Cylindrocarpon destructans causes root rot disease in ginseng and can survive for a long time, producing chlamydospores. We optimized conditions to induce chlamydospore production from the conidia of C. destructans, isolated from Korean ginseng. This will provide the basis for testing the efficacy of control agents targeting these chlamydospores.
Korea* ; Panax* ; Spores, Fungal*

Page 31. The size of conidia of Alternatia brassicicola should be 20~80x8~25 microm instead of 20~120x8~30 microm.
Alternaria* ; Korea* ; Spores, Fungal

Many of the fungicides and antibiotics currently available against plant pathogens are of limited use due to the emergence of resistant strains. In this study, we examined the effects of diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPIC), an inhibitor of the superoxide producing enzyme NADPH oxidase, against fungal and bacterial plant pathogens. We found that DPIC inhibits fungal spore germination and bacterial cell proliferation. In addition, we demonstrated the potent antibacterial activity of DPIC using rice heads infected with the bacterial pathogen Burkholderia glumae which causes bacterial panicle blight (BPB). We found that treatment with DPIC reduced BPB when applied during the initial flowering stage of the rice heads. These results suggest that DPIC could serve as a new and useful antimicrobial agent in agriculture.
Agriculture ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Burkholderia ; Cell Proliferation ; Flowers ; Germination ; Head ; NADPH Oxidase ; Plants ; Spores, Fungal ; Superoxides

Exposure to fungal spores occurs frequently in indoor as well as in outdoor. Residential area, office, factory and farm fields are the common places of fungal spore exposure. Role of fungal spores as the causes of hypersensitivity reactions, bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis was underestimated due to the lack of intensive research on the allergenicity of fungal spores. As the knowledge on fungal spores is accumulating, it is necessary to reevaluate the role of fungal spores in the field of allergic diseases.
Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic ; Asthma ; Fungi ; Hypersensitivity ; Rhinitis ; Spores ; Spores, Fungal*

Exposure to fungal spores occurs frequently in indoor as well as in outdoor. Residential area, office, factory and farm fields are the common places of fungal spore exposure. Role of fungal spores as the causes of hypersensitivity reactions, bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis was underestimated due to the lack of intensive research on the allergenicity of fungal spores. As the knowledge on fungal spores is accumulating, it is necessary to reevaluate the role of fungal spores in the field of allergic diseases.
Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic ; Asthma ; Fungi ; Hypersensitivity ; Rhinitis ; Spores ; Spores, Fungal*

The typical life cycle of filamentous fungi commonly involves asexual sporulation after vegetative growth in response to environmental factors. The production of asexual spores is critical in the life cycle of most filamentous fungi. Normally, conidia are produced from vegetative hyphae (termed mycelia). However, fungal species subjected to stress conditions exhibit an extremely simplified asexual life cycle, in which the conidia that germinate directly generate further conidia, without forming mycelia. This phenomenon has been termed as microcycle conidiation, and to date has been reported in more than 100 fungal species. In this review, first, we present the morphological properties of fungi during microcycle conidiation, and divide microcycle conidiation into four simple categories, even though fungal species exhibit a wide variety of morphological differences during microcycle conidiogenesis. Second, we describe the factors that influence microcycle conidiation in various fungal species, and present recent genetic studies that have identified the genes responsible for this process. Finally, we discuss the biological meaning and application of microcycle conidiation.
Fungi* ; Germination ; Hyphae ; Life Cycle Stages ; Spores ; Spores, Fungal

A gray mold disease occurred on Cryptotaenia japonica in Korea. All the isolates of Botrytis sp. from the lesions of the diseased plants were identified to be B. cinerea based on the morphological characteristics. Conidia formed on conidiogenous cells were not in chains, hyaline to pale brown, unicellular, ellipsoidal to obovate with a single hilum at the base, entirely verruculose, and 6.3-11.3~6.3-10.0 microm in size. Pathogenicity of the fungus was proved by artificial inoculation on C. japonica. This is the first record of gray mold on C. japonica caused by B. cinerea in Korea.
Botrytis* ; Fungi* ; Hyalin ; Korea* ; Spores, Fungal ; Virulence

Ginseng root rot caused by Cylindrocarpon destructans is the most destructive disease of ginseng. Six different fungicides (thiophanate-methyl, benomyl, prochloraz, mancozeb, azoxystrobin, and iprodione) were selected to evaluate the inhibitory effect on the mycelial growth and conidial germination of C. destructans isolates. Benomyl and prochloraz were found to be the most effective fungicides in inhibiting mycelial growth of all tested isolates, showing 64.7% to 100% inhibition at a concentration of 10 µg/mL, whereas thiophanate-methyl was the least effective fungicide, showing less than 50% inhibition even at a higher concentration of 100 µg/mL. The tested fungicides exhibited less than 20% inhibition of conidium germination at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1 µg/mL. However, the inhibition effect of mancozeb on condium germination of C. destructans was significantly increased to 92% to 99% at a higher concentration of 100 µg/mL, while the others still showed no higher than 30% inhibition.
Benomyl ; Fungi* ; Germination* ; Panax* ; Spores, Fungal ; Thiophanate

Eight species of Marssonina parasitic on 21 species of host plants from Korea are described and illustrated. They are Marssonina brunnea (Ellis & Everh.) Magnus, M. capsulicola (Rostr.) Magnus, M. celastri H.D. Shin & H.T. Lee, M. coronaria (Ellis & Davis) Davis, M. fragariae (Lib.) Kleb., M. juglandis (Lib.) Magnus, M. rosae (Lib.) Died. and M. sennenis (Gonz. Frag.) Vassiljevsky & Karak. Of these, M. capsulicola and M. coronaria sometimes poss three-celled conidia and M. sennenis is characterized by a short appendage at the basal end of the conidia. Morphological features of conidia and host ranges were of taxonomic values for species delimitation.
Fragaria ; Host Specificity ; Korea* ; Rosa ; Spores, Fungal

It is unclear how VvLaeA functions in regulating the growth and development of Volvariella volvacea (Bull. ex. Fr.) Sing.. Firstly, bioinformatics analysis of VvLaeA was carried out in this study. Subsequently, the Vvgpd promoter and the open reading frame (ORF) fragment of VvlaeA were amplified and fused by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The fusion fragment was cloned into the pK2 (bar) plasmid. The recombinant construct pK2(bar)-OEVvlaeA was transfected into Beauveria bassiana by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Finally, the growth and development of the transformants were examined. The results showed that VvLaeA shared a low homology with similar proteins in other fungi. Compared with the wild type, the colony diameter of the transformant was significantly increased. However, the pigment deposition, conidial yields and germination rates were significantly decreased. The overexpression strains were more sensitive to stresses than that of the wild type. Further studies showed the conidial cell wall properties of the transformants were altered, and the expressions of genes related to the conidial development were significantly down-regulated. Collectively, VvLaeA increased the growth rate of B. bassiana strains and negatively regulated the pigmentation and conidial development, which shed a light for the functional identification of straw mushroom genes.
Beauveria/metabolism* ; Spores, Fungal ; Growth and Development