• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.217-222
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• 2015

Pythium species (Pythiales, Oomycetes) are well known as the algal pathogen that causes red rot disease in Pyropia / Porphyra species (Bangiales, Rhodophyta). Accurate species identification of the pathogen is important to finding a scientific solution for the disease and to clarify the host-parasite relationship. In Korea, only Pythium porphyrae has been reported from Pyropia species, with identifications based on culture and genetic analysis of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Recent fungal DNA barcoding studies have shown the low taxonomic resolution of the ITS region and suggested the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene as an alternative molecular marker to identify Pythium species. In this study, we applied an analysis of both the ITS and cox1 regions to clarify the taxonomic relationships of Korean Pythium species. From the results, the two closely related Pythium species (P. chondricola and P. porphyrae) showed the same ITS sequence, while the cox1 marker successfully discriminated P. chondricola from P. porphyrae. This is the first report of the presence of P. chondricola from the infected blade of Pyropia yezoensis in Asia. This finding of the algal pathogen provides important information for identifying and determining the distribution of Pythium species. Further studies are also needed to confirm whether P. chondricola and P. porphyrae are coexisting as algal pathogens of Pyropia species in Korea.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1896-1907
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• 2018

Salmonellosis is commonly associated with meat and poultry products, but an increasing number of Salmonella outbreaks have been attributed to contaminated vegetables and fruits. Enteric pathogens including Salmonella enterica spp. can colonize diverse produce and persist for a long time. Considering that fresh vegetables and fruits are usually consumed raw without heat treatments, Salmonella contamination may subsequently lead to serious human infections. In order to understand the underlying mechanism of Salmonella adaptation to produce, we investigated the transcriptomics of Salmonella in contact with green vegetables, namely cabbage and napa cabbage. Interestingly, Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI)-1 genes, which are required for Salmonella invasion into host cells, were up-regulated upon contact with vegetables, suggesting that SPI-1 may be implicated in Salmonella colonization of plant tissues as well as animal tissues. Furthermore, Salmonella transcriptomic profiling revealed several genetic loci that showed significant changes in their expression in response to vegetables and were associated with bacterial adaptation to unfavorable niches, including STM14_0818 and STM14_0817 (speF/potE), STM14_0880 (nadA), STM14_1894 to STM14_1892 (fdnGHI), STM14_2006 (ogt), STM14_2269, and STM14_2513 to STM14_2523 (cbi operon). Here, we show that nadA was required for bacterial growth under nutrient-restricted conditions, while the other genes were required for bacterial invasion into host cells. The transcriptomes of Salmonella in contact with cabbage and napa cabbage provided insights into the comprehensive bacterial transcriptional response to produce and also suggested diverse virulence determinants relevant to Salmonella survival and adaptation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2005

With the appearance of pathogenic microorganisms, which were resistant to free chlorine, the significant attention to the necessity of powerful alternative disinfection methods such as ozone, chlorine dioxide, LTV irradiation to inactivating pathogens has been increased in water treatment. Among these alternative disinfection methods, ozone is well known as strong biocidal method and the usage of ozone is also increasing in Korea. However, in Korea, there has been no report on the quantitative study of Cryptosporidium parvum with ozone and its evaluation in advanced drinking water treatments. This study reports on the methodology for predicting the ozone inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum by ozone disinfection in advanced drinking water treatment. The method is based on the fact that a specific inactivation level of microorganisms is achieved at a unique value of ozone exposures, independent of ozone dose and type of water, and quantitatively described by a delayed Chick-Watson model. The required values ${\bar{C}}T$ for 2 log inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum was $6.0mg/L{\cdot}min$ and $15.5mg/L{\cdot}min$ at $20^{\circ}C$ and $5^{\circ}C$, respectively. From this obtained Cryptosporidium parvum inactivation curves and calculated ${\bar{C}}T$ values of advanced drinking water treatment water in Korea with FIA (Flow injection alaysis), we can predict that water treatment plant can achieve a 1.1~1.8 log inactivation and 0~0.4 log inactivation at $20^{\circ}C$ and $5^{\circ}C$, respectively. This methodology will be useful for drinking water treatment plants which intend to evaluate the disinfection efficiencies of their ozonation process without full scale test and direct experiments with Cryptosporidium parvum.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.137-147
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• 2013

