• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1843-1853
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• 2020

COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has spread globally and caused serious social and economic problems. The WHO has declared this outbreak a pandemic. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or antiviral drugs that prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Drugs already approved for clinical use would be ideal candidates for rapid development as COVID-19 treatments. In this work, we screened 1,473 FDA-approved drugs to identify inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 infection using cell-based assays. The antiviral activity of each compound was measured based on the immunofluorescent staining of infected cells using anti-dsRNA antibody. Twenty-nine drugs among those tested showed antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. We report this new list of inhibitors to quickly provide basic information for consideration in developing potential therapies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.137.1-137
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• 2003

A pepper strain of Cucumber mosaic virus (Pf-CMV) induces a mild chlorotic spot symptom in zucchini squash at 9 days post-inoculation (dpi), wile Fny strain of CMV causes severe mosaic and stunting symptom at 4 dpi in this host. Pseudorecombinants were constructed between the two strains, and assessments of symptom severity were indicated that both RNA2 and RNA3 were responsible for both mildness and the slow appearance of symptom elicited by Pf-CMV in zucchini squash. With various RNA2 and RNA3 chimeras between two strains of CMV, the genetic symptom determinants of phenotype of Pf-CMV were mapped to Tyr residue at positions amino acid 267 in 2a protein and at positions amino acid 168 in 3a movement protein (MP). Chimeras changed the sequences (both changed Tyr to lie) in the codons of both amino acid 168 of 3a MP and amino acid 267 of 2a protein were resulted in the high RNA accumulation, severity of symptom, and the rapid systemic spread, suggesting that 2a replicase as well as MP is involved in virus movement. The RNA accumulation pattern of all pseudorecombinants and chimeras are identical in protoplast of zucchini squash, indicating the virus movement is responsible for the phenotypes of two CMV strains rather than virus replication.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2010

Among the plant specimens requested from agricultural actual places of farmers, Agency of agricultural extension services and so forth for the diagnosis of plant virus diseases in 2009, the rate of crop types was 87.5% for vegetables, 4.0% for upland crops and 3.5% for orchids. In vegetables, the crops damaged severely by viral diseases were red pepper and tomato by the infection rate of 51.6% and 26.5%, orderly. Virus species occurring vegetables were 19 and the economically important viruses were Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) with the infection rate of 33.2%, 16.9%, 16.1% and 7.4%, respectively. Rice stripe virus (RSV) occurred at the whole areas of west coast in Korea in 2009, and its incidence was 14.2% mainly on the susceptible cultivars and yield loss was estimated up to 50%. TYLCV was spread at 34 areas of Si and/or Gun, 22 areas in 2009 and 12 in 2008. Distribution of TSWV was expanded newly in 6 areas of Si and/or Gun including Gangryung, Gangwondo in 2009, and its occurrence areas were 23 Si and/or Gun after first incidence at Anyang area in 2004. Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) was incited newly at Gimcheon area in 2009 with the infection rate of 65.2%, and its soil transmission rate was 55.0% in average.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.19.1-19.15
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• 2024

The influenza virus poses a global health burden. Currently, an annual vaccine is used to reduce influenza virus-associated morbidity and mortality. Most influenza vaccines have been developed to elicit neutralizing Abs against influenza virus. These Abs primarily target immunodominant epitopes derived from hemagglutinin (HA) or neuraminidase (NA) of the influenza virus incorporated in vaccines. However, HA and NA are highly variable proteins that are prone to antigenic changes, which can reduce vaccine efficacy. Therefore, it is essential to develop universal vaccines that target immunodominant epitopes derived from conserved regions of the influenza virus, enabling cross-protection among different virus variants. The internal proteins of the influenza virus serve as ideal targets for universal vaccines. These internal proteins are presented by MHC class I molecules on Ag-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells, and recognized by CD8 T cells, which elicit CD8 T cell responses, reducing the likelihood of disease and influenza viral spread by inducing virus-infected cell apoptosis. In this review, we highlight the importance of CD8 T cell-mediated immunity against influenza viruses and that of viral epitopes for developing CD8 T cell-based influenza vaccines.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.114-117
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• 2013

To facilitate their spread, plant viruses have developed several methods for dispersal including insect and seed transmission. While insect transmission requires virus stability against insect digestion, seed-transmitted viruses have to overcome barriers to entry into embryos. Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) is transmitted through seed at levels typically below 0.1%, but co-infection with Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) enhanced the seed transmission rate of BPMV in one experiment. In contrast, the rate of SMV seed transmission was not affected by BPMV co-infection. In a second preliminary study, the rate of SMV transmission was lower in an isoline of Williams 82 that contained a null mutation for the Kunitz trypsin inhibitor gene than in Williams 82. In this preliminary study, we observed that factors such as protease inhibitor expression and dual infection may affect the frequency of seed transmission of BPMV and SMV.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.138-141
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• 2008

