• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2015

Hydrotrope-combined copper (HCC) is a copper ($Cu^{2+}$)-based algicide, which is combined with a hydrotrope that keeps copper ion in solution to improve performance. This study assessed the growth inhibition effect of HCC against Microcystis aeruginosa which is one of the most common toxic cyanobacterium in eutrophic freshwater environment. Various HCC doses, ranging from 5.5 to $550{\mu}g/L$ as $Cu^{2+}$, were applied to either BG-11 or 1/4 diluted medium with low- or high-inoculum density of M. aeruginosa. Growth inhibition was monitored based on a decrease in chlorophyll-a content in culture medium during the incubation. Results showed that HCC significantly inhibited the growth of M. aeruginosa in a dose-dependent manner. In case of 1/4 diluted BG-11 medium, HCC dose as low as $5.5{\mu}g$ $Cu^{2+}/L$ completely inhibited the production of chlorophyll-a by M. aeruginosa. It was found that HCC did not induce any significant release of microcystin-LR from M. aeruginosa. Acute toxicity of HCC was tested using Daphnia magna, and the 24-h $EC_{50}$ value was 0.30 mg/L as $Cu^{2+}$ which was much higher than the actual inhibition dose. Ames test was performed using Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium TA100, and HCC showed no increase in the number of revertant colonies. The result suggested that HCC does not have any mutagenic potential in the aquatic environment. In addition, no genotoxic effect of HCC was also confirmed based on the SOS ChromoTest using Escherichia coli PQ37. Therefore, HCC could be used as a relatively safe and effective pre- and post-treatment agent to control hazardous algal blooming in aquatic environments.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.58-66
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• 2015

This study was conducted to evaluate control efficacy of a fermented food 'Cheonggukjang' against cucumber powdery mildew caused by Sphaerotheca fuliginea in greenhouse. Sterilized Daepung beans were inoculated with the rice straw as natural inoculum and then incubated for 72 hrs at $42^{\circ}C$ in the household cheonggkjang maker. After 72 hrs of cheonggukjang fermentation, white zymogens were grown on the surface of a sterile Daepung beans. The pH of the 72 hrs fermented soybean was not significantly changed and electrical conductivity was found to increase by about 2 times than before fermentation. The population density of soybean zymogen showed a peak of growth at 60 hrs after fermentation and the concentration of zymogen was $8.2{\times}10^7cfu/ml$. Soybean zymogen form of the colony was divided into three kinds of bacteria and a white and a large colony (WL) was predominant bacteria among those up to 60 hrs of fermentation. To control the cucumber powdery mildew, diluted solutions of cheonggukjang was applied from 6.0% to 30.0% on cucumber leaves and they showed injury symptoms on cucumber leaves in more than 15% of them. However, more than 6.0% diluted cheonggukjang solutions showed more than 77.8% control effect of cucumber powdery mildew at 15 days after treatment. The fermented bacteria of Chenggukjang were well established in the cucumber leaf area at 15 days after treatment. The antifungal activity of 10% diluted cheonggukjang solutions was excellent for four species of plant fungal pathogens, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Sclerotinia cepivorum, Rhizoctonia sloani and Phytophthora capsici in the dual culture test. Results indicated that foliar application of Cheonggukjang solution could be used for the control of powdery mildews occurring on organically cultivated cucumber.