• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.403-411
• /
• 2018

This study takes strawberry-fruits as the test material and discusses the effect of Burkholderia contaminans B-1 on preventing postharvest diseases and inducing resistance-related substances in strawberry-fruits. Soaking and wound inoculating is performed to analyze the inhibitory effects of different treatment solutions on the gray mold of postharvest strawberry-fruits. The count of antagonistic bacteria colonies in the wound is found, and the dynamic growth of antagonistic bacteria and the pathogenic fungus is observed by electron microscopy. The results indicated that, either by soaking/wound-inoculating, the fermentation and suspension of antagonistic bacteria significantly reduced the incidence of postharvest diseases of strawberry-fruits. With wound inoculation, the inhibition rate of antagonist fermentation and suspension ($1{\times}10^{10}cfu/ml$) respectively reached 77.4% and 66.7%. It also led to a significant increase in the activity of resistance-related enzymes, i.e., phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate coenzyme A ligase (4CL), cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) and chalcone isomerase (CHI). On 1 d and 2 d post-treatment, the activity of 4CL was respectively 3.78 and 6.1 times of the control, and on 5 d, the activity of PAL was increased by 4.47 times the control. The treatment of antagonistic bacteria delayed the peaking of cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) activity and promoted the accumulation of lignin and total phenols. The antagonistic bacteria could be well colonized in the wounds. On 4-5 d post-inoculation, the count of colonies was $10^8$ times of that upon inoculation. Electronmicroscopy indicated that the antagonistic bacteria delayed the germination of pathogenic spores in the wounds, and inhibited further elongations of the mycelia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.156-158
• /
• 2012

A synthetic coprisin analog peptide, 9-mer dimer CopA3 (CopA3) was designed based on a defensin-like peptide, Coprisin, isolated from the bacteria-immunized dung beetle Copris tripartitus. Here, CopA3 was investigated for its antimicrobial activity and cancer cell growth inhibition. CopA3 showed antimicrobial activities against various pathogenic bacteria and yeast fungus with MIC values in 2~32 ${\mu}M$ ranges, and inhibited the cell viabilities of pancreatic and hepatocellular cancer cells, except MIA-Paca2, Hep3B, and HepG2 cells, in a dose-dependent manner. The average $IC_{50}$ values of CopA3 against pancreatic and hepatocellular cancer cells were 61.7 ${\mu}M$ and 67.8 ${\mu}M$, respectively. The results indicate that CopA3 has potential in the treatments of pancreatic and hepatocellular cancers as well as microorganism infection disease.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.264-269
• /
• 2012

Recently, we reported that the synthetic Coprisin analog peptide 9-mer dimer CopA3 (consisted of all-L amino acid sequence) was designed based on a defensin-like peptide, Coprisin isolated from Copris tripartitus. The 9-mer dimer CopA3 (L-CopA3) had antibacterial activity and induced apoptosis in human leukemia cells via a caspase-independent pathway. In this study, all of amino acid sequences of L-CopA3 were modified to all D-form amino acids (DCopA3) to develop a more effective antimicrobial peptide. We investigated whether D-CopA3 had antimicrobial activities against pathogenic microorganisms and pro-apoptotic effects in human leukemia cells (U937, Jurkat, and AML-2). The synthetic peptide D-CopA3 had antimicrobial activities against various pathogenic bacteria and yeast fungus with MIC values in the 4~64 ${\mu}M$ range. Moreover, D-CopA3 caused cell growth inhibition, and increased the chromosomal DNA fragmentation and the expression of inflammatory cytokines, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL1-${\beta}$, transcripts in human leukemia cells. The all-D amino acid peptide DCopA3 proved as effective as the L-CopA3 reported previously. These results provide the basis for developing D-CopA3 as a new antibiotic peptide.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.18 no.7
• /
• pp.974-979
• /
• 2008

