AUTHOR=Gerin Donato , Pollastro Stefania , Raguseo Celeste , De Miccolis Angelini Rita M. , Faretra Francesco 

TITLE=A Ready-to-Use Single- and Duplex-TaqMan-qPCR Assay to Detect and Quantify the Biocontrol Agents Trichoderma asperellum and Trichoderma gamsii

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02073

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.02073

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Trichoderma asperellum</italic> strain icc012 and <italic>Trichoderma gamsii</italic> strain icc080, the microbial active ingredients of Remedier<sup>TM</sup> (ISAGRO, Novara, Italy), are biocontrol agents (BCAs) employable for crop protection against a wide range of fungal pathogens, including soil-borne pathogens and fungi involved in grapevine trunk disease. In this study, single and duplex real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) methods to detect and quantify <italic>T. asperellum</italic> and <italic>T. gamsii</italic> were developed. Primers/probe sets were designed on the <italic>T. asperellum</italic> and <italic>T. gamsii rpb2</italic> genes and tested for specificity on a panel of microorganisms commonly associated with grape wood and soil. No differences were observed comparing single- and duplex-qPCR assays on different BCAs, 1 pg of target DNA was detected approximately at <italic>C</italic><sub>q</sub> = 34. <italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup>-values and the efficiency were always equal to 0.99 and &gt;80%, respectively. The detection limit of the duplex-qPCR assay on artificially inoculated samples was 2 × 10<sup>3</sup> and 4 × 10<sup>4</sup> conidia g<sup>-1</sup> of grape wood tissue and soil, respectively. The methods will be useful to better schedule BCA application in the field and in grapevine nurseries, as well as for investigating the dynamic of BCA populations.</p>