Trichoderma

Trichoderma
Trichoderma harzianum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Subdivision:	Pezizomycotina
Class:	Sordariomycetes
Order:	Hypocreales
Family:	Hypocreaceae
Genus:	Trichoderma Persoon
Species
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Trichoderma is a genus of fungi that is present in all soils, where they are the most prevalent culturable fungi. Many species in this genus can be characterized as opportunistic avirulent plant symbionts. This refers to the ability of several Trichoderma species to form mutualistic endophytic relationships with several plant species. The genomes of several Trichoderma species have been sequenced and are publicly available from the JGI.

The genus was described by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1794, but the taxonomy has remained difficult to resolve. For a long time it was considered to consist of only one species, Trichoderma viride, named for producing green mold.

The genus was divided into five sections in 1991 by Bissett, partly based on the aggregate species described by Rifai:

With the advent of molecular markers from 1995 onwards, Bissett's scheme was largely confirmed but Saturnisporum was merged with Longibrachiatum. While Longibrachiatum and Hypocreanum appeared monophyletic, Pachybasium was determined to be paraphyletic, many of its species clustering with Trichoderma. Druzhina and Kubicek (2005) confirmed the genus as circumscribed was holomorphic. They identified 88 species which they demonstrated could be assigned to two major clades. Consequently, the formal description of sections has been largely replaced by informal descriptions of clades, such as the Aureoviride clade or the Gelatinosum clade.

The belief that Trichoderma was monotypic persisted until the work of Rifai in 1969, who recognised nine species. Currently there are 89 accepted species in the Trichoderma genus. Hypocrea are teleomorphs of Trichoderma which themselves have Hypocrea as anamorphs.

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