• CELLMED
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.37.1-37.4
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• 2012

In the present study, the volatile oil, chloroform extract and methanol extract of the woods of the plants Cedrus deodara and Pinus roxburghii were screened for their antibacterial and antifungal activities against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus clavatus using the Agar diffusion method. The susceptibilities of the microorganisms to the extracts were compared with each other and with a selected standard antibiotic. It was observed that the volatile oil and chloroform extracts showed the significant antibacterial activities while the least antibacterial activity was recorded with the methanolic extracts. The higher Minimum Inhibitory Concentration value of the extracts and oils against fungus suggested that the plants may possess less antifungal activity. Phytochemical analysis and thin-layer chromatography profiling revealed the presence of flavonoids and terpenoids in the oil and chloroform extracts, which could explain the antimicrobial activity. The findings suggest that the Cedrus deodara and Pinus roxburghii have antimicrobial properties and they can be used in the treatment of infectious diseases. However, further work is required in order to isolate the active constituents of the plants responsible for the antibacterial activity.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.180-184
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• 2012

Fungal arthritis is a rare joint infection that occurs in immunosuppressant patient, intravenous drug abuser and long term antibiotics user, and is especially rare in a healthy adult. Two case reports of fungal arthritis have been demonstrated in the country, but those in healthy adults have not been reported yet. Here, we experienced an antifungal treatment following successful arthroscopic debridement of fungal arthritis with a popliteal cyst in a healthy adult who got repetitive intraarticular steroid injections and report the case with review of relevant literatures. Surgeons should consider the possibility of fungal arthritis although it is rare and demonstrates nonspecific clinical features.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.151-158
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• 2014

Three double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), approximately 1.85, 1.65 and 1.27 kb in size, were detected in an isolate of Cytospora sacchari from Iran. Partial nucleotide sequence revealed a 1,284 bp segment containing one ORF that potentially encodes a 405 aa protein. This protein contains conserved motifs related to RNA dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp) that showed similarity to RdRps of partitiviruses. The results indicate that these dsRNAs represent a novel Partitivirus that we tentatively designate Cytospora sacchari partitivirus (CsPV). Treatment of the fungal strain by cyclohexamide and also hyphal tip culture had no effect on removing the putative virus. Phylogenetic analysis of putative RdRp of CsPV and other partitiviruses places CsPV as a member of the genus Partitivirus in the family Partitiviridae, and clustering with Aspergillus ochraceous virus 1.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.448-452
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• 2001

Coccidioidomycosis is a common infectious disease in southwestern North America, which is caused by the soil fungus, Coccidioides immitis. Due to the mobility of the modem population, increasing numbers of cases are being diagnosed outside the endemic areas. Moreover, diagnosis in non-endenmic areas may be delayed or confused due to its rarity. Here we report a case of pulmonary coccidioidomycosis in an immigrant. The patient presented with unexplained pulmonary symptoms. A history of recent travel to or immigration from an endemic area may suggest coccidioidomycosis. In addition an early tissue biopsy is helpful in establishing this diagnosis.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.69-76
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• 2013

The incidence of globally infectious and pathogenic diseases such as H1N1 (swine flu) and Avian Influenza (AI) has recently increased. An infectious disease is a pathogen-caused disease, which can be passed from the infected person to the susceptible host. Pathogens of infectious diseases, which are bacillus, spirochaeta, rickettsia, virus, fungus, and parasite, etc., cause various symptoms such as respiratory disease, gastrointestinal disease, liver disease, and acute febrile illness. They can be spread through various means such as food, water, insect, breathing and contact with other persons. Recently, most countries around the world use a mathematical model to predict and prepare for the spread of infectious diseases. In a modern society, however, infectious diseases are spread in a fast and complicated manner because of rapid development of transportation (both ground and underground). Therefore, we do not have enough time to predict the fast spreading and complicated infectious diseases. Therefore, new system, which can prevent the spread of infectious diseases by predicting its pathway, needs to be developed. In this study, to solve this kind of problem, an integrated monitoring system, which can track and predict the pathway of infectious diseases for its realtime monitoring and control, is developed. This system is implemented based on the conventional mathematical model called by 'Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered (SIR) Model.' The proposed model has characteristics that both inter- and intra-city modes of transportation to express interpersonal contact (i.e., migration flow) are considered. They include the means of transportation such as bus, train, car and airplane. Also, modified real data according to the geographical characteristics of Korea are employed to reflect realistic circumstances of possible disease spreading in Korea. We can predict where and when vaccination needs to be performed by parameters control in this model. The simulation includes several assumptions and scenarios. Using the data of Statistics Korea, five major cities, which are assumed to have the most population migration have been chosen; Seoul, Incheon (Incheon International Airport), Gangneung, Pyeongchang and Wonju. It was assumed that the cities were connected in one network, and infectious disease was spread through denoted transportation methods only. In terms of traffic volume, daily traffic volume was obtained from Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS). In addition, the population of each city was acquired from Statistics Korea. Moreover, data on H1N1 (swine flu) were provided by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and air transport statistics were obtained from Aeronautical Information Portal System. As mentioned above, daily traffic volume, population statistics, H1N1 (swine flu) and air transport statistics data have been adjusted in consideration of the current conditions in Korea and several realistic assumptions and scenarios. Three scenarios (occurrence of H1N1 in Incheon International Airport, not-vaccinated in all cities and vaccinated in Seoul and Pyeongchang respectively) were simulated, and the number of days taken for the number of the infected to reach its peak and proportion of Infectious (I) were compared. According to the simulation, the number of days was the fastest in Seoul with 37 days and the slowest in Pyeongchang with 43 days when vaccination was not considered. In terms of the proportion of I, Seoul was the highest while Pyeongchang was the lowest. When they were vaccinated in Seoul, the number of days taken for the number of the infected to reach at its peak was the fastest in Seoul with 37 days and the slowest in Pyeongchang with 43 days. In terms of the proportion of I, Gangneung was the highest while Pyeongchang was the lowest. When they were vaccinated in Pyeongchang, the number of days was the fastest in Seoul with 37 days and the slowest in Pyeongchang with 43 days. In terms of the proportion of I, Gangneung was the highest while Pyeongchang was the lowest. Based on the results above, it has been confirmed that H1N1, upon the first occurrence, is proportionally spread by the traffic volume in each city. Because the infection pathway is different by the traffic volume in each city, therefore, it is possible to come up with a preventive measurement against infectious disease by tracking and predicting its pathway through the analysis of traffic volume.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2008

