Trichoderma

The genus Trichoderma contains species that are of great economic importance due to their ability to act as biological control agents against a large variety of fungal plant pathogens. In the present investigation eight isolates of the Trichoderma sp. were obtained from the rhizosphere soils of Bharuch and Narmada districts of Gujarat (India). The isolates were characterized on the basis of their cultural, morphological, and molecular characteristics. SEM was used to study the presence of conidiophores, phialides, and conidia. These isolates were studied using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) for genetic diversity. A total number of 101 reproducible polymorphic bands were obtained using 9 random primers. The data were subjected to numerical analysis using NTSYS software and genetic distance between each isolate was calculated. Cluster analysis was used to generate a dendrogram showing the relationship among them. RAPD profile showed the genetic diversity among the eight isolates with the formation of three clusters T. harzianum, T. viride and T. longibrachiatum.