• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2017

Background and purpose: This study was carried out to learn more about the potential prophylactic or antibacterial activity of the plant Acalypha indica against selective pathogenic bacteria. Experimental: The test organisms were Sarcina lutea IFO 3232, Bacillus subtilis IFO 3026, Pseudomonas denitrificans, Escherichia coli IFO 3007, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATTC 10031, Xanthomonas campestris IAM 1671, and Proteus vulgaris. Leaf, stem, and bud powder of Acalypha indica were dissolved in various solvents, and the extracts were tested for antimicrobial activity through the disc diffusion method. GC-MS profiling was performed to characterize active chemical compounds in the essential oil of Acalypha indica. Results: The ethanol extract showed the highest activity against all bacteria, while the petroleum ether extract yielded the highest zone of inhibition against Proteus vulgaris ($11.83{\pm}1.75mm$). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the ethyl acetate extract against Bacillus subtilis was 16 µg/mL. Phytochemical screening by GC-MS revealed a total of 12 bioactive compounds. Conclusion: Extracts of Acalypha indica may be useful in formulating and synthesizing new antibacterial drugs.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2020

Foodborne diseases (FBD) pose significant public health problems and economic losses worldwide. In recent years, emerging foodborne diseases have resulted mainly from novel bacteria, viruses, protozoa, mycotoxins, prions in animal and plant sources. The consumption of unsafe food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical agents or naturally occurring toxins results in high morbidity and mortality. However, estimating the incidence and burden of FBD is a huge global challenge due to the difficulty in food source attribution to specific pathogenic or chemical hazards, underreported cases, diagnosing how infections are transmitted or when a person is infected are not well understood and thus makes the control of FBD very challenging. Therefore, implementing comprehensive food safety strategies and policies, enhancing surveillance, ensuring resilient health system, and intensifying education and training to ensure safe food and prevent foodborne diseases is everybody's responsibility.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.114-123
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• 2019

QD LED has an ideal light source for growing crops and can also be used to control plant pathogenic microorganisms. The mycelial growth inhibition effect of QD LED light on Rhizoctonia solani, Phytophthora drechsleri, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Sclerotinia minor, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum, Pectobacterium carotovorum, and Xanthomonas campestris were investigated. According to the results, BLUE (450 nm) light, suppressed S. sclerotiorum by 16.7% at 50 cm height from the light source, and 94.1% mycelial growth at 30 cm height. Mycelial growth of Sclerotinia minor was inhibited by 80.4% at 50 cm height and 36.3% at 50 cm height in B. cinerea. S. minor, and B. cinerea was inhibited by 100% mycelial growth at a height of 30 cm from the light source. At 15 cm height, all three pathogens (B. cinerea, S. minor, and S. sclerotiorum) was inhibited by 100%. QD RED (M1) and QD RED (M2) light suppressed mycelial growth of S. minor and B. cinerea by 100% at 30 cm and 15 cm height from the light source. For S. sclerotiorum, QD RED (M1) and QD RED (M2) showed 75.2% and 100% inhibition, respectively. Further experiment was conducted to know the suppression effect of lights after inoculating the fungal pathogens on lettuce crop. According to the results, QD RED (M2) suppressed the S. sclerotiorum by 59.9%. In addition, Blue (450 nm), QD RED (M1), and QD RED (M2) light reduce the infestation by 59.9%. In case of B. cinerea, disease reduction was found 84% by BLUE (450 nm) light. Results suggest that the growth inhibition of mycelium increases by Quantum dot LED light.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.641-653
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to confirm the antifungal activity, plant growth-promoting activity, and mineral solubilizing activity of 18 types of bacteria isolated purely from rhizosphere soil. The potential of isolates of the genus Bacillus and Pseudomonas as biocontrol agents was confirmed through the antifungal activity of these isolates. This activity has been determined to be due to various hydrolytic enzymes on the cell wall of plant pathogenic fungi and the production of siderophores in isolates. In addition, most of the isolates have been found to have aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase production activity, indole-3-acetic acid production activity, and nitrogen fixation activity. These characteristics are believed to have a positive effect on root development, growth, and the productivity of crops via a reduction in the concentration of ethylene under conditions of environmental stress, to which plants are commonly exposed. In addition, on testing for the solubilizing activity of the isolates for phosphoric acid, silicon, calcium carbonate, and zinc, some isolates were found to have mineral solubilizing activities. Inoculation of these isolates during plant growth is expected to assist plant growth by converting nutrients necessary for growth into usable forms that can be absorbed by plants. The 18 isolated strains can be used as biocontrol agents due to their antifungal activity, plant growthpromoting activity, and mineral solubilizing activity.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2013

