• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.129-138
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• 2017

In this study, we aimed to characterize fungal samples from necrotic lesions on collar regions observed in different sweetpotato growing regions during 2015 and 2016 in Korea. Sclerotia appeared on the root zone soil surface, and white dense mycelia were observed. At the later stages of infection, mother roots quickly rotted, and large areas of the plants were destroyed. The disease occurrence was monitored at 45 and 84 farms, and 11.8% and 6.8% of the land areas were found to be infected in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Fungi were isolated from disease samples, and 36 strains were preserved. Based on the cultural and morphological characteristics of colonies, the isolates resembled the reference strain of Sclerotium rolfsii. Representative strains were identified as S. rolfsii (teleomorph: Athelia rolfsii) based on phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer and large subunit genes along with morphological observations. To test the pathogenicity, sweetpotato storage roots were inoculated with different S. rolfsii strains. 'Yulmi' variety displayed the highest disease incidence, whereas 'Pungwonmi' resulted in the least. These findings suggested that morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic analysis were useful for identification of S. rolfsii.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.289-301
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• 2002

Background: It is axiomatic that average life span is prolonged in proportion to the advance of socio-economic improvements and medical science. Consequently, the number of elderly patients with skin diseases is increasing. Objective: This study was performed to examine the patterns of skin diseases in elderly patients that had visited Dongguk Oriental Medical hospital, Dept. of Dermatology. We also compared these patients to the young generational groups. Methods: We studied 67 elderly patients with complaints of skin diseases who had visited our hospital from March 2000 to February 2002. We analysed their skin diseases and compared them with the younger group's. Results: The results were as follows; 1. The common disease groups were eczema(32.8$\%$); pruritus(23.9$\%$); viral infections (13.4$\%$); psoriasis(9.0$\%$); fungal infections and urticaria(6.0$\%$). 2. The disorders prevalent in men were eczema(30.0$\%$); herpes zoster & pruritus(23.3$\%$); fungal infection(13.3$\%$); psoriasis (3.3$\%$); melasma(6.7$\%$). 3. The common diseases of women's group were observed in the following order; eczema(35.l$\%$); pruritus(24.3$\%$); psoriasis(13.5$\%$); urticaria(10.8$\%$); other dermatoses(8.1$\%$); herpes zoster(5.4$\%$). 4. The most frequent skin disease for those in their 50's was eczema(32.3$\%$); 60's, pruritus(36.8$\%$); 70's, eczema(50.0); and over eighties., eczema and pruritus(40.0$\%$). Conclusion: This study suggests that dermatologic problems in the elderly are very common, especially eczema, pruritus. It is a very different pattern from the younger group's. And we have to better consider more effective management and treatment for them; especially further dermatologic studies including substantial medical care. Usually Oriental medicine is good at treating chronic diseases and less harmful. So we expect it to be generally better for elderly patients than western medicine.

• Korean Journal of Transplantation
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.104-107
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• 2018

Mucormycosis is an extremely rare but potentially life-threatening fungal infection. Gastrointestinal (GI) mucormycosis is very rare and occurs primarily in highly malnourished patients, especially in infants and children. A 55-year-old man with end-stage renal disease due to diabetic nephropathy, who had undergone deceased donor kidney transplantation 2 years prior, complained of abdominal pain and distension with a 3-day duration. Computed tomography revealed diffuse gastric wall thickening, and a huge amount of grey colored necrotic debris surrounded by erythematous erosive mucosa was observed at the antrum to upper body by GI endoscopy. The microscopic examination obtained from a GI endoscopic specimen demonstrated peptic detritus with numerous non-septate mucor hyphae in the mucosa and submucosa. Mucormycosis was diagnosed based on the clinical findings and morphological features. A total gastrectomy was performed and an antifungal agent was administered. A microscopic examination of the surgical specimen demonstrated invasive mucormycosis with numerous fungal hyphae with invasion into the mucosa to subserosa. The patient and graft were treated successfully by total gastrectomy and antifungal therapy.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.156-162
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• 2021

