Search

Beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua), diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and tobacco cutworm (S. litura) are insect pests causing damage in many economically important vegetables in Korea. Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly known as Bt, has been available as an alternative insecticide for many years. Five commercial Bt products and the mixtures evaluate the control efficacy against three kinds of moths. These commercial Bt products had high control efficacy against instar of diamondback moth, but didn`t show high mortality against beet armyworm and tobacco cutworm. Mixtures of Bt products didn`t have synergistic effects to the tested moths. Also application of twice and four times the recommended concentration didn`t improve the control effects against the tested three species of moths.

In vivo experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of microbial agents on tomato disease occurrences in a sustainable tomato farm in Gong-ju, Chung-nam during 2 years (2010-2011). Two kind of commercial microbial agents (EXTN-1 and Cillus suspension concentrate) and 2 kind of microbial agents (Bacillus subtilis strain 'B4' and 'B17') developing by National academy of agricultural science were used in this study. In the 1st experimental year, the microbial agents were sprayed on leaves for 2-4 times at 1-2 weeks interval from 3 weeks after transplanting, and then disease occurrence were observed. As a result, the control efficacies of commercial EXTN-1 and Cillus suspension concentrate (SC) against gray mold were 59.6% and 50.5% in the treatment of 4 times foliar application at 1 week interval from 3 weeks after transplanting, and the control efficacy of commercial EXTN-1 SC against gray mold was 55.4% in the treatment of 3 times foliar application at 1 week interval from 4 weeks after transplanting. However, the control efficacies of EXTN-1 and Cillus SC were not enough for tomato crop protection against powdery mildew. In the 2nd experimental year, the microbial agents were treated following by the planned combination schedule of transplanting stage drip-watering, early stage root irrigation and early blooming stage foliar application. The control efficacies of EXTN-1 SC and B17 treatment following by transplanting stage drip-watering, 2 times root irrigation at 2 weeks interval root irrigation and 4 times foliar application at 1 weeks interval for gray mold management were 57.0 and 55.1%, respectively. In the case of same treatment for gray mold management mentioned at above, the control efficacies of EXTN-1 SC, B4 and B17 treatment for powdery mildew management were 50.5, 51.3 and 52.5%, respectively.

Streptomyces spp. were isolated from rhizosphere in fallow lands. The Streptomyces spp. were identifiedas Streptomyces griseus (MSS181), Streptomyces griseoaurantiacus (MSS269), Streptomyces microflavus (MSS275),Streptomyces herbaricolor (MSS276) based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. Afterwards, cucumber, pepper, tobaccoand tomato were drenched with the isolates at early growth stages and plant growth such as height and dry weightof plants was measured. By treatment of Streptomyce spp., plant height of cucumber was increased by 16-29%compared to the control, But there were no statistically significant differences in dry weight. When the sameisolates were treated on chili-pepper, plant height and dry weight of chili-pepper were increased respectively by 10-19% and 19-25% compared to the control. The dry weight of tobacco and tomato were increased by 44-73% and65-165%, respectively compared to the control. When antifungal activities of the isolates were tested against plantpathogenic fungi, Streptomyces microflavus (MSS275) effectively inhibited the mycelial growth of Phytophthoracapsici, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.Key words Streptomyces, Plant growth promotion

A mycoparasite, Paraconiothyrium minitans CM2 was selected for biological control of sclerotinia rot of lettuce caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The experiment was carried out in a lettuce greenhouse in Yangpyeong from March to April.. When lettuce sclerotinia rot showed in the early stage of occurrence, Conidial suspension of the mycoparasite was weekly treated once to three times onto soil surface around lettuce plants. Incidence of sclerotinia rot in the once-application plot of the mycoparasite (1 × 10 7 spores/ml) and in the benomyl(WP)-treated plot was 11.0% and 2.7%, respectively, whereas that of control was 31.0%. Incidence of twice- and three- appli- cation plots of the isolate was 7.9% and 12.8%, respectively. For increasing the effect of the mycoparasite, the experiment for the timing of application of P. minitans CM2 was carried out in a lettuce greenhouse in Yangpyeong and Suwon. Control efficacy against lettuce sclerotinia rot in the soil-drenching plots of P. minitans CM2 (5 × 10 6 spores/ml) in the planting was 75.3~84.7%, and control effect by treatment of the isolate at the pot drenching+the soil-drenching plots in the early stage of disease occurrence was 63.8~58.0%. As the results, P. minitans CM2 could be a prospective biofungicide for biological control of sclerotinia rot of lettuce.

