Yellow tea thrip (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is anthophilous pests of many crops worldwide including five flavor berry. And the mealy bug (Pseudaulacaspis cockerelli (Cooley) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae)) is one of the hardest pests to control. Its body is covered with white waxy threads, which often make a chemical pest control useless. Five flavor berry (Schisandra chinensis Baill) is used in traditional Chinese medicine. So, the development of biological control against the major pest on five flavor berry is of great interest. In this work, a treatment of Chrysoperla nipponensis (Okamoto) was applied to five flavor berry fields infested by P. cockerelli and a treatment of Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot was applied to two types of five flavor berry fields infested by S. dorsalis. Even though our tests found significant differences between the two culturing method(sod culture, nonwoven type mulching), the treatment of biological control agents decreased or a little increased the fruit damage, which was comparable to the chemical insecticide treatment. In the sod culture experiment, thrip population was significantly low and increased at a lower rate than in the nonwoven type mulching. It may be suggested from these results that A. swirskii and C. nipponensis as IPM program and sod culture could be incorporated into the integrated pest management system on five flavor berry.

Streptomyces padanus IA70-5 has been shown to be a promising biological control agent for the suppression of pepper anthracnose. In this study, we assessed the potential use of strain IA70-5 as a biological control agent for Phytophthora blight caused by Phytophthora capsici. Strain S. padanus IA70-5 was found to inhibit the mycelial growth and zoosporangium formation of P. capsici causing Phytophthora blight on pepper plants. In experiments with hot pepper fruit, IA70-5 suppressed the progression of Phytophthora rot by over 90% in pre-inoculated treatments with culture suspension. In experiments with 60-day-old pepper plants, IA70-5 suppressed Phytophthora blight by over 90%. These results demonstrated the potential for S. padanus IA70-5 to provide a practical biological agent for the control of Phytophthora blight in the field.

Mushroom is cultivated as one of the major economical crops in many areas in Korea. The total production has steadily increased from approximately 186,400 M/T in 2007 to 190,111 M/T in 2011. The button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, showed the 5th production to 13,052 M/T in 2011. Several bacteria are known as the causal agents of diseases of the cultivated button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Pseudomonas agarici is the causal agent of browning disease of commercial mushrooms. Colonization of mushroom caps by the bacterium results in development of browning lesions on pileus. These lesions are superficial brown spots and can be round or spreading. But P. agarici never caused sunken lesions and rotting of the mushroom tissues. Antagonists against P. tolaasii, HC42 were selected and their control efficacy of browning disease was investigated in this study. Antagonists against P. agarici, HC42 were selected and their control efficacy of browning disease was investigated in this study. After proceeding antagonistic test, HC42 was selected as a strong antagonist against P. agarici and the HC42 strain was identified as P. safensis with the cultural, physiological and biochemical properties and analysis of the 16S rRNA. The optimal culture medium for the antagonistic bacteria growth was determined as follows: 1.5% D-galactose, 1.5% yest extract, 1% NH4Cl, 1.5% KCl, and 1.0% L-asparagin at pH 6.0 at 25℃. Control efficacy of browning disease by HC42 treatment was 66% on Agaricus bisporus..

Mushroom is cultivated as one of the major economical crops in many areas in Korea. The total production has steadily increased from approximately 186,400 M/T in 2007 to 190,111 M/T in 2011. The button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, showed the 5th production to 13,052 M/T in 2011. Several bacteria are known as the causal agents of diseases of the cultivated button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Pseudomonas agarici is the causal agent of browning disease of commercial mushrooms. In this study, antagonistic bacteria to P. agarici were selected in vitro tests using confrontation bioassay and paper disk diffusion assay. The most active bacteria, HC12 were selected and their control efficacy of brown blotch disease was investigated in this study. After proceeding antagonistic test, HC12 was selected as a strong antagonist against P. agarici and the HC12 strain was identified as Alcaligenes sp. with the cultural, physiological and biochemical properties and analysis of the 16S rRNA. The optimal culture medium for the antagonistic bacteria growth was determined as follows: 0.5% dextrin, 1.5% yest extract, 1% NaNO3, 0.5% KH2PO4, and 1.5% L-asparagin at pH 9.0 at 30℃. Control efficacy of browning disease by HC12 treatment was 63% on Agaricus bisporus..

