• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.388-393
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• 2013

It has been well documented that Bacillus vallismortis strain EXTN-1, a beneficial rhizosphere bacterium, could enhance plant growth and induce systemic resistance to diverse pathogens in plants. However, the molecular mechanisms for how the EXTN-1 promote plant growth and induce resistances to diverse pathogens. Here, we show that 3-Hydroxy-2-butanone, a volatile organic compound (VOCs) emitted from the EXTN1, is a key factor for the bacteria-mediated beneficial effects on plant growth and defense systems. We found that the presence of volatile signals of EXTN-1 resulted in growth promotion of tobacco seedlings. The identification and analysis of EXTN-1-secreted volatile signals by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) indicated that a 3-hydroxy-2-butanone could provide not only the plant growth promotion, but also higher resistance against Pectobacterium carotovorum SCC1. These results suggest that a volatile compound released from EXTN-1 enhances the plant growth promotion and immunity of plants.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.46-50
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• 2013

Some rhizobacteria producing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase can make plant to continue growth under the stress conditions through lowering the level of phytohormone, ethylene which inhibits the plant growth and accelerates plant aging. In this study, some rhizobacteria producing ACC deaminase have been isolated from the rhizosphere of plants grown at sand beaches, and identified as Escherichia hermannii m-2, Enterobacter asburiae m-4, Pseudomonas thivervalensis BD2-26 and Pseudomonas brassicacearum subsp. neoaurantiaca BD3-35 through sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Strain BD3-35 showed the highest activity of ACC deaminase among the isolates, 20.26 ${\alpha}$-ketobutyrate ${\mu}M/mg$ protein/h. Strains BD3-35 and BD2-26 secreted a phytohormone cytokinin, and strains m-4 and m-2 could produce auxin and abscisic acid, respectively. When these bacteria were applied to the 7-day old tomato plant under drought stress for 7 days, strains BD3-35, m-2, and m-4 increased the length of tomato root by 14, 15, and 35%, respectively, and strains m-2, BD2-26 and BD3-35 increased the dry weight of tomato plant by 22, 33, and 68%, respectively compared to the uninoculated control tomatoes. Therefore, these rhizobacteria may be utilized as a microbial fertilizer for the plants under drought stress.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.41-45
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• 2004

A phosphate solubilizig bacterium, Pantoea agglomerans, was isolated from rhizosphere soils collected from Chungbuk area. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effect of combined application of rock phosphate and P. agglomerans inoculation on plant growth and phosphate accumulation of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Apart from control that received no inputs, six treatments were planned as follows; 1) seed bacterization, 2) free cell inoculation and 3) bacteria immobilized beads inoculation, individually and in combination with 1 and 2.5 g of rock phosphate per pot. The results showed that plant growth and phosphate uptake were significantly enhanced as a result of bacterial inoculation. Bacterial inoculation in the form of immobilized beads and 1 g of rock phosphate was found to affect positively the rice plant growth and phosphorus accumulation than other treatments. The available phosphate concentration of the pot mixture also found improved as a result of P. agglomerans inoculation. A positive correlation was observed between the phosphate concentration in the pot mixture and phosphate accumulation in plant.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.207-211
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• 2005

The metabolites released from cultures of rhizosphere bacteria can inhibit plant growth. Bacillus subtilis IJ-31 inhibited plant growth by the production of hydrocinnamic acid (HCA). The production of HCA by plant-growth inhibiting rhizobacterium B. subtilis IJ-31 was optimized. $90.5\;{\mu}g/ml$ of HCA was obtained under the condition of 1% rice bran as carbon source, 0.5% tryptone as nitrogen source, 0.1% $ZnCl_2$ as metal source at $37^{\circ}C$ for 60 h (pH 7.0). The optimal condition for the HCA production by B. subtilis IJ-31 in the jar fermenter was established using response surface methodology (RSM) of statistical analysis system(SAS) program. The production of HCA by B. subtilis IJ-31 in the jar fermenter culture reached $102.99\;{\mu}g/ml$ when 2.24% soil extracts was added and agitation speed was 290 rpm under the same condition. And the experimental value of HCA production is $102.5\;{\mu}g/ml$ in the same culture condition. The production of HCA by B. subtilis IJ-31 is higher as 12% than that from the flask culture.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.192-198
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• 2001

