of ingredient, the fungal diversity was somewhat different. Another commercial Nuruk sample was collected twice, once in 2013 and again in 2014, and showed different diversity of fungal species in each year. Nuruks obtained from the southern regions of Korea and Jeju island showed high frequency of yeast such as Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Pichia species as well as unique filamentous fungus, Monascus species. S. fibuligera was easily found in many Nuruk samples with high CFU. The major filamentous fungi were Aspergillus, Lichtheimia, Mucor and Penicillium species. In order to further our understanding of the isolates and their potential industrial applications, we assayed three enzymes, alpha amylase, glucoamylase and acid protease from 140 isolates out of about five hundred isolates and selected about 10 excellent strains with high enzyme activities. With these fungal isolates, we will perform omics analyses including genomics, transcriptomics, metabolic pathway analyses, and metabolomics followed by whole genome sequencing of unique isolates associated with the basic research of Nuruk and that also has applications in the Makgeolli making process.

• Mycobiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.317-320
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• 2011

Honey production from approximately 1.6 million colonies owned by about 199,000 Korean beekeepers was almost 23,000 metric tons in 2009. Nosema causes significant losses in honey production and the virus decreases population size. We initiated a survey of honey bee colonies on the blooming period of Acacia to determine the prevalence of Nosema and virus in 2011. Most Korean beekeepers have moved from the south to north of Korea to get Acacia nectar for 2 mon. This provided a valuable opportunity to sample bees originating from diverse areas in one location. Twenty hives owned by 18 beekeepers were sampled in this year. Nosema spore counts ranged from zero to 1,710,000 spores per bee. The average number of nosema spores per bee was 580,000. Approximately 95% of the colonies were infected with Nosema, based on the presence of spores in the flowering period of Acacia. This indicates that Nosema is the predominant species affecting honeybee colonies. Also, the seven most important honeybee viruses were investigated by reverse transcription-PCR. Among them, four different viruses were detected in samples. Black queen cell virus was present in all samples. Chronic bee paralysis virus was detected in 10% of samples. Deformed wing virus was present in only 5% of the samples. Prevalence of Sacbrood virus was 15%. However, Cloudy wing virus, Israel acute paralysis virus and kashmir bee virus were not detected in any of samples.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.19-19
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• 2014

This study included the analysis of mushroom data collected from Mt. Chiak in Gangwon-do using various methods. Former studies of Korean mushrooms are limited by regional characters and there is less species diversity among the regions. This study tried to find a way for the forecast of mushroom distribution and appearance by indexes of species diversity. The indexes used in this study include the number of fungi (N), the number of species (S), similarity index (C), richness index (R1, R2), variety index (V1, V2), evenness index (E1, E2, E3, E4, E5), and dominance index (D1) to analyze variety of species diversity. Analyses of data of fungi using a multistage cluster sampling indicate that the average value of C for years was higher than the average value of C for areas. The mushrooms consisted of 208 species in 686 individuals in limited fungal collection from 2002 to 2003. One hundred thirty nine species in 393 individuals were collected in 2002, and 122 species 293 individuals were collected in 2003. The individuals collected in 2003 were smaller than 2002's individuals. Similarity, richness, and variety indexes' values of 2003 were reduced than 2002's values but dominance index of 2003 was increased than 2002's value. Generally the species diversity of the environment to evaluate the index of similarity, richness, and variety was a higher index; dominance index was lower than that of the surrounding environment, suggesting a good diversity. As a result, the occurrence of mushrooms in the surrounding environment and the various factors seem fell in 2002 compared to 2003. The majority genus of the limited fungal collection was Mycena genus in 63 individuals; the majority species was Laccaria laccata in 34 individuals. Ninety three species in 106 individuals were collected by the extended collection and the majority genus of the extended collection was Amanita genus in 17 individuals; the majority species was Amanita citrina (Schaeff.) Pers. which was found in 5 individuals. This demonstrates that periodical similarity's value was 0.159 is higher than special similarity's 0.119. This indicates that the probability of the appearance of same mushrooms in the same area in following year is higher than the probability of the appearance of same mushrooms in the surrounding area in same year. The value of coefficient of variation (CV), in which the amount of change is much or less by N is higher than the CV value by S. CV value of dominance index(D) was the highest r point among other indexes, and evenness index (E) was the lowest point among other indexes. The correlation matrix with 66 combinations between the indexes, the combinations with correlations was 46 combinations. These results revealed that indexes of R1, V2, and E1 were proper to represent species diversity of fungi based on the correlation matrix and the theory of statistical independence which means there is no or less mutual association. This research would contribute to the study about variable living creature by measuring method and in the future this would be used to figure out regulation about fungi with their correlation, values in ecosystem, develop improving new models about agricultural fungi species and numbers by investigating agricultural variable species.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.13-13
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• 2014

