• Animal cells and systems
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2010

The pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus causes pine wilt disease and is a serious economic concern for the forest industry of South Korea. To achieve effective control with limited resources, it is necessary to clarify the transmission routes and mechanisms of dispersal of this organism. Highly polymorphic and easy-to-use molecular markers can be used for investigating this aspect. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) for investigating the genetic variations of B. xylophilus and related individuals from China, Japan, and South Korea. The AFLP patterns obtained in our study were similar to the microsatellite patterns reported in a previous study; our AFLP patterns indicated high genetic variability and cryptic genetic structure, but did not indicate any peculiar geographic structure. Moreover, the genetic distances between individuals suggested that the Korean population was affected to a greater extent by the Chinese population than the Japanese population. Further, the gene flow among the related species appeared to be limited; however, there may be also the possibility of genetic introgression among species. These results confirm the usefulness of AFLPs for understanding the epidemiology of pine wilt disease, thereby contributing to the effective control of this disease.

• Mycobiology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.59-62
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• 2013

Japanese pine sawyer beetle (Monochamus alternatus) is an economically important pest in coniferous trees. Ophiostoma ips was isolated from the beetle and identified based on analysis of morphological properties and the ${\beta}$-tubulin gene sequence. The fungus easily produced perithecia with a long neck on malt extract agar and its ascospores were rectangular shaped. This is first report of Ophiostoma species associated with the pinewood nematode vector beetle in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.377-384
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• 2009

Three-year-old seedlings of susceptible Pinus densiflora and resistant Pinus x rigitaeda were each inoculated with the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, to compare disease development. Needle dehydration was evident on seedlings of P. densiflora by 20 days after inoculation, 10 days earlier than this symptom was observed on P. ${\times}$ rigitaeda. Xylem drying was more frequent in seedlings of P. densiflora than in that of P. ${\times}$ rigitaeda between 20 and 60 days after inoculation. No significant differences were found between P. densiflora and P. ${\times}$ rigitaeda for stem water content or for stem and leaf relative water content in current-year branches after nematode inoculation, but the average number of B. xylophilus recovered from stems differed significantly between the two groups. The number of B. xylophilus recovered from stems was negatively correlated with the stem water content and with stem and leaf relative water content. By the time the experiment was terminated at 60 days after inoculation, all 3 of the last group of P. densiflora seedlings had died, but 2 of the 3 remaining P. ${\times}$ rigitaeda hybrid seedlings were still alive. Additional studies are needed to further explore the specific mechanisms preventing nematode multiplication in the seedlings of resistant P. ${\times}$ rigitaeda.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.241-246
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• 2009

Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc.), a five-needle pine, has recently been suffering pine wilt disease caused by non-native pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Three-year-old Korean pine seedlings were inoculated with 10,000 pathogenic nematodes in a greenhouse to investigate disease development, water content and the density of nematodes in stems. Needle dehydration, xylem drying and pith browning started 20 days after inoculation (DAI). There were significant differences between seedlings inoculated with nematodes and control seedlings in the relative water content of stems and leaves at 20 and 30 DAI. At 60 DAI, all remaining seedlings inoculated with nematodes had died, but control seedlings all remained alive. The average number of nematodes recovered from stems of Korean pine dramatically increased from 10 to 20 DAI, and then decreased at the end of the experiment at 60 days. This study suggests that the relative water content of stems and leaves in current-year branches could be used as a useful physiological indicator for early diagnosis of pine wilt disease.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1445-1449
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• 2015

The pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae) poses a serious threat to pine forests in Europe and East Asia, leading to a debilitating pine wilt disease. Infected pine trees in Korea are generally fumigated or crushed to small wood chips after felling. Although pine wilt disease often recurs in pest management sites, there are no adequate means to monitor the effectiveness of pest control measures in those sites. Recently, a male-produced aggregation pheromone, 2-(undecyloxy)ethanol, was shown to be useful for attracting several Monochamus species, which are vectors for the pinewood nematodes. In this study, we investigated the abilities of 2-(undecyloxy)ethanol at three different doses (175, 350, and 700 mg), as well as host plant volatiles (α-pinene and ethanol), to attract M. alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) at a pine forest in Pohang, Korea where infected pine trees had been cut down and fumigated. Twenty-seven M. alternatus were captured in cross-vane panel traps made of polyethylene terephthalate bottles and acrylic sheets. The results indicate that a high dose of 2-(undecyloxy)ethanol (700 mg per trap) is the most effective for attracting M. alternatus. The aggregation pheromone could be used to monitor the effectiveness of pest control measures as well as M. alternatus populations.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2012

In 2006, pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, was isolated from about 50 years old trees of Pinus densiflora and P. koraiensis showing leaf-wilt and -drying symptoms in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do and Chuncheon, Gangwon-do. Isolation of pinewood nematodes from sapwood of infected pine trees showed no difference in population density between tree species and among the sampling heights on the main stem. Migration of pinewood nematodes in the host tree were investigated by inoculation of red pine (P. densiflora, 3 years old) seedlings with B. xylophilus. The nematodes seemed to move in red pine seedlings prior to multiplication and it might have taken about 20 days to start multiplication and expression of symptoms including wilt and dieback. In initial time after inoculation, nematodes started migration through the cortical resin canal from inoculated site and further showed upward and downward movements. More nematodes were observed in cortical resin canal during early period of inoculation and later in resin canal of xylem and tracheid also while, the pith still remained free from nematode. The density of B. xylophilus was higher in seedlings of low-vigor with poor root growth than in seedlings of normal root growth. Seedlings showing high density of B. xylophilus exhibited stem discoloration and secondary infection by fungus at the inoculation site.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2008

