• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.27-31
• /
• 2013

This study was conducted to isolate and identify the fungal pathogen causing seedling rot of Lithospermum erythrorhizon Siebold & Zuccarini, and to know the optimum growing temperature for decreasing seedling rot of Lithospermum erythrorhizon. On the basis of morphological characteristics, EF-1a sequence analysis, and pathogenecity to host plant, the fungi isolated from seedling rot and seeds of Lithospermum erythrorhizon were identified as Fusarium fujikuroi, indicating that disease causing fungus is seed-borne pathogen. Optimum temperature for germination of seeds of Lithospermum erythrorhizon was $15{\sim}20^{\circ}C$, but pathogenicity of Fusarium fujikuroi was shown more readily at $25{\sim}30^{\circ}C$. These results suggested that seedling culture of Lithospermum erythrorhizon between $15^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$ might reduce seedling rot of Lithospermum erythrorhizon caused by seed-borne pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.242-248
• /
• 2008

The present study was undertaken to explore the inhibitory effect of cyanobacterial extracts of Nostoc commune FA-103 against the tomato-wilt pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. In an optimal medium, cell growth, antifungal activity, and antifungal compound production could be increased 2.7-fold, 4.1-fold, and 13.4-fold, respectively. A crude algal extract had a similar effect as mancozeb at the recommended dose, both in laboratory and pot tests. In vitro and in vivo fungal growth, spore sporulation and fungal infection of wilt pathogen in tomato seeds were significantly inhibited by cyanobacterial extracts. Nostoc commune FA-103 extracts have potential for the suppression of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.78-81
• /
• 2024

This study aims to isolate and identify the fungal pathogen responsible for gummosis disease affecting Thanh Tra pomelo in Vietnam. Through molecular identification utilizing primer pairs ITS5 and ITS4, the analysis pinpointed Lasiodiplodia theobromae as the specific fungal pathogen. Notably, the fungal colonies exhibited vigorous growth on potato dextrose agar. Initially, these colonies appeared whitish-grey, transforming into a black-grey hue within 5-7 days at a temperature of 30℃. According to previous reports, Phytophthora spp. was the most common pathogenic genus causing gummosis on Thanh Tra pomelo in Vietnam. To our knowledge, this is the first report on L. theobromae causing gummosis on Thanh Tra pomelo in Vietnam.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2015.05a
• /
• pp.13-13
• /
• 2015

Rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, is the most destructive pathogen of rice in the world. This fungus has a biotrophic phase early in infection and switches to a necrotrophic lifestyle after host cell death. During the biotrophic phase, the fungus competes with host for nutrients and oxygen. Continuous uptake of oxygen is essential for successful establishment of blast disease of this pathogen. Here, we report transcriptional responses of the fungus to oxygen limitation. Transcriptome analysis using RNA-Seq identified 1,047 up-regulated genes in response to hypoxia. Those genes were involved in mycelial development, sterol biosynthesis, and metal ion transport based on hierarchical GO terms and well-conserved among three different fungal species. In addition, null mutants of three hypoxia-responsive genes were generated and tested for their roles on fungal development and pathogenicity. The mutants for a sterol regulatory element-binding protein gene, MoSRE1, and C4 methyl sterol oxidase gene, ERG25, exhibited increased sensitivity to hypoxia-mimetic agent, increased conidiation, and delayed invasive growth within host cells, suggesting important roles in fungal development. However, such defects did not cause any significant decrease in disease severity. The other null mutant for alcohol dehydrogenase gene, MoADH1, showed no defect in the hypoxia-mimic condition and fungal development. Taken together, this comprehensive transcriptional profiling in response to a hypoxia condition with experimental validations would provide new insights on fungal development and pathogenicity in plant pathogenic fungi.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.247-251
• /
• 2000

Latent infections of healthy-appearing oaks of Hypoxylon atropunctatum complicates field studies by interfering with inoculation experiments to follow pathogenesis, fungal development and reproduction of this canker rot fungus. Mutants with unique and easily scorable phenotypes would be useful for inoculation studies. There is a broad range in the capacity of wild-type isolates to utilize nitrate as a sole nitrogen sources. Several types of nitrate-nonutilization mutants (nit1, Nit3, NitM) were selected from nitrate-utilizing wild-type isolates. Also, a few mutants of Hypoxylon atropunctatum were selected that could only grow poorly on basal medium supplemented with various nitrogen sources and even on yeast extract agar. These unknown mutants need to be characterized further. Nit mutants of Hypoxylon atropunctatum were readily selected, grew well and were recovered after inoculation into oak stems. These results suggest that nit mutants could be useful for inoculation studies in trees that contain latent infections.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.427-431
• /
• 2014

