• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.3 s.95
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• pp.192-198
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• 2001

The Kyongan Stream and the inlet part of Paltang Reservoir are under significant influence of the effluent of sewage wastewater treatment plant (SWTP) and untreated domestic wastewater (DOW). The fertility of wastewater was evaluated through bioassay using natural phytoplankton population diluted in five levels. The concentrations of $NH_4$, SRP and SRSi were positively correlated with the biomass of phytoplankton. P concentration showed stronger correlation (r = 0.959, p<0.001)than other nutrients. Compared with the initial concentrations, $NH_4$ concentrations in samples from SWTP and DOW decreased 96% and 7%, respectively during the cultivation, and those of SRSi decreased 97% and 60%. However, $NO_3$ concentrations in samples neither showed any particular change nor any increase. Chl-a concentration ranged between $20\;{\mu}g/l$ and $125\;{\mu}g/l$, which maximum value increased up to 83 times. Estimated from the relationship between chl-a and SRP, the P concentration that can maintain the biomass of algae under mesotrophic state (<25\;{mu}g$\;chl-a/l$) was $83\;{mu}g\; P/l$. The volume of flow to maintain this level solely by natural dilution was about $16{\sim}25$ times of in flowing volume in the stream. However, it is not feasible to tap water of such quantity. Therefore, it is imperative to build an advanced sewage wastewater treatment facility that can reduce $NH_4$ and SRP concentrations that promote the growth of phytoplankton in discharged water.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.77-89
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• 2015

133 Species of medicinal plants were used for the development of natural agrichemicals with anti-microbial activity against Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli, a pathogen of bacterial fruit blotch in watermelon. The MeOH-extracts of these medicinal plants were examined for anti-microbial activity by bioassay. The MeOH-extract of Citrus unshiu Markovich had the strongest antibacterial activity against Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli. To identify anti-microbial compounds from Citrus unshiu Markovich, solvent-fractionation was used. The fraction of hexane, which showing the highest value of anti-microbial activity, was analyzed by GC-MS. Each mass spectra, corresponding to each peak of chromatogram, was compared to mass database of Wiley library. As a result, d-Limonene, ${\gamma}$-terpinene, ${\beta}$-linalool, terpineol, palmitic acid, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, Linolenic acid, and stigmasterol were identified. Among them, d-Limonene, ${\gamma}$-terpinene, ${\beta}$-linalool, and terpineol confirmed to be shown the anti-microbial activity by bioassay. Especially, d-Limonene and ${\gamma}$-terpinene found to have strong activity. In conclusion, we thought d-limonene and ${\gamma}$-terpinene from Citrus unshiu Markovich. Latin, had anti-microbial activity against Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli and could be candidates for the control agents for the control of bacterial fruit blotch in watermelon.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2009

We discovered two novel phytotoxins produced by the pathogenic fungus, Botrytis cinerea. Among the twenty-five B. cinerea isolates, which were obtained from various host plants in 1994 and 1996, twenty-two showed strong or moderate pathogenicity on five plants such as cucumber, tomato, red pepper, tobacco and Chinese cabbage. The culture filtrate of the B. cinerea 2-16 strain showed the most potent phytotoxic activity in a tobacco leaf-wounding assay. Two novel phytotoxins were isolated from the liquid cultures of B. cinerea 2-16 by ethyl acetate extraction, flash silica gel column chromatography, silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, preparative TLC and subsequently preparative HPLC. Their chemical structures were determined to be 3-O-acetyl botcinol and 3-O-acetyl botcinolide, respectively, by mass and NMR spectral analyses. These two phytotoxins caused leaf necrosis in a leaf-wounding bioassay, and significant electrolyte leakage from leaf tissues of tobacco. In the two bioassays tested, 3-O-acetyl botcinol exhibited stronger phytotoxic activity than 3-O-acetyl botcinolide. This is the first report on the production of both 3-O-acetyl botcinol and 3-O-acetyl botcinolide from B. cinerea.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.168-176
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• 2017

Root-dipping inoculation method has been widely used to determine the resistance of watermelon to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum causing Fusarium wilt. Although this method leads to the precise results of plant disease responses, more rapid and efficient assay methods have been still required because the root-dipping inoculation method is labor-intensive and time-consuming. In this study, we established a simple and effective bioassay method based on the comparison of various inoculation methods and growth conditions. To develop the system, the occurrence of Fusarium wilt on four resistant and susceptible cultivars was investigated by four different inoculation methods, root-dipping, scalpel, tip and soil-drenching methods. Of these inoculation methods, scalpel method resulted in clear plant disease resistance responses with the simplicity. With the use of scalpel method, we also explored the disease development of the cultivars depending on inoculum concentration, growth stage of seedlings, and incubation temperature after inoculation. Furthermore, we found that the resistance degrees of 23 cultivars derived by scalpel inoculation method were similar to the results by root-dipping method established previously.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.992-996
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• 2011

