• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.227-230
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• 2015

The ascomycete fungus Fusarium fujikuroi causes bakanae disease in rice and this disease has been reemerging in Korea. Other fungal species including F. graminearum and Magnaporthe oryzae are often associated with F. fujikuroi, hampering pure isolation of F. fujikuroi from rice. In this study, we modified a selective medium for F. fujikuroi as supplementing both pentachloronitrobenzene and hydrogen peroxide into minimal medium. This medium efficiently suppressed the vegetative growth of F. graminearum and M. oryzae, but did not significantly reduce F. fujikuroi growth, providing an efficient tool for isolating F. fujikuroi.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.82-85
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• 2011

Bakanae disease symptom were observed in barnyard grass in paddy field in Heanam, Jeonnam. The infected plants were blighted and white mass of spore were formed on the stem. Fusarium species were isolated from infected stem and the isolates were identified as Fusarium fujikuroi based on their morphological and molecular characteristics. The isolates of F. fujikuroi were assigned to reference of F. fujikuroi among related Fusarium species based on the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene sequence. Pathogenicity of the fungal isolates was confirmed on seedlings of rice and barnyard grass by artificial inoculation. The results indicated that barnyard grass can be inoculum source of Bakanae disease on rice. Thus, effective weed management is necessary to Bakanae disease control and healthy seed production.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.297-312
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• 2020

Wilted soybean plants were collected from soybeans cultivation fields in Korea from 2014 to 2016. Fusarium spp., Colletotrichum spp., Rhizoctonia spp., Macrophomina sp., Phytophthora spp., and Calonectria ilicicola were obtained from the infected samples. Out of these, Fusarium spp. were the dominant species (79.1%). In total, 53 isolates were identified as F. solani species complex, F. oxysporum species complex, F. graminearum species complex, and F. fujikuroi species complex based on mycological characteristics. Sequence typing analysis was conducted using translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF) to confirm the identification of isolates. All isolates were identified as F. solani, F. oxysporum, F. commune, F. asiaticum, and F. fujikuroi based on phylogenetic analysis of TEF sequences. Pathogenicity of 44 isolates was tested on three cultivars of soybean using the root dip inoculation method. Out of 5 Fusarium species, only F. asiaticum could not cause the symptoms or be weak. Ten isolates were selected based on pathogenic characters and species identification to investigate the host range and screen soybean cultivars for resistance. Fusarium solani, F. oxysporum, and F. commune were aggressive only to soybean, and F. fujikuroi was aggressive to kidney bean, yellow cowpea, black cowpea, adzuki bean as well as soybean. All 13 Korean soybean cultivars were susceptible to F. commune and F. fujikuroi. Out of 13 cultivars, cv. Janggi, cv. Poongsannamul, and cv. Socheongja were resistant to Fusarium wilt, while cv. Hwanggeumol and Chamol were susceptible to Fusarium wilt.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.101-104
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• 2017

We identified two genes related to fungicide resistance in Fusarium fujikuroi through random mutagenesis. Targeted gene deletions showed that survival factor 1 deletion resulted in higher sensitivity to fungicides, while deletion of the gene encoding F-box/WD-repeat protein increased resistance, suggesting that the genes affect fungicide resistance in different ways.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.310-316
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• 2012

Gibberellea fujikuroi species (Gf) complex comprises at least 15 species, most of which not only causes serious plant diseases, but also produces mycotoxins including fumonisins. Here, we focused on the abilities of the field isolates belonging to the Gf complex associated with rice and corn, respectively in Korea to produce fumonisin, all of which were confirmed to carry FUM1, the polyketide synthase gene essential for fumonisin biosynthesis. A total of 88 Gf complex isolates (55 F. fujikuroi, 10 F. verticillioides, 20 F. proliferatum, 2 F. subglutinans, and 1 F. concentricum), and 4 isolates of F. commune, which is a non-member of Gf complex, were grown on rice substrate and determined for their production levels of fumonisins by a HPLC method. Most isolates of F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum, regardless of host origins, produced fumonisin $B_1$ and $B_2$ at diverse ranges of levels ($0.5-2,686.4{\mu}g/g$, and $0.7-1,497.6{\mu}g/g$, respectively). In contrast, all the isolates of F. fujikuroi and other Fusarium species examined produced no fumonisins or only trace amounts ($<10{\mu}g/g$) of fumonisins. Interestingly, the frequencies of relatively high fumonisin-producers among the F. proliferatum and F. fujikuroi isolates derived from corn were higher than those among the fungal isolates from rice. In addition, it is a first report demonstrating the ability of the FUM1-carrying F. commune isolates from rice to produce fumonisins.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.173-181
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• 2016

