• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 2021

In this study, the fungal strains KNU-Gunwi 2B and KNU-SOT5 were isolated from root-soil in a hillside and the cherry tree bark (Prunus serrulata), respectively from Gyeongbuk province in Korea. The strain KNU-SOT5 produced dark brown chlamydospores that were smooth to lightly rough-walled, globose to ellipsoidal, and the conidia were aseptate, guttulate, mostly fusiform with a diameter of 5.3-17.6×4.2-7.0 ㎛. Strain KNU-Gunwi 2B produced phialides that were smooth-walled, cylindrical with semi-papillate apices and the conidia were pale-green, broadly ellipsoid, and sometimes cylindrical with a diameter of 4.4-8.0×2.3-4.0 ㎛. The strain KNU-SOT5 and KNU-Gunwi 2B were resolved based on cultural and morphological characteristics, along with the phylogenetic analysis using the small subunit (SSU), large subunit (LSU), and internal transcribed spacers (ITS) regions. The fungal strains KNU-SOT5 and KNU-Gunwi 2B were identified as Dothidea insculpta and Metarhizium rileyi, which have not been reported in Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.307-314
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• 2021

Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is an important agricultural crop worldwide. Recently, Colletotrichum scovillei, a member of the C. acutatum species complex, was reported to be the dominant pathogen causing pepper anthracnose disease in South Korea. In the present study, we isolated bacterial strains from rhizosphere soil in a pepper field in Gangwon Province, Korea, and assessed their antifungal ability against C. scovillei strain KC05. Among these strains, a strain named BS1 significantly inhibited mycelial growth, appressorium formation, and disease development of C. scovillei. By combined sequence analysis using 16S rRNA and partial gyrA sequences, strain BS1 was identified as Bacillus velezensis, a member of the B. subtilis species complex. BS1 produced hydrolytic enzymes (cellulase and protease) and iron-chelating siderophores. It also promoted chili pepper (cv. Nockwang) seedling growth compared with untreated plants. The study concluded that B. velezensis BS1 has good potential as a biocontrol agent of anthracnose disease in chili pepper caused by C. scovillei.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.490-502
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• 2022

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) causes bacterial leaf blight (BLB) disease in rice (Oryza sativa L.) and it is among the most destructive pathogen responsible for severe yield losses. Potential bacterial biocontrol agents (BCAs) with plant growth promotion (PGP) abilities can be applied to better manage the BLB disease and increase crop yield, compared to current conventional practices. Thus, this study aimed to isolate, screen, and identify potential BCAs with PGP abilities. Isolation of the BCAs was performed from internal plant tissues and rhizosphere soil of healthy and Xoo-infected rice. A total of 18 bacterial strains were successfully screened for in vitro antagonistic ability against Xoo, siderophore production and PGP potentials. Among the bacterial strains, 3 endophytes, Bacillus sp. strain USML8, Bacillus sp. strain USML9, and Bacillus sp. strain USMR1 which were isolated from diseased plants harbored the BCA traits and significantly reduced leaf blight severity of rice. Simultaneously, the endophytic BCAs also possessed plant growth promoting traits and were able to enhance rice growth. Application of the selected endophytes (BCAs-PGP) at the early growth stage of rice exhibited potential in suppressing BLB disease and promoting rice growth.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.429-438
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• 2022

Two fungal strains belonging to Ascomycota were discovered in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, during this investigation of soil microfungi and microbiota of insects. The strain KNUF-20-047 produced milky white on the back and a milky creamy center to white toward the margin on the front side of colonies. Conversely, the closest Xenoacremonium falcatus displayed a pale luteous to luteous center, white toward margins on the front side, and pale luteous or luteous pigment on the back side, whereas X. recifei produced white colonies. The conidiophores of KNUF-20-047 were slightly larger than those of X. falcatus, and the conidia were distinct from X. recifei. Strain KNUF-20-NI-005 produced light brown to subhyaline conidiophores up to 56.0 lm tall, whereas Rhinocladiella anceps displayed golden to dark brown conidiophores up to 350 lm. Strain KNUF-20-NI-005 also produced larger conidia than R. anceps but smaller than R. coryli and R. fasciculata. Moreover, the molecular phylogeny strongly supports the detailed description and illustration of each proposed species to be designated as Xenoacremonium minutisporum sp. nov. and Rhinocladiella terrigenum sp. nov. in Korea.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2015

Plastic wastes, particularly polyethylene terephthalate (PET) generated from used bottled water constitute a worldwide environmental issue. Reusing the PET waste for geotechnical applications not only reduces environmental burdens of handling the waste, but also improves inherent engineering properties of soil. This paper investigated factors affecting shear strength improvement of PET-mixed residual soil. Four variables were considered: (i) plastic content; (ii) plastic slenderness ratio; (iii) plastic size; and (iv) soil particle size. A series of unconfined compression tests were performed to determine the optimum configurations for promoting the shear strength improvement. The results showed that the optimum slenderness ratio and PET content for shear strength improvement were 1:3 and 1.5%, respectively. Large PET pieces (i.e., $1.0cm^2$) were favorable for fine-grained residual soil, while small PET pieces (i.e., $0.5cm^2$) were favorable for coarse-grained residual soil. Higher shear strength improvement was obtained for PET-mixed coarse-grained residual soil (148%) than fine-grained residual soils (117%). The orientation of plastic pieces in soil and frictional resistance developed between soil particles and PET surface are two important factors affecting the shear strength performance of PET-mixed soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.333-343
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• 2020