We report two-photon probes (FMg1 and FMg2) that can selectively detect intracellular free Mg(2+) ([Mg(2+)](i)) in live cells and tissues by two-photon microscopy. Combined with BCaM, a two-photon probe for near-membrane Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](m)), FMg2 allows dual-color imaging of Mg(2+)/Ca(2+) activities in live cells and [Mg(2+)](i) /[Ca(2+)](m) distributions in live tissues at a depth of 100-200 μm.

Two-photon microscopy (TPM) has become an indispensable tool in the study of biology and medicine due to the capability of this method for molecular imaging deep inside intact tissues. For the maximum utilization of TPM, a variety of two-photon (TP) probes for specific applications are needed. In this article, we report a small-molecule TP probe (ANO1) for nitric oxide (NO) that shows a rapid and specific NO response, a 68-fold fluorescence enhancement in response to NO, and a maximum TP-action cross-section of 170 GM (GM: 10(-50) cm(4) photon(-1)) upon reaction with excess NO. This probe can be easily loaded into cells and tissues and can real-time monitor NO in living tissues at 100-180 μm depth for longer than 1200 s through the use of TPM, with minimum interference from other biologically relevant species.

Membrane distillation (MD) is a special evaporation process to produce fresh water from seawater or contaminated water using membranes. MD has advantages over other evaporation technologies such as multi-stage flash vaporization (MSF) and multi-effect distillation (MED) due to its relatively low energy requirements, allowing the use of solar energy as its heat source. Nevertheless, lack of membrane materials for MD process hinders its practical implementation for desalination and water treatment. In this study, membranes made of carbon nanotube (CNT) are presented for MD. Flat sheet hydrophobic membranes made of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were selected as supports for bucky-paper membranes, allowing formation of CNT bucky-paper without chemical reactions. Laboratory-scale systems were used to evaluate their potential and performance in direct contact MD. Water permeability and salt rejection were analyzed for each case. D.I water and synthetic feed water were used for the lab-scale tests. It was demonstrated that the physical immobilization of CNT on a hydrophobic membrane changed led to an increase in vapor permeability while improving salt rejection.

pH values go live! A ratiometric two-photon (TP) probe (NP1, see scheme) that has a significant TP action cross-section, high photostability, negligible toxicity, and can estimate pH values in live cells and human tissues by two-photon microscopy is described. NP1 can detect the difference in pH between live cells from the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) and the lower esophageal sphincter of patients with and without esophagitis.

We report self-assembled polymeric nanovesicles composed of 1,4-bis{4′-[N,N-bis(6′′-trimethylammoniumhexyl)amino]styryl}benzene tetrabromide (C1), poly[(ethylene oxide)-block-(sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonate)] (Em-An), and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C16). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs confirm the vesicular bilayer structures and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show that the C1/Em-An/C16 complexes form spherical nanostructures with a particle size ranging from 40 to 80 nm. The encapsulation of C1 inside the nanovesicles enhances ∼2-fold the fluorescence quantum yield (η) and two-photon action cross-section (ηδ, where δ is the two-photon absorption cross-section), and allows internalization into the cells, as revealed by the bright two-photon microscopy (TPM) images of human cervical epithelioid carcinoma (HeLa) cells labeled with the nanovesicles. Moreover, nanovesicles containing a chemotherapeutic drug and a neutral molecule can also be prepared. Furthermore, the C1/vesicular complex is disassembled under acidic conditions, highlighting its potential as a pH-responsive smart nanocarrier for the intracellular drug delivery. These results suggest a new possibility of using nanovesicles as efficient two-photon probes for TPM imaging and possibly as nanocarriers for intracellular drug delivery.

