• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 한국균학회 2014년도 추계학술대회 및 정기총회
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• pp.15-15
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• 2014

Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph Gibberella zeae) is an important plant pathogen that causes head blight of major cereal crops such as wheat, barley, and rice, as well as causing ear and stalk rot on maize worldwide. Plant diseases caused by this fungus lead to severe yield losses and accumulation of harmful mycotoxins in infected cereals [1]. Fungi utilize spore production as a mean to rapidly avoid unfavorable environmental conditions and to amplify their population. Spores are produced sexually and asexually and their production is precisely controlled. Upstream developmental activators consist of fluffy genes have been known to orchestrate early induction of condiogenesis in a model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying conidiogenesis in F. graminearum, we characterized functions of the F. graminearum fluffy gene homologs [2]. We found that FlbD is conserved regulatory function for conidiogenesis in both A. nidulans and F. graminearum among five fluffy gene homologs. flbD deletion abolished conidia and perithecia production, suggesting that FlbD have global roles in hyphal differentiation processes in F. graminearum. We further identified and functionally characterized the ortholog of AbaA, which is involved in differentiation from vegetative hyphae to conidia and known to be absent in F. graminearum [3]. Deletion of abaA did not affect vegetative growth, sexual development, or virulence, but conidium production was completely abolished and thin hyphae grew from abnormally shaped phialides in abaA deletion mutants. Overexpression of abaA resulted in pleiotropic defects such as impaired sexual and asexual development, retarded conidium germination, and reduced trichothecene production. AbaA localized to the nuclei of phialides and terminal cells of mature conidia. Successful interspecies complementation using A. nidulans AbaA and the conserved AbaA-WetA pathway demonstrated that the molecular mechanisms responsible for AbaA activity are conserved in F. graminearum as they are in A. nidulans. F. graminearum ortholog of Aspergillus nidulans wetA has been shown to be involved in conidiogenesis and conidium maturation [4]. Deletion of F. graminearum wetA did not alter mycelial growth, sexual development, or virulence, but the wetA deletion mutants produced longer conidia with fewer septa, and the conidia were sensitive to acute stresses, such as oxidative stress and heat stress. Furthermore, the survival rate of aged conidia from the F. graminearum wetA deletion mutants was reduced. The wetA deletion resulted in vigorous generation of single-celled conidia through autophagy-dependent microcycle conidiation, indicating that WetA functions to maintain conidia dormancy by suppressing microcycle conidiation in F. graminearum. In A. nidulans, FlbB physically interacts with FlbD and FlbE, and the resulting FlbB/FlbE and FlbB/FlbD complexes induce the expression of flbD and brlA, respectively. BrlA is an activator of the AbaA-WetA pathway. AbaA and WetA are required for phialide formation and conidia maturation, respectively [5]. In F. graminearum, the AbaA-WetA pathway is similar to that of A. nidulans, except a brlA ortholog does not exist. Amongst the fluffy genes, only fgflbD has a conserved role for regulation of the AbaA-WetA pathway.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.97-104
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• 2019

Streptococcus iniae는 대표적인 어류병원균으로 인수공통의 질병을 일으킨다. S. iniae FP5228에 존재하는 병원성 인자를 찾고자 하는 연구과정에서 S. iniae를 24시간 이상 배양한 배양액에는 살아있는 균의 수가 급격하게 감소하는 현상을 발견하였다. 이 현상은 FP5228 균이 가지고 있는 14 kb plasmid 상에 있는 toxin/antitoxin (TA) system의 구성요소인 toxin ${\zeta}$와 antitoxin ${\varepsilon}$ 유전자가 관련이 있을 것이란 가설을 설정하였다. IPTG와 arabinose에 의해 toxin ${\zeta}$와 antitoxin ${\varepsilon}$의 발현이 조절되는 pBP1140 vector system을 구축하였다. E. coli/pBP1140 균주는 toxin이 발현되는 조건에서 초기 생육이 느려졌고, 현미경의 관찰에서 균체가 길어짐을 확인하였다. FP5228 균주가 가진 14 kb plasmid를 없앤 S. iniae CK287을 제조하였다. CK287 균은 배양 중 급격하게 사멸되는 현상을 보이지 않았고, biofilm 생성능력도 감소하였고 세포독성 시험과 물고기 시험에서 독성이 약화 된 것이 확인되었다. 이들 결과 들은 TA system이 생리적 조절 및 병원성 인자의 발현에 관련이 있음을 추정할 수 있다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.748-756
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• 2016