The yellow spotless ladybug (YSL), Illeis koebelei is a kind of aboriginal ladybug in Korea. YSL feed on the fungi and extraordinary prefer to powdery mildew (PM). This study was conducted to investigate the developmental characteristic and the biological control effect on the cucumber PM by the YSL from 2010 to 2012. YSL were detected on the 12 species of host plants infected with PM. and occurrence was observed from the early of July to the early of November in Gyeonggi area. The feeding amount of YSL on the cucumber PM was in order of 4th larva, adult, 3rd larva, 2nd larva and 1st larva. The optimum developmental temperature and photoperiod for YSL was 20∼25℃ and 16L:8D respectively. Three species of fungi were selected as the short term substitution feed for YSL. Control effect on cucumber PM under 2.5% of occurrence rate was linearly increased in proportion to increased numbers of 3rd larva were applied. Combination treatment of the fungal agent with YSL enhanced suppression of cucumber PM more than either agent used alone. The safety agricultural chemicals were selected harmless to the survival of larva and adult of YSL. The survival rate of pupae and adult was over 80% after storage at 10∼12℃ for 30 days. Five species of banker plant were selected for maintenance of YSL during growing season in greenhouse.

국내 배추좀나방(Plutella xylostella) 집단은 피레스로이드 농약에 대해서 저항성을 보이며, 이는 이 살충제의 작용점인 소듐이온채널 유전자의 돌연변이에 기인된다. 더욱이 배추좀나방은 대부분 상용화된 살충제에 대해서 저항성을 발달시킬 수 있다. 본 연구는 배추좀나방을 효과적으로 방제하기 위해 내부기생성 천적인 프루텔고치벌(Cotesia plutellae)과 미생물농약인 Bacillus thuringiensis의 혼합처리 기술을 개발하기 위해 수행되었다. 프루텔고치벌이 감수성과 저항성 배추좀나방에 대한 기생 선호성에 차등이 있는 지 조사하기 위해 다섯 개 서로 다른 집단에 대해서 살충제 감수성과 프루텔고치벌 기생성 차이를 비교하였다. 이들 배추좀나방 집단들은 피레스로이드, 유기인계, 네오니코틴계 및 곤충성장조절제를 포함하는 세 종류의 상용 살충제에 대한 약제 감수성에서 뚜렷한 차이를 보였다. 그러나 이들 집단들은 프루텔고치벌에 의한 기생률에서는 차이를 보이지 않았다. 더욱이 기생된 배추좀나방은 B. thuringiensis에 대해서 감수성이 증가되었다. 프루텔고치벌이 갖는 면역억제인자 가운데 바이러스 유래 ankyrin 유전자(vankyrin)를 비기생된 배추좀나방에 발현시켰다. Vankyrin의 발현은 배추좀나방 3령충의 B. thuringiensis에 대한 감수성을 현격하게 증가시켰다. 즉, 프루텔고치벌에 의해 야기된 면역저하가 B. thuringiensis의 살충력을 증가시켰다. 이러한 결과들은 프루텔고치벌과 미생물농약인 B. thuringiensis의 혼합처리가 살충제 저항성 배추좀나방을 효과적으로 방제할 수 있다고 제시하고 있다.

톱밥배지 표고버섯 재배지에서 황색 끈끈이트랩을 이용한 Lycoriella ingenua의 성충 유인수를 조사한 결과 9월 26일에 화성에서는 트랩 당 127.5∼1,025.7마리, 부여에서는 87.4∼743.6마리, 청원에서는 133.7∼650.4마리로 세 지역에서 9월 하순에 발생최성기를 보였다. L. ingenua는 유충이 자실체를 직접 가해하여 상품성을 떨어뜨리거나, 배지 속에서 유충이 서식하면서 배지의 영양분을 먹고 심하면 배지를 스폰지화하여 표고버섯 자실체의 성장을 저하시키는 피해증상을 나타내었다. L. ingenua의 표고버섯 자실체의 피해율은 화성에서 7.7∼30.3%, 부여에서는 6.7∼25.3%, 청원에서는 5.3∼26.0%로 세 지역에서 9월 하순에 피해가 많았다. 톱밥배지 표고버섯을 재배하는 화성, 부여, 청원에서 천적인 아큐레이퍼응애를 이용하여 L. ingenua의 방제효과를 알아본 결과 ㎡ 당 아큐레이퍼응애의 약충과 성충을 30.3마리 밀도로 7∼14일 간격으로 3회 처리하여 우수한 방제효과를 얻었다. 화성의 표고재배 농가에서는 아큐레이퍼응애 처리구에서 L. ingenua의 성충 유인수가 끈끈이트랩 당 평균 168.2마리, 자실체 피해율은 평균 5.9%로 무처리구와 비교하여 각각 67.1%, 69.3%가 감소되었다. 부여와 청원의 표고재배 농가에서는 끈끈이트랩 당 성충 유인수가 각각 평균 126.1마리, 132.5마리였고 자실체의 피해율은 5.5%, 5.4%로 성충 유인수는 무처리구와 비교하여 각각 61.7%, 60.3%, 자실체 피해율은 64.3%, 63.5%가 감소되었다.

Mushroom is cultivated as one of the major economical crops in many areas in Korea. The total production has steadily increased from approximately 186,400 M/T in 2007 to 198,563 M/T in 2009. Several bacteria are known as the causal agents of diseases of the cultivated button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Pseudomonas tolaasii is the causal agent of brown blotch disease of commercial mushrooms. Colonization of mushroom caps by the bacterium results in development of brown or cream lesions on pileus and stipe. These lesions are slightly concave spots and can be round or spreading. Antagonists against P. tolaasii, HC1 were selected and their control efficacy of brown blotch disease was investigated in this study. The HC1 isolate was selected as an inhibitor of tolaasin activity by bioassay on potato and it was identified as Pseudomonas sp. by the cultural, physiological and biochemical properties and analysis of the 16S rRNA. Control efficacy of brown blotch disease by HC1 treatment was 69% on Agaricus bisporus, 68% on Flammulina velutipes and 55% on pleurotus ostreatus respectively.

The total production has steadily increased from approximately 186,400 M/T in 2007 to 198,563 M/T in 2009. Winter mushroom, Flammulina velutipes, with 61,057913 M/T in 2009, showed the highest production. Several bacteria are known as the causal agents of diseases of the cultivated button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Pseudomonas tolaasii is the causal agent of brown blotch disease of commercial mushrooms. Antagonists against P. tolaasii, HC5 were selected and their control efficacy of brown blotch disease was investigated in this study. After proceeding antagonistic test, HC5 was selected as a strong antagonist against P. tolaasii and the HC5 strain was identified as P. azotoformans with the cultural, physiological and biochemical properties and analysis of the 16S rRNA. Control efficacy of brown blotch disease by HC5 treatment was 73% on Agaricus bisporus, 78% on Flammulina velutipes and 71% on pleurotus ostreatus respectively.

Rhabditis blumi, isolated from Exomala orientalis, is a necromenic type of nematode that possesses several attributes of a potential biological control agent such as ease in culture conditions, high rates of reproduction and virulence, short life cycle and rapid multiplication etc. Pathogenicity of R. blumi was tested against 5 coleopteran species and 5 lepidopteran species. All insect larvae were susceptible to R. blumi, showing over 60% mortality except for Holotrichia kiotoensis and Ectinohoplia rufipes. The highest mortality was observed in Plutella xylostella (88%), followed by Artogeia rapae, Exomala orientalis, Spodoptera litura and Anomala rufocuprea (over 70%). Reproductive capacity of R. blumi differed from each insect species, ranging from 17 to 656 dauer juveniles/mg of insect larva. Dauer juvenile production was most in Plutella xylostella larvae, producing 656 dauer juveniles/mg of host body weight, followed by E. orientalis, H. kiotoensis, and A. rapae larvae (over 100 dauer juvenile per mg).

