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..

Sclerotinia rot occurred severely on some vegetable crops grown in Namyangju, Yangpyung, and Yangiu areas in Korea in 2001-2002. The crops infected with Scterotinia sp. were Adenophora remotiflora, Armoracia lapathfolia, Angelica acutiloba, Angelica archangelica, Anthriscus sylvestris, Aster tataricus, Beta vulgaris var. cicla, Brassica campestris var. marinosa, Brassica juncea var. laciniata, Chicholium intybus, Lactuca indica var. dracoglossa, Lactuca sativa var. oak-leaf, Petroselinum crispum, and Phyteuma japonicum. The fungus associated with the disease was identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, based on the morphological characteristics of the pathogen. The symptoms were water-soaked spots that enlarged later and became a watery soft rot. Infected parts became yellow and then turned brown, followed by death of the whole plant. White mycelia developed on the upper petioles and leaves and on the soil where these plant parts lay. Then black sclerotia in variable size and shape formed from the mycelial mass. Pathogenicity of the fungus was proven by artificially inoculating each crop. This is the first report of Sclerotinia rot on the listed vegetable crops in Korea.

Pre-treatment with DL-3-aminobutyric acid (BABA) in the cucumber plants caused the decrease of disease severity after inoculation with anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum orbiculare. In this study, ultrastructures of the vascular bundle and the infection structures in the leaves of BABA-treated as well as untreated cucumber plants were observed after inoculation with the anthracnose pathogen by electron microscopy. The ultrastructures of vascular bundle in the leaves of BABA-treated plants were similar to those of the untreated plants except plasmodesmata. In the BABA-treated plants, the plasmodesmata were more numerous than in the untreated plants, suggesting that the BABA treatment may cause the active transfer of metabolites through the vascular bundle. In the leaves of untreated plants, the fungal hyphae were spread widely in the plant tissues at 5 days after pathogen inoculation. Most cellular organelles in the hyphae were intact, indicating a compatible interaction between the plant and the parasite. In contrast, in the leaves of BABA pre-treated plants the growth of most hyphae was restricted to the epidermal cell layer at 5 days after inoculation. Most hyphae cytoplasm and nucleoplasm was electron dense or the intracellular organelles were degenerated. The cell walls of some plant cells became thick at the site adjacent to the intercellular hyphae, indicating a mechanical defense reaction of the plant cells against the fungal attack. Furthermore, hypersensitive reaction (HR) of the epidermal cells was often observed, in which the intracellular hyphae were degenerated. Based on these results it is suggested that BABA causes the enhancement of defense mechanisms in the cucumber plants such as cell wall apposition or HR against the invasion of C. orbiculare.

The study was conducted to determine the cultural conditions and the effect of inert fillers for melanization and sporulation abilities of sodium alginate pellets, and the weeding efficacy of the formula in the field. Melanin production of E. nematosporus was affected by striking frequency. Percentage of melanized beads was increased to 80.6% at higher rpm up to 180. The melanized pellets produced more conidia with abundant mucilage than unmelanized pellets. Shaker culture of Epicoccosorus nematosporus with sodium alginate yielded a total of 55 mg per 100 pellets. Percentage of melanized pellets was highest with 81.0% and 83.3% of melanization, when wheat bran and rice polish were amended and produced the conidia with 65.4 and 68.4 mg per 100 pellets, respectively. When 1 L of conidial suspension of 6.0$\times$$10^5$ conidia per ml was applied on 30-day-old plants in a plot, 74.5% of the plants were killed within 20 days, whereas, its melanized sodium alginate pellets killed 57.8% of the plants in the same period. The number of tuber formation of Eleocharis kuroguwai in the untreated control plots was 128.5 per plot, but those of the plots treated with conidial suspension and melanized pellets were 22.1 and 39.7, respectively, at the end of the season. Results of this study showed that melanization of mycelia-mixed sodium alginate are an important sporulation factor in E. namatosporus as a mycoherbicide.

