• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 2019

Bud rot (BR) is the most devastating disease affecting oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) crops in Colombia. Its causal agent, Phytophthora palmivora, initiates the infection in immature oil palm leaflets producing necrotic lesions, followed by colonization of opportunistic necrotrophs, which increases disease damage. To improve the characterization of the disease, we transformed P. palmivora using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) to include the fluorescent proteins CFP-SKL (peroxisomal localization), eGFP and mRFP1 (cytoplasmic localization). The stability of some transformants was confirmed by Southern blot analysis and single zoospore cultures; additionally, virulence and in vitro growth were compared to the wild-type isolate to select transformants with the greatest resemblance to the WT isolate. GFP-tagged P. palmivora was useful to identify all of the infective structures that are commonly formed by hemibiotrophic oomycetes, including apoplastic colonization and haustorium formation. Finally, we detected cell death responses associated with immature oil palm tissues that showed reduced susceptibility to P. palmivora infection, indicating that these tissues could exhibit age-related resistance. The aim of this research is to improve the characterization of the initial disease stages and generate cell biology tools that may be useful for developing methodologies for early identification of oil palm materials resistant or susceptible to BR.

• Mycobiology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.326-344
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• 2022

The fungal-like family Saprolegniaceae (Oomycota), also called "water mold," includes mostly aquatic saprophytes as well as notorious aquatic animal pathogens. Most studies on Saprolegniaceae have been biased toward pathogenic species that are important to aquaculture rather than saprotrophic species, despite the latter's crucial roles in carbon cycling of freshwater ecosystems. Few attempts have been made to study the diversity and ecology of Saprolegniaceae; thus, their ecological role is not well-known. During a survey of oomycetes between 2016 and 2021, we investigated the diversity and distribution of culturable Saprolegniaceae species in freshwater ecosystems of Korea. In the present study, members of Saprolegniaceae were isolated and identified at species level based on their cultural, morphological, and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Furthermore, substrate preference and seasonal dynamics for each were examined. Most of the species were previously reported as animal pathogens; however, in the present study, they were often isolated from other freshwater substrates, such as plant debris, algae, water, and soil sediment. The relative abundance of Saprolegniaceae was higher in the cold to cool season than that in the warm to hot season of Korea. This study enhances our understanding of the diversity and ecological attributes of Saprolegniaceae in freshwater ecosystems.

• Mycobiology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2005

The effects of different concentrations of three amino acids as carbon and or nitrogen sources on mycelial dry weights, changes in pH values of synthetic medium, ammonia secretion and extracellular protease activity by three zoosporic fungi, pathogens of fish and shellfish, were studied. As compared with the control, the addition of isoleucine and aspartic acid as nitrogen sources were generally stimulative for mycelial dry weight production whereas phenylalanine was inhibitory irrespective to the tested fungal species. When amino acids served as carbon and nitrogen sources, the mycelial dry weights of the three fungi were increased (mostly non-significantly) relative to untreated control but weights were decreased as the concentrations of the three amino acids raised. The addition of individual amino acids as carbon and nitrogen sources to the medium significantly increased pH values of the medium comparable to the control. The addition of each of the three amino acids as carbon and nitrogen sources to the medium significantly induced ammonia secretion by the three species of zoosporic fungi. Ammonia secretion in synthetic medium amended with amino acids as nitrogen source raised by the three zoosporic fungi relative to untreated control except in case of Achlya racemosa treated with isoleucine. Extracellular protease activity was almost promoted in case of Achlya proliferoides and Saprolegnia furcata cultures treated with isoleucine and aspartic acid individually in presence of glucose and vice versa in case of phenylalanine. However, extracellular protease activity of A. racemosa decreased compared with the control at various concentrations of isoleucine and both phenylalanine and aspartic acid assumed inconsistent effects. Extracellular protease activity of the three zoosporic fungi in the medium devoid of glucose varied depending upon zoosporic fungal species, the tested amino acid and the applied concentrations. The values of protease activity were approximately less two folds than that obtained in presence of glucose.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.75-89
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• 2006

The actinomycete strain JK-1 that showed strong inhibitory activity against some plant pathogenic fungi and oomycetes was isolated from Jung-bal Mountain in Ko-yang, Korea. The strain JK-1 produced spores singly borne on sporophores and the spores were spherical and 0.9-1.2 11m in diameter. The cell wall of the strain JK-1 contained meso-diaminopimelic acid. The actinomycete strain JK-1 was identified as the genus Micromonospora based on the morphological, physiological, biochemical and chemotaxonomic characteristics. From the 168 rDNA analysis, the strain JK-1 was assigned to M aurantiaca. The antibiotic MA-1 was purified from the culture broth of M aurantiaca JK-1 using various purification procedures, such as Diaion HP20 chromatography, C18 flash column chromatography, silica gel flash column chromatography and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. $^{1}H-$, $^{13}C-NMR$ and EI mass spectral analysis of the antibiotic MA-1 revealed that the antibiotic MA-1 is identical to phenylacetic acid. Phenylacetic acid showed in vitro inhibitory effects against fungal and oomycete pathogens Alternaria mali, Botrytis cinerea, Magnaporthe grisea, Phytophthora capsici and yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae at < 100 $\mug$ $ml^{-1}$. In addition, phenylacetic, acid completely inhibited the growth of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria at < $\mug$ $ml^{-1}$. Phenylacetic acid strongly inhibited conidial germination and hyphal growth of M grisea and C. orbiculare. Phenylacetic acid showed significantly high levels of inhibitory' effect against rice blast and cucumber anthracnose diseases at 250 $\mug$ $ml^{-1}$. The control efficacies of phenylacetic acid against the two diseases were similar to those of commercial compounds tricyclazole, iprobenfos and chlorothalonil .n the greenhouse.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2012

