• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1946-1954
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize a lytic Yersinia enterocolitica-specific phage (KFS-YE) as a biocontrol agent. KFS-YE was isolated and purified with the final concentration of ($11.72{\pm}0.03$) log PFU/ml from poultry. As observed by transmission electron microscopy, KFS-YE consisted of an icosahedral head and a contractile tail, and was classified in the Myoviridae family. KFS-YE showed excellent narrow specificity against Y. enterocolitica only. Its lytic activity was stable at wide ranges of pH (4-11) and temperature ($4-50^{\circ}C$). The latent period and burst size of KFS-YE were determined to be 45 min and 38 PFU/cell, respectively. KFS-YE showed relatively robust storage stability at -20, 4, and $22^{\circ}C$ for 40 weeks. KFS-YE demonstrated a bactericidal effect in vitro against Y. enterocolitica and provided excellent efficiency with a multiplicity of infection as low as 0.01. This study demonstrated the excellent specificity, stability, and efficacy of KFS-YE as a novel biocontrol agent. KFS-YE may be employed as a practical and promising biocontrol agent against Y. enterocolitica in food.

• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.223-234
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• 1999

Antibiotic activity of selected biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum ABGS-95 showed 59% to P. graminicola, 65% to P. aphanidermatum and 57% to Rhizoctonia solani compare to non-treated control. ABGC-95 showed resistant to major agrochemicals such as metalaxyl+mancozeb, etridiazole, propamocarb, toclofos methly, terbuconazole, pencycuron and flutolanil. The biocontrol agent T. harzianum ABGC-95 grew vigorously in low nutrient media and water agar. And sand mixture with wheat bran or mowing debris of zoysia grass also provided good growth of the organism. Application of sand mixture of Trichoderma spp. into aeration cores in golf showed most effective biocontrol of pythium blight. Top dressing application of T. harzianum ABGC-95 reached 83% control efficient while spray application of same biocontrol agent showed only 69% control. The biocontrol agent ABGC-95 successfully suppressed the population density of Pythium spp. in soil. The population density of total Pythium spp. in ABGC-95 treated soil was sustained almost same population at beginning(early May) up to end of August, while the population in untreated control plot was increased 5 times that of beginning and even 10 times in pathogen accumulated soil.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.221-224
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• 2002

In vitro and in vivo activities of a biocontrol agent, Serratia plymuthica strain A2l-4, was evaluated for the control of Phytophthora blight of pepper, Strain A2l-4 inhibited mycelial growth, germination of zoosporangia and cystospores, and formation of zoospore and zoosporangia of Phytophthora capsici in vitro. In the pot experiment, incidence of Phytophthora blight of pepper in non-treated control was 100% at 14 days after inoculation, while no disease was observed in the plot treated with S. plymuthica A2l-4. In the greenhouse test, infection rate of pepper in the non-treated plots was 74.5%, while it was only 12.6％ in the plots treated with A2l-4. Results indicate that S. plymuthica A2l-4 is a potential biocontrol agent for Phytophthora blight of pepper.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 1994

A bacterial strain YB-70 which has powerful biocontrol activity against Fusarium solani causing plant root-rot resulting in considerable losses of many economical crops was isolated and selected from over 500 isolates from a ginseng rhizosphere in suppressive soil, and identified as a strain of Bacillus subtilis. In several biochemical and in vitro antibiosis tests on F. solani with culture filterates from B. subtilis YB-70, our data strongly indicated metabolites which mediated inhibition of the fungal growth were presumed to be heat-stable, micromolecular, and ethyl alcohol solutable antifungal substances. Suppression of root-rot by B. subtilis YB-70 was demonstrated in pot trials with eggplant (Solanum melongena L) seedlings. Treatment of the seedling with the bacterial suspension (1.7~1.9$\times$$10^5$ CFU/g) in F. solani-infested soil significantly reduced disease incidences by 68 to 76% after 25 to 30 days. The results supported that B. subtilis YB-70 have excellent potentials as a biocontrol agent.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.408-420
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• 2019

Background: Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) is an invaluable medicinal plant containing various bioactive metabolites (e.g., ginsenosides). Owing to its long cultivation period, ginseng is vulnerable to various biotic constraints. Biological control using endophytes is an important alternative to chemical control. Methods: In this study, endophytic Trichoderma citrinoviride PG87, isolated from mountain-cultivated ginseng, was evaluated for biocontrol activity against six major ginseng pathogens. T. citrinoviride exhibited antagonistic activity with mycoparasitism against all ginseng pathogens, with high endo-1,4-${\beta}$-D-glucanase activity. Results: T. citrinoviride inoculation significantly reduced the disease symptoms caused by Botrytis cinerea and Cylindrocarpon destructans and induced ginsenoside biosynthesis in ginseng plants. T. citrinoviride was formulated as dustable powder and granules. The formulated agents also exhibited significant biocontrol activity and induced ginsenosides production in the controlled environment and mountain area. Conclusion: Our results revealed that T. citrinoviride has great potential as a biological control agent and elicitor of ginsenoside production.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.87.2-87
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• 2003

