Comparative genome sequence analysis underscores mycoparasitism as the ancestral life style of Trichoderma.

BACKGROUND: Mycoparasitism, a lifestyle where one fungus is parasitic on another fungus, has special relevance when the prey is a plant pathogen, providing a strategy for biological control of pests for plant protection. Probably, the most studied biocontrol agents are species of the genus Hypocrea/Trichoderma. RESULTS: Here we report an analysis of the genome sequences of the two biocontrol species Trichoderma atroviride (teleomorph Hypocrea atroviridis) and Trichoderma virens (formerly Gliocladium virens, teleomorph Hypocrea virens), and a comparison with Trichoderma reesei (teleomorph Hypocrea jecorina). These three Trichoderma species display a remarkable conservation of gene order (78 to 96%), and a lack of active mobile elements probably due to repeat-induced point mutation. Several gene families are expanded in the two mycoparasitic species relative to T. reesei or other ascomycetes, and are overrepresented in non-syntenic genome regions. A phylogenetic analysis shows that T. reesei and T. virens are derived relative to T. atroviride. The mycoparasitism-specific genes thus arose in a common Trichoderma ancestor but were subsequently lost in T. reesei. CONCLUSIONS: The data offer a better understanding of mycoparasitism, and thus enforce the development of improved biocontrol strains for efficient and environmentally friendly protection of plants.

Kubicek, C. P., Herrera-Estrella, A., Seidl-Seiboth, V., Martinez, D. A., Druzhinina, I. S., Thon, M., ... Grigoriev, I. V.

Kubicek, Christian P||Herrera-Estrella, Alfredo||Seidl-Seiboth, Verena||Martinez, Diego A||Druzhinina, Irina S||Thon, Michael||Zeilinger, Susanne||Casas-Flores, Sergio||Horwitz, Benjamin A||Mukherjee, Prasun K||Mukherjee, Mala||Kredics, László||Alcaraz, Luis D||Aerts, Andrea||Antal, Zsuzsanna||Atanasova, Lea||Cervantes-Badillo, Mayte G||Challacombe, Jean||Chertkov, Olga||McCluskey, Kevin||Coulpier, Fanny||Deshpande, Nandan||von Döhren, Hans||Ebbole, Daniel J||Esquivel-Naranjo, Edgardo U||Fekete, Erzsébet||Flipphi, Michel||Glaser, Fabian||Gómez-Rodríguez, Elida Y||Gruber, Sabine||Han, Cliff||Henrissat, Bernard||Hermosa, Rosa||Hernández-Oñate, Miguel||Karaffa, Levente||Kosti, Idit||Le Crom, Stéphane||Lindquist, Erika||Lucas, Susan||Lübeck, Mette||Lübeck, Peter S||Margeot, Antoine||Metz, Benjamin||Misra, Monica||Nevalainen, Helena||Omann, Markus||Packer, Nicolle||Perrone, Giancarlo||Uresti-Rivera, Edith E||Salamov, Asaf||Schmoll, Monika||Seiboth, Bernhard||Shapiro, Harris||Sukno, Serenella||Tamayo-Ramos, Juan Antonio||Tisch, Doris||Wiest, Aric||Wilkinson, Heather H||Zhang, Michael||Coutinho, Pedro M||Kenerley, Charles M||Monte, Enrique||Baker, Scott E||Grigoriev, Igor V

Comparative genome sequence analysis underscores mycoparasitism as the ancestral life style of Trichoderma. Academic Article