A crosstalk between Trichoderma and Burkholderia

Species of Trichoderma (teleomorph Hypocrea, Hypocreales, Ascomycota, Dykaria) are among the most frequently isolated mitosporic fungi. Recent genomic and transcriptomic studies show that the most notable role of Trichoderma in microbial community is its ability to prey on other fungi (necrotrophic hyperparasitism or mycoparasitism) or inhibit growth by production of antifungal metabolites. This property is evolutionary old in the genus and thus provides Trichoderma with a genetic basis for an outstanding environmental opportunism such as ability to colonize numerous substrata, establish versatile mutualistic interactions with plants and to parasitize on animals. Recently it was discovered that in tropical environments the cellulase producing species Trichoderma reesei frequently co-occurs with a nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the genus Burkholderia. Preliminary data show that the association between Trichoderma and Burkholderia spp. is widespread in both microbial genera. The aim of this project is to use T. reesei - Burkholderia association as a model system to identify the nature and specificity of this interaction by using modern physiological, molecular evolutionary, transcriptomic and genomic techniques. The data obtained in this project should reveal the functional role(s) of T. reesei in its natural environment what may be subsequently used for the improvement of cellulase production and biorefinery industry.

Species of Trichoderma (Hypocreales, Ascomycota, Dykaria) are among the most frequently isolated mold fungi. Recent genomic and transcriptomic studies show that the most notable role of Trichoderma in microbial community is its ability to prey on other fungi (necrotrophic mycoparasitism) or inhibit growth by the production of antifungal metabolites. This property is evolutionary old in the genus and thus provides Trichoderma with a genetic basis for outstanding environmental opportunism such as the ability to colonize various substrata, establish versatile mutualistic interactions with plants and to parasitize on animals. Recently it was discovered that in tropical environments the cellulase-producing species Trichoderma reesei frequently co-occurs with a nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the genus Burkholderia. The results of this project show that the association between Trichoderma and Burkholderia spp. is widespread in both microbial genera and can be described as neutralism or commensalism when bacteria benefit while Trichoderma tolerates the associations without any physiological responses. The data revealed in this project explain the co-occurrence of these microorganisms by their strong opportunistic potential. In fungi, the surface active proteins, hydrophobins, probably play a key role in the resilience of Trichoderma to the presence of bacteria.