• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 2021

The fungal isolate Isaria javanica pf185 has potential as a mycopesticide because it demonstrates insecticidal activity against the green peach aphid and antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. For commercialization of this isolate, determination of the optimal and least expensive culture conditions is required; however, these data are not currently available. This study describes the conditions for optimal development of conidia and production of metabolites for the biocontrol of the fungal pathogen. The optimal culture conditions were examined using cultures on solid agar and liquid media. High growth temperature enhanced spore formation but reduced antifungal activity in both solid and liquid media. The highest spore yield was obtained in a medium containing glucose as a carbon source and yeast extract as a nitrogen source. Soybean powder and wheat bran were effective nitrogen sources that promoted spore production and antifungal activity of the isolate. These results revealed the basic, cost-effective growth media for commercial production of a biopesticide with insecticidal and antifungal properties for use in integrated pest management.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.217-222
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Garlic (Allium sativum) contains polyphenols and sulfur compounds that are recognized as antioxidant, antithrombotic, anticancer, antibacterial, antimicrobial, nematicidal, and insecticidal activity. For this reason, the Environmentally-friendly Agriculture Promotion Act allowed the garlic extract as commercial biopesticide material for crop protection, nine commercial biopesticides containing A. sativum extract have been marketed in Korea. METHODS AND RESULTS: The determination of allylmethyl sulfide (AMS), dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), and dipropyl sulfide (DPS) in biopesticides containing A. sativum extract was developed and validated by gas chromatography (GC) mass spectrometry (MS) with head-space sampler. The developed method was validated, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) and recovery rates of AMS, DMDS, and DPS were 0.08, 0.32, and 0.09 mg/L and 90.3-91.3, 86.2-88.3, and 87.6-89.5%, respectively. From the nine commercial biopesticide samples, contents of AMS, DMDS, and DPS were analyzed using the developed method and results showed

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2020

Background: Although Sancho (Zanthoxylum schinifolium Siebold & Zucc) oil has traditionally been used for its antibiotics properties, there is currently a lack of scientific evidence regarding its biological activities. In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Sancho oil against food-hazardous microorganisms, phytopathogens, and dermatophytes. Methods and Results: We investiated the antimicrobial activity of Sancho oil against 11 food-hazardous microorganisms, nine phytopathogens, and six dermatophytes. The Sancho oil was found to show the strongest antibacterial activity against Shigella flexneri and Listeria spp. Sancho oil also showed high antifungal activity against plant pathogens, particularly Fusarium oxysporum, and showed antimicrobial activity against dermatophytes such as Trichophyton rubrum, Microsporum canis and Candida albicans. The antioxidant activity of Sancho oil was measured using the DPPH method, and was found to be stronger than that of unrefined oil. Moreover, this activity increased with increasing oil concentration. Conclusions: We found that Sancho oil showed differing antimicrobial activities against food-hazardous microorganisms, dermatophytes, and plant pathogens. The antimicrobial activity spectrum of Sancho oil was not broad and varied among microbial strains. On the basis of our findings, we consider that Sancho oil could be used an antibacterial material for food-borne S. flexneri and Listeria spp., a biopesticide for Fusarium spp., and a treatment for dermatophytes such as T. rubrum.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.731-738
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• 2017

