• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.275-289
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• 2023

Fungal isolates from infected Chinese quince trees were found to cause black rot in Yeongcheon, Gyeongsangbuk Province, Korea. The quince leaves withered and turned reddish-brown and fruits underwent black mummification. To elucidate the cause of these symptoms, the pathogen was isolated from infected leaf and fruit tissues on potato dextrose agar and Levan media. Several fungal colonies forming a fluffy white or dark gray mycelium and two types of fungi forming an aerial white mycelium, growing widely at the edges, were isolated. Microscopic observations, investigation of fungal growth characteristics on various media, and molecular identification using an internal transcribed spacer, β-tubulin, and translation elongation factor 1-α genes were performed. The fungal pathogens were identified as Diplodia parva and Diplodia crataegicola. Pathogenicity tests revealed that the pathogen-inoculated fruits exhibited a layered pattern, turning brown rotting; leaves showed circular brown necrotic lesions. The developed symptoms were similar to those observed in the field. Fungal pathogens were reisolated to fulfill Koch's postulates. Apples were inoculated with fungal pathogens to investigate the host range. Strong pathogenicity was evident in the fruits, with browning and rotting symptoms 3 days after inoculation. To determine pathogen control, a fungicidal sensitivity test was conducted using four registered fungicides. Thiophanate-methyl, propineb, and tebuconazole inhibited the mycelial growth of pathogens. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the isolation and identification of the fungal pathogens D. parva and D. crataegicola from infected fruits and leaves of Chinese quince, causing black rot disease in Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• 제51권4호
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• pp.195-209
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• 2023

The seed borne disease such as bakanae is difficult to control. Crop yield loss caused by bakanae depending on the regions and varieties grown, ranging from 3.0% to 95.4%. Bakanae is an important disease of rice worldwide and the pathogen was identified as Fusarium fujikuroi Nirenberg (teleomorph: Gibberella fujikuroi Sawada). Currently, four Fusaria (F. fujikuroi, F. proliferatum, F. verticillioides and F. andiyazi) belonging to F. fujikuroi species complex are generally known as the pathogens of bakanae. The infection occurs through both seed and soil-borne transmission. When infection occurs during the heading stage, rice seeds become contaminated. Molecular detection of pathogens of bakanae is important because identification based on morphological and biological characters could lead to incorrect species designation and time-consuming. Seed disinfection has been studied for a long time in Korea for the management of the bakanae disease of rice. As seed disinfectants have been studied to control bakanae, resistance studies to chemicals have been also conducted. Presently biological control and resistant varieties are not widely used. The detection of this pathogen is critical for seed certification and for preventing field infections. In South Korea, bakanae is designated as a regulated pathogen. To provide highly qualified rice seeds to farms, Korea Seed & Variety Service (KSVS) has been producing and distributing certified rice seeds for producing healthy rice in fields. Therefore, the objective of the study is to summarize the recent progress in molecular identification, fungicide resistance, and the management strategy of bakanae.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.59-72
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• 2024

A comprehensive survey of mungbean-growing areas was conducted to observe leaf spot disease caused by Alternaria alternata. Alternaria leaf spot symptoms were observed on the leaves. Diversity of 50 genotypes of mungbean was assessed against A. alternata and data on pathological traits was subjected to cluster analysis. The results showed that genotypes of mungbean were grouped into four clusters based on resistance parameters under the influence of disease. The principal component biplot demonstrated that all the disease-related parameters (% disease incidence, % disease intensity, lesion area, and % of infection) were strongly correlated with each other. Alt a 1 gene that is precisely found in Alternaria species and is responsible for virulence and pathogenicity. Alt a 1 gene was amplified using gene specific primers. The isolated pathogen produced similar symptoms when inoculated on mungbean and tobacco. The sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, a 600 bp fragment amplified using specific primers, ITS1 and ITS2 showed 100% identity with A. alternata. Potato virus X (PVX) -based silencing vector expressing Alt a 1 gene was constructed to control this pathogen through RNA interference in tobacco. Out of 50 inoculated plants, 9 showed delayed onset of disease. Furthermore, to confirm our findings at molecular level semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used. Both phenotypic and molecular investigation indicated that RNAi induced through the VIGS vector was efficacious in resisting the pathogen in the model host, Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). To the best of our knowledge, this study has been reported for the first time.

• BMB Reports
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• 제49권6호
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• pp.305-310
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• 2016

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a critical role in the innate immune response against pathogens. Each TLR recognizes specific pathogen-associated molecular patterns, after which they activate the adaptor protein MyD88 or TRIF-assembled signaling complex to produce immune mediators, including inflammatory cytokines and type I IFNs. Although the activation of TLR is important for host defense, its uncontrolled activation can damage the host. During the past decade, numerous studies have demonstrated that GSK3β is a key regulator of inflammatory cytokine production in MyD88-mediated TLR signaling via TLR2 and TLR4. Recently, GSK3β has also been implicated in the TRIF-dependent signaling pathway via TLR3. In this review, we describe current advances on the regulatory role of GSK3β in immune responses associated with various TLRs. A better understanding of the role of GSK3β in TLR signaling might lead to more effective anti-inflammatory interventions.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.34-42
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• 2017

Grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (GRSPaV) is a worldwide-distributed pathogen in grapevines with a high genetic variability. Our study revealed differences in the complexity of GRSPaV population in a single host. A single-variant GRSPaV infection was detected from the SK30 grapevine plant. On the contrary, SK704 grapevine was infected by three different GRSPaV variants. Variant-specific RT-PCR detection protocols have been developed in this work to study distribution of the three different variants in the same plant during the season. This study showed their randomized distribution in the infected SK704 grapevine plant. Comparative analysis of full-length genome sequences of four Slovak GRSPaV isolates determined in this work and 14 database sequences showed that population of the virus cluster into four major phylogenetic lineages. Moreover, our analyses suggest that genetic recombination along with point mutations could play a significant role in shaping evolutionary history of GRSPaV and contributed to its extant genetic diversification.