Most of livestock houses are concentrated in certain area with mass rearing system resulting in rapid spread of infectious diseases such as HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza). The livestock-related vehicles which frequently travel between farms could be a major factor for disease spread by means of transmission of airborne aerosol including pathogens. This study was focused on the quantitative measurement of aerosol concentration by field experiment while vehicles were passing through the road. The TSP (total suspended particle) and PM10 (particle matter) were measured using air sampler with teflon filter installed downward the road with consideration of weather forecast and the direction of road. And aerosol spectrometer and video recorders were also used to measure the real-time distribution of aerosol concentration by its size. The results showed that PM2.5 was not considerable for transmission of airborne aerosol from the livestock-related vehicle. The mass generated from the road during the vehicle movement was measured and calculated to 241.4 ${\mu}g/m^3$ by means of the difference between TSP and PM2.5. The dispersion distance was predicted by 79.6 m from the trend curve.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2018

Nypa fruticans Wurmb is a species of palm, which is widely distributed in the mangrove forest of Southeast Asia. Various parts of N. fruticans has been used as a traditional medicinal plant. However, the physiological activities of N. fruticans has not yet been clarified well. Therefore, in this study, the 50% ethanol extract and its aqueous and ethyl acetate fractions of young shoots of N. fruticans were investigated for their antioxidant, cytoprotective effect, and antimicrobial activities. Every sample possessed very high free radical and various ROS scavenging capacities assessed by employing different in vitro assays such as $DPPH^{\cdot}$, $O_2^{{\cdot}-}$, ${\cdot}OH$, and $^1O_2$ scavenging activities. Based on these results, the cytoprotective effect was investigated using the oxidative hemolysis of erythrocyte. We found that the extract and fractions provide a greater protective effect compared with (+)-${\alpha}$-tocopherol. Furthermore, antimicrobial activities were confirmed against skin pathogens by broth microdilution assay. The ethyl acetate fraction had much higher antimicrobial activities than methyl paraben against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. Taken together, our results indicated that the young shoots of N. fruticans may have the potential role as a natural active ingredient through their antioxidant, cytoprotective effect, and antimicrobial activities.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.330-338
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• 2017

Purpose: The smartphone is actively being used in many research fields, primarily in medical and diagnostic applications. However, there are cases in which smartphone-based systems have been developed for agriculture, environment, and food applications. The purpose of this review is to summarize the research cases using smartphone cameras in agriculture, environment, and food. Methods: This review introduces seventeen research cases which used smartphone cameras in agriculture, food, water, and soil applications. These were classified as systems involving "smartphone-camera-alone" and "smartphone camera with optical accessories". Results: Detecting food-borne pathogens, analyzing the quality of foods, monitoring water quality and safety, gathering information regarding plant growth or damage, identifying weeds, and measuring soil loss after rain were presented for the smartphone-camera-alone system. Measuring food and water quality and safety, phenotyping seeds, and soil classifications were presented for the smartphone camera with optical accessories. Conclusions: Smartphone cameras were applied in various areas for several purposes. The use of smartphone cameras has advantages regarding high-resolution imaging, manual or auto exposure and focus control, ease of use, portability, image storage, and most importantly, programmability. The studies discussed were achieved by sensitivity improvements of CCDs (charge-coupled devices) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) on smartphone cameras and improved computing power of the smartphone, respectively. A smartphone camera-based system can be used with ease, low cost, in near-real-time, and on-site. This review article presents the applications and potential of the smartphone and the smartphone camera used for various purposes in agriculture, environment, and food.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1013-1020
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• 2017

Objective: Stripe marks, which occasionally occur on the shell, do not cause breakage to the shell and shell membranes of eggs. This study investigated the quality of intact eggs (IEs), minor stripe-marked eggs (MEs), severe stripe-marked eggs (SEs), and cracked eggs (CEs) during 3-week storage at $25^{\circ}C$. Methods: Shell eggs were collected the day after being laid and were washed. Among them, eggs without any visual cracks or stripe marks on the shells were evaluated as IEs by the plant employees using candling in a darkened egg storage room; the remaining eggs exhibited some eggshell defects. At day 3, the eggs were further categorized into IEs, MEs, SEs, CEs, and broken eggs (BEs) on the basis of the description given. Except BEs, which were discarded, the remaining eggs were stored at $25^{\circ}C$ (approximate relative humidity 50%) and then analyzed. Results: Stripe marks were observed primarily within the first 3 days after washing. At day 3, CEs had significantly (p<0.05) lower Haugh unit values, but all eggs had grades AA or A, according to the United States Department of Agriculture standard. As storage time increased, differences in egg quality between groups were more obvious. IEs had the highest eggshell breaking strength. During storage, the total plate counts and pathogens, namely Escherichia coli, Campylobacter spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp., were not detectable in the internal content of IEs and SEs. Conclusion: In conclusion, cracks degraded egg quality severely and minor stripe marks only slightly influenced the egg quality.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.178-183
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• 2017

