• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.120-125
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• 2011

In order to exploit Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 as of plant growth promoting agent, different inoculation methods have been evaluated. The present study aimed to evaluate soil, foliar, and soil+foliar inoculations of M. oryzae CBMB20 to improve the growth, fruit yield, and nutrient uptake of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under greenhouse conditions. The population range of green fluorescent protein (gfp)-tagged M. oryzae CBMB20 using the three inoculation methods was 2.5-2.9 ${\log}_{10}$ cfu/g in the rhizosphere and 4.5-6.0 ${\log}_{10}$ cfu/g in the phyllosphere of red pepper plants. Confocal laser scanning microscopy results confirmed the colonization of M. oryzae CBMB20 endophytically on leaf surface. Plant height, fruit dry weight, and total biomass were significantly higher ($p{\leq}0.05$) in all M. oryzae CBMB20 inoculation methods as compared to non-inoculated control. Furthermore, uptake of mineral nutrients such as N, P, K, Ca, and Mg in red pepper plants in all M. oryzae CBMB20 inoculation methods was higher than in non-inoculated control. Comparative results of inoculation methods clearly demonstrated that soil+foliar inoculation of M. oryzae CBMB20 lead to the highest biomass accumulation and nutrient uptake which may be due to its efficient colonization in the red pepper rhizosphere and phyllosphere.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.514-521
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• 2010

Fertilizers, plant growth promoting microbes and plant growth regulators should be combined together and used in order to achieve a maximal plant growth and yield in modern sustainable and ecological agricultural systems. In this study rhizosphere inoculation of Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 and foliar application of methanol were tested for their ability to promote the growth of red pepper plant at different levels of organic fertilizer. Rhizosphere inoculation of M. oryzae CBMB20 and foliar spray of methanol could promote red pepper plant growth and yield, and the growth promoting effect induced by the combined treatment of M. oryzae CBMB20 inoculation and foliar spray of methanol was more distinctive. This result suggests that a synergistic growth promoting effect of methanol spray and M. oryzae CBMB20 inoculation can be obtained in the combined treatment of the two growth promoting factors. The growth promoting effect was more significant in the lower fertilization rate, and the plant growth was not significantly different between 100 and 300% fertilizer treatments where both M. oryzae CBMB20 inoculation and foliar spray of methanol were included. This result indicates that, with the plant growth promoting effect of M. oryzae CBMB20 and methanol, fertilizer application rate can be profoundly reduced without any significant decreases in biomass accumulation and yield of crops.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.93-98
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• 2013

Bacterial wilt is a vascular wilt disease caused by Xanthomonas translucens pv. poae that infects Poa annua, a grass that is commonly found on golf course greens throughout the world. Bacterial wilt causes symptoms of etiolation, wilting, and foliar necrosis. The damage is most prevalent during the summer and the pathogen can kill turf under conditions optimal for disease development. Fifteen isolates of X. translucens pv. poae were collected from northern regions in the United States and tested for virulence against P. annua. All 15 isolates were pathogenic on P. annua, but demonstrated variable levels of virulence when inoculated onto P. annua under greenhouse conditions. The isolates were divided into two virulence groups. The first group containing four isolates generally resulted in less than 40% mortality following inoculation. The second group, containing the other eleven isolates, produced between 90 and 100% mortality following inoculation. These results suggest that differences in the virulence of bacterial populations present on a golf course may result in more or less severe amounts of observed disease.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2000

From the soils of soybean fields in Cotton Branch Station (CBS) and Pine Tree Station (PTS), Arkansas, USA, various single spore isloates of sudden death syndrome (SDS) pathogen were obtained on modified Nash ＆ Snyder's medium (MNSM) with dilution plating technique and transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium to identify the cultural colony shape. The colony shapes of these isolates resembled F. solani isolate 171 which was white and chalky shaped on MNSM and most of them had unique form of morphology which produced white margin and blue center colony on PDA. Although, some of these isolates had more dark blue or showed slightly different color, all isolates that were selected randomly for green-house inoculation assay produced typical foliar symptoms on leaves of soybean, Hartz 6686. To determine the genetic differences among the isolates, mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was conducted with fourty isolates from both fields, using mtDNA probes, 2U18 and 4U40, derived from Colletotrichum orbiculare. We obtained distinctive RFLPs in each treatment of restriction enzyme, EcoRI and HaeⅢ. Isolates, 11-2-5 and 14-3-1-1, from CBS and isolates, 104-3-1-2 and 701-1-5-1, from PTS showed different band patterns from 171 in both or in either treatment of restriction enzymes. Even if some of these isolates showed heterogeneous, they were more closer to 171 than PN603. And, also, rest of the thirty-six isolates had exactly same polymorphisms as 171 in each treatment of restriction enzyme. Although, some of the isolates showed the different morphological shape on PDA and slightly different band patterns on RFLPs, all of the isolates selected on MNSM due to their distinctive colony shape from other fungi produced the typical foliar symptoms on soybean leaves in greenhouse inoculation assay. It might be suggested that these isolates were not genetically different from check isolate 171 and they were unique strain of F. solani.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.90.1-90
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• 2003

