A Potential Involvement of Metallothionein in the Zinc Tolerance of Trichoderma harzianum: Experimental Findings.

Asghar Mirzaie-Asl, Negin Ejmalian, Soheila Mirzaei, Mehrdad Chaichi

Journal: The protein journal 2024;43(3):503-512

PMID: 38488956

Abstract

Metallothioneins are a group of cysteine-rich proteins that play an important role in the homeostasis and detoxification of heavy metals. The objective of this research was to explore the significance of metallothionein in Trichoderma harzianum tolerance to zinc. At the inhibitory concentration of 1000 ppm, the fungus adsorbed 16.7 ± 0.4 mg/g of metal. The HPLC and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis data suggested that the fungus production of metallothionein was twice as high in the presence of zinc as in the control group. The examination of the genes; metallothionein expression activator (MEA) and Cu fist revealed that the MEA, with a CH zinc finger domain, increased significantly in the presence of zinc. It was observed that in T. harzianum, the enhanced expression of the metallothionein gene was managed by the metallothionein activator under zinc overload conditions. According to our knowledge, this is the first report on the role of metallothionein in the resistance of T. harzianum to zinc.

Address: Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.; Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran. [email protected].; Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.; Department of Seed and Plant Improvement Research, Hamedan Agricultural and Natural Resources, Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Hamedan, Iran.

DOI: 10.1007/s10930-024-10185-1

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MeSH Terms: Metallothionein, Zinc, Fungal Proteins, Hypocreales, Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal