• Mycobiology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.341-348
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• 2018

A new species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomeromycota), Acaulospora koreana, was isolated from forest soils in South Korea. This novel fungus was collected from the rhizosphere of Lindera obtusiloba and Styrax obassia in forest and propagated with Sorghum bicolor in pot. Morphological characteristics of spores of A. koreana are rarely distinguished from Acaulospora mellea, which is reported as one of the most abundant mycorrhizal species in Korea. However, molecular evidence of rDNA sequence using improved primers for glomeromycotan fungal identification strongly supported that A. koreana is different from A. mellea but also any other species belonging to the genus Acaulospora. This is the first novel glomeromycatan fungus introduced in South Korea, but it suggests that there is a high possibility for discovering new arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi considering the abundance of plant species and advanced phylogenetic analysis technique.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.98-101
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• 2019

Pak choi (or a Bok choy; Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) is a popular brassicaceous vegetable worldwide. In January 2019, a downy mildew symptom on pak choi was found at a farm located in Yongin, Korea. Based on morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic inference, the pathogenic oomycete was identified as Hyaloperonospora brassicae. To our knowledge, this is the first report of downy mildew disease occurring on pak choi in Korea. Considering the increasing demand for this crop, this pathogen would be a potentially new threat to the cultivation of pak choi in Korea.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.569-578
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• 2019

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are nonselective cationic channels, conserved among flies to humans. Most TRP channels have well known functions in chemosensation, thermosensation, and mechanosensation. In addition to being sensing environmental changes, many TRP channels are also internal sensors that help maintain homeostasis. Recent improvements to analytical methods for genomics and metabolomics allow us to investigate these channels in both mutant animals and humans. In this review, we discuss three aspects of TRP channels, which are their role in metabolism, their functional characteristics, and their role in metabolic syndrome. First, we introduce each TRP channel superfamily and their particular roles in metabolism. Second, we provide evidence for which metabolites TRP channels affect, such as lipids or glucose. Third, we discuss correlations between TRP channels and obesity, diabetes, and mucolipidosis. The cellular metabolism of TRP channels gives us possible therapeutic approaches for an effective prophylaxis of metabolic syndromes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1014-1021
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• 2019

In the bacterial community, unicellular organisms act together as a multicellular being. Bacteria interact within the community and programmed cell death (PCD) in prokaryotes is a sort of altruistic action that enables the whole population to thrive. Genetically, encoded cell death pathways are triggered by DNA damage or nutrient starvation. Given the environmental and bacterial diversity, different PCD mechanisms are operated. Still, their biochemical and physiological aspects remain unrevealed. There are three main pathways; thymineless death, apoptosis-like death, and toxin-antitoxin systems. The discovery of PCD in bacteria has revealed the possibility of developing new antibiotics. In this review, the molecular and physiological characteristics of the three types of PCD and their development potential as antibacterial agents are addressed.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.120-125
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• 2019

In 2017, small, elliptical, brownish purple spots on spears and ferns of asparagus were found in fields of Gangwon-do. The isolated fungal species was identified as an ascomycete Stemphylium vesicarium based on morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenic analyses including nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and cytochrome b (cytb). A pathogenicity test revealed that S. vesicarium was the causal agent of purple spot disease on asparagus. The occurrence of purple spots caused by S. vesicarium on asparagus is the first report in Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2019

In order to elucidate the fungal diversity and community structure in freshwater environments, numerous fungal strains were isolated from freshwater, submerged soils, twigs, dead insects, etc. Among them, the present study has focused specifically on Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Talaromyces species, which produce diverse useful metabolites in general. Twelve strains of Aspergillus isolated were identified as A. japonicus (n = 5), A. tubingensis (3), A. niger (2), and A. flavus (2), 10 strains of which belong to Aspergillus section Nigri, named black Aspergillus. Eight strains of Penicillium were identified as P. brasilianim (n = 3), P. oxalicum (2), P. crustosum (1), P. expansum (1), and P. piscarium (1). Two different strains of Talaromyces were identified as T. pinophilus and T. versatilis. Thus far, Penicillium piscarium and Talaromyces versatilis have been unrecorded in Korea, for which we provide detailed morphological and molecular characteristics.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2019

Organismal aging is accompanied by a host of progressive metabolic alterations and an accumulation of senescent cells, along with functional decline and the appearance of multiple diseases. This implies that the metabolic features of cell senescence may contribute to the organism's metabolic changes and be closely linked to age-associated diseases, especially metabolic syndromes. However, there is no clear understanding of senescent metabolic characteristics. Here, we review key metabolic features and regulators of cellular senescence, focusing on mitochondrial dysfunction and anabolic deregulation, and their link to other senescence phenotypes and aging. We further discuss the mechanistic involvement of the metabolic regulators mTOR, AMPK, and GSK3, proposing them as key metabolic switches for modulating senescence.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.357-375
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• 2018

Two dimensional (2D) atomic layered nanomaterials exhibit some of the most striking phenomena in modern materials research and hold promise for a wide range of applications including energy and biomedical technologies. Graphene has received much attention for having extremely high surface area to mass ratio and excellent electric conductivity. Graphene has also been shown to maximize the activity of surface-assembled metal nanoparticle catalysts due to its unique characteristics of enhancing mass transport of reactants to catalysts. This paper specifically investigates the strategy of pre-formed nanoparticle self-assembly used for the formation of various metal nanoparticles supported on graphene families such as graphene, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide and aims at understanding the interactions between ligand-capped metal nanoparticles and 2D nanomaterials. By varying the functional groups on the ligands between alkyl, aromatic, amine, and alcohol groups, different interactions such as van der Waals, ${\pi}-{\pi}$ stacking, dipole-dipole, and hydrogen bonding are formed as the 2D hybrids produced.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.259-283
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• 2021

We isolated nine fungal strains from different environmental materials collected from different locations during a survey of fungal diversity in Korea. Using molecular phylogenetic analyses and morphological characteristics, nine previously undescribed strains were identified and assigned to the species Collariella robusta, Fusicolla acetilerea, Hongkongmyces pedis, Hongkongmyces snookiorum, Mariannaea fusiformis, Metarhizium pemphigi, Pallidocercospora crystallina, Scopulariopsis candida, and Volutella citrinella. Diverse environmental samples may thus be a promising source for isolating and investigating novel fungal species, thus sampling efforts should be increased in future studies. This study also reports identification of some rare fungal species belonging to the genera Hongkongmyces and Pallidocercospora from Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.485-489
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• 2020

We found an unrecorded endophytic fungus, Dermea piceina J.W. Groves, isolated from alpine conifer Abies koreana. Until now only one Dermea species, D. cerasi, has been reported in Korea. In this study, we compared morphological characteristics and DNA sequences, including internal transcribed spacer and 28S ribosomal DNA, of D. piceina isolated from A. koreana with those of related species. Here, we present morphological and molecular characters of this fungus for the first time in Korea.