Self-fusion of protoplasts enhances chitinase production and biocontrol [An article from: Bioresource Technology]

This digital document is a journal article from Bioresource Technology, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Protoplasts were isolated from Trichoderma harzianum strain PTh18 using lysing enzymes and self-fusion of T. harzianum protoplasts was carried out using polyethylene glycol in STC buffer. The fused protoplasts of T. harzianum were regenerated and 15 self-fusants were selected to study the chitinase production and biocontrol activity. High chitinase activity was measured in the culture filtrates of most of the self-fusants (87%) than the parent. Among the fusants, the strain SFTh8 produced maximum chitinase with a two-fold increase as compared to the parent strain. All the self-fusants exhibited increased antagonistic activity against Rhizoctonia solani than the parent. The crude chitinase preparation of SFTh8 lysed the mycelia of T. harzianum, Trichoderma viride and Trichoderma reesei and released the protoplasts in higher number than the crude chitinase preparation of parent strain PTh18.