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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2000, p. 810-815, Vol. 66, No. 2
Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological
Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844-2339
Received 4 June 1999/Accepted 13 October 1999
Trichoderma harzianum was cotransformed with genes
encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP),
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Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Cotransformation of Trichoderma harzianum with
-Glucuronidase and Green Fluorescent Protein Genes Provides a
Useful Tool for Monitoring Fungal Growth and Activity in
Natural Soils
-glucuronidase (GUS), and
hygromycin B (hygB) resistance, using polyethylene
glycol-mediated transformation. One cotransformant (ThzID1-M3) was
mitotically stable for 6 months despite successive subculturing without
selection pressure. ThzID1-M3 morphology was similar to that of the
wild type; however, the mycelial growth rate on agar was reduced.
ThzID1-M3 was formed into calcium alginate pellets and placed onto
buried glass slides in a nonsterile soil, and its ability to grow,
sporulate, and colonize sclerotia of Sclerotinia
sclerotiorum was compared with that of the wild-type strain.
Wild-type and transformant strains both colonized sclerotia at levels
above those of indigenous Trichoderma spp. in untreated
controls. There were no significant differences in colonization levels
between wild-type and cotransformant strains; however, the presence of
the GFP and GUS marker genes permitted differentiation of introduced
Trichoderma from indigenous strains. GFP activity was a
useful tool for nondestructive monitoring of the hyphal growth of the
transformant in a natural soil. The green color of cotransformant
hyphae was clearly visible with a UV epifluorescence microscope, while
indigenous fungi in the same samples were barely visible.
Green-fluorescing conidiophores and conidia were observed within the
first 3 days of incubation in soil, and this was followed by the
formation of terminal and intercalary chlamydospores and subsequent
disintegration of older hyphal segments. Addition of 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-
-D-glucuronic acid (X-Gluc)
substrate to recovered glass slides confirmed the activity of GUS as
well as GFP in soil. Our results suggest that cotransformation with GFP
and GUS can provide a valuable tool for the detection and monitoring of
specific strains of T. harzianum released into the soil.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-2339. Phone: (208) 885-7933. Fax: (208) 885-7760. E-mail: gknudsen{at}uidaho.edu.
Published as Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station paper 99712.
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