• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.195-206
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• 2005

Spatial and temporal expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) gene and proteins has been recognized as inducible defense response in pepper plants. Gene expression and/or protein accumulation of PR-1, $\beta-1,3-glucanase$ and chitinase was predominantly found in pepper plants during the inoculations by Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria, Phytophthora capsici and Colletotrichum coccodes. PR-1 and chitinase genes were also induced in pepper plants in response to environmental stresses, such as high salinity and drought. PR-1 and chitinase gene expressions by biotic and abiotic stresses were regulated by their own promoter regions containing several stress-related cis-acting elements. Overexpression of pepper PR-1 or chitinase genes in heterogeneous transgenic plants showed enhanced disease resistance as well as environmental stress tolerances. In this review, we focused on the putative function of pepper PR-1, $\beta-1,3-glucanase$ and chitinase proteins and/or genes at the biochemical, molecular and cytological aspects.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1495-1502
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• 2014

Metarhizium anisopliae is a widely studied model to understand the virulence factors that participate in pathogenicity. Proteases such as subtilisin-like enzymes (Pr1) and trypsin-like enzymes (Pr2) are considered important factors for insect cuticle degradation. In four M. anisopliae strains (798, 6342, 6345, and 6347), the presence of pr1 and pr2 genes, as well as the enzymatic activity of these genes, was correlated with their virulence against two different insect pests. The 11 pr1 genes (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K) and pr2 gene were found in all strains. The activity of individual Pr1 and Pr2 proteases exhibited variation in time (24, 48, 72, and 96 h) and in the presence or absence of chitin as the inductor. The highest Pr1 enzymatic activity was shown by strain 798 at 48 h with chitin. The highest Pr2 enzymatic activity was exhibited by the 6342 and 6347 strains, both grown with chitin at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Highest mortality on S. exigua was caused by strain 6342 at 48 h, and strains 6342, 6345, and 6347 caused the highest mortality 7 days later. Mortality on Prosapia reached 30% without variation. The presence of subtilisin and trypsin genes and the activity of these proteases in M. anisopliae strains cannot be associated with the virulence against the two insect pests. Probably, subtilisin and trypsin enzyme production is not a vital factor for pathogenicity, but its contribution is important to the pathogenicity process.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.36-51
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• 2008

Objective : This study investigated the effects of PR(Pinelliae Rhizoma) on gene expression of lung tissue resected from asthma induced mice using intra-nasal instillation. Methods : Gene expression levels were measured using a microarray technique, and a functional analysis on these genes was conducted. Results : A total of 3270 genes were up-regulated or down-regulated, 860 genes which were lowered by induction of asthma were restored to those of naive animals, Furthermore hand, 1235 genes were lowered to normal levels, which were elevated by induction of asthma. Most of changed genes were involved in signalling pathways. Genes in which expression levels were restored by oral administration of PR were involved in MAPK pathway, focal adhesion, and regulation of actin cytoskeleton etc. Genes of which expression levels were lowered by oral administration of PR were involved in rhodopsin-like receptor activity, zinc ion binding and ATP binding. These genes were also involved in neuroactive ligand receptor interaction, the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and also the T-cell receptor signaling pathway. Conclusion : These results demonstrate the strong possibility that the mechanisms of PR on asthma are involved in neuroactive ligand receptor interaction pathway or related molecules.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.239-247
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• 2003

In Korea, a local soybean (Glycine max) genotype 56l. was found to be strongly resistant to a virulent bacterial strain of a Pseudomonas sp. SN239. Specific genes involved in the resistance of the soybean genotype 561 were identified and the pattern of gene expression against the Pseudomonas infection was analyzed using differential-display reverse transcription PCR (DDRT-PCR). More than 126 cDNA fragments representing mRNAs were induced within 48 hours of bacteria inoculation. Among them, 28 cDNA fragments were cloned and sequenced. Twelve differentially displayed clones with open reading frames had unknown functions. Sixteen selected cDNA clones were homologous to known genes of other organisms. Some of the identified cDNAs were pathogenesis-related (PR) genes and PR-like genes. These cDNAs included a putative calmodulin-binding protein; an endo-l,3-1,4-$\bate$-D-glucanase; a $\bate$-1,3-endoglucanase; a $\bate$-1,3-exoglucanase; a phytochelatin synthetase-like gene; a thiol protease; a cycloartenol synthase; and a putative receptor-like serine/threonine protein kinase. Among them, four genes were found to be putative PR genes induced significantly by the Pseudomonas infection. These included a calmodulin-binding protein gene, a $\bate$-1,3-endoglucanase gene, a receptor-like serine/threonine protein kinase gene, and pS321 (unknown function). These results suggest that the differentially expressed genes may mediate the strong resistance of soybean 561 to the strain SN239 of Pseudomonas sp.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.110-115
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• 2013

