PCR-fingerprinting used for comparison of ex type strains of Trichoderma species deposited in different culture collections.

PCR-fingerprinting with primers (GACA)4, (GTG)5, M13 (core sequence of phage M13), and OPB-05 was used to compare ex type strains of various species of Trichoderma. The ex type strain of each species was obtained from different culture collections. PCR-fingerprints of each ex type culture, despite of separate cultivation over a long period of time (sometimes decades) by different culture collections, were identical. Ex type strains could be discriminated from a number of other strains belonging to the same species, since every strain was characterized by its individual PCR-fingerprint. PCR-fingerprinting is recommended as a basic tool for proving the identity of strains, especially with regard to comprehensive culture collections. Investigations of Trichoderma todica, a species of undefined systematic position within the genus Trichoderma, suggest a close relationship to Trichoderma paraceramosum. Morphological and molecular data indicate that Trichoderma todica and Trichoderma parceramosum are conspecific.