Relations among obesity, family socioeconomic status, oral health behaviors, and dental caries in adolescents: the 2010-2012 Korea National Health and nutrition examination survey.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among obesity, family socioeconomic status, oral health behaviors, and dental caries and to identify possible differences in factors related with dental caries according to gender among a representative sample of Korean adolescents. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which was conducted between 2010 and 2012. This nationally representative cross-sectional survey included approximately 10,000 individuals, including adolescents, each year as a survey sample, and collected information on socioeconomic status, health-related behaviors, quality of life, healthcare utilization, anthropometric measures, biochemical and clinical profiles for non-communicable diseases, and dietary intake via three component surveys (health interview, health examination, and nutrition survey). The health interview and health examination were conducted by trained staff members. A total of 1646 adolescents of ages 13 to 18 years old were included in this study; there were 879 males and 767 females. Data were analyzed by t-test, X2-test, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses using SAS 9.4 and 'R' statistical software for Windows to account for the complex sampling design. RESULTS: In males, significant associations between family income and dental caries on permanent teeth were noted after adjusting for confounding variables; the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals thereof were 0.43(0.24-0.76), 0.41(0.24-0.70), and 0.28(0.16-0.49) for low-middle, middle-high, and high family income, respectively. Smoking experience showed a significant association with dental caries on permanent teeth in females. Oral health behaviors, such as tooth brushing frequency, were associated with dental caries in only male adolescents. There was no association between obesity and dental caries on permanent teeth in either male or female adolescents. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that factors associated with dental caries in adolescents differ according to gender. Therefore, gender-specific interventions may be warranted to improve dental health among adolescents.

Identification of a 12-gene Fusaric Acid Biosynthetic Gene Cluster in Fusarium Species Through Comparative and Functional Genomics.

In fungi, genes involved in biosynthesis of a secondary metabolite (SM) are often located adjacent to one another in the genome and are coordinately regulated. These SM biosynthetic gene clusters typically encode enzymes, one or more transcription factors, and a transport protein. Fusaric acid is a polyketide-derived SM produced by multiple species of the fungal genus Fusarium. This SM is of concern because it is toxic to animals and, therefore, is considered a mycotoxin and may contribute to plant pathogenesis. Preliminary descriptions of the fusaric acid (FA) biosynthetic gene (FUB) cluster have been reported in two Fusarium species, the maize pathogen F. verticillioides and the rice pathogen F. fujikuroi. The cluster consisted of five genes and did not include a transcription factor or transporter gene. Here, analysis of the FUB region in F. verticillioides, F. fujikuroi, and F. oxysporum, a plant pathogen with multiple hosts, indicates the FUB cluster consists of at least 12 genes (FUB1 to FUB12). Deletion analysis confirmed that nine FUB genes, including two Zn(II)2Cys6 transcription factor genes, are required for production of wild-type levels of FA. Comparisons of FUB cluster homologs across multiple Fusarium isolates and species revealed insertion of non-FUB genes at one or two locations in some homologs. Although the ability to produce FA contributed to the phytotoxicity of F. oxysporum culture extracts, lack of production did not affect virulence of F. oxysporum on cactus or F. verticillioides on maize seedlings. These findings provide new insights into the genetic and biochemical processes required for FA production.

Antidiabetic effect of an extract of nutricultured Brassica napus containing vanadium from a Jeju water concentrate.

The purpose of this study was to determine the antidiabetic effect of an extract of nutricultured Brassica napus containing vanadium (BECV). The BECV was prepared following nutriculture of B. napus with a Jeju water vanadium concentrate for 7 day. The BECV was administered to db/db mice for 8 weeks at different dosages (0.028, 0.14, and 0.7 µg/kg; as vanadium concentration in BECV). After 8 weeks, the BECV results showed mouse blood glucose concentrations to significantly decrease, in a dose-dependent manner, compared with the results for control mice. In addition, the concentrations of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and glycated hemoglobin were significantly lower after 8 weeks of administration of 0.7 µg/kg BECV. Therefore, the BECV may have protective effects against type 2 diabetes.

Physical Localization of the Root-Knot Nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) Resistance Locus Me7 in Pepper (Capsicum annuum).

The root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita severely reduces yields of pepper (Capsicum annuum) worldwide. A single dominant locus, Me7, conferring RKN resistance was previously mapped on the long arm of pepper chromosome P9. In the present study, the Me7 locus was fine mapped using an F2 population of 714 plants derived from a cross between the RKN-susceptible parent C. annuum ECW30R and the RKN-resistant parent C. annuum CM334. CM334 exhibits suppressed RKN juvenile movement, suppressed feeding site enlargement and significant reduction in gall formation compared with ECW30R. RKN resistance screening in the F2 population identified 558 resistant and 156 susceptible plants, which fit a 3:1 ratio confirming that this RKN resistance was controlled by a single dominant gene. Using the C. annuum CM334 reference genome and BAC library sequencing, fine mapping of Me7 markers was performed. The Me7 locus was delimited between two markers G21U3 and G43U3 covering a physical interval of approximately 394.7 kb on the CM334 chromosome P9. Nine markers co-segregated with the Me7 gene. A cluster of 25 putative nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR)-type disease resistance genes were predicted in the delimited Me7 region. We propose that RKN resistance in CM334 is mediated by one or more of these NBS-LRR class R genes. The Me7-linked markers identified here will facilitate marker-assisted selection (MAS) for RKN resistance in pepper breeding programs, as well as functional analysis of Me7 candidate genes in C. annuum.