Endophytic bacterial communities of tidal flat plants antagonistic to oomycete plant pathogens were studied by the isolation of 256 root colonizing endophytic bacteria from surface-disinfected root tissues of six plants ($Rosa$ $rugosa$, $Suaeda$ $maritima$, $Vitex$ $rotundifolia$, $Carex$ $scabrifolia$, $Glehnia$ $littoralis$ and $Elymus$ $mollis$) growing in a tidal flat area of Namhae Island, Korea. To understand the antagonistic potential, an $in$ $vitro$ antagonistic assay was performed to characterize and identify strains that were antagonistic to the oomycete plant pathogens $Phytophthora$ $capsici$ and $Pythium$ $ultimum$ from the total population. Nine percent of the total number of isolated bacteria exhibited in vitro inhibitory activity against target plant pathogenic oomycetes. Taxonomic and phylogenetic placement of the antagonistic bacteria was investigated by analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences. The sequence analysis classified the antagonistic strains into four major classes of the domain bacteria ($Firmicutes$, ${\alpha}-Proteobacteria$, ${\gamma}-Proteobacteria$ and $Actinomycetes$) and 10 different genera. Further production of secondary metabolites, hydrolytic enzymes and plant growth promoting traits were determined for the putative new species of antagonistic endophytic bacteria. These new strains could not be identified as known species of ${\alpha}-Proteobacteria$, and so may represent novel bacterial taxa. The unexpected high antagonistic bacterial diversity associated with the tidal flat plants may be indicative of their importance in tidal flat plants as a promising source of novel antimicrobial compounds and biocontrol agents.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.79-83
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• 2003

Elicitins, proteinaceous elicitors secreted from Oomycetes fungi (Phytophthora spp. and Pythium spp.), have been known as inducer of hypersensitive response (HR) in incompatible interactions between plant and pathogens. Five elicitins among many Korean Phytophthora species caused the reactions of distal HR in radish, chinese cabbage and some hot pepper cultivars, but not in cucumber and tomato. Because the isolation of elicitin from Phytophthora cambivora hasn't been reported yet, we have purified a cambivorein, a new member of the elicitin family, from the culture filtrate of Phytophtilora cambivora (KACC 40160) by using FPLC (Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography, AKTA) with sepharose S and Sephacryl HR columns. We confirmed that it induces necrosis activities in some hot pepper cultivars and its molecular weight is about 10 KDa by Tricine-SDS-PAGE. Comparison of amino acid sequences of its N-terminal ends also informed the identification of Iysine at the 13th position, which is characteristic of a kind of basic elicitin isoform $({\beta}-isoform)$. It Also showed that our elicitin is not identical with N-terminal sequences of many elicitins reported from Phytophthora spp..

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2005

Ethaboxam[(RS)-N-(a-cyano-2-thenyl)-4-ethyl-2-(ethylamino)-1,3-thiazole-5-carboximide] is a novel fungicide with high level of activity against Oomycetes fungi. The control effects of ethaboxam technical and various ethaboxam formulations were investigated against P. brassicae, the causal agent of clubroot disease in Chinese cabbage. When ethaboxam was applied to infested soil, club formation caused by P. brassicae was strongly inhibited at 8.33 mg/L soil and $EC_{50}$ of ethaboxam was 2.65 mg/L soil. Five ethaboxam formulations [10% suspension concentrate (SC), 15% SC, 2% granule (GR), 5% GR, 25% wettable powder] and mixture formulation of ethaboxam and metalaxyl (3%+1% GR) exhibited good efficacy against the pathogen. 10% SC, 15% SC, and 2% GR formulations of ethaboxam showed better disease controlling efficacy on Chinese cabbage clubroot than the other formulations. The $EC_{50}$ values of 10% SC, 15% SC, and 2% GR formulations of ethaboxam were 3.72 mg AI/L soil, 1.1 mg AI/L soil, and 4.95 mg AI/L soil, respectively. Among them, soil drenching application by 15% SC formulation of ethaboxam exhibited the most in vivo antifungal activity on P. brassicae. These results indicate that ethaboxam has a high potential for the control of clubroot disease.