• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.637-644
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• 2019

This study was conducted to analyze the genetic characteristics of the Jeju dog for preservation and protection. A total of 139 dogs from 7 dog breeds, including the Jeju dog, were genotyped using 16 microsatellite markers. The results revealed 2-18 alleles per locus, with a total of 131 alleles among the 16 markers. Most alleles were identified for FH3381, which had 18 alleles, whereas FH2834 had the fewest alleles, with just 2. When the total mean value was observed, the expected heterozygosity and observed heterozygosity were higher for than for outgroup dogs, and the PIC values ranged from 0.000 to 0.862, respectively. The phylogenetic tree analysis of the Jeju dog and other dog varieties revealed that the Jeju dog is closest to the Sapsal dog (0.393). The phylogeny between the Jeju and Korean domestic dogs showed that the Jeju dog is most distant from the Dongkyung dog (0.507). Looking at the distribution individually, the Jeju dog is in the same group as the Labrador Retriever and the Sapsal dog. Meanwhile, the Poongsan, Dongkyung, and Jindo dogs and the German Shepherd were in the same group. Genetic information confirmed through the results of this study can be used as basic data to study the genetic characteristics of the Jeju dog.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.302-307
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• 2018

From 2014 to 2016, approximately 5% of okra fruit were observed displaying gray mold symptoms at the research field of Jeollabuk-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Korea. The symptoms observed were water-soaked, brown or gray spots, and abundant mycelial with conidia appearing on the infected fruit. Initial infection commenced from the base of fruit and gradually moved to the pod, where it finally resulted in collapse. Colonies on potato dextrose agar were gray to grayish brown, felted and cottony expanding 65-80 mm after one week. The fungus formed several black sclerotia ranging $1.0-3.5{\times}0.5-3.0mm$ on the Petri dish after two weeks. The conidia were one-celled, ellipsoidal or ovoid, colorless or pale brown, and $6.2-15.4{\times}5.0-10.4{\mu}m$. Conidiophores arose solitary or in groups, straight or flexuous, septate, with an inflated basal cell brown to light brown, and measured $85-450{\times}10.0-40.0{\mu}m$. On the basis of the morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer rDNA, the fungus was identified as Botrytis cinerea Pers. Pathogenicity of a representative isolate was proved by artificial inoculation, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the occurrence of B. cinerea on okra in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.479-490
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• 2018

Red pepper is seriously damaged by thrips (Thrips palmi) and anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum acutatum throughout its development. Because of biotic constraints, producers often depend on chemicals that are expensive and have adverse effects on the environment, operator, and beneficial insects. In addition, resistance is developed because of the repeated use of chemicals. In recent decades, the use of microorganisms in crop protection has become a credible alternative because it is eco-friendly. In this study, we aimed to select isolates with insecticidal and fungicidal activities against the pathogens that cause anthracnose and thrips. We treated T. palmi adults and juveniles with 13 strains of entomopathogenic fungi (isolated from the soil by using the insect-bait method), and 6 strains showed excellent insecticidal activity (70-100%) 5 days after the treatment. The selected isolates were cultured with C. acutatum to screen for the strain with excellent anti-fungal activities, among which an isolate FT333 showed more than 95% control efficacy against C. acutatum in vitro. The isolate was identified as Isaria javanica through its morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the ITS and ${\beta}-tubulin$ nucleotide sequences. The Isaria javanica FT333 isolate could be used effectively for dual bio-control of thrips and anthracnose during red pepper cultivation.

• Korean Journal of Ornithology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2018

The Grey-capped greenfinch (Chloris sinica) is a polytypic species that exhibits complicated geographical variation in morphology. This study provides an intraspecific phylogeographic variability of C. sinica populations in Korea with their morphometric data. The observed morphometric variations were that Ulleung island population was morphologically distinct in bill length and depths as compared to the mainland populations. Phylogenetic relationships among mitochondrial COX1 regions provided evidence for genetic differentiation between Ulleung and mainland populations. However, their genetic distances and nucleotide diversities were very low, highlighting their recent divergence. The needs for additional research is heightened to substantiate if the genetic clines in different localities may arise in C. sinica subspecies, each of which could have different breeding and wintering habitats, distribution patterns, and migration pathways.

• Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.391-403
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• 2018

Genome resequencing by next-generation sequencing technology can reveal numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within a closely-related cultivar group, which would enable the development of sufficient SNP markers for mapping and the identification of useful genes present in the cultivar group. We analyzed genome sequence data from 13 Korean japonica rice varieties and discovered 740,566 SNPs. The SNPs were distributed at 100-kbp intervals throughout the rice genome, although the SNP density was uneven among the chromosomes. Of the 740,566 SNPs, 1,014 SNP sites were selected on the basis of polymorphism information content (PIC) value higher than 0.4 per 200-kbp interval, and 506 of these SNPs were converted to Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) markers. The 506 KASP markers were tested for genotyping with the 13 sequenced Korean japonica rice varieties, and polymorphisms were detected in 400 KASP markers (79.1%) which would be suitable for genetic analysis and molecular breeding. Additionally, a genetic map comprising 205 KASP markers was successfully constructed with 188 $F_2$ progenies derived from a cross between the varieties, Junam and Nampyeong. In a phylogenetic analysis with 81 KASP markers, 13 Korean japonica varieties showed close genetic relationships and were divided into three groups. More KASP markers are being developed and these markers will be utilized in gene mapping, quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis, marker-assisted selection and other strategies relevant to crop improvement.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.71-79
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• 2018

