Carbon metabolic profiling of Trichoderma strains provides insight into potential ecological niches

ABSTRACT

Many Trichoderma species are cosmopolitan and widespread free-living fungi in various ecological environment, and many are economically important in the fields of agriculture and industry. However, carbon metabolism profiles of Trichoderma species have not been characterized in detail. In this study, Biolog FF MicroPlates were used to contrast carbon utilization and the differences among five Trichoderma species, each representing a unique phenotype. Their metabolic abilities varied greatly. Species producing cellulases and chitinases and with phosphate-solubilizing activities exhibited high efficiency of substrate utilization, whereas low efficiency was shown by saline-alkaline-tolerant species that metabolized simple carbon sources. Species producing cellulases at high levels may be specified to decompose and assimilate cellulose and hemicellulose in woody substrates, and those producing chitinases may have mycoparasitic roles. Species with plant growth–promoting traits are good at uptake of exudates from plant roots. Overall, metabolic models reflect nutritional adaptation of Trichoderma to diverse niches in nature.

KEYWORDS:

• Biolog FF MicroPlate
• cellulase
• chitinase
• mycoparasitism
• phosphate solubilization
• saline-alkaline tolerance

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Mr. Yi Zhang and Mr. Peng Li, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for a joint study on preliminary screening of Trichoderma isolates, and Dr. Gary Samuels for his kindness of linguistic corrections and valuable suggestions.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (2017YFD0200600) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 31570018).