Theobroxide, a novel compound isolated from a fungus Lasiodiplodia theobromae, stimulates potato tuber formation and induces flowering of morning glory by initiating the jasmonic acid synthesis pathway. To elucidate the effect of theobroxide on pathogen resistance in plants, Nicotiana benthamiana plants treated with theobroxide were immediately infiltrated with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci. Exogenous application of theobroxide inhibited development of lesion symptoms, and growth of the bacterial cells was significantly retarded. Semiquantitative RT-PCRs using the primers of 18 defense-related genes were performed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of resistance. Among the genes, the theobroxide treatment increased the expression of patho-genesis-related protein 1a (PR1a), pathogenesis-related protein 1b (PR1b), glutathione S-transferase (GST), allen oxide cyclase (AOC), and lipoxyganase (LOX). All these data strongly indicate that theobroxide treatment inhibits disease development by faster induction of defense responses, which can be possible by the induction of defense-related genes including PR1a, PR1b, and GST triggered by the elevated jasmonic acid.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.450-458
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• 2020

Pepper and tomato plants infected with two Clavibacter species, C. capsici and C. michiganensis have shown different patterns of disease development depending on their virulence. Here, we investigated how pepper and tomato plants respond to infection by the high-virulent or low-virulent Clavibacter strains. For this, we chose two strains of each Clavibacter species to show different virulence level in the host plants. Although low-virulent strains showed less disease symptoms, they grew almost the same level as the high-virulent strains in both plants. To further examine the response of host plants to Clavibacter infection, we analyzed the expression patterns of plant defense-related genes in the leaves inoculated with different strains of C. capsici and C. michiganensis. Pepper plants infected with high-virulent C. capsici strain highly induced the expression of CaPR1, CaDEF, CaPR4b, CaPR10, and CaLOX1 at 5 days after inoculation (dai), but their expression was much less in low-virulent Clavibacter infection. Expression of CaSAR8.2 was induced at 2 dai, regardless of virulence level. Expression of GluA, Pin2, and PR2 in tomato plants infected with high-virulent C. michiganensis were much higher at 5 dai, compared with mock or low-virulent strain. Expression of PR1a, Osmotin-like, Chitinase, and Chitinase class 2 was increased, regardless of virulence level. Expression of LoxA gene was not affected by Clavibacter inoculation. These results suggested that Clavibacter infection promotes induction of certain defense-related genes in host plants and that differential expression of those genes by low-virulent Clavibacter infection might be affected by their endophytic lifestyle in plants.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 2015

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are known to confer disease resistance to plants. Bacillus sp. JS demonstrated antifungal activities against five fungal pathogens in in vitro assays. To verify whether the volatiles of Bacillus sp. JS confer disease resistance, tobacco leaves pre-treated with the volatiles were damaged by the fungal pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani and oomycete Phytophthora nicotianae. Pre-treated tobacco leaves had smaller lesion than the control plant leaves. In pathogenesis-related (PR) gene expression analysis, volatiles of Bacillus sp. JS caused the up-regulation of PR-2 encoding ${\beta}$-1,3-glucanase and acidic PR-3 encoding chitinase. Expression of acidic PR-4 encoding chitinase and acidic PR-9 encoding peroxidase increased gradually after exposure of the volatiles to Bacillus sp. JS. Basic PR-14 encoding lipid transfer protein was also increased. However, PR-1 genes, as markers of salicylic acid (SA) induced resistance, were not expressed. These results suggested that the volatiles of Bacillus sp. JS confer disease resistance against fungal and oomycete pathogens through PR genes expression.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.386-393
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• 2010