This study was carried out to investigate the change of chemical properities and, microorganism due to continual cropping and to find the influences to physiological disordered eggplant fruits. Accumulation of soil nutrients seemed to be increased with the plastic film house duration and decreased with soil depth. The longer the period of eggplant cultivation duration, the lower the ratio of bacteria to fungi(B/F) and actinomycetes to the fungi(A/F) in rhizosphere soils. The soil EC and available $P_2O_5$ were significally correlated with the population densities of fungi($r=0.423^{**}$) and actinomycetes($r=0.438^{**}$), respectively. The ratio of split or drupaceous fruit showed tendency to increase with low soil moisture, and that of hypertrophy fruit showed tendency to increase in fields with longer cultivation years and high soil EC. The soil EC significally correlated with the ratio of hypertrophy fruit ($r=0.719^{**}$, Y=0.210X+0.578)and total physiological disordered fruits ($r=0.656^{**}$, Y=0.769X+7.097). And value of soil (Ca+Mg)/K was correlated with the ratio of physiologically disordered fruits($R^2=0.356^{*}$, Y=-1.333Ln(X)+12.26).

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.75-80
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• 2007

The release of genetically modified organisms ($GMO_{s}$) into the environment has the potential risks regarding the possibility of gene transfer from $GMO_{s}$ to natural organisms and this needs to be evaluated. This study was conducted to monitor the possible horizontal gene transfer from herbicide-resistant zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) to indigenous microorganisms. We have first examined the effect of field-released GM zoysiagrass on the microbial flora in the gut of locust (Locusts mlgratoria). The microbial flora was analyzed through determining the 165 rDHA sequences of microorganisms. The comparison of the microbial flora in the gut of locusts that were captured at the field of GM zoysiagrass and of wild-type revealed that there is no noticeable difference between these two groups. This result indicates that the GM zoysiagrass does not have negative impact on microbial flora in the gut of locust. We then investigated whether the horizontal gene transfer occurred from GM zoysiagrass to microbes in soil, rhizosphere and faecal pellets from locusts by utilizing molecular tools such as Southern hybridization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). When the total DNAs isolated from microbes in GM zoysiagrass and in wild-type zoysiagrass fields were hybridized with probes for bar or hpt gene, no hybridization signal was detected from both field isolates, while the probes were hybridized with DNA from the positive control. Absence of these genes in the FNAs of soil microorganisms as well as microbes in the gut of locust was further confirmed by PCR. Taken together, our data showed that horizontal gene transfer did not occur in this system. These results further indicate that frequencies of transfer of engineered plant DNA to bacteria are likely to be negligible.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 1990

For the selection of powerful antagonistic bacterium for biological control of soilborne Fusarium solani causing root rot of many important crops, the best YPL-1 strain was selected among 300 strains of bacteria isolated from rhizosphere in ginseng root rot-suppressive soil. The strain was identified to be a species to Pseudomonas stutzeri. With in vitro fungal inhibition tests, antagonistic substance of P. stutzeri YPL-1 against F. solani was presumed to be heat unstable, macromolecular substances such as protein. Also, it was shown that antifungal activity of P. stutzeri YPL-1 increased in proportion to its chitinase production. P. stutzeri YPL-M122 (chi-, lam -) which was deprived of the productivity of chitinase and laminarinase by NTG mutagenesis had lost antifungal activity, completely. And P. stutzeri YPL-MI53 (chi-) had only 4.1% of its antifungal activity. P. stutzeri YPL-1 was not able to produce any extracellular siderophore in iron-deficent minimal medium. It is confident that the antifungal mechanism of P. stutzeri YPL-1 for biocontrol of F. solani depends on lysis rather than antibiosis :the mechanism of lysis appears to involve enzymatic degradation of the cell will components of F. solani by hydrolytic enzymes of more chitinase and less laminarinase.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.152-164
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• 2015

