• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.543-552
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• 2019

Fusarium asiaticum of the F. graminearum species complex causes head blight in small-grain cereals. The nivalenol (NIV) chemotypes of F. asiaticum is more common than the deoxynivalenol (DON) chemotypes of F. asiaticum or F. graminearum in Korea. To understand the prevalence of F. asiaticum-NIV in Korean cereals, we characterized the biological traits of 80 cereal isolates of F. asiaticum producing NIV or 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), and 54 F. graminearum with 3-ADON or 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON). There was no significant difference in mycelial growth between the chemotypes, but F. asiaticum isolates grew approximately 30% faster than F. graminearum isolates on potato dextrose agar. Sexual and asexual reproduction capacities differed markedly between the two species. Both chemotypes of F. graminearum (3-ADON and 15-ADON) produced significantly higher numbers of perithecia and conidia than F. asiaticum-NIV. The highest level of mycotoxins (sum of trichothecenes and zearalenone) was produced by F. graminearum-3-ADON on rice medium, followed by F. graminearum-15-ADON, F. asiaticum-3-ADON, and F. asiaticum-NIV. Zearalenone levels were correlated with DON levels in some chemotypes, but not with NIV levels. Disease assessment on barley, maize, rice, and wheat revealed that both F. asiaticum and F. graminearum isolates were virulent toward all crops tested. However, there is a tendency that virulence levels of F. asiaticum-NIV isolates on rice were higher than those of F. graminearum isolates. Taken together, the phenotypic traits found among the Korean F. asiaticum-NIV isolates suggest an association with their host adaptation to certain environments in Korea.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.10a
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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.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2016

Fusarium graminearum Schwabe causes Fusarium head blight (FHB), a devastating disease that leads to extensive yield and quality loss of wheat and other cereal crops. Twelve isolates of F. graminearum were collected from naturally infected spikes of wheat from Assiut Egypt. These isolates were compared using SRAP. The results indicated distinct genetic groups exist within F. graminearum, and demonstrated that these groups have different biological properties, especially with respect to their pathogenicity on wheat. There were biologically significant differences between the groups; with group (B) isolates being more aggressive towards wheat than groups (A) and (C). Furthermore, Trichoderma harzianum (Rifai) and Bacillus subtilis (Ehrenberg) which isolated from wheat kernels were screened for antagonistic activity against F. graminearum. They significantly reduced the growth of F. graminearum colonies in culture. In order to gain insight into biological control effect in situ, highly antagonistic isolates of T. harzianum and B. subtilis were selected, based on their in vitro effectiveness, for greenhouse test. It was revealed that T. harzianum and B. subtilis significantly reduced FHB severity. The obtained results indicated that T. harzianum and B. subtilis are very effective biocontrol agents that offer potential benefit in FHB and should be harnessed for further biocontrol applications. The accurate analysis of genetic variation and studies of population structures have significant implications for understanding the genetic traits and disease control programs in wheat. This is the first known report of the distribution and genetic variation of F. graminearum on wheat spikes in Assiut Egypt.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.446-450
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• 2013

The ascomycete fungus Fusarium graminearum is a major causal agent for Fusarium head blight in cereals and produces mycotoxins such as trichothecenes and zearalenone. Isolation of the fungal strains from air or cereals can be hampered by various other airborne fungal pathogens and saprophytic fungi. In this study, we developed a selective medium specific to F. graminearum using toxoflavin produced by the bacterial pathogen Burkholderia glumae. F. graminearum was resistant to toxoflavin, while other fungi were sensitive to this toxin. Supplementing toxoflavin into medium enhanced the isolation of F. graminearum from rice grains by suppressing the growth of saprophytic fungal species. In addition, a medium with or without toxoflavin exposed to wheat fields for 1 h had 84% or 25%, respectively, of colonies identified as F. graminearum. This selection medium provides an efficient tool for isolating F. graminearum, and can be adopted by research groups working on genetics and disease forecasting.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.101-105
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• 2001

A disease survey on the carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) wilt was conducted during the high temperature period (June through August) and the low temperature period (February through May) in 58 greenhouses of its major cultivation areas, including Pusan, Kimhae, and Changwon in Korea from 1998 to 1999. The disease incidence was averaged 5.4% and 11.9% in the low and high temperature periods, respectively. Severe damage was found in summer with high incidences of around 50% in some greenhouses. Close examination of the symptoms and isolation of the causal agent revealed that there was a new disease different from Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi, which was determined as the stub dieback caused by F. was cetermined as the stub dieback caused by F. graminearum (teleomorph : Gibberella zeae). The stub dieback symptoms involved brown rot of stem that started usually from the portion of cutting without discoloration of inner vascular tissues. Seven out of 38 isolates from the wilted plants were identified as F. graminearum, while the others as F. oxysporum f. sp. dianthi. Mycological characteristics of the stub dieback pathogen including colony color, absence of microconidia, and the shape of macroconidia, were consistent with F. graminearum previously described. This is the first report of the carnation stub dieback in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.393-400
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• 2016

