• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.75-78
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• 2003

A lichen-forming fungus was successfully isolated by discharged spore method from Korean lichen (Hetero-dermia sp.) and cultivated in pure culture. The isolate JR0012 inhibited mycelial growth of several plant-pathogenic fungi. Mycelial growth of the four Pythium spp. tested was completely inhibited. Potato dextrose broth was found to be the medium favorable for large-scale production of antibiotics from the isolate. Anti-fungal substances produced in axenic culture were partially purified. This is the first report in Korea of lichen-forming fungus successfully isolated and which exhibited strong antifungal activity against plant-pathogenic fungi, especially the four Pythium spp..

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2014

Pear skin stains on 'Niitaka' pears, which occur from the growing stage to the cold storage stage, reportedly negatively influence the marketing of pears. These stains on fruit skin are likely due to a pathogenic fungus that resides on the skin and is characterized by dark stains; however, the mycelium of this fungus does not penetrate into the sarcocarp and is only present on the cuticle layer of fruit skin. A pathogenic fungus was isolated from the skin lesions of infected fruits, and its pathogenicity was subsequently tested. According to the pathogenicity test, Mycosphaerella sp. was strongly pathogenic, while Penicillium spp. and Alternaria spp. showed modest pathogenicity. In this present study, we isolated the pathogenic fungus responsible for the symptoms of pears (i.e., dark brown-colored specks) and identified it as Mycosphaerella graminicola based on its morphological characteristics and the nucleotide sequence of the beta-tubulin gene. M. graminicola was pathogenic to the skin of 'Niitaka' pears, which are one of the most widely growing varieties of pears in South Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.367-380
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• 2018

Stems and pods of hyacinth bean cultivated in a farmer's field in Gazipur District, Bangladesh, were found rotted in nearly 5% hyacinth bean plants. A fungus having fluffy mycelium and large sclerotia was isolated from affected tissues. Combined results of morphological, molecular and pathological analyses identified the fungus as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib) de Bary. Inoculating the fungus on healthy hyacinth bean plants and pods reproduced the symptoms previously observed in the field. The three isolates obtained from naturally infected plants were cross inoculated in hyacinth bean, okra and African-American marigold and they were pathogenic to these hosts. The optimum temperature and pH for its growth were $20^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.0, respectively. Sclerotial development was favored at pH 5.0. Sucrose and mannitol were the best carbon sources to support hyphal growth, while glucose was the most favourable for sclerotial development. The hyacinth bean genotypes, HB-82 (Rupban Sheem) and HB-102 were found highly resistant, while HB-94 (Ashina) was moderate resistant to the fungus. Finally, S. sclerotiorum was sensitive to Bavistin, Dithane M-45 and Rovral fungicides and Ca in the form of $CaCl_2$. This observation could possibly aid in eliminating field loss in hyacinth bean caused by an emerging pathogenic fungus S. sclerotiorum.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.72-75
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• 1999

A scab disease occurred on watermelon seedlings by the infection of Cladosporium cucumberinum. This is the first report demonstrating the scab disease on watermelon in Korea. The casual agent attacked all plant parts of the seedlings on the ground. Infection sites were initiated with sunken and dark green spots, and then suddenly developed to large lesions softened with gummy substances. When hypocotyl and leaf stalk of seedlings were infected and softened, upper parts of seedlings were brokin down, dried and eventually died. Conidiophores of the fungus were characterized by pale olivaceous brown color, and variable length of about 3-5 mm in width. Conidia were formed I long branched chains, and conidium was ellipsoidal, fusiform or subspherical single cell mostly without septum. Morphological characteristics of the fungus were almost identical to Cladosporium cucumerinum Ellis & Authur. The fungus was also pathogenic to cucumber, squash and oriental melon, suggesting that it is a common pathogen to cucurbits. However, the fungus was not pathogenic to bottle gourd.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.175-176
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• 2002

Rice blast, caused by Pyricularia oryzae (P. oryzae), is generally considered to be the most serious fungal disease of rice by its widespread distribution and destructiveness (Manandhar et al., 1998). The pathogenic fungus directly penetrates into the rice plant from a cellular structure called an appressorium that is formed at the tip of the germ tube. And the fungus can attack any aerial part of the rice plant, including seeds, in which the fungus may overwinter for several years. (omitted)

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.48-52
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• 2009

Essential oils are mixtures of volatile, lipophilic compounds originating from plants. Some essential oils have useful biological activities including antimicrobial, spasmolytic, antiplasmodial, and insect-repelling activities. In this study, we tested the antimicrobial activity of essential oil prepared from the aromatic plant, Cymbopogon citrates, against three important plant pathogenic and medical microorganisms, Pectobacterium carotovorum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and Aspergillus niger. It effectively inhibited the growth of the bacterium, Pectobacterium carotovorum, in a dose-dependent fashion, and 0.5% of the oil inhibited the growth of bacteria completely. Similarly, the essential oil inhibited the growth of plant pathogenic fungus, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and the addition of 1% of essential oil completely inhibited the growth of fungus even after 5 days of culture. Finally, it effectively inhibited the growth of the medically and industrially important fungal species, Aspergillus spp. These results suggest that the essential oil from Cymbopogon citrates may be an environmentally safe alternative to inhibit antimicrobial agents for various uses.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.376.2-376
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• 2001

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.311-314
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• 2001

Phytophthora root rot of lettuce, which has not been reported in Korea before, occurred severely in liquid hydroponic culture. The disease occurred in all seasons and was most severe in summer from June to August, showing over 90% infection rate in some farms. A total of 51 isolates collected from various farms were all identified as Phytophthora drechsleri. The fungus showed strong pathogenicity to lettuce and Chinese cabbage, moderate pathogenicity to cucurbits and tomato, and weak pathogenicity to pepper. However, the fungus was not pathogenic to other leafy vegetables namely: chicory, kale, endive, garland chrysanthemum, spinach beet, and perilla. Among 10 species of Phytophtora inoculated to lettuce, only P. drechsleri and P. cryptogea were found pathogenic.

• 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.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.432-436
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• 2014

The soil-borne ascomycete fungus Cylindrocarpon destructans causes ginseng root rot disease and produces various secondary metabolites such as brefeldin A and radicicol. The slow growth of this fungus compared with other plant pathogenic and saprophytic fungi in soil disturbs isolation of this fungus from soil and infected ginseng. In this study, we developed a selective medium for C. destructans using radicicol produced by this fungus. Supplementing 50 mg/L of radicicol to medium inhibited the mycelia growth of other fungi including Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani and Alternaria panax, but did not affect the growth of C. destructans. In addition, conidia germination of other fungal species except for C. destructans was inhibited in submerged culture supplemented with radicicol. This medium provides a very efficient tool for isolating C. destructans and also can be used as an enrichment medium for this fungus.