• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.245-249
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• 2002

Monosporascus cannonballus, a soilborne ascomycetes is recently described in Korea that causes root rot/vine decline of cucurbits. The effect of Monosporascus root rot disease on photosynthetic activity and growth was studied on oriental melon plants. At harvest stage, photosynthetic activity of diseased oriental melon plants was lower and stomatal resistance was higher than healthy plants, while xylem exudates were not observed in diseased plants. There was no difference in mineral contents of the leaves and stems between diseased and healthy plants. Leaf area, fresh and dry weights, and fruit weights of the plants were markedly decreased in diseased plants compared to those of healthy plants.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2014

Clubroot caused by the obligate biotrophic protist Plasmodiophora brassicae Woronin is one of the most damaging diseases of Brassicaceae family. In this study, we developed species-specific primer sets for rapid and accurate detection of P. brassicae. The primer sets developed amplified a specific fragment only from P. brassicae DNA while they did not amplify a band from 10 other soilborne pathogens or from Kimchi cabbage. In sensitivity test, the species-specific primer set ITS1-1/ITS1-2 could work for approximately 10 spores/ml of genomic DNA showing more sensitivity and accuracy than previous methods. With quantitative real-time PCR test, the primer set detected less spores of P. brassicae than before, confirming that the species-specific primer set could be useful for rapid and accurate detection of P. brassicae.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.263-269
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• 2009

Bacterial wilt, Fusarium wilt and Foot rot caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, Fusarium oxysporum, and Phytophthora capsici respectively, continue to be severe problems to tomato, potato and black pepper growers in Vietnam. Three bio-products, Bacillus vallismortis EXTN-1 (EXTN-1), Bacillus sp. and Paenibacillus sp. (ESSC) and Bacillus substilis (MFMF) were examined in greenhouse bioassay for the ability to reduce bacterial wilt, fusarium wilt and foot rot disease severity. While these bio-products significantly reduced disease severities, EXTN-1 was the most effective, providing a mean level of disease reduction 80.0 to 90.0% against bacterial wilt, fusarium wilt and foot rot diseases under greenhouse conditions. ESSC and MFMF also significantly reduced fusarium wilt, bacterial wilt and foot rot severity under greenhouse conditions. Bio-product, EXTN-1 with the greatest efficacy under greenhouse condition was tested for the ability to reduce bacterial wilt, fusarium wilt and foot rot under field condition at Song Phuong and Thuong Tin locations in Ha Tay province, Vietnam. Under field condition, EXTN-1 provided a mean level of disease reduction more than 45.0% against all three diseases compared to water treated control. Besides, EXTN-1 treatment increased the yield in tomato fruits 17.3% than water treated control plants.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.329-333
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• 2006

Two distinct and stable isolates of Barley mild mosaic virus(BaMMV) designated as Naju82-S(severe) and Naju82-M(mild) were obtained. These two isolates differed in their symptomatology, virus transmission characteristics and cultivar specificity at various temperature. Thus, these isolates were referred to as strains in this study. BaMMV Naju-S strain showed severe mosaic symptoms accompanied by necrosis on the infected leaves. Naju82-S strain is more virulent demonstrated by shorter incubation period and relatively high virus concentration than Naju82-M strain. Five Korean cultivars were tested for their pathogenicity to different strains based on the rate of infection. Results showed that infection rate of cultivars to both strains did not significantly differed from each other. However, under different temperatures, the pathogenicity on the two cultivars such as cultivars Hopumbori and Sessalbori were significantly affected. Hopumbori was moderately resistant to both strains at $10-12^{\circ}C$ and susceptible at $15-18^{\circ}C$. Similarly, Sessalbori was moderately resistant at $10-12^{\circ}C$ to both strains but distinctly differentiated at $15-18^{\circ}C$ wherein it was resistant to mild strain and highly susceptible to severe strain. Other cultivars including Baegdong, Jinyangbori and Neahanssalbori consistently showed susceptible reaction to both strains at varying temperatures tested in this study.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.450-456
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• 2006

Pseudomonas fluorescens MC07 is a growth-promoting rhizobacterium that suppresses mycelial growth in fungi such as Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium ultimum, Fusarium oxysporum, and Phytophthora capsici. To determine the role of the bacterium's antifungal activity in disease suppression, we screened 2,500 colonies generated by Tn5lacZ insertions, and isolated a mutant 157 that had lost antifungal activity. The EcoRI fragment carrying Tn5lacZ was cloned into pBluescript II SK(+) and used as a probe to isolate wild-type clones from a genomic library of the parent strain, MC07. Two overlapping cosmid clones, pEH4 and pEH5, that had hybridized with the mutant clone were isolated. pEH4 conferred antifungal activity to the heterologous host P.fluorescens strain 1855.344, whereas pEH5 did not. Through transposon mutagenesis of pEH4 and complementation analyses, we delineated the 14.7-kb DNA region that is responsible for the biosynthesis of an antifungal compound. DNA sequence analysis of the region identified 11 possible open reading frames (ORF), ORF1 through ORF11. A BLAST search of each putative protein implied that the proteins may be involved in an antifungal activity similar to polyketides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1293-1303
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• 2013

