Molecular mechanisms of fungal mycoparasitism

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The fungus Stachybotrys elegans parasitizes the plant pathogen Rhizoctonia solani, the causal agent of Rhizoctonia disease of potato. Its success as a mycoparasite is due in large part to its possession of a suite of enzymes that degrade the cell walls of R. solani. These enzymes are used as anti-fungal compounds, and their effectiveness is enhanced when they are used in combination. The aim of this proposal is to contribute to the wider picture of mycoparasitism by providing a panoramic view of many biological processes occurring during microbe-microbe interaction. This will be accomplished by: (i) generating subtracted EST libraries comprising anonymous cDNA clones; (ii) identifying differentially expressed genes in both the mycoparasite and the host during their interaction using microarray analysis; (iii) cloning genes that are the most up-regulated genes and (iv) studying the differential and temporal expression of these genes during confrontation of S. elegans with hyphae and sclerotia of R. solani using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription (QRT)-PCR.