• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1198-1203
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• 2007

Conidial adhesion and appressorium formation of Magnaporthe oryzae on the rice surface are important early events in the infection process. As an initiative step to understand the mechanisms underlying these cellular processes at a biochemical level, the effect of a human fibronectin antibody (HFA) and RGD peptides on conidial adhesion and appressorium formation was evaluated. HFA inhibited conidial adhesion and appressorium formation in a dosage-dependent manner. RGD peptides also inhibited these cellular events. Conidial adhesion and appressorium formation inhibited by RGD peptides were restored by chemicals involved in the cyclic AMP-dependent signaling pathway. These results suggest that extracellular matrix proteins might be involved in conidial adhesion and appressorium formation through integrin-like receptor mediation and modulation of cAMP-dependent signaling in the cells.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 1975

These studies were carried out to detect the presence of infected virus- like particles and also were observed the ultrastructures of Aspergillus ochraseus isolated from kokja and Korean ginseng. The results of ultrastructures of Aspergillus ochraseus are summarized as follows: 1. In fungal cells, nuclei were enclosed by a irregular double membrane and nucleoli in the nucleus. 2. In cytoplasm, mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum with ribosomes and glycogen were scattering distributed and many lomasomes also observed. 3. The osmiophilic bodies of fungal cells existed in the vesicles. 4. The cell walls were composed of a low electron dense materials. 5, Conidia cell walls were extremely thick and possessed the high electron density of outer coat. The virus-like particles were observed in the hyphae of Penicillium chrysogenum Q-176. These virus-like particles measured $350{\AA}$ in diameter. But strains of Aspergillus ochraseus, showing some vesicle particles were also observed about $800{\AA}$ in diameter in the central region of young fungal hyphae. Based on the results of these experiments, it can not be determined virus particles or not. The further studies to determination of virus particles will be proceeded by the chemical, physical and biological assay methods.

• Journal of Mycology and Infection
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.111-114
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• 2018

A 19-year-old woman presented with an asymptomatic cutaneous discoloration on her nape. Dermatological examination revealed localized dark brown to dark pigmented velvety macules and patches. She denied a past medical history, except for a 7-kg weight gain over a 6-months period. Histopathologically, the specimen showed hyperkeratosis, epidermal hyperplasia, mild acanthosis, and papillomatosis. In addition, keratin material and fungal spore were noted between the papilloma ridges. Periodic acid-Schiff special stain showed a positive result for the fungal spore in the horny layer. She was treated with a daily oral dose of terbinafine and topical flutrimazole. After 12 weeks of treatment, she is currently under observation without pigmentation and adverse effect. We considered the initial diagnosis as acanthosis nigricans because of weight gain, similar clinical features, and histological findings. However, the final diagnosis was hyperkeratotic head and neck Malassezia dermatosis considering the presence of yeast and the dramatic improvement after antifungal treatment. To the best of our knowledge, hyperkeratotic head and neck Malassezia dermatosis is not well characterized in the literature. It is an unusual variant of pityriasis versicolor. The skin lesion appears brown to dark, scaly, and hyperkeratotic macules and patches located on the face and neck. Here, we reported an unusual case of hyperkeratotic head and neck Malassezia dermatosis.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.304-312
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• 2022

Boxwood is a representative ornamental shrub that is widely used in landscaping horticulture. After pruning, damaged leaves or stems of boxwoods are unavoidably vulnerable to infection by various plant pathogens. Several boxwood diseases caused by fungi, such as Volutella blight and Macrophoma leaf spot, have been reported worldwide including Republic of Korea. In this study, we isolated and identified fungal pathogens of boxwood diseases that occurred in Korea and characterized their morphological and taxonomic characteristics. Boxwood samples showing blight symptoms were collected in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and the putative fungal pathogens Pseudonectria buxi, P. foliicola, and Neofusicoccum buxi were successfully identified. Investigation of the morphological features of the field isolates, including mycelial growth and conidial morphology, and phylogenetic analysis of multiple DNA barcode loci revealed that there were some morphological and genetic variations among isolates, but all of the analyzed isolates were closely related to the corresponding reference strains. We also found that P. foliicola strains were more virulent than P. buxi, and the N. buxi strains isolated in this study were weak pathogens or saprophytes. The results of our study will contribute to the development of control strategies for boxwood diseases caused by fungi and accelerate research on the complex ecology of boxwood diseases.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.393-398
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• 1999

