• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.73-79
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• 2012

Phytophthora katsurae is a fungal pathogen responsible for chestnut ink disease. We designed two duplex primer sets (SOPC 1F/1R+KatI 3F/5R, SOPC 1-1F/1-1R+KatI 3F/5R) to detect P. katsurae. SOPC 1F/1R and SOPC 1-1F/1-1R primer pairs were designed for sequence characteristic amplification regions (SCAR) marker, and KatI 3F/5R primer pair was used for P. katsurae-specific primer designed from internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. To assess the sensitivity of duplex PCR, genomic DNA was serially diluted 10-fold to make the final concentrations from 1 mg/ml to 1 ng/ml. The sensitivity for two primer sets were 1 ${\mu}g/ml$ and 100 ng/ml, respectively. To find detection limits for zoospores of P. katsurae, each zoospore suspension was serially diluted 10-fold to make the final concentrations from $1{\times}10^6$ to $1{\times}10^2$ cells/ml, and then DNA was extracted. The limits of detection for all of two primer sets were $1{\times}10^5$ cells/ml. All of two primer sets were specific to P. katsurae in PCR detection and did not produce any P. katsurae-specific PCR amplicons from other 16 Phytophthora species used as the control. This study shows that duplex PCR using two primer sets might be a useful tool for rapid and efficient detection of P. katsurae.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.369-375
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• 2011

Fusarium verticillioides (teleomorph: Gibberella moniliformis), a member of the Gibberellea fujikuroi species complex, causes rots of corn stalks and ears, and produces a group of mycotoxins known as fumonisins that are harmful to animals and humans. Here, we focus on the development of a species-specific PCR primer set for differentiating F. verticillioides from other fumonisin-producing Fusarium species belonging to the species complex, such as F. proliferatum, F. fujikuroi, and F. subglutinans that are frequently associated with corn. The specific primers (RVERT1 and RVERT2) derived from the nucleotide sequences of RNA polymerase II beta subunit (RPB2) gene amplified a 208 bp-DNA fragment from only F. verticillioides isolates among the potential fumonisin-producing species examined; all of these isolates were shown to carry FUM1 required for fumonisin biosynthesis. The PCR detection limit using this specific primer set was approximately 0.125 pg/${\mu}l$ genomic DNA of F. verticillioides. In addition, the F. verticillioides-specfic fragment was successfully amplified from genomic DNAs of corn samples contaminated with Fusarium spp. This primer set would provide a useful tool for the detection and differentiation of potential fumonisin-producing F. verticillioides strains in cereal samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.166-171
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• 2002

The genus Leuconostoc is generally recognized as a favorable microorganism associated with a good taste of Kimchi and Lactobacillus plantarum is responsible for the overripening and acidification of Kimchi. A rapid and reliable PCR-based method to monitor the change of these lactic acid bacterial populations during Kimchi fermentation was attempted. A Leuconostoc-specific primer set was chosen from the conserved sequences of 16S rRNA genes among Leuconostoc species. The Lb. plantarum-specific primer set was the internal segments of a Lb. plantarum-specific probe which was isolated after randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis and tested for identification. The specificity of this protocol was examined in DNA samples isolated from a single strain. In agarose gel, as little as 10 pg of template DNA could be used to visualize the PCR products, and quantitative determination was possible at the levels of 10 pg to 100 ng template DNA. For the semi-quantitative determination of microbial changes during Kimchi fermentation, total DNAs from the 2 h-cultured microflora of Kimchi were extracted for 16 days and equal amounts of DNA templates were used for PCR. The intensities of DNA bands obtained from PCR using Leuconostoc-specific and Lb. plantarum-specific primer sets marked a dramatic contrast at the 1 ng and 100 ng template DNA levels during Kimchi fermentation, respectively. As the fermentation proceeded, the intensity of the band for Leuconostoc species increased sharply until the 5th day and the levels was maintained until the 11 th day. The sharp increase for Lb. plantarum occurred after 11 days with the decrease of Leuconostoc species. The results of this study indicate that Leuconostoc species were the major microorganisms at the beginning of Kimchi fermentation and reach their highest population during the optimum ripening period of Kimchi.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.154-158
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• 2023

The Asiatic black bear, Ursus thibetanus, is among the most threatened or endangered species in Asia. For its conservation and management, sex identification of U. thibetanus using non-invasive samples (e.g., hair and/or feces) is potentially valuable. In this study, a non-invasive molecular method for sex identification of U. thibetanus samples collected from various countries was first utilized, and it was based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the amelogenin gene via PCRs. Thirty-three bear DNA samples, extracted not only from blood (n=9) but also from hair (n=18) and feces (n=6), were used. We performed sex-specific PCR amplifications of the amelogenin gene using a primer set, SE47 and SE48. The primer set could successfully amplify a single X-specific band for females and both X- and Y-specific bands for males from all blood (100%) and hair (100%) samples. In addition, the primer set could distinguish the sex of bears in four out of a total of six fecal samples (approximately 67%). This study's findings suggest that this molecular method can be applied to sex identification of Asiatic black bears from various Asian regions using non-invasive samples, such as hair and feces.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.357-363
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• 2013

