Acta Chimica Slovaca (ACS) publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical technology, chemical engineering and process control, biotechnology and food technology. Welcome are also topics which include chemical aspects of materials, physical chemistry and chemical physics, analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical engineering.

Detoxification and adaptation mechanisms of Trichoderma atroviride to antifungal agents

Zuzana Kubová, Tomáš Pagáč, Ján Víglaš, Petra Olejníková *

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Food and Chemical Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 81237 Bratislava, Slovakia

E-mail: * petra.olejnikova@stuba.sk

Abstract: Filamentous fungi are crucial for recycling of organic material in nature. In natural habitats, they cope with many stress factors and therefore their adaptation ability to various conditions is very high. Trichoderma sp., fungi used in agriculture as biocontrol agent, are exposed to a variety of toxic molecules including pesticides and fungicides. They have to fight with toxic molecules using stress adaptation mechanisms known as the stress response. Adaptation of fungi to stress, especially to chemical stress, is not well studied in environmental fungal strains. Moreover, the adaptation process presents a risk of resistance mechanism induction to antifungal agents. Such resistant strains could be spread in the environment. This work aims to contribute to the knowledge of the adaptation process spread throughout the fungal kingdom. Transcriptional response of ABC transporters, the main detoxification efflux pumps of subfamily B and G in presence of antifungal agents, is shown. On the other hand, as azoles are the most commonly used antifungal structures in clinical practice and agriculture, changes in important fungal ergosterol biosynthesis genes as a result of their exposure to various azoles structure are highlighted.

Keywords: adaptation and tolerance mechanisms of filamentous fungi, detoxification, Trichoderma atroviride, antifungal agents

Acta Chimica Slovaca, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2022, pp. 85—96, DOI: 10.2478/acs-2022-0010