title: Expression of genes of Trichoderma harzianum in response to the presence of cadmium in the substrate.
abstract: Trichoderma harzianum is a very important fungus for the reduction of the amount of heavy metals resulting from agricultural and industrial activities. This filamentous fungus has been shown to be tolerant towards several heavy metals (e.g. Cd, Pb, Zn, Ni and Mn), but the mechanism underlying this tolerance is not entirely understood. In this study, we confirmed the ability of T. harzianum to grow in the presence of cadmium and observed a significant stimulation of its growth in the presence of mercury. A molecular approach to investigate the cadmium tolerance mechanisms was carried out by the application of the suppression subtractive hybridisation (SSH) technique. To this end, we have used a particular strategy to discriminate cadmium-induced differentially expressed genes from those generally expressed upon heavy metal treatment. Several genes (109) were found to be overexpressed in the presence of cadmium, confirming the dramatic metabolic modification underlying the metal stress response of the fungus.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Gestione dei Sistemi Agroalimentari e Ambientali, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Faedda
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Puglisi
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sanzaro
authors.forename: Goffredo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petrone
authors.forename: Santa Olga
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Cacciola
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental / Q000187:drug effects; D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D019295:Computational Biology; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / Q000187:drug effects*; D015723:Gene Library; D008628:Mercury / Q000633:toxicity*; D014242:Trichoderma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D002104:Cadmium; D008628:Mercury