• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.473-483
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• 1998

This paper is the sixth report about the fungal diseases of economic resource plants observed newly in Korea. It contains short descriptions on symptoms, occurrence conditions, pathogens, and some phytopathological notes for each of 10 fungal plant diseases. They are identified as circular leaf spot of Ligustrum ovalifolium by Cercospora adusta, leaf spot of Viola spp. by c. violae, leaf spot of Trifolium repens by C. zebrina, hypophyllous leaf sot of Angelica gigas by Passalora depressa, brown leaf spot of Euonymus japonicus by Pseudocercospora destructiva, brown leaf spot of Lonicera japonica by P. lonicericola, brown leaf spot of Parthenocissus tricuspidata by P. vitis, black spot of Echinops latifolius by Ramularia cynarae, leaf spot of Petasites japonicus by R. major, and leaf spot of Plantagoasiactica by R. plantaginis, respectively.

• Mycobiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.249-256
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• 2011

Microorganisms are significantly affected when the ambient pH of their environment changes. They must therefore be able to sense and respond to these changes in order to survive. Previous investigators have studied various fungal species to define conserved pH-responsive signaling pathways. One of these pathways, known as the Pal/Rim pathway, is activated in response to alkaline pH signals, ultimately targeting the PacC/Rim101 transcription factor. Although the central signaling components are conserved among divergent filamentous and yeast-like fungi, there is some degree of signaling specificity between fungal species. This specificity exists primarily in the downstream transcriptional targets of this pathway, likely allowing differential adaptation to species-specific environmental niches. In this review, the role of the Pal/Rim pathway in fungal pH response is discussed. Also highlighted are functional differences present in this pathway among human fungal pathogens, differences that allow these specialized microorganisms to survive in the various micro-environments of the infected human host.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.259-268
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• 2022

The nuclear import of proteins is a fundamental process in the eukaryotes including plant. It has become evident that such basic process is exploited by nuclear effectors that contain nuclear localization signal (NLS) and are secreted into host cells by fungal pathogens of plants. However, only a handful of nuclear effectors have been known and characterized to date. Here, we first summarize the types of NLSs and prediction tools available, and then delineate examples of fungal nuclear effectors and their roles in pathogenesis. Based on the knowledge on NLSs and what has been gleaned from the known nuclear effectors, we point out the gaps in our understanding of fungal nuclear effectors that need to be filled in the future researches.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.490-497
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• 2010

A chitinolytic bacterium having a strong antagonistic activity against various pathogens including Phytophtora capsici was isolated from rhizosphere soil, and identified as Lysobacter enzymogenes (named as LE429) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. This strain produced a number of substances such as chitinase, ${\beta}-1$, 3-glucanase, lipase, protease, gelatinase and an antibiotic compound. This antibiotic compound was purified by diaion HP-20, sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and HPLC. The purified compound was identified as phenylacetic acid by gas chromatography-electron ionization (GC-EI) and gas chromatography-chemical ionization (GC-CI) mass spectrometry. In field experiment, pepper plants were treated by the strain LE429 culture (CB), neem oil solution (NO), combination (CB+NO) or control (CON). Plant height and number of branches, flowers and pods of pepper plant in CB treatment were generally highest, and followed by CB+NO, CON and NO. The fungal pathogens were strongly inhibited, while several insect pests were discovered in CB treatment. Any insect pests were not found, while all fungal pathogens tested were not suppressed in NO treatment. However, in CB+NO treatment, non incidence of fungal pathogens and insect pests were found. The strain LE429 producing secondary metabolites with neem oil should be a potential agent to control fungal diseases and insect pests.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.134-134
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• 2017

Recently, host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) system has been successfully applied into development of resistant crops against insects, fungal and viral pathogens. To test HIGS-mediated resistance in rice against rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, we first tested possibility of movement of small non-coding RNA from rice cells to rice blast fungus. The rice blast fungus expressing GFP transgene were inoculated to transgenic rice plants ectopically expressing dsRNAi construct targeting fungal GFP gene. Expression of dsRNAi construct for GFP gene in transgenic plants significantly suppressed GFP expression in infected fungal cells indicating that small RNAs generated in plant cells can move into infected fungal cells and efficiently suppress the expression of fungal GFP gene. Consistent with these results, expression of dsRNAi constructs against 3 fungal pathogenic genes of M. oryzae in transgenic rice specifically and efficiently suppressed not only the expression of fungal pathogenic genes, but also fungal infection. The conidia of M. oryzae applied on leaf sheath of transgenic rice expressing dsRNAs against 3 fungal pathogenic genes showed abnormal development of primary hyphae and malfunction of appressorium, which is consistent with the phenotypes of corresponding fungal knock-out mutants. Taken these results together, here, we suggest a novel strategy for development of antifungal crops by means of HIGS system.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.353-360
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• 2017

Background: Endophytic fungi play an important role in balancing the ecosystem and boosting host growth. In the present study, we investigated the endophytic fungal diversity of healthy Panax notoginseng and evaluated its potential antimicrobial activity against five major phytopathogens causing root-rot of P. notoginseng. Methods: A culture-dependent technique, combining morphological and molecular methods, was used to analyze endophytic fungal diversity. A double-layer agar technique was used to challenge the phytopathogens of P. notoginseng. Results: A total of 89 fungi were obtained from the roots, stems, leaves, and seeds of P. notoginseng, and 41 isolates representing different morphotypes were selected for taxonomic characterization. The fungal isolates belonged to Ascomycota (96.6%) and Zygomycota (3.4%). All isolates were classified to 23 genera and an unknown taxon belonging to Sordariomycetes. The number of isolates obtained from different tissues ranged from 12 to 42 for leaves and roots, respectively. The selected endophytic fungal isolates were challenged by the root-rot pathogens Alternaria panax, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Phoma herbarum, and Mycocentrospora acerina. Twenty-six of the 41 isolates (63.4%) exhibited activity against at least one of the pathogens tested. Conclusion: Our results suggested that P. notoginseng harbors diversified endophytic fungi that would provide a basis for the identification of new bioactive compounds, and for effective biocontrol of notoginseng root rot.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.392-400
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• 2017

