• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.20-25
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• 2011

Gibberella zeae (anamorph: Fusarium graminearum), a homothallic (self-ferile) ascomycete with ubiquitous geographic distribution, causes serious diseases in several cereal crops. Ascospores (sexual spores) produced by this fungal pathogen have been suggested as the main source of primary inoculum in disease development. Here, we report the function of a gene designated GzRUM1, which is essential for ascospore formation in G. zeae. The deduced product of GzRUM1 showed significant similarities to the human retinoblastoma (tumor suppressor) binding protein 2 and a transcriptional repressor, Rum1 in the corn smut fungus (Ustilago maydis). The transcript of GzRUM1 was detected during the both vegetative and sexual stages, but was more highly accumulated during the latter stage. In addition, no GzRUM1 transcript was detected in a G. zeae strain lacking a mating-type gene (MAT1-2), a master regulator for sexual development in G. zeae. Targeted deletion of GzRUM1 caused no dramatic changes in several traits except ascospore formation. The ${\Delta}$GzRUM1 strain produced perithecia (sexual fruit bodies) but not asci nor ascospores within them. This specific defect leading to an arrest in ascospore development suggests that GzRUM1, as Rum1 in U. maydis, functions as a transcriptional regulator during sexual reproduction in G. zeae.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.247-250
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• 2009

Twenty-five isolates of Fusarium fujikuroi acquired from rice seeds and rice plants evidencing symptoms of Bakanae disease were evaluated to determine their mating types and characterize the formation of their sexual state. The mating types of the isolates were evaluated via multiplex PCR with the diagnostic primers of the mating-type (MAT) region: GFmat1a, GFmat1b, GFmat2c, and GFmat2d. Among the 25 isolates, 11 were identified as MAT-1 (male), and 14 as MAT-2 (female). Four MAT-1 isolates and three MAT-2 isolates were mated and cultured to evaluate the optimal culture conditions for the production of their sexual states. Among four tested media, 10% V8 juice agar proved optimal for the perithecial production of the isolates. The isolates also generated the largest numbers of perithecia when incubated at 23oC in alternating cycles of 12 hr fluorescent light and NUV fluorescent light and 12 hr darkness.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 1967

In the present paper author investigated the symptom, pathogenic fungus and pathogenicity of Endothia canker of Carpinus laxiflora in Korea, and made clear the indistinct discription on its pathogen in the past. 1. The pathogen is identified as Endothia fluens (Schw.) Shear et Stevens. The discription is recorded as follows: Stromata cortical, erumpent, spherical or conical, outer yellowish-brown and inner yellowish, 0.5 to 2.5 mm in diameter; perithecia irregularly embeded in the bottom of stroma, 7 to 23 in a stroma usually spherical to elliptical or irregular, 235 to $370{\mu}$ in diameter, with black slender necks; each neck open the papilliate ostiole to the surface, about 250 to $400{\mu}$ in length; asci clavate or fusoid, colorless, 31.16 to 42.64 by 6.54 to $8.20{\mu}$ in size, average 37.02 by $6.84{\mu}$, with 8 ascospores in double line; ascospores elliptical, ovate or cylindrical, with rounded ends, hyaline, 1-septate, not constrict at the septum, 6.51 to 9.30 by 3.16 to $3.72{\mu}$, average 7.61 by $3.44{\mu}$ in size; pycnidia formed abundantly in stroma. spherical at first but later irregular large cavity by fussing each other; pycnospores oblong or rod-shaped, hyaline, non-septate, 3.8 by $1.9{\mu}$ in size; spore-horn formed abundantly under moist condition. 2. The pathogen is wound parasite invading the hosts through the wound. But after the infection is established, expanding the disease lesion is swiftly vigorus.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.393-405
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• 2019

