• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.566-579
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• 2021

Ralstonia syzygii subsp. indonesiensis (Rsi, former name: Ralstonia solanacearum phylotype IV) PW1001, a causal agent of potato wilt disease, induces hypersensitive response (HR) on its non-host eggplant (Solanum melongena cv. Senryo-nigou). The disaccharide trehalose is involved in abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in many organisms. We found that trehalose is required for eliciting HR on eggplant by plant pathogen Rsi PW1001. In R. solanacearum, it is known that the OtsA/OtsB pathway is the dominant trehalose synthesis pathway, and otsA and otsB encode trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) synthase and T6P phosphatase, respectively. We generated otsA and otsB mutant strains and found that these mutant strains reduced the bacterial trehalose concentration and HR induction on eggplant leaves compared to wild-type. Trehalose functions intracellularly in Rsi PW1001 because addition of exogenous trehalose did not affect the HR level and ion leakage. Requirement of trehalose in HR induction is not common in R. solanacearum species complex because mutation of otsA in Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum (former name: Ralstonia solanacearum phylotype I) RS1002 did not affect HR on the leaves of its non-host tobacco and wild eggplant Solanum torvum. Further, we also found that each otsA and otsB mutant had reduced ability to grow in a medium containing NaCl and sucrose, indicating that trehalose also has an important role in osmotic stress tolerance.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.482-489
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• 2022

Fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora (Ea) is a devastating disease in apple and pear trees. Oxolinic acid (OA), a quinolone family antibiotic that inhibits DNA gyrase, has been employed to control fire blight in South Korea since 2015. The continuous use of this bactericide has resulted in the emergence of OA-resistant strains in bacterial pathogens in other countries. To investigate the occurrence of OA-resistant Ea strains in South Korea, we collected a total of 516 Ea isolates from diseased apple and pear trees in 2020-2021 and assessed their sensitivities to OA. We found that all isolates were susceptible to OA. To explore the possibility of emerging OA-resistant Ea by continuous application of OA, we exposed Ea stains to a range of OA concentrations and constructed OA-resistant mutant strains. Resistance was associated with mutations in the GyrA at codons 81 and 83, which result in glycine to cysteine and serine to arginine amino acid substitutions, respectively. The in vitro growth of the mutants in nutrient media and their virulence in immature apple fruits were lower than those of wild-type. Our results suggest that OA-resistance decreases the fitness of Ea. Future work should clarify the mechanisms by which OA-resistance decreases virulence of this plant pathogen. Continuous monitoring of OA-resistance in Ea is required to maintain the efficacy of this potent bactericide.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.73-73
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• 2018

Bacterial leaf blight(BLB), caused by X. oryzae pv. oryzae(Xoo), is one of the most destructive diseases of rice due to its high epidemic potential. Understanding BLB resistance at a genetic level is important to further improve the rice breeding that provides one of the best approaches to control BLB disease. In the present investigation, a collection of 192 accessions was used in the genome-wide association study (GWAS) for BLB resistance loci against four Korean races of Xoo that were represented by the prevailing BLB isolates under Xoo differential system. A total of 192 accessions of rice germplasm were selected on the basis of the bioassay using four isolated races of Xoo such as K1, K2, K3 and K3a. The selected accessions was used to prepare 384-plex genotyping by sequencing (GBS) libraries and Illumina HiSeq 2000 paired- end read was used for GBS sequencing. GWAS was conducted using T ASSEL 5.0. The T ASSEL program uses a mixed linear model (MLM). T he results of the bioassay using a selected set of 192 accessions showed that a large number of accessions (93.75%) were resistant to K1 race, while the least number of accessions (34.37%) resisted K3a race. For races K2 and K3, the resistant germplasm proportion remained between 66.67 to 70.83%. T he genotypic data produced SNP matrix for a total of 293,379 SNPs. After imputation the missing data was removed, which exhibited 34,724 SNPs for association analysis. GWAS results showed strong signals of association at a threshold of [-log10(P-value)] more than5 (K1 and K2) and more than4 (K3 and K3a) for nine of the 39 SNPs, which are plausible candidate loci of resistance genes. T hese SNP loci were positioned on rice chromosome 2, 9, and 11 for K1 and K2 races, whereas on chromosome 4, 6, 11, and 12 for K3 and K3a races. The significant loci detected have also been illustrated, NBS-LRR type disease resistance protein, SNARE domain containing protein, Histone deacetylase 19, NADP-dependent oxidoreductase, and other expressed and unknown proteins. Our results provide a better understanding of the distribution of genetic variation of BLB resistance to Korean pathogen races and breeding of resistant rice.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.174-179
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• 2007