Two kinds of mushrooms, Gumji (金芝; Ganoderma) and Soji, were described in old book of Samguksagi (History of the three kingdoms; B.C 57~A.D 668; written by Bu Sik Kim in 1145) in Korea-dynasty. Many kinds of mushrooms were also described in more than 17 kinds of old books during Chosun-dynasty (1392~1910) in Korea. Nowadays, mushroom cultivation has been increased through out the world last decade years. Production of mushrooms has also been increased 10-20% and many varieties have been cultivated. Similar trends were also observed in Korea. Approximately two hundred commercial strains of 37 species in mushrooms were developed and distributed to cultivators. Somatic hybrid variety of oyster mushroom 'Wonhyeong-neutari' were developed by protoplast fusion, and distributed to grower in 1989. The fruiting body yield index of somatic hybrids of Pleurotus ranged between 27 and 155 compared to parental values of 100 and 138. In addition, more diverse mushroom varieties such as Phellinus baumi, Auricularia spp., Pleurotus ferulae, Hericium erinaceus, Hypsizigus marmoreus, Grifola frondosa, Agrocybe aegerita and Pleurotus cornucopiae have been attempted to cultivate in small scale cultivation. Production of mushrooms as food was 190,111 metric tons valued at 800 billion Korean Won (one trillion won if include mushroom factory products; 1dollar = 1,040 Won) in 2011. Major cultivated species are Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus eryngii, Flammulina velutipes, Lentinula edodes, Agaricus bisporus, and Ganoderma lucidum, which cover 90% of total production. Since mushroom export was initiated from 1960 to 1980, the export and import of mushrooms have been increased in Korea. Technology developed for liquid spawn production and automatic cultivation systems lead to the reduction of the production cost resulting in the increasement of mushroom export. However some species were imported because of high production cost for these mushrooms requiring the effective cultivation methods. Developing of effective post-harvest system will be also directly related to mushroom export. In academic area, RDA scientists have been conducting mushroom genome projects. One of the main results is the whole genome sequencing of Flammulina velutipes for molecular breeding. An electrophoretic karyotype of of F. velutipes was obtained using CHEF with 7 chromosomes, with a total genome size of approximately 26.7 Mb. The mususcript of the genome of F. velutipes was published in PLOS ONE this year. For medicinal mushrooms, we have been conducting the genome research on Cordyceps and its related species for developing functional foods using this mushroom. In 2013, Korea Food and Drug Administraion (KFDA) approved Cordyceps mushroom for its value as an immune booster.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.55-55
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• 2015

Rust is one of the most destructive diseases on economically important plants such as agricultural and horticultural crops, as well as forest trees [1]. Chemical treatment is the most effective means to control rust, but use of the chemical fungicides involves inevitable risks to human health and environment [2]. Unfortunately, biocontrol is currently impracticable for rust disease management [3]. It is necessary to exploit biocontrol agents to help prevent rust diseases. As a fundamental research for future development of biocontrol agents for rusts, biodiversity of hyperparasites occurring on rust fungi was investigated. During 2006-2010, 197 fungal isolates of the rust hyperparasites were collected and isolated from various combinations of mycohosts and plant hosts in many regions of Korea. Based on morphological and molecular data, they were identified as 8 genera and 12 species. Besides, phylogenetic relationships between the hyperparasites and related taxa were inferred. A total of 114 isolates of Pseudovirgaria were obtained from rust pustules of Phragmidium spp. and Pucciniastrum agrimoniae infecting rosaceous plants. Phylogenetic analysis using multigene sequences revealed a high level of genetic variability among many isolates of Pseudovirgaria and close correlation between the isolates and mycohosts. Only two species of Pseudovirgaria, P. hyperparasitica and P. grisea are often difficult to distinguish by their morphological similarity, but on the molecular basis they were clearly differentiated from each other. There had been no previous record of P. grisea outside Europe, but the present study has proved its presence in Korea. Among six distinct groups (five of P. hyperparasitica and one of P. grisea) within the Pseudovirgaria isolates, each lineage of P. hyperparasitica was closely associated with specific mycohosts and thus might have cospeciated with their mycohosts, which probably led to coevolution. Although P. grisea possesses a host preference for Phragmidium species occurring on Rubus, it was not specific for a mycohost. P. grisea seems to evolve in the direction of having a broad mycohost range. Seventeen isolates of Verticillium-like fungi were isolated from rust sori. Based on morphological data and DNA sequence analysis, the isolates were identified as three Lecanicillium species, viz. L. attenuatum, Lecanicillium sp. 1, Lecanicillium sp. 2, and V. epiphytum. The unidenified two species of Lecanicillium appear to be previously unknown taxa. Sixty-six isolates of miscellaneous hyphomycetes belonging to 6 species of 5 genera were obtained from pustules of rust fungi. On the basis of morphological and molecular analyses, the miscellaneous hyphomycetes growing on rusts were identified as Acrodontium crateriforme, Cladophialophora pucciniophila, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Phacellium vossianum, Ramularia coleosporii, and R. uredinicola.

