Comparative study of Trichoderma gene expression in interactions with tomato plants using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays

Trichoderma spp. are widely used as biopesticides and biofertilizers to control diseases and to promote positive physiological responses in plants. In vitro and in vivo assays with Trichoderma harzianum CECT 2413 (T34), Trichoderma virens Gv29-8 (T87) and Trichoderma hamatum IMI 224801 (T7) revealed that these strains affected the growth and development of lateral roots in tomato plants in different ways. The early expression profiles of these Trichoderma strains were studied after 20 h of incubation in the presence of tomato plants, using a high-density oligonucleotide (HDO) microarray, and compared to the profiles in the absence of plants. Out of the total 34138 Trichoderma probe sets deposited on the microarray, 1077 (3.15%) showed a significant change of at least 2-fold in expression in the presence of tomato plants. The numbers of probe sets identified in the individual Trichoderma strains were 593 in T. harzianum T34, 336 in T. virens T87 and 94 in T. hamatum T7. Carbohydrate metabolism - the chitin degradation enzymes N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase, glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase and chitinase - was the most significantly overrepresented process commonly observed in the three Trichoderma strains in early interactions with tomato plants. Strains 17 and T34, which had similar positive effects on plant development in biological assays, showed a significantly overrepresented hexokinase activity in interaction with tomato. In addition, genes encoding a 40S ribosomal protein and a P23 tumour protein were altered in both these strains.