• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.121-128
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• 2022

Fusarium wilt disease caused by Fusarium species is a major problem affecting cultivated cucurbit plants worldwide. Fusarium species are well-known soil-borne pathogenic fungi that cause Fusarium wilt disease in several cucurbit plants. In this study, we aimed to identify and classify pathogenic Fusarium species from cultivated Korean cucurbit plants, specifically watermelon and cucumber. Thirty-six Fusarium isolates from different regions of Korea were obtained from the National Institute of Horticulture and Herbal Science Germplasm collection. Each isolate was morphologically and molecularly identified using an internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA, elongation factor-1α, and the beta-tubulin gene marker sequence. Fusarium species that infect the cucurbit plant family could be divided into three groups: Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum), Fusarium solani (F. solani), and Fusarium equiseti (F. equieti). Among the 36 isolates examined, six were non-pathogenic (F. equiseti: 15-127, F. oxysporum: 14-129, 17-557, 17-559, 18-369, F. solani: 12-155), whereas 30 isolates were pathogenic. Five of the F. solani isolates (11-117, 14-130, 17-554, 17-555, 17-556) were found to be highly pathogenic to both watermelon and cucumber plants, posing a great threat to cucurbit production in Korea. The identification of several isolates of F. equiseti and F. oxysporum, which are both highly pathogenic to bottle gourd, may indicate waning resistance to Fusarium species infection.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.486-495
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• 2020

We surveyed disease outbreak status that has recently become a problem in organic tomatoes and cucurbit in plastic greenhouse that were grown without spraying pesticides during the plastic greenhouse growing season of 2015 to 2019. It was found that the incidence of leaf mold, tomato spotted wilt virus, and tomato chlorosis virus disease was severe in tomato, and disease incidence of powdery mildew and zucchini yellow mosaic virus were severe in Cucurbit. The disease outbreak was found to be faster and more severe in crops grown in pesticide-free cultivation plastic greenhouses than in plastic greenhouses that are cultivated in general using pesticides. In particular, the occurrence of viral diseases mediated by thrips and aphids was found to be severely damaged. Therefore, in order to produce good organic products, it is important to effectively control pests, and in order to minimize the damage caused by disease, sanitation and physical blocking, and comprehensively utilize organic materials or microorganisms to prevent them.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.296-303
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• 2022

The cucurbit powdery mildew (CPM) caused by different fungal species is a major concern for cucurbit crops around the world. In Argentina CPM constitutes the most common and damaging disease for cucurbits, especially for squash crops (Cucurbita moschata). The present study displays initial insights into the knowledge of the disease in western Argentina, including the determination of the prevalent species causing CPM, as well as the evaluation of the resistance of squash cultivars and breeding lines. Fungal colonies were isolated from samples collected in Mendoza province, Argentina. A field trial was also performed to assess the resistance of five squash accessions, including commercial cultivars and breeding lines. The severity of CPM was analyzed and epidemiological models were built based on empirical data. The morphological determinations and analysis with specific molecular markers confirmed Podosphaera xanthi as the prevalent causal agent of CPM in Mendoza. The results od the field trial showed differences in the resistance trait among the squash accessions. The advanced breeding line BL717/1 showed promising results as source of CPM resistance for the future development of open pollinated resistant cultivars, a crucial tool for an integrative control of the disease.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.52-59
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• 2023

Cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus (CCYV) is a plant virus that causes damage to cucurbit crops such as watermelon and cucumber, and is transmitted by an insect vector known as the whitefly. Since CCYV was first detected on cucumber in Chungbuk in 2018, it has been reported in other areas including Gyeongsang in Korea. In 2020, we performed field surveys of yellowing diseases in the greenhouses growing melon and watermelon in Chungbuk (Jincheon and Eumseong). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis of 79 collected samples including melon, watermelon, and weeds resulted in detection of CCYV in 4 samples: Three samples were singly infected with CCYV and one samples was mixed infected with CCYV, Cucurbit aphid borne yellows virus, and Watermelon mosaic virus. The complete genome sequences of the four collected CCYV melon isolates (ES 1-ES 4) were determined and genetically compared with those of previously reported CCYV isolates retrieved from GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses of RNA 1 and 2 sequences revealed that four ES isolates were clustered in one group and closely related to the CCYV isolates from China. The analysis also revealed very low genetic diversity among the CCYV ES isolates. In general, CCYV isolates showed little genetic diversity, regardless of host or geographic origins. CCYV has the potential to pose a serious threat to melon, watermelon, and cucumber production in Korea. Further studies are needed to examine the pathogenicity and transmissibility of CCYV in weeds and other cucurbits including watermelon.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.371-378
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• 2015

Surveys of yellowing viruses in plastic tunnels and in open field crops of melon (Cucumis melo cultivar catalupo), oriental melon (C. melo cultivar oriental melon), and cucumber (C. sativus) were carried out in two melon-growing areas in 2014, Korea. Severe yellowing symptoms on older leaves of melon and chlorotic spots on younger leaves of melon were observed in the plastic tunnels. The symptoms were widespread and included initial chlorotic lesions followed by yellowing of whole leaves and thickening of older leaves. RT-PCR analysis using total RNA extracted from diseased leaves did not show any synthesized products for four cucurbit-infecting viruses; Beet pseudo-yellows virus, Cucumber mosaic virus, Cucurbit yellows stunting disorder virus, and Melon necrotic spot virus. Virus identification using RT-PCR showed Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows Virus (CABYV) was largely distributed in melon, oriental melon and cucumber. This result was verified by aphid (Aphis gossypii) transmission of CABYV. The complete coat protein (CP) gene amplified from melon was cloned and sequenced. The CP gene nucleotide and the deduced amino acid sequence comparisons as well as phylogenetic tree analysis of CABYV CPs showed that the CABYV isolates were undivided into subgroups. Although the low incidence of CABYV in infections to cucurbit crops in this survey, CABYV may become an important treat for cucurbit crops in many different regions in Korea, suggesting that CABYV should be taken into account in disease control of cucurbit crops in Korea.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2012

