Trichoderma proteins with an ankyrin domain

Species of the multicellular fungus Trichoderma are among the most frequent mitosporic fungi (teleomorph Hypocrea, Hypocreales, Ascomycota, Dykaria) commonly detected in cultivation-based surveys. They have been isolated from an innumerable diversity of natural and artificial substrata what demonstrates their high opportunistic potential and adaptability to various ecological conditions. Recent genome sequencing and evolutionary analysis has revealed that the innate nature of Trichoderma is that of a mycotrophic fungus, but that this trait gave rise to development of a broad environmental opportunism from biotrophic interactions with plants and animals to saprotrophic nutrition. Systematic analysis of the genome content of Trichoderma revealed a unique inventory among the Pezizomycotina. The most striking finding is an enrichment of genes coding proteins with ankyrin domains that outnumbers all other fungi, and the combination of these ankyrin domains with HET and NACHT domains. In this project, we are therefore planning a systematic investigation of the ankyrin repertoire of Trichoderma, using a transcriptomic (deep RNA sequencing) and cell biological (gene knock out, gene overexpression) approach to learn the involvement of these proteins in the various life-styles of Trichoderma.

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