Major secondary metabolites produced by two commercial Trichoderma strains active against different phytopathogens.
OBJECTIVE
Trichoderma harzianum strains T22 and T39 are two micro-organisms used as active agents in a variety of commercial biopesticides and biofertilizers and widely applied amongst field and greenhouse crops. The production, isolation, biological and chemical characterization of the main secondary metabolites produced by these strains are investigated.


RESULTS
Of the three major compounds produced by strain T22, one is a new azaphilone that shows marked in vitro inhibition of Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium ultimum and Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici. In turn, filtrates from strain T39 were demonstrated to contain two compounds previously isolated from other T. harzianum strains and a new butenolide. The production of the isolated metabolites was also monitored by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry during in vitro interaction with R. solani.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper reports the isolation and characterization of the main secondary metabolites obtained from culture filtrates of two T. harzianum strains and their production during antagonistic interaction with the pathogen R. solani.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first work on secondary metabolites produced by the commercially applied strains T22 and T39. Our results provide a better understanding of the metabolism of these fungi, which are both widely used as biopesticides and/or biofertilizers in biocontrol.
Vinale
F
F
Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Portici (Naples), Italy. frvinale@unina.it
Marra
R
R
Scala
F
F
Ghisalberti
E L
EL
Lorito
M
M
Sivasithamparam
K
K
D015107:4-Butyrolactone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D000880:Anthraquinones / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D000898:Antibiosis; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000187:drug effects; D001578:Benzopyrans / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects*; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D011775:Pythium / Q000187:drug effects*; D012232:Rhizoctonia / Q000187:drug effects; D014242:Trichoderma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
D000880:Anthraquinones; D001578:Benzopyrans; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial; D010860:Pigments, Biological; C494154:azaphilone; C004511:butenolide; D015107:4-Butyrolactone