• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.232-234
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• 2011

During survey of postharvest diseases of vegetables in the middle region of Korea in 2003, 2004 and 2005, new disease symptoms showing watery rot and soft rot were observed. In this study, the disease causal agents were identified as Geotrichum candidum, and their host range and pathogenicity were investigated. G. candidum isolated had wide host range and strong pathogenicity against carrot, cucumber, tomato and pumpkin. The disease occurrence on several vegetables that G. candidum can be a serious threat to stable production of fresh vegetable.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.369.1-369
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• 2001

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.143-147
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• 2022

Sclerotinia rot symptoms were observed in stringy stonecrop (Sedum sarmentosum) plants growing in vinyl greenhouses in Yeoju and Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, during disease surveys in spring 2019 and 2020. The initial symptoms were soft rot on stems and leaves at or above the soil line. Furthermore, the symptoms progressed upwards, and the infected plant parts exhibited white to grayish-yellow discoloration. The infestation of diseased plants in the vinyl greenhouses was 1-5% at the two locations examined. Eight isolates of Sclerotinia sp. were obtained from lesions of the diseased plants. The isolates were identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum based on their morphological and molecular characteristics. In addition, artificial inoculation tested three isolates of S. sclerotiorum for pathogenicity on stringy stonecrop plants. All the tested isolates caused Sclerotinia rot symptoms in the inoculated plants. The symptoms were similar to those observed in plants from the vinyl greenhouses investigated. This study is the first report of S. sclerotiorum causing Sclerotinia rot in stringy stonecrop.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1147-1153
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• 2013

Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (formerly Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora) is a plant pathogen that causes soft rot and stem rot diseases in several crops, including Chinese cabbage, potato, and tomato. To control this bacterium, we isolated a bacteriophage, PP1, with lytic activity against P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the PP1 phage belongs to the Podoviridae family of the order Caudovirales, which exhibit icosahedral heads and short non-contractile tails. PP1 phage showed high specificity for P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum, and several bacteria belonging to different species and phyla were resistant to PP1. This phage showed rapid and strong lytic activity against its host bacteria in liquid medium and was stable over a broad range of pH values. Disease caused by P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum was significantly reduced by PP1 treatment. Overall, PP1 bacteriophage effectively controls P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.312-315
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• 2010

Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc) causes soft rot disease in various plants. Although many studies about Pcc have been going on, little is known yet about the defense genes from plants. To identify defense associated genes in response to Pcc, we screened about 20 thousand Arabidopsis T-DNA knock out lines by inoculation with Pcc. We obtained a line (Atspt1) showing more susceptible symptom compared to WT (Col-0) on 1 day after the inoculation of Pcc on leaves of Arabidopsis with toothpicks. In this study, we optimized the system to select resistant and susceptible lines to Pcc from T-DNA inserted pool of Arabidopsis and expect the system and Atspt1 might be used for molecular breeding to produce resistant vegetables against Pcc.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.183-190
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• 2008

Plant-cell-wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs) of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum are the key virulence factor in pathogenesis of soft rot disease of vegetables. The production of PCWDEs is controlled in a cell density dependent manner to avoid the premature production of PCWDEs and subsequent activation of plant defense. N-oxoacyl-homoserine lactone (OHL) is essential for quorum sensing in the soft rot pathogen and the expI gene is responsible for OHL production. The ExpI homolog isolated from P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum SL940 had 94% identity with ExpI of E. carotovora subsp. carotovora scc3193 and 74% identity with Carl of E. carotovora subsp. atroseptica. The transgenic plants that express exp I uner the control of CaMV35S promoter were able to produce diffusible OHL. Transgenic plants producing OHL were very resistant to the infection of P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum. Since the PR1 gene was strongly induced and NPR1 and NPR4 were induced weakly in transgenic plants compared to the wild type, salicylic acid-dependent pathways is likely involved in the resistance to the soft rot pathogen P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum in ExpI transgenic plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1542-1550
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• 2016