Seedlot disinfection techniques to control mung bean sprout rot caused by Colletoricum acutatum and C. gloeosporioides were evaluated for commercial production scheme. Soaking seedlots in propolis (100 X) and ethanol (20% for 30 min) appeared promising with control values of 85.5 and 80.8 respectively, but still resulted in up to 20% rot incidence. None of the C. acutatum conidia survived through hot water immersion treatment (HWT) for 10 min at temperatures of 55, 60 and $65^{\circ}C$, whereas the effective range of the dry heat treatment (DHT) was $60-65^{\circ}C$. Tolerance of mung bean seedlot, as estimated by hypocotyl elongation and root growth, was lower for HWT than for DHT. Germination and growth of sprouts were excellent over the range of $55-65^{\circ}C\;at\;5^{\circ}C$ intervals, except for HWT at $65^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. At this marginal condition, heat damage appeared so that approximately 2% of seeds failed to sprout to normal germling and retarded sprouts were less than 5% with coarse wrinkled hypocotyls. These results suggested that DHT would be more feasible to disinfect mung bean seedlots for commercial sprout production. Heat treatment at above ranges was highly effective in eliminating the epiphytic bacterial strains associated with marketed sprout rot samples. HWT of seedlot at 55 and $60^{\circ}C$ for 5 min resulted in successful control of mung bean sprout rot incidence with marketable sprout quality. DHT at 60 and $65^{\circ}C$ for 30 min also gave good results through the small-scale sprouting system. Therefore, we optimized DHT scheme at 60 and $65^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, considering the practical value of seedlot disinfection with high precision and accuracy. This was further proved to be a feasible and reliable method against anthracnose incidence and those bacterial strains associated with marketed sprout rot samples as well, through factory scale mung bean sprout production system.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.04a
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• pp.62-62
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• 2019

Bacterial leaf blight(BLB), caused by X. oryzae pv. oryzae(Xoo), is one of the most destructive diseases of rice due to its high epidemic potential. Understanding BLB resistance at a genetic level is important to further improve the rice breeding that provides one of the best approaches to control BLB disease. In the present investigation, a collection of 192 accessions was used in the genome-wide association study (GWAS) for BLB resistance loci against four Korean races of Xoo that were represented by the prevailing BLB isolates under Xoo differential system. A total of 192 accessions of rice germplasm were selected on the basis of the bioassay using four isolated races of Xoo such as K1 and K2. The selected accessions was used to prepare 384-plex genotyping by sequencing (GBS) libraries and Illumina HiSeq 2000 pairedend read was used for GBS sequencing. GWAS was conducted using TASSEL 5.0. The TASSEL program uses a mixed linear model (MLM). The results of the bioassay using a selected set of 192 accessions showed that a large number of accessions (93.75%) were resistant to K1 race and K2 resistant germplasm proportion remained between 66.67. The genotypic data produced SNP matrix for a total of 293,379 SNPs. After imputation the missing data was removed, which exhibited 34,724 SNPs for association analysis. GWAS results showed strong signals of association at a threshold of [-log10(P-value)] more than 5 (K1 and K2) for nine of the 39 SNPs, which are plausible candidate loci of resistance genes. These SNP loci were positioned on rice chromosome 2, 9, and 11 for K1 and K2 races. The significant loci detected have also been illustrated and make the CPAS markers for NBS-LRR type disease resistance protein, SNARE domain containing protein, Histone deacetylase 19, NADP-dependent oxidoreductase, and other expressed and unknown proteins. Our results provide a better understanding of the distribution of genetic variation of BLB resistance to Korean pathogen races and breeding of resistant rice.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.780-787
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• 2012

The maize pathogen Gibberella moniliformis produces fumonisins, a group of mycotoxins associated with several disorders in animals and humans, including cancer. The current focus of our research is to understand the regulatory mechanisms involved in fumonisin biosynthesis. In this study, we employed a proteomics approach to identify novel genes involved in the fumonisin biosynthesis under nitrogen stress. The combination of genome sequence, mutant strains, EST database, microarrays, and proteomics offers an opportunity to advance our understanding of this process. We investigated the response of the G. moniliformis proteome in limited nitrogen (N0, fumonisin-inducing) and excess nitrogen (N+, fumonisin-repressing) conditions by one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis. We selected 11 differentially expressed proteins, six from limited nitrogen conditions and five from excess nitrogen conditions, and determined the sequences by peptide mass fingerprinting and MS/MS spectrophotometry. Subsequently, we identified the EST sequences corresponding to the proteins and studied their expression profiles in different culture conditions. Through the comparative analysis of gene and protein expression data, we identified three candidate genes for functional analysis and our results provided valuable clues regarding the regulatory mechanisms of fumonisin biosynthesis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1609-1621
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• 2014

The plant pathogen Burkholderia gladioli, which has a broad host range that includes rice and onion, causes bacterial panicle blight and sheath rot. Based on the complete genome sequence of B. gladioli BSR3 isolated from infected rice sheaths, the genome of B. gladioli BSR3 contains the luxI/luxR family of genes. Members of this family encode N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum sensing (QS) signal synthase and the LuxR-family AHL signal receptor, which are similar to B. glumae BGR1. In B. glumae, QS has been shown to play pivotal roles in many bacterial behaviors. In this study, we compared the QS-dependent gene expression between B. gladioli BSR3 and a QS-defective B. gladioli BSR3 mutant in two different culture states (10 and 24 h after incubation, corresponding to an exponential phase and a stationary phase) using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). RNA-seq analyses including gene ontology and pathway enrichment revealed that the B. gladioli BSR3 QS system regulates genes related to motility, toxin production, and oxalogenesis, which were previously reported in B. glumae. Moreover, the uncharacterized polyketide biosynthesis is activated by QS, which was not detected in B. glumae. Thus, we observed not only common QS-dependent genes between B. glumae BGR1 and B. gladioli BSR3, but also unique QS-dependent genes in B. gladioli BSR3.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2017

