Efficacy of Trichoderma asperellum TC01 against anthracnose and growth promotion of Camellia sinensis seedlings

In this study, we investigated the role of Trichoderma asperellum TC01 in the regulation of C. sinensis growth and the activation of defence responses against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides C62 by developing a biocontrol–plant–pathogen interaction system. When C. sinensis was co-cultivated with T. asperellum TC01, it was able to reduce 58.37% of disease severity compared with other treatments. Furthermore, compared with control plant growth, T. asperellum TC01-treated plants showed an increase in shoot height (7.5%), stem diameter (34.09%), shoot fresh weight (81.18%), root fresh weight (93.75%), shoot dry weight (85.71%) and root dry weight (115.38%) at 45 days after inoculation under greenhouse conditions. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that 48 hours after inoculation, key genes were up-regulated in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway of TC01-treated plants (T4) and down-regulated in leaves of C. gloeosporioides C62-treated plants compared with that of the control plants, indicating that TC01 triggers flavonoid and phenylpropanoid pathways during the early stages of the interaction with C. sinensis. Furthermore, higher expression levels of genes associated with the jasmonic acid and ethylene signalling pathway in the roots of TC01- and C62-treated plants (T3) than in either TC01- or C62-treated plants, indicated that TC01 triggered the induced systemic response in C. sinensis. Genes involved in the flavonoid, phenylpropanoid, jasmonic acid and ethylene play an importan...
Source: Biological Control - Category: Biology Source Type: research