A novel approach to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using leaf extract of Canna edulis Ker-Gawl. (CELE) under ambient conditions is reported here. The as-prepared AgNPs were analyzed by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission emission microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive analysis of X-ray spectroscopy, zeta potential, and dynamic light scattering. The AgNPs showed excellent antimicrobial activity against various pathogens, including bacteria and various fungi. The biocompatibility of the AgNPs was analyzed in the L929 cell line using NRU and MTT assays. Acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining was used to determine whether the AgNPs had necrotic or apoptotic effects on L929 cells. The concentration of AgNPs required for 50% inhibition of growth of mammalian cells is far more than that required for inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms. Thus, CELE is a candidate for the eco-friendly, clean, cost-effective, and nontoxic synthesis of AgNPs.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) is an insect pest that significantly affects crop production. A number of pesticides have been used for aphid control, but their concerns on insect resistance and food safety have required alternative methods for pest management. In an effort to find for an alternative approach to aphid control, we screened plants extracts and examined their potentiality as insecticidal bio-resources. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety eight plant extracts were examined for insecticidal activity against the aphid, and the best candidate among them was chosen for further study. The extracts from Cinnamomum camphora was determined to be the best candidate exhibiting insecticidal activity more than 60% at a level of $1,000{\mu}g/mL$. GC/MS analyses detected camphor, borneol, 4-terpineol, ${\alpha}$-terpineol and caryophyllene oxide as major compositions from the extracts obtained by hydrodistillation. Caryophyllene oxide exhibited the highest insecticidal activity with a $LC_{50}$ value of $237{\mu}g/mL$. Camphor lowered significantly the $LC_{50}$ value of caryophyllene oxide and increased largely its concentration in aphid, suggesting that camphor played a role in enhancing the insecticidal activity of caryophyllene oxide. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that camphor and caryophyllene oxide may be used as an insecticidal bio-resource for insect control against green peach aphid.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2012

In an ongoing survey of the bioactive potential of microorganisms from Ladakh, India, the culture medium of a bacterial strain of a new Pseudomonas sp., strain ICTB-745, isolated from an alkaline soil sample collected from Leh, Ladakh, India, was found to contain metabolites that exhibited broad-spectrum antimicrobial and biosurfactant activities. Bioactivity-guided purification resulted in the isolation of four bioactive compounds. Their chemical structures were elucidated by $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ NMR, 2D-NMR (HMBC, HSQC, $^1H$,$^1H$-COSY, and DEPT-135), FT-IR, and mass spectroscopic methods, and were identified as 1-hydroxyphenazine, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA), rhamnolipid-1 (RL-1), and rhamnolipid-2 (RL-2). These metabolites exhibited various biological activities like antimicrobial and efficient cytotoxic potencies against different human tumor cell lines such as HeLa, HepG2, A549, and MDA MB 231. RL-1 and RL-2 exhibited a dose-dependent antifeedant activity against Spodoptera litura, producing about 82.06% and 73.66% antifeedant activity, whereas PCA showed a moderate antifeedant activity (63.67%) at 60 ${\mu}g/cm^2$ area of castor leaf. Furthermore, PCA, RL-1, and RL-2 exhibited about 65%, 52%, and 47% mortality, respectively, against Rhyzopertha dominica at 20 ${\mu}g/ml$. This is the first report of rhamnolipids as antifeedant metabolites against Spodoptera litura and as insecticidal metabolites against Rhyzopertha dominica. The metabolites from Pseudomonas sp. strain ICTB-745 have interesting potential for use as a biopesticide in pest control programs.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.50-53
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• 2001

Severe crown gall disease was occurred in green house cultivating rose in Jinchen, Chungbuk recently. Although it causes problem on rose cultivation, the growers do not have many choices of control measures for the disease now. Agrobacterium radiobacter K84 has been known as a strong antagonist against A. tumefaciens, a pathogen causing crown gall disease, and used as a biopesticide for crown gall in many countries since it had been introduced in 1972. We tested control activity of A. radiobacter K84 for the crown gall disease on rose. Spray of A. radiobacter K84 suspension on above ground of rose either before or after pathogen spray reduced size and fresh weight of galls significantly. Size and fresh weight of galls on roses inoculated with pathogen either before A. radiobacter K84 spray (pathogen-K84 treatment) or after A. radiobacter K84 spray(K84-pathogen treatment) were 4 to 5% of those of galls on roses inoculated pathogen only. Disease incidence of plants inoculated pathogen only was 85% whereas disease incidence of pathogen-K84 or K84-pathogen treatments were 6.7% and 5.0% respectively. Dipping of roots of rose in suspension of A. radiobacter K84 was also reduced size of galls and diseased rate significantly. These results indicate that A. radiobacter K84 is effective in the prevention of gall formation by A. tumefaciens and it can be used to control of crown gall disease of rose.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.5 s.85
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• pp.658-663
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• 2007

