• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.435-444
• /
• 2018

Receptor-like proteins (RLPs) are involved in plant development and disease resistance. Only some of the RLPs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) have been functionally characterized though 176 genes encoding RLPs, which have been identified in the tomato genome. To further understand the role of RLPs in tomato, we performed genome-guided classification and transcriptome analysis of these genes. Phylogenic comparisons revealed that the tomato RLP members could be divided into eight subgroups and that the genes evolved independently compared to similar genes in Arabidopsis. Based on location and physical clustering analyses, we conclude that tomato RLPs likely expanded primarily through tandem duplication events. According to tissue specific RNA-seq data, 71 RLPs were expressed in at least one of the following tissues: root, leaf, bud, flower, or fruit. Several genes had expression patterns that were tissue specific. In addition, tomato RLP expression profiles after infection with different pathogens showed distinguish gene regulations according to disease induction and resistance response as well as infection by bacteria and virus. Notably, Some RLPs were highly and/or unique expressed in susceptible tomato to pathogen, suggesting that the RLP could be involved in disease response, possibly as a host-susceptibility factor. Our study could provide an important clues for further investigations into the function of tomato RLPs involved in developmental and response to pathogens.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
• /
• 2017.06a
• /
• pp.164-164
• /
• 2017

High throughput transcriptome investigations of immunity in plants highlight the complexity of gene networks leading to incompatible interaction. To identify genes crucial to resistance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae, functional genetic analysis of selected differentially expressed genes from our microarray data set was carried out. A total of 13 overexpression vector constructs were made using 35S CaMV promoter which drive constitutive expression in rice. Most of the genes are developmentally expressed especially during maximum tillering stage and are commonly highly expressed in the leaves. When screened against Xoo strain K2, the transgenic plants displayed shorter lesion length compared with wild type Dongjin which indicates partial resistance. The levels of ROS continuously magnified after inoculation which indicates robust cellular sensing necessary to initiate cell death. Elevated transcripts levels of several defense-related genes at the downstream of defense signal network also corroborate the phenotype reaction of the transgenic plants. Moreover, expression assays revealed regulation of these genes by cross-communicating signal-transductions pathways mediated by salicylic and jasmonic acid. These collective findings revealed the key immune signaling conduits critical to mount full defense against Xoo.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.10-20
• /
• 2010

Root-knot nematodes cause billions of dollars in crop losses annually have a broad range of host over 2,000 species of plants. These nematodes are known as obligate, sedentary endo-parasites in a plant host to feed upon to complete their life cycle. To prevent the plant parasitic nematode, methyl bromide was widely applied as a soil fumigant. Other strategies to prevent or control nematodes involve RNAi-mediated suppression, R gene transformation, natural products or chemical treatments, the expression of peptide or proteins in susceptible plants, and others. Over the last decade, the entry in GenBank for Meloidogyne reveals 73,340 ESTs and recently two complete Meloidogyne spp. genomes sequences have simultaneously been presented by two groups. Recent works have demonstrated the effect of RNAi suppression to nematode target genes. These results will provide novel members of genes as a foundation for studies focused on understanding the function of M. incognita nematode genes as well as for the development of novel target genes for parasite control. Thus the successful development of biotechnology-derived plants with nematode resistance will result in large yield benefits for producers as well as environmental benefits and will accelerate the research related to pathogensresistant crops.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.334-345
• /
• 2018

Spore-forming Bacillus species are commercially available probiotic formulations for application in humans. They have health benefits and help prevent disease in hosts by combating entero-pathogens and ameliorating antibiotic-associated diarrhea. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms of these benefits remain unclear. Here, we report the draft genome of a potential probiotic strain of Bacillus clausii B106. We mapped and compared the probiotic profile of B106 with other reference genomes. The draft genome analysis of B106 revealed the presence of ADI pathway genes, indicating its ability to tolerate acidic pH and bile salts. Genes encoding fibronectin binding proteins, enolase, as well as a gene cluster involved in the biosynthesis of exopolysaccharides underscored the potential of B106 to adhere to the intestinal epithelium and colonize the human gut. Genes encoding bacteriocins were also detected, indicating the antimicrobial ability of this isolate. The presence of genes encoding vitamins, including Riboflavin, Folate, and Biotin, also indicated the health-promoting ability of B106. Resistance of B106 to multiple antibiotics was evident from the presence of genes encoding resistance to chloramphenicol, ${\beta}$-lactams, Vancomycin, Tetracycline, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides. The findings indicate the significance of B. clausii B106 administration during antibiotic treatment and its potential value as a probiotic strain to replenish the health-promoting and disease-preventing gut flora following antibiotic treatment.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.703-709
• /
• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Extended-spectrum ${\beta}$-lactamase (ESBL) gene and quinolone resistance determinant (qnr) and the pattern of antibiotic resistance in the ESBL-producing Escherichia coli clinical isolates. The 42 ESBL-producing strains from total 274 isolates were detected using a double disk synergy test. They were isolated from various specimens, such as urine (28 strains), sputum (6 strains), pus (3 strains), wound (2 strains), blood (2 strains), and tissue (1 strain). Using the PCR with the specific primers ESBL, ESBL and qnr gene types were determined. Thirty-five strains possessed one or two ESBL genes. CTX-M-1 type was the most abundant followed by CTX-M-9 type and TEM, but SHV, CTX-M-2, and CTX-M-8 gene types were not detected. qnr gene types were detected from ten isolates in the order of qnrB4, qnrB1, and qnrS. Coexistence of ESBL and qnr genes was found. ESBL-producing isolates showed high resistance against some antibiotics, such as cefotaxmie (80.0%), levofloxacin (82.9%), and ampicillin (100%). Neither a synergy effect from the coexistence of ESBL and qnr genes on antibiotic resistance nor a correlation between the production of qnr gene and quinolone resistance were found.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.27 no.11
• /
• pp.1983-1993
• /
• 2017