The powdery mildew, a fungal plant disease found in varieties of plant cultures, is occurred by attack with Fusarium sp., Sphaerotheca sp., Leveilluna sp., and Eryshipe sp.. In this study we investigated the control of Fusarium graminearum, a barley powdery mildew fungus, by natural plant extracts. Among the 900 plant extracts tested, Zanthoxylum schinifolium, Ligusticum acutilobum, Bidens frondosa L., Dictamnus dasycarpus, Evodia officinalis, Disporum sessile, Scopolia japonica Max., Styrax japonica S. et Z., Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz., Sinomenium acutum Rehder et Wils., Eugenia aromaticum, Rubus parvifolius L., Reynoutria elliptica, Coptis chinensis, Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Rheum undalatum, Paeonia suffruticosa, Oenothera odorata Jacq., Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr., and Nepeta cataria were selected based on spore germination inhibition assay. Further mycelial growth inhibition assay with economical and safety considerations led us to finally select Z. schinifolium (sancho) for control of F. graminearum. To produce antifungal sancho extract, methanol was suitable for extraction and subsequent fractionations of the extract showed that the water residue mainly had antifungal activity. The sancho extract and its fractions showed minor antibacterial activity against different pathogenic or food spoilage bacteria, but they did not show any harmful effects against young tomato plant by treatment of $1,000\;{\mu}g/ml$ in green chamber test. These results suggested that the extract of sancho has high potentials on control of a powdery mildew fungus, F. graminearum.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.220-223
• /
• 2002

In April of 2002, fruit rot infected with blue mold was found at maturing stage of melon (Cucumis melo cv. Gayabaegja) growing under tunnel cultivation in Daesan-myon, Haman-gun, Gyeongnam Province, Korea. Floral parts were infected first and colonized by fungal mycelial mats. From the point of infection, fruits become collapsed and mostly ruptured. The pathogenic fungus from infected fruits was isolated. Colony color of the fungus was white on MEA and CYA agar, Conidia were ellipsoid and 2.6~7.4$\times$2.6~5.8 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in size. Stipes were 86~320$\times$2.8~4.3 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in size. Metulae were 12.4~31.6$\times$2.6~4.2 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in size. Phialides were ampulliform to cylindroid, and 8.2~15.4$\times$3.6~4.6 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in size. Rate of infected fruits in the field was 4.3%. Based on the cultural and mycological characteristics and pathogenecity test on host plants, the fungus was identified as Penicillium oxalicum, This is the first report on the blue mold of melon (Cucumis melo) caused by P. oxalicum in Korea.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2014.10a
• /
• pp.11-11
• /
• 2014

Fungal pathogens have huge impact on health and economic wellbeing of human by causing life-threatening mycoses in immune-compromised patients or by destroying crop plants. A key determinant of fungal pathogenesis is their ability to undergo developmental change in response to host or environmental factors. Genetic pathways that regulate such morphological transitions and adaptation are therefore extensively studied during the last few decades. Given that epigenetic as well as genetic components play pivotal roles in development of plants and mammals, contribution of microbial epigenetic counterparts to this morphogenetic process is intriguing yet nearly unappreciated question to date. To bridge this gap in our knowledge, we set out to investigate histone modifications among epigenetic mechanisms that possibly regulate fungal adaptation and processes involved in pathogenesis of a model plant pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. M. oryzae is a causal agent of rice blast disease, which destroys 10 to 30% of the rice crop annually. Since the rice is the staple food for more than half of human population, the disease is a major threat to global food security. In addition to the socioeconomic impact of the disease it causes, the fungus is genetically tractable and can undergo well-defined morphological transitions including asexual spore production and appressorium (a specialized infection structure) formation in vitro, making it a model to study fungal development and pathogenicity. For functional and comparative analysis of histone modifications, a web-based database (dbHiMo) was constructed to archive and analyze histone modifying enzymes from eukaryotic species whose genome sequences are available. Histone modifying enzymes were identified applying a search pipeline built upon profile hidden Markov model (HMM) to proteomes. The database incorporates 22,169 histone-modifying enzymes identified from 342 species including 214 fungal, 33 plants, and 77 metazoan species. The dbHiMo provides users with web-based personalized data browsing and analysis tools, supporting comparative and evolutionary genomics. Based on the database entries, functional analysis of genes encoding histone acetyltransferases and histone demethylases is under way. Here I provide examples of such analyses that show how histone acetylation and methylation is implicated in regulating important aspects of fungal pathogenesis. Current analysis of histone modifying enzymes will be followed by ChIP-Seq and RNA-seq experiments to pinpoint the genes that are controlled by particular histone modifications. We anticipate that our work will provide not only the significant advances in our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms operating in microbial eukaryotes but also basis to expand our perspective on regulation of development in fungal pathogens.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.19-23
• /
• 1967

