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  • Review Article
  • Published:

Trichoderma: the genomics of opportunistic success

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 24 October 2011

Key Points

  • Trichoderma is a genus of filamentous fungi that display a range of lifestyles and interactions with other fungi, animals and plants.Because of their ability to antagonize plant-pathogenic fungi and to stimulate plant growth and defence, some Trichoderma strains are used for biological control of plant diseases.

  • A recent comparative analysis of the genomes from Trichoderma reesei, Trichoderma virens and Trichoderma atroviride (known as Hypocrea jecorina, Hypocrea virens and Hypocrea atroviridis in their respective teleomorphic (sexual) forms) has revealed that mycotrophy seems to be an ancient trait of the genus, as illustrated by an amplification of several gene families that encode proteins and enzymes involved in antagonism and killing of other fungi.

  • Mycotrophy and various forms of parasitism on other fungi (mycoparasitism), combined with broad environmental opportunism, seem to have driven the evolution of the present interactions of Trichoderma spp. with plants and animals. The presence of potential fungal prey and plant root-derived nutrients in the plant rhizosphere may have been major attractors for the colonization of the rhizosphere by Trichoderma spp. ancestors.

  • The phylogeny of Trichoderma strains suggests that endophytic strains and strains that are facultative pathogens of humans have recently evolved towards these new niches (that is, plant and animal tissues). This evolution may have been facilitated by the presence of genes that enable effective competition and opportunism.

Abstract

Trichoderma is a genus of common filamentous fungi that display a remarkable range of lifestyles and interactions with other fungi, animals and plants. Because of their ability to antagonize plant-pathogenic fungi and to stimulate plant growth and defence responses, some Trichoderma strains are used for biological control of plant diseases. In this Review, we discuss recent advances in molecular ecology and genomics which indicate that the interactions of Trichoderma spp. with animals and plants may have evolved as a result of saprotrophy on fungal biomass (mycotrophy) and various forms of parasitism on other fungi (mycoparasitism), combined with broad environmental opportunism.

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Figure 1: Mycotrophy of Hypocrea/Trichoderma spp.
Figure 2: Mycoparasitism of Hypocrea/Trichoderma spp. within the soil community.
Figure 3: Mycotrophy of Hypocrea atroviridis/Trichoderma atroviridae.
Figure 4: Interactions of Hypocrea/Trichoderma spp. with other organisms in the rhizosphere.

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Acknowledgements

Work in the C.P.K., I.S.D., V.S.-S. and S.Z. laboratory (headed by C.P.K.) was supported by grants from the Austrian Science Foundation (P17895-B06, P20559, T390 and P-19340) and the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF LS09-036). The work of B.A.H., C.M.K. and P.K.M. was supported in part by grant TB-8031-08 from the Texas Department of Agriculture, USA, and the US–Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund.

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Glossary

Saprotrophic

Using extracellular digestion of dead or decayed organic matter as a food source.

Opportunistic

Able to rapidly adapt to occupy a newly arising ecological niche.

Biotrophic

Relying on another living organism for nutrition. This includes the broad spectrum of parasitic, mutualistic and commensalistic interactions.

Parasites

Organisms that take part in inter-species biotrophic interactions in which the parasites benefit at the expense of the other organisms in the interaction (the hosts).

Hemicellulolytic

Relating to the degradation of plant hemicelluloses such as xylans and pectins.

Nematophagous

Pertaining to fungi: specialized in trapping and digesting nematodes.

G protein-coupled receptors

(Guanine-nucleotide-binding protein-coupled receptors). Receptors that possess seven transmembrane helices, bind an extracellular signalling molecule and transmit this binding by activating a Gα subunit.

Lectins

Sugar-binding proteins that are highly specific for the respective sugar moiety and have a role in the recognition of cells and proteins.

Appressorium

A flattened hyphal pressing structure from which an infection peg emerges that enters the host.

Predation

An inter-organism association in which one organism affects another adversely and itself benefits from the interaction. A predator ultimately kills its prey and consumes all or part of the prey organism.

Mycoses

Fungal infections of animals or humans.

Mycorrhizal fungi

A group of fungi that establish symbiotic or weakly parasitic associations with the roots of vascular plants.

Induced systemic resistance

A process by which plants respond to a non-pathogenic microorganism, with a signalling cascade that is dependent on jasmonate and ethylene. This response leads to a long-lasting ability to mount a faster and stronger broad-spectrum defence when challenged by a pathogen. Both pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity and effector-triggered immunity can lead to induced systemic resistance.

Ethylene

A gaseous, unsaturated hydrocarbon that acts as a plant hormone to promote growth and development and as an inhibiting stress factor.

Callose

A β-1,3-linked polysaccharide of the plant cell wall; this polysaccharide is formed in response to wounding (including infections by pathogens).

Systemic acquired resistance

A plant defence mechanism that is usually induced by exposure to a pathogen and confers long-lasting protection against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. It involves the production of the signal molecule salicylic acid, which then leads to the accumulation of pathogenesis-related proteins that are thought to contribute to resistance.

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Druzhinina, I., Seidl-Seiboth, V., Herrera-Estrella, A. et al. Trichoderma: the genomics of opportunistic success. Nat Rev Microbiol 9, 749–759 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2637

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