• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2010

The indoor environmental condition was assessed in houses with allergy (asthma and atopy) patients by use of a fungal detector. The fungal index was calculated from the growth rate of the sensor fungi in a fungal detector encapsulating the spores, Alternaria alternata S-78, Eurotium herbariorum J-183 and Aspergillus penicillioides K-712. Fungal indices were higher in asthma patient's houses than in control houses and Eurotium herbariorum showed the highest growth response among the sensor fungi. Dust mites allergen, Der f1, was also significantly high in allergy patient's houses where fungal indices above 10 were detected. A correlation was observed between the fungal indices and dust mite allergen proliferations in examined houses. Therefore, the fungal index can be a useful tool as an indirect indication for detecting chronic dampness that brings both contaminations by fungi and dust mite.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1206-1211
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• 2013

The selective inhibition of PTP1B has been widely recognized as a potential drug target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity. In the course of screening for PTP1B inhibitory fungal metabolites, the organic extracts of several fungal species isolated from marine environments were found to exhibit significant inhibitory effects, and the bioassay-guided investigation of these extracts resulted in the isolation of fructigenine A (1), cyclopenol (2), echinulin (3), flavoglaucin (4), and viridicatol (5). The structures of these compounds were determined mainly by analysis of NMR and MS data. These compounds inhibited PTP1B activity with 50% inhibitory concentration values of 10.7, 30.0, 29.4, 13.4, and 64.0 ${\mu}M$, respectively. Furthermore, the kinetic analysis of PTP1B inhibition by compounds 1 and 5 suggested that compound 1 inhibited PTP1B activity in a noncompetitive manner, whereas compound 5 inhibited PTP1B activity in a competitive manner.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.334-336
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• 2014

A new species named Aspergillus cumulatus sp. nov. is described in Aspergillus section Aspergillus (Eurotium state). The type strain (KACC $47316^T$) of this species was isolated from rice straw used in meju fermentations in Korea, and other strains were isolated from the air in a meju fermentation room. The species is characterized by growth at a wide range of water activities and the formation of aerial hyphae on malt extract 60% sucrose agar (ME60S) that resemble a cumulus cloud. Furthermore, A. cumulatus produces yellow ascomata containing small lenticular ascospores (5.1-5.7 ${\mu}m$) with a wide furrow, low equatorial crests, and tuberculate convex surface. The species is phylogenetically distinct from the other reported Aspergillus section Aspergillus species based on multilocus sequence typing using rDNA-ITS, ${\beta}$-tubulin, calmodulin, and RNA polymerase II genes.

• Mycobiology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2002

A total of 100 samples of chicken-viscera were collected from different poultry-slaughtering houses in Austria;(20 samples of each of gizzard, heart, intestine, liver and spleen). Intestine and gizzard were heavy contaminated with moulds than other examined visceral organs($4.4{\times}10^5$ and $2.6{\times}10^4$ colonies/1g of the samples, respectively). Fungal contamination was not detected in all samples of heart and spleen. Eighty-five mould isolates were collected from the examined samples, the majority of isolates belonging to Aspergillus glaucus group(20.0%) and Trichoderma(14.1%). These isolates comprised 15 species belonging to 9 genera. Members of Aspergillus glaucus(telomorph: Eurotium) group and Trichoderma were further confirmed their identification using random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction(RAPD-PCR) technique.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1654-1663
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• 2013