Reverse osmosis (RO) technology has developed over the past 40 years to control a 44% market share in the world desalting production capacity and an 80% share in the total number of desalination plants installed worldwide. The application of conventional and low-pressure membrane pretreatment processes to seawater RO (SWRO) desalination has undergone accelerated development over the past decade. Reliable pretreatment techniques are required for the successful operation of SWRO processes, since a major issue is membrane fouling associated with particulate matter/colloids, organic/inorganic compounds, and biological growth. While conventional pretreatment processes such as coagulation and granular media filtration have been widely used for SWRO, there has been an increased tendency toward the use of ultrafiltration/microfiltration (UF/MF) instead of conventional treatment techniques. The literature shows that both the conventional and the UF/MF membrane pretreatment processes have different advantages and disadvantages. This review suggests that, depending on the feed water quality conditions, the suitable integration of multiple pretreatment processes may be considered valid since this would utilize the benefits of each separate pretreatment.

We report two-photon Lysotrackers (CLT-blue and CLT-yellow) that can be excited by 750-840 nm femtosecond laser pulses and emit at 470 and 550 nm, respectively. They can be easily loaded into cells and tissue slices for visualization of lysosomes in live cells and tissues for a long period of time through two-photon microscopy. When combined with appropriate two-photon probes for other biological targets, these novel probes would greatly facilitate the two-photon microscopy colocalization experiments.

We report a ratiometric two-photon probe (SSH-Mito) for mitochondrial thiols. This probe shows a marked blue-to-yellow emission color change in response to RSH, a significant two-photon cross section, good mitochondrial thiol selectivity, low cytotoxicity, and insensitivity to pH over the biologically relevant pH range, allowing the direct visualization of RSH levels in live cells as well as in living tissues at 90-190 μm depth without interference from other biologically relevant species through the use of two-photon microscopy.

We report a two-photon (TP) probe (ACaLN) for near-membrane Ca(2+) that shows a 13-fold TP excited fluorescence (TPEF) enhancement in response to Ca(2+), dissociation constants (K(d)(TP)) of (1.9±0.2) μM, pH-insensitivity at the biologically relevant pH, and can detect near-membrane Ca(2+) in live cells for more than 1500 s and in living tissues at 120 μm depth without interference from other metal ions. Comparison with existing probes provides a useful strategy for the design of efficient TP probes for the near-membrane metal ions.

A series of Zn(2+)-selective two-photon fluorescent probes (AZnM1-AZnN) that had a wide range of dissociation constants (K(d) (TP) =8 nm-12 μM) were synthesized. These probes showed appreciable water solubility (>3 μM), cell permeability, high photostability, pH insensitivity at pH>7, significant two-photon action cross-sections (86-110 GM) upon complexation with Zn(2+), and can detect the Zn(2+) ions in HeLa cells and in living tissue slices of rat hippocampal at a depth of >80 μm without mistargeting and photobleaching problems. These probes can potentially find application in the detection of various amounts of Zn(2+) ions in live cells and intact tissues.