The study was conducted to determine the knowledge and practices of vegetable farmers in Hanoi, Vietnam in controlling mites, and their attitude towards N. longispinosus as biological control agent against T. urticae on green bean. The field surveys conducted in Tang My and Son Du hamlets, two of the largest vegetable production areas in Dong Anh district, show that the respondents in Tang My who had training on the vegetable IPM program had higher knowledge on green bean pest management and knew better about natural enemies and biological control than the ones without training in Son Du. However, both groups of respondents did not have enough knowledge on spider mite control and most of them did not know or hear about predatory mite before. Hence, 40 percent of the respondents said they would not use predatory mites, and 33 percent were still uncertain whether they will adopt this biological control. The paper suggests some recommendations to enhance farmers’ use of biological control against mites on green beans.

Biological control of Aphis gossypii by natural enemies was carried out in watermelon from April to June. Aphidius colemani was released 3 times at rate of 2/㎡ to control A. gossypii(April 24, May 8, and May 22 in 2007). In A. colemani-released plots, A. gossypii showed low population density of ＜ 0.6 per leaf with the highest parasitism of 57.2%, and 2.0~10.6% in the percentage of leaves with aphids. In control, the population of A. gossypii kept on increasing from early May and reached 653.2/leaf on may 29.

This study was carried out investigate to availability of commercial microbial pesticide and antibacterial activity of isolates isolated from different mushroom media. Ten commercial microbial pesticide and EM liquid were collected from different company. EM of these one has been used for control of mushroom disease and growth promotion at the mushroom farms. The density of bacteria and yeast in EM cultural liquid was higher than those of the crude liquid. The pH values of EM showed the low acid levels(pH 3.5~3.9) by organic acid secreted from microorganism. The kinds of organic acid was acetic acid, lactic acid and succinic acid. The dominant bacteria isolated from EM liquid was Lactobactillus sp.(21 strains), Acetobacter sp.(9 strains), PaeniBacillus sp.(9 strains) and others(12 strains). The organic acid bacteria isolated from fermentation foods( was 92 strains and the dominant genus was Weissella sp.(41 strains), Leuconostoc sp.(21 strains), Enterococcus sp.(9 strains), Lactococcus sp.(9 strains) and others(12 strains). And we isolated 2,500 bacteria from oyster mushroom and button mushroom cultural media for selection of antagonistic bacteria. Thirty five strains of these isolates showed very strong antagonistic activity. These strains were identified Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus subtilis, Brevibacterium halotolerans, Pseudomonas libanensis, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Alcaligenes faecalis by 16S rDNA analysis.