Cucumber is high valued cash crop, for it is grown during the winter season in plastic house. Recently, virus disease spread widely in cucumber growing area and cause severe income loss. Therefore, occurrence of virus disease on cucumber were surveyed from 2004 to 2006 in Sangju and Gunwi area, Gyeongbuk province. The rate of plastic house which has infected plants was $55.0{\sim}88.6%$. Infection rate was the highest at Sangju in 2006 than others and ranged from 15 to 90.0% per plastic house. The 217 samples showing virus symptom were analyzed by RT-PCR using appropriate detection primer. Zucchini yellow mosaic virus(ZYMV) has the highest infection rate(detected over 85%) and followed by Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus(CGMMV). But Watermelon mosaic virus-2(WMV-2) was not detected in our survey. Therefore, we conclude that ZYMV is major pathogene of virus disease on cucumber. ZYMV induced chlorosis and severe mosaic on the leaves and distortion on the surface of fruits.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.390-398
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• 2024

The Chinese artichoke (Stachys affinis syn. S. sieboldii) is a widely cultivated crop, and its rhizome is used as a medicinal vegetable. To investigate the causes of viral diseases in Chinese artichokes, the infection rates of four virus species infecting Chinese artichoke were investigated. Since the Chinese artichoke propagates through its tuber, this study aimed to determine whether viral transmission to the progeny is possible through the tuber, by identifying the virus present in the tuber and investigating its accumulation. First, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to detect viruses using total RNA extracted from the flowers, leaves, and tubers of Chinese artichoke plants. Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and Chinese artichoke mosaic virus (ChAMV) had high infectivity in Chinese artichoke and most plants were simultaneously infected with AMV and ChAMV. These viruses were present in all tissues, but their detection frequency and accumulation rates varied across different tissues of the Chinese artichoke. Also, we sequenced the coat protein (CP) genes of AMV and ChAMV to investigate genetic variations of virus between the leaf and tuber. It provides information on CP gene sequences and genetic diversity of isolates identified from new hosts of AMV and ChAMV. This study offers valuable insights into the distribution and spread of the ChAMV and AMV within Chinese artichoke plants, which have implications for the management and control of viral infections in crops.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.298-303
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• 2012

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), transmitted exclusively by the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) in a circulative manner is one of the most important virus in tomato. Since the first report of TYLCV incidence in Korea in 2008, the virus has rapidly spread nationwide. TYLCV currently causes serious economic losses in tomato production in Korea. Early detection of TYLCV is one of the most important methods to allow rouging of infected tomato plants to minimize the spread of TYLCV disease. We have developed an ultra-rapid and sensitive real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using a new designed real-time PCR system, GenSpectorTM TMC-1000 that is a small and portable real-time PCR machine requiring only a $5{\mu}l$ reaction volume on microchips. The new system provides ultra-high speed reaction (30 cycles in less than 15 minutes) and melting curve analysis for amplified TYLCV products. These results suggest that the short reaction time and ultra sensitivity of the GenSpector$^{TM}$-based real-time PCR technique is suitable for monitoring epidemics and pre-pandemic TYLCV disease. This is the first report for plant virus detection using an ultra-rapid real-time PCR system.

• Plant Resources
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.192-195
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• 2001

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the causative agent of AIDS, still continues to spread rapidly in the world population, especially in Africa and Southeast Asia. At present, two kinds of therapeutic approaches are used for treatment of AIDS. One is to target HIV reverse transcriptase, which is responsible for the viral genome transcription. The other is to inhibit HIV pretense PR, which is essential for the processing of viral proteins. Drug combinations based on these approaches can reduce the blood virus to an undetectable level. However, a small amount of virus may lurk inside the immune cells in a dormant state. Another major obstacle of long-term treatment of the disease is remarkable mutation in HIV. Most of the clinical chemotherapeutic agents have one or more of these problems. High cost and harmful side-effects further reduced the desirability of these drugs. In the course our studies on development of anti-HIV agents from natural products, we investigated various crude drugs for their inhibitory activity against HIV-induced cytopathic effects (CPE) in culture cells, HIV-pretense (PR), HIV-reverse transcriptase (RT) including ribonuclease H (RNase H), and HIV integrase (INT). In the present paper, some inhibitory substances relating to the development of anti-HIV agents are reported.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.276-281
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• 2022

Ranaviruses are a primary cause of amphibian extinctions. More consistent ranavirus-infection reports and genetic characterizations of identified viruses are urgently needed, particularly from Asian countries. The objectives of this study were to obtain the partial major capsid protein (MCP) gene sequences (506 bp) of the ranavirus responsible for infecting frogs in South Korea, as our previous research had confirmed using qPCR, and to evaluate their genetic relationships with other previously reported ranavirus sequences. Three different ranavirus MCP sequences were obtained from Pelophylax nigromaculatus and Lithobates catesbeianus. All six different types of MCP sequence from the ranavirus identified in South Korea to date belonged to the Frog virus 3 (FV3)-like virus group in the genus Ranavirus. To better understand the origin and spread of ranaviruses in South Korea, further infection reports and full genome analyses of the identified ranaviruses are needed.