The fungus Venturia nashicola is the causal agent of scab on Asian pears. For the rapid and reliable identification as well as sensitive detection of V. nashicola, a PCR-based technique was developed. DNA fingerprints of three closely related species, V. nashicola, V. pirina, and V. inaequalis, were obtained by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Two RAPD markers specific to V. nashicola were identified by PCR, after which two pairs of sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) primers were designed from the nucleotide sequences of the markers. The SCAR primer pairs, designated as D12F/D12R and E11F/E11R, amplified 535-bp and 525-bp DNA fragments, respectively, only from genomic DNA of V. nashicola. The specificity of the primer sets was tested on strains representing three species of Venturia and 20 fungal plant pathogens. The nested PCR primer pair specific to V. nashicola was developed based on the sequence of the species-specific 525-bp DNA fragment amplified by primer set E11F/E11R. The internal primer pair Na11F/Na11R amplified a 235-bp fragment from V. nashicola, but not from any other fungal species tested. The nested PCR assay was sensitive enough to detect the specific fragment in 50 fg of V. nashicola DNA.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.91-95
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• 2004

For the detection of the oil-degrading bacterium, Nocardia sp. Hl7-1, inoculated during the bioremediation of oil-contaminated soil, a species-specific primer was constructed based on the 16S rDNA sequence of this strain. Two forward primers and two reverse primers were designed and tested against both closely and distantly related bacterial strains. All the primers designed were specific to the Nocardia sp. H17-1. Particularly, primer sets NH169F-NH972R and NH575F-NH972R could be used to detect 50 fg of template DNA and TEX>$1.2${\times}$10^4$ CFU/g of sandy soil. These two PCR primer sets successfully detected the H 17-1 strain in the oil-con-laminated soil samples containing heterogeneous DNA. We also conformed the primer specificity by restriction-enzyme cleavage of the PCR products and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.85-90
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• 2009

A method for the identification of Nocardia seriolae, the causative agent of nocardiosis in cultured fishes, using PCR was developed in the study. A PCR primer set specific to N. seriolae was designed based on 16S-23S rRNA sequence of various Nocardia species accessed in GenBank. Designed PCR primer set, Nseri-F (5'-GCA AAC TCT TCG AAC AGT CG-3') and Nseri-R (5'-GGA TAT CAG GAC TTA CCG GC-3'), amplifies the target regions of N. seriolae only, but not 4 other Nocardia species, N. asteroides, N. crassostreae, N. farcinica and N. salmonicida.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.656-664
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• 2022

Pectobacterium odoriferum is the primary causative agent in Kimchi cabbage soft-rot diseases. The pathogenic bacteria Pectobacterium genera are responsible for significant yield losses in crops. However, P. odoriferum shares a vast range of hosts with P. carotovorum, P. versatile, and P. brasiliense, and has similar biochemical, phenotypic, and genetic characteristics to these species. Therefore, it is essential to develop a P. odoriferumspecific diagnostic method for soft-rot disease because of the complicated diagnostic process and management as described above. Therefore, in this study, to select P. odoriferum-specific genes, species-specific genes were selected using the data of the P. odoriferum JK2.1 whole genome and similar bacterial species registered with NCBI. Thereafter, the specificity of the selected gene was tested through blast analysis. We identified novel species-specific genes to detect and quantify targeted P. odoriferum and designed specific primer sets targeting HAD family hydrolases. It was confirmed that the selected primer set formed a specific amplicon of 360 bp only in the DNA of P. odoriferum using 29 Pectobacterium species and related species. Furthermore, the population density of P. odoriferum can be estimated without genomic DNA extraction through SYBR Green-based real-time quantitative PCR using a primer set in plants. As a result, the newly developed diagnostic method enables rapid and accurate diagnosis and continuous monitoring of soft-rot disease in Kimchi cabbage without additional procedures from the plant tissue.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.36-40
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• 2010

Ballast water has been known as a major vector for global dispersal of toxic dinoflagellates and other microalgae. In this study, biodiversity in ships’ ballast water was examined using a dinoflagellate-oriented PCR primer set and species-specific real-time PCR. While motile dinoflagellates could be observe at very low cell densities by light microscopy,a wide range of dinoflagellate taxa including parasitic and phototrophic pico-dinoflagellates as well as harmful species to marine fish/shellfish was detected when techniques for cloning/sequencing of SSU rDNA of sample cells were used. Present result suggests that molecular methods including species-specific PCR primers may offer rapid and accurate detection of invasive species in ballast water.

• Mycobiology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.202-207
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• 2002

This study was carried out to develop specific primers for PCR detection of Phellinus linteus. Diverse genomes of 15 Phellinus spp. including five Phellinus linteus isolates were fingerprinted by Primer Universal rice primer(URP)1F. The URP-PCR pattern differentiated P. linteus isolates from other phellinus spp. A polymorphic band(2.8 kb), which is unique for P. linteus isolates, was isolated and sequenced. Twenty four-oligonucleotide primer pairs were designed based on information of DNA sequence. The primer set(PLSPF2/PLSPR1) amplified single band(2.2 kb) of expected size with genomic DNA from seven Phellinus linteus, but not with that of other Phellinus species tested. The primers could be used identically in both DNA samples from mycelium and fruit bodies. This specific primers could offer a useful tool for detecting and identifying P. linteus rapidly.