• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.5
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• pp.515-519
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• 2007

An imperfect fungus Fusiococcum species was isolated from Quercus dentata. A naturally infected Daimyo oak tree was collected and showed elongate wounds on the stem. The fungal cultures were initially white and cottony, and later turned dark gray. Numerous solitary pycnidia were developed on the medium surface, and typically spherical. Yellowish conidial masses were exuded from pycnidia on the culture plates. Conidial masses were swollen and measured as approximately 100 to $300{\mu}m$ in length. It appeared that conidia were usually held together in globose to oval drops. Conidia were hyaline, single-celled (nonseptate), ellipsoid to fusoid, and measured as approximately $8.0{\times}2.7{\mu}m$. Based on these cultural and morphological characteristics, the fungal isolate was identified as a species of Fusicoccum Corda. To preserve and examine fungal spores exuded from pycnidia on the medium surface, a vapor fixation procedure for scanning electron microscopy was employed in this study. The specimens were exposed to the vapor of 2% (v/v) glutaraldehyde and 2% (w/v) osmium tetroxide each for 2 h. With the vapor fixation we obtained excellent retention of conidial masses in this study. The simple and versatile procedure for demonstrating fungal spores and their exudation from fruiting bodies would facilitate characterization of diverse pathological and environmental isolates as they are in native environments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.795-798
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• 2008

As the first step to develop efficient means to control fungal spore bioaerosols, we designed, manufactured, and evaluated a fungal spore aerosol generator. We studied the physical and biological properties of the fungal spore bioaerosols on two common fungal species. The results demonstrated that the fungal spore bioaerosol generator effectively produces fungal spore bioaerosols.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.107-117
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• 2022

Increasing soil salinity is one of the global challenges that the agriculture sector in Egypt has been facing; 33% of the cultivated land in Egypt, which includes merely 3% of the entire land area, is already salinized. The present review sheds light on the role of fungal biopriming, a technique in which hydrated seeds are inoculated with beneficial fungal flora, in mitigating the deleterious influence of NaCl tension. Endophytic fungi were recognized to be able to interact with several plant species, markedly contributing to the mitigation of NaCl stress in these plants, such that some plants get impoverished to their absent associated microbes under stressful conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2010

To understand fungal species in evergreen broadleaf forest, occurrence and habitate of wild mushrooms spontaneously growing at the Dongbaekdongsan of Seonheulgot in Jeju Island were investigated. Fungal samples were collected from an area of $500\;m^2$ size consisting of four designated plots from in June 2007 to December 2008. Wild mushrooms were identified 69 genera and 178 species within the sampling places. Among 178 species, twenty-eight genera and fifty species were first reported in Jeju Island. Especially, Amanita pseudogemmata was first recorded in Korea. The mushroom species were divided into six groups on the basis of fungal habitats in which 44 species were on dead tree, 29 species on fallen leaf, 99 species on soil surface, 2 species on animal feces, 2 species on insect or mushroom, and 2 species on moss.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.234-241
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• 2008

Agrobacterum tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) is becoming an effective system as an insertional mutagenesis tool in filamentous fungi. We developed and optimized ATMT for two Colletotrichum species, C. falcatum and C. acutatum, which are the causal agents of sugarcane red rot and pepper anthracnose, respectively. A. tumefaciens strain SK1044, carrying a hygromycin phosphotransferase gene (hph) and a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, was used to transform the conidia of these two Colletotrichum species. Transformation efficiency was correlated with co-cultivation time and bacterial cell concentration and was higher in C. falcatum than in C. acutatum. Southern blot analysis indicated that about 65% of the transformants had a single copy of the T-DNA in both C. falcatum and C. acutatum and that T-DNA integrated randomly in both fungal genomes. T-DNA insertions were identified in transformants through thermal asymmetrical interlaced PCR (TAIL-PCR) followed by sequencing. Our results suggested that ATMT can be used as a molecular tool to identify and characterize pathogenicity-related genes in these two economically important Colletotrichum species.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.134-138
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate colonization of ectomycorrhizal fungi(ECM) in roots of Abies koreana which is an endemic and endangered species in Korea. Roots of A. koreana were collected at Mt. Halla. ECM root tips were classified using morphotyping and identified using sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the fungal rDNA. Total 8 species of ECM fungi were identified from roots of 11 seedlings of A. koreana : Cenococum geophilum, Russula brevipes, 2 species of Russula, 2 species of Thelephora, Cortinarius camphorates and 2 species of Helotiales. These species were known to be typical ectomycorrhizal fungi found in coniferous mature forests.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2016

