In March of 2015, severe sooty mold was observed on blueberries cultivated in a farmer’s greenhouses in Goseong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. Typical symptoms included a black or dark brown, superficial fungal growth on the leaves, stems, and fruit of blueberry plants. The fungal colonies on PDA were flat and black. The conidia were dark green in color, globose to sub-globose in shape and 3-5×3-4 μm in size. The ramoconidia were cylindrical and 18-42×3 μm in size. The conidiophores were dark brown, cylindrical-oblong in shape and 42-138×3-4 μm in size. To confirm the identity of the fungus(F130), the 18S rDNA as well as actin and β-tubulin gene sequences were PCR-amplified and sequenced. The pathogenicity of the isolate was then explored on 2-month-old potted blueberry plants. Based on the mycological characteristics, molecular identification, and pathogenicity on host plants, this fungus was identified as Cladosporium sphaerospermum. This is the first report on sooty mold of blueberry caused by C. sphaerospermum in Korea.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of parity on chemical composition and meat quality of Hanwoo cows (n=74, 2-15 years old). The beef loin and top round muscle samples were obtained and divided by 3 groups of parity numbers (G1, 0; G2, 1-3; G3, 4-9 times). Loin and top round from G1 had significantly higher intramuscular fat contents and lower protein contents than those from G3 (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in collagen contents among 3 parity groups (p>0.05). In meat color, G1 was higher in a* values for loin and higher in L* and a* values for top round muscle (p<0.05). The loin from G1 had significantly lower cooking loss (%) than G3, however, there was no significant difference in water holding capacity among 3 parity groups. For top round muscle, G3 had significantly higher Warner-Bratzler shear force values and lower water holding capacity values than G1 (p<0.05). In fatty acid composition, G1 had significantly higher C18:1n7 and C18:1n9 contents for loin, and it had significantly higher C16:1n7 and C18:1n7 contents for top round than those of the other groups (p<0.05). In free amino acid composition, alanine was highest and followed by glutamine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, proline, glycine, methionine. In conclusion, the parity conditions influenced on chemical composition and meat quality depending on different cut of Hanwoo cows, and the parity numbers were related with the age of cows.