Endophytic fungi were isolated from the roots of plants growing naturally on the island of Dokdo. Plant samples, such as Miscanthus sinensis, Achyranthus japonica and Echinochloa crusgali were isolated from Dongdo, and those such as Honkenya peploides and Artemsia koidzumii were isolated from Seodo. Twenty one strains of endophytic fungi were isolated from these plants. To identify the strains, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification of the partial ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) regions was done with universal primers ITS-1 and ITS-4 to determine the nucleotide sequence of the ITS regions. Of the strains isolated from Miscanthus sinensis, 75% were Penicillium sp. and 25% were Aspergillus sp. Fifty five percent of strains isolated from Achyranthus japonica were Penicillium sp., 30% were Aspergillus sp. and 15% were Zygorhynchus sp. Strains isolated from Echinochloa crusgali were Penicillium sp. (50%), Aspergillus sp. (12%), Giberella sp. (13%), Talaromyces sp. (9%) and Umbelopsis sp. (8%). Of the strains isolated from Honkenya peploides, 76% were Penicillium sp. and 24% were Pestalotiopsis sp. Strains isolated from Artemisia koidzumii were Penicillium sp. (81%) and Mucor sp. (19%). As a result of bioassay, Ec-3-1 strain isolated from Echinochloa crusgalli showed plant growth-promotion activity. Of all the endophytic fungi isolated, Penicillium sp. was the most abundantly distributed fungal strain in all plants used in this study.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.168-176
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• 2008

Recently damage of rice bakanae disease disseminated by infected seeds increased in paddy field in Korea. For controlling rice bakanae disease, the efficacy of 17 fungicides was assessed by 5 kinds of bioassay, spore germination test (SGT), mycelial growth test, detection test on Komada's medium (KDT), pouch test (PT) and greenhouse test (GT). Among ergosterol biosynthesis inhibiting fungicides, prochloraz showed a high controlling activity in all the assay systems while the others showed very low activity except for $500\;{\mu}g/ml$ of hexaconazole in GT and $500\;{\mu}g/ml$ of triflumizole in KDT. Although benomyl and the mixture of benomyl and thiram showed a good activity at 100 and $500\;{\mu}g/ml$ in SGT and PT, respectively, in GT they did a middle activity. Trifloxystrobin and kresoxim-methyl included in strobilurins showed a good activity even at $20\;{\mu}g/ml$ in KDT as well as a middle activity in SGT. Also a high activity not only at $10\;{\mu}g/ml$ in SGT but also at $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ KDT was detected in thiram. The activity of fludioxonil was confirmed in SGT, KDT and PT. Based on these results, it is very important to determine a bioassay system, because the fungicidal activity against rice bakanae disease was fluctuated depending on a assay systems as well as the mechanism of fungicide.

• Mycobiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.162-170
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• 2016

In this paper, we demonstrate the ability of Arabidopsis thaliana to detect different mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by the common indoor fungus, Aspergillus versicolor, and demonstrate the potential usage of the plant as a bioindicator to monitor fungal VOCs in indoor air. We evaluated the volatile production of Aspergillus versicolor strains SRRC 108 (NRRL 3449) and SRRC 2559 (ATCC 32662) grown on nutrient rich fungal medium, and grown under conditions to mimic the substrate encountered in the built environment where fungi would typically grow indoors (moist wallboard and ceiling tiles). Using headspace solid phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we analyzed VOC profiles of the two strains. The most abundant compound produced by both strains on all three media was 1-octen-3-ol. Strain SRRC 2559 made several terpenes not detected from strain SRRC 108. Using a split-plate bioassay, we grew Arabidopsis thaliana in a shared atmosphere with VOCs from the two strains of Aspergillus versicolor grown on yeast extract sucrose medium. The VOCs emitted by SRRC 2559 had an adverse impact on seed germination and plant growth. Chemical standards of individual VOCs from the Aspergillus versicolor mixture (2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-octen-3-ol, limonene, and ${\beta}-farnesene$), and ${\beta}-caryophyllene$ were tested one by one in seed germination and vegetative plant growth assays. The most inhibitory compound to both seed germination and plant growth was 1-octen-3-ol. Our data suggest that Arabidopsis is a useful model for monitoring indoor air quality as it is sensitive to naturally emitted fungal volatile mixtures as well as to chemical standards of individual compounds, and it exhibits relatively quick concentration- and duration-dependent responses.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.228-241
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• 2016