Preventing or reducing the damage impact of lateral soil movements on piled foundations is highly dependent on understanding the behavior of passive piles. For this reason, a detailed experimental study is carried out, aimed to examine the influence of soil density, the depth of moving layer and pile spacing on the behavior of a 2×2 free-standing pile group subjected to a uniform profile of lateral soil movement. Results from 8 model tests comprise bending moment, shear force, soil reaction and deformations measured along the pile shaft using strain gauges and others probing tools were performed. It is found that soil density and the depth of moving layer have an opposite impact regarding the ultimate response of piles. A pile group embedded in dense sand requires less soil displacement to reach the ultimate soil reaction compared to those embedded in medium and loose sands. On the other hand, the larger the moving depth, the larger amount of lateral soil movement needs to develop the pile group its ultimate deformations. Furthermore, the group factor and the effect of pile spacing were highly related to the soil-structure interaction resulted from the transferring process of forces between pile rows with the existing of the rigid pile cap.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.19 no.6 s.67
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• pp.44-49
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• 2005

This paper investigates strength characteristics and stress-strain behaviors of unreinforced and reinforced lightweight soils. Lightweight soil, composed of dredged soil, cement, and air-foam, was reinforced by a waste fishing net, in order to increase its compressive strength. Test specimens were fabricated by various mixing conditions, such as cement content, initial water content, air content, and waste fishing net; then, unconfined compression tests were carried out on these specimens. From the test results, it was shown that reinforced lightweight soil had different behavior after failure, even though it had similar behavior as unreinforced lightweight soil before failure. The test results also showed that stress became constant after peak strength in reinforced lightweight soil, while the stress decreased continuously in unreinforced lightweight soil. It was observed that the strength was increased due to reinforcing effect by the waste fishing net for most cases, except high water content greater than $218\%$. In the case of high water content, a reinforcing effect is negligible, due to slip between waste fishing net and soil particles. In reinforced lightweight soil, secant modulus (E50) was increased, due to the inclusion of waste fishing net.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 1994

A bacterial strain YB-70 which has powerful biocontrol activity against Fusarium solani causing plant root-rot resulting in considerable losses of many economical crops was isolated and selected from over 500 isolates from a ginseng rhizosphere in suppressive soil, and identified as a strain of Bacillus subtilis. In several biochemical and in vitro antibiosis tests on F. solani with culture filterates from B. subtilis YB-70, our data strongly indicated metabolites which mediated inhibition of the fungal growth were presumed to be heat-stable, micromolecular, and ethyl alcohol solutable antifungal substances. Suppression of root-rot by B. subtilis YB-70 was demonstrated in pot trials with eggplant (Solanum melongena L) seedlings. Treatment of the seedling with the bacterial suspension (1.7~1.9$\times$$10^5$ CFU/g) in F. solani-infested soil significantly reduced disease incidences by 68 to 76% after 25 to 30 days. The results supported that B. subtilis YB-70 have excellent potentials as a biocontrol agent.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.537-545
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• 1997

The aim of the present research program was to isolate a strain of actinomycetes producing antifungal substance. Soil samples were collected from various sites in Korea and a number of actinomycetes were isolated from the soil samples by applying selective agar for actinomycetes. Among isolates, a strain (NA -52) producing antifungal substance against Pyricularia oryzae was selected. Chemotaxonomic and numerical identification were carried out for the isolate. Fifty taxonomic unit characters were tested and the data were analyzed numerically using TAXON program. The isolate was identified as a synonym of streptomyces diastaticus belong to cluster No. 19 (Streptomyces diastaticus). But it showed a low similarity to S. diastaticus in simple matching coefficients, hence it was considered as one new species in Streptomyces.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.587-605
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• 2016

This study aimed to develop upper and lower bounds to predict the tunnel support pressure under the pile tip during the circular tunnel excavation. Most previous studies on the upper and lower bound methods were carried out for the single ground structures, e.g., retaining wall, foundation, ground anchor and tunnel, in the homogeneous ground conditions, since the pile-soil-tunnel interaction problem is very complicated and sophisticated to solve using those bound methods. Therefore, in the lower bound approach two appropriate stress fields were proposed for single pile and tunnel respectively, and then they were superimposed. In addition, based on the superimposition several failure mechanisms were proposed for the upper bound solution. Finally, these upper bound mechanisms were examined by shear strain data from the laboratory model test and numerical analysis using finite element method.