In this study, the disinfectant efficacy of Aqua farmsafe$^{(R)}$, composed of didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) and yucca extract was evaluated against Salmonella typhimurium and fish pathogens. Determination of the anti-microbial or anti-viral efficacy of the disinfectant was based on Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency Regulation No. 2011-26, Korea. Anti-bacterial efficacy test by broth dilution method was used to determine the lowest effective dilution of the disinfectant following exposure to test bacteria for 30 min at $4^{\circ}C$. Aqua farmsafe and test bacteria or virus were diluted with distilled water (DW), standard hard water (SW) or organic matter dilution (OM) according to treatment condition. Under the our results, disinfectant efficacy of Aqua farmsafe$^{(R)}$ possesses 30~40 fold against fish pathogens including bacteria and virus compared to that on animal pathogenic bacteria, S. typhimurim. As the efficacy of Aqua farmsafe$^{(R)}$ against fish pathogen was investigated in vitro, a controlled field trial is required to determine whether the use of Aqua farmsafe$^{(R)}$ will be able to reduce fish diseases.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.140-146
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• 2015

The increase in resistance by pathogenic bacteria to multiple antimicrobial agents has become a significant treat, as the effective antimicrobial agents available for the patients infected by such resistant bacteria are reduced, or even eliminated. Several natural plant extracts have exhibited antibacterial and synergistic activity against various resistant microorganisms. Houttuynia cordata is frequently used by many traditional medicine practicioners for its antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties. This study investigated the antibacterial effects of H. cordata extract against clinical multi-resistant bacteria, and compared the two methods used for the antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Thirty isolates of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, 10), Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE, 10), Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB, 10) were included in this study. The antibacterial effect of H. cordata was tested by disk diffusion and microbroth dilution methods as per CLSI guidelines. In disk diffusion, all isolates (30) showed no inhibition to 30,000 ug/mL of H. cordata. But in the microbroth dilution method, $MIC_{90}$ of H. cordata was 4,096 ug/mL, 8,192 ug/mL and 4,096 ug/mL in MRSA, VRE and CRAB, respectively. These results demonstrate that H. cordata exhibits antibacterial activity against MRSA, VRE and CRAB. Moreover, the microbroth dilution method is a more effective method than disk diffusion to evaluate the antibacterial activity of natural products. The Disk diffusion method used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of natural products required new standard guidelines including inoculum concentration of bacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.522-528
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• 2000

A total of about 300 fungal isolates from forest havitats were screened for inhibitors of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection using its local lesion host, Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi nc. Ine of the isolates, 14T, showed a strong activity against TMV infection, and was identified as an Apiocrea sp. based on its morphological characterstics. Rice was an optimum culture medium for its fermentation, and two antiviral compounds, KGT 141 and KGT 142, were resolved from the rice culture through column chromatography, TLC, and HPLC. By NMR and FAB-MS, the two compounds were identified as chrysospermins B (KGT 141) and D (KGT 142), both of which are peptaibols with 19-mer amino acids possessing an acetylated N-terminus and a hydroxy-amino acid (tryptophanol) at the C-terminus. Both compounds showed inhibitory activities against TMV infection, but chrysospermin D showed the stronger activity than chrysospermin B. The former of $100{\;}\mu\textrm{g}/ml$ and 54.7% at $10{\;}\mu\textrm{g}/ml$, respectively. Furthermore, the chrysospermins were highly cytotoxic toward cancer cell lines of PC-3 (prostrate) and K562 (leukemia), and inhibited growth of the Gram-positive bacteria tested, especially the plant pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium lilium. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the inhibition of plant virus infection by antimicrobial peptaibols.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.412-425
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• 2018