Peanut yield and quality are seriously affected by pod rot pathogens worldwide, especially in China in recent years. The goals of this study are to analyze the structure of fungal communities of peanut pod rot in soil in three peanut cultivars and the correlation of pod rot with environmental variables using 454 pyrosequencing. A total of 46,723 internal transcribed spacer high-quality sequences were obtained and grouped into 1,706 operational taxonomic units at the 97% similarity cut-off level. The coverage, rank abundance, and the Chao 1 and Shannon diversity indices of the operational taxonomic units were analyzed. Members of the phylum Ascomycota were dominant, such as Fusarium, Chaetomium, Alternaria, and Sordariomycetes, followed by Basidiomycota. The results of the heatmap and redundancy analysis revealed significant variation in the composition of the fungal community among the three cultivar samples. The environmental conditions in different peanut cultivars may also influence on the structure of the fungal community. The results of this study suggest that the causal agent of peanut pod rot may be more complex, and cultivars and environmental conditions are both important contributors to the community structure of peanut pod rot fungi.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.485-491
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• 2015

This study was performed to investigate thermophilic bacteria from soil having broad antifungal spectrum against Rhizoctonia solani, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Phytophthora capsici, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici, and Botrytis cinerea. One isolate selected could resist heat shock of $60^{\circ}C$ for one hour, and had broad antifungal activity in dual culture assay against all tested fungal pathogens and was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Y1 using 16S rRNA gene sequence. Further investigation for antifungal activity of bacterial culture filtrate (BCF) and butanol crude extract (BCE) of various concentrations showed broad spectrum antifungal activity and fungal growth inhibition significantly increased with increasing concentration with highest growth inhibition of 100% against R. solani with 50% BCF and 11 mm of zone of inhibition against R. solani with 4 mg BCE concentration. Treatment of butanol crude extract resulted in deformation, lysis or degradation of C. gloeosporioides and P. capsici hyphae. Furthermore, B. amyloliquefaciens Y1 produced volatile compounds inhibiting growth of R. solani (70%), C. gloeosporioides (65%) and P. capsici (65-70%) when tested in volatile assay. The results from the study suggest that B. amyloliquefaciens Y1 could be a biocontrol candidate to control fungal diseases in crops.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.70-76
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• 2009

The rhizobacteria of Panax notoginseng were isolated from six sites in Yanshan, Maguan and Wenshan Counties, Yunnan Province of China, and their antagonistic activity against P. notoginseng root-rot fungal pathogens was determined. Of the 574 rhizobacteria isolated, 5.8% isolates were antagonistic in vitro to at least one of the five pathogens, Cylindrocarpon didynum, Fusarium solani, Phytophthora cactorum, Phoma herbarum, and Rhizoctonia solani. The number of rhizo bacteria and the number that inhibited fungi differed depending on sampling sites and isolation methods. Rhizobacteria isolated from the site in Yanshan and Maguan showed more antagonistic effect than them in Wenshan. Heat treatment of rhizosphere soil at $80^{\circ}C$ for 20 min scaled the antagonists up to 14.0%. Antagonistic bacteria in the roots proportioned 3.9% of the total isolates. The most antagonistic isolates 79-9 and 81-4 are Bacillus subtilis based on their 168 rDNA sequence and biochemical and physiological characteristics. Identification and evaluation of antagonistic bacteria against P. notoginseng root-rot pathogens in the main planting areas improved our understanding of their distribution in rhizosphere soil. Furthermore these results indicated that the interactions between biocontrol agent and soil microbes should be seriously considered for the successful survival and biocontrol efficacy of the agents in soil.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.127-140
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• 2017

Metal nanoparticles have been intensively studied within the past decade. Nano-sized materials have been an important subject in basic and applied sciences. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have received considerable attention due to their unique antibacterial, antifungal, and UV filtering properties, high catalytic and photochemical activity. In this study, microbiological aspects of scale formation in PVC pipelines bacteria and fungi were isolated. In the emerging issue of increased multi-resistant properties in water borne pathogens, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle are being used increasingly as antimicrobial agents. Thus, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and minimum fungal concentration of ZnO nanoparticles towards pathogens microbe were examined in this study. The results obtained suggested that ZnO nanoparticles exhibit a good anti fungal activity than bactericidal effect towards all pathogens tested in in-vitro disc diffusion method (170 ppm, 100 ppm and 30 ppm). ZnO nanoparticles can be a potential antimicrobial agent due to its low cost of production and high effectiveness in antimicrobial properties, which may find wide applications in various industries to address safety issues. Stable ZnO nanoparticles were prepared and their shape and size distribution characterized by Dynamic light scattering (35.7 nm) and transmission electron microscopic TEM study for morphology identification (20 nm), UV-visible spectroscopy (230 nm), X-ray diffraction (FWHM of more intense peak corresponding to 101 planes located at $36.33^{\circ}$ using Scherrer's formula), FT-IR (Amines, Alcohols, Carbonyl and Nitrate ions), Zeta potential (-28.8). The antimicrobial activity of ZnO nanoparticles was investigated against Bacteria and Fungi present in drinking water PVC pipelines biofilm. In these tests, Muller Hinton agar plates were used and ZnO nanoparticles of various concentrations were supplemented in solid medium.