Several bacteria have been known as the causal agents of certain diseases of the cultivated button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). It is well known as bacterial diseases of the cultivated mushroom such as brown blotch, mummy disease, bacterial pit, bacterial rot and weeping disease, ginger blotch, and drippy gill. Brown blotch is the most critical cause of crop loss in the commercial mushroom industry. The classical bacterial blotch disease of mushrooms is caused by a fluorescent pseudomonad, Pseudomonas tolaasii. Affected mushrooms show lesions which become dark chocolate-brown, are wet, and deeply pit the caps and stalks. Although Pseudomonas tolaasii has been known as the casual agent of bacterial blotch, much controversy exists regarding the identification of this bacterium and whether blotch may be caused by more than one organism. This study was carried out to investigate characterization and biological control of Pseudomonas tolaasi and other possible browning pathogens isolated from cultivated mushrooms. One hundred seventy four bacteria were isolated from the cultivated mushroom and collected from main producing districts throughout the country. The isolates were classified into Pseudomonas tolaasii(20 strains), Pseudomonas gingeri(1 strains), Pseudomonas agarici(4 strains), Pseudomonas putida(11 strains), Pseudomonas sp.(46 strains), Ewingella americana(14 strains), Stenotrophomonas sp.(4 strains), and others(74 strains) on the basis of 16 rDNA analysis. The most dominants of these species were Pseudomonas tolaasii and Ewingella americana. Pseudomonad isolates were mainly divided into two groups in white line test and a sharply defined white line of precipitate forms in Pseudomonas agar F(Difco) between the opaque white colonies of P. tolaasii and translucent colonies of certain unidentified pseudomonads. The white line test was positive when 20 isolates of P. tolaasi from different countries were examined, whereas 62 isolates of pseudomonads did not give the white line reaction with a reacting translucent colony Pseudomonas. All the isolates tested for white line forming bacteria including P. tolaasi were highly pathogenic to mushroom tissue. Although browning of mushrooms in host tests does not perfectly help in the identification of P. tolaasi, a conspicuous pitting produced at the cut surface of mushroom tissue is as specific as the white line test in detecting P. tolaasii in suspension in distilled water. URP2F primers of 20-mer were used to assess the genetic diversity of white line forming bacteria. The phylogenetic tree was constructed by using the neighbor-joining method. In the analysis of RAPD pattern, all isolates of white line precipitate have some of the different genetic traits as collected districts. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA revealed that twenty isolates including white line forming bacteria were closely related to P. tolaasii and showed high similarity. To biological control on bacterial browning disease of cultivated mushrooms, six hundreds plant extracts (332 EtOH extracts, 268 water extracts) was used for control of mushroom disease. Thirty plant extracts in bacterial disease(Pseudomonas tolaasii, P. agarici, B. gladioli, E. americana) and thirty three in fungus disease(T. harzianum, C. mycophilum, V. fungicola) showed strong anti-microbes activity. They showed stronger anti-microbes activity at ethanol extracts than water extracts. MIC of extract BCW128 on Pseudomonas tolaasii was 700ppm and HDE17 was 330ppm. MIC of extract YCE107 on P. agarici was 330ppm, JGE96 was 330ppm and BCW128 was 700ppm. The bacteria inhibit tolaasin secreted by Pseudomonas tolaasii was selected three genus(Bacillus sp. etc). Now we are carrying out more research on these bacteria.

This study reports the results of natural enemy application against four insect pests on greenhouse sweet pepper in winter cropping system. Orius laevigatus (3.3/㎡) was released at two different times (Nov. 2005 & Feb. 2006) to control Frankliniella occidentalis, western flower thrips (WFT). Throughout the cropping season, the lowest level recorded of WFT was less than 2.0 individuals per yellow sticky trap. Amblyseius swirskii (232.3/㎡) was released four times (Nov. 2007 ~ Aug. 2008) to control Bemisia tabaci, tobacco whitefly (TWF). Until July 2008, TWF population had been suppressed lower than 6.6/trap. Phytoseiulus persimilis (44.5/㎡) was released seven times (Apr. 2008 ~ Aug. 2008) to control Tetranychus kanzawai, tea red spider mite (TRSM). As a result, TRSM population was suppressed lower than 1.7/leaf. To control aphids, Aphidius colemani (9.5/㎡) was released seven times (Oct. 2004 ~ Jan. 2005), with the transplantation of banker plants (5.5pot/660㎡). As a whole, aphid"s population has been successfully reduced to less than 2.0/leaf.