Mitochondrial protein Nfu1 plays an important role in the assembly of mitochondrial Fe-S clusters and intracellular iron homeostasis in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we identified the Nfu1 ortholog in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Our data showed that C. neoformans Nfu1 localized in the mitochondria and influenced homeostasis of essential metals such as iron, copper and manganese. Marked growth defects were observed in the mutant lacking NFU1, which suggests a critical role of Nfu1 in Fe-S cluster biosynthesis and intracellular metal homeostasis in C. neoformans.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.82-89
• /
• 2014

In 2009-2010, unusual symptoms were observed on Pleurotus eryngii grown in mushroom farms in Gyeongnam Province, Republic of Korea. One of the main symptoms was a cobweb-like growth of fungal mycelia over the surface of the mushroom. The colonies on the surface rapidly overwhelmed the mushrooms and developed several spores within 3-4 days. The colonized surface turned pale brown or yellow. The fruit body eventually turned dark brown and became rancid. Koch's postulates were completed by spraying and spotting using isolated strains. The phylogenetic tree obtained from the internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis showed that the isolated fungal pathogen corresponded to Cladobotryum mycophilum (99.5%). In the fungicide sensitivity tests, the $ED_{50}$ values for the isolate with respect to benomyl and carbendazim were from 0.29 to 0.31 ppm. Benzimidazole fungicides were most effective against C. mycophilum, a causal agent of cobweb disease in P. eryngii.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.45-51
• /
• 2001

A root rot/vine decline disease occurred naturally on bottle gourd-stocked watermelon, melon, oriental melon and squash grown in greenhouses, but not on these plants grown in fields. Self-rooted watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin and luffa were also proven to be hosts of the pathogen by artificial inoculation in this experiment. The pathogen was identified as Monosporascus cannonballus by comparing microscopic characteristics of fungal structures with those of previously identified fungal strains. Our field investigations showed that the temperature and electric conductivity of soil in infected greenhouses were higher and the soil moisture content was lower than in noninfected greenhouses. To investigate soil-environmental factors affecting disease development, greenhouse trials and inoculation experiments were conducted. The host plants inoculated and grown under conditions of high soil temperature and electrical conductivity ($35\pm2^{\circ}$, 3.2-3.5 mS) and with low soil moisture content (pF 3.0-4.5) were most severely damaged by the fungal disease. Since plants growing in greenhouses ae usually exposed to such environmental conditions, this may be the reason why the monosporascus root rot/vine decline disease has occurred only on cucurbits cultivated in greenhouses but not in field conditions.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.43 no.9
• /
• pp.831-840
• /
• 2020

The β-class of carbonic anhydrases (β-CAs) are zinc metalloenzymes widely distributed in the fungal kingdom that play essential roles in growth, survival, differentiation, and virulence by catalyzing the reversible interconversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and bicarbonate (HCO₃^-). Herein, we report the biochemical and crystallographic characterization of the β-CA CafA from the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, the main causative agent of invasive aspergillosis. CafA exhibited apparent in vitro CO₂ hydration activity in neutral to weak alkaline conditions, but little activity at acidic pH. The high-resolution crystal structure of CafA revealed a tetramer comprising a dimer of dimers, in which the catalytic zinc ion is tetrahedrally coordinated by three conserved residues (C119, H175, C178) and an acetate anion presumably acquired from the crystallization solution, indicating a freely accessible "open" conformation. Furthermore, knowledge of the structure of CafA in complex with the potent inhibitor acetazolamide, together with its functional intolerance of nitrate (NO₃^-) ions, could be exploited to develop new antifungal agents for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.313-322
• /
• 2022

Seed-borne pathogens in crops reduce the seed germination rate and hamper seedling growth, leading to significant yield loss. Due to the growing concerns about environmental damage and the development of resistance to agrochemicals among pathogen populations, there is a strong demand for eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic chemicals in agriculture. It has been well established during the last few decades that plant seeds harbor diverse microbes, some of which are vertically transmitted and important for plant health and productivity. In this study, we isolated culturable endophytic bacteria and fungi from soybean seeds and evaluated their antagonistic activities against common bacterial and fungal seed-borne pathogens of soybean. A total of 87 bacterial isolates and 66 fungal isolates were obtained. Sequencing of 16S rDNA and internal transcribed spacer amplicon showed that these isolates correspond to 30 and 15 different species of bacteria and fungi, respectively. Our antibacterial and antifungal activity assay showed that four fungal species and nine bacterial species have the potential to suppress the growth of at least one seed-borne pathogen tested in the study. Among them, Pseudomonas koreensis appears to have strong antagonistic activities across all the pathogens. Our collection of soybean seed endophytes would be a valuable resource not only for studying biology and ecology of seed endophytes but also for practical deployment of seed endophytes toward crop protection.