Kyung-Sook Han

Screening of Tomato Cultivars Resistant to Bacterial Wilts

Bacterial wilts, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, is a very destructive disease to tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) in Korea. Selection of resistant cultivar is the best way to prevent or reduce the occurrence of this disease. Thirty-nine tomato cultivars, twenty-one cherry tomato cultivars and thirteen rootstock tomato cultivars were inoculated with Ralstonia solanacearum, to evaluate tomato cultivars for resistance against bacterial wilts. Thirty-seven cultivars were highly susceptible to bacterial wilts and 61-100% of their whole tissue became wilted within 10 days after inoculation. Twenty-four cultivars showed moderate resistance and twelve were resistant to bacterial wilts. In an evaluation of 73 major commercial cultivars, ‘Lilyance’, ‘TP-7’, ‘Choice’, ‘Dadaki’, ‘Akiko’, ‘Redstar’, ‘Match’, ‘B-blocking’, ‘Magnet’, ‘Support’, ‘Friend’ and ‘Special’ were found to have a high level of resistance to bacterial wilts of tomatoes.

First Report of Myrothecium roridum Causing Leaf and Stem Rot Disease on Peperomia quadrangularis in Korea

Abstract In 2010, symptoms of leaf and stem rot were observed on potted plants (Peperomia quadrangularis) in a greenhouse in Yongin, Korea. The causative pathogen was identified as Myrothecium roridum based on morphological data, internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis, and pathogenicity test. To our knowledge, this is the first report of M. roridum causing leaf and stem rot disease on P. quadrangularis in Korea and elsewhere worldwide.

First Report of Pink Mold Rot on Tomato Fruit Caused by Trichothecium roseum in Korea

Pink mold rot of tomato occurred very severly on tomato farm in Paju, Gyounggi Province, Korea, in July 2005. The infected fruits were dropped and abandoned and the symptoms were similar to calcium deficient tomatoes. But symptom was a slight water-soaked area on or near the blossom end of the fruit and firm greyish-brown lesions were most found at the blossom-end of affected fruits. lesions caused by the pink mold fungus possess a water soaked margin and rise to characteristic orange-pink spores. Also when the diseased tomato was cut, the inside of tomatoes showed completely rotted with pink mold. The causal fungus was identified as Trichothecium roseum based on mycological characteristics. This is the first report of T. roseum infecting greenhouse tomatoes in Korea.

First Report of Sclerotium Rot on Cymbidium Orchids Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii in Korea

Sclerotium rot was found on Cymbidium orchids at Seosan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea, in July, 2010. Symptoms occurred on low leaves, which turned yellowish, after which the entire plant wilted. Severely infected plants were blighted and eventually died. White mycelial mats and sclerotia appeared on pseudobulbs. Based on the mycological characteristics and pathogenicity, the causal fungus was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii. This is the first report of new Sclerotium rot on Cymbidium spp. caused by S. rolfsii in Korea.

Effect of Temperature, Relative Humidity on Germination and Development of Powdery Mildew (Leveillula taurica) on Pepper and Its Inoculation Method

Pepper powdery mildew, Leveillula taurica is one of the most important pathogens of pepper in the greenhouses and fields in Korea and is becoming a worldwide disease. These experiments were carried out to investigate the optimal germination, disease development conditions, disease incidence and effective inoculation methods of pepper powdery mildew. The incidence of powdery mildew was investigated throughout the country based on the major pepper growing areas in 2009. The average rate of infected leaves ranged from 15.3% to 81.8% in greenhouses and fields. Powdery mildew incidences were more severe in greenhouses than those of fields. The optimal temperature for conidial germination was and showed the highest germination at 6 hs after treatment. The range of temperature for germination was to . Temperature of greater than and below affected the abnormal germination and germ tube elongation. The optimal relative humidity for germination and germ tube elongation was 85% and germination increased as relative humidity increased. Disease development started 8 days after inoculation and showed the highest disease severity at 15 days in greenhouse and field regardless of varieties. Among three different inoculation methods tested the spore dropping method was better than touching with infected leaves and spraying with spore suspension. However, the method has limitation in mass inoculation due to the amount of time consumed.