This case occurred following accidental consumptions of toxic levels of feedstuffs in the Korean indigenous cattle which were pregnant for 3-6 months. Grossly, poorly defined bluish coloration in the ventral sac of the rumen, reticulum and omasum was visible on the surface of the stomach. The severely affected ruminal walls were perforated and blood-tinged exudate was observed and death followed due to acute diffuse peritonitis. There were copious amount of porridgelike rumen contents, which has a distinct fermentative odor. The epithelia were easily wiped off and hyperemic in patch. Histopathologically, chemical rumenitis with neutrophilic infiltration and opportunistic fungal infection was evident in the mucosa and submucosa. Multifocal necrotic foci with fungal hyphae on the liver and severe congestion on the renal medulla were noted. There was no evidence of heavy metal and aflatoxin Bl in the suspected feedstuffs. This case was diagnosed as acute carbohydate engorgement in cattle.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2001

This study was done with 105 cases of dermatomycosis of dermatological patients who had visited the dermatology clinic in Taejon city. Of dermatophytosis, the decreasing orders of clinical location by the incidence were Tinea pedis (44.8%), Tinea cruris (30.5 %) and Tinea corporis (10.5%). The organisms identified from dermatophytoses were 6 genus: the decreasing orders of frequency were Trichophyton spp. (43.5%), Candida spp. (12.9%), Microsporium spp. (3.2%) and Epdermophyton flocosum(1.6%). The most common causative organisms was Trichophyton spp.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 1999

In order to understand the biological role of calmodulin in plants, transgenic tobacco plants expressing a calmodulin mutant (VU-4 calmodulin, lys to ile-115) gene have been analyzed. SDS-PAGE and Western-blot analyses showed that the foreign calmodulin mutant is stably and highly expressed in the transgenic tobacco plants. The levels of $H_2O_2$were elevated approximately 2-fold in the transgenic plants. Furthermore, the transgenic tobacco plants have more than 6-fold higher levels of NADPH compared to control tobacco plants. The present findings, combined with previous data showing differences in the susceptibility of the transgenic tobacco seeds and normal tobacco seeds to fungal contamination (Oh and Yang, 1996), suggest that the expression of the calmodulin derivative gene in tobacco plants could increase resistance to infection by fungal pathogens.

• Mycobiology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.242-248
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• 2008

The present study was undertaken to explore the inhibitory effect of cyanobacterial extracts of Nostoc commune FA-103 against the tomato-wilt pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. In an optimal medium, cell growth, antifungal activity, and antifungal compound production could be increased 2.7-fold, 4.1-fold, and 13.4-fold, respectively. A crude algal extract had a similar effect as mancozeb at the recommended dose, both in laboratory and pot tests. In vitro and in vivo fungal growth, spore sporulation and fungal infection of wilt pathogen in tomato seeds were significantly inhibited by cyanobacterial extracts. Nostoc commune FA-103 extracts have potential for the suppression of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.553-558
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• 2008

Essential aspects of the innate immune response to microbial infection appear to be conserved between insects and mammals. In order to identify new Drosophila melanogaster genes involved in the immune response, we performed gene expression profiling of Drosophila SL2 cells stimulated with bacterial (LPS/PGN) or fungal (curdlan) components using a cDNA microarray that contained 5,405 Drosophila cDNAs. We found that some genes were similarly regulated by LPS/PGN and curdlan. However, a large number, belonging to the functional classes of cell organization, development, signal transduction, morphogenesis, cell cycle, and DNA replication, displayed significant differences in their transcription profiles between the two treatments, demonstrating that bacterial and fungal components induce different immune response even in an in vitro cell system.

• Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
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• 2017.03a
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• pp.32-38
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• 2017

Prion is a group of the proteins known for its infection mechanisms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and other diseases. Solved structures and proven biological roles of fungal prions add tremendous potential to conducting computational simulations. Our research focuses on the binding dynamics of HET-s(218-289), one of the heterokaryon fungal prion originated from Podospora anserina, by calculating the binding free energy using umbrella sampling at 300 K. The binding free energy calculated was $-54.5kcal\;mol^{-1}$, relatively similar to the binding energy of other amyloid fibrils. The simulation result suggests the thermodynamic properties of ${\beta}$-solenoid of HET-s prion and its similarity in dissociation pathways compared to amyloids.