• Mycobiology
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• 제47권2호
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• pp.207-216
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• 2019

Talaromyces marneffei is the only dimorphic species in its genus and causes a fatal systemic mycosis named talaromycosis. Our previous study indicated that knockdown of AcuD gene (encodes isocitrate lyase of glyoxylate bypass) of T. marneffei by RNA interference approach attenuated the virulence of T. marneffei, while the virulence of the AcuD knockout strains was not studied. In this study, T. marneffei-zebrafish infection model was successfully established through hindbrain microinjection with different amounts of T. marneffei yeast cells. After co-incubated at $28^{\circ}C$, the increasing T. marneffei inoculum doses result in greater larval mortality; and hyphae generation might be one virulence factor involved in T. marneffei-zebrafish infection. Moreover, the results demonstrated that the virulence of the ${\Delta}AcuD$ was significantly attenuated in this Zebrafish infection model.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.171-179
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• 2016

In this study, we compared the virulence-associated factors of Acinetobacter baumannii complex species. Sixty-three isolates of five A. baumannii complex species, including 19 A. baumannii, 15 A. nosocomialis, 13 A. seifertii, 13 A. pittii, and 3 A. calcoaceticus isolates, were included in this study. For all isolates, biofilm formation, A549 cell adherence, resistance to normal human serum, and motility were evaluated. A. baumannii complex isolates showed diversity in biofilm formation, A549 cell adherence, and serum resistance, and no strong positive relationships among these virulence characteristics. However, A. seifertii showed relatively consistent virulence-associated phenotypes. In addition, A. baumannii clone ST110 exhibited consistently high virulence-associated phenotypes. Motility was observed in seven isolates, and all four A. baumannii ST110 isolates showed twitching motility. Although some inconsistencies in virulence-associated phenotypes were seen, high virulence characteristics were observed in A. seifertii, which has been mainly reported in Korea and shows high rates of colistin resistance.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.88.1-88.13
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• 2020

Background: Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive bacterium that causes listeriosis mainly in immunocompromised hosts. It can also cause foodborne outbreaks and has the ability to adapt to various environments. Peptide uptake in gram-positive bacteria is enabled by oligopeptide permeases (Opp) in a process that depends on ATP hydrolysis by OppD and F. Previously a putative protein Lmo2193 was predicted to be OppD, but little is known about the role of OppD in major processes of L. monocytogenes, such as growth, virulence, and biofilm formation. Objectives: To determine whether the virulence traits of L. monocytogenes are related to OppD. Methods: In this study, Lmo2193 gene deletion and complementation strains of L. monocytogenes were generated and compared with a wild-type strain for the following: adhesiveness, invasion ability, intracellular survival, proliferation, 50% lethal dose (LD₅₀) to mice, and the amount bacteria in the mouse liver, spleen, and brain. Results: The results showed that virulence of the deletion strain was 1.34 and 0.5 orders of magnitude higher than that of the wild-type and complementation strains, respectively. The function of Lmo2193 was predicted and verified as OppD from the ATPase superfamily. Deletion of lmo2193 affected the normal growth of L. monocytogenes, reduced its virulence in cells and mice, and affected its ability to form biofilms. Conclusions: Deletion of the oligopeptide transporter Lmo2193 decreases the virulence of L. monocytogenes. These effects may be related to OppD's function, which provides a new perspective on the regulation of oligopeptide transporters in L. monocytogenes.

• 대한임상검사과학회지
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• 제51권3호
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• pp.301-308
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• 2019

다제내성 P. aeruginosa의 출현과 확산은 전 세계적으로 중요한 문제가 되고 있다. P. aeruginosa에 의한 발병은 일부 몇몇 세포 관련 및 세포외 병독성 인자의 생성에 기인한다. 본 연구에서는 대전지역의 3차 병원에서 분리된 carbapenem 내성 P. aeruginosa를 대상으로 병독성 인자의 분포와 항균제 내성 양상을 조사하였다. 항균제 감수성 시험은 디스크 확산법으로 확인하였고, 병독성 유전자의 분석을 위해 PCR과 염기서열분석을 수행하였다. 또한, 다제내성 P. aeruginosa의 sequence type (ST)은 multilocus sequence typing (MLST)을 통해 확인하였다. 32균주의 carbapenem 내성 P. aeruginosa 중, 14균주(43.8%)가 다제내성이었으며, 주요 ST는 ST235 (10균주, 71.4.%)임을 확인하였다. 병독성 유전자는 32균주 모두에서 확인되었고, 이 중 가장 높은 빈도로 확인된 병독성 유전자는 toxA, plcN, phzM (100.%)이었다. 또한, 32균주는 모두 8개 이상의 병독성 유전자를 가지고 있었으며, 9균주(28.1%)가 15개의 병독성 유전자를 가지고 있었다. exoU 유전자는 다제내성 P. aeruginosa 균주의 71.4%에서 확인되었다. 이러한 결과는 exoU 유전자가 다제내성 P. aeruginosa 균주의 지속성에 대한 예측 표지자가 될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.227-230
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• 2000