The fungus which belongs to Alternaria has been isolated from "damping-off" infected seedlings of pitch pine (Pinus rigida Mill.) in the nursery (seed bed) of Chung Puk College, Cheong-Ju. The author has carried out this study regarding to (1) the effects of H-ion concentration on the growth of fungus, (2) the effects of temperature and humidity on the conidia germination, (3) the effects of temperature and humidity on the conidia formation. The summary of obtained in this experiments is as follows: 1. The suitable H-ion concentration for growth of isolated fungus is in the range of PH 4.0-9.5, the most suitable of it is PH 6.5-8.0. 2. The germination of the conidia is suppressed at below $0^{\circ}C$ or at $40^{\circ}C$ and above, the range of optimum temperature for the germination is $5^{\circ}C-35^{\circ}C$, the percentage of germination is highest at $20^{\circ}C$. And under relative humidities of 10% or below, the germination is suppressed, favorable relative humidities $85%{\cdots}100%$. 3. The formation of the conidia is suppressed at below $10^{\circ}C$ or at $34^{\circ}C$ and above, the favorable condition of the condia formation is as follows; Temperature; $22^{\circ}C-28^{\circ}C$ Relative humidity:85%-100%.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.86-91
• /
• 2010

This study was carried out to assess the antifungal potential of R. oligosporus and its ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract against the fungal pathogens causing anthracnose disease in apple fruits using disc diffusion, antagonistic effect and morphological abnormalities in fungal mycelia. The percentage of inhibition of antifungal effect of the ethyl acetate extract (5 ${\mu}l$ $disc^{-1}$) of the R. oligosporus against C. acutatum KACC 40848, C. gloeosporioides KACC 40897, C. higginsianum KACC 40806, C. orbiculare KACC 40808, C. coccodes KACC 40008, C. musae KACC 40947, C. boninense KACC 40893, C. liliacearum KACC 40981, C. caudatum KACC 41028 and Colletotrichum sp. KACC 40811 was found to be 44.4, 35.5, 40, 31.1, 33.3, 37.7, 40, 51.1, 28.8 and 28.8%, respectively. Also the fungus R. oligosporus showed potential antagonistic effect of antifungal activity against the tested pathogens of Colletotrichum spp. Further, R. oligosporus had a potential detrimental effect on the morphology of the tested fungi of Colletotrichum spp. such as wrinkle abnormalities, abnormal cell formation, lysis of mycelium, empty cell formation, distorted cell formation and breakage of the mycelium. These findings strongly support the role of R. oligosporus to serve as a potential antifungal agent to control plant pathogenic fungi causing anthracnose disease in apple fruits.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.177-181
• /
• 2014

Cockroaches are abundant in Nigeria and are seen to harbour an array of pathogens. Environmental and sanitary conditions associated with demographic/socio-economic settings of an area could contribute to the prevalence of disease pathogens in cockroaches. A total of 246 cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) in urban (Benin, n=91), semi-urban (Ekpoma, n=75) and rural (Emuhi, n=70) settings in Edo State, Nigeria were collected within and around households. The external body surfaces and alimentary canal of these cockroaches were screened for bacterial, fungal, and parasitological infections. Bacillus sp. and Escherichia coli were the most common bacteria in cockroaches. However, Enterococcus faecalis could not be isolated in cockroaches trapped from Ekpoma and Emuhi. Aspergillus niger was the most prevalent fungus in Benin and Ekpoma, while Mucor sp. was predominant in Emuhi. Parasitological investigations revealed the preponderance of Ascaris lumbricoides in Benin and Emuhi, while Trichuris trichura was the most predominant in Ekpoma. The prevalence and burden of infection in cockroaches is likely to be a reflection of the sanitary conditions of these areas. Also, cockroaches in these areas making incursions in homes may increase the risk of human infections with these disease agents.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.134-140
• /
• 1994

An antagonistic bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri YPL-1 liberated extracellular chitinase and $\beta$-1,3-glucanase which are key enzymes in the decomposition of fungal hyphal walls. The lytic enzymes caused abnormal swelling and retreating at the hyphal tips of plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium solani in a dual culture. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the hyphal degradation of F. solani in the regions interacting with P. stutzeri YPL-1. The production of chitinase and properties of a crude preparation of the enzyme from P. stutzeri YPL-1 were investigated. Peak of the chitinase activity was detected after 4 hr of cultivation. The enzyme had optimum temperature and pH of 50$^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.3, respectively. The enzyme was stable in the pH range of 3.5 to 6.0 up to 50$^{\circ}C$. The enzyme was significantly inhibited by metal compounds such as $HgCl_2$, but was stimulated by $CoCl_2$. P. stutzeri YPL-1 produced high levels of the enzyme after 84 hr of incubation. Among the tested carbon sources, chitin was the most effective for the enzyme production, at the concentration level of 3%. As a source of nitrogen, peptone was the best for the enzyme production, at the concentration level of 4%. The maximum amount of enzyme was produced by cultivating the bacterium at a medium of initial pH 6.8.