Cooperation program Conacyt (Mexico) and Texas A&M University (USA). 2002. P.I.: María J. Pozo
Trichoderma spp. are filamentous fungi, considered highly effective biocontrol agents. They are ubiquitous in the soil environment and parasitize a broad range of phytopathogenic fungi such as Rhizoctonia spp, Pythium spp, and Botrytis spp.
The regulatory processes governing the mycoparasitism were assessed in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Charles Kenerley, at Texas A&M University in collaboration with the group of Prof. Dr. Herrera-Estrella and Dr. Penagos from Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Mexico. The project, entitled “Molecular basis of the mycoparasitic response in the biocontrol fungus Trichoderma» evidenced that the lytic enzymes involved in the mycoparasitism responses are under the negative control of an Extracellular Regulated Kinase. The disruption of its corresponding gene resulted in increased biocontrol ability and sporulation in liquid media. An international patent protects this result (Mendoza-Mendoza et al., 2002).