AUTHOR=Zhu Mo , Duan Xiao , Cai Pengkun , Zhang Wanwan , Liu Yan , Cui Jiangkuan , Li Zhengnan , Qiu Zongbo 

TITLE=Biocontrol action of Trichothecium roseum against the wheat powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.998830

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2022.998830

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Trichothecium roseum</italic> is known to be a mycoparasite and inhibit phytopathogenic fungi. However, so far, only scarce information is available on the impacts of <italic>T. roseum</italic> on powdery mildews. Based on the morphological and molecular analysis, we identified <italic>T. roseum</italic> as a mycoparasite on colonies of the wheat powdery mildew fungus (<italic>Blumeria graminis</italic> f. sp. <italic>tritici</italic>, Bgt, recently clarified as <italic>B. graminis</italic> s. str.) and then showed that <italic>T. roseum</italic> was capable of efficiently impairing colony formation and conidial distribution of Bgt. After inoculation of <italic>T. roseum</italic> conidia on Bgt colonies, the biomasses of Bgt significantly decreased 1.46, 1.64, 7.55, and 10.49 times at 2, 4, 6, and 8 dpi, respectively. Thus, <italic>T. roseum</italic>, acting as a potential biological agent, impeded the developments of Bgt, making it a viable alternative for wheat powdery mildew control. Utilizing the <italic>Agrobacterium tumefaciens</italic>-mediated transformation (ATMT) system, a <italic>T. roseum</italic> strain that constitutively expressed green fluorescent protein was produced to improve the visualization of the <italic>T. roseum-</italic>Bgt interaction and showed direct hyphae interaction of <italic>T. roseum</italic> with Bgt structures during parasitic processes. These findings indicate that ATMT is a potent and efficient method for transforming <italic>T. roseum</italic>. Nevertheless, our results suggest that <italic>T. roseum</italic> is an antagonistic parasite of the wheat powdery mildew fungus, and hence, can be considered for phytopathogen management.</p>