• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.984-988
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• 2019

Blue mold in citrus is caused by Penicillium italicum. In this study, the P. italicum-specific primers were developed for rapid detection based on the conserved genes RPB1 and RPB2 among Penicillium genomes. The two primer pairs RPB1-a and RPB1-b proved to be specific to detect P. italicum. The PCR assay among 39 fungal isolates and the colonial, pathogenic morphologies and molecular methods validated the specificity and reliability of these two primer pairs. This report provided a method and P. italicum-specific primers, which might greatly contribute to citrus postharvest industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.878-884
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• 2020

Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum are the two important postharvest pathogens in citrus, causing about 90% of the total loss of citrus fruit during storage and transportation. Natural fungicides such as essential oils have been widely used instead of chemical fungicides for preventing and controlling postharvest diseases. In this research, p-anisaldehyde exhibited a strong inhibitory effect on P. digitatum and P. italicum, with the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration values of both being 2.00 μl/ml. Additionally, p-anisaldehyde visibly inhibited both the green mold and blue mold development of citrus fruits inoculated with P. digitatum and P. italicum. The mycelia morphologies of these pathogens were greatly altered, and the membrane permeability and cell wall integrity of mycelia were severely disrupted under p-anisaldehyde treatment. These results suggest that the antifungal activity of p-anisaldehyde against P. digitatum and P. italicum can be attributed to the disruption of the cell wall integrity.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.37-44
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• 2001

The biological effects of the iminoctadine tris (albesilate) and kresoxim-methyl for the protection of citrus postharvest diseases caused by penicillium spp. were assayed. In vitro tests, $EC_{50}$ values of iminoctadine tris(albesilate) were $0.01{\sim}0.02\;and\;0.01{\mu}g$ a.i./mL against mycelial growth of P. italicum and P. digitatum, respectively, but iminoctadine tris(albesilate) at $0.64{\mu}g$ a.i. /mL inhibited a little mycelial growth of unknown Penicillium sp. which produced another symptom different to blue and green mold caused by P. italicum and P. digitatum, respectively. And against germination and growth of germ tube of P. italicum and P. digitatum, $EC_{50}$ value of iminoctadine tris(albesilate) was $0.0013{\sim}0.0025{\mu}g$ a.i./mL. But spore germination of unknown Penicillium spp. was not nearly inhibited at $0.2{\mu}g$ a.i./mL. $EC_{50}$ values of kresoxim-methyl were $0.08{\sim}0.16$, 0.04 and $0.16{\mu}g$ a.i./mL against mycelial growth of P. italicum, P. digitatum and unknown Penicillium sp., respectively, and $0.04{\sim}0.08{\mu}g$ a.i./mL and $0.01{\sim}0.02{\mu}g$ a.i./mL against germination and growth of germ tube of P. italicum and unknown Penicillium sp., and P. digitatum, respectively. Iminoctadine tris(albesilate) and kresoxim-methyl were markedly effective to control the postharvest disease by 7 days spray prior to harvest. When the fruits were sprayed with iminoctadine-tris(albesilate) ($200{\mu}g$ a.i./mL) and kresoxim-methyl ($155{\mu}g$ a.i./mL) 7 days prior to harvest and subsequently stored for 90 days, the percentage of diseased fruit by Penicillium spp. was $3.6{\pm}1.8%$ in treatment of kresoxim-methyl and $5.9{\pm}1.8%$ in iminoctadine-tris(albesilate), respectively. On the other hand, tile percentage of diseased fruit was relatively high, $20.3{\pm}10.0%\;and\;19.5{\pm}9.6%$ in thiophanate-methyl ($700{\mu}g$ a.i./mL) and non-treatment, respectively. Maximum residue amount (ppm) among fruits (flesh and peel) assayed 0, 30, 60 and 90 days after storage was 0.45 and 0.10 ppm in treatment of kresoxim-methyl and iminoctadine, respectively.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.356-360
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• 1999