Pathological Interrelations of Soil-Borne Diseases in Cucurbits Caused by Fusarium Species and Meloidogyne incognita.

Pathological interrelations of two soil-borne diseases in cucurbits (watermelon, oriental melon, shintosa and cucumber) caused by Fusarium isolates (FI) and the root-knot nematode (RKN), Meloidogyne incognita were characterized by the fusarium disease severity index (DI), RKN gall index (GI) and eggmass index (EI) in inoculation tests using FI and RKN. Virulence of FI as determined by DI at 4 weeks after inoculation was mostly in the higher order of Fusarium proliferatum F6, F5 and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis or Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum with no significant differential interactions among the cucurbits and RKN co-infection. Significant increases of DI due to RKN coinfection were noticed in watermelon and oriental melon infected with F. proliferatum isolates, suggesting the DI increase due to RKN coinfection may depend upon the virulence of FI relative to aggressiveness of RKN on the cucurbits. For the coinfection of FI and RKN, GI and EI were mostly reduced logarithmically with the increase of DI, largely more in EI than GI, in all cucurbits except for shintosa. Microscopic examination of the root tissues showed histopathological features characteristic to infection types; formation of fungal hyphae and/or spores and plant defense structures (tyloses and mucilage) in variable degrees and formation of giant cells at variable developmental stages and with variable cytoplasmic depletion or degeneration which were visualized in relations with the values of DI, GI and EI. These findings will be helpful to develop control strategies of the soil-borne disease complex based on their pathological characteristics.

Potential Reasons for Prevalence of Fusarium Wilt in Oriental Melon in Korea.

This study aims to examine the potential reasons for the current prevalence of the fusarium wilt in the oriental melon. Twenty-seven Fusarium isolates obtained from oriental melon greenhouses in 2010-2011 were identified morphologically and by analysis of elongation factor-1 alpha gene (EF-1α) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences as 6 Fusarium species (8 isolates of F. oxysporum, 8 F. commune, 5 F. proliferatum, 3 F. equiseti, 2 F. delphinoides, and 1 F. andiyazi), which were classified as same into 6 EF-1α sequence-based phylogenetic clades. Pathogenicity of the Fusarium isolates on the oriental melon was highest in F. proliferatum, next in F. oxysporum and F. andiyazi, and lowest in the other Fusarium species tested, suggesting F. proliferatum and F. oxysporum were major pathogens of the oriental melon, inducing stem rots and vascular wilts, respectively. Oriental melon and watermelon were more susceptible to F. oxysporum than shintosa and cucumber; and cucumber was most, oriental melon and watermelon, medially, and shintosa was least susceptible to F. proliferatum, whose virulence varied among and within their phylogenetic subclades. Severe root-knot galls were formed on all the crops infected with Meloidogyne incognita; however, little indication of vascular wilts or stem and/or root rots was shown by the nematode infection. These results suggest the current fungal disease in the oriental melon may be rarely due to virulence changes of the fusarium wilt pathogen and the direct cause of the severe root-knot nematode infection, but may be potentially from other Fusarium pathogen infection that produces seemingly wilting caused by severe stem rotting.

Effects of Soil Textures on Infectivity of Root-Knot Nematodes on Carrot.

This study was conducted to examine infectivity (penetration and gall and egg-mass formations) of the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita and M. hapla, on carrots grown in soil conditions of 5 different soil textures consisting of bed-soil (b) and sand (s) mixtures (b-s mixtures) at the ratios of 10:0, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, and 0:10. For M. incognita, the nematode penetration rates in b-s of 0:10 (100% sand) were significantly higher than in the other b-s mixtures, more greatly at 2 and 5 days after inoculation than at 10 DAI, while no significant differences in the penetration rates were mostly shown for M. hapla at the above DAI. However, for both nematodes, gall and egg-mass formations were remarkably increased in the b-s mixture of 0:10, compared to the other b-s mixtures, which is coincided with the general aspects of severe nematode infestations in sandy soils. This suggests the increased gall and egg-mass formations of M. incognita should be derived from the increased penetration rates in the sandy soil conditions, which provide a sufficient aeration due to coarse soil nature for the nematodes, leading to their mobility increased for the enhanced root penetration. For M. hapla, it is suggested that the sandy soil conditions affect positively on the healthy plant growth with little accumulation of the inhibitory materials and sufficient aeration, enhancing the nematode growth and feeding activities. All of these aspects provide information reliable for the development screening techniques efficient for the evaluation of the nematode resistance in the breeding programs.

Comparisons of Pathological Responses in Carrot to Root-knot Nematodes.