Antibiotic resistance of soilborne Acinetobacter species has been poorly explored. In this study, norfloxacin resistance of a soil bacterium, Acinetobacter oleivorans DR1, was investigated. The frequencies of mutant appearance of all tested non-pathogenic Acinetobacter strains were lower than those of pathogenic strains under minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). When the quinolone-resistance-determining region of the gyrA gene was examined, only one mutant (His78Asn) out of 10 resistant variants had a mutation. Whole transcriptome analysis using a RNA-Seq demonstrated that genes involved in SOS response and DNA repair were significantly up-regulated by norfloxacin. Determining the MICs of survival cells after norfloxacin treatment confirmed some of those cells were indeed persister cells. Ten colonies, randomly selected from among those that survived in the presence of norfloxacin, did not exhibit increased MIC. Thus, both the low mutation frequency of the target gene and SOS response under norfloxacin suggested that persister formation might contribute to the resistance of DR1 against norfloxacin. The persister frequency increased without a change in MIC when stationary phase cells, low growth rates conditions, and growth-deficient dnaJ mutant were used. Taken together, our comprehensive approach, which included mutational analysis of the target gene, persister formation assays, and RNA sequencing, indicated that DR1 survival when exposed to norfloxacin is related not only to target gene mutation but also to persister formation, possibly through up-regulation of the SOS response and DNA repair genes.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.163-170
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• 2018

Strawberry Fusarium wilt disease, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae, is the most devastating disease in strawberry production. The pathogen produces chlamydospores which tolerate against harsh environment, fungicide and survive for decades in soil. Development of detection and quantification techniques are regarded significantly in many soilborne pathogens to prevent damage from diseases. In this study, we improved specific-quantitative primers for F. oxysporum f. sp. fragariae to reveal correlation between the pathogen density and the disease severity. Standard curve $r^2$ value of the specific-quantitative primers for qRT-PCR and meting curve were over 0.99 and $80.5^{\circ}C$, respectively. Over pathogen $10^5cfu/g$ of soil was required to cause the disease in both lab and field conditions. With the minimum density to develop the wilt disease, the pathogen affected near 60% in nursery plantation. A biological control microbe agent and soil solarization reduced the pathogen population 2-fold and 1.5-fold in soil, respectively. The developed F. oxysporum f. sp. fragariae specific qRT-PCR protocol may contribute to evaluating soil healthiness and appropriate decision making to control the disease.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.253-259
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• 1998

Effects of soil disinfection, fungicide application, and narrow ridge cultivation on ginger rhizome rot development were examined in two naturally-infested fields at Seosan, Choongnam province. Soil disinfection treatments were assigned to main plots, and fungicide and ridge treatments to sub-plots in a split plot design with three replications. The rhizome rot started in late July, and progressed rapidly until late September with the peak incidence in mid-august to early September. Soil disinfection by dazomet application showed the most prominent inhibition effects in both fields, where the disease was reduced by the treatment from 17.5% to 4.8% in one field, and from 51.0% to 2.2% in the other field. Three to five applications of fungicide metalaxyl-copper during the growing season inhibited the disease by 89.7% in one field, but less effectively in the other field. Narrow ridge cultivation reduced the disease effectively by 78.1% and 63.9%, compared to the unridged control plots in each field, respectively. Germination rate of seed-rhizomes and growth of ginger plants were similar between treatments, except when the plots received improper aeration after applying dazomet, and then the germination rate was significantly reduced. The greatest yields were obtained in the disinfected plots, regardless of rhizome rot incidence, except one control plot with very little disease. Ginger yield was negatively correlated with disease severity. However, the yield of ridge plots averaged 58∼59% compared to those of the unridged plots, due mainly to the half planting rate of the ridge plots. In spatial progress, the disease in the disinfected plots started from a single focus of the inoculum, and spread into the adjacent areas only, whereas in the untreated plots, the disease started from many foci that were distributed over the plot, and rapidly progressed to make an epidemic during the season. The soil density of P. myriotylum in the disinfected plots was not changed or, if not, increased slightly during the season. However, in the untreated plots it increased rapidly to reach the density 3 to 5 times greater by the end of the season.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.223-225
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• 2007

Many plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) have been known for beneficial effects on plants including biological control of soilborne pathogens, induced systemic resistance to plant pathogens, phytohormone production, and improvement of nutrient and water uptake of plants. We developed a simple and rapid method for screening potential PGPR, especially phytohormone producing rhizobacteria, or for analyzing their functions in plant growth using cucumber seedling cuttings. Surface-sterilized cucumber seeds were grown in a plastic pot containing steamed vermiculite. After 7 days of cultivation, the upper part 2 cm in length of cucumber seedling, was cut and used as cucumber cuttings. The base of cutting stem was then dipped in a microcentrifuge tube containing 1.5ml of a bacterial suspension and incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ with a fluorescent light for 10 days. Number and length of developed adventitious roots from cucumber cuttings were examined. The seedling cuttings showed various responses to the isolates tested. Some isolates resulted in withering at the day of examination or in reduced number of roots developed. Several isolates stimulated initial development of adventitious roots showing more adventitious root hair number than that of untreated cuttings, while some isolate had more adventitious root hair number and longer adventitious roots than that of untreated control. Similar results were obtained from the trial with rose cuttings. Our results suggest that this bioassay method may provide a useful way for differentiating PGPR's functions involved in the development of root system.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.437-441
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• 1990

For the genetic development of more powerful antagonistic Pseudomom - YPL-1 as a biocontxol agent against soilborne plant pathogenic Fuaarium solani causing root rot of many important crops, mutants improving the productivity of chitinase were obtained by mutation with UV radiation or NTG treatment, P. stutzeri YPL-M26 (UV mutant) and P. stutzeri YPL-MI78 (NTG mutant) could improve the productivity of chitinase by 2.5 and 2.0 times, and its antifungal activity by 1.7 and 1.5 times, respectively. The antifungal mechanism of P. stutzeri YPL-M26 was caused by lysis of the fungal cell wall by hydrolytic enzymes such as chitinase. The antifungal activity of crude chitinase of P. stutzeri YPLM26 on the mycelial growth of F. solani was observed to be much higher than that of the original strain. The enzymes produced by P. stutzeri YPL-M26 were the same as the original strain in enzymatic properties such as optimal pH and temperature.