This is the first report that paromomycin, an antibiotic derived from Streptomyces sp. AG-P 1441 (AG-P 1441), controlled Phytophthora blight and soft rot diseases caused by Phytophthora capsici and Pectobacterium carotovorum, respectively, in chili pepper (Capsicum annum L.). Chili pepper plants treated with paromomycin by foliar spray or soil drenching 7 days prior to inoculation with P. capsici zoospores showed significant (p < 0.05) reduction in disease severity (%) when compared with untreated control plants. The disease severity of Phytophthora blight was recorded as 8% and 50% for foliar spray and soil drench, respectively, at 1.0 ppm of paromomycin, compared with untreated control, where disease severity was 83% and 100% by foliar spray and soil drench, respectively. A greater reduction of soft rot lesion areas per leaf disk was observed in treated plants using paromomycin (1.0 μg/ml) by infiltration or soil drench in comparison with untreated control plants. Paromomycin treatment did not negatively affect the growth of chili pepper. Furthermore, the treatment slightly promoted growth; this growth was supported by increased chlorophyll content in paromomycin-treated chili pepper plants. Additionally, paromomycin likely induced resistance as confirmed by the expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes: PR-1, β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase, PR-4, peroxidase, and PR-10, which enhanced plant defense against P. capsici in chili pepper. This finding indicates that AG-P 1441 plays a role in pathogen resistance upon the activation of defense genes, by secretion of the plant resistance elicitor, paromomycin.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.276-287
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• 2017

RcsA is a positive activator of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) synthesis in the Enterobacteriaceae. The rcsA gene of the soft rot pathogen Pantoea sp. strain PPE7 in Pleurotus eryngii was cloned by PCR amplification, and its role in EPS synthesis and virulence was investigated. The RcsA protein contains 3 highly conserved domains, and the C-terminal end of the open reading frame shared significant amino acid homology to the helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif of bacterial activator proteins. The inactivation of rcsA by insertional mutagenesis created mutants that had decreased production of EPS compared to the wild-type strain and abolished the virulence of Pantoea sp. strain PPE7 in P. eryngii. The Pantoea sp. strain PPE7 rcsA gene was shown to strongly affect the formation of the disease symptoms of a mushroom pathogen and to act as the virulence factor to cause soft rot disease in P. eryngii.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2011

Calmodulin (CaM), a $Ca^{2+}$ binding protein in eukaryotes, mediates cellular $Ca^{2+}$ signals in response to a variety of biotic and abiotic external stimuli. The $Ca^{2+}$-bound CaM transduces signals by modulating the activities of numerous CaM-binding proteins. As a CaM binding protein, AtCBP63 ($\b{A}$rabidopsis thaliana $\b{C}$aM-binding protein $\underline{63}$ kD) has been known to be positively involved in plant defense signaling pathway. To investigate the pathogen resistance function of AtCBP63 in potato, we constructed transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants constitutively overexpressing AtCBP63 under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. The overexpression of the AtCBP63 in potato plants resulted in the high level induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes such as PR-2, PR-3 and PR-5. In addition, the AtCBP63 transgenic potato showed significantly enhanced resistance against a pathogen causing bacterial soft rot, Erwinia carotovora ssp. Carotovora (ECC). These results suggest that a CaM binding protein from Arabidopsis, AtCBP63, plays a positive role in pathogen resistance in potato.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2003

Sclerotinia rot occurred severely on some vegetable crops grown in Namyangju, Yangpyung, and Yangiu areas in Korea in 2001-2002. The crops infected with Scterotinia sp. were Adenophora remotiflora, Armoracia lapathfolia, Angelica acutiloba, Angelica archangelica, Anthriscus sylvestris, Aster tataricus, Beta vulgaris var. cicla, Brassica campestris var. marinosa, Brassica juncea var. laciniata, Chicholium intybus, Lactuca indica var. dracoglossa, Lactuca sativa var. oak-leaf, Petroselinum crispum, and Phyteuma japonicum. The fungus associated with the disease was identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, based on the morphological characteristics of the pathogen. The symptoms were water-soaked spots that enlarged later and became a watery soft rot. Infected parts became yellow and then turned brown, followed by death of the whole plant. White mycelia developed on the upper petioles and leaves and on the soil where these plant parts lay. Then black sclerotia in variable size and shape formed from the mycelial mass. Pathogenicity of the fungus was proven by artificially inoculating each crop. This is the first report of Sclerotinia rot on the listed vegetable crops in Korea.