Survival factor 1 (Svf1) is a protein involved in cell survival pathways. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Svf1 is required for the diauxic growth shift and survival under stress conditions. In this study, we characterized the role of FgSvf1, the Svf1 homolog in the homothallic ascomycete fungus Fusarium graminearum. In the FgSvf1 deletion mutant, conidial germination was delayed, vegetative growth was reduced, and pathogenicity was completely abolished. Although the FgSvf1 deletion mutant produced perithecia, the normal maturation of ascospore was dismissed in deletion mutant. The FgSvf1 deletion mutant also showed reduced resistance to osmotic, fungicide, and cold stress and reduced sensitivity to oxidative stress when compared to the wild-type strain. In addition, we showed that FgSvf1 affects glycolysis, which results in the abnormal vegetative growth in the FgSvf1 deletion mutant. Further, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulated in the FgSvf1 deletion mutant, and this accumulated ROS might be related to the reduced sensitivity to oxidative stress and the reduced resistance to cold stress and fungicide stress. Overall, understanding the role of FgSvf1 in F. graminearum provides a new target to control F. graminearum infections in fields.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.100-111
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• 2019

Glomerella leaf spot (GLS) caused by Colletotrichum spp. is a destructive disease of apple restricted to a few regions worldwide. The distribution and evolution of GLS symptoms were observed for two years in Uruguay. The recurrent ascopore production on leaves and the widespread randomized distribution of symptoms throughout trees and orchard, suggest that ascospores play an important role in the disease dispersion. The ability of ascospores to produce typical GLS symptom was demonstrated by artificial inoculation. Colletotrichum strains causing GLS did not result in rot development, despite remaining alive in fruit lesions. Based on phylogenetic analysis of actin, ${\beta}$-tubulin and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene regions of 46 isolates, 25 from fruits and 21 from leaves, C. karstii was identified for the first time causing GLS in Uruguay and C. fructicola was found to be the most frequent (89%) and aggressive species. The higher aggressiveness of C. fructicola and its ability on to produce abundant fertile perithecia could help to explain the predominance of this species in the field.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.543-552
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• 2019

Fusarium asiaticum of the F. graminearum species complex causes head blight in small-grain cereals. The nivalenol (NIV) chemotypes of F. asiaticum is more common than the deoxynivalenol (DON) chemotypes of F. asiaticum or F. graminearum in Korea. To understand the prevalence of F. asiaticum-NIV in Korean cereals, we characterized the biological traits of 80 cereal isolates of F. asiaticum producing NIV or 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), and 54 F. graminearum with 3-ADON or 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON). There was no significant difference in mycelial growth between the chemotypes, but F. asiaticum isolates grew approximately 30% faster than F. graminearum isolates on potato dextrose agar. Sexual and asexual reproduction capacities differed markedly between the two species. Both chemotypes of F. graminearum (3-ADON and 15-ADON) produced significantly higher numbers of perithecia and conidia than F. asiaticum-NIV. The highest level of mycotoxins (sum of trichothecenes and zearalenone) was produced by F. graminearum-3-ADON on rice medium, followed by F. graminearum-15-ADON, F. asiaticum-3-ADON, and F. asiaticum-NIV. Zearalenone levels were correlated with DON levels in some chemotypes, but not with NIV levels. Disease assessment on barley, maize, rice, and wheat revealed that both F. asiaticum and F. graminearum isolates were virulent toward all crops tested. However, there is a tendency that virulence levels of F. asiaticum-NIV isolates on rice were higher than those of F. graminearum isolates. Taken together, the phenotypic traits found among the Korean F. asiaticum-NIV isolates suggest an association with their host adaptation to certain environments in Korea.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2001

Root rot of Cucurbitaceae plants, caused by Monosporascus cannonballus, is one of the recently described diseases in Korea. The distribution and pathogenicity of M. cannonballus were examined by field and in vitro experiments. Root rot caused by M. cannonballus occurred on melon, oriental melon, watermelon and cucumber plants. In two years of disease survey, the disease occurred at 10 and 32 fields in 1997 and 1998, respectively, which were located at Kimhae, Chinju, and Namhae in Kyeongnam province, at Kwangyang in Chonnam province, at Kwangju city, and at Yeoju and Inchon in Kyeonggi province. The disease progress in a melon field at Namhae was not observed until the middle stage of plant growth, but rapidly increased at the fruit maturing stage, resulting in more than 50% yield loss. Isolation rate of M. cannonballus was 36.7% from wilted hosts. Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani were also frequently isolated. In vitro test, seedlings wilted after 7∼14 days of inoculation, and perithecia were formed in infected roots 21 days later. Two cucumber cultivars, Baekbong and Eunhwa, were resistant to the disease.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.94-96
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• 2010

