• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.185-188
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• 2006

In September and October 2005, melons(Cucumis melo L.) from the commercial greenhouses in Naju and Gwangju exhibited severe foliar necrosis and fruit rot. Leaf symptoms initially appeared as V-shaped, necrotic lesions and extending to the midrib. Symptoms on the fruit were occurred randomly as necrotic and sunken spots. Two isolates from diseased leaves and fruits were identified as Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli on the basis of bacteriological and genetic characteristics. Pathogenicity of the isolates was confirmed by inoculating on 3-week-old melon and cucumber seedlings. This is the first report of bacterial fruit blotch of melon in Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.29-42
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• 2020

Acidovorax citrulli causes bacterial fruit blotch in Cucurbitaceae, including watermelon. Although A. citrulli is a seed-borne pathogen, it can cause diverse symptoms in other plant organs like leaves, stems and fruits. To determine the infection routes of A. citrulli, we examined the virulence of six isolates (Ac0, Ac1, Ac2, Ac4, Ac8, and Ac11) on watermelon using several inoculation methods. Among six isolates, DNA polymorphism reveals that three isolates Ac0, Ac1, and Ac4 belong to Clonal Complex (CC) group II and the others do CC group I. Ac0, Ac4, and Ac8 isolates efficiently infected seeds during germination in soil, and Ac0 and Ac4 also infected the roots of watermelon seedlings wounded prior to inoculation. Infection through leaves was successful only by three isolates belonging to CC group II, and two of these also infected the mature watermelon fruits. Ac2 did not cause the disease in all assays. Interestingly, three putative type III effectors (Aave_2166, Aave_2708, and Aave_3062) with intact forms were only found in CC group II. Overall, our results indicate that A. citrulli can infect watermelons through diverse routes, and the CC grouping of A. citrulli was only correlated with virulence in leaf infection assays.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.340-341
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• 2017

Acidovorax citrulli is a causal agent for bacterial fruit blotch on watermelon. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of A. citrulli strain KACC17005. The genome contains 5,349,924 bp with G + C contents of 68.54%, including 4,520 protein coding genes in a circular chromosome. It also possesses at least 15 genes encoding putative type III effector proteins, which may contribute to promoting virulence in susceptible hosts or triggering immune responses in resistant hosts.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.575-582
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• 2018

Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) caused by Acidovorax citrulli is a devastating disease found in many cucurbits cultivation fields. The genetic diversity for 29 strains of A. citrulli collected from various cucurbits in South Korea was determined by DNA fingerprinting with a pathogenicity test, multi locus analysis, Rep-PCR (repetitive sequence polymerase chain reaction), and URP (universal rice primers) PCR bands. Two distinct groups (Korean Clonal Complex, KCC1 and KCC2) in the population were identified based on group specific genetic variation in the multi locus phylogeny using six conserved loci and showed a very high similarity with DNA sequences for representative foreign groups [the group I (CC1-1 type) and the group II (CC2-5 type)] widely distributed worldwide, respectively. Additionally, in the case of phaC, a new genotype was found within each Korean group. The KCC1 was more heterogeneous compared to the KCC2. The KCC1 recovered mainly from melons and watermelons (ratio of 6 : 3) and 15 of the 20 KCC2 strains recovered from watermelons were dominant in the pathogen population. Accordingly, this study found that two distinct groups of differentiated A. citrulli exist in South Korea, genetically very similar to representative foreign groups, with a new genotype in each group resulting in their genetic diversity.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2016

Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) caused by Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli is defective disease to watermelon cultivated areas. To control of BFB, we investigated control efficiency to use commercial antibacterial pesticides. Growth inhibition zone on medium were formed as oxolinic acid WP and oxytetracycline WP. Control efficacy of four anti-bacterial pesticides on seed and seedling stage were performed. As a results, oxytetracyclin WP is shown over 90% control efficiency on seed and acibenzolar-S-methyl + mancozeb WP shown over 90% control efficiency on seedling stage Hot-water treatment method could be possible to reduced infection rate on seed. The conditions of hot-water treatments are $50{\sim}55^{\circ}C$ on 20~30 minutes. These results suggested that the methods were helpful watermelon seedling nursery to control of the bacterial fruit blotch by A. avenae subsp. citrulli.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.77-89
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• 2015