• Mycobiology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2012

Nuruk contributes to the unique characteristics of Korean alcoholic beverages. In this study, the effects of nuruk extracts (NE) on anti-oxidant characters, melanogenesis, and anti-photoaging activity were investigated. NEs were obtained from the 70% ethanol extracts of six types of nuruk, which have been used in brewing of fermented alcohol beverages in Korea. First, various antioxidant characteristics were identified in terms of 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiozoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression, and inhibition of xanthine oxidase activity. NE#4 exhibited potent ABTS radical scavenging activity ($IC_{50}$ = 19.51 ${\mu}g$/mL). Compared with NE#4, relatively lower levels of activity were observed for NE#3 and NE#6, with $IC_{50}$ values of 90.99 and 76.88 ${\mu}g$/mL, respectively. According to results of western blot analysis for determination of SOD expression in $H_2O_2$-treated HepG2 cells, NE#5 and NE#6 induced a dramatic increase in the expression ratio of SOD, compared to the group treated with $H_2O_2$ only. Activity of xanthine oxidase, which converts xanthine into uric acid, generating superoxide ions, was inhibited by NE#4 and NE#6 in a dose-dependent manner. NE#4 induced significant inhibition of mushroom tyrosinase activity. A reduction in cellular melanin contents of 80% was observed in B16F1 melanocytes treated with NE#5 and NE#6; these effects were similar to those of arbutin at 100 ${\mu}M$. In addition, gelatin zymography and reverse transcription-PCR analysis were performed for assessment of anti-photoaging activity of Nuruk. Treatment with NE#6 resulted in dramatically inhibited activities of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2/-9, suppressed expression of MMP-1, and increased expression of type-1 procollagen. Results of gelatin zymography for NE#4 and NE#5 were similar, to a slightly lesser degree. These results suggest the potential of NE#4 and NE#6 as natural ingredients for use in functional foods and cosmetics.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.49-49
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• 2014

South Korea is covered primarily by temperate vegetation; therefore, foliicolous lichens may not be expected to play an important role in its lichen flora. Indeed, more than 100 years after the first lichen record from South Korea reported by Hue, the paper "Pyrenocarpous lichens in Korea" published by Moon and Aptroot, reported on the presence of two foliicolous lichens, Strigula nemathora Mont, and S. smaragdula Fr., for the first time in South Korea. No detailed reports on foliicolous lichens have since been published in South Korea. In Japan, the neighboring country, approximately 83 foliicolous lichen species are distributed at the southernmost part under temperate to subtropical climatic conditions. However, a large number of foliicolous lichens, with many recent records, have been reported in neighboring countries like China and Taiwan. According to Thor et al., studies on foliicolous lichen flora of Asia are comparatively poor compared to those reported from America. There are six lichenogeographical regions: the Neotropics, Valdivia, Tethyan, African Paleotropics, eastern Paleotropics, and Neozelandic-Tasmanian, which are demarcated based on the known worldwide distribution pattern of foliicolous lichen flora. South Korea belongs to the eastern paleotropic region, where a higher number of local endemic foliicolous lichens have been reported. So far, there are a total of six known foliicolous lichen taxa from South Korea; S. concreta, S. macrocarpa, S. melanobapha, S. nemathora, S. smaragdula, and S. subelegans from Jeju Island. So far, the genus Strigula is the only known representative of the foliicolous lichen flora in South Korea. Among the recorded species, S. concreta, S. smaragdula, and S. subelegans are abundant and widespread. Japan, the closest area to Jeju Island, has the same distribution pattern of foliicolous lichens, with S. smaragdula, S. melanobapha, and S. subtilissima. Pollen studies conducted by Chung reported that changes in vegetation on Jeju Island, due mainly to deglacial warming and the influence of geographical change, resulted from sea-level rises. In general, all of the foliicolous lichens observed so far were restricted to the southernmost part of South Korea, particularly Jeju Island. Island might be influenced by its geographical setting. One reason could be the close dispersal distances of spores and vegetative propagules from areas such as the southern part of Japan and eastern part of China, where more foliicolous lichens can be found. Thor et al. also showed that the southern part of Japan harbors more foliicolous lichens than the northern part. Considering that China is close to Jeju Island, many foliicolous lichens, including S. concreta, S. macrocarpa, S. nemanthora, and S. smaragdula, have been reported from Yunnan province, the southernmost part of China. Geographically, this province is far away from Jeju Island. In other provinces, such as Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, which are closer to Jeju Island, no foliicolous lichens have been recorded so far. Therefore, the chance of spores and propagules coming from such closer areas is questionable. Thus, the location of origin of ancestors of foliicolous lichens of South Korea and the time and means of their invasion of this island is controverisial. The current study would lead the way to finding answers to the above mentioned questions.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.44-44
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• 2018