In May of 2004 through 2007, Leptosphaerulina leaf blight caused by Leptosphaerulina trifolii occurred on Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) at golf courses in Gangwon Province, Korea. Symptoms on the turfgrass caused by L. trifolii were leaf blights, dying from the leaf tip downwards to the crown, which appeared patches in the field because of local pockets of severely infected (blighted) grass. Perithecia were produced on old or weak leaves, including club-shaped asci, each of which contained 8 pale brown muriform ascospores with cross and longitudinal septa. Ascospores of the fungus isolated from the diseased leaf tissue and cultured on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) were muriform multicellular (composed of 3-6 cells) and $23.4-40.5{\times}7.8-15.6{\mu}m$ in size with 3-4 transverse and 0-3 longitudinal septa, which were morphologically identical to L. trifolii reported previously. DNA sequences of ribosomal RNA gene (internal transcribed spacer) of the fungus were homologous with similarity of 99% to those of L. trifolii isolates in GenBank database, confirming the identity of the causal agent of the disease. Pathogenicity of the fungus was also confirmed on the creeping bentgrass by Koch's postulates. This is first report of Leptosphaerulina leaf blight on turfgrass caused by L. trifolii in Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.112-116
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• 2016

We encountered an unfamiliar ascomycete fruiting body, fitting characteristics of the genus Kretzschmaria, which features in a stipitate ascigerous stroma with carbonaceous interior and disintegrating perithecia. In this study, we report and characterize a new species of the decaying fungus. Compared to other species, one of the notable features of this specimen (TPML150908-046) is its stromatal size (up to 15 cm). Although TPML150908-046 is morphologically similar to K. milleri and K. sandvicensis, it differs sharply from both species in apical ring size (TPML150908-046, $6.5{\sim}10.5{\mu}m$; K. milleri, $11{\sim}16{\mu}m$) and ascospore width (TPML150908-046, $10.5{\sim}17{\mu}m$; K. sandvicensis, $8.5~11.5{\mu}m$). Phylogenetic trees based on ${\beta}$-tubulin, ITS, and RPB2 sequences showed that our collection clustered with K. sandvicensis, with the respective similarities for these sequences being 95.6%, 91.3%, and 97.7%, signifying it as another species. With these results, we report it as a new species, which we call Kretzschmaria quercicola sp. nov.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1223-1232
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• 2017

Cordyceps militaris, a member of Ascomycota, a mushroom referred to as caterpillar Dong-chung-ha-cho, is commercially valuable because of its high content of bioactive substances, including cordycepin, and its potential for artificial cultivation. Cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine) is highly associated with the pharmacological effects of C. militaris. C. militaris is heterothallic in that two mating-type loci, idiomorph MAT1-1 and MAT1-2, exist discretely in two different spores. In this study, nine C. militaris strains were mated with each other to prepare newly bred strains that produced a larger amount of cordycepin than the parent strains. Nine strains of C. militaris were identified by comparing the internal transcribed spacer sequence, and a total of 12 single spores were isolated from the nine strains of C. militaris. After the MAT idiomorph was confirmed by PCR, 36 mating combinations were performed with six single spores with MAT1-1 and the others with MAT1-2. Eight mating combinations were successfully mated, producing stroma with perithecia. Cordycepin content analysis of all strains by high-performance liquid chromatography revealed that the KASP4-bred strain produced the maximum cordycepin among all strains, regardless of the medium and stroma parts. Finally, universal rice primer-PCR was performed to demonstrate that the bred strains were genetically different from the parental strains and new C. militaris strains. These results may be related to the recombination of genes during mating. The newly produced strains can be used to meet the industrial demand for cordycepin. In addition, breeding through mating suggests the possibility of producing numerous cordycepin-producing C. militaris strains.