Ki-Woong Nam

Identification of Acremonium acutatum and Trichothecium roseum isolated from Grape with White Stain Symptom in Korea

Abstract During 2010 and 2012 grape harvest seasons in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, a white stain symptom was observed on the harvested grape fruits in ‘Campbell-Early’ and ‘Kyoho’ varieties. In samples collected from the infected vine, two different strains of pathogenic fungi have been found and identified as Acremonium acutatum and Trichothecium roseum based on fungal morphology and nucleotide sequence of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and supported by the phylogenetic analysis of the rDNA-ITS region. The DNA homologies of the isolated strains were 99.8% and 99.6% identical with T. roseum (IFB-22133) and A. acutatum (CBS682.71), respectively. In the pathogenicity test, the spores of A. acutatum and T. roseum sprayed on the grapes caused white stain symptoms on the fruits in two weeks after the artificial inoculation, which is similar to observations in the field. To our knowledge, this is the first report of white stain symptoms caused by A. acutatum and T. roseum on the grapes in Korea.

Microbial Contamination Levels of Strawberries at Domestic Farms of South Korea

Foodborne illness due to the consumption of contaminated raw strawberries is a continuing food safety concern. This study investigated and evaluated contamination levels of bacteria on strawberries at farms stage to evaluate potential hazards associated with fresh strawberries. A total of 315 samples, 105 samples from 5 sampling sites (A to E) of 21 farms and 210 samples from 1 sampling site of 6 farms, was collected every month for four months and analyzed to enumerate aerobic bacterial counts, Coliforms/E. coli, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, the prevalence study of five pathogens (S. aureus, E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes) was performed on each sample. Aerobic bacterial counts ranged from 0.48 to 6.36 Log CFU/g, with the highest bacterial cell counts recorded for D and E sites. Coliforms were detected in 71 samples (22.5%) with a minimum of 0.48 cfu/g and a maximum of more than 4 Log CFU/g. B. cereus was detected in 98 samples (31.1%) among total samples analyzed. S. aureus was detected in 2 samples with a minimum of 0.48 Log CFU/g and a maximum of 1.38 Log CFU/g. E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes were not isolated from any of the samples. The microbial contamination levels of strawberries determined in this study may be used as the fundamental data for microbiological risk assessment.

Survey of Microbial Contamination of Tomatoes at Farms in Korea

This study investigated and evaluated contamination levels of bacteria on tomatoes at farms stage to evaluate potential hazards associated with fresh tomatoes. A total of 170 samples, 90 samples from 5 sampling sites from 18 farms and 80 samples from 1 sampling site from 4 farms every month for four months, were analyzed to enu- merate aerobic bacterial counts, coliforms, E. coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. Aerobic bacterial counts ranged from 0.48 to 6.15 Log CFU/ g, with the lowest and the highest bacterial cell counts recorded for A site and E site, respectively. Thirty five percent of the samples from the E site contained more than 2 Log CFU/g. Six samples (6.6%) of 90 samples contained B. cereus less than 1 Log CFU/g. In addition, the contamination level of indicator bacteria and B. cereus in tomatoes were higher on March than on April, May and June (P < 0.05). S. aureus, E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and L. monocytogenes were not detected in the tomato samples. The microbial contamination levels of tomatoes deter- mined in this study may be used as the data for microbiological risk assessment.

Ecological Characteristics of White Stain Symptom on the Grape in Korea

BACKGROUND: The white stain symptom of grape clusters and canes by dust-like particles occurred in many vineyards recently. This study was conducted to investigate the ecological characteristics of white stain symptom in grapevines and vineyards. METHODS AND RESULTS: Optimal climate condition for white stain symptom was with 60% of humidity. Moreover, closed condition with same humidity showed higher incidence rate of white stain symptom than ventilation condition. Grape varieties with black berry skin such as Campbell-Early and Kyoho were more sensitive to white stain symptom compare to varieties with green and red berry skin. Although the pathogens were not detected until March, they increased from April, and increased sharply from mid of July. The pathogens may overwinter in the infected stems and/or on the bark as a mycelium. According to the increase of sugar content of grape from August to September, the mycelium which was parasitic on the bark grew to move to the fruits through the stems, and finally reached the fruit stalk to detach berries from the clusters. CONCLUSION: Well ventilation is recommended inside the vineyard since mid-July with roll up an insect net. In addition, infected stems and fruits should be removed out from grapevines infected with pathogens in the vineyards.

