Cloning, annotation and expression analysis of mycoparasitism-related genes in Trichoderma harzianum 88

Trichoderma harzianum 88, a filamentous soil fungus, is an effective biocontrol agent against several plant pathogens. High-throughput sequencing was used here to study the mycoparasitism mechanisms of T. harzianum 88. Plate confrontation tests of T. harzianum 88 against plant pathogens were conducted, and a cDNA library was constructed from T. harzianum 88 mycelia in the presence of plant pathogen cell walls. Randomly selected transcripts from the cDNA library were compared with eukaryotic plant and fungal genomes. Of the 1,386 transcripts sequenced, the most abundant Gene Ontology (GO) classification group was "physiological process". Differential expression of 19 genes was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR at different mycoparasitism stages against plant pathogens. Gene expression analysis revealed the transcription of various genes involved in mycoparasitism of T. harzianum 88. Our study provides helpful insights into the mechanisms of T. harzianum 88-plant pathogen interactions.