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by infection with Fusarium graminearum leads to enormous losses to crop growers, and may contaminate grains with a number of Fusarium mycotoxins that pose serious risks to human and animal health. Antagonistic bacteria that are used to prevent FHB offer attractive alternatives or supplements to synthetic fungicides for controlling FHB without the negative effects of chemical management. Out of 500 bacterial strains isolated from soil, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 showed strong antifungal activity and was considered a potential source for control strategies to reduce FHB. B. amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 produces several cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) including iturin A, fengycin, and surfactin. Iturin A inhibits spore germination of F. graminearum. Fengycin or surfactin alone did not display any inhibitory activity against spore germination at concentrations less than 30 ug/ml, but a mixture of iturin A, fengycin, and surfactin showed a remarkable synergistic inhibitory effect on F. graminearum spore germination. The fermentation broth and formulation of B. amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 strain reduced the disease incidence of FHB in wheat. Furthermore, co-application of B. amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 and chemical fungicides resulted in synergistic in vitro antifungal effects and significant disease control efficacy against FHB under greenhouse and field conditions, suggesting that B. amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 has a strong chemosensitizing effect. The synergistic antifungal effect of B. amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 and chemical fungicides in combination may result from the cell wall damage and altered cell membrane permeability in the phytopathogenic fungi caused by the CLP mixtures and subsequent increased sensitivity of F. graminearum to fungicides. In addition, B. amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 showed the potential to reduce trichothecenes mycotoxin production. The results of this study indicate that B. amyloliquefaciens JCK-12 could be used as an available biocontrol agent or as a chemosensitizer to chemical fungicides for controlling FHB disease and as a strategy for preventing the contamination of harvested crops with mycotoxins.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.33-33
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• 2018

Air-borne plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum and seed-borne plant pathogenic bacterium Burkholderia glumae are cause similar disease symptoms in rice heads. Here we showed that two pathogens frequently co-isolated in rice heads and F. graminearum is resistant to toxoflavin produced by B. glumae while other fungal genera are sensitive to the toxin. We have tried to clarify the resistant mechanism of F. graminearum against toxoflavin and the ecological reason of co-existence of the two pathogens in rice. We found that F. graminearum carries resistance to toxoflavin as accumulating lipid in fungal cells. Co-cultivation of two pathogens resulted in increased conidia and enhanced chemical attraction and attachment of the bacterial cells to the fungal conidia. Bacteria physically attached to fungal conidia, which protected bacterium cells from UV light and allowed disease dispersal. Chemotaxis analysis showed that bacterial cells moved toward the fungal exudation compared to a control. Even enhanced the production of phytotoxic trichothecene by the fungal under presence of toxoflavin and disease severity on rice heads was significantly increased by co-inoculation rather than single inoculation. This study suggested that the undisclosed potentiality of air-born infection of bacteria using the fungal spores for survival and dispersal.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.32-44
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• 2006

To investigate non-aflatoxin-production of A. oryzae at the molecular level, an aflatoxin biosynthesis gene homolog cluster of RIB 40 was analyzed. Although most genes in the corresponding cluster exhibited from 97 to 99 % similarity to those of Aspergillus flavus, three genes shared 93 % similarity or less. In addition, although slight expression of aflR, positive transcriptional regulator gene, was detected in some A. oryzae strains having seven aflatoxin biosynthesis homologous genes, other genes related to aflatoxin production were not detected. RIB strains were mainly divided into group 1, having seven aflatoxin biosynthesis homologous genes (aflT, nor-i, aflR, norA, avnA, verB, and vbs), and group 2, having three homologous (avnA, verB, and vbs). Partial aflatoxin homologous gene cluster of RIB62 from group 2 was sequenced and compared with that of RIB40 from group 1. RIB62 showed a large deletion upstream of ver-1 with more than half of the aflatoxin homologous gene cluster missing including aflR, a positive transcriptional regulatory gene. Adjacent to the deletion of the aflatoxin homologous gene cluster, RIB62 has a unique sequence of about 8kb and a telomere. Southern analysis of A. oryzae RIB strains with four kinds of probe derived from the unique sequence of RIB62 showed that all group 2 strains have identical hybridizing signals. Polymerase chain reaction with specific primer set designed to amplify the junction between ver-1 and the unique sequence of RIB62 resulted in the same size of DNA fragment only from group 2 strains. Based on these results, we developed a useful genetic tool that distinguishes A. oryzae group 2 strains from the other groups' strains and propose that it might have differentiated from the ancestral strains due to chromosomal breakage.