• Mycobiology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.61-63
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• 2011

Taxonomic study of the crustose lichen Porpidia was performed in this paper. Three species are described, including two recorded species and one new record: Porpidia macrocarpa (DC.) Hertel & A. J. Schwab. A description of each species is presented along with morphological, anatomic, and chemical characteristics. A key to the identification of species of Porpidia is also presented.

• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.302-304
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• 2009

The paper describes two new records of micro-lichens from South Korea. Detailed taxonomic descriptions and comments are presented for both of the studied taxa. The lichen genus Thelotrema is reported for the first time in Korea.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.19-23
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• 2006

Methods of lichen-derived culture were spore- and thallus-derived cultures. Spore-derived culture was modified and thallus-derived culture was established for our two decades. We maintained about 500 lichen-derived cultures by using both methods. In recent several years, we have investigated to screen various pharmacological activities in lichen-derived cultures for the first time and found some activities in our cultures.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2004

Lichen is one of the most widely distributed eucaryotic organisms in the world. Lichen is the result of a symbiotic association between two unrelated organisms - a fungus and an alga (or cyanobacterium). In USA, Japan and European countries, there has been a resurgence of interest in lichens as source of novel, pharmacologically active molecules during the last 20 years. However, lichen researches in Korean lichens were mainly focused on investigation of Korean lichen flora and most of them were primitive and short-term based projects until 1990s. In this communication, general introduction of lichens was attempted to draw the attention of Korean researchers to Korean lichen bioresource. Research activities on Korean lichens during the past were also summarized. Recent progress in Korean lichen research is briefly discussed with emphasis of KoLRI (Korean Lichen Research Institute) activities and roles in national researches projects on bioresource development in Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 2022

Lichen is a symbiotic mutualism of mycobiont and photobiont that harbors diverse organisms including endolichenic fungi (ELF). Despite the taxonomic and ecological significance of ELF, no comparative investigation of an ELF community involving isolation of a pure culture and high-throughput sequencing has been conducted. Thus, we analyzed the ELF community in Parmotrema tinctorum by culture and metabarcoding. Alpha diversity of the ELF community was notably greater in metabarcoding than in culture-based analysis. Taxonomic proportions of the ELF community estimated by metabarcoding and by culture analyses showed remarkable differences: Sordariomycetes was the most dominant fungal class in culture-based analysis, while Dothideomycetes was the most abundant in metabarcoding analysis. Thirty-seven operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were commonly observed by culture-and metabarcoding-based analyses but relative abundances differed: most of common OTUs were underrepresented in metabarcoding. The ELF community differed in lichen segments and thalli in metabarcoding analysis. Dissimilarity of ELF community intra lichen thallus increased with thallus segment distance; inter-thallus ELF community dissimilarity was significantly greater than intra-thallus ELF community dissimilarity. Finally, we tested how many fungal sequence reads would be needed to ELF diversity with relationship assays between numbers of lichen segments and saturation patterns of OTU richness and sample coverage. At least 6000 sequence reads per lichen thallus were sufficient for prediction of overall ELF community diversity and 50,000 reads per thallus were enough to observe rare taxa of ELF.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2009

