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In today’s agriculture, registered strains of Trichoderma, a microscopic soil-dwelling fungus that associates with plant roots, are marketed as biological control agents against agriculturally important plant pathogens, both for their antagonistic action against them and as plant defense activators, transmitted systemically through a complex network of phytohormones.
However, it has been seen that, in the absence of pathogens, Trichoderma also increases the production of crops, which is why, recently, various strains of the fungus have begun to be registered and marketed for their biostimulating capacity as growth promoters, or for their ability to mitigate damage caused by environmental stresses such as drought, salinity and/or high and low temperatures, among others.
In this context, Rosa Hermosa and Enrique Monte, professors of the Department of Microbiology and Genetics of the University of Salamanca, attached to the Agrobiotechnology Research Institute (CIALE) and members of the Recognized Research Group ‘Phytopathology and biological control’, have just examined in the renowned scientific publication “Nature Reviews Microbiology” the current knowledge of Trichoderma, “its benefits, biotechnological use and its interest in the development of ecological and sustainable agriculture”, explain the authors to USAL Communication.
Biotechnological potential of Trichoderma
In the article, USAL scientists address the biotechnological potential of Trichoderma in collaboration with the research group of Professor Matteo Lorito, Federico II University of Naples (Italy). The study was conducted at the invitation of the editors of the journal “Nature Reviews Microbiology” to the two groups, considered among the main references in international research on this microorganism.
Thus, “Trichoderma: a beneficial multipurpose plant microorganism for eco-sustainable agriculture”, collects the scientific evidence that supports the use of Trichoderma as an alternative to agrochemicals, both in crop protection and in plant fertilization.
Specifically, the researchers examine the need for the different agencies tasked with agricultural product registration to address this concept and consider Trichoderma and other beneficial microorganisms, “in a regulatory framework that takes into account findings published in scientific journals,” they resolve.
GIR ‘Phytopathology and Biological Control’
The GIR ‘Phytopathology and Biological Control’, also a Group of Excellence and Consolidated Research Unit of the Junta de Castilla y León, was born in the Department of Microbiology and Genetics of the University of Salamanca in 1989, with Isabel García Acha, professor of research of the CSIC, and with Enrique Monte, on his return as a postdoc in the UK.
Since then, USAL scientists have been working with the Trichoderma fungus due to its interest as an alternative to agrochemicals in organic agriculture and integrated production systems. In this sense, they addressed fields as diverse as microbiology, biochemistry, ecology, phytopathology, functional and structural genomics, proteomics and transcriptomics.
More recently, one of his fields of study is oriented towards the molecular dialogue of Trichoderma with plants, both as an inducer of defense responses against pathogens and environmental stress factors, and as a fertilizer and growth promoter, with consequent significant increases of production in plant crops.
This type of research, eminently applied, has given rise to numerous patents and the creation of companies, as well as reaching the goal of obtaining the first biological fungicide registered in Spain (TUSAL®) and being part of the international consortium which obtained the registration of different formulations of Trichoderma in the EU.
Among the many awards with which the GIR “Phytopathology and Biological Control” has been awarded for its research are the Severo Ochoa awards from the Prince of Asturias Foundation (1999), Patron of the Social Council of the University of Salamanca (2002) and Fleming of the Spanish Society of Microbiology (2007).
“Microbiology of Nature Reviews”
‘Nature Reviews Microbiology’, with an impact factor of 78.297, is the journal with the greatest impact in which research in the field of agriculture and, in general, in the field of non-medical microbiology can be published.
Reference
“Trichoderma: a multipurpose plant beneficial microorganism for eco-sustainable agriculture. Nature Review Microbiology”. Woo, SL, Hermosa, R., Lorito, M., and Monte, E. (2022).