Bacillus thuringiensis is a well-known species of entomophathogenic bacteria that is widely used as a biopesticide against many insect pests. It produces parasporal crystals ($\delta$-endotoxin) and endospores during sporulation. In this report, the $\delta$-endotoxin produced by Bacillus thuringiensis BT-1 and BT-2 were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope(TEM), SDS-PACE, and solubilization activity by alkaline solution. BT-1, BT-2 were cultured in the GBY medium, and the $\delta$-endotoxin of them was purified with discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Their $\delta$-endotoxin was observed by SEM and TEM. Morphologically, the $\delta$-endotoxin of BT-1 was a square and flat type, whose size was $1.73{\mu}m{\times}0.7{\mu}m$, and the $\delta$-endotoxin of the BT-2 was spherical form whose size was $1.1{\mu}m{\times}0.9{\mu}m$ determined by SEM and TEM. The $\delta$-endotoxin of the BT-1 was composed of 28 kDa and 21 kDa, however, it of the BT-2 was composed of 50 kDa, 35 kDa, and 22 kDa bands determined by SDS-PACE. The purified crystals of BT-1 and BT-2 were dissolved gradually in alkaline solution as time goes by, and it was perfectly dissolved after 3 hours. It is supposed that the $\delta$-endotoxin of crystal was converted to a state of activation in the course of time in the intestines of insect.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2003

A freshwater bloom-forming cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa, and local soil isolate Scytonema sp. strain BT 23 were demonstrated to contain biotoxic secondary metabolites with pesticidal and mosquito larvicidal activities. A purified toxic constituent from M aeruginosa showed an absorption maximum at 230 nm and its toxicity symptoms, Rf value on TLC, and retention time observed ill an HPLC analysis were similar to those of the hepatotoxic heptapeptide microcystin-LR. The bioactive constituent of the Scytonema sp. was less polar in nature and exhibited two peaks at 240 and 285 m. When applied to two cruciffrous pests, Pieris brassicae and Plutella flostella, the crude extracts and toxic principles from the two cyanobacteria showed significant antifeedant activity in a no-choice bioassay, and at higher concenuations exhibited contact toxicity to the insect larvae. The purified toxin from M. aeruginosa was found to be more effective and produced 97.5 and $92.8\%$ larval mortality in the two pests, fo11owing 2 h of toxin treatment at a concentration of $25{\mu}g$ Per leaf disc (2.5 cm dia.). Meanwhile, similar treatment with the purified toxin from Sytonema sp. stain BT 23 only produced 73 and $78\%$ mortality in the two pests. The cyanobacterial constituents also showed significant activity against Culex and Anopheles larvae. The M. aeruginosa toxin ($20{\mu}g\;ml^-1$) caused 98.2 and $88.1\%$ mortality in the Culex and Anopheles larvae, respectively, while the purified toxin from the Sytonema sp. was less toxic and only produced a 96.3 and $91.2\%$ mortality, respectively, at a much higher concentration ($40{\mu}g\;ml^-1$). Accordingly, the current results point to certain hitherto unknown biological properties of cyanobacterial biotoxins.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Yuza seed by-product has been produced in a large amount from the agricultural farms in the southern area of Korea. It has been mostly abandoned after commercial process for the production of juice, jam and tea. The study on the reuse of the yuza seed by-product has received much attention as a bio-resource material for the production of active compound in agriculture. METHODS AND RESULTS: Insecticidal rhamnolipid-producing Pseudomonas sp. EP-3 was grown in mineral salt media with the yuza seed by-product at 2, 20, 50 and 100 g/L. The growth of EP-3 was accompanied by a increase in insecticidal activity against green peach aphid. The highest insecticidal activity was observed when EP-3 was grown in the medium containing 50 g/L of the seed sample, producing approximately 996 mg/L of rhamnolipid at 96 h. Palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid were determined as the major fatty acids of the seed sample. The EP-3 cultures grown on the fatty acid mixture extracted from the seed sample showed a aphid mortality similar to that of cultures grown on the seed sample. The EP-3 cultures grown on 50 g/L of the seed sample showed aphid mortality more than 90% under greenhouse conditions. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that the yuza seed by-product may be used as a renewable material for microbial production of rhamnolipid against green peach aphid.