Background: It is estimated that 20-30% of ginseng crops in Canada are lost to root rot each harvest. This disease is commonly caused by fungal infection with Ilyonectria, previously known as Cylindrocarpon. Previous reports have linked the virulence of fungal disease to the production of siderophores, a class of small-molecule iron chelators. However, these siderophores have not been identified in Ilyonectria. Methods: High-resolution LC-MS/MS was used to screen Ilyonectria and Cylindrocarpon strain extracts for secondary metabolite production. These strains were also tested for their ability to cause root rot in American ginseng and categorized as virulent or avirulent. The differences in detected metabolites between the virulent and avirulent strains were compared with a focus on siderophores. Results: For the first time, a siderophore N,N',N"-triacetylfusarinine C (TAFC) has been identified in Ilyonectria, and it appears to be linked to disease virulence. Siderophore production was suppressed as the concentration of iron increased, which is in agreement with previous reports. Conclusion: The identification of the siderophore produced by Ilyonectria gives us further insight into the root rot disease that heavily affects ginseng crop yields. This research identifies a molecular pathway previously unknown for ginseng root rot and could lead to new disease treatment options.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.9-21
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• 2014

Purpose: To determine the clinical significance of voriconazole therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in the pediatric population. Methods: Twenty-eight patients with invasive fungal infections administered with voriconazole from July 2010 to June 2012 were investigated retrospectively. Fourteen received TDM, and 143 trough concentrations were analyzed. All 28 patients were assessed for adverse events and treatment response six weeks into treatment, and at the end. Results: Out of 143 samples, 53.1% were within therapeutic range (1.0-5.5 mg/L). Patients administered with the same loading (6 mg/kg/dose) and maintenance (4 mg/kg/dose) dosages prior to initial TDM showed highly variable drug levels. Adverse events occurred in 9 of 14 patients (64.3%) in both the TDM and non-TDM group. In the TDM group, voriconazole-related encephalopathy (n=2, 14.3%) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation (n=8, 57.1 %) occurred with serum levels in the toxic range (>5.5 mg/L), whereas blurred-vision (n=2, 14.3%) occurred within the therapeutic range (1.18 mg/L and 3.9 mg/L). The frequency of voriconazole discontinuation due to adverse events was lower in the TDM group (0.0% vs. 18.2%, P =0.481). Overall, 57.2% of the patients in the TDM group versus 14.3% in the non-TDM group showed clinical response after 6 weeks (P =0.055), whereas 21.4% in the TDM group versus 14.3% in the non-TDM group showed response at final outcome (P =0.664). In the TDM group, >67.0% of the serum levels were within therapeutic range for the first 6 weeks; however 45.5% were within therapeutic range for the entire duration. Conclusion: Routine TDM is recommended for optimizing the therapeutic effects of voriconazole.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 2000

Objectives : Alopecia areata has been known to be closely related to stress. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between stress and alopecia areata investigating how life events(which alopecia areata patients experience), amount of stress, coping strategy, and their personality type affect the oneset and aggravation of the disease. Methods : The subjects were 43 alopecia areata patients who visited the department of dermatology outpatients clinic, and 36 fungal infection diseases patients as the control group. They all completed Scale of Life Events, Coping Style Cheklist, Eysenck A-type Personality Inventory. The analysis of covariance with the age as covariate was carried out. Results : Compared to the control group, alopecia areata patients had significantly more stressful life events, and higher amount of stress, but there was no significant difference in coping strategy. Type A Personality is also resulted to have no significant relationship to alopecia areata. Conclusions : Alopecia areata patients had significantly higher amount of stress than the control group, and this result is consistent with the previous studies which suggest that stress contributes to the oneset of alopecia areata. The causual relationship between stress and alopecia areata should be further examined in order to be applied in clinical setting.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.37-37
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• 2015

