Isolation and Characterization of Airborne Mushroom Damaging Trichoderma spp. from Indoor Air of Cultivation Houses Used for Oak Wood Mushroom Production Using Sawdust Media

Some species of the Trichoderma genus are reported as the major problem in oak wood mushroom production in Korea. In spite of economic loss by the fungi, scientific information on airborne Trichoderma species is not much available. To generate information for disease management development we analyzed airborne Trichoderma. A total of 1,063 fungal isolates were purely obtained from indoor air sampling of cultivation houses used for oak wood mushroom using sawdust media. Among the obtained isolates, 248 isolates were identified as Trichoderma fungi including T. harzianum, T. atroviride, T. citrinoviride, and T. pseudokoningii, by morphological and molecular analysis. T. harzianum was dominant among the four identified species. All the four Trichoderma species grew fast on solid nutrient media tested (potato dextrose agar [PDA], malt extract agar [MEA], Czapek's Dox + yeast extract agar [CYA] and cornmeal dextrose agar). Compact mycelia growth and mass spore production were better on PDA and CYA. In addition, T. harzianum and T. citrinoviride formed greenish and yellowish mycelium and spores on PDA and CYA. Greenish and yellowish pigment was saturated into PDA only by T. pseudokoningii. These four Trichoderma species could produce extracellular enzymes of sawdust substrate degradation such as β-glucosidase, avicelase, CM-cellulase, amylase, pectinase, xylanase, and protease. Their mycelia inhibited the growth of oak wood mushroom mycelia of two tested cultivars on dual culture assay. Among of eleven antifungal agents tested, benomyl was the best to inhibit the growth of the four Trichoderma species. Our results demonstrate that the airborne Trichoderma fungi need to be properly managed in the cultivation houses for safe mushroom production.