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder which affects millions of population worldwide. Global estimates published in 2010 reported the world diabetic prevalence as 6.4%, affecting 285 million adults. Foot ulceration and wound infection are major forms of disabilities arising from diabetic diseases. This study was aimed to develop a natural antimicrobial finishing on medical grade textile that meets American Association of Textiles Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) standard. The textile samples were finished with the ethanolic extract of Penicillium amestolkiae elv609, an endophytic fungus isolated from Orthosiphon stamineus Benth (common name: cat's whiskers). Endophyte is defined as microorganism that reside in the living plant tissue, without causing apparent disease symptom to the host. The antimicrobial efficacy of the ethanolic extract of P. minioluteum was tested on clinical pathogens isolated from diabetic wound. The extract exhibited significant inhibitory activity against 4 bacteria and 1 yeast with the minimal inhibitory concentration ranged from 6.25 to 12.5 mg/mL. The results indicate different susceptibility levels of the test microorganism to the ethanolic extract. However, the killing activity of the extract was concentration-dependent. The finished medical textile showed excellent antimicrobial efficacy on AATCC test assays. All the microbial cultures treated with the textile sample displayed a growth reduction of 99.9% on Hoheinstein Challenge Test. The wash durability of the finished textile was found good even after 50 washes with commercial detergent. Besides, the gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis showed that 6-octadecenoic acid and diethyl phthalate were the main bioactive constituents of the extract. In conclusion, the developed medical textile showed good antimicrobial efficacy on laboratory tests. This work can be extended to in vivo trials for developing healthcare textile products for antimicrobial applications.

• Mycobiology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.242-253
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• 2018

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the major vegetable crops in Korea that are damaged and lost by pathogenic fungal infection during storage due to a lack of proper storage conditions. The aim of this study was to determine an appropriate control measure using thymol to increase the shelf life of onions. To control fungal infections that occur during low-temperature storage, it is necessary to identify the predominant fungal pathogens that appear in low-temperature storage houses. Botrytis aclada was found to be the most predominant fungal pathogen during low-temperature storage. The antifungal activity of the plant essential oil thymol was tested and compared to that of the existing sulfur treatments. B. aclada growth was significantly inhibited up to 16 weeks with spray treatments using a thymol solution. To identify an appropriate method for treating onions in a low-temperature storage house, thymol was delivered by two fumigation treatment methods, either by heating it in the granule form or as a solution at low-temperature storage conditions (in vivo). We confirmed that the disease severity was reduced up to 96% by fumigating thymol solution compared to the untreated control. The efficacy of the fumigation of thymol solution was validated by testing onions in a low-temperature storage house in Muan, Jeollanam-do. Based on these results, the present study suggests that fumigation of the thymol solution as a natural preservative and fungicide can be used as an eco-friendly substitute for existing methods to control postharvest disease in long-term storage crops on a commercial scale.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.232-239
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• 2007

$HrpN_{EP}$, from the gram-negative pathogen, Erwinia pyrifoliae, is a member of the harpin group of proteins, inducing pathogen resistance and hypersensitive cell death in plants. When the $hrpN_{EP}$ gene driven by the OsCc1 promoter was introduced into tobacco plants via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, their resistance to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea, increased. Resistance to B. cinerea was correlated with enhanced induction of SA-dependent genes such as PR-1a, PR2, PR3 and Chia5, of JA-dependent genes such as PR-1b, and of genes related to ethylene production, such as NT-EFE26, NT-1A1C, DS321, NT-ACS1 and NT-ACS2. However the expression of NPR1, which is thought to be essential for multiple-resistance, did not increase. Since the pattern of expression of defense-related genes in $hrpN_{EP}$-expressing tobacco differed from that in plants expressing $hpaG_{Xoo}$ from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae, these results suggest that different harpins can affect the expression of different defense-related genes, as well as resistance to different plant pathogens.