AUTHOR=Tseng Yu-Heng , Rouina Hamid , Groten Karin , Rajani Pijakala , Furch Alexandra C. U. , Reichelt Michael , Baldwin Ian T. , Nataraja Karaba N. , Uma Shaanker Ramanan , Oelmüller Ralf 

TITLE=An Endophytic Trichoderma Strain Promotes Growth of Its Hosts and Defends Against Pathogen Attack

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.573670

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2020.573670

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Plants host numerous endophytic microbes which promote plant performance, in particular under stress. A new endophytic fungus was isolated from the leaves of a deciduous wood tree <italic>Leucas aspera.</italic> Morphological inspection and multilocus phylogeny identified the fungus as a new <italic>Trichoderma</italic> strain. If applied to <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic> and <italic>Nicotiana attenuata</italic>, it mainly colonizes their roots and strongly promotes initial growth of the plants on soil. The fungus grows on high NaCl or mannitol concentrations, and shows predatory capability on the pathogenic fungus <italic>Alternaria brassicicola</italic>. Colonized <italic>Arabidopsis</italic> plants tolerate higher salt stress and show lower <italic>A. brassicicola</italic> spread in roots and shoots, while arbuscular mycorrhiza formation in <italic>N. attenuata</italic> is not affected by the <italic>Trichoderma</italic> strain. These beneficial features of the novel <italic>Trichoderma</italic> strain are important prerequisites for agricultural applications.</p>