Identification of mycoparasitism-related genes in Trichoderma atroviride: A holistic comparative study on self confrontation and host interaction by de novo transcriptome sequencing. Trichoderma atroviride

A high-throughput sequencing approach was utilized to carry out a comparative transcriptome analysis of Trichoderma atroviride IMI206040 during mycoparasitic interaction with the plant pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani. In this study, transcript fragments of 7,797 Trichoderma genes were sequenced, 175 of which were host responsive. According to the functional annotation of these genes by KOG, the most abundant group during direct contact was 'Metabolism'. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the differential transcription of 13 genes (including swo1, axe1 and homologs to papA, pra1) in the presence of R. solani. Additional relative gene expression analysis of these genes, conducted on different stages of mycoparasitism against Botrytis cinerea and Phytophthora capsici, revealed synergistic transcription of various genes involved in cell wall degradation. The similarities in expression patterns and the occurrence of regulatory binding sites in the corresponding promoter regions suggest a possible analog regulation of these genes during mycoparasitism of T. atroviride. Furthermore, a chitin- and distance-dependent induction of pra1 was demonstrated. Barbara Reithner 1,3*, Enrique Ibarra-Laclette 2, Robert L. Mach 1, and Alfredo Herrera-Estrella 3 1 Research Area Gene Technology, Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna Unive rsity of Technology, Gumpendorferstraße 1a/166, A-1060 Vienna, Austria 2 Core facility, Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad, Cinvest av Campus Guanajuato, Km 9.6 Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, , Irapua to 36821, Guanajuato, México 3 Research Area Fungal Development and Gene Expression, Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad, Cinvestav Campus Guanajuato, Km 9.6 Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Irapuato 36821, Guanajuato, México [e-mail]