• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.1010-1022
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• 2017

Hybrid histidine kinase is part of a two-component system that is required for various stress responses and pathogenesis of pathogenic fungi. The Tco1 gene in human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans encodes a hybrid histidine kinase and is important for pathogenesis. In this study, we identified a Tco1 homolog, UmTco1, in the maize pathogen Ustilago maydis by bioinformatics analysis. To explore the role of UmTco1 in the survival of U. maydis under environmental stresses and its pathogenesis, ${\Delta}umtco1$ mutants were constructed by allelic exchange. The growth of ${\Delta}umtco1$ mutants was significantly impaired when they were cultured under hyperosmotic stress. The ${\Delta}umtco1$ mutants exhibited increased resistance to antifungal agent fludioxonil. In particular, the ${\Delta}umtco1$ mutants were unable to produce cytokinesis or conjugation tubes, and to develop fuzzy filaments, resulting in impaired mating between compatible strains. The expression levels of Prf1, Pra1, and Mfa1, which are involved in the pheromone pathway, were significantly decreased in the ${\Delta}umtco1$ mutants. In inoculation tests to the host plant, the ${\Delta}umtco1$ mutants showed significantly reduced ability in the production of anthocyanin pigments and tumor development on maize leaves. Overall, the combined results indicated that UmTco1 plays important roles in the survival under hyperosmotic stress, and contributes to cytokinesis, sexual development, and virulence of U. maydis by regulating the expression of the genes involved in the pheromone pathway.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2017

Two major sex pheromone components (Z-8-dodecenyl acetate and E-8-dodecenyl acetate) are known in the peach fruit moth, Grapholita molesta. From a putative biosynthetic pathway of these sex pheromone components, delta 10 desaturase ($10{\Delta}$ DES) has been proposed to play a crucial role in synthesizing a species-specific stereoisomer of the double bond. However, its molecular identity was not known. This study determined a putative desaturase (Gm-comp1575) as a $10{\Delta}$ DES candidate from G. molesta transcriptome constructed from the sex pheromone gland. Its open reading frame encodes 370 amino acid sequence with a predicted molecular weight at 43.2 kDa and isoelectric point at 8.77. It was predicted to have four transmembrane domains and six glycosylation sites at N-terminal or cytosolic domains. A phylogenetic analysis with its predicted amino acid sequence indicated that Gm-comp1575 is closely related with known $10{\Delta}$ DES genes of other insects. Gm-comp1575 transcript was detected in female adults at sex pheromone gland and other abdominal tissues. RNA interference of Gm-comp1575 significantly reduced attractiveness of virgin females in apple orchard compared to control females. These results suggest that Gm-comp1575 is associated with sex pheromone biosynthesis of G. molesta.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.45 no.2 s.143
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• pp.235-240
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• 2006

Efficacies of two commercial mating distruptor (SPLAT$^{(R)}$ and Isomate$^{(R)}$-ROSSO) were evaluated on field overwintering populations of Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck), in four apple orchards. Based on the monitoring with sex pheromone traps, all the orchards (Youngchun, Kyungsan, Chungsong, and Youngju in Korea) exhibited significant overwintering populations from late April to late May. Both mating disruptors that were applied 10 days before the monitoring period significantly inhibited the male orientation to the monitoring lures, in which SPLAT type was more effective than Isomate type in the disrupting efficacy. The disruption of male orientation was highly correlated with the reduction in the early leaf damage caused mostly by G. molesta.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.60-60
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• 2015

Hybrid histidine kinase is a part of two-component system that is required for various stress responses and pathogenesis of pathogenic fungi. In the present study, Tco1, a homologue of human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans Tco1 encoding a hybrid histidine kinase, was identified in corn smut pathogen Ustilago maydis by bioinformatic analysis. To explore the role of Tco1 in the virulence of U. maydis, mutants in which the tco1 gene was partially deleted were constructed by allelic exchange. The U. maydis tco1 mutants did show unaltered growth rate on axenic medium but were unable to produce conjugation tubes and develop fuzzy filaments, resulting in impaired mating of compatible strains. The expression levels of prf1, pra1, and mfa1 which are involved in the pheromone pathway significantly decreased in the tco1 mutants. In inoculation tests to host, the tco1 mutants showed significantly reduced ability in the production of anthocyanin pigments and tumor development on maize leaves. Overall, the combined results indicated that Tco1 plays important roles in sexual development and virulence of U. maydis by regulating the expression of the genes involved in the pheromone pathway.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.148-153
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• 2020

Cleisostoma scolopendrifolium is an orchid species solely pollinated by the male bee Megachile yasumatsui. Although C. scolopendrifolium is an endangered species in Korea, little is known about its pollination mechanisms or the profiles of its chemical attractants. This study provides evidence that the Cleisostoma orchid attracts male bees as pollinators by mimicking female mating signals. We found 13 hydrocarbons in the Cleisostoma orchid flower presumed to be involved in sex pheromone mimicry: five alkanes (tricosane, pentacosane, heptacosane, nonacosane, and hentriacontane), compounds of cuticular hydrocarbons which function as chemical cues for the recognition of mates and species in social insects; and eight alkenes ((z)-9-tricosene, (z)-9-pentacosene, (z)-11-pentacosene, (z)-9-heptacosene, (z)-11-heptacosene, (z)-9-nonacosene, (z)-11-nonacosene, and (z)-11-hentriacontene) which serve as sex pheromones in several insects. We suggest that these hydrocarbons play a key role in the pollination mechanism between Cleisostoma orchids and Megachile bees.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.765-770
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• 2001

