Yoon Ha Kim

BACKGROUND: Endophytic fungi are little known for exogenous secretion of phytohormones and mitigation of salinity stress, which is a major limiting factor for agriculture production worldwide. Current study was designed to isolate phytohormone producing endophytic fungus from the roots of cucumber plant and identify its role in plant growth and stress tolerance under saline conditions.

RESULTS: We isolated nine endophytic fungi from the roots of cucumber plant and screened their culture ...

PURPOSE: To compare the therapeutic effect between autologous serum and umbilical cord serum eye drops in the treatment of severe dry eye syndrome.

DESIGN: Prospective case-control study.

METHODS: Ninety-two eyes of 48 patients with severe dry eye syndrome (34 eyes of 17 patients with Sjögren syndrome and 58 eyes of 31 patients with non-Sjögren syndrome) were treated with either 20% autologous serum (41 eyes of 21 patients) or umbilical cord serum eye drops (51 eyes of 27 patients). ...

The transcription of neuron-specific genes must be repressed in nonneuronal cells. REST/NRSF is a transcription factor that restricts the expression of many neuronal genes through interaction with the neuron-restrictive silencer element at the promoter level. PAHX-AP1 is a neuronal gene that is developmentally up-regulated in the adult mouse brain but that has no functional NRSE motif in its 5' upstream sequence. Here, we report that the transcription factor AP4 and the corepressor ...

We isolated and examined two endophytic fungi for their potential to secrete phytohormones viz. gibberellins (GAs) and indoleacetic acid (IAA) and mitigate abiotic stresses like salinity and drought. The endophytic fungi Phoma glomerata LWL2 and Penicillium sp. LWL3 significantly promoted the shoot and allied growth attributes of GAs-deficient dwarf mutant Waito-C and Dongjin-beyo rice. Analysis of the pure cultures of these endophytic fungi showed biologically active GAs (GA1, GA3, GA4 ...

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine the prognostic significance of the human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype using the HPV DNA chip (HDC) test and the HPV viral load by the hybrid capture II assay (HC2) in FIGO stage IB-IIA cervical cancer undergoing radical hysterectomy.

METHODS: Between January 2001 and December 2005, 204 consecutive patients who underwent radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage ...

Experiments were conducted to investigate the role of a newly isolated endophytic fungus GMC-2A on physiology of host plant (Glycine max. L cv. Hwangkeum-kong) growing under salinity stress. GMC-2A was identified as a new strain of Penicillium funiculosum on the basis of sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis of D1/D2 regions of 28S rDNA. Preliminary screening experiment showed that the culture filtrate (CF) of GMC-2A promoted the growth of Waito-C, a dwarf gibberellin (GA) ...

Exophiala sp. LHL08, a gibberellin-producing strain, was investigated to assess its effects on cucumber plant growth and heat (40°C) stress tolerance. The results reveal that Exophiala sp. associated plants had significantly higher plant growth attributes (shoot length, plant biomass, chlorophyll contents, and leaf area) than control under heat stress. Endophytic association helped the plants to obtain adequate water to reduce the leaf electrolytic leakage under stress. ...

Endophytic fungi are potential sources of secondary metabolites; however, they are little known for phytohormones secretion and amelioration of plant growth under abiotic stresses. We isolated a novel endophyte from the roots of Cucumis sativus and identified it as a strain of Exophiala sp. by sequencing internal transcribed spacer/large subunit rDNA and phylogenetic analysis. Prior to identification, culture filtrate (CF) of Exophiala sp. has shown significant growth promotion of ...

Salinity stress can be detrimental to the growth and yield of plants. The adverse effects of salinity can be ameliorated with the application of plant growth-promoting endophytic bacteria (PGPEB). The concomitant beneficial effects of exogenous jasmonic acid (JA) in synergism with PGPEB have been well-established; however, its physiological responses under salinity stress have least been understood. In initial screening, PGPEB (Sphingomonas sp. LK11) was grown with or without JA and ...

BACKGROUND: Silicon (Si) application has been known to enhance the tolerance of plants against abiotic stresses. However, the protective mechanism of Si under heavy metals contamination is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to assess the role of Si in counteracting toxicity due to cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) in rice plants (Oryza sativa).

RESULTS: Si significantly improved the growth and biomass of rice plants and reduced the toxic effects of Cd/Cu after different stress ...

In Arabidopsis, the NMD-defective mutants upf1-5 and upf3-1 are characterized by dwarfism, curly leaves and late flowering. These phenotypes are similar to those of mutants showing constitutive pathogenesis-related (PR) gene expression, salicylic acid (SA) accumulation and, subsequently, resistance to pathogens. The disease symptoms of upf1-5 and upf3-1 mutants were observed following infection with the virulent pathogen Pst DC3000 with the aim of determining whether the loss of ...

Silicon (Si) application shows beneficial effects on plant growth; however, its effects on the phytohormone and enzymatic antioxidant regulation have not been fully understood. We studied the effects of short-term (6, 12, and 24 h) silicon (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mM) application on salinity (NaCl)-induced phytohormonal [abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), and salicylic acid (SA)] and antioxidant regulation in Oryza sativa. The results showed that Si treatments significantly increased ...

The current study was conducted in order to investigate the short-term effects (6, 12, and 24 h) of silicon (Si) on the endogenous hormonal composition of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Dongjin-beyo), with and without wounding stress. Si applied in different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mM) significantly promoted shoot length, plant biomass, and chlorophyll content of rice plants. Plants treated with different concentrations of sole Si for 6, 12, and 24 h had higher endogenous jasmonic ...

Chromium Cr(VI) is highly toxic and leads to impaired phenotypic plasticity of economically important crops. The current study assessed an endophytic-bacteria assisted metal bio-remediation strategy to understand stress-alleviating mechanisms in Glycine max L (soybean) plants inoculated with Sphingomonas sp. LK11 under severe Cr(VI) toxicity. The screening analysis showed that high Cr concentrations (5.0 mM) slightly suppressed LK11 growth and metal uptake by LK11 cells, while ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of a simple method of predicting fetal weight by measuring fetal thigh volume with three-dimensional ultrasonography.

METHODS: In 84 pregnant women, fetuses without structural or chromosomal anomalies were studied prospectively and cross-sectionally. Biparietal diameter (BPD), abdominal circumference (AC), and femur length (FL) were measured by two-dimensional ultrasound. Fetal thigh volume was measured by three-dimensional ultrasound, ...