Colonization of Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6, a nonpathogenic rhizobacterium, on the roots induced systemic resistance in cucumber plants against tai-get leaf spot, a foliar disease caused by Corynespora cassiicola. A cDNA library was constructed using mRNA extracted from the cucumber leaves 12 h after inoculation with C. cassiicola, which roots had been previously treated with O6. To identify the genes involved in the O6-mediated induced systemic resistance (ISR), we employed a subtractive hybridization method using mRNAs extracted from C cassiicola-inoculated cucumber leaves with and without previous O6 treatment on the plant roots. Differential screening of the cDNA library led to the isolation of 5 distinct genesencoding a GTP-binding protein, a putative senescence-associated protein, a galactinol synthase, a hypersensitive-induced reaction protein, and a putative aquaporin. Expressions of these genes are not induced by O6 colonization alone. Before challenge inoculation, no increase in the gene transcriptions could be detected in previously O6-treated and untreated plants but, upon subsequent inoculation with the pathogenic fungus, transcription levels in O6-treated plants rose significantly faster and stronger than in untreated plants. Therefore, the O6-mediated ISR may be associated with an enhanced capacity for the rapid and effective activation of cellular defense responses which becomes apparent only after challenge inoculation on the distal, untreated plant parts, as suggested by Conrath et al. (2002). This work was supported by a grant R11-2001-092-02006-0 from the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation through the Agricultural Plant Stress Research Center at Chonnam National University.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.406-416
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• 2019

Strawberry, an important fruit crop, is susceptible to a large number of pathogens that reduce fruit quality and productivity. In this study, the effect of a biostimulant prepared from Ascophyllum nodosum extract (ANE) (0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%) was evaluated on powdery mildew progression under greenhouse and field conditions. In the greenhouse, application of 0.2% ANE showed maximum reduction in powdery mildew progression as compared to the control. Forty-eight hour post-inoculation, foliar spray of 0.2% ANE reduced spore germination by 75%. Strawberry leaves sprayed with ANE showed higher total phenolic and flavonoid content in response to powdery mildew infection. Furthermore, application of ANE elicited defense response in strawberry plants by induction of defense-related enzymes, such as phenylalanine ammonia lyase, polyphenol oxidase, and peroxidase activity. In field conditions, foliar spray of 0.2% ANE showed a reduction of 37.2% of natural incidence of powdery mildew infection as compared to the control. ANE sprayed plant also reduces the severity of powdery mildew infection under natural conditions. These results indicate that application of ANE induces the strawberry plant's active defense against powdery mildew infection by induction of secondary metabolism and regulating the activities of defense-related enzymes.

• 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.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2021

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), the most prevalent virus in chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), negatively affects chili pepper production in South Korea. In this study, foliar spraying with β-glucans obtained from the mycelial walls of the yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans inhibited CMV infection of chili pepper if applied before virus inoculation. At three concentrations, β-glucans from A. pullulans significantly ameliorated CMV symptoms in treated chili pepper; the effect was greater in plants treated with 0.01% β-glucans than 0.005% or 0.001% β-glucans. Double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that these β-glucans treatments resulted in 1.7- to 10-fold reductions in CMV accumulation in the treated chili pepper. The glucans did not act directly on the virus and did not interfere with virus disassembly or replication. Foliar spraying with 0.01% β-glucans from A. pullulans at 24 hr intervals for 3 days significantly increased plant height, the total number of fruit, and the fresh weight of chili pepper fruit. However, the stem diameter of chili pepper treated with β-glucans did not increase significantly. These results indicate that foliar spraying with β-glucans from A. pullulans acts an antiviral agent against CMV infection and stimulates chili pepper growth.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.81-93
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• 2016

Out of plant-associated bacteria, certain plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) have been reported to increase plant growth and productivity and to elicit induced resistance against plant pathogens. In this study, our objective was to broaden the range of applications of leaf-colonizing PGPB for foliar parts of road tress and pepper. Total 1,056 isolates of endospore-forming bacteria from tree phylloplanes were collected and evaluated for the enzymatic activities including protease, lipase, and chitinase and antifungal capacities against two fungal pathogens, Colletotrichum graminicola and Botrytis cinerea. Fourteen isolates classified as members of the bacilli group displayed the capacity to colonize pepper leaves after spraying inoculation. Three strains, 5B6, 8D4, and 8G12, and the mixtures were employed to evaluate growth promotion, yield increase and defence responses under field condition. Additionally, foliar application of bacterial preparation was applied to the road tress in Yuseong, Daejeon, South Korea, resulted in increase of chlorophyll contents and leaf thickness, compared with non-treated control. The foliar application of microbial preparation reduced brown shot-hole disease of Prunus serrulata L. and advanced leaf abscission in Ginkgo biloba L. Collectively, our results suggest that leaf-colonizing bacteria provide potential microbial agents to increase the performance of woody plants such as tree and pepper through spray application.

• Mycobiology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.186-190
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of foliar endophytic fungi and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on plant community structure in experimental microcosms containing an assemblage of five species of plants (Oenothera odorata, Plantago asiatica, Trifolium repens, Isodon japonicas and Aster yomena). Leaves of Sasa borealis, Potentilia fragarioides, and Viola mandshurica were collected in Chungbuk, Korea. Endophytic fungi were isolated from the surface sterilized leaves and identified to species level using molecular and morphological techniques. Four isolates of the endophytic fungi were inoculated to the leaves of host plants in the microcosms. Also, three species of AMF spores were extracted from pure cultures and the mixture of the three species inoculated to the roots of the plants. After four months of growth in a green house, effects of both symbiotic fungi on plant species diversity, community composition and productivity were examined. The plant species diversity showed significant differences with inoculation of the symbiotic fungi. Results indicate that AMF significantly affect plant productivity and plant community structure.