In our previous study, we reported that a novel endophytic bacterium Bacillus oryzicola YC7007 has suppressed bacterial diseases of rice via induced systemic resistance and antibiotic production. This endophytic strain, B. oryzicola YC7007 was used as a biological control agent against bakanae disease of rice caused by Fusarium fujikuroi, and its mechanism of interaction with the pathogen and the rice was further elucidated. Root drenching with B. oryzicola YC7007 suspension reduced the disease severity of bakanae significantly when compared with the untreated controls. The treatments of B. oryzicola YC7007 suspension ($2.0{\times}10^7cfu/ml$) to the rice rhizosphere reduced bakanae severity by 46-78% in pots and nursery box tests containing autoclaved and non-autoclaved soils. Moreover, in the detached rice leaves bioassay, the development of necrotic lesion and mycelial expansion of F. fujikuroi were inhibited significantly by spraying the culture filtrate of B. oryzicola YC7007. Drenching of ethyl acetate extracts of the culture filtrate to the rhizosphere of rice seedlings also reduced the bakanae disease severity in the plant culture dish tests. With the root drenching of B. oryzicola YC7007 suspension, the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide was observed at an early stage of rice seedlings, and a hormonal defense was elicited with and without pathogen inoculation. Our results showed that the strain B. oryzicola YC7007 had a good biocontrol activity against the bakanae disease of rice by direct inhibition, and was also capable of inducing systemic resistance against the pathogen via primed induction of the jasmonic acid pathway.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.52-57
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• 2004

Sclerotinia sp. (isolate BWC98-105) causes stem blight and root rot in Leghum sp., and is presently being evaluated as a potential mycoherbicide for the control of Trifoliorium repens. Bioassays have shown that Sclerotinia sp. produces phytotoxic substance which is biologically active against T. repens. Two biologically active compounds, designated as compoundsI and II, were produced in vitro from the culture filtrate of BWC98-105 isolate Sclerotium sp. Compounds I and II were purified by means of liquid-liquid extraction and $C_{18}$ open column chromatography (300 ${\times}$ 30 mm, i.d). To determine the purity, the purified compounds were analyzed by RP-HPLC. The analytical RP-HPLC column was a TOSOH ODS-120T (150 ${\times}$ 4.6 mm i.d, Japan), of which the flow rate was set at 0.7 mL/min using the linear gradient solvent system initiated with 15 % methanol to 85 % methanol for 50 min with monitoring at 254 nm. Under these RP-HPLC conditions, compounds I and II eluted at 3.49 and 4.13 min, respectively. Compound II was found to be most potent and host specific. However, compound I had a unique antibiotic activity against phytopathogenic bacteria like bacterial leaf blight (Xanthomonas oryzae) on rice, where it played a less important role in producing toxicity on T. repens. No toxin activity was detected in the water fraction after partitioning with several organic solvents. However, toxin activity was detected in the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions. In the leaf bioassay using compound II, the disease first appeared within 4-5 h as water soaked rot, which subsequently developed into well-defined blight affecting the whole plant.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.227-230
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• 2001

Bioassay techniques using young leaves and roots were developed to screen resistance of Atractylis spp. against Phytophthora drechsleri. Among 638 plants collected from various regions of Korea from 1994 to 1996, 67 were pre-screened in fields naturally infested with P. drechsleri, which is the causal pathogen of rhizome rot of Atractylis. Among the pre-screened sources, 18 (ca. 26.8%) were highly resistant to the pathogen in leaf inoculation. In the root inoculation test, abundant sporangia were formed in susceptible plant roots, while only a few or no sporangia were produced on the roots which were found resistant in the leaf inoculation test. Among the selected resistant plants, A. japonica 96066 and 96104 were used to cross with another species, A. macrocephala 96362 that showed high yield with good quality of rhizome but susceptible to the pathogen. The F$_1$hybrids designated as HA03 turned out to be resistant to the pathogen, indicating that resistant gene(s) was inherited. Among intra-species hybrids of A. japonica, HA07 and HA09 were resistant to the pathogen in leaf inoculation and moderate in root inoculation. However, HA08 was susceptible in both inoculation tests. This result suggests that the parent material might be genetically heterogeneous. Further genetic study should be carried out to verify this phenomenon.