Biological control of major rice diseases has been attempted in several rice-growing countries in Asia during the last few decades and its application using antagonistic bacteria has proved to be somewhat successful for controlling various fungal diseases in field trials. Two novel endophytic Bacillus species, designated strains YC7007 and $YC7010^T$, with antimicrobial, plant growth-promoting, and systemic resistance-inducing activities were isolated from the roots of rice in paddy fields at Jinju, Korea, and their multifunctional activities were analyzed. Strain YC7007 inhibited mycelial growth of major rice fungal pathogens strongly in vitro. Bacterial blight and panicle blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (KACC 10208) and Burkholderia glumae (KACC 44022), respectively, were also suppressed effectively by drenching a bacterial suspension ($10^7cfu/ml$) of strain YC7007 on the rhizosphere of rice. Additionally, strain YC7007 promoted the growth of rice seedlings with higher germination rates and more tillers than the untreated control. The taxonomic position of the strains was also investigated. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that both strains belong to the genus Bacillus, with high similarity to the closely related strains, Bacillus siamensis KACC $15859^T$ (99.67%), Bacillus methylotrophicus KACC $13105^T$ (99.65%), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum KACC $17177^T$ (99.60%), and Bacillus tequilensis KACC $15944^T$ (99.45%). The DNA-DNA relatedness value between strain $YC7010^T$ and the most closely related strain, B. siamensis KACC $15859^T$ was $50.4{\pm}3.5%$, but it was $91.5{\pm}11.0%$ between two strains YC7007 and $YC7010^T$, indicating the same species. The major fatty acids of two strains were anteiso-$C_{15:0}$ and iso $C_{15:0}$. Both strains contained MK-7 as a major respiratory quinone system. The G+C contents of the genomic DNA of two strains were 50.5 mol% and 51.2 mol%, respectively. Based on these polyphasic studies, the two strains YC7007 and $YC7010^T$ represent novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus oryzicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is $YC7010^T$ (= KACC $18228^T$). Taken together, our findings suggest that novel endophytic Bacillus strains can be used for the biological control of rice diseases.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2015

We have examined the correlation between the physicochemical and microbiological environment variables for the different layers of oak forest soil in Mt. Gyeryong, Korea. The result shows that there is a high correlation in the environment variables between the soil parameters of the fermented (F) layer and humus (H) layer. In particular, the pH level in the F layer shows a high correlation with C and N, while the various organic acids of the H layer turns out to be closely correlated with soil bacteria density. As we evaluated phylogenetic characteristics of bacterial populations by DGGE analysis with DNA extracted. Total of 175 bands including 43 bands from litter (L) layer, 42 bands from F layer, 43 bands from H layer and 47 bands from rhizosphere (A) layer were selected as the major DGGE band of oak forest soil. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences, 175 DGGE bands were classified into 32 orders in 7 phylum. The heat map was analyzed in order to compare the quantity of the base sequences of each order and based on the clustering of the different layers of oak forest soil, the result confirms that the F layer and H layer belong to a different cluster from that of L layer and A layer. Furthermore, it also showed that approximately 50% of the total microbial population in different layers is ${\alpha}$-proteobacteria, which indicates that they belong to the dominant system group. In particular, Rhizobiales, Burkholderiales and Actinobacteriales were observed in all the seasons and layers of oak forest soil, which confirms that they are the indigenous soil bacterial community in oak forest soil.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.253-259
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• 2015

Anthracnose caused by Collectotrichum acutatum is the most devastating disease of pepper plants in Korea. In this study, we evaluated the effect of selected antagonistic bacteria on control of anthracnose and plant growth promotion of pepper plants under field conditions. Four different bacterial isolates used in the current study were isolated from the pepper rhizosphere (GJ01, GJ11) and tidal flat (LB01, LB14) in previous studies. Four bacterial isolates, together with a control strain (EXTN-1), showed antifungal activity against C. acutatum in a dual culture assay. To test for plant growth promotion effect, seedling vigor index and growth parameters of pepper were measured under field condition. As a result, all four bacterial isolates were effective for improving plant growth promotion. The strain GJ01 was the most effective in improving the seedling vigor on pepper, but the strain GJ11 in increasing the pepper fruit yield. The incidence of anthracnose was inhibited in the range of 63.2~72.5% by treatment of four bacterial isolates. The current study indicated that the four bacterial isolates could be used as potential biological control agents of anthracnose disease of pepper.