Journal of Plant Pathology (2003) 85, 278-279
S. Sarrocco, D.F. Jensen and G. Vannacci (2003)
Fluorescent proteins as a tool for histopathological studies of sclerotia parasitized by antagonistic Trichoderma spp. used as biological control agents
Journal of Plant Pathology 85 (4), 278-279
X Meeting, Italian Society for Plant Pathology (oral presentation)
Abstract: The use of fluorescent proteins as reporters has proved an outstanding tool for studying various biological systems. In this work the gfp gene from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and, for the first time, the DsRed gene from a reef coral Discosoma sp., encoding the DsRed fluorescent protein (DsRedFP) were used for transformation of two Trichoderma isolates (T. harzianum I252 and T. virens I10) both characterized by a promising biocontrol activity. A new plasmid construction containing the DsRed gene was successfully used as the vector resulting in constitutive expression of DsRed in both fungi (Mikkelsen et al., 2003. FEMS Microb. Lett., 223: 135-139). The genetic transformation of these two antagonists allowed an in vivo evaluation of their mycoparasitic competence against sclerotia of Sclerotium rolfsii, Sclerotinia minor and S. sclerotiorum. The parasitic competence of wild type and transformed antagonists was determined by quantifying the decay of pathogen sclerotia after inoculation with Trichoderma strains in a plate assay. Colonization of sclerotia was assessed by detecting the presence of fluorescent hyphae in sclerotia sections using fluorescentand confocal-microscopy.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Dan Funck Jensen, Giovanni Vannacci, Sabrina Sarrocco
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution
genetical engin./transgenic plants
