In the present study, we reinvestigate the diversity of Trichoderma in Poland utilizing a combination of morphological and molecular/phylogenetic methods. A total of 170 isolates were collected from six different substrata at 49 sites in Poland. These were divided among 14 taxa as follows: 110 of 170 Trichoderma isolates were identified to the species level by the analysis of their ITS1, ITS2 rDNA sequences as: T. harzianum (43 isolates), T. aggressivum (35), T. citrinoviride (11), T. hamatum (9), T. virens (6), T. longibrachiatum (4), T. polysporum (1), and T. tomentosum (1); 60 isolates belonging to the Viride clade were identified based on a fragment of the translation-elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) gene as: T. atroviride (20 isolates), T. gamsii (2), T. koningii (17), T. viridescens (13), T. viride (7), and T. koningiopsis (1). Identifications were made using the BLAST interface in TrichOKEY and TrichoBLAST (http://www.isth.info). The most diverse substrata were soil (nine species per 22 isolates) and decaying wood (nine species per 75 isolates). The most abundant species (25%) isolated from all substrata was T. harzianum.

Fusarium proliferatum (Matsushima) Nirenberg is a common pathogen infecting numerous crop plants and occurring in various climatic zones. It produces large amounts of fumonisins, a group of polyketide-derived mycotoxins. Fumonisin biosynthesis is determined by the presence and activity of the FUM cluster, several co-regulated genes with a common expression pattern. In the present work, we analyzed 38 F. proliferatum isolates from different host plant species, demonstrating host-specific polymorphisms in partial sequences of the key FUM1 gene (encoding polyketide synthase). We also studied growth rates across different temperatures and sample origin and tried to establish the relationships between DNA sequence polymorphism and toxigenic potential. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on FUM1 and tef-1α sequences for all isolates. The results indicated the greatest variations of both toxigenic potential and growth patterns found across the wide selection of isolates derived from maize. Fumonisin production for maize isolates ranged from 3.74 to 4,500 μg/g of fumonisin B₁. The most efficient producer isolates obtained from other host plants were only able to synthesize 1,820–2,419 μg/g of this metabolite. A weak negative rank correlation between fumonisin content and isolate growth rates was observed. All garlic-derived isolates formed a distinct group on a FUM1-based dendrogram. A second clade consisted of tropical and sub-tropical strains (isolated from pineapple and date palm). Interestingly, isolates with the fastest growth patterns were also grouped together and included both isolates originating from rice. The sequence of the FUM1 gene was found to be useful in revealing the intraspecific polymorphism, which is, to some extent, specifically correlated with the host plant.

Pineapple (Ananas comosus var. comosus) is an important perennial crop in tropical and subtropical areas. It may be infected by various Fusarium species, contaminating the plant material with mycotoxins. The aim of this study was to evaluate Fusarium species variability among the genotypes isolated from pineapple fruits displaying fungal infection symptoms and to evaluate their mycotoxigenic abilities. Forty-four isolates of ten Fusarium species were obtained from pineapple fruit samples: F. ananatum, F. concentricum, F. fujikuroi, F. guttiforme, F. incarnatum, F. oxysporum, F. polyphialidicum, F. proliferatum, F. temperatum and F. verticillioides. Fumonisins B₁–B₃, beauvericin (BEA) and moniliformin (MON) contents were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in pineapple fruit tissue. Fumonisins are likely the most dangerous metabolites present in fruit samples (the maximum FB₁ content was 250 μg g⁻¹ in pineapple skin and 20 μg ml⁻¹ in juice fraction). In both fractions, BEA and MON were of minor significance. FUM1 and FUM8 genes were identified in F. fujikuroi, F. proliferatum, F. temperatum and F. verticillioides. Cyclic peptide synthase gene (esyn1 homologue) from the BEA biosynthetic pathway was identified in 40 isolates of eight species. Based on the gene-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, none of the isolates tested were found to be able to produce trichothecenes or zearalenone.