Abstract
Many Trichoderma spp. are successful plant beneficial microbial inoculants due to their ability to act as biocontrol agents with direct antagonistic activities to phytopathogens, and as biostimulants capable of promoting plant growth. This work investigated the effects of treatments with three selected Trichoderma strains (T22, TH1, and GV41) to strawberry plants on the productivity, metabolites and proteome of the formed fruits. Trichoderma applications stimulated plant growth, increased strawberry fruit yield, and favored selective accumulation of anthocyanins and other antioxidants in red ripened fruits. Proteomic analysis of fruits harvested from the plants previously treated with Trichoderma demonstrated that the microbial inoculants highly affected the representation of proteins associated with responses to stress/external stimuli, nutrient uptake, protein metabolism, carbon/energy metabolism and secondary metabolism, also providing a possible explanation to the presence of specific metabolites in fruits. Bioinformatic analysis of these differential proteins revealed a central network of interacting molecular species, providing a rationale to the concomitant modulation of different plant physiological processes following the microbial inoculation. These findings indicated that the application of Trichoderma-based products exerts a positive impact on strawberry, integrating well with previous observations on the molecular mechanisms activated in roots and leaves of other tested plant species, demonstrating that the efficacy of using a biological approach with beneficial microbes on the maturing plant is also able to transfer advantages to the developing fruits.
Highlights
The fruits of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) have been consumed, appreciated for their taste and nutritional properties
This study demonstrated that the treatment of strawberry plants with different Trichoderma can either influence the relative yield, growth and productivity, as well as the accumulation of anthocyanins and other antioxidants in the corresponding fruits
These findings indicated that the positive effects observed by the application of Trichoderma-based products to the developing plant are transferred to fruits, modulating different physiological processes and describing the molecular mechanisms that positively influence food quality and consumer health
Summary
The fruits of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) have been consumed, appreciated for their taste and nutritional properties. Human health benefits derived from eating strawberry fruits include heart protection, reduced blood pressure, as well as anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities (Liu et al, 2000; Joseph et al, 2014). These effects are related to the high content of phenolic compounds, vitamin C, anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins (cyanidin and pelargonidin derivatives) and other antioxidants, which contrast oxidative stress and retard cellular aging (Hanhineva et al, 2011; Giampieri et al, 2012; Joseph et al, 2014; Park et al, 2017). Metabolite composition of strawberry are associated with the phenology of the plant, developmental stages of the fruit, vegetative structure and interactions with biotic and abiotic stress factors that correspond to plant responses to the pathogen/pest attack and to adverse factors in the environment (Hanhineva et al, 2011)
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