Heterologous expression of the glucose oxidase gene in Trichoderma atroviride leads enhanced ability to attack phytopathogenic fungi and induction of plant systemic disease resistance

A transgenic strain of Trichoderma atroviride that expresses the Aspergillus niger glucose oxidase gene goxA under a homologous pathogen-inducible promoter (nag1) has been constructed, with the aim of increasing the ability of this biocontrol agent (BCA) to attack phytopathogenic fungi and enhance plant systemic disease resistance. The sporulation and growth rate of the transgenic progenies were similar to the wild-type strain P1. goxA expression occurred immediately after contact with the plant pathogen, and the glucose oxidase formed was secreted extracellularly. The transformed strain SJ3 4, containing 12-14 copies of the transgene, produced significantly less N-acetyl-glucosaminidase and endochitinase then wild type. However, the ability of its culture filtrate to inhibit the germination of Botrytis cinerea spores was increased by about 3-fold. In comparison to P1, the transgenic strain more quickly overgrew and lysed in vitro the pathogens Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium ultimum. In assays in vivo SJ3 4 showed a highly improved biocontrol ability in soil heavily infested with those pathogens, where the wild type was unable to protect the plant and allow seeds to germinate. The Trichoderma-gox was able to induce a much higher level of systemic resistance against the foliar pathogen B. cinerea, as compared to the parent strain. This work demonstrate that i) heterologous genes driven by pathogen-inducible promoters can improve the biocontrol and Induced Systemic Resistance properties of fungal BCAs such as Trichoderma spp., and ii) these microbes can be used as vectors to provide the plant with useful molecules able, for instance, to increase pathogen

G protein signalling involved in host recognition and mycoparasitism-related chitinase expression in Trichoderma atroviride

Mycoparasitic species of Trichoderma are commercially applied as biological control agents against various fungal pathogens. The mycoparasitic interaction is host specific and includes recognition, attack and subsequent penetration and killing of the host. Investigations on the underlying events revealed that Trichoderma responds to multiple signals from the host (e.g. lectins or other ligands such as low molecular weight components released from the host’s cell wall) and host attack is accompanied by morphological changes and the secretion of hydrolytic enzymes and antibiotics. Degradation of the cell wall of the host fungus is-besides glucanases and proteases-mainly achieved by chitinases. In vivo studies showed that the ech42 gene (encoding endochitinase 42) is expressed before physical contact of Trichoderma with its host, probably representing one of the earliest events in mycoparasitism, whereas Nag1 (N-acetylglucosaminidase) plays a key role in the general induction of the chitinolytic enzyme system of T. atroviride . Investigations on the responsible signal transduction pathways of T. atroviride led to the isolation of several genes encoding key components of the cAMP and MAP kinase signaling pathways, as alpha and β subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins, the regulatory subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, adenylate cyclase, and three MAP kinases. Analysis of knockout mutants, generated by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, revealed that at least two alpha-subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins are participating in mycoparasitism-related signal transduction. The Tga1 G alpha subunit was shown to be involved in mycoparasitism-related processes such as chitinase expression and overproduction of toxic secondary metabolites, whereas Tga3 was found to be completely avirulent showing defects in chitinase formation and host recognition.