In the present study, a lipopeptide (named AXLP14) antagonistic to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) was obtained from the culture supernatant of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B014. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis demonstrated that AXLP14 consisted of surfactin homologs. The minimum inhibition concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of AXLP14 against Xoo were determined to be 1.25 and 2.50 mg/ml, respectively. At a concentration of 0.613 mg/ml, AXLP14 strongly inhibited the formation of Xoo biofilm. AXLP14 also inhibited the motility of Xoo in a concentration-dependent manner. Applying AXLP14 to rice seedlings significantly reduced the incidence and severity of disease caused by Xoo. In Xoo-infected rice seedlings, AXLP14 strongly and continuously up-regulated the expression of both OsNPR1 and OsWRKY45. In addition, AXLP14 effectively inhibited the Xoo-induced up-regulation of the expression of the abscisic acid biosynthesis gene OsNECD3 and the abscisic acid signalingresponsive gene OsLip9, indicating that AXLP14 may protect rice against Xoo-induced disease by enhancing salicylic acid defense and interfering with the abscisic acid response to virulence.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.242-247
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• 2008

In the fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the yeast-to-hyphal transition occurs in response to a broad range of environmental stimuli and is considered to be a major virulence factor. To address whether the zinc homeostasis affects the growth or pathogenicity of C. albicans, we functionally characterized the zinc-finger protein Csr1 during filamentation. The deduced amino acid sequence of Csr1 showed a 49% similarity to the zinc-specific transcription factor, Zap1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sequential disruptions of CSR1 were carried out in diploid C. albicans. The csr1/csr1 mutant strain showed severe growth defects under zinc-limited growth conditions and the filamentation defect under hypha-inducing media. The colony morphology and the germ-tube formation were significantly affected by the csr1 mutation. The expression of the hyphae-specific gene HWP1 was also impaired in csr1/csr1 cells. The C. albicans homologs of ZRTl and ZRT2, which are zinc-transporter genes in S. cerevisiae, were isolated. High-copy number plasmids of these genes suppressed the filamentation defect of the csr1/csr1 mutant strain. We propose that the filamentation phenotype of C. albicans is closely associated with the zinc homeostasis in the cells and that Csr1 plays a critical role in this regulation.

• 미생물학회지
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.57-65
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• 2012

인은 인지질, 탄수화물 및 핵산 등의 생분자 합성에 필요한 원소이다. 세균은 외부환경으로부터 인산이나 인산을 포함하는 영양소를 흡수하여 인을 얻고, 세포대사에 사용되고 남은 인산은 polyphosphate 형태로 저장한다. 현재까지 알려진 다섯 개의 인산 수송 시스템 중, 인산에 특이적으로 높은 친화력을 갖는 Pst 시스템이 가장 중요한 역할을 하며, 그 발현은 세포외부 인산 농도에 반응하는 PhoB-PhoR two component 신호전달 시스템에 의해 조절된다. 반응 조절 단백질 PhoB는 인산 대사뿐 아니라 이와 관계없는 유전자들의 전사를 조절하는 것으로 알려졌으며, 따라서 PhoB의 활성이 조절되지 않으면 많은 종류의 다른 표현형이 나타난다. 본 총설은 각 인산 수송 시스템의 기능이 결여된 세균의 표현형에 대한 최근 연구 결과를 토대로 다음과 같은 내용을 기술하였다. 첫째, 세포 내부 인산의 적정 농도 유지를 위한 인산 수송 시스템들의 역할, 둘째, 인산뿐 아니라 여타 환경 신호와 관련된 수송 시스템의 다양한 표현형, 그리고 마지막으로, 수송 시스템들 간 혹은 그 조절자들 간의 표현형 중복을 분류하여 제시하였다. 이러한 내용은 결국 세균의 대사, 적응반응 및 병원성 발현에 미치는 인산 항상성의 중요성을 강조한다.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제36권4호
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• pp.314-322
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• 2020

Interplay between histone acetylation and deacetylation is one of the key components in epigenetic regulation of transcription. Here we report the requirement of MoHDA1-mediated histone deacetylation during asexual development and pathogenesis for the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. Structural similarity and phylogenetic analysis suggested that MoHDA1 is an ortholog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hda1, which is a representative member of class II histone deacetylases. Targeted deletion of MoHDA1 caused a little decrease in radial growth and large reduction in asexual sporulation. Comparison of acetylation levels for H3K9 and H3K14 showed that lack of MoHDA1 gene led to significant increase in H3K9 and H3K14 acetylation level, compared to the wild-type and complementation strain, confirming that it is a bona fide histone deacetylase. Expression analysis on some of the key genes involved in asexual reproduction under sporulation-promoting condition showed almost no differences among strains, except for MoCON6 gene, which was up-regulated more than 6-fold in the mutant than wild-type. Although the deletion mutant displayed little defects in germination and subsequent appressorium formation, the mutant was compromised in its ability to cause disease. Wound-inoculation showed that the mutant is impaired in invasive growth as well. We found that the mutant was defective in appressorium-mediated penetration of host, but did not lose the ability to grow on the media containing H₂O₂. Taken together, our data suggest that MoHDA1-dependent histone deacetylation is important for efficient asexual development and infection of host plants in M. oryzae.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.175-182
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• 2005