Thirty second parity sows of the synthetic Nepalese Pakhribas genotype were used to investigate factors which might improve the occurrence and expression of estrus. The experiment had two sequential elements. In part 1, a change in suckling pattern was applied during lactation, and in part 2, different estrus detection methods were evaluated after weaning. All sows received the same pattern of weaning, which imitated the progressive weaning system used in Nepalese villages. Piglets from each litter were weaned at three ages (6, 7 and 8 weeks of age) in the proportion of 0.5 at 6 weeks followed by 0.25 at each of the subsequent weanings. In the first lactation treatment, the suckling pattern was left undisturbed, similar to the practice used in the villages in which the remaining piglets after first weaning are allowed continuous suckling. In the other treatment, the remaining piglets after first weaning were allowed to suckle their sows only during the night, whilst in the day time (09:00-16:00) they were excluded from the sow but left free to roam around. After weaning, estrus detection procedures were carried out in the absence or presence of two different boar stimuli: a synthetic boar pheromone spray or fresh boar urine. These were applied sequentially in a sequence of testing that alternated for each sow on a daily basis. The weaning to re-mating interval was significantly longer for the unrestricted suckling treatment. All sows were re-mated within 30 days after first weaning in the restricted suckling treatment groups, whereas only 71% of sows were re-mated within 30 days after weaning in the unrestricted suckling treatment groups ($x^2=3.877$, 1df, p<0.05). Both boar pheromone spray and boar urine increased the estrus detection probability, with no significant differences between the two stimuli treatments.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2004

Male red-spotted newts, Notophthalmus viridescens, use chemical cues to locate and select potential mates. To investigate whether large and small males respond differentially to chemical cues from conspecifics, we conducted a series of two-choice Y-maze tests with odorant stimuli from two large females (LF/LF), one large versus one small female (LF/SF), and one large female placed with four males versus one small female (LF+4M/SF). We found that males responded more rapidly in a LF/LF choice situation than in those involving LF/SF or LF+4M/SF. In addition, small males chose more quickly than did large males. These results suggest that both body size and odorant context affect the speed of odorant responses. By responding differentially to conspecific chemical cues, small males may arrive earlier at a courting area, increasing their chances of successfully guarding and mating with a female.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.369-374
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• 2015

Grapholita molesta (GM) has been considered as a major problem to apple and peach orchards. Mating disrupters have been applied to control the pest over the world as an Integrated Pest Management [IPM] tool. Various types of dispensers releasing mating disrupters have been developed with different formulation of wax, polyethylene tube and aerosol. In this study, the dispensers that were composed of ester waxes and polypropylene (PP) film were used as dispenser materials to analyze release pattern of GM pheromone compared with paraffin wax and polyethylene (PE) film. The release pattern in PP film group was consistent with time while PE film group irregular. Based on these results, Japan wax_PP film dispenser (Japan_PP) was manufactured and showed the mating disruption effect of 98% during 5months in peach orchard.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.209-220
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• 2018

Mating disruption (MD) has been widely used to effectively control Grapholita molesta in apple orchards. A simultaneous mating disruption (SMD) techniques have been developed to control both G. molesta and G. dimorpha. This study was performed to determine the practical parameters to apply the SMD technique to field conditions. To determine the application amount of SMD lures, a dispenser containing 10 mg pheromone was placed at different numbers of trees in an orchard. Application at every other tree (= one dispenser per two trees) was relatively safe to expect effective MD efficiency in both wax and polyethylene (PE) formulations. One time application at the end of March was enough to maintain a year round MD efficacy against both species. A fence treatment using food trap was applied to prevent any immigratory mated females from nearby untreated regions. To enhance the food trap by adding host-derived secondary compounds, terpinyl acetate (TA) was screened to be effective to attract females of Grapholita molesta among six compounds contained in apple fruit extracts. Among different TA concentrations, 0.05% TA treatment was the most effective to attract the adults. A mixture of TA and sugar was effective to attract and kill females and called FAKT (female attract-to-kill techniques). FAKT was treated at approximately 6 m interval at the edge of the apple orchards. The females trapped by the FAKT included mated females possessing vitellogenic oocytes. SMD supplemented with FAKT maintained the high MD efficacy and significantly suppressed leaf damage induced by the two insect pests compared to control or single SMD treatment.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.362-369
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• 2017

We assessed the regulation of cryparin, a class II hydrophobin, using three representative mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways in Cryphonectria parasitica. Mutation of the CpSlt2 gene, an ortholog of yeast SLT2 in the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, resulted in a dramatic decrease in cryparin production. Similarly, a mutant of the CpBck1 gene, a MAP kinase kinase kinase gene in the CWI pathway, showed decreased cryparin production. Additionally, mutation of the cpmk1 gene, an ortholog of yeast HOG1, showed decreased cryparin production. However, mutation of the cpmk2 gene, an ortholog of yeast Kss1/Fus3, showed increased cryparin production. The easy-wet phenotype and accumulation of the cryparin transcript in corresponding mutants were consistent with the cryparin production results. In silico analysis of the promoter region of the cryparin gene revealed the presence of binding motifs related to downstream transcription factors of CWI, HOG1, and pheromone responsive pathways including MADS-box- and Ste12-binding domains. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR analyses indicated that both CpRlm1, an ortholog of yeast RLM1 in the CWI pathway, and cpst12, an ortholog of yeast STE12 in the mating pathway, showed significantly reduced transcription levels in the mutant strains showing lower cryparin production in C. prasitica. However, the transcription of CpMcm1, an ortholog of yeast MCM1, did not correlate with that of the mutant strains showing downregulation of cryparin. These results indicate that three representative MAPK pathways played a role in regulating cryparin production. However, regulation varied depending on the MAPK pathways: the CWI and HOG1 pathways were stimulatory, whereas the pheromone-responsive MAPK was repressive.