Here, we show that an endophytic bacterial strain, Enterobacter asburiae B1 exhibits the ability to elicit ISR in cucumber, tobacco and Arabidopsis thaliana. This indicates that strain B1 has a widespread ability to elicit ISR on various host plants. In this study, E. asburiae strain B1 did not show antifungal activity against tested major fungal pathogens, Colletotrichum orbiculare, Botrytis cinerea, Phytophthora capsici, Rhizoctonia solani, and Fusarium oxysporum. Moreover, the siderophore production by E. asburiae strain B1 was observed under in vitro condition. In greenhouse experiments, the root treatment of strain B1 significantly reduced disease severity of cucumber anthracnose caused by fungal pathogen C. orbiculare compared to nontreated control plants. By root treatment of strain B1 more than 50% disease control against anthracnose on cucumber was observed in all greenhouse experiments. Simultaneously, under the greenhouse condition, the soil drench of strain B1 and a chemical inducer benzothiadiazole (BTH) to tobacco plants induced GUS activity which is linked with activation of PR promoter gene. Furthermore, in Arabidopsis thaliana plants the soil drench of strain B1 induced the defense gene expression of PR1 and PDF1.2 related to salicylic acid and jasmonic acid/ethylene signaling pathways, respectively. In this study, for the main focus on root colonization by strain B1 associated with defense responses, bacterial cells of strain B1 was tagged with the gfp gene encoding the green fluorescent protein in order to determine the colonization pattern of strain B1 in cucumber. The gfp-tagged B1 cells were found on root surface and internal colonization in root, stem, and leaf. In addition to this, the scanning electron microscopy observation showed that E. asburiae strain B1 was able to colonized cucumber root surface.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the change of molecular weight (MW) profiles in natural organic matter (NOM) through various treatment processes (coagulation, granular activated carbon (GAC), and ozonation) using high performance size exclusion chromatography based on ultraviolet absorbance and dissolved organic detection (HPSEC-UVA-DOC). In addition, relationships between MW profiles and disinfection by-production (DBP) formation were evaluated. Each treatment process results in significant different effects on NOM profiles. Coagulation is effective to remove high molecular weight NOM, while GAC is effective to remove low molecular weight NOM. Ozonation removes only a small portion of NOM, while it induces a significant reduction of UV absorbance due to breakdown of the aromatic groups. All treated waters are chlorinated, and chlorination DBPs such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) are measured under formation potential conditions. Both THM and HAA formation potentials were significantly reduced through the coagulation process. GAC was more effective to reduce THM formation compared to HAA formation reduction, while ozonation showed significant HAA reduction compared to THM reduction.

Aphids are one of the most destructive pests in crop production such as pepper, cucumber, and eggplants. The importance of entomopathogenic fungi as alternative pest control agents is increasing. Conidia of entomopathogenic fungi are influenced by environmental conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity, and cause slow and fluctuating mortality. These factors have prevented wider application and use of biocontrol agents. For investigation of means of mitigation of such problems, we conducted bioassays with 47 fungal culture filtrates in order to evaluate the potential of secondary metabolites produced by entomopathogenic fungi for use in aphid control. Among 47 culture filtrates cultured potato dextrose broth, filtrate of Beauveria bassiana Bb08 showed the highest mortality (78%) against green peach aphid three days after treatments. Filtrate of Bb08 cultured in Adamek's medium showed higher toxicity as 100% to third instar nymphs of the aphid compared with seven other filtrates cultured in different broths amended with colloidal chitin or oil. The culture filtrates and fungal cultures from media amended with colloidal chitin or oil had lower control efficacies than filtrates without these additives in three different media. These results indicate that the fungal culture fluid or culture filtrate of B. bassiana Bb08 cultured in Adamek's medium has potential for development as a mycopesticide for aphid control.

A Gram-negative, short-rod-shaped bacterial strain with gliding motility, designated as DG5AT, was isolated from a rice field soil in South Korea. Phylogenic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequence of the new isolate showed that strain DG5AT belong to the genus Spirosoma in the family Spirosomaceae, and the highest sequence similarities were 95.5 % with Spirosoma linguale DSM 74T, 93.4 % with Spirosoma rigui WPCB118T, 92.8 % with Spirosoma luteum SPM-10T, 92.7 % with Spirosoma spitsbergense SPM-9T, and 91.9 % with Spirosoma panaciterrae Gsoil 1519T. Strain DG5AT revealed resistance to gamma and UV radiation. Chemotaxonomic data showed that the most abundant fatty acids were summed feature C16:1 ω7c/C16:1 ω6c (36.90 %), C16:1 ω5c (29.55 %), and iso-C15:0 (14.78 %), and the major polar lipid was phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). The DNA G+C content of strain DG5AT was 49.1 mol%. Together, the phenotypic, phylogenetic, and chemotaxonomic data supported that strain DG5AT presents a novel species of the genus Spirosoma, for which the name Spirosoma radiotolerans sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is DG5AT (=KCTC 32455T = JCM19447T).

The assessment of guest-accessible volume in MOFs can be reliably done by using two-photon confocal fluorescence microscopy (TPM) with a tool-box of dyes with a wide range of sizes. It would be applicable to any porous materials, whose single-crystal structures are not available, or non-crystalline materials.