dsRNA was found in malformed cultures of Lentinula edodes strain FMRI0339, one of the three most popular sawdust cultivated commercial strains of shiitake, and was also found in healthy-looking fruiting bodies and actively growing mycelia. Cloning of the partial genome of the dsRNA revealed the presence of the RdRp sequence of a novel L. edodes mycovirus (LeV), and sequence comparison of the cloned amplicon showed an identical sequence to known RdRp genes of LeV found in strain HKA. The meiotic stability of dsRNA was examined by measuring the ratio of the presence of dsRNA among sexual monokaryotic progeny. More than 40% of the monokaryotic progeny still contained the dsRNA, indicating the persistence of dsRNA during sexual reproduction. Comparing the mycelia growth of monokaryotic progeny suggested that, although variations in the growth rate existed among progeny and virus infection was observed in highly actively growing progeny, there appeared to be a tendency toward a lower frequency of virus incidence in actively growing progeny. This study attempted to cure the edible mushroom L. edodes strain FMRI0339 of the L. edodes mycovirus (LeV) in order to obtain an isogenic virus-free fungal strain as well as a virus-infected strain for comparison. Mycelial fragmentation, followed by being spread on a plate with serial dilutions resulted in a virus-free colony. Viral absence was confirmed with gel electrophoresis after dsRNA-specific virus purification, Northern blot analysis, and PCR using reverse transcriptase (RT-PCR). Once cured, all of fungal cultures remained virus-free over the next two years. Interestingly, the viral titer of LeV varied depending on the culture condition. The titer from the plate culture showed at least a 20-fold higher concentration than that grown in the liquid culture. However, the reduced virus titer in the liquid culture was recovered by transferring the mycelia to a plate containing the same medium. In addition, oxygen-depleted culture conditions resulted in a significant decrease of viral concentration, but not to the extent seen in the submerged liquid culture. Although no $discernable phenotypic changes in colony morphology were observed, virus-cured strains showed significantly higher growth rates and mycelial mass than virus-infected strains. We were also explored effects of LeV on fruiting body formation and mushroom yield. The fruiting body formation yield of virus-free L. edodes was larger than virus-infected L. edodes. These results indicate that LeV infection has a deleterious effect on mycelial growth and fruiting body formation. In addition, we have been investigated host-parasite interaction between L. edodes and its mycovirus interaction to study viral mechanism by establishment of proteomics.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.465-469
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• 2016

An entomopathogenic fungus was isolated from the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) in a rearing house, and identified as Neozygites floridana (Entomophthorales: Neozygitaceae). A high infection rate induced by N. floridana could increase the price of the natural enemy. The body color of mites infected by this fungus changed to red or orange and swelling occurred. Fungal conidia were discharged into the webbing produced by the spider mites, making it relatively easy to infect the mites. Primary conidia were pear shaped and capilliconidia almond shaped. The fungus could not be cultured on solid media (PDA, SDAY, or EYSDA), but could possibly be cultured in liquid media (Grace's insect tissue culture medium + 5% fetal bovine serum). Kidney beans were supplied as food for T. urticae; the mite infection rate in a kidney bean canopy was about 36.1%. The density of infected mites was higher on the underside than on the upper side of leaves. Based on the results of this survey, we need to identify methods of fungal control for natural enemy production and biological control agents for T. urticae for effective crop management.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.414-419
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• 2023

In 2023, a number of seeds suspected to be discolored black oat seeds on oat farms in Gangjin were observed and examined for fungal infection. The species Alternaria alternata was predominant, accounting for 84% of all fungal infections. The appearance and quality of seeds harvested in 2022 were compared with seeds harvested in 2023 from the same field. The lightness value was lower in the seeds harvested in 2023, while the electrical conductivity was higher in the seeds harvested in 2023. The content of avenanthramide was found to be 10 times higher in the 2023 seeds than in those harvested in 2022. The accumulated precipitation in Gangjin in May 2023 was 230 times higher than that in May 2022, and the average relative humidity was high. These conditions created an environment suitable for infection of A. alternata, which were thought to have caused discolored black oat seeds.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2007

Overwintering adults of sycamore lace bug (Corythucha ciliata) infected by an unidentified pathogenic fungus were found on the stems of street trees of sycamore in Cheongju city. The objective of this study was to describe this entomopathogenic fungus infecting overwintering sycamore lace bug adults. This unidentified fungus colonized the insect adult body and formed white colony with subglobose clusters of conidiocarps. The size of conidiocarps was 300 to $400{\mu}m$ and each conidium was 15 to $20{\mu}m$. The conidiospore was globus and 2.5 to $3.0{\mu}m$ in diameter, and the hyphae were 1 to $5{\mu}m$ thick. This fungus was successfully isolated and cultivated on potato dextrose agar medium (PDA). The fungal colony was white and then became light yellow. When conidia from this pure culture were inoculated into the overwintering adults, the fungus formed conidiocarps with the same morphology on the insect body and the lethal rate by the fungus was $88{\pm}16%$. This fungus has over 99% homology with Cordyceps bassiana (imperfect fungal name is Beauveria bassiana) in ITS-5.8s rDNA base sequence. The fungal ecology and the infection process of the fungus into its host need to be clarified before using this fungus as a biological control agent.