Rice straw is closely associated with meju fermentation and it is generally known that the rice straw provides meju with many kinds of microorganisms. In order to elucidate the origin of meju fungi, the fungal diversity of rice straw was examined. Rice straw was collected from 12 Jang factories where meju are produced, and were incubated under nine different conditions by altering the media (MEA, DRBC, and DG18), and temperature ($15^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, and $35^{\circ}C$). In total, 937 strains were isolated and identified as belonging to 39 genera and 103 species. Among these, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Eurotium, Fusarium, and Penicillium were the dominant genera. Fusarium asiaticum (56.3%), Cladosporium cladosporioides (48.6%), Aspergillus tubingensis (37.5%), A. oryzae (31.9%), Eurotium repens (27.1%), and E. chevalieri (25.0%) were frequently isolated from the rice straw obtained from many factories. Twelve genera and 40 species of fungi that were isolated in the rice straw in this study were also isolated from meju. Specifically, A. oryzae, C. cladosporioides, E. chevalieri, E. repens, F. asiaticum, and Penicillium polonicum (11.8%), which are abundant species in meju, were also isolated frequently from rice straw. C. cladosporioides, F. asiaticum, and P. polonicum, which are abundant in the low temperature fermentation process of meju fermentation, were frequently isolated from rice straw incubated at $15^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$, whereas A. oryzae, E. repens, and E. chevalieri, which are abundant in the high temperature fermentation process of meju fermentation, were frequently isolated from rice straw incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ and $35^{\circ}C$. This suggests that the mycobiota of rice straw has a large influence in the mycobiota of meju. The influence of fungi on the rice straw as feed and silage for livestock, and as plant pathogens for rice, are discussed as well.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.95-101
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• 2013

In this study, plant samples of five species were collected from the Dokdo islands in South Korea. Plant samples such as Asparagus schoberioides, Corydalis platycarpa, Festuca rubra, Sedum oryzifolium, and Setaria viridis were collected from the Dongdo and Seodo. Endophytic fungal strains were isolated from the roots of five plants from the Dokdo islands. Thirty-three fungal strains were isolated from these native plants. All the endophytic fungi were analyzed by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing (ITS containing ITS1, 5.8s, and the ITS2 region). Waito-c rice seedlings were treated with fungal culture filtrates to test their plant growth-promoting activity. A bioassay of the D-So-1-1 fungal strain isolated from S. oryzifolium confirmed that it has the highest plant growth-promoting activity. All the endophytic fungi belong to four orders: Eurotiales (86%), Capnodiales (3%), Hypocreales (4%), and Incertae sedis (7%). The endophytic fungi were classified as Ascomycota, which contained Aspergillus (12%), Cladosporium (3%), Eurotium (3%), Fusarium (18%), Microsphaeropsis (6%), and Penicillium (58%) at the genus level.

• Mycobiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.218-224
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• 2015

Aspergillus is an important fungal genus used for the fermentation of Asian foods; this genus is referred to as koji mold in Japan and China. A. oryzae, A. sojae, and A. tamari are used in the production of miso and shoyu in Japan, but a comprehensive taxonomic study of Aspergillus isolated from Meju, a fermented soybean starting material for traditional soy sauce and soybean paste in Korea, has not been conducted. In this study, various Aspergillus species were isolated during a study of the mycobiota of Meju, and the aspergilli were identified based on phenotypic characteristics and sequencing of the ${\beta}$-tubulin gene. Most strains of Aspergillus were found to belong to the following sections: Aspergillus (n = 220), Flavi (n = 213), and Nigri (n = 54). The most commonly identified species were A. oryzae (n = 183), A. pseudoglaucus (Eurotium repens) (n = 81), A. chevalieri (E. chevalieri) (n = 62), A. montevidensis (E. amstelodami) (n = 34), A. niger (n = 21), A. tamari (n = 15), A. ruber (E. rubrum) (n = 15), A. proliferans (n = 14), and A. luchuensis (n = 14); 25 species were identified from 533 Aspergillus strains. Aspergillus strains were mainly found during the high temperature fermentation period in the later steps of Meju fermentation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1270-1279
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• 2011

Bealmijang is a short-term aged paste made from meju, which is a brick of fermented soybeans and other ingredients. Different types of bealmijang are available depending on the geographic region or ingredients used. However, no study has clarified the microbial diversity of these types. We identified 17 and 14 fungal species from black soybean meju (BSM) and buckwheat meju (BWM), respectively, on the basis of morphology, culture characteristics, and internal transcribed spacer and ${\beta}$-tubulin gene sequencing. In both meju, Aspergillus oryzae, Rhizopus oryzae, Penicillium polonicum, P. steckii, Cladosporium tenuissimum, C. cladosporioides, C. uredinicola, and yeast species Pichia burtonii were commonly found. Moreover, A. flavus, A. niger, P. crustosum, P. citrinum, Eurotium niveoglaucum, Absidia corymbifera, Setomelanomma holmii, Cladosporium spp. and unclassified species were identified from BSM. A. clavatus, Mucor circinelloides, M. racemosus, P. brevicompactum, Davidiella tassiana, and Cladosporium spp. were isolated from BWM. Fast growing Zygomycetous fungi is considered important for the early stage of meju fermentation, and A. oryae and A. niger might play a pivotal role in meju fermentation owing to their excellent enzyme productive activities. It is supposed that Penicillium sp. and Pichia burtonii could contribute to the flavor of the final food products. Identification of this fungal diversity will be useful for understanding the microbiota that participate in meju fermentation, and these fungal isolates can be utilized in the fermented foods and biotechnology industries.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1740-1748
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• 2012