Abstract Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) gene expression is regulated by many environmental signals such as oxygen, osmolarity, and pH. Here, we examined changes in the expression level of various regulatory proteins encoded within SPI1 in response to three different concentrations of NaCl, using primer extension analysis. Transcription of all the regulatory genes tested was activated most when Salmonella were grown in Luria Broth (LB) containing 0.17 M NaCl. The expression of hilA, invF, and hilD was decreased in the presence of 0.47 M NaCl or in the absence of NaCl, while hilC expression was almost constant regardless of the NaCl concentration when Salmonella were grown to exponential phase under low-oxygen condition. The reduced expression of hilA, invF, and hilD resulted in lower invasion of hilC mutant to the cultured animal cells when the mutant was grown in the presence of 0.47 M NaCl or in the absence of NaCl prior to infection. Among the proteins secreted via the SPI1-type III secretion system (TTSS), the level of sopE2 expression was not influenced by medium osmolarity. Various effects of osmolarity on virulence gene regulation observed in this study is one example of multiple regulatory pathways used by Salmonella to cause infection.

• 생약학회지
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• 제36권1호통권140호
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• pp.56-59
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• 2005

Urease plays an important role in the urea metabolism and the effect of urease activity on human and environment is enormous. For instance, urease acts as a virulence factor of the urinary and gastrointestinal tracts infections in human and animal, being involved in kidney stone formation, catheter encrusatation, pyelonephritis, ammonia encephalopathy, hepatic coma, and urinary tract infections. Widespread urease activity in soil induces a plant damage due to ammonia toxicity and pH increase. Therefore, urease activity regulation through urease inhibitors would lead to an enhanced efficiency of urea nitrogen uptake in plants and to the improved therapeutic strategies for ureolytic bacterial infections. To search for new inhibitory compounds on urease activity from herbs, MeOH extracts of herbs were screened. Among of them, the MeOH extracts of Areca catechu exhibited an excellent inhibitory effect on urease activity. Two compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction by the activity guided fractionation. Their chemical structures were identified as (+)-catechin(compound I) and allantoin(compound II) by spectroscopic evidence, respectively. Compound I showed a stronger inhibitory effect on urease activity than compound II.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 한국균학회 2018년도 춘계학술대회 및 임시총회
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• pp.11-11
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• 2018

Cryphonectria parasitica, chestnut blight fungus, has a characteristic of decreasing pathogenicity when infected with Cryphonectria hypovirus 1. C. parasitica is known to be one of the most representative model systems used to observe the interaction between viruses, plants and fungi. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, which is well conserved in various organisms ranging from yeast to humans, functions in relaying phosphorylation-dependent signals within MAPK cascades to diverse cellular functions involved in the regulation of pheromone, cell wall integrity, and osmotolerance in filamentous fungi. Several genes in the MAPK pathway were revealed to be regulated by hypovirus, or to be involved in pathogenicity in C. parasitica. Among these pathways, the CWI pathway has aroused interest because CpBck1, an ortholog of yeast Bck1 (a CWI MAPKKK), was previously reported to be involved in cell wall integrity and sectorization. Interestingly, sporadic sectorization was observed in the CpBck1 mutant and sectored phenotypes were stably inherited in the progeny that were successively transferred from sectored mycelia. In this study, we analyzed the biological function of CpSlt2, downstream gene of CpBck1, to confirm whether the sectorization phenomenon occurred in the specific single gene or cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway. As results, the CpSlt2-null mutant exhibited marked changes in colonial growth, near absence of conidiation and aerial hyphae, abnormal pigmentation, CWI-related phenotypic defects, and dramatically impaired virulence. As cultivation of the mutant strains progressed, the majority of the colonies showed sporadic sectorization and mycelia from the sectored area stably maintained the sectored phenotype. These results suggest that the unique sectorization is CWI pathway-specific, though the components in the same CWI pathway have common and specific functions.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.185-192
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• 2020

The global carbon storage regulator (Csr) system is conserved in bacteria and functions as a regulator in the exponential and stationary phases of growth in batch culture. The Csr system plays a role in the central carbon metabolism, virulence, motility, resistance to oxidative stress, and biofilm formation. Although the Csr was extensively studied in Gram negative bacteria, it has been reported only in the control of motility in Bacillus subtilis among Gram positive bacteria. The goal of this study was to explore the role of the csrA gene of Bacillus licheniformis M2-7 on motility and the bacterial ability to use hydrocarbons as carbon source. We deleted the csrA gene of B. licheniformis M2-7 using the plasmid pCsr-L, harboring the spectinomycin cassette obtained from the plasmid pHP45-omega2. Mutants were grown on culture medium supplemented with 2% glucose or 0.1% gasoline and motility was assessed by electron microscopy. We observed that CsrA negatively regulates motility by controlling the expression of the hag gene and the synthesis of flagellin. Notably, we showed the ability of B. licheniformis to use gasoline as a unique carbon source. Our results demonstrated that CsrA is an indispensable regulator for the growth of B. licheniformis M2-7 on gasoline.