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium, one of the most common foodborne pathogens, is transmitted mainly through contaminated food derived from infected animals. In this study, S. Typhimurium ST1120, an isolate from pig feces in Korea, was subjected to whole-genome analysis to understand its genomic features associated with virulence. The genome of ST1120 was found to have a circular chromosome of 4,855,001 bp (GC content 52.2%) and a plasmid of 6,863 bp (GC content 46.0%). This chromosome was predicted to have 4,558 open reading frames (ORFs), 17 pseudogenes, 22 rRNA genes, and 86 tRNA genes. Its plasmid was predicted to have three ORFs. Comparative genome analysis revealed that ST1120 was phylogenetically close to S. Typhimurium U288, a critical isolate in piggery farms and food chains in Europe. In silico functional analysis predicted that the ST1120 genome harbored multiple genes associated with virulence and stress resistance, including Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs containing SPI-1 to SPI-5, SPI-13, and SPI-14), C63PI locus, ST104 prophage locus, and various antibiotic resistance genes. In accordance with these analysis results, ST1120 showed competence in invasion and survival abilities when it was added to host cells. It also exhibited robust resistance against antibiotics in comparison with other S. Typhimurium strains. This is the first report of the complete genome sequence of S. Typhimurium isolated from swine in Korea. Comparative genome analysis between ST1120 and other Salmonella strains would provide fruitful information toward understanding Salmonella host specificity and developing control measures against S. Typhimurium infection.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.193-200
• /
• 2013

Trichoderma asperellum SKT-1 is a microbial pesticide that is very effective against various diseases. Our study was undertaken to evaluate T. asperellum SKT-1 for induction of resistance against yellow strain of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV-Y) in Arabidopsis plants. Disease severity was rated at 2 weeks post inoculation (WPI). CMV titre in Arabidopsis leaves was determined by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at 2 WPI. Our results demonstrated that among all Arabidopsis plants treated with barley grain inoculum (BGI) of SKT-1 NahG and npr1 plants showed no significant reduction in disease severity and CMV titre as compared with control plants. In contrast, disease severity and CMV titre were significantly reduced in all Arabidopsis plants treated with culture filtrate (CF) of SKT-1 as compared with control plants. RT-PCR results showed increased expression levels of SA-inducible genes, but not JA/ET-inducible genes, in leaves of BGI treated plants. Moreover, expression levels of SA- and JA/ET-inducible genes were increased in leaves of CF treated plants. In conclusion, BGI treatment induced systemic resistance against CMV through SA signaling cascade in Arabidopsis plants. While, treatment with CF of SKT-1 mediated the expression of a majority of the various pathogen related genes, which led to the increased defense mechanism against CMV infection.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.67.2-68
• /
• 2003

A rice cultivar, Taebaegbyeo, is highly resistant to rice blast and moderately resistant to bacterial leaf blight (BLB) caused by Magnaporthe grisea and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, respectively. To study the rice disease resistance mechanism, we generated rice deletion M3 mutants by gamma-ray irradiation. Blast and BLB responses of 16,000 M3 mutants were screened by inoculating mixtures of 4 races (KJ-201, H-1113a, KI-313, KI-409) of M. grisea and 3 Korean races of X. oryzae pv. oryzae. We selected so far 21 M3 mutants of Taebaegbyeo showing high susceptibility to the diseases. One of the mutants, KCT-6417, was susceptible to KI-1113a race of M. grisea, suggesting the deletion of a race-specific blast resistance gene in the mutant. To isolate rice genes involved in blast resistance and defense response, we take a PCR-based suppression subtractive hybridization approach using cDNAs of blast-inoculated wild type and the KCT-6417 as a tester and a driver, respectively. Genes specifically expressed in the wild type will be presented. The selected genes would give us a clue to understand mechanism for the race specific resistance and defense responses against M. grisea H-1113a in Taebaegbyeo.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.46-51
• /
• 2004

Host resistance is usually parasite-specific and is restricted to a particular pathogen races, and commonly is expressed against specific pathogen genotypes. In contrast, resistance shown by an entire plant species to a species of pathogen is known as non-host resistance. Therefore, non-host resistance is the more common and broad form of disease resistance exhibited by plants. As a first step to understand the mechanism of non-host plant defense, expressed sequence tags (EST) were generated from a hot pepper leaf cDNA library constructed from combined leaves collected at different time points after inoculation with non-host soybean pustule pathogen (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Glycines; Xag). To increase gene diversity, ESTs were also generated from cDNA libraries constructed from anthers and flower buds. Among a total of 10,061 ESTs, 8,525 were of sufficient quality to analyze further. Clustering analysis revealed that 55 ％ of all ESTs (4685) occurred only once. BLASTX analysis revealed that 74％ of the ESTs had significant sequence similarity to known proteins present in the NCBI nr database. In addition, 1,265 ESTs were tentatively identified as being full-length cDNAs. Functional classification of the ESTs derived from pathogen-infected pepper leaves revealed that about 25％ were disease- or defense-related genes. Furthermore, 323 (7％) ESTs were tentatively identified as being unique to hot pepper. This study represents the first analysis of sequence data from the hot pepper plant species. Although we focused on genes related to the plant defense response, our data will be useful for future comparative studies.

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