This study was conducted to determine the efficacy of Epicoccosorus nematosporus for the control of Eleocharis kuroguwai and to evaluate the meteorological factors which affect weeding efficacy in field conditions for three years (1996-1998). The best time to control E. kuroguwai with E. nematosporus as a biological control agent in the field was in July, when temperature ranged from 20.4 to $23.4^{\circ}C$; the surface wetness duration was 12.6-16.1 hours, and application time of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; and weeding efficacy was 81-90%. On 10 June 1996 in Milyang area, where the field experiments were performed, mean temperature was $16.5^{\circ}C$ with 11.3 hours of dew duration. Meanwhile, on 20 Aug. 1996 the temperature was $21.3^{\circ}C$ with 15.4 hours of dew duration. During these periods, the weeding efficacy was recorded at 61.8 and 60.8%, respectively. Time required for complete plant death was 25.8 and 25.6 days at application times 10 June and 20 Aug., respectively. At the time of application on 7,18, and 27 July 1996, mean temperature was 20.4-$23.4^{\circ}C$ with 12.6-16.5 hours of dew duration. The weeding efficacies of these periods were very hi일 with 81.4-90.8%. Three years of field observations from 1996 to 1998 showed that infection in the field can occur at any time through the summer season, although total infection rates vary between months and between years. In 1996, plant infection rapidly increased from 56% on 30 June, 82.4% on 15 July, 94.6% on 15 August, and 92.8% on 15 September under favorable meteorological conditions such as minimum temperature of $17.6^{\circ}C$ and maximum temperature of $27.1^{\circ}C$, with 86% relative humidity and 977.5 mm of rainfall during E. kuroguwai growing season. However, in 1997, the disease incidence was very low because of unfavorable weather conditions brought about by the hot temperature and the low amount of rainfall at 321.5 mm. Disease progress was slow from 24.4% on 30 June to 49.2% at the end of the growing season.

Gray mold severely occurred up to 50% in freesia and gladiolus grown in the fields and greenhouses in Korea from 1998 to 2000. Symptoms appeared as spot and blight on loaves and flowers of infected plants. A total of 25 isolates was obtained from infected plant parts. All the isolates were identified as Botrytis gladiolorum based on their morphological and cultural characteristics. Gray mold symptoms similar to those observed in the fields and greenhouses were induced on the plants of freesia and gladiolus by artificial inoculation with four isolates of the fungus. This is the first report of gray mold of freesia caused by B. gladiolorum in Korea.

Stolbur Phytoplasma was detected from Lilium Oriental hybrids showing flattened stem and flower clustering. The presence of phytoplasma was demonstrated using polymerase chain reaction（PCR) assays with phyto-plasma-universal（P1/P6）and stolbur phytoplasma-specific 16F1/R1-S primer pairs amplifying phytoplasma 16S rDNA regions. Nucleotide suquences of the phytoplasma 16S rDNA were determined. Nucleic acid extracted from lily amplified 1.5 kb DNA with a phytoplasma universal primer pair. In nested PCR, 1.1 kb PCR product was obtained using specific primer pair, indicating an isolate of stolbur phytoplasma. Nucleotide sequence of phytoplasma 16S rDNA reported in this study showed 99.5% and 99.1％ identities with two known stolbur phytoplamas (16Sr XII-A). Also, it exhibited a sequence homology of 98.0％ with phormium yellow leaf (16Sr XII-B), and 97.9％ with Australian grapevine yellows (16Sr XII-B). Meanwhile, it showed 98.1% identity with strawberry green petal phytoplama, (16Sr1-C), and 94.7 % with American aster yellows (16Sr1-B). Homology percentage of the 16S rDNA nucleotide sequence suggests that this phytoplama could be classified into the stolbur phytoplasma, subgroup A (16Sr XII-A), as a type strain stolbur.

Turnip mosaic Potyvirus (TuMV) and Ribgrass mosaic Tobamovirus (RMV) are major viruses infecting crucifer crops in Korea. RMV-FG22 was isolated from oriental cabbage. TuMV isolates were TuMV-CA7 from oriental cabbage, TuMV-TU and TuMV-TU2 from turnip, TuMV-RA from rape, TuMV-ST from stock, and TuMV-R9 from radish. The six isolates of TuMV were classified by symptom expression in inbred lines of crucifers. TuMV-CA7 and TuMV-TU isolates infected mostly oriental cabbages; TuMV-ST, TuMV-TU2, and TuMV-R9 infected radishes; and TuMV-RA infected both oriental cabbages and radishes. Crops used in six combinations of mixed infections were 'Tambok' cultivar resistant to TuMV,'SSD63' susceptible inbred line of oriental cabbage, pure line of leaf mustard, and‘Daeburyungyeorum’cultivar of radish. External symptoms in 'Tambok' and radish by each of the six single infections of TuMV showed similar results by bioassay. Synergistic response of necrotic death occurred within 1 week after inoculation in all combinations mixed with TuMV and RMV-FG22 on leaf mustard. In oriental cabbage 'SSD63' , synergism of necrosis occurred in four TuMV isolates, but not in TuMV-ST and TuMV-R9. In oriental cabbage 'Tambok' , synergism was expressed only in two combinations of RMV-FG22+TuMV-CA7 and RMV-FG22+TuV-TU, but other combinations had the same symptoms produced by RM-FG22. In radish‘Daeburyungyeorum’, only mild mosaic symptoms were induced by combinations of RMV-FG22+TuMV-CA7, RMV-FG22+TuMV-TU, RMV-FG22+TuMV-RA, and RMV-FG22+TuMV-R9. Mosaic and severe mosaic were induced in combinations of RMV-FG22 +TuMV-TU2 and RMV-FG22+TuMV-ST, respectively.