The Hfq protein is a global small RNA chaperone that interacts with regulatory bacterial small RNAs (sRNA) and plays a role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The roles of Hfq in the virulence and pathogenicity of several infectious bacteria have been reported. This study was conducted to elucidate the functions of two hfq genes in Burkholderia glumae, a causal agent of rice grain rot. Therefore, mutant strains of the rice-pathogenic B. glumae BGR1, targeting each of the two hfq genes, as well as the double defective mutant were constructed and tested for several phenotypic characteristics. Bacterial swarming motility, toxoflavin production, virulence in rice, siderophore production, sensitivity to $H_2O_2$, and lipase production assays were conducted to compare the mutant strains with the wild-type B. glumae BGR1 and complementation strains. The hfq1 gene showed more influence on bacterial motility and toxoflavin production than the hfq2 gene. Both genes were involved in the full virulence of B. glumae in rice plants. Other biochemical characteristics such as siderophore production and sensitivity to $H_2O_2$ induced oxidative stress were also found to be regulated by the hfq1 gene. However, lipase activity was shown to be unassociated with both tested genes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to elucidate the functions of two hfq genes in B. glumae. Identification of virulence-related factors in B. glumae will facilitate the development of efficient control measures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.12-12
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• 2017

Genetic improvement in potato can be carried out through several approaches, as sexual crosses, somatic hybridization, mutation and genetic engineering. Although the approach is different, but the goal is the same, to get a superior cultivar. Mutation and genetic engineering are very interesting methods for genetic improvement of potato plants. Mutation by gamma-ray irradiation have been performed to get some new potato cultivars which are more resistant to disease and have higher productivity. We have carried out a mutation of some potato cultivars and obtained some excellent clones to be potentially released as new superior cultivars. By the mutation method, we have released one potato cultivar for the French fries industry, and we registered one cultivar of potato for chips, and two cultivar for vegetable potatoes. Actually we are doing multi-location trial for three clones to be released as new cultivars. Through genetic engineering, several genes have been introduced into the potato plant, and we obtained several clones of transgenic potato plants. Transgenic potato plants containing FBPase gene encoding for fructose bisphosphatase, have a higher rate of photosynthesis and higher tuber productivity than non-transgenic plants. This result suggests that FBPase plays an important role in increasing the rate of photosynthesis and potato tuber productivity. Some transgenic potatoes containing the Hd3a gene are currently being evaluated for their productivity. Over expression of the Hd3a gene is expected to increase tuber productivity and induce flowering in potatoes. Transgenic potato plants containing MmPMA gene encoding for plasma membrane ATPse are more tolerant to low pH than non-transgenic plants, indicating that plasma membrane ATPase plays an important role in the potato plant tolerance to low pH stress. Transgenic potato plants containing c-lysozyme genes, are highly tolerant of bacterial wilt diseases caused by Ralstonia solanacearum and bacterial soft rot disease caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum. Expression of c-lyzozyme gene plays an important role in increasing the resistance of potato plants to bacterial diseases.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.465-484
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• 2016

This study evaluated the antifungal activity of varying concentrations of water-soluble extracts from native plants (Vitex rotundifolia, Tetragonia tetragonoides, Artemisia capillaris, Hibiscus hamabo and Ficus carica) against Stemphylium vesicarium, Penicillium italicum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Pythium ultimum, Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Mycelium growth of pathogenic bacteria generally decreased in a concentration-dependent manner following treatment with the water extracts from donor plants. Closer analyses indicate varying inhibitory capacities depending on the type of donor plant and pathogenic bacteria. Specifically, mycelium growth of S. vesicarium varied depending on the concentration of the water extracts from T. tetragonoides (r = -0.857, p<0.01) and A. capillarys (r = -0.868, p<0.01). Also, P. italicum and V. rotundifolia (r = -0.833, p<0.01), S. sclerotiorum and V. rotundifolia (r = -0.862, p<0.01), A. capillaris (r = -0.902, p<0.01), B. cinerea and T. tetragonoides (r = -0.896, p<0.01) showed an inverse relationship. The rate of mycelial growth inhibition of pathogenic bacteria analysed are as follows: P. ultimum 94%, B. cinerea 50%, C. gloeosporioides 80% in 100% treatment of T. teragonoides. A. capillaris inhibited S. vesicarium by 43%, P. ultimum by 90%; H. hamabo inhibited P. italicum by 50%, S. sclerotiorum by 26%, and F. carica inhibited R. solani by 74%. Total phenol content with antifungal activities are as follows: A. capillaris 16.15 mg/g, F. carica 7.81 mg/g, V. rotundifolia 6.18 mg/g, H. hamabo 5.25 mg/g, T. tetragonoides 4.41 mg/g, and total flavonoid content is as follows: A. capillaris 27.57 mg/g, V. rotundifolia 12.49 mg/g, F. carica 11.45 mg/g, H. hamabo 5.77 mg/g, T. tetragonoides 5.08 mg/g.