Quantification of the expression of chitinolytic enzyme encoding genes ech30, ech42 and nag1 in Trichoderma atroviride P1 under varying growth conditions using a real-time RT-PCR assay

The quantitative expression and the regulation of chitinase-encoding genes ech30, ech42 and nag1 in Trichoderma atroviride P1 under varying growth conditions were investigated using real-time RT-PCR, principle component and multivariate analyses. Twelve media combinations including 0.1% and 3% glucose as carbon source and no (0 mmol/L), low (10 mmol/L) and high (100 mmol/L) ammonium acetate as nitrogen source combined with or without colloidal chitin at 3 time intervals and 2 replications were applied to current study. The real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of ech30, ech42 and nag1 was regulated by the interaction of nitrogen, glucose and chitin under different growth conditions. The highest and earliest expressions of ech30 were induced by glucose and nitrogen starvation i.e. 0.1% glucose and 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate in the growth media. This was also the case for ech42 and nag1 but at a relatively low level. In contrast, high (3%) glucose and high (100 mmol/L) ammonium acetate concentrations repressed the expression of all the genes studied. These results were confirmed by principle component and multivariate analyses. The effect of chitin on ech30, ech42 and nag1 expression varied depending on the concentrations of glucose and ammonium acetate.