A total of 90 isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis, the causal agent of oriental melon (Cucumis melo var. makuwa) wilt, was isolated from symptomatic tissues of oriental melon from 4 provinces in Korea. These isolates were grouped into vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) by demonstrating heterokaryosis through complementation using nitrate nonutilizing (nit) mutants. No self-incompatibility was observed in any of isolates. All isolates were grouped into 3 VCGs ; A, B, and C. iSOLATES BELONGING TO VCG A and VCG B accounted for 87% and 91% of the fungal population collected in 1991 and 1993, respectively. As the increment of cultivation period in the same field, the proportion of isolates belonging to VCG B increased whereas that of isolates belonging to VCG A decreased. Mean virulence of a total population increased as the increment of cultivation period in the same field. Isolates belonging to VCG B showed the highest increment of virulence. These data suggest that replanting of a host plant in the same field may cause increase of virulence in the pathogens. Furthermore, virulence of F. oxysporum f.sp. melonis isolates is related to the VCGs.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제47권4호
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• pp.651-661
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• 2019

Targeting the pathogen viability using drugs is associated with development of drug resistance due to selective pressure. Hence, there is an increased interest in developing agents that target bacterial virulence. In this study, the inhibitory effect of ciclopirox, an antifungal agent with iron chelation potential, on the microbial virulence factors was evaluated in 26 clinical MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates collected from Alexandria Main University Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Egypt. Treatment with 9 ㎍/ml ciclopirox inhibited the hemolytic activity in 70% isolates, reduced pyocyanin production, decreased protease secretion in 46% isolates, lowered twitching and swarming motility, and decreased biofilm formation by 1.5- to 4.5-fold. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that treatment with ciclopirox downregulated the expression levels of alkaline protease (aprA) and pyocyanin (phzA1). Ciclopirox is used to treat hematological malignancies and the systemic administration of ciclopirox is reported to have adequate oral absorption with a satisfactory drug safety profile. It is important to calculate the appropriate clinical dose and therapeutic index to reposition ciclopirox from a topical antifungal agent to a promising virulence-modifying agent agent against P. aeruginosa, a problematic Gram-negative pathogen.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제32권3호
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• pp.190-200
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• 2016

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) causes bacterial leaf blight (BLB) in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In this study, we investigated the effect of a mutation in opsX (XOO1056), which encodes a saccharide biosynthesis regulatory protein, on the virulence and bacterial chemotaxis of Xoo. We performed DNA micro-array analysis, which showed that 63 of 2,678 genes, including genes related to bacterial motility (flagellar and chemotaxis proteins) were significantly downregulated ($<\;-2\;log_2$ fold changes) by the mutation in opsX. Indeed, motility assays showed that the mutant strain was nonmotile on semisolid agar swarm plates. In addition, a mutant strain (opsX::Tn5) showed decreased virulence against the susceptible rice cultivar, IR24. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR reaction was performed to confirm the expression levels of these genes, including those related to flagella and chemotaxis, in the opsX mutant. Our findings revealed that mutation of opsX affects both virulence and bacterial motility. These results will help to improve our understanding of Xoo and provide insight into Xoo-rice interactions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권12호
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• pp.1520-1526
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• 2009

We have identified the iscR (PA3815) gene encoding an iron-sulfur cluster assembly regulator homolog as one of the genes required for peroxide resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14. Here, we present the phenotypic characterization of an iscR deletion mutant in terms of KatA expression, stress responses, and virulence. The iscR null mutant exhibited reduced KatA activity at the posttranslational level, hypersensitivity to hydrogen peroxide, and virulence-attenuation in Drosophila melanogaster and mouse peritonitis models. These phenotypes were fully restored by multicopy-based expression of katA. These results suggest that the requirement of IscR in P. aeruginosa is related to the proper activity of KatA, which is crucial for peroxide resistance and full virulence of this bacterium.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.367-372
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• 2004

Infection of Drosophila melanogaster adults with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14) can kill the flies within 48h. We found that the virulence of PA14 was significantly attenuated when treated with a reducing agent, dithiothreitol (DTT), prior to infection. Infection with DTT-treated PA14 elevated Metchnikowin expression at 22 h post-infection and the virulence of DTT-treated PA14 was not attenuated in Dif and Relish mutants. These results suggest that DTT pre-treatment of PA14 can aggravate certain virulence factors that may be required to paralyze fly immune responses, triggering Metchnikowin expression via Dif and Relish activations.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.233-238
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• 2007

Twenty five isolates of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were recovered from different infested fields of vegetable along the heavily cultivated crops in Jordan valley. Cellulase and pectinase activities of those isolates were detected using CMC and pectin agar media, respectively. Diameter of the clearing zones on those media represented the level of such enzymatic activities, characteristic of each isolate. The virulence of those isolates was studied using a squash (Cucurbita pipo) cultivar under a greenhouse condition. The significance of correlating the enzymatic activity with the virulence of the isolates was ascertained and discussed.