• 한국어병학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.297-305
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• 2011

A trap identification system for isolating functional sequences to allow the constitutive expression of foreign protein from Edwardsiella tarda was developed. Using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter-based trap system, various functional sequences to drive heterologous expression of the GFP were selectable in Escherichia coli host. However from the bioinformatic sequence analysis, all the segments predicted as regulatory regions were not native promoters actually existing upstream of endogenous E. tarda genes. Instead, a number of non-authentic sequences, possibly resulted from the random shuffling and/or intermolecular ligation were also proven to be able to display a potent GFP expression in the recombinant E. coli. Further analysis with selected clones showed that both authentic and non-authentic sequences could function in as a constitutive promoter, leading quite a consistent and stable GFP expression after repetitive subcultures. Microscopic examination also confirmed the uniform pattern of GFP expression in every host bacterium. Semi-quantitative assay of GFP showed that there was no clear relationship between expression levels and organizational features of the promoters trapped. Functional promoter-like elements achieved in the present study could be a good starting material for multivalent genetic engineering of E. tarda in order to produce recombinant vaccines in a cost-effective fashion.

• 식물병연구
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.236-242
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• 2016

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the most devastating diseases in major Solanaceae crops. The pathogen is easily disseminated and survives for many years in plant farming system. Although chemicals are applied to control the disease, they are of limited efficacy and cause several problems. Therefore, the use of phage therapy has been suggested to control the disease as a biological agent. In this study, we discovered bacteriophages lysing diverse Ralstonia isolates from plant and soil samples obtained from the potato cultivated field in Jeju. Three times repeated pickings of plaques resulted in obtaining 173 single phages showing diverse spectrum of host-specificity. With the results, 12 core phages were selected and dendrogram was generated. Genetic diversity of the selected phages was also confirmed by AFLP (Amplified Fragment of Length Polymorphism) fingerprinting. The stability of the phages was investigated in various temperatures and various conditions of pH in vitro. The phages were stable at $16^{\circ}C-44^{\circ}C$ and pH 6-10. Morphological characterization of the phages revealed they were all classified into the Podoviridae, but had diverse head sizes. The results of this research will contribute to control the disease and further researches regarding genetic and molecular aspects will facilitate understanding phage and bacteria interaction.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제34권5호
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• pp.435-444
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• 2018

Receptor-like proteins (RLPs) are involved in plant development and disease resistance. Only some of the RLPs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) have been functionally characterized though 176 genes encoding RLPs, which have been identified in the tomato genome. To further understand the role of RLPs in tomato, we performed genome-guided classification and transcriptome analysis of these genes. Phylogenic comparisons revealed that the tomato RLP members could be divided into eight subgroups and that the genes evolved independently compared to similar genes in Arabidopsis. Based on location and physical clustering analyses, we conclude that tomato RLPs likely expanded primarily through tandem duplication events. According to tissue specific RNA-seq data, 71 RLPs were expressed in at least one of the following tissues: root, leaf, bud, flower, or fruit. Several genes had expression patterns that were tissue specific. In addition, tomato RLP expression profiles after infection with different pathogens showed distinguish gene regulations according to disease induction and resistance response as well as infection by bacteria and virus. Notably, Some RLPs were highly and/or unique expressed in susceptible tomato to pathogen, suggesting that the RLP could be involved in disease response, possibly as a host-susceptibility factor. Our study could provide an important clues for further investigations into the function of tomato RLPs involved in developmental and response to pathogens.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2014

Acetylation of histone lysine residues occurs in different organisms ranging from yeast to plants and mammals for the regulation of diverse cellular processes. With the identification of enzymes that create or reverse this modification, our understanding on histone acetylation has expanded at an amazing pace during the last two decades. In fungal pathogens of plants, however, the importance of such modification has only just begun to be appreciated in the recent years and there is a dearth of information on how histone acetylation is implicated in fungal pathogenesis. This review covers the current status of research related to histone acetylation in plant pathogenic fungi and considers relevant findings in the interaction between fungal pathogens and host plants. We first describe the families of histone acetyltransferases and deacetylases. Then we provide the cases where histone acetylation was investigated in the context of fungal pathogenesis. Finally, future directions and perspectives in epigenetics of fungal pathogenesis are discussed.

• 식물병연구
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.121-123
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• 2013

사과, 호박, 고추에서 분리된 탄저병균들(Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. orbiculare, C. acutatum)이 복분자딸기에 병원성을 나타냈으며. 특히 사과에서 분리된 탄저병균은 무상처 접종에서도 병원성을 나타냈다. 복분자 딸기에서 분리한 탄저병균(Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. coccodes, C. acutatum)은 사과와 딸기에서는 dropping 접종에 의해 병원성을 보였으나 고추와 토마토에서는 낮은 병원성을 나타내었다.