Powdery mildew and root-knot nematode are very important diseases occurred in cucurbits. This study was conducted to evaluate the resistance of commercial cucurbit cultivars (21 cultivars of cucumber, 9 cultivars of watermelon, 7 cultivars of oriental melon, and 2 cultivars of melon) to powdery mildew and root-knot nematode. At 60 days after transplanting, disease severity of powdery mildew of commercial cucurbit cultivars was investigated. Two cucumber cultivars, 'Gangryeogsamcheok' and 'Sunhobaegchimdadagi' were moderately resistant but the rest of cucumber cultivars were susceptible to powdery mildew. All examined watermelon and oriental melon cultivars were susceptible to powdery mildew, while two melon cultivars ('PMR Turbo' and 'PMR Victory') were resistant. At 45 days after inoculation of seedlings, disease severity of root-knot nematode of commercial cucurbit cultivars were investigated. One cucumber cultivars, 'Baegbongdadagi' was moderately resistant and the others were susceptible to root-knot nematode. In case of watermelon, 'Dalgonakkul' was resistant and the others were moderately resistant or susceptible to root-knot nematode. All examined oriental melon and melon cultivars were susceptible to root-knot nematode. On these results, we recommend that resistant cultivars to powdery mildew and/or root-knot nematode will be more suitable in cultivation of cucurbits for organic farming.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.514-521
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• 2022

We report the effect of pH on the supramolecular complexation of two biothiols, viz., homocysteine (Hcy) and cysteine (Cys), with cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]). Under basic pH conditions, Cys did not complex with CB[7], whereas Hcy efficiently complexed with CB[7], as confirmed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and Ellman's reagent (5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), DTNB) assay. ¹H NMR and Raman spectroscopic studies revealed that, in the absence of CB[7], Hcy auto-oxidized slowly (~36 h) to homocystine (HSSH) under basic pH conditions. However, the rate of Hcy oxidation increased by up to 150 fold in the presence of CB[7], as suggested by the DTNB assay. Thus, supramolecular complexation under basic pH conditions led to the formation of a HSSH-CB[7] complex, and not Hcy-CB[7]. The results indicate that Hcy is rapidly oxidized to HSSH under the catalysis of CB[7], which acts as a reaction chamber, in basic pH conditions. Our studies suggest that Hcy concentration, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, can be selectively and more easily quantified by supramolecular complexation with CB [7].

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.426-434
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• 2018

During the spring season of 2014, a total of 148 melon and watermelon leaf samples were collected from symptomatic and asymptomatic plants in the western and southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia and were tested for the presence of Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV) and other suspected cucurbit viruses by double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Ninety-eight samples were found to be positive for the presence of WmCSV, nine samples were positive for the presence of Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV), and 22 showed a mixed infection with both WmCSV and CYSDV. No other cucurbit viruses were detected in any of the samples. Host range experiments revealed that eight out of fourteen tested plant species were susceptible to WmCSV. PCR products of approximately 1.2 kb were obtained after amplification using primers specifically targeting the coat protein region of WmCSV. Positive PCR results were confirmed by dot blot hybridization. Coat protein gene sequences from eleven WmCSV isolates indicated that the highest identity was between the 104WMA-SA isolate from the Wadi Baish location and a previously reported isolate from the AL-Lith location in Saudi Arabia. The lowest identity was observed between the 42WMA-SA isolate and an isolate from Palestine.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 2023

To investigate the incidence status of viruses in major cultivated areas of watermelon and melon in Chungbuk Province, samples were collected from 2020 to 2021 in vinyl greenhouse of Jincheon and Eumseong and examined for virus infection using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Of the six viruses on watermelon that was analyzed in this study, watermelons were infected with cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), watermelon mosaic virus (WMV), cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV), and cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV). The incidence rate of CMV was 20.9-35.0%, WMV 0.4-15.8%, CGMMV 1.6-38.5%, and CABYV was 3.5-3.7% from 2020 to 2021. But strangely, there were no incidence of zucchini yellow mosaic virus and cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus (CCYV) during investigation. From this result, we knew the major virus was CGMMV on watermelon in Chungbuk Province. Molecular diagnosis assays of the two melon viruses, showed that melons were infected with CABYV and CCYV from 2020 to 2021. The incidence rate of CABYV was 53.9-92.2% and CCYV was 2.7-20.8%. The incidence of CABYV was high in melon cultivation of Jincheon and Eumseong, Chungbuk. Afterwards, it is necessary to establish a control management strategy for reduce the incidence of CABYV. Furthermore, we must pay attention that of CCYV even if the incidence was low.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.82-87
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• 2007

The genetic diagnostic method of virion capture (VC)/RT-PCR was developed for the simultaneous detection of three rod shaped viruses of Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV), Kyuri green mottle mosaic virus(KGMMV) and Zucchini green mottle mosaic virus (ZGMMV) transmitted by seed in Cucurbit. Out of 12 primer combinations for the three tobamoviruses, a primer set of CGMMV-C724, KGMMV-K513 and ZGMMV-Z407A was useful for mono and triplex VC/RT-PCR. The triplex VC/RT-PCR for the three tobamovirus in Cucurbit could detect specifically without interference among primers and/or plant species of watermelon, gourd, cucumber, melon, pumpkin, squash and Nicotiana benthamiana.