We tried to establish the history of outbreaks and control methods of ‘hwangchung’ in Joseon Dynasty, uncovering the biological reality of the ‘hwangchung’ (called hwang or bihwang) analyzed through the Database program on ‘the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty’ and ‘the Enrollment of Haegoeje’, two of the finest examples of classical historical records. The total number of articles on the outbreak of the hwangchung is 261 in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and 65 in the Enrollment of Haegoeje. There were four peaks by hwangchung throughout the Joseon Era. Among them, the periods of King Taejo to King Sejong had the highest incidence. By comparing the number of records of the hwangchung from the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty with that in the Enrollment of Haegoeje during the same period, results show the former was less than the latter, 35 vs 65. However, both records were relatively inconsistent with each other. Insect pests in forests as well as in agriculture were included in the biological identities of the hwangchung in the Joseon Dynasty periods, which is in accordance with those of Saigo’s. The taxonomic identity could be confirmed in only 25 cases (9.5%) among the articles on hwangchung. It largely coincided with Paik"s opinion: 11 in armyworm, nine in moth larva, one in rice stem borer, two in migratory locust, one in planthopper and one in rice-plant weevil. Therefore, it is not reasonable to regard hwangchung as a migratory locust or grasshopper only. The number of reports on the occurrence of hwangchung in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty was 173 (66% of the total) and 47% of them were just simple reports, which means the report itself on the appearance of hwangchung was very significant. The reports on controlling insect pests were of low frequency, in 20% (34 cases) of the total reports, capturing insect pests or holding traditional ceremony called ‘Poje’. Among them, only one case related to the treatment of seeds to prevent the damage by hwangchung was published in the King Sejong period. There were 37 discussions about changes and management of government policies due to disasters by hwangchung. They were mostly about relief or tax cut to the people who suffered damage and about cancellation of recruiting people to military training, constructing castles, and so on. It seems that not only the people but also the king was influenced by the hwangchung. In the case of King Seongjong, he referred to the stress of the prevention measure of locusts in 10 articles. The damage also had an effect on abdication in the reign of King Jeongjong.

It is well known that the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp., incite and aggravate the diseases caused by fungal and bacterial pathogens. The synergistic effects of the inoculation of Meloidogyne incognita combined with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici showed the greatly increased wilt symptoms developed on tomato plants compared to the inoculation of either of the two pests alone. For the biological control of the complex disease, a variety of bacterial isolates were tested for antagonistic effects to select ones that had both nematicidal and antifungal activities. Among forty plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) tested, Paenibacillus polymyxa G508 and G462 and P. lentimorbus G158 showed strong antifungal and nematicidal activities against F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and second-stage juveniles (J2) of M. incognita, respectively, and also inhibited egg hatch of the nematode. The addition of Paenibacillus strains into potted soil suppressed the Fusarium-wilt severity and root galling on tomato and increased plant growths. P. lentimorbus G158 were abundantly proliferated on tomato seeds and hypocotyls more than P. polymyxa G 462 and had no phytotoxic effect on tomato plant. Under the greenhouse conditions, seed treatment of P. lentimorbus G158 reduced wilt severity caused by Fusarium wilt-root knot disease complex and root gall formation and increased tomato growth compared to the untreated control. Root-galls caused by both pathogens treated with bacterial culture had fewer and smaller giant-cells than untreated control, and scanning electron microscopy revealed alteration and distortion of hyphal cell wall of F. oxysporum and lysis of M. incognita egg shell by the bacterial treatment. All of these results suggest the Paenibacillus strains, especially G158 may have a high potential developed as biological control agents for the complex disease.

Dynamics of prey/host and predator/parasitoid interaction has been the main concern of the population ecology during the second half of the 20th century. Many theoretical and experimental studies have been conducted and discussed. The main questions were whether the interaction could be in stable state and whether the parasitoid/predator could regulate the host/prey populations, and if so at what levels. The questions are not yet solved, but some hypotheses have been presented that the prey/predator interaction could be in stable state, when both the predator and prey population are under intraspecific competition so that both populations could be limited at a low levels. This prerequisite, however, could not be easily satisfied in nature and several hypotheses have been discussed up to date. Biological control of pests, which is based on the predator-prey system dynamics, has not always been successful, because we do not understand the systems sufficiently. Thus, most successful cases of the biological control were dependent upon ‘trial and error’. But as the predator-prey system dynamics could be well understood in the future, more systemic control program of biological control could be possible. In this review, we analyzed the studies for biological control of pests in Korea based on 164 cases reported in the last forty years and will consider the future goal of the studies for more reliable control programs.