Functional microorganisms decompose various organic matter by enzyme activity and suppress plant disease caused by pathogen. This study was conducted to isolate and select functional microorganisms with protein or carbohydrate degradation activities and antagonistic activity against turfgrass fungal pathogens for eco-friendly turfgrass management in golf course from compost containing livestock manure of poultry or swine. Totally 68 isolates collected from livestock manure compost strains were isolated and tested for their activities of amylase, protease and lipase and antagonistic activities against Rhizoctonia solani AG2-2, R. solani AG1-1, and Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. Among the isolates, 34 strains were selected as functional microbes showing higher activities of amylase and protease. Three isolates of ASC-14, ASC-18, and ASC-35 among the 34 strains were selected as antifungal bacterial strains repressing the above 3 turfgrass fungal pathogens. Analysis results of 16s rRNA gene sequence and phylogenic cluster indicated that ASC-14 and ASC-18 belonged to Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, while ASC-35 was B. subtilis, respectively.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2008

An ideal anti-bacterial medication for oral infection requires selective effect on pathogens causing dental caries and periodontal disease but not on normal flora. In addition, it should be less toxic for human and even for environment. This study was to seek such a natural anti-bacterial medication and thus anti-bacterial effect of Hamamelis virginiana was evaluated. Many recent researches on the anti-bacterial effect of natural plant extract and essential oil have reported that natural products can be used as medication for prevention and restrainment of dental caries, halitosis and periodontitis. It has been also reported that Hamamelis virginiana has anti-bacterial effect on Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Capnocytophaga gingivalis, Veilonella parvula, Eikenella corrodens, Peprostreptococcus micros, and Actinomyces odontolyticus. This study evaluated anti-bacterial effect of Hamamelis virginiana on Streptoccoccus mutans, Haemophylus actinomycetemcomitans, and Klebsiella pneumoniae to expand its anti-bacterial effect on other important oral pathogens and eventually to develop its oral care products or apply to clinical purpose. In this study, anti-bacterial tests for antibiotic disk susceptibility, minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration were performed to evaluate anti-bacterial effect of Hamamelis virginiana against Streptoccoccus mutans, Haemophylus actinomycetemcomitans, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The results showed that Hamamelis virginiana has anti-bacterial effect on all pathogen strains tested in this study and furthermore Hamamelis virginiana possesses bactericidal effect other than bacteriostatic effect on Streptoccoccus mutans, Haemophylus actinomycetemcomitans, Klebsiella pneumoniae. This study indicates that a natural anti-bacterial medication for oral diseases can be developed using Hamamelis virginiana.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2003

The 1080 epiphytic bacteria obtained from 370 samples of pome and stone fruits including apple, pear, peach, grape, apricot and Chinese quince were screened for antagonistic activity against postharvest pathogens, Penicillium expansum, Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea. Among tested antagonistic bacteria, eight bacterial isolates inhibited mycelial growth of the postharvest pathogens and were identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (three strains), B. megaterium, B. subtilis var. gladioli, B. licheniformis, B. pumilus and Serratia marcescens based on biochemical characteristics and utility of carbon and nitrogen compounds (Biolog system). Eight carbohydrates were evaluated for their effect on mycelial growth and germination of the postharvest pathogen, P. expansum to select nutrients for enhancing bio-control efficacy. The growth of four selected antagonists, B. amyloliquefaciens P43-2, B. amyloliquefaciens A71-2, B. licheniformis P94-1, and S. marcescens P76-9 were also tested. As a result, 1% glucose (w/v) strongly stimulated growth of the antagonists, suppressed mycelial growth of the postharvest pathogen, and had a little comparatively stimulatory effect on germination of the the postharvest pathogen. It was confirmed that the addition of 1% glucose (w/v) greatly enhanced biocontrol effect of B. amyloliquefaciens P43-2, B. licheniformis P94-1, and S. marcescens P76-9. Application of B. amyloliquefaciens P43-2, B. licheniformis P94-1, and S. marcescens P76-9 with the addition of 1% glucose (w/v) increased the control efficacy up to 48%, 46%, 14% compared with those of the antagonists without glucose, respectively. When the antagonists were applied to control postharvest disease caused by P. expansum in apple wounds, the population of B. amyloliquefaciens P43-2 and B. licheniformis P94-1 increased until 4 days after inoculation (DAI) of the antagonists and then decreased from 10 DAI. Meanwhile the population of S. marcescens P76-9 decreased at early stage (4 DAI), but increased from 7 DAI, and finally maintained constantly until 10 DAI in apple wounds.