The gene task1 is involved in morphological development, mycoparasitism and antibiosis of Trichoderma asperellum

Competitive activity, mycoparasitism and antibiosis of Trichoderma asperellum are considered essential mechanisms in its suppressive activity against soil-borne plant pathogens. The role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase encoding gene task1 on morphological development, mycoparasitic interaction and the production of cell wall degrading enzymes and secondary metabolites were examined in T. asperellum. The Δtask1 mutant had altered growth morphology, lost its ability to parasitise plant pathogens and showed increased expression of several cell wall degrading enzymes during confrontation with Rhizoctonia solani. T. asperellum task1 expression was negatively correlated with cell wall degrading enzyme activities during inducing experiments using pathogen cell wall compounds. In antibiosis assays, task1 deletion caused increased output of 6-pentyl-α-pyrone and inhibition of pathogen growth.