Growth-inhibitory effects of citrus oils and agricultural fungicides, which were on the market, on several molds isolated from putrefied citrus fruits were investigated. When fungicidal activities of 11 kinds of synthetic agrochemicals against 6 species of molds, Alternaria alternata, Rhizopus sp., Botrytis cinerea, Monilia candida, Penicillium italicum and Penicillium digitatum, were investigated, agrochemicals containing mancozeb or fluazinam as an effective component had the broadest fungicidal spectrum. Agrochemicals containing iprodione, benomyl, azoxystrobin or thiophanate were less effective on the molds and those containing conazole derivative were intermediately effective. Resistance of the molds to the agrochemicals were species- and agrochemical-dependent. Among those molds tested, Penicillium italicum and Alternaria alternata showed relatively higher level of survival in the presence of synthetic fungicides. On the other hand, when the molds were exposed to citrus oils by direct contact, no cell could survive regardless of the species. The fungicidal activity of citrus oils was also confirmed by paper disk method and microscopic observation. These results suggested that citrus oils had broad killing activity against molds. Therefore, it would be necessary to design method for the application of citrus oils in order to improve post-harvest storage of citrus fruits.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.242-250
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• 2016

The aim of this study was to investigate antifungal activity of a range of different molecular weight (MW) chitosan against Penicillium italicum. Our results demonstrate that the antifungal activity was dependent both the MW and concentration of the chitosan. Among a series of chitosan derived from the hydrolysis of high MW chitosan, the fractions containing various sizes of chitosan ranging from 3 to 15 glucosamine units named as chitooligomers-F2 (CO-F2) was found to show the highest antifungal activity against P. italicum. Furthermore, the effect of CO-F2 toward this fungus was significantly reduced in the presence of $Ca^{2+}$, whereas its effect was recovered by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, suggesting that the CO-F2 acts via disruption of $Ca^{2+}$ gradient required for survival of the fungus. Our results suggest that CO-F2 may serve as potential compounds to develop alternatives to synthetic fungicides for the control of the postharvest diseases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.115.1-115
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• 2003

Post-harvest decay, caused by Penicillium spp. is a serious problem of fruits worldwide. Morphological characteristics and molecular markers were used to characterize 22 Penicillium isolates from apples, 18 isolates from pears, 60 from oranges and 18 from grapes and 23reference isolates representing related Penicillium spp. to assess their diversity and resolve their taxonomy. Based on morphological and physiological characteristics, the isolates were grouped as identical or very similar to P. digitatum, P. italicum, P. ulaiense or very similar to P. crustosum, P. expansum, P. solitum and unidentified Penicillium spp. Based on sequence comparisons of ITS region, variable site were presented within and among the species, but there variation were not correlated with the species. Cluster analyses of AP-PCR fragment patterns using UP and L45 primer and the -tubulin gene sequence, the Penicillium species were segregated into distinct groups. Particularly. the -tubulin partial sequence data provided support for species concepts based on morphological and physiological characteristics.

• Plant Disease and Agriculture
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 1999

A total of 65 isolates of Penicillium were isolated from decayed post-harvest fruits of apple pear citrus and grape. The Penicillium species isolated from the apple were idnetified as P. aurantiogriseum and P. expansum those from the pear were P. crustosum and P. expansum and those from the grape were P. aurantiogriseum and P. expansum, From decayed citrus fruits. P. digitatum and P. italicum were isolated. Citrinin and patulin from these species in the YES(yeast extract sucrose) broth were extracted with ethyl acetate and purified by thin-layer chromatography(TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) Among 51 isolates of Penicillium from apple pear and grape 7 isolates produced citrinin 13 isolates produces patulin and 12 isolates produced citrinin and patulin also. All 14 isolates of Penicillium from citrus produced only patulin.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.341-350
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• 2010

