Genomes of the fungi Trichoderma lentiforme and Trichoderma camerunense and analysis of gene expression of tomato plants during interaction with these fungi

Abstract

Fungi of the genus Trichoderma are outstanding agents of biological control due to the various mechanisms of action (antagonism, production of antimicrobial substances, parasitism and colonization capacity) as well as their symbiotic relationship with plant species. In view of this, there has been an increase in the study of its biology and its management within the agricultural system, and there is still a demand for genomic knowledge and taxonomy of this genus of fungi. Recently, the reidentification of 124 isolates of Trichoderma spp. of the ULRBMA-IB collection (Laboratory of Reference in Applied Molecular Biology - Biological Institute), through sequencing of the elongation factor gene showed that the predominant species in the soil of different biomes of the State of São Paulo is Trichoderma lentiforme (38% of all isolates). This is one of fourteen species that have recently been dismembered from the Trichoderma harzianum species complex. In previous studies at ULRBMA, several isolates of Trichoderma spp. of this collection presented great potential for growth promotion and diseases control of tomato, beans, soybean and cucumber. Two isolates that stood out were 30/07 (T. lentiforme) and 19/17 (T. camerunense). Considering that none of these species had their genome sequenced and aimed at a better understanding of the effects of these fungi on the host plant, it is proposed in this study to obtain the complete genomes of isolates 30/07 and 19/17 and to verify the effect of the inoculation of these fungi on gene expression of tomato plants. The complete genomes will be obtained by combining the Oxford Nanopore - MinION (long sequences) and Illumina - HiSeq 2500 (short sequences) technologies. The analysis of the transcriptomes of the inoculated plants will be performed by RNAseq and Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencer. The validation of the differential expression of genes to be selected will be performed by qRT-PCR. The results will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of growth promotion and protection of plants against diseases of two native species of Trichoderma. (AU)