Fusarium graminearum is the main cause of substantial economic loss in wheat production. The aim of this study is to investigate biocontrol potential of Lysobacter antibioticus HS124 against F. graminearum and to purify an antifungal compound. In preliminary study, n-butanol crude extract revealed destructive alterations in the hyphal morphology of F. graminearum and almost degraded with $1,000{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$ concentration. For further study, the antifungal compound extracted from the n-butanol crude extract of L. antibioticus HS124 was identified as N-Butyl-tetrahydro-5-oxofuran-2-carboxamide ($C_9H_{16}NO_3$) using NMR ($^1H-NMR$, $^{13}C-NMR$, $^1H-^1H\;COSY$, HMBC, and HMQC), and HR-ESI-MS analysis. To our knowledge, N-Butyl-tetrahydro-5-oxofuran-2-carboxamide may be a novel compound with molecular weight of 186.1130. The minimum inhibitory concentration value of antifungal compound was $62.5{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$ against F. graminearum. In an in vivo pot experiment, crown rot disease from F. graminearum was inhibited when wheat seeds were treated with both HS124 culture and F. graminearum. Growth of wheat seedling was enhanced by treatment of HS124 compared to control. Our results suggest that L. antibioticus HS124 characterized in this study could be successfully used to control F. graminearum and could be used as an alternative to chemical fungicides in modern agriculture.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2013

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by the filamentous fungus Fusarium graminearum is one of the most severe diseases threatening the production of small grains. Infected grains are often contaminated with mycotoxins such as zearalenone and trichothecences. During survey of contamination by FHB in rice grains, we found a bacterial isolate, designated as BN1, antagonistic to F. graminearum. The strain BN1 had branching vegetative hyphae and spores, and its aerial hyphae often had long, straight filaments bearing spores. The 16S rRNA gene of BN1 had 100% sequence identity with those found in several Streptomyces species. Phylogenetic analysis of ITS regions showed that BN1 grouped with S. sampsonii with 77% bootstrap value, suggesting that BN1 was not a known Streptomyces species. In addition, the efficacy of the BN1 strain against F. graminearum strains was tested both in vitro and in vivo. Wheat seedling length was significantly decreased by F. graminearum infection. However, this effect was mitigated when wheat seeds were treated with BN1 spore suspension prior to F. graminearum infection. BN1 also significantly decreased FHB severity when it was sprayed onto wheat heads, whereas BN1 was not effective when wheat heads were point inoculated. These results suggest that spraying of BN1 spores onto wheat heads during the wheat flowering season can be efficient for plant protection. Mechanistic studies on the antagonistic effect of BN1 against F. graminearum remain to be analyzed.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.16 no.2 s.31
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• pp.115-119
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• 1977

Fusarium spp. were isolated from field grown rice, wheat and barley in 1976. The pathogens isolated included Fusarium (Calonectria) nivale, F. (Gibberella) moniliforme and F. (Gibberella) roseum 'Graminearum' and 'Avenaceum'. Among the saprophytes F. (Nectria) episphaeria was isolated. In each of these isolated both the Fusarium and perfect stages were found. F. nivale, and F. episphaeria with there Calonectria, and Nectria stages do not seem to have been recorded previously in Korea. Of the Fusaria isolated, $66.3\%$ from rice were F. moniliforme, and $68.2\%$ from wheat and barley were F. roseum 'Graminearum'. Perithecia also were produced under laboratory conditions. F. moniiforme was recovered wheat heads and also from barley seed.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.312-317
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• 1993

A total of 110 Fusarium graminearum isolates were obtained from corn and barley samples which were collected from Kangwon province and the southern part of Korea, respectively. The isolates were tested for trichothecene and zearalenone (ZEA) production in rice culture. The incidences of trichothecene production by 51 isolates of F. graminearum from corn were 64.7% for deoxynivalenol (DON), 7.8% for 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON),33.3% for 15-acetylde-oxynivalenol (15-ADON), 21.6% for invalenol (NIV), and 13.7% for 4-acetylnivalenol (4-ANIV). DON producers frequently co-produced 15-ADON rather than 3-ADON. On the other hand, the incidences of trichothecene production by 59 isolates of F. graminearum from barley were 71.2% for NIV, 61.0% for 4-ANIV, and only one isolate produced DON and 3-ADON. The incidences and mean levels of ZEA producers were 32.0% and 71.$\mu$g/g for the isolates from corn, and 29.0% and 74 .$\mu$g/g for the isolates from barley. There was a great regional difference in trichothecene production of F. graminearum isolates between Kangwon province and the southern part of Korea.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.347-355
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• 2018

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium species is a major disease of wheat and barley around the world. FHB causes yield reductions and contamination of grains with trichothecene mycotoxins including; nivalenol (NIV), deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON), and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON). The objectives of this study were to identify strains of F. graminearum isolated in Korea from 2012-harvested wheat grain and to test the pathogenicity of these NIV- and DON-producing isolates. Three hundred and four samples of wheat grain, harvested in 2012 in Chungnam, Chungbuk, Gyeongnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, and Gangwon provinces were collected. We recovered 44 isolates from the 304 samples, based on the PCR amplification of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA region and sequencing. Our findings indicate that F. asiaticum was the predominant (95% of all isolates) species in Korea. We recovered both F. asiaticum and F. graminearum from samples collected in Chungnam province. Of the 44 isolates recovered, 36 isolates had a NIV genotype while 8 isolates belonged to the DON genotype (3-ADON and 15-ADON). In order to characterize the pathogenicity of the strains collected, disease severity was assessed visually on various greenhouse-grown wheat cultivars inoculated using both NIV- and DON-producing isolates. Our results suggest that Korean F. graminearum isolates from wheat belong to F. asiaticum producing NIV, and both F. graminearum and F. asiaticum are not significantly different on virulence in wheat cultivars.