The loss of photosynthetic function should lead to the cessation of expression and finally loss of photosynthetic genes in the new heterotroph. Dinoflagellates are known to have lost their photosynthetic ability several times. Dinoflagellates have also acquired photosynthesis from other organisms, either on a long-term basis or as "kleptoplastids'' multiple times. The fate of photosynthetic gene expression in heterotrophs can be informative into evolution of gene expression patterns after functional loss, and the dinoflagellates ability to acquire new photosynthetic function through additional endosymbiosis. To explore this we analyzed a large-scale EST database consisting of 151,091 unique sequences (29,170 contigs, 120,921 singletons) obtained from 454 pyrosequencing of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Pfiesteria piscicida. About 597 contigs from P. piscicida showed significant homology (E-value

The title compound (I) shows a 21-fold two-photon excited fluorescence enhancement in response to H2S.

We report a two-photon fluorescent probe (ACu1) that can be excited by 750 nm femto-second pulses, shows high photostability and negligible toxicity, and can visualize Cu(+) distribution in live cells and tissues by two-photon microscopy.

We report a two-photon probe (SZn-Mito) for mitochondrial zinc ions ([Zn2+]m). This probe shows a 7-fold enhancement of two-photon-excited fluorescence in response to Zn2+ with a dissociation constant (Kd(TP)) of 3.1 ± 0.1 nM and pH insensitivity in the biologically relevant range, allowing the detection of [Zn2+]m in a rat hippocampal slice at a depth of 100−200 μm without interference from other metal ions through the use of two-photon microscopy.

The majority of color histogram equalization methods do not yield uniform histogram in gray scale. After converting a color histogram equalized image into gray scale, the contrast of the converted image is worse than that of an 1-D gray scale histogram equalized image. We propose a novel 3-D color histogram equalization method that produces uniform distribution in gray scale histogram by defining a new cumulative probability density function in 3-D color space. Test results with natural and synthetic images are presented to compare and analyze various color histogram equalization algorithms based upon 3-D color histograms. We also present theoretical analysis for nonideal performance of existing methods.

We report a two-photon fluorescent probe (AHg1) that can be excited by 780 nm femto-second pulses, shows high photostability and negligible toxicity, and can visualize the site of Hg(2+) accumulation, but can also estimate trace amounts of mercury ions in fresh fish organs by two-photon microscopy.

Sodium ion plays critical roles in many physiological and pathological processes such as nerve conduction, muscle and heart contraction; it modulates the electrolyte level, cation transport, and cell volume. [1] To understand these functions, a number of one-photon (OP) fluorescent probes have been developed, with SBFI and Sodium Green (SG) being commercially available (Figure 1). [2] A disadvantage of these probes is that they are bulky and suffer from difficulties in loading into live cells. The second problem, which is common for most OP probes, is their short excitation wavelength ( 500 μm), localized excitation, and prolonged observation time. [3] Using TPM, one can image intact tissue for a long period of time with minimum interference from tissue preparation artifacts that can extend more than 70 μm into the tissue slice. However, there is no report on the TP probe for Na+ that is capable of imaging [Na + ]i deep inside living tissues. To address both of these problems, we designed a two photon (TP) probe (ANa1) derived from 2acetyl-6-(dimethylamino)naphthalene (acedan) as the TP fluorophore and 1,7-diaza-15-crown-5 as the Na + ion receptor by considering the following requirements (Figure 1); (i) small MW for cell permeability; (ii) high selectivity for Na + ions; (iii) significant TP cross section for bright TPM image; (iv) large spectral shifts in different environments for discrimination between the cytosolic and membrane-bound probes; and (v) high photostability. Herein, we report that ANa1 is capable of detecting intracellular free Na + ions in live cells and tissues at >100 μm depth for a long period of

