The effects of prochloraz on membrane permeability and germination of uredospores of Puccinia recondita were investigated to determine its potential mode of action on wheat leaf rust control activity. Disease control activity of ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors (EBIs) and their activities on uredospore membrane permeability and germination were examined with wheat leaf rust pathogen, both in vitro and in vivo. While wheat leaf rust was not controlled by prochloraz, electrolytic leakage and spore germination of P. recondita uredospore was the highest with the use of prochloraz among the eight fungicides tested. Prochloraz stimulated uredospore of P. recondita to germinate at a higher ratio. Although certain EBIs, such as hexaconazole, showed excellent control activity, their effects on uredospore membrane permeability and germination was much inferior to prochloraz. Therefore, results of this study suggest that effects of EBIs on membrane permeability and germination of uredospore are not always correlated with their disease control activity.

Pink root of onion occurred in the fields of the Onion Experimental Station and in the main onion cultivation area in Korea in 1998 and 1999, respectively. The casual fungus of pink root was isolated only from apricot agar. Formation of pycnidia and pycnidiospores of the fungus was highest in alternating cycles of 12 hours near ultraviolet light and 12 hours in dark condition. Its morphological characteristics and pigment formation on water agar were identical with that of Pyrenochaeta terrestris. The optimum temperature for the growth of the fungus and disease development was $25-28^{\circ}C$. When onion seeds were inoculated with the spore suspension, incubated in test-tube and sown in potted soil, disease symptoms developed in onion roots 7 and 30 days after inoculation.

Leaf spots were first observed on watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris Schrad) under polyethylene film-covered green-house in November 2002. Symptoms appeared as dark-brown circles or large irregular spots on the leaves of watermelon. Occasionally, zonal growth of the lesions was observed. Under humid conditions, small black sclerotium-like bodies (sporodochia) were produced on the surface of the lesions. The sporodochia on leaf lesions were sessile, polymorphic, variable in size, 35-850 $\mu\textrm{m}$ in diameter, and 30-470 $\mu\textrm{m}$ in depth. Conidia in sporodochium were black in mass, one-celled, rod-shaped, with rounded ends, hyaline, guttulate, and measured 6-8$\times$1.6-2.2 $\mu\textrm{m}$ in size. The pathogen was identified as Myrothecium roridum Tode ex Fr. This is the first report of Myrothecium leaf spot on watermelon naturally occurring in commercial greenhouses.

Decayed samples of marketed mungbean sprout were collected from Sacheon, Suncheon, and Dangjin cities in Korea. Initial symptom on hypocotyls was dark-brown diamond speck, which developed into enlarged sunken brownish-black spot with irregular margin, followed by softening yellowish decay. Brown speck on cotyledon further developed into irregular lesions. This study isolated the fungus Colletotrichum sp. The fungal colony was pale orange, which turned greenish gray after 1 week at $25^{\circ}C$. Colony of reverse side in a petri dish was pink. Neither conidiomata nor setae were present in the culture. Typical fusiform conidia sized 7.5-15.0$\times$2.5-2.9 $\mu\textrm$were hyaline, aseptate, smooth, and had salmon color in mass. Conidiogenous cells were phialidic, hyaline, smooth, and cylindrical with terminal distinct collarette. Basedon these mycological characteristics, the casual organism was identified as Colletotrichum acutatum. This is first report of Colletotrichum acutatum in Korea.

Dispersal of citrus bacterial canker caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri on Unshiu orange was investigated in naturally infested nursery plot at Seogwipo in Jeju island, Korea. Based on phage detection, over 2% of the bacterial pathogen over-wintered in canker lesions and started to multiply in late May. However, symptoms were first observed 1 month after the phage detection. The disease dispersed non-directionally to nearby plants possibly because of indirect dissemination of the bacterium by rain splashes. The disease increased from late June to late August and decreased thereafter. Population of phage increased constantly, however, disease occurrence somewhat fluctuated due to environmental factors. Disease incidence and severity were correlated with rainfall with wind that occurred 14-32 days earlier from late May to late August.

This study examined the existence of genetically diverse population of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), known as quasispecies, from lily, Nicotiana benthamiana and from purified virions. Based on the conserved sequences of CMV lily isolates in intergenic region (IR) on RNA3, the genetic variation of IR from three different sources was investigated by a specific restriction endonuclease hydrolysis of amplified reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products using virus-specific primers, and was compared with IR sequences. The IR nucleotide sequences of CMV lily isolates were highly conserved, however, quasispecies was detected from all three sources in low level, containing sub-populations of RNA3. These subpopulations of RNA3 were inoculated onto zucchini squash by in vitro transcripts from corresponding full-length cDNA clones together with Eny RNA1 and 2 transcripts. The systemic symptom of zucchini plants infected by these quasispecies was chlorotic spotting, which was milder than severe mosaic and stunt symptom caused by Eny-CMV. The severity of symptom was correlated with RNA accumulation of viruses. These results suggest that the genome of CMV lily isolates consists of quasispecies populations.

Zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo cv. Black Beauty) plants infected with A strain of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV-A) isolated from a hollyhock plant showed systemically severe mosaic symptom, similar to previously established Cu strain of ZYMV. However, initial symptom of squash infected by ZYMV-A strain was generally more severe than those infected by ZYMV-Cu. Using leaf-detachment assay, examination of kinetics of accumulation of the coat protein (CP) in systemic loaves of squash plants showed that CPs of ZYMV-A appeared earlier than those of ZYMV-Cu. However, both ZYMV-A and ZYMV-Cu showed similar kinetics of CP accumulation 7 days post-inoculation. These results indicate that different rates and initial severity of systemic symptom development were due to differences in the rate of movement rather than vims replication.