Effect of ultraviolet-induced mutants of Trichoderma harzianum with altered antibiotic production on selected pathogens in vitro

Mutants of Trichoderma harzianum with altered antibiotic production were isolated using ultraviolet light mutagenesis. These included strains whose activity in a Fusarium oxysporum spore germination assay was greater than twice that of the parental strain and one that had no detectable antifungal activity. Characterisation of extracellular metabolites of these strains using thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography showed that the strains with high activity produced only elevated levels of a 6-n-pentyl pyrone, the antibiotic produced by the parental strain, but two new antifungal compounds. One of these has been identified as an isonitrile antibiotic. The nature of the interactions of the mutants with Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Pythium ultimum was examined in an in vitro dual-plating assay using two media. High antibiotic production by two T. harzianum strains, BC10 and BC63, did increase inhibition of hyphal growth of R. solani and P. ultimum, but there was no correlation between increased antibiotic production and colonisation ability. In some cases the increased antibiotic levels appeared to impede colonisation of F. oxysporum and R. solani by the mutants. Slow growth rate also affected colonising ability. The types of interactions showed great variability depending on the nature of the T. harzianum isolate and on the test fungus.