Acupuncture, likely the most well-known 'alternative' medical treatment, has been shown to have effects in several types of animal model of drug dependence, including nicotine addiction. We investigated the effect of acupuncture on anxiety-like behavior and corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA expression in the amygdala during nicotine withdrawal. Rats were given repeated nicotine injections (0.1mg/kg s.c., once daily for 7 days) or saline. Acupuncture groups were treated with acupuncture at acupoint HT7 or ST36 during withdrawal. The anxiogenic response was measured at 72h after the termination of nicotine injection using an elevated plus maze. CRF and NPY mRNA levels were also evaluated using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis at this time. Rats undergoing nicotine withdrawal (NW) were less likely to explore the open arms of the plus maze compared with the saline-treated controls. The percentage of open arm entries in the HT7 acupuncture group, but not in the ST36 acupuncture group, was significantly increased compared with the NW group. Consistent with this behavior, CRF mRNA levels in the NW group were increased compared with the control group. CRF mRNA levels in the HT7 acupuncture group were significantly decreased compared with the NW group. However, NPY mRNA levels were not different among the groups. These findings indicate that increases in CRF may be involved in the negative affect state associated with nicotine withdrawal and that acupuncture may attenuate anxiety-like behavior following nicotine withdrawal by modulating CRF in the amygdala.

A fat body-specific chitinase cDNA was cloned from the spider, Araneus ventricosus. The cDNA encoding A. ventricosus chitinase (AvChit1) is 1515 bp long with an open reading frame (ORF) of 431 amino acid residues. AvChit1 possesses the chitinase family 18 active site signature and one N-glycosylation site. The deduced amino acid sequence of AvChit1 cDNA showed 43% identity to both Glossina morsitans morsitans chitinase and a human chitotriosidase, and 30-40% to some insect chitinases which lack both the serine/threonine and chitin binding domains. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA suggested the presence of AvChit1 gene as a single copy. Northern and Western blot analysis and enzyme activity assay showed the tissue-specific expression of AvChit1 in the A. ventricosus fat body. The AvChit1 cDNA was expressed as a 61 kDa polypeptide in baculovirus-infected insect Sf9 cells and the recombinant AvChit1 showed activity in the chitinase enzyme assay using 0.1% glycol chitin as a substrate. Treatment of recombinant virus-infected Sf9 cells with tunicamycin, a specific inhibitor of N-glycosylation, revealed that AvChit1 is N-glycosylated, but the carbohydrate moieties are not essential for chitinolytic activity.

A cDNA encoding a defender against apoptotic cell death (DAD1) homologue was cloned from a cDNA library of the spider, A. ventricosus. Sequence analysis of the cDNA encoding the DAD1 homologue of A. ventricosus revealed that the 339-bp cDNA has an open reading frame of 113 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the A. ventricosus DAD1 homologue showed 75.4% of identity to Drosophila melanogaster, 74.6% of identity to Xenopus laevis, and 73.1% of identity to Homo sapiens, Sus scrofa, Mesocricetus auratus, Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus. All animal DAD1 including A. ventricosus DAD1 homologue formed a subgroup, excluding all plant DAD1 proteins in the phylogenetic analysis. Northern blot analysis shows that the transcripts of A. ventricosus DAD1 homologue gene are present in all tissues examined, suggesting that A. ventricosus DAD1 is expressed in most, if not all, body tissues. Interestingly, the transcript levels of A. ventricosus DAD1 homologue gene were particularly high when exposed at low (4 degrees C) and high (37 degrees C) temperatures, suggesting that the gene is responsive to temperature stimuli.

were added to AHg2 inHEPES buffer, one- and two-photon excited fluorescence in-tensity increased gradually without affecting the absorptionspectra, presumably because of the blocking of the photoinduced electron transfer (PeT) by the complexation with themetal ion. The fluorescence enahncement factors [FEF = (F− F

We report a two-photon fluorescent probe (ASS) that can be excited by 780 nm femtosecond pulses and detect thiols in live cells and living tissues at a 90-180 microm depth without interference from other biologically relevant species by two-photon microscopy.

We report a two-photon probe (FS1) which shows a 21-fold two-photon excited fluorescence enhancement in response to H(2)S and can selectively detect H(2)S in a rat hippocampal slice at a depth of 90-190 μm by using two-photon microscopy.