Effect of Trichoderma viride volatile organic compounds on growth inhibition and protein synthesis in Neolentinus lepideus

• In Event: Poster Presentation and Judging for: Biomedical; Cell & Molecular Biology; Chemistry & Biochemistry; Marine Science; Systematics & Evolutionary Biology.
  In Poster Session: Chemistry & Biochemistry Poster Session

Abstract

Trichoderma viride, a competitive soil fungus, inhibits the growth of wood decaying fungi such as Neolentinus lepideus via production of volatile organic compounds. This interaction has the potential to serve as an alternative to chemical treatment of fungal wood infections. The literature also reports that fungal VOCs can cause a decrease in the synthesis of specific proteins. This study focuses on further elucidating the impact of VOCs on N. lepideus growth inhibition and protein synthesis thus enhancing our understanding of their potential biocontrol nature. Results show that N. lepideus grown in the presence of T. viride exhibited greater inhibition the longer it was exposed with the largest gain in inhibition occurring after four days of exposure. In order to test the degree of inhibition by specific VOCs, N. lepideus was grown in the presence of various concentrations of either octanal or 2-methyl-1-butanol. Interestingly, preliminary results indicate greatest inhibition of N. lepideus occurred at the highest concentrations of octanal, but at the lowest concentrations of 2-methyl-1-butanol. The protein purification method was improved at two key steps yielding significantly larger amounts of total protein. N. lepideus proteins isolated from samples grown in the presence of T. viride or specific VOCs were separated using SDS-PAGE and visualized with Coomassie blue. This staining method proved too insensitive to identify any variations in protein production. Future work includes visualization of protein patterns utilizing a more sensitive silver staining method and further examination of the impact of additional individual VOCs on fungal growth.

Authors

• Elizabeth Nguyen, St. Edward's University

• Mary A. Kopecki-Fjetland, Ph.D, St. Edward's University