The phospholipase B (PLB) families are enzymes sharing phospholipase (PL), lysophospholipase (LPL) and lysophospholipase-transacylase (LPTA) activities. In this study, we report the putative gene encoding phospholipase B (plbA) containing lipase motifs was cloned for the first time from the filamentous fungus, Aspergillus nidulans. plbA was isolated from A. nidulans genomic DNA library using a PCR-amplified probe, which is designed on the basis of sequence information derived from the conserved lipase regions of various PLBs. The deduced product of plbA is of 626 amino acids. From the assigned sequence, PlbA showed 72% identity with Penicillium notatum PLB but have low similarity with phospholipase A of other organisms.

• Mycobiology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2016

Candida spp. is an invasive infectious fungus, a major risk factor that can increase morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. In this study, 2,508 Candida spp. were isolated from various clinical specimens collected from university hospitals from July 2011 to October 2014. They were identified in order to determine isolation frequencies and characteristics by specimen, gender, age group, year, season, and month. The strain-specific isolation rate of Candida spp. is in the order of Candida albicans (1,218 strains, 48.56%), Candida glabrata (416 strains, 16.59%), Candida utilis (305 strains, 12.16%), Candida tropicalis (304 strains, 12.12%), and Candida parapsilosis (116 strains, 4.63%) and these five species accounted for more than 94% of the total strains. Of the specimens, Candida spp. were most frequently isolated from urine-catheter, followed by urinevoided, blood, sputum, other, open pus, vaginal discharge, Tip, ear discharge, bronchial aspiration and bile, in that order. Looking at the age distribution, the detection rate of patients in their 60s and older was significantly higher at 75.8% (1,900/2,508). The detection rate of patients in their 20s and younger was shown to be very low at 2.55% (64/2,508). By year, the detection rate of non-albicans Candida spp. showed a tendency to gradually increase each year compared with C. albicans. As isolation of Candida spp. from clinical samples at the specie level can vary depending on characteristics of the patient, sample, season, etc., continual studies are required.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2017

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is an economically important fungal pathogen causing substantial yield losses indifferent host plants. To understand the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of this fungus, we have developed a novel, high-resolution multi-locus microsatellite typing (MLMT) method. Bioinformatic analysis of C. gloeosporioides unannotated genome sequence yielded eight potential microsatellite loci, of which five, CG1 $(GT)_n$, CG2 $(GT1)_n$, CG3 $(TC)_n$, CG4 $(CT)_n$, and CG5 $(CT1)_n$ were selected for further study based on their universal amplification potential, reproducibility, and repeat number polymorphism. The selected microsatellites were used to analyze 31 strains of C. gloeosporioides isolated from 20 different host plants from India. All microsatellite loci were found to be polymorphic, and the approximate fragment sizes of microsatellite loci CG1, CG2, CG3, CG4, and CG5 were in ranges of 213-241, 197-227, 231-265, 209-275, and 132-188, respectively. Among the 31 isolates, 55 different genotypes were identified. The Simpson's index of diversity (D) values for the individual locus ranged from 0.79 to 0.92, with the D value of all combined five microsatellite loci being 0.99. Microsatellite data analysis revealed that isolates from Ocimum sanctum, Capsicum annuum (chili pepper), and Mangifera indica (mango) formed distinct clusters, therefore exhibited some level of correlation between certain genotypes and host. The developed MLMT method would be a powerful tool for studying the genetic diversity and any possible genotype-host correlation in C. gloeosporioides.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.459-466
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• 2018

In January 2017, discolored black oat seeds were found in the storage depot of a farmhouse in Jeongeup. Pyrenophora sp. was detected in 45% of the oat seeds surveyed. All Pyrenophora isolates obtained from the seeds were identified as Pyrenophora avenae based on the sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA regions and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) gene and validated by morphological and cultural characterization. A phylogenetic tree constructed using the ITS and GPDH sequences showed that the Korean isolates of P. avenae comprise of four genetically distinct groups. Pathogenicity test validated that the fungus is an infectious agent responsible for discolored black seeds and leaf blotch in oat plants. This is the first study report that P. avenae causes leaf blotch disease of oat in Korea.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.124-131
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• 2021

Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungus that primarily causes opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts. It can also cause various infections in immunocompetent patients. Pulmonary cryptococcosis involving the lymph node is relatively rare in immunocompetent patients. In this report, a previously healthy 17-year-old girl presented with high-grade fever and persistent cough. Chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scan revealed an anterior mediastinal conglomerate mass that expanded to the right supraclavicular area. Ultrasound-guided gun biopsy revealed histological evidence of cryptococcosis. Immunological screening tests did not identify immunodeficiency. She recovered completely with a combination therapy of amphotericin B and flucytosine for 2 weeks, followed by fluconazole for 8 months. The characteristics of cryptococcosis involving the mediastinal lymph node and the lung should be understood, and the possibility of cryptococcosis even in immunocompetent hosts should be considered.