The bacterial soft-rot disease is one of the most critical diseases in vegetables such as Chinese cabbage. The researchers isolated two bacteria (Pseudomonas kribbensis and Pantoea vagans) from diseased tissue samples of Chinese cabbages and confirmed them as being the strains that cause soft-rot disease. Lactic-acid bacteria (LAB), were screened and used to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The researchers tested the treatments with hypochlorous acid water (HAW) and LAB supernatant to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The tests confirmed that treatments with the HAW (over 120 ppm) or LAB (Lactobacillus plantarum PL203) culture supernatants (0.5 mL) completely controlled both P. kribbensis and P. vagans.

Colorectal cancer causes the most cancer-associated death worldwide, having a high cancer incidence. Pectin is a complex polysaccharide present in various fruits, emerging as an anti-carcinogenic candidate. Although pectin has a suppressive capacity for colon carcinogenesis, the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and colonic aberrant foci formation in the colon carcinogenesis mouse model remains unclear. Therefore, this study investigates the regulatory effect of pectin supplementation on colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in mice. In an animal experiment, thirty male institute for cancer research (ICR) mice were divided into two experimental groups; AOM/DSS (control group) and AOM/DSS + pectin (5% in drinking water). Furthermore, the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and aberrant crypt (AC) on colonic mucosa were counted, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay was performed to estimate lipid peroxidation in feces. Pectin treatment significantly decreased the number of ACF and AC per colon compared with the control. Additionally, fecal TBARS level in the pectin group was significantly lower than those in the control group. Conclusively, these findings indicate that pectin-inhibited hyperplastic alteration and oxidative stress suppress colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis.

In this study, antibody responses after vaccination against equine influenza were investigated among 1,591 horses in the Republic of Korea using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Equine influenza has not occurred since 2011 and a commercial vaccine against H3N8 has been used. The equine influenza virus, A/equine/South Africa/4/03 (H3N8), was used as the antigen in the HI assay. The mean seropositive rate was 90.5% in 2019. Except for stallion whose seropositive rate was 78.5%, all seropositive rates of other horse types were over 90%. Regionally, except for Gangwon-do and Jeju-do whose seropositive rates were 89.0% and 87.1%, all seropositive rates in other provinces were over 90%. In the future, more through vaccination against equine influenza needs to be done based on this investigation result.

Dental caries, the most common oral disease, is a multifactorial disease caused by interactions among bacteria within the dental plaque, food, and saliva, resulting in tooth destruction. Streptococcus mutans has been strongly implicated as the causative organism in dental caries and is frequently isolated from human dental plaque. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a technique that involves the activation of photosensitizer by light in the presence of tissue oxygen, resulting in the production of reactive radicals capable of inducing cell death. Postantibiotic effect (PAE) is defined as the duration of suppressed bacterial growth following brief exposure to an antibiotic. In this study, the in vitro PAE of PDT using erythrosine and light emitting diode on S. mutans ATCC 25175 was investigated. The PAE of PDT for 1 s irradiation and 3 s irradiation were 1.65 h and 2.1 h, respectively. The present study thus confirmed PAE of PDT using erythrosine on S. mutans.

Most traditional genome sequencing projects involving infectious viruses include culturing and purification of the virus. This can present difficulties as an analysis of multiple populations from multiple locations may be required to acquire sufficient amount of high-quality DNA for sequence analysis. The electrophoretic method provides a strategy whereby the genomic DNA sequences of the Korean isolate of Pieris rapae granulovirus (PiraGV-K) were analyzed by purifying it from host DNA by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, thus simplifying sampling and labor time. The genomic DNA of infected P. rapae was embedded in agarose plugs, digested with a restriction nuclease and methylase, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to separate PiraGV-K DNA from the DNA of P. rapae, followed by mapping of fosmid clones of the separated viral DNA. The double-stranded circular genome of PiraGV-K encodes 120 open reading frames (ORFs), covering 92% of the sequenced genome. BLAST and ORF arrangement showed the presence of 78 homologs to other genes in the database. The mean overall amino acid identity of PiraGV-K ORFs was highest with the Chinese isolate of PiraGV (~99%), followed up with Choristoneura occidentalis ORFs at 58%. PiraGV-K ORFs were grouped, according to function, into 10 genes involved in transcription, 11 involved in replication, 25 structural protein genes, and 15 auxiliary genes. Genes for Chitinase (ORF 10) and cathepsin (ORF11), involved in the liquefaction of the host, were found in the genome. The recovery of PiraGV-K DNA genome by pulse-field electrophoretic separation from host genomic DNA had several advantages, compared with its isolation from particles harvested as virions or inclusions from the P. rapae host. We have sequenced and analyzed the 108,658 bp PiraGV-K genome purified by the pulsed field electrophoretic method. The method appears to be applicable to the analysis of genomes of large viruses. The chitinase, identified by PiraGV-K genome sequence, was functionally characterized by quantitative PCR, Western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy.

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) is a Gramineae perennial grass species and commonly used as a forage crop and developed to be used for pasture. In Korea, in order to improve high persistence and forage quality, through selection of various superior parental varieties for breeding and synthesis of them with new lines, there are ongoing worldwide studies aiming to enhance the quality and environmental adaptability of Orchardgrass. Between 2010 and 2014, a Orchardgrass variety named Onnuri 2ho was developed by the Grassland & Forages Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA), Republic of Korea. For the production of synthetic seeds for Onnuri 2ho 4 superior clones, Dg7506, Dg9508, Edg215 and Edg218 were selected and polycrossed. Between 2010 and 2011, the agronomic growth characteristics and forage production capability of the seeds were studied at Cheonan, and between 2012 and 2014, regional trials were conducted in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jinju, and in Jeju. The main growth characteristic of Onnuri 2ho is a tetraploid variety, a medium-late maturity variety, the heading stage of which is around May 17, which is four days later than that of Amba. This study tested the regional adaptability of Orchardgrass in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jeju, and in Jinju. The average dry matter yield of Onnuri 2ho in the four regions was 15,814 kg/ha, which is greater than that of Amba by 34%. These differences show that Onnuri 2ho is more resistant to environmental stresses than Amba and that this growth characteristic directly led to dry matter yield. Thus, Onnuri 2ho is a suitable variety for the establishment of grasslands as it has enhanced disease resistance and persistence, compared to Amba. The forage quality of Onnuri 2ho was similar to that of Amba in crude protein (11.5%), total digestible nutrients (59.2%), neutral detergent fiber (62.7%), and acid detergent fiber (37.6%), whereas the forage quality of Ongreen was higher than that of Amba in (71.0%). The new variety was selected and named Onnuri 2ho from Composite 34 by the RDA in November 2014, and the application for the protection of the new variety by the Korea Seed and Variety Service is currently pending. In this study, a new variety of Orchardgrass with excellent environmental adaptability was developed, in order to contribute to the vitalization of the Korean grassland industry.