Fungal contamination is a detrimental factor affecting sawdust media-based shiitake cultivation in greenhouses. During fungal monitoring of greenhouses used for shiitake cultivation, eight fungal species were isolated and identified from indoor air and mushroom flies collected in the greenhouses. The current study reported five species as new in Korea, viz. Ascochyta hordei, Discosia artocreas, Mucor nidicola, Perenniporia medulla-panis, and Pseudozyma prolifica, and confirmed two species, Penicillium charlesii and Penicillium brevicompactum, which were previously recorded in Korea without molecular taxonomic validation. The morphological characteristics and phylogenetic relationships based on nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer rDNA region or calmodulin gene were described for all identified species.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.140-144
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• 2004

Traditionally, Cordyceps species have been used as a part of herbal medicine in Oriental countries, including Korea for internal health, vigor and to cure different diseases related to heart, lung etc. In recent years, research on artificial fruiting of some species of the genus Cordyceps including C. militaris has been carried out extensively because of their medicinal value. Instability observed in the in vitro fruiting of C. militaris is reported in the present study.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.415-429
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• 2019

Soil contamination by metals is of particular interest, given that their retention times within the profile can be indefinite. Thus, phytostabilization can be viewed as a means of limiting metal toxicity in soils. Due to their ability to grow on contaminated soils, alders have repeatedly been used as key species in phytostabilization efforts. Alder ability to grow on contaminated sites stems, in part, from its association with microbial endophytes. This work emphasizes the fungal endophytes populations associated with Alnus incana ssp. rugosa and Alnus alnobetula ssp. crispa (previously A. viridis ssp. crispa) under a phytostabilization angle. Fungal endophytes were isolated from alder trees that were growing on or near disturbed environments; their tolerances to Cu, Ni, Zn, and As, and acidic pH (4.3, 3, and 2) were subsequently assessed. Cryptosporiopsis spp. and Rhizoscyphus spp. were identified as fungal endophytes of Alnus for the first time. When used as inoculants for alder, some isolates promoted plant growth, while others apparently presented antagonistic relationships with the host plant. This study reports the first step in finding the right fungal endophytic partners for two species of alder used in phytostabilization of metal-contaminated mining sites.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.150-159
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• 2017

This study analyzed the distribution of endophytic fungi in 3 coastal environments with different climatic, geographical, and geological characteristics: the volcanic islands of Dokdo, the East Sea, and the West Sea of Korea. The isolated fungal endophytes were characterized and analyzed with respect to the characteristics of their host environments. For this purpose, we selected common native coastal halophyte communities from three regions. Molecular identification of the fungal endophytes showed clear differences among the sampling sites and halophyte host species. Isolates were also characterized by growth at specific salinities or pH gradients, with reference to previous geographical, geological, and climate studies. Unlike the East Sea or West Sea isolates, some Dokdo Islands isolates showed endurable traits with growth in high salinity, and many showed growth under extremely alkaline conditions. A smaller proportion of West Sea coast isolates tolerate compared to the East Sea or Dokdo Islands isolates. These results suggest that these unique fungal biota developed through a close interaction between the host halophyte and their environment, even within the same halophyte species. Therefore, this study proposes the application of specific fungal resources for restoring sand dunes and salt-damaged agricultural lands and industrialization of halophytic plants.