A home-made meju sample contaminated naturally with aflatoxins was used for isolation of fungal strains. Overall, 230 fungal isolates were obtained on dichloran rosebengal chloramphenicol (DRBC) and dichloran 18% glycerol (DG18) agar plates. Morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of a partial ${\beta}$-tubulin gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA were used for the identification of the isolates. The fungal isolates were divided into 7 genera: Aspergillus, Eurotium, Penicillium, Eupenicillium, Mucor, Lichtheimia, and Curvularia. Three strains from 56 isolates of the A. oryzae/flavus group were found to be aflatoxigenic A. flavus, by the presence of the aflatoxin biosynthesis genes and confirmatory aflatoxin production by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The predominant isolate from DRBC plates was A. oryzae (42 strains, 36.2%), whereas that from DG18 was A. candidus (61 strains, 53.5%). Out of the 230 isolates, the most common species was A. candidus (34.3%) followed by A. oryzae (22.2%), Mucor circinelloides (13.0%), P. polonicum (10.0%), A. tubingensis (4.8%), and L. ramosa (3.5%). A. flavus and E. chevalieri presented occurrence levels of 2.2%, respectively. The remaining isolates of A. unguis, P. oxalicum, Eupenicillium cinnamopurpureum, A. acidus, E. rubrum, P. chrysogenum, M. racemosus, and C. inaequalis had lower occurrence levels of < 2.0%.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.27 no.4 s.91
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• pp.283-288
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• 1999

The effect of water activity ($a_w,\;0.9{\sim}0.995$) and temperature ($18{\sim}30^{\circ}$C) on in vitro growth and interactions between ochratoxin-producing Aspergillus ochraceus and six other fungi (Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus candidus, A. flavus, A. niger, Eurotium amstelodami, E. rubrum) isolated from maize grain were investigated. A. ochraceus and each six other species were paired and their interactions given a numerical score to obtain an index of dominance ($I_D$) for each species. Generally A. ochraceus was very competitive and dominant against other fungi. It was, however, dominanted by Alternaria alternata and A. niger at high $a_w\;(0.995\;a_w)$, and mutually antagonistic when paired with E. amstelodami and E. rubrum at low $a_w\;(0.9\;a_w)$. The growth rates of each species were also calculated under the same range of environmental conditions. They were markedly influenced by aw and temperature. At high temperature ($30^{\circ}C$), A. ochraceus grew most rapidly under slightly drier conditions ($0.95\;a_w$), while A. alternata, A. flavus and A. niger did at high water availability level ($0.995\;a_w$). At $18^{\circ}C\;and\;25^{\circ}C$, and high $a_w$ level ($0.995\;a_w$), A. alternata grew fastest, while A. candidus, E. amstelodami and E. rubrum grew very slowly. Using Biolog plates the effect of $a_w$ and temperature on utilization patterns of carbon sources in maize was evaluated. The niche overlap index (NOI) relative to A. ochraceus was determined and compared with that of each interacting species. Under high water available condition ($0.995\;a_w$). the NOI of A. ochraceus was often >0.9, indicative of the coexistence with other interacting species. However, against E. amstelodami and E. rubrum at $18^{\circ}C$, the species had NOI <0.8, indicative of occupation of different niches. At low $a_w\;(0.95\;a_w)$, NOI for A. ochraceus was <0.8 when paired with A. alternata and A. niger also suggested the occupation of different niches.