The Effect of Yeast(Saccharomyces exiguus SJPAF1) on Odor Emission and Contaminants Reduction in Piggery Slurry

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of yeast(Saccharomyces exiguus SJPAF1, referred to as SA) addition on odor emission and contaminants reduction in piggery sluny. Four different rates of yeast addition were compared: no addition(SA0), 0.7L(SA0.7), 1.0L(SA1.0), and 1.5L(SA1.5) to one tone of piggery slurry. Odor emission tended to decrease with increasing the yeast application with concurrent effects of changes in temperature on outside of reactors. Particularly, reduction in ammonia emission was proportional to the yeast application rate; it reduced from 161.1 ppm in SA0 to 47.1 ppm in SA1.5 after 6 days of treatment Decomposition of piggery shiny by yeast increased to 13.8% more in SA1.5, and total amounts of piggery slurry decreased to 12.5% in SA1.5. Total coliforms were detected below 30MPN in SA1.5, while MPN of Total coliforms were found in SA0. However, the effect of yeast addition in piggery slurry seemed to have no influence on the removal efficiency of contaminants such as BOD, COD, , , . Consequently, the yeast(Saccharomyces exiguus SJPAF1) addition of 1.5% in the piggery sluny seems to have potential applicability for improving agent of pig-farm environment.

Analysis of Pathogenic Microorganism`s Contamination on Cultivation Environment of Strawberry and Tomato in Korea

The purpose of this study was to analyze microbial hazards for cultivation environments and personal hygiene of strawberry and tomato farms at the growth and harvesting stage. Samples were collected from thirty strawberry farms and forty tomato farms located in Korea and tested for Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. To investigate the change in the distribution of the S. aureus and B. cereus, a total of 4,284 samples including air born, soil or medium, mulching film, harvest basket, groves and irrigation water etc. were collected from eight strawberry farms and nine tomato farms for one year. As a result, total S. aureus and B. cereus in all samples were detected. Among the total bacteria of strawberry farms, S. aureus (glove: 0~2.1 Log CFU/100 cm², harvest basket: 0~3.0 Log CFU/100 cm², soil or culture media: 0~4.1 Log CFU/g, mulching film: 0~3.8 Log CFU/100 cm²), B.cereus (glove: 0~2.8 Log CFU/100 cm², harvest basket: 0~4.8 Log CFU/100 cm², soil or culture media: 0~5.3 Log CFU/g, mulching film: 0~4.5 Log CFU/100 cm²) were detected in all samples. The total bacteria of tomato farms, S. aureus (glove: 0~4.0 Log CFU/100 cm², harvest basket: 0~5.0 Log CFU/100 cm², soil or culture media: 0~6.1 Log CFU/g, mulching film: 0~4.0 Log CFU/100 cm²), B. cereus (glove: 0~4.0 Log CFU/100 cm², harvest basket: 0~4.3 Log CFU/100 cm², soil or culture media: 0~5.9 Log CFU/g, mulching film: 0~4.7 Log CFU/100 cm²) were detected in all samples. The contamination of S. aureus and B. cereus were detected in soil, mulching film and harvest basket from planting until harvest to processing, with the highest count recorded from the soil. But S. aureus and B. cereus were not detected in irrigation water samples. The incidence of S. aureus and B. cereus in hydroponics culture farm were less than those in soil culture. The amount of S. aureus and B. cereus detected in strawberry and tomato farms were less than the minimum amount required to produce a toxin that induces food poisoning. In this way, the degree of contamination of food poisoning bacteria was lower in the production environment of the Korea strawberry and tomato, but problems can be caused by post-harvest management method. These results will be used as fundamental data to create a manual for sanitary agricultural environment management, and post-harvest management should be performed to reduce the contamination of hazardous microorganisms.

Effect of Environmental-Friendly Control for White Stain Symptom on Grape

BACKGROUND: White stain symptom caused by Acremonium acutatum and Trichothecium roseum, is one of the most important diseases on the grape. This disease occurs national-wide in Korea and causes irreversible damage on grape, at harvest season. This study was conducted to develop environment-friendly control method against white stain symptom. METHODS AND RESULTS: Environment-friendly materials were tested for control activity against A. acutatum and T. roseum in vitro and in vivo. The effect of environment-friendly materials against white stain symptom on grape in farmers greenhouse was examined. The materials, NaDCC and sulphur, were sprayed three times on the leaves and fruit of grape at the two sites of farmers field, Anseong and Hwaseong of Gyeounggi. To evaluate control effect of NaDCC and sulphur against white stain symptom, the disease severity was investigated after the two materials were sprayed from the disease onset three times at the 7-day intervals. NaDCC showed efficacy of 59.71% for Kyoho and 72.26% for Campbell-Early, and sulphur showed 78.31% for Koyho and 66.19% for Campbell-Early. CONCLUSION: We were selected sulphur and Sodium-Dichloroisocyannurate(NaDCC) based on the results of experiments in vitro. In field test, sulphur and NaDCC showed suppressive effect in the white stain symptom of grape. These results suggested that NaDCC and sulphur selected can be used as control agents for controlling white stain symptom on grape.