Long-term repeated culturing of biocontrol agents on a certain medium often results in reduced biocontrol efficacy and altered physiology. Effect of culturing media on biocontrol ability and physiological state of Burkholderia gladioli strain B543 was investigated. Over 20 times repeated cultivation of B. giadioli strain B543 on Kings B medium or nutrient agar medium showed improved biological control of cucumber damping-off caused by Pythium ultimum, while one time cultivation on KB or NA did not. The repeated cultivation also induced the physiological changes of the biocontrol agent such as antifungal activity and the production of protease and siderophore. Our result indicates that adaptation to proper culturing medium can alter biocontrol ability and must consider in optimizing the use of biocontrol agents.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.59-63
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• 2005

Bacillus subtilis S1-0210 was selected as a biological agent against Botrytis cinerea in strawberry. The isolate inhibited mycelial growth of B. cinerea in vitro tests. A wettable powder formulation of B. subtilis S1-0210 significantly reduced infection rates with lower than 5%, compared with higher than 70% of infection rates in untreated control. The formulation showed 85 to 89% control efficacies of gray mold incidences on fruits of strawberry in pots. Pre-treatment of the agent was more effective in controlling gray mold on fruits and leaves than post-treatment at the early stage of disease development. The formulation also showed 70% control efficacy of gray mold incidence on fruits of strawberry in a field trial. The results indicate that B. subtilis S1-0210 in the wettable powder formulation may be a potential biocontrol agent to control gray mold on strawberry.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.161-165
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• 2007

Cultivation of a biocontrol agent on a certain medium often results in reduced biocontrol efficacy and alters physiological state. In our previous study, Burkholderia gladioli strain B543 with long-term subculture on tryptic soy agar resulted in significantly reduced biocontrol ability against cucumber damping-off caused by P. ultimum. Therefore, we investigated the influence of laboratory culturing media on biocontrol activity and physiological state of Burkholderia gladioli strain B543 by using long-term repeated culture on a certain medium. When isolate B543 were successionally cultured on King's B agar (KBA), tryptic soy agar, nutrient agar (NA), or soil extract agar more than 20 times, the isolate cultured on KBA or NA showed a significantly enhanced biocontrol efficacy and higher population density in the rhizosphere of cucumber compared to that of the others. However, the isolates cultured on KBA more than 20 times showed the lowest production of protease, siderophore, or antifungal substance(s), measured by skim milk agar, Chrome-Azurol-S agar, and potato dextrose agar amended with 10% of the culture filtrate, respectively. Our results suggest that adaptation to proper culturing medium can alter biocontrol ability and physiological state, and we must consider laboratory media in optimizing the use of biocontrol agents.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.364-368
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• 2006

Survival of biocontrol agents and their effective colonization of rhizhosphere are the essential components for successful disease suppression. The effects of hydrogel supplement on bacterial survival and disease control were evaluated in pot and in the field. Addition of 2% hydrogel material to potting soil resulted in significant enhancement of colonization of biocontrol agent Serratia plymuthica A21-4 both in soil and rhizosphere of pepper plants. Rhizosphere colonization of S. plymuthica A21-4 retrieved from 40 days old pepper seedlings indicated 100 times higher bacterial population in hydrogel treated soil than in ordinary pot soil. The pepper plants sown in hydrogelated potting soil showed higher seed germination rate and the better growth of pepper plant than those in ordinary commercial pot soil. Although the suppression of Phytophthora capsid density in the potting soil by treatment of biocontrol agent A21-4 was not significantly different between in hydrogelated soil and ordinary potting soil, the suppression of Phytophthora blight between two treatments was significantly different. A21-4 treatment in hydrogelated potting soil was completely disease-free while same treatment in ordinary potting soil revealed 36% disease incidence. Our field study under natural disease occurrence also showed significantly less disease incidence(12.3%) in the A21-4 treatment in the hydrogelated soil compared to other treatments. Yield promotion of pepper by the A21-4 treatment in the hydrogelated potting soil was also recognized. Our results indicated that hydrogel amendment with biocontrol agent in pot soil would be a good alternative to protect pepper seedlings and increase plant yield.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.138-141
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• 2002

A promising biocontrol agent, A2l-4, against Phytophthora blight of pepper was selected from 351 bacterial isolates collected from rhizosphere soils and roots of onion (Allium fistulosum L.). The isolate A21-4 was identified as Serratia plymuthica based on its 16S rRNA sequence and key characteristics as compared with that of an authentic culture of S. plymuthica (ATCC No. 6109D01). The isolate readily colonized on roots of various crops including pepper when inoculated on seed and not. Strain A2l-4 showed narrow spectrum of antibiotic activity, as revealed in its strong inhibitory activity to the genera Pythium and Phytophthora, but not to Fuasrium and Rhizoctonia. In pot experiments, none of the pepper seedlings treated with A2l-4 were infected by Phytophthora capsici, while 86% of the control plants were killed by the pathogen.