In order to study disease resistance mechanisms in rice against the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea, we screened fungal elicitor-responsive genes from rice suspension-cultured cells treated with fungal elicitors employing differential hybridization (DH). By DH screening, 31 distinct rice clones were isolated and a majority of them were full-length cDNAs encoding pathogenesisrelated (PR) genes. Sixteen of the 31 genes were upregulated at 4, 8, and 12 h following fungal elicitor treatment. To elucidate the effect of signal molecules and biotic elicitors on the regulation of rice defense genes, we further characterized the transcriptional expression patterns of representative isolated PR genes; OsGlu1, OsGlu2, OsTLP, OsRLK, and OsPR-10, following treatment with fungal elicitor, phytohormones, cycloheximide, and inhibitors of protein phosphorylation. Jasmonic acid (JA) induced transcriptional expression of OsGlu1, OsTLP, and OsRLK, but not of OsGlu2 and OsPR-10 at any of the tested time points. Salicylic acid (SA) and abscisic acid weakly induced the expression of OsTLP and OsRLK. SA showed an antagonistic effect with fungal elicitor and JA. Cycloheximide suppressed all these genes upon elicitor treatment, except for OsGlu2. Staurosporine only induced the expression of OsRLK. Application of calyculin A strongly induced OsRLK expression, but suppressed the expression of OsGlu2. Our study yielded a number of PR genes that play a role in defense mechanisms against the rice blast fungus, as well as contribute towards the elucidation of crosstalk between phytohormones and other modifications during defense signaling.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.72.2-73
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• 2003

We found a soybean (Glycine max) cultivar 561 that was strongly resistant to a virulent bacterial strain of a Pseudomonas spp. Further identification revealed that the Pseudomonas spp. was a strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Furthermore we identified specific genes involved in the resistance of soybean 561 and analyzed the pattern of gene expression against the Pseudomonas infection using differential-display reverse transcription PCR (DDRT-PCR). More than 126 cDNA fragments representing mRNAs were induced within 48 hours of bacteria inoculation. Among them, 28 cDNA fragments were cloned and sequenced. Twelve differentially displayed clones with open reading frames had unknown functions. Sixteen selected cDNA clones were homologous to known genes in the other organisms. Some of the identified cDNAs were pathogenesis-related genes (PR genes) and PR-like genes. These cDNAs included a putative calmodulin-binding protein, an endo-1,3-1,4-b-D-glucanase, a b-1,3-endoglucanase, a b-1,3-exoglucanase, a phytochelatin synthetase-like gene, a thiol pretense, a cycloartenol synthase, and a putative receptor-like sorineithreonine protein kinase. Among them, we found that four genes were putative pathogenesis-related genes (PR) induced significantly by the p. aeruginosa infection. These included a calmodulin-binding protein gene, a b-1,3-endoglucanase gene, a receptor-like sorine/threonine protein kinase gene, and pS321 (unknown function). These results suggest that the differentially expressed genes may mediate the strong resistance of soybean 561 to Pseudomonas aeruoginosa.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.158-166
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• 2010

Objective: It has been reported that Polygonati rhizoma (Pr) has anti-hyperglycemia, anti-triglycemia, anti-diabetic, and anti-tumor activity. Total extract of Pr was tested to identify anti-adipogenic activity in 3T3-L1 differentiation and molecular mechanism of Pr in 3T3-L1 differentiation. Methods: Differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocyte was induced in the presence of Pr extract and kaempferol. The level of lipid accumulation was measured by Oil Red O staining. The expression of genes associated with adipocyte differentiation was measured by RT-PCR. Results: Extract of Pr and its component kaempferol reduced lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 during adipogenesis and also reduced mRNA levels of genes associated with adipogenesis, such as adipsin, aP2, LPL, SERBP-1c and $PPAR{\gamma}$. Conclusions: In this study, we showed that the molecular mechanism of Pr and kaempferol activity is related to regulation of $PPAR{\gamma}$ expression and activation.