Abstract
Fungal-fungal interaction often leads to the change in metabolite profile of both the interacting fungus which may have potential implication in industry or agriculture. In the present study, we performed two sets of fungal-fungal interaction—Trametes coccinea (F3) with Leiotrametes lactinea (F9) and T. coccinea (F3) with T. versicolor (F1) to understand the changes in the metabolite profile during the interaction process and how this process impacts the hyphal/mycelial morphology of the participating fungi. The metabolites produced during interaction of T. coccinea (F3) with L. lactinea (F9) and T. coccinea (F3) with T. versicolor (F1) was analysed through liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy (LC-MS). Most of the metabolites secreted or produced during interaction are associated with defensive response. Further, visualization with scanning electron microscopy revealed that interaction between the tested fungi led to the changes in the hyphal morphology. The bipartite fungal interaction resulted in the production of a dark brown colour pigment—melanin as confirmed by the LC-MS, FTIR and NMR analysis. Moreover, the fungal–fungal interaction also led to increase in the production of laccase, a group of multicopper oxidases involved in detoxification of toxic compounds. Further, increased activity of superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that catalyzes the dismutation of the superoxide anion to hydrogen peroxide was also recorded during fungal–fungal interaction. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed upregulation of lcc1 (encoding a laccase enzyme) and few other stress related genes of T. versicolor during its hyphal interaction with T. coccinea, suggesting a direct correlation between laccase production and melanin production.
Highlights
Fungal-fungal interactions are highly dynamic phenomenon which occurs in nature, whereby the interacting fungi compete for available nutritional source and territory
Our study revealed that T. coccinea (F3), when interacted with T. versicolor (F1) and L. lactinea (F9), formed a deadlock type of interaction with significant increase in the production of hydrolytic enzymes (Dullah et al 2021)
The metabolic profiling during the interaction of T. coccinea with L. lactinea along with that of the monocultures, i.e., T. coccinea and L. lactinea (Table 2) revealed the presence of 39 compounds, of which 19 compounds were produced exclusively during the interaction, 8 compounds were produced by T. coccinea and 10 compounds were produced by L. lactinea
Summary
Fungal-fungal interactions are highly dynamic phenomenon which occurs in nature, whereby the interacting fungi compete for available nutritional source and territory. These interactions lead to the induction of an array of bioactive products by stimulating the complex metabolic pathways (Bertrand et al 2014). Alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, terpenes, aromatic compounds and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced as a result of antagonism (Evans et al 2008), which leads to the up-regulation of many oxidative enzymes like laccase, manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase (Gregorio et al 2006). Dual culture of Trichoderma and Metarhizium leads to oxidative stress and production of sugar alcohols in the zone of interaction (Medina et al 2020). Tamayo et al (2016) reported that the increase in ROS activated enzymes like superoxide dismutases (SODs) which acted as first line of defense
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