133 Species of medicinal plants were used for the development of natural agrichemicals with anti-microbial activity against Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli, a pathogen of bacterial fruit blotch in watermelon. The MeOH-extracts of these medicinal plants were examined for anti-microbial activity by bioassay. The MeOH-extract of Citrus unshiu Markovich had the strongest antibacterial activity against Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli. To identify anti-microbial compounds from Citrus unshiu Markovich, solvent-fractionation was used. The fraction of hexane, which showing the highest value of anti-microbial activity, was analyzed by GC-MS. Each mass spectra, corresponding to each peak of chromatogram, was compared to mass database of Wiley library. As a result, d-Limonene, ${\gamma}$-terpinene, ${\beta}$-linalool, terpineol, palmitic acid, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, Linolenic acid, and stigmasterol were identified. Among them, d-Limonene, ${\gamma}$-terpinene, ${\beta}$-linalool, and terpineol confirmed to be shown the anti-microbial activity by bioassay. Especially, d-Limonene and ${\gamma}$-terpinene found to have strong activity. In conclusion, we thought d-limonene and ${\gamma}$-terpinene from Citrus unshiu Markovich. Latin, had anti-microbial activity against Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli and could be candidates for the control agents for the control of bacterial fruit blotch in watermelon.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2015

Acidovorax citrulli, the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch, has caused an economically destructive damage in cucurbits cultivation fields worldwide. To consider more effective disease management, 33 A. citrulli isolates collected from various cucurbits in Korea were analysed by multi-locus phylogeny using five conserved loci(16S rRNA, adk, gltA, glyA, pilT). Two distinct groups (KCC1 and KCC2) in the population were identified on the base of group-specific genetic variation. Out of them, the predominant group was KCC2 and both groups included isolates from melon, cucumber and watermelon. Sixty-four percent of KCC1 isolates were recovered from non-watermelon hosts and seventy-two percent of KCC2 isolates from watermelon. This study presented that there was genetic differentiation among A. citrulli population in Korea. Also, these results will be applied as a very useful data in effective disease management.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.74-81
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• 2015

The specific and sensitive nested-PCR method to detect Acidovorax citrulli, a causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch on cucurbitaceae, was developed. PCR primers were designed from the draft genome sequence which was obtained with the Next Generation Sequencing of A. citrulli KACC10651, and the nested-PCR primer set (Ac-ORF 21F/Ac-ORF 21R) were selected by checking of specificity to A. citrulli with PCR assays. The selected nested-PCR primer amplified the 140 bp DNA only from A. citrulli strains, and detection sensitivity of the nested PCR increased 10,000 times of $1^{st}$ PCR detection limit (10 ng genomic DNA/PCR). The nested PCR detected A. citrulli from the all samples of seed surface wash (external seed detection) of the artificially inoculated watermelon seeds with $10^1cfu/ml$ and above population of A. citrulli while the nested PCR could not detected A. citrulli from the mashed seed suspension (internal seed detection) of the all artificially inoculated watermelon seeds. When the naturally infested watermelon seeds (10% seed infested rate with grow-out test) used, the nested PCR detected A. citrulli from 2 seed samples out of 10 replication samples externally and 5 seed samples out of 10 replication samples internally. We believe that the nested-PCR developed in this study will be useful method to detect A. citrulli from the Cucurbitaceae seeds.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.188-192
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• 2023

Abiotic and biotic stresses have been a serious threat to crop growth and productivity in the agricultural system. In this study, four strains (HS1, H30-3, KJ40, and BC42), which have biological activities related to disease suppression or alleviation of salinity and drought stresses, were tested for broad-spectrum biocontrol activity against anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum orbiculare, a bacterial fruit blotch caused by Acidovorax citrulli, and Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum in cucumber plants. As a result of test, when the four strains were drenched into the soil, anthracnose in cucumber leaves significantly decrease; strain KJ40 suppressed disease incidence by A. citrulli; strain BC42 significantly reduced bacterial fruit blotch and Fusarium wilt compared to control. Therefore, strain KJ40 could be a biocontrol candidate for controlling anthracnose through induced systemic resistance and the disease caused by A. citrulli as well as alleviating drought stress; strain BC42 has broad-spectrum biocontrol activity against anthracnose, Fusarium wilt, and bacterial fruit blotch.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.53-59
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• 2016

Bacterial fruit blotch(BFB) of cucurbits caused by Acidovorax citrulli(Acc) continues to diminish fruit yields. The aim of this study was to address whether two genetically distinct populations of Acc are present in watermelon-growing fields in Korea. For this purpose, we used the enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction(ERIC-PCR) profiling and substrate-utilization profiles. According to the results of ERIC-PCR, group I and II strains showed clearly differentiated PCR-based fingerprinting profiles. Differences between group I and II strains included amplification of unique, group-specific DNA fragments such as the 1.3-, 0.28-, and 0.25-kb fragments in ERIC-PCR. Acc stains belonging to group I did not use L-leucine, whereas group II strains did use the substrate. Our results support the genetic differentiation of Acc strains into two groups and demonstrate that Acc strains from both groups are previously existed in watermelon-growing fields in Korea. Information about the genetic diversity of Acc under the present study will help scientists and managers form strategies to control BFB.