Lichen-forming fungi (LEF) were isolated from 67 Hungarian lichen species from ascospores or thallus fragments. LFF were successfully isolated from 26 species with isolation rate of 38.8%. Of the total number of isolation from ascospores (27 species) and thallus fragments (40 species), 48% and 32.5% of the species were successfully isolated, respectively. Comparison of rDNA sequences of ITS regions between the isolated LFF and the original thallus confirmed that all the isolates originated from the thallus fragments were LEF. The following 14 species of LEF were newly isolated in this study; Acarospora cervina, Bacidia rubella, Cladonia pyxidata, Lasallia pustulata, Lecania hyaline, Lecanora argentata, Parmelina tiliacea, Parmotrema chinense, Physconia distorta, Protoparmeliopsis muralis, Ramalina pollinaria, Sarcogyne regularis, Umbilicaria hirsuta, Xanthoparmelia conspersa and X. stenophylla. Antifungal activity of the Hungarian LFF was evaluated against plant pathogenic fungi of Colletotrichum acutatum, C. coccodes and C. gloeosporioides, causal agent of anthracnose on hot pepper. Among the 26 isolates, 11 LFF showed more than 50% of inhibition rates of mycelial growth of at least one target pathogen. Especially, LFF of Evernia prunastri, Lecania hyalina and Lecanora argentata were remarkably effective in inhibition of mycelial growth of all the tested pathogens with antibiotic mode of action. On the other hands, five isolates of Cladonia furcata, Hypogymnia physodes, Lasallia pustulata, Ramalina fastigiata and Ramalina pollinaria exhibited fungal lytic activity against all the three pathogens. Among the tested fungal pathogens, C. coccodes seemed to be most sensitive to the LFF. The Hungarian LFF firstly isolated in this study can be served as novel bioresources to develop new biofungicides alternative to current fungicides to control hot pepper anthracnose pathogenic fungi.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.381-391
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• 2011

Many lichens have been used as bioindicators for air pollutants such as $SO_2$. The first ecological study on lichens in Korea was conducted in 1975 by Kim and Lee, disclosing that areas adjacent to the center of Seoul were lichen deserts. Air quality in Seoul has improved significantly since the 1980s. However, the distribution of lichen species has not been reevaluated since then. We examined the spatial and temporal pattern of lichen distribution by selecting six (inner city green [ICG] and four (outer city green [OCG]) sites, based on the distance from the city center of Seoul and the land use pattern. The change in lichen distribution was related to yearly mean concentrations of $SO_2$, $NO_2$, and $O_3$ for the years 1980-2009. Four and 13 lichen species were found in ICGs and OCGs, respectively. Although mean sample numbers per species were much higher in the former, species richness tended to increase with distance from the city center. Since 1980, $SO_2$ has declined drastically to < 0.01 ppm in both ICGs and OCGs, indicating that $SO_2$ is no longer a limiting factor for lichen establishment and growth. In contrast, $NO_2$ has increased steadily for 20 years (1989-2009) and a considerable proportion of lichen species in both ICGs and OCGs are known as nitrophilic or pollution-tolerant species. Appearance of nitrophiles in both ICGs and OCGs and the dominance of a few lichen species in ICGs may reflect the effects of the increase in $NO_2$. In contrast to $SO_2$ and $NO_2$, $O_3$ was higher in OCGs, but it was difficult to identify a causal relationship between $O_3$ and lichen distribution.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.313-328
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• 2001

The lichen is generally used as a bio-indicator for the estimation of air pollution. The purpose of this research is to diagnose the level of air pollution by means of lichen Chongju region, relative to the direction of the dominant Wind(WNW) and the distance from the air pollution source. As a result it reveals that the industrial estate, its surroundings and inner city are confronting lichen desert phenomenon, According to the I.A.P index the average SO$_2$density in Chongju city in estimated above 0.03 ppm. However, the number of lichen species and its coverage are increased as the distance becomes further from the pollution source.

• Mycobiology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.225-230
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• 2012

This study illustrates the status of thelotremoid Graphidaceae in South Korea. The taxonomy and systematics of thelotremoid lichens in the country have recently advanced greatly. Following the earlier known taxa from the group, four new records of the genus Thelotrema are reported and described briefly. An artificial key for all known species under thelotremoid group of Graphidaceae from South Korea is also provided.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.163-168
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• 2015

Lichenoid dysplasia is a lichenoid features with epithelial dysplasia clinically and histopathologically similar to oral lichen planus. It can be clinically mistaken for oral lichen planus, but has histopathologic features of dysplasia and a true malignant predisposition. The clinician should be able to differentiate between oral lichen planus and lichenoid dysplasia for the proper management. We experienced a 75-year-old man with erosive, erythematous lesion on the left buccal mucosa previously diagnosed as oral lichen planus. He underwent surgical excision and the final histopathological result confirmed it to be lichenoid dysplasia with massive candidal infection. We report this case with a review of the related literature.