Environmental Factors on the Development of Root Rot on Ginseng Caused by Cylindrocarpon destructans

The fungus Cylindrocarpon destructans is the cause of root rot in many ginseng production areas in Korea. A total of 57 isolates of C. destructans were recovered from diseased roots in a survey of ginseng–growing fields from 2011-2012. Among these isolates, 37% were classified as highly virulent (causing lesions on unwounded mature roots) and 61% were weakly virulent(causing lesions only on previously wounded roots). Radial growth of highly and weakly virulent isolates on potato dextrose agar was highest at 20C and there was no growth at 35C. Mycelial mass production was significantly (P = 0.05) lower at pH 7.0 compared with pH 5.0. To study the effects of pH (5.0 and 7.0) and wounding on disease development, ginseng roots were grown hydroponically in nutrient solution. Lesions were significantly larger (P < 0.01) at pH 5.0 compared with pH 7.0 and wounding enhanced disease by a highly virulent isolate at both pHs. In artificially infested soil, 2-yearold ginseng roots were most susceptible to Cylindrocarpon root rot among all root ages tested (1 to 4 years) when evaluated using a combined scale of disease incidence and severity. Root rot severity was significantly (P<0.05) enhanced by increasing the inoculum density from 3.5 × 10 cfu/g of soil to 2.0×10 cfu/g of soil.

Sclerotium blight of Neofinetia falcata Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii in Korea

The Sclerotium blight was found on Neofinetia falcata at Yong-in city, Gyenggi-do, Korea. The symptom occurred low leaves yellowish and wilt of a whole plant. Severely infected plants were blighted and dies eventually. White mycelial mats appeared on the surface of basal stem and bulbs and the sclerotia were formed on stems, roots, and sphagnum moss. The sclerotia were spherical in shape, 1~3 mm in size and white to brown in color. The optimum temperature for the growth and sclerotia formation was on PDA. On the pathogenicity test, the first symptom was appeared 5 days after inoculation and development to severe stem rot and blight. The causal fungus was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii and we suggested to call that the new Sclerotium blight on Neofinetia falcata caused by Sclerotium rolfsii in Korea.

Microflora of phytopathogen-transferring Bradysia agrestis: a step toward finding ideal candidates for paratransgenesis

Owing to the effect of symbiotic gut bacteria on the proliferation of infectious disease-transferring insects and their potential as paratransgenic tools, their identification or securing their use in controlling insect vectors is urgently needed. Bradysia agrestis is one of the major plant epidemic vectors in East Asia; however, its normal microbiota remains unstudied. This research was primarily designed to secure promising candidates for use in a paratransgenic approach to phytopathogen control, as well as to provide a picture of the gut microbiota of wild-caught B. agrestis from a blight field. A total of 180 larvae from three different regions in South Korea were analyzed for their gut microfloral composition. Diverse bacterial strains were purely isolated based on morphological differences in microbiological media. We found a total of 64 bacterial strains in the B. agrestis midgut and analyzed their 16S rRNA gene sequences for molecular identification and phylogenetic characterization. Furthermore, the microbial diversity of each normal microbiota group was analyzed with various diversity indices. Bacterial biota including species diversity, richness or species distribution, species constituents, and dominance varied by each regional vector group. The most widely distributed species was Bacillus aryabhattai, and the most common genera were Bacillus and Microbacterium. These saprophytic bacteria were isolated from all regional groups and their potential as paratransgenic candidates for controlling B. agrestis-mediated plant disease is discussed.

First Report of Fusarium subglutinans Causing Leaf Spot Disease on Cymbidium Orchids in Korea

Abstract In 2006~2010, leaf spot symptoms, that is, small, yellow spots that turned into dark brown-to-black lesions surrounded by a yellow halo, were observed on Cymbidium spp. in Gongju, Taean, and Gapyeong in Korea. A Fusarium species was continuously isolated from symptomatic leaves; in pathogenicity testing, isolates caused leaf spot symptoms consisting of sunken, dark brown lesions similar to the original ones. The causal pathogen was identified as Fusarium subglutinans based on morphological and translation elongation factor 1-alpha sequence analyses. This is the first report of F. subglutinans as the cause ofleaf spot disease in Cymbidium spp. in Korea.

Occurrence and Pathogenicity of Verticillium Wilt on Chrysanthemum Caused by Verticillium dahliae

A wilt disease on the greenhouse-grown chrysanthemum occurred at Kumi, Masan and Busan, Korea in . Symptoms of wilting, yellowing, and marginal burning started from lower leaves and progressed upward. Early symptoms often appeared on one side, involving only one part of the plant or one side of individual leaves or stems without a vascular discoloration. Vascular tissues of the infected leaf-base`s discolored to brown. Fungal isolates obtained from discolored tissues were identified as Verticillium dahliae based on its cultural and morphological characteristics. The fungus showed whitish to creamy colony pattern with abundant dark brown to black elongated microsclerotia on PDA. Conidiophores were verticillately branched and conidia were ellipsoidal to sub-cylindrical shape, and measured as . Pathogenicity tests by root dipping resulted in similar symptoms observed in the naturally infected chrysanthemum in fields.