Six isolates of Turnip mosaic Potyvirus (TuMV) namely, TuMV-CA7 from oriental cabbage, TuMV-TU and TuMV-TU2 from turnip, TuMV-RA from rape, TUMV-ST from stock, and TuMV-R9 from radish, and Ribgrass mosaic Tobamovirus (RMV-FG22) from oriental cabbage were isolated. Three kinds of characteristics of the six TuMV isolates were sorted by bioassay: TuMV-CA7 and TuMV-TU isolates infected mostly oriental cabbages; TuMV-ST, TuMV-TU2, and TuMV-R9 infected radishes; and TuMV-RA infected both oriental cabbages and radishes. Mixed infections of crucifers were RMV-FG22+TuMV-CA7, RMV-FG22+TuMV-TU, RMV-FG22+TuMV-RA, RMV-FG22+TuMV-ST, RMV-FG22 +TuMV-TU2 and RMV-FG22+TuMV-R9. Crops used were 'Tambok' cultivar resistant to TuMV, 'SSD63' susceptible inbred line of oriental cabbage, pure line of leaf mustard and 'Daeburyungyeorum' cultivar of radish. New specific ultrastructures of nonagon-like ring (NLR) and spiral aggregates (SA) by mixed infection with TuMV and RMV were formed in cells of crucifer plants. The NLR was made by a TuMV surrounded loosely by nine RMV particles, and the SA was formed spirally by full mixed of two virus particles. The SA had some NLR in its center, which was observed from cross sectioned SA. Host plants with specific ultrastructures expressed synergistic symptoms. Specific ultrastructures of NLR and SA were formed in combinations of RMV-FG22 and in TuMV-CA7, TuMV-TU, or TuMV-RA that could infect oriental cabbages. How-ever, no specific ultrastructures and mixing of the two virions in the same cell were observed in combinations of RMV-FG22, and TuMV-57, TuMV-TU2, or TuMV-R9 isolates haying virulence in radishes.

A severe disease of muskmelon (Cucumis melo cv. Alsnight) grown on rockwool in a plastic house was characterized by leaf and stem necrosis followed by death of the plants. In 2001, an isolate of Melon necrotic spot virus-MN (MNSV-MN) of the genus Camovirus was identified as the causal agent of the disease on the basis of biological reactions and nucleotide sequence analyses of coat protein (CP) gene. MNSV-MN induced necrotic local lesions on mechanically inoculated leaves and systemic necrotic spots on the upper leaves of melon cvs. Alsnight, Rui III, Party, Imperial, and Seolhang. However, the inoculated leaves of watermelon and cucumber showed only necrotic lesions. DsRNAs extracted from the melon infected with MNSV-MN were separated into three components. Molecular sizes of the dsRNAs were estimated at approximately 4.5, 1.8, and 1.6 kbp. The amplified cDNA products of CP gene for MNSV-MN by RT-PCR showed approximately 1.2 kbp. The amplified DNA was digested to three fragments by MspI treatment. The cDNA of the genomic RNA of MNSV-MN was cloned and the region deduced to encode the CP was sequenced. The CP coding region, located near 3' end of the genome, consisted of 1,170 nucleotides and had the potential to encode a 390 amino acid protein. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of MNSV-MN CP gene were 84.0-94.6% and 90.8-94.9% identical with other MNSV isolates found in the GeneBank database, respectively. This is the first report on the occurrence of MNSV in Korea.