Gene disruption by homologous recombination is widely used to investigate and analyze the function of genes in Fusarium fujikuroi, a fungus that causes bakanae disease and root rot symptoms in rice. To generate gene deletion constructs, the use of conventional cloning methods, which rely on restriction enzymes and ligases, has had limited success due to a lack of unique restriction enzyme sites. Although strategies that avoid the use of restriction enzymes have been employed to overcome this issue, these methods require complicated PCR steps or are frequently inefficient. Here, we introduce a cloning system that utilizes multi-fragment assembly by In-Fusion to generate a gene disruption construct. This method utilizes DNA fragment fusion and requires only one PCR step and one reaction for construction. Using this strategy, a gene disruption construct for Fusarium cyclin C1 (FCC1), which is associated with fumonisin B1 bio-synthesis, was successfully created and used for fungal transformation. In vivo and in vitro experiments using confirmed fcc1 mutants suggest that fumonisin production is closely related to disease symptoms exhibited by F. fujikuroi strain B14. Taken together, this multi-fragment assembly method represents a simpler and a more convenient process for targeted gene disruption in fungi.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2013

This study was conducted to isolate and identify the fungal pathogen causing seedling rot of Lithospermum erythrorhizon Siebold & Zuccarini, and to know the optimum growing temperature for decreasing seedling rot of Lithospermum erythrorhizon. On the basis of morphological characteristics, EF-1a sequence analysis, and pathogenecity to host plant, the fungi isolated from seedling rot and seeds of Lithospermum erythrorhizon were identified as Fusarium fujikuroi, indicating that disease causing fungus is seed-borne pathogen. Optimum temperature for germination of seeds of Lithospermum erythrorhizon was $15{\sim}20^{\circ}C$, but pathogenicity of Fusarium fujikuroi was shown more readily at $25{\sim}30^{\circ}C$. These results suggested that seedling culture of Lithospermum erythrorhizon between $15^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$ might reduce seedling rot of Lithospermum erythrorhizon caused by seed-borne pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.319-329
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• 2022

In July 2020, wilting symptoms were observed among adzuki bean plants (Vigna angularis var. angularis L.) in the fields in Yeosu, Korea. Infected plants showed yellowing of leaves, browning inside the stems, splitting of stem bark, and wilting. When these plants were uprooted, their roots were found to be brown. The fungal pathogens NC20-737, NC20-738, and NC20-739 were isolated from symptomatic stem and root tissues. These pathogens were identified as a Fusarium fujikuroi species complex based on their morphological characteristics. Molecular identification was performed using the DNA sequence of translation elongation factor 1 alpha and the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit regions. The nucleotide sequences of all three isolates were similar to the F. fujikuroi reference isolates NRRL 13566 and NRRL 5538 of the National Centre for Biotechnology Information GenBank. A pathogenicity test was conducted by the soil inoculation method with cornmeal sand inoculum. Approximately 3 weeks after inoculation, symptoms were observed only in the inoculated adzuki bean seedlings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Fusarium root rot caused by F. fujikuroi in adzuki beans, both in Korea and worldwide.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.254-260
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• 2022

Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC) contain over 40 members. The primer pair Smibo1FM/Semi1RM on the RPB2 partial gene has been reported to be able to identify Fusarium semitectum. The F. fujikuroi species complex (FFSC) contains more than 50 members. The F. verticillioides as a member of this complex can be identified by using VER1/VER2 primer pair on the CaM partial gene. In this research, the Smibo1FM/Semi1RM can amplify F. sulawesiense, F. hainanense, F. bubalinum, and F. tanahbumbuense, members of FIESC at 424 bp. The VER1/VER2 can amplify F. verticillioides, F. andiyazi, and F. pseudocircinatum, members of FFSC at 578 bp. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism by using the combination of three restriction enzymes EcoRV, MspI, and HpyAV can differentiate each species of FIESC used. The two restriction enzymes HpaII and NspI can distinguish each species of FFSC used. The proper identification process is required for pathogen control in the field in order to reduce crop yield loss.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.247-250
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• 2009

Twenty-five isolates of Fusarium fujikuroi acquired from rice seeds and rice plants evidencing symptoms of Bakanae disease were evaluated to determine their mating types and characterize the formation of their sexual state. The mating types of the isolates were evaluated via multiplex PCR with the diagnostic primers of the mating-type (MAT) region: GFmat1a, GFmat1b, GFmat2c, and GFmat2d. Among the 25 isolates, 11 were identified as MAT-1 (male), and 14 as MAT-2 (female). Four MAT-1 isolates and three MAT-2 isolates were mated and cultured to evaluate the optimal culture conditions for the production of their sexual states. Among four tested media, 10% V8 juice agar proved optimal for the perithecial production of the isolates. The isolates also generated the largest numbers of perithecia when incubated at 23oC in alternating cycles of 12 hr fluorescent light and NUV fluorescent light and 12 hr darkness.