Carrot (Dacus carota var. sativus) is one of the top-ten most economically important vegetable crops produced worldwide, and the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp., are one of the most important pests in the carrot. In Korea, M. hapla and M. incognita are presumed to be the major root-knot nematodes distributing mostly in open carrot fields and greenhouses, respectively. In our study, currently-developed and commercial carrot cultivars and the parental lines were examined for their pathological responses to M. incognita and M. hapla 7 weeks after inoculation with about 1,000 second-stage juveniles (J2) of the nematodes. All the carrot cultivars and lines showed susceptible responses to both nematodes with the gall index (GI) of 2.4-4.4, which were always higher on the carrot plants infected with M. incognita than M. hapla. Gall sizes were remarkably larger with more serious reduction of the root growths in the plants infected with M. incognita than M. hapla, suggesting the carrot lines examined in our study were more susceptible to the former than the latter. In the infection sites of the root tissues, giant cells were more extensively formed, occupying larger stellar regions with the prominent destruction of adjacent xylem vessels by M. incognita than M. hapla. All of these results suggest M. incognita affect more seriously on the carrot plants that are grown in greenhouses, compared to M. hapla that has a major distribution in open carrot fields, which would be used for determining cropping systems based on target nematode species, their damage and pathological characteristics.

Control of Meloidogyne incognita Using Mixtures of Organic Acids.

This study sought to control the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita using benign organo-chemicals. Second-stage juveniles (J2) of RKN were exposed to dilutions (1.0%, 0.5%, 0.2%, and 0.1%) of acetic acid (AA), lactic acid (LA), and their mixtures (MX). The nematode bodies were disrupted severely and moderately by vacuolations in 0.5% of MX and single organic acids, respectively, suggesting toxicity of MX may be higher than AA and LA. The mortality of J2 was 100% at all concentrations of AA and MX and only at 1.0% and 0.5% of LA, which lowered slightly at 0.2% and greatly at 0.1% of LA. This suggests the nematicidal activity of MX may be mostly derived from AA together with supplementary LA toxicity. MX was applied to chili pepper plants inoculated with about 1,000 J2, for which root-knot gall formations and plant growths were examined 4 weeks after inoculation. The root gall formation was completely inhibited by 0.5% MX and standard and double concentrations of fosthiazate; and inhibited 92.9% and 57.1% by 0.2% and 0.1% MX, respectively. Shoot height, shoot weight, and root weight were not significantly (P ≤ 0.05) different among all treatments and the untreated and non-inoculated controls. All of these results suggest that the mixture of the organic acids may have a potential to be developed as an eco-friendly nematode control agent that needs to be supported by the more nematode control experiments in fields.

Biological Control of Meloidogyne hapla Using an Antagonistic Bacterium.

We examined the efficacy of a bacterium for biocontrol of the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne hapla in carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Among 542 bacterial isolates from various soils and plants, the highest nematode mortality was observed for treatments with isolate C1-7, which was identified as Bacillus cereus based on cultural and morphological characteristics, the Biolog program, and 16S rRNA sequencing analyses. The population density and the nematicidal activity of B. cereus C1-7 remained high until the end of culture in brain heart infusion broth, suggesting that it may have sustainable biocontrol potential. In pot experiments, the biocontrol efficacy of B. cereus C1-7 was high, showing complete inhibition of root gall or egg mass formation by RKN in carrot and tomato plants, and subsequently reducing RKN damage and suppressing nematode population growth, respectively. Light microscopy of RKN-infected carrot root tissues treated with C1-7 showed reduced formation of gall cells and fully developed giant cells, while extensive gall cells and fully mature giant cells with prominent cell wall ingrowths formed in the untreated control plants infected with RKNs. These histopathological characteristics may be the result of residual or systemic biocontrol activity of the bacterium, which may coincide with the biocontrol efficacies of nematodes in pots. These results suggest that B. cereus C1-7 can be used as a biocontrol agent for M. hapla.

Screening and Histopathological Characterization of Korean Carrot Lines for Resistance to the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita.

In total, 170 carrot lines developed in Korea were screened for resistance to Meloidogyne incognita race 1 to select parental genetic resources useful for the development of nematode-resistant carrot cultivars. Using the gall index (GI), gall formation was examined on carrot roots inoculated with approximately 1,000 second-stage juveniles of the nematode 7 weeks after inoculation. Sixty-one carrot lines were resistant (GI ≤ 1.0), while the other 109 were susceptible (GI > 1.0) with coefficient of variance (CV) of GI for total carrot lines 0.68, indicating low-variation of GI within the lines examined. The histopathological responses of two carrot plants from resistant and susceptible lines were examined after nematode infection. In susceptible carrots, giant cells formed with no discernible necrosis around the infecting nematodes. In the resistant carrot line, however, no giant cells formed, although modified cells were observed with extensive formation of necrotic layers through their middle lamella and around the infecting nematodes. This suggested that these structural modifications were related to hypersensitive responses governed by the expression of true resistance genes. Therefore, the Korean carrot lines resistant to the nematode infection are potential genetic resources for the development of quality carrot cultivars resistant to M. incognita race 1.