Wild walleye pollock were caught from Goseong, The East Sea of Korea and examined for the existence of several fish pathogenic viruses; viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), nervous necrosis virus (NNV) and marine birnavirus (MABV). We collected 1,253 wild walleye pollock in total during February 2015 and August 2018. 324 spleen sample sets and 259 brain sample sets were made, and examined for the existence of the viruses mentioned above by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). None of the target viruses were detected by one-step PCR. When some of these samples were further examined by two-step PCR, 19.7% (36/183) of spleen sample sets were positive for VHSV, and 4.4% (8/183) of spleen sample sets and 1.2% (3/259) of brain sample sets were positive for NNV. The target sequences of these viruses were clustered with those previously reported in Korea (Genotype IVa of VHSV, RGNNV genotype of NNV) by phylogenetic analysis. The activity of these viruses are not clear because virus isolation was not attempted, but probably very low because all the positive samples were detected by two-step PCR.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 2019

An auxin-producing bacterium Yangsong-1 was isolated from a button mushroom bed in Chung cheongnam-do. The strain Yangsong-1 was classified as a novel strain of Arthrobacter enclensis based on a chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analysis. The isolated A. enclensis Yangsong-1 was confirmed to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), which is one of the auxin hormones. When the concentration of IAA was assessed by HPLC quantity analysis, the maximum concentration of IAA, $152.903mg\;L^{-1}$, was detected from the culture broth incubated in R2A medium containing 0.2% L-tryptophan for 48 h at $35^{\circ}C$. A negative relationship between IAA production and pH was estimated to show that the increase in IAA caused pH acidification of the culture. The effect of the supplement on L-tryptophan, a known precursor of IAA production, appeared to be at maximal production at 0.2% concentration and was rather reduced at concentration above 0.4%. To investigate the growth-promoting effects on the crops, the culture broth of A. enclensis Yangsong-1 was placed in water cultures and seed pots of mung beans and lettuce. In consequence, the adventitious root induction and root growth of mung beans and lettuce were 1.5 and 1.9 times higher, respectively, than those of the control.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.463-470
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• 2018

Restoration ecology is the practical study of renewing and restoring a spoilt, degraded, or devastated ecosystems in the environment. Because the Korean industry has been drastically developed for the past few decades, the Korean ecosystem requires restoration using regional seed. In this study, we identified the variation of phylogenic relationship of Miscanthus sinensis or Phragmites australis by locations in Korea. Chloroplast DNA atpF-H and psbA-trnH interspace region were used as a molecular marker to resolve the phylogenic relationship in 10 different locations. We performed the molecular phylogenetic analysis with 10 chloroplast DNAs from each location using Kimura 2-parameter. The analysis of Miscanthus showed that all atpF-H genes were exact matches except for Ose san. In contrast to Mischanthus, the atpF-H genes from Phragmites were observed to have more variation. A total of 7 locations revealed the variation in chloroplast gene. According to the phylogenic tree in Phragmites, 2 of 10 samples in 6 locations and 3 of 10 in 1 location showed variation with 0.160-0.181 genetic distance. According to the genetic distance of the Miscanthus sinensis, there were no mutations in all regions except the Hongsung. These results support regional differences and show the necessity for seed collection by region. In the case of Phragmites australis, genetic variation occurred in all regions.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.242-247
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• 2019

Biological factors (e.g. microorganism activity) in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) play essential roles for degradation and/or removal of organic matters. In this study, to understand the microbial functional roles in WWTP, we tried to isolate and characterize a bacterial strain from activated sludge sample. Strain S16 was isolated from the activated sludge of a municipal WWTP in Daejeon metropolitan city, the Republic of Korea. The cells were a Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, facultative anaerobe, and rod-shaped. Strain S16 grew at a temperature of $15{\sim}40^{\circ}C$ (optimum, $30^{\circ}C$), with 0~9.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 1.0~2.0%), and at pH 5.5~9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0~7.5). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain S16 was most closely related to the unique species Miniimonas arenae NBRC $106267^T$ (99.79%, 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) of the genus Miniimonas. The cell wall contained alanine, glutamic acid, serine, and ornithine. Although the isolation source of the type strain NBRC $106267^T$ which considered as a marine microorganism is sea sand, that of strain S16 is terrestrial environment. It might raise an ecological question for habitat transition. Therefore, comparative genome analysis will be valuable investigation for shedding light on their potential metabolic traits and genomic streamlining.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1126-1135
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• 2019

From a sample of bamboo byproduct, the protease-producing yeast strain CO-1 was newly isolated. Strain CO-1 is spherical to ovoid in shape and measures $3.1-4.0{\times}3.8-4.4{\mu}m$. For the growth of strain CO-1, the optimal temperature and initial pH were $30^{\circ}C$ and 4.0, respectively. The strain was able to grow in 0.0-15.0%(w/v) NaCl and 0.0-9.0%(v/v) ethanol. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of its 18S rDNA sequences, strain CO-1 was identified as Pichia anomala. The extracellular protease produced by P. anomala CO-1 was partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, which resulted in a 14.6-fold purification and a yield of 7.2%. The molecular mass of the protease was recorded as approximately 30 kDa via zymogram. The protease activity reached its maximum when 1.0%(w/v) CMC was used as the carbon source, 1.0%(w/v) yeast extract was used as the nitrogen source, and 0.3%(w/v) $MnSO_4$ was used as the mineral source. The protease revealed the highest activity at pH 7.0 and $30^{\circ}C$. This enzyme maintained more than 75% of its stability at a pH range of 4.0-10.0. After heating at $65^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr, the neutral protease registered at 60% of its original activity. The protease production coincided with growth and attained a maximal level during the post-exponential phase.