• Molecules and Cells
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.304-315
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• 2007

Fusarium graminearum causes a serious scab disease of small grains in Korea. The nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus, Fusarium graminearum virus-DK21 (FgV-DK21), from F. graminearum strain DK21, which is associated with hypovirulence in F. graminearum, was determined and compared to the genome sequences of other mycoviruses, including Cryponectria hypoviruses. The FgV-DK21 dsRNA consists of 6,624 nucleotides, excluding the 3'-terminal poly(A) tail. The viral genome has 53- and 46-nucleotide 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs), respectively, and five putative open reading frames. A phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of ORF1, which encodes a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and those of other mycoviruses revealed that this organism forms a distinct virus clade with other hypoviruses, and is more distantly related to other mycoviruses (3.8 to 24.0% identity). However, pairwise sequence comparisons of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of ORFs 2 through 5 revealed no close relationships to other protein sequences currently available in GenBank. Analyses of RNA accumulation by Northern blot and primer extension indicated that these putative gene products are expressed from at least two different subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs), in contrast to the cases in other hypoviruses. This study suggests the existence of a new, as yet unassigned, genus of mycoviruses that exhibits a potex-like genome organization and sgRNA accumulation.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제35권6호
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• pp.543-552
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• 2019

Fusarium asiaticum of the F. graminearum species complex causes head blight in small-grain cereals. The nivalenol (NIV) chemotypes of F. asiaticum is more common than the deoxynivalenol (DON) chemotypes of F. asiaticum or F. graminearum in Korea. To understand the prevalence of F. asiaticum-NIV in Korean cereals, we characterized the biological traits of 80 cereal isolates of F. asiaticum producing NIV or 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), and 54 F. graminearum with 3-ADON or 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON). There was no significant difference in mycelial growth between the chemotypes, but F. asiaticum isolates grew approximately 30% faster than F. graminearum isolates on potato dextrose agar. Sexual and asexual reproduction capacities differed markedly between the two species. Both chemotypes of F. graminearum (3-ADON and 15-ADON) produced significantly higher numbers of perithecia and conidia than F. asiaticum-NIV. The highest level of mycotoxins (sum of trichothecenes and zearalenone) was produced by F. graminearum-3-ADON on rice medium, followed by F. graminearum-15-ADON, F. asiaticum-3-ADON, and F. asiaticum-NIV. Zearalenone levels were correlated with DON levels in some chemotypes, but not with NIV levels. Disease assessment on barley, maize, rice, and wheat revealed that both F. asiaticum and F. graminearum isolates were virulent toward all crops tested. However, there is a tendency that virulence levels of F. asiaticum-NIV isolates on rice were higher than those of F. graminearum isolates. Taken together, the phenotypic traits found among the Korean F. asiaticum-NIV isolates suggest an association with their host adaptation to certain environments in Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제40권2호
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• pp.106-114
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• 2024

Fusarium head blight (FHB), predominantly caused by Fusarium graminearum and F. asiaticum, is a significant fungal disease impacting small-grain cereals. The absence of highly resistant cultivars underscores the need for vigilant FHB surveillance to mitigate its detrimental effects. In 2023, a notable FHB outbreak occurred in the southern region of Korea. We assessed FHB disease severity by quantifying infected spikelets and grains. Isolating fungal pathogens from infected samples often encounters interference from various microorganisms. We developed a cost-effective, selective medium, named BGT (Burkholderia glumae Toxoflavin) medium, utilizing B. glumae, which is primarily known for causing bacterial panicle blight in rice. This medium exhibited selective growth properties, predominantly supporting Fusarium spp., while substantially inhibiting the growth of other fungi. Using the BGT medium, we isolated F. graminearum and F. asiaticum from infected wheat and barley samples across Korea. To further streamline the process, we used a direct PCR approach to amplify the translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF-1α) region without a separate genomic DNA extraction step. Phylogenetic analysis of the TEF-1α region revealed that the majority of the isolates were identified as F. asiaticum. Our results demonstrate that BGT medium is an effective tool for FHB diagnosis and Fusarium strain isolation.

• 미생물학회지
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.325-327
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• 2012

먹물버섯 C. congregatus의 자가분해되는 자실체 조직에서 발현되는 chitinase (Chi2)가 식물병원성 균류인 A. alternata와 F. graminearum를 대상으로 고체배지와 액체배지에서 포자의 발아 및 균사 생장에 대하여 보이는 억제효과 실험을 수행하였다. 액체배지에서 $50{\mu}g/ml$의 Chi2 농도에서 A. alternata의 포자 발아가 90% 이상 억제되었고, $70{\mu}g/ml$의 농도에서 실험균류 모두 생장이 억제되었다. 고체배지에서 하루에 $6{\mu}g$씩 2회 더한 Chi2에 의하여 F. graminearum 균사 생장이 억제됨을 확인하였고, 이때 균사의 branching이 상대적으로 감소하였다.

• 식물병연구
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.118-129
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• 2023

Fusarium sambucinum 종 복합체는 식물에 심각한 질병을 일으키는 분류군이다. 국내에서는 F. sambucinum 종 복합체가 일으키는 식물병에 대한 많은 연구가 보고되었으나, 한국식물 병명목록에는 2종(F. graminearum, F. sambucinum)이 14개의 기주에 식물병을 일으키는 정보만이 등록되어 있다. F. sambucinum 종복합체의 다양성 및 병원성을 확인하기 위해 농업미생물은행(Korean Agricultural Culture Collection)에 보존된 57 균주의 F. sambucinum 종 복합체를 다중 유전자 염기서열 분석(multi-locus sequence typing)을 바탕으로 7종(F. asiaticum, F. graminearum, F. vorosii, F. meridionale, F. bootii, F. kyushuense, F. armeniacum)으로 재동정하였다. 이전의 보고와 이번 연구의 결과에 따라, F. sambucinum 종 복합체 중 5종(F. asiatum, F. graminearum, F. vorosii, F. armeniacum, F. sambucinum)이 24개의 기주에 병원성을 보였으며, 3종(F. meridionale, F. bootii, F. kyushuense)의 병원성은 명확하지 않았다.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.236-244
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• 2014

The plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight in cereal crops and produces mycotoxins that are harmful to animals and humans. For the initiation and spread of disease, asexual and sexual reproduction is required. Therefore, studies on fungal reproduction contribute to the development of new methods to control and maintain the fungal population. Screening a previously generated transcription factor mutant collection, we identified one putative $C_2H_2$ zincfinger transcription factor, pcs1, which is required for both sexual and asexual reproduction. Deleting pcs1 in F. graminearum resulted in a dramatic reduction in conidial production and a complete loss of sexual reproduction. The pathways and gene ontology of pcs1-dependent genes from microarray experiments showed that several G-protein related pathways, oxidase activity, ribosome biogenesis, and RNA binding and processing were highly enriched, suggesting that pcs1 is involved in several different biological processes. Further, overexpression of pcs1 increased conidial production and resulted in earlier maturation of ascospores compared to the wild-type strain. Additionally, the vegetative growth of the overexpression mutants was decreased in nutrient-rich conditions but was not different from the wild-type strain in nutrient-poor conditions. Overall, we discovered that the pcs1 transcription factor positively regulates both conidiation and sexual reproduction and confers nutrient condition-dependent vegetative growth.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.259-269
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• 2012

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), a family of serine/threonine protein phosphatases, plays an important role in balancing the phosphorylation status of cellular proteins for regulating diverse biological functions in eukaryotic organisms. Despite intensive studies in mammals, limited information on its role is available in filamentous fungi. Here, we investigated the functional roles of genes for a putative B' delta regulatory subunit (FgPP2AR) and a catalytic subunit (FgPP2AC) of PP2A in a filamentous ascomycete, Fusarium graminearum. Molecular characterization of an insertional mutant of this plant pathogenic fungus allowed us to identify the roles of FgPP2AR. Targeted gene replacement and complementation analyses demonstrated that the deletion of FgPP2AR, which was constitutively expressed in all growth stages, caused drastic changes in hyphal growth, conidia morphology/germination, gene expression for mycotoxin production, sexual development and pathogenicity. In particular, overproduction of aberrant cylindrical-shaped conidia is suggestive of arthroconidial induction in the ${\Delta}FgPP2AR$ strain, which has never been described in F. graminearum. In contrast, the ${\Delta}FgPP2AC$ strain was not significantly different from its wild-type progenitor in conidiation, trichothecene gene expression, and pathogenicity; however, it showed reduced hyphal growth and no perithecial formation. The double-deletion ${\Delta}FgPP2AR;{\Delta}FgPP2AC$ strain had more severe defects than single-deletion strains in all examined phenotypes. Taken together, our results indicate that both the putative regulatory and catalytic subunits of PP2A are involved in various cellular processes for fungal development in F. graminearum.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권6호
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• pp.573-581
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• 2009

The complex enzyme pool secreted by the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum in response to glucose or hop cell wall material as sole carbon sources was analyzed. The biochemical characterization of the enzymes present in the supernatant of fungal cultures in the glucose medium revealed only 5 different glycosyl hydrolase activities; by contrast, when analyzing cultures in the cell wall medium, 17 different activities were detected. This dramatic increase reflects the adaptation of the fungus by the synthesis of enzymes targeting all layers of the cell wall. When the enzymes secreted in the presence of plant cell wall were used to hydrolyze pretreated crude plant material, high levels of monosaccharides were measured with yields approaching 50% of total sugars released by an acid hydrolysis process. This report is the first biochemical characterization of numerous cellulases, hemicellulases, and pectinases secreted by F. graminearum and demonstrates the usefulness of the described protein cocktail for efficient enzymatic degradation of plant cell wall.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.354-358
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• 2014

A screening test showed that lycorine exhibited significant antifungal activity against 24 pathogenic crop fungi at concentrations of 500 ${\mu}g/ml$ and 100 ${\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Fusarium graminearum was selected for antifungal mechanism studies by observing its mycelial morphology and investigating the variations in its conductivity. In addition, the substance absorption and metabolism of F. graminearum were explored. The mechanism was revealed as being one by which lycorine destroyed the cellular membrane and further influenced substance absorption and cell metabolism.

• 한국균학회지
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.217-222
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• 2011

율무(Coix lacryma-jobi)는 동아시아에 자생하는 작물로, 종실은 주로 건강식품이나 의약용으로 사용되고 있다. 2006년부터 2008년까지 국내 율무 재배 지역에서 이삭마름 증상이 관찰되었다. 병징은 겉껍질이 변색되고, 내부의 속씨는 마르고 쭉정이가 되는 것이다. 159개의 Fusarium균을 분리하였고, 분리 빈도별로 F. graminearum(34%), F. proliferatum(14.5%), F. verticillioides(10.1%), F. equiseti(6.9%), F. fujikuroi(6.3%) 순으로 분리되었고, 그 밖에 F. subglutinans, F. semitectum, F. poae, F. sporodochioides가 분리되었다. 분리균주의 elongation factor 1 alpha 유전자의 염기서열 분석을 통한 계통분석을 수행한 결과, NCBI GenBank에 등록된 균주와 동일한 것을 확인하였다. 분리균주의 병원성 검정을 수행한 결과, F. graminearum, F. proliferatum, F. verticillioides가 병원성이 강하였다. 이 연구는 Fusarium균에 의해 발생한 율무 이삭마름 증상에 대한 첫 번째 보고이다.