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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2000, p. 810-815, Vol. 66, No. 2
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Cotransformation of Trichoderma harzianum with beta -Glucuronidase and Green Fluorescent Protein Genes Provides a Useful Tool for Monitoring Fungal Growth and Activity in Natural Soilsdagger

Yeoung-Seuk Bae and Guy R. Knudsen*

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), beta -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-beta -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.

dagger Published as Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station paper 99712.


Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2000, p. 810-815, Vol. 66, No. 2
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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