RNA interference (RNAi) was performed on several essential genes in the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, which causes pine wilt disease. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) was delivered to larvae or adult worms by soaking, electroporation, or microinjection. Soaking and electroporation of L2-L3 stage worms in solutions containing dsRNA for essential genes induced over 25% lethality after 5 days, and gene-specific phenotypes were observed. This lethality agreed with significant reductions of the targeted transcripts, as assayed by reverse-transcription coupled with real time PCR. Microinjection was the most efficient route as measured by the hatching rate of F1 embryos, which was reduced by 46%. When adult worms were soaked in dsRNA, lethality was induced in the F1 larvae, revealing the persistence of knockdown phenotypes. The penetrance of the RNAi phenotypes for essential genes was relatively low but consistent, indicating that RNAi should be useful for studying the in vivo functions of B. xylophilus gene products.

• Entomological Research
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.448-452
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• 2018

The aggregation pheromone of Monochamus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) beetles, 2-(undecyloxy) ethanol (hereafter referred to as monochamol), has gained considerable attention because of its usefulness in monitoring and population control of pine sawyer beetles. The hydroxyether structural motif is conserved in pheromones of the subfamily Lamiinae of the Cerambycidae. In this study, we investigated the effects of C10- and C12-chain length alkyl analogs of monochamol, 2-(decyloxy) ethanol and 2-(dodecyloxy) ethanol, on attracting M. saltuairus in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. The C10 and C12 analogs attracted M. saltuarius when used in combination with ${\alpha}$-pinene and ethanol, but the responses of these alkyl chain analogs were lower than those of monochamol. Furthermore, the addition of either C10 or C12 analog to the use of monochamol with ${\alpha}$-pinene and ethanol had no effect on attraction of M. saltuarius, indicating high sensitivity of M. saltuarius to monochanol. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that chemical communication within a Monochamus species depends not only on monochamol, but also on other semiochemicals.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.41-41
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• 2014

Pinewood nematode (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) is a serious pathogenic worm that quickly dry pine trees to death. Recently, PWN has been devastating huge amounts of conifer trees in Korea. As a first step to explore the association and ecological roles of fungi in PWN life cycle in Korea, in this study we first isolated and indentified fungi from PWN-infested Korean pine and Japanese black pine wood sampled in Jinju, Sacheon, Pocheon, Chuncheon, Gwangju, and Hoengseong in Korea. A total of 144 fungal isolates were obtained from Japanese black pine wood and 264 fungal isolates from Korean pine wood. Their morphology and nucleotide sequences of the ITS rDNA and ♌-tubulin gene were examined for species identification. Ophiostoma ips, Botrytis anthophila, Penicillium sp., Hypocrea lixii, Trichoderma atroviride, O. galeiforme, Fusarium proliferatum were identified from Japanese black pine wood. Leptographium koreanum, L. pini-densiflorae, Ophiostoma ips, Penicillium raistrick, Trichoderma sp. were isolated from Korean pine wood. O. ips and L. koreanum were the major species on the two different PWN-infected pine tree. The cultivation of PWN on fungal mat of the identified species did some enhance PWN reproduction. The ambrosia beetle, Platypus koryoensis, is a serious pest of oak trees in Korea. In this study we investigated filamentous fungi present in the body of the beetle. Fourteen genera of filamentous fungi belonging to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were isolated. All the obtained genera were isolated in the mitosporic state. The identified fungi were classified in 11 distinct orders including the Ascomycota (Eurotiales, Hypocreales, Microascales, Ophiostomatales, Pleosporales, and Sordiales) and Basidiomycota (Agaricales, Corticiales, Polyporales, and Russulales Xylariales). Within Ascomycota, 13 species were found. Meanwhile five species were found within Basidiomycota. The results showed the presence of diverse fungi in P. koryoensis. Among the isolated fungi, some were able to produce wood degrading enzymes. Further fungal isolation was performed with P. koryoensis infested Quercus mongolica trees sampled at Kumdan mountain in Hanam-Si, Gyeonggi province from June of 2009 to June of 2010. Penicillin spp. and Trichoderma spp. were the major species of mold fungi group. Pichia guilliermondii was the major species of mold yeast group. Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae was also isolated, but its isolation frequency was not high. Other species identified were Ambrosiella xylebori, Fusarium solani, Cryphonectria nitschke, Chaetomium globosum, and Gliocladium viride, Candida kashinagacola, C. maritima, C. vanderkliftii, Saccharomycopsis crataegensis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.3
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• pp.337-343
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to understand water stress development in pine seedlings inoculated with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Leaf water potentials of four years old Pinus densiflora seedlings inoculated with the nematode were measured with a plant moisture system at predawn and midday. The midday leaf water potentials on the 35th day after the inoculation were -1.04 MPa in the infected seedlings, while -0.94 MPa in the non-infected seedlings. The predawn water potentials on the 56th day were -0.71 MPa in the infected, while -0.26 MPa in the non-infected. At this time the leaves of the infected seedlings became yellow and resin did not exude on the cut basal stem. Density of the nematode was maximum on the 28th day, but dropped sharply on the 68th day. The phloem and pith tissues became brown and the resin exudation reduced in the infected seedlings. In conclusion, pinewood nematode inoculation developed water stress in pine seedlings in a month.