In an attempt to develop a biological control agent against mycotoxigenic Fusarium species, we isolated Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain DA12 from soil and explored its antimicrobial activities. DA12 was active against the growth of mycotoxigenic F. asiaticum, F. graminearum, F. proliferatum, and F. verticillioides both in vitro and in planta (maize). Further screening using dual culture extended the activity range of strain DA12 against other fungal pathogens including Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum coccodes, Endothia parasitica, Fusarium oxysporum, Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae, and Rhizoctonia solani. The butanol extract of the culture filtrate of B. amyloliquefaciens DA12 highly inhibited the germination of F. graminearum macroconidia with inhibition rate 83% at a concentration of 31.3 μg/ml and 100% at a concentration of 250 μg/ml. The antifungal metabolite from the butanol extract was identified as iturin A by thin layer chromatography-bioautography. In addition, volatile organic compounds produced by DA12 were able to inhibit mycelial growth of various phytopathogenic fungi. The volatile compounds were identified as 2-heptanone, 5-methyl heptanone and 6-methyl heptanone by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. These results indicate that the antagonistic activity of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens DA12 was attributable to iturin A and volatile heptanones, and the strain could be used as a biocontrol agent to reduce the development of Fusarium diseases and mycotoxin contamination of crops.
Fasciola hepatica is a trematode that causes zoonosis mainly in cattle and sheep and occasionally in humans. Fascioliasis has been reported in Korea; however, determining F. hepatica infection in snails has not been done recently. Thus, using PCR, we evaluated the prevalence of F. hepatica infection in snails at 4 large water-dropwort fields. Among 349 examined snails, F. hepatica-specific internal transcribed space 1 (ITS-1) and/or ITS-2 markers were detected in 12 snails and confirmed using sequence analysis. Morphologically, 213 of 349 collected snails were dextral shelled, which is the same aperture as the lymnaeid snail, the vectorial host for F. hepatica. Among the 12 F. hepatica-infected snails, 6 were known first intermediate hosts in Korea (Lymnaea viridis and L. ollula) and the remaining 6 (Lymnaea sp.) were potentially a new first intermediate host in Korea. It has been shown that the overall prevalence of the snails contaminated with F. hepatica in water-dropwort fields was 3.4%; however, the prevalence varied among the fields. This is the first study to estimate the prevalence of F. hepatica infection using the vectorial capacity of the snails in Korea.
[Purpose] The present study investigated a wide range of stroke patients living in South
Korea using the Korean Community Health Survey raw data to determine the correlation
between stroke and physical activity. [Subjects and Methods] This study used raw data from
the 2012 Korean Community Health Survey. The total number of participants was 228,921; of
the 4,475 stroke patients who had been diagnosed by a medical doctor or an oriental
medical doctor, the data for 4,460 patients, excluding 15 whose amount of physical
activity was unclear, were used in the analysis. [Results] The amount of physical activity
performed by patients who had sequelae was significantly lower than that performed by
patients who no longer had sequelae. Similarly, for the type of sequelae, palsy in the
arms and legs, facial palsy, communication disability, swallowing or eating disability,
and visual disability were associated with lower physical activity. Furthermore, as the
number of sequelae increased, patients performed significantly less physical activity.
[Conclusion] The findings suggest that when decisions on national policies and budgets are
made, methods for increasing the physical activity of patients with a history of stroke
should be considered.
[Purpose] This study was conducted to investigate the effects of forced breathing
exercise on the trunk functions of chronic low back pain patients. [Subjects and Methods]
Twenty-four patients with chronic low back pain were randomly divided into groups of
respiratory effort and trunk stabilization exercises. The exercises were performed for 45
minutes, 3 times per week for 6 weeks. Spinal stabilization was measured as the
compensation of thesagittal angle joint in relation to the lumbar external load. [Results]
After the intervention, the forced breathing and stabilization exercise groups showed a
significant difference in lumbar spine stabilization between the first and second stress
tests and the control group also showed a significant difference after the intervention.
The M1 and M2 tests of lumbar spine stabilization revealed no significant differences
between the groups. [Conclusion] The results of this research demonstrate that forced
breathing exercise therapy is effective at improving the trunk stability and daily living
activities of chronic low back pain patients.
Fascioliasis, a food-borne trematode zoonosis, is a disease primarily in cattle and sheep and occasionally in humans. Water dropwort (Oenanthe javanica), an aquatic perennial herb, is a common second intermediate host of Fasciola, and the fresh stems and leaves are widely used as a seasoning in the Korean diet. However, no information regarding Fasciola species contamination in water dropwort is available. Here, we collected 500 samples of water dropwort in 3 areas in Korea during February and March 2015, and the water dropwort contamination of Fasciola species was monitored by DNA sequencing analysis of the Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica specific mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2). Among the 500 samples assessed, the presence of F. hepatica
cox1 and 1TS-2 markers were detected in 2 samples, and F. hepatica contamination was confirmed by sequencing analysis. The nucleotide sequences of cox1 PCR products from the 2 F. hepatica-contaminated samples were 96.5% identical to the F. hepatica
cox1 sequences in GenBank, whereas F. gigantica
cox1 sequences were 46.8% similar with the sequence detected from the cox1 positive samples. However, F. gigantica
cox1 and ITS-2 markers were not detected by PCR in the 500 samples of water dropwort. Collectively, in this survey of the water dropwort contamination with Fasciola species, very low prevalence of F. hepatica contamination was detected in the samples.
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