Blue mold is the most important postharvest disease of apples in Korea. Apple fruits with blue mold symptoms were collected from storages in different locations in Korea and were investigated for their association with Penicillium species. A total of sixty five isolates of Penicillium were sampled from the collected apples. Based on DNA sequence analysis of ${\beta}$-tublin gene and ITS and lsu rDNA (ID region) and morphological characteristics, they were identified as P. crustosum, P. expansum, P. italicum, P. solitum and P. sp.. P. sp. which is closely related to P. hirsutum is a new species, not reported before. P. expansum (35%) was predominant species followed by P. crustosum. The phylogenetic tree inferred from combined ${\beta}$-tublin and ID region sequence showed good correlation with species that are defined by morphological characteristics. In pathogenicity test, apples were wound-inoculated with conidial suspension and incubated at $20-22^{\circ}C$. The most severe and destructive species was P. expansum. The species caused a decayed area 42-50mm in diameter after 8-10days. Decayed area caused by P. crustosum and P. sp. was 26-32mm and 20-26mm, respectively. This is the first record of P. crustosum, P. italicum and P. sp. from apple in Korea.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 2002

Quality changes of satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc. var. miyagawa) during storage by storage warehouse were investigated. Citrus were treated with 2000-folds diluted iminoctadime-triacetate solution and 1.5% chitosan with 0.5% CaCl$_2$ solution, and were at 30$\^{C}$ for 24 hr before storage. The citrus of about 12kg/26L plastic container were stored at room temperature, and at 4$\^{C}$ with 87% relative humidity. Decay ratio of citrus with precise temperature and humidity control were lower than the others during storage. Penicillium italicum Monilia candida Alternara citri, Mucor hiemalis, Phomopsis citri Botrytis cinerea, Phoma citricarpa Clomererella cingulata, Penicillium digitatum were identified as putrefactive microorganisms in citrus storage. Weight loss, moisture content of peel and flesh were decreased slowly during storage. 24% of original acid content were decreased at room temperature on 120 days storage, compared to 15∼18% loss on cold storage. Total sugar of citrus was decreased rapidly after 90 days, and vitamin C content were also decreased rapidly after 60 days during storage.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.465-484
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• 2016

This study evaluated the antifungal activity of varying concentrations of water-soluble extracts from native plants (Vitex rotundifolia, Tetragonia tetragonoides, Artemisia capillaris, Hibiscus hamabo and Ficus carica) against Stemphylium vesicarium, Penicillium italicum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Pythium ultimum, Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Mycelium growth of pathogenic bacteria generally decreased in a concentration-dependent manner following treatment with the water extracts from donor plants. Closer analyses indicate varying inhibitory capacities depending on the type of donor plant and pathogenic bacteria. Specifically, mycelium growth of S. vesicarium varied depending on the concentration of the water extracts from T. tetragonoides (r = -0.857, p<0.01) and A. capillarys (r = -0.868, p<0.01). Also, P. italicum and V. rotundifolia (r = -0.833, p<0.01), S. sclerotiorum and V. rotundifolia (r = -0.862, p<0.01), A. capillaris (r = -0.902, p<0.01), B. cinerea and T. tetragonoides (r = -0.896, p<0.01) showed an inverse relationship. The rate of mycelial growth inhibition of pathogenic bacteria analysed are as follows: P. ultimum 94%, B. cinerea 50%, C. gloeosporioides 80% in 100% treatment of T. teragonoides. A. capillaris inhibited S. vesicarium by 43%, P. ultimum by 90%; H. hamabo inhibited P. italicum by 50%, S. sclerotiorum by 26%, and F. carica inhibited R. solani by 74%. Total phenol content with antifungal activities are as follows: A. capillaris 16.15 mg/g, F. carica 7.81 mg/g, V. rotundifolia 6.18 mg/g, H. hamabo 5.25 mg/g, T. tetragonoides 4.41 mg/g, and total flavonoid content is as follows: A. capillaris 27.57 mg/g, V. rotundifolia 12.49 mg/g, F. carica 11.45 mg/g, H. hamabo 5.77 mg/g, T. tetragonoides 5.08 mg/g.