Identification of a hydrophobin gene that is developmentally regulated in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Tricholoma terreum

The symbiosis between ectomycorrhizal fungi and trees is an essential part of forest ecology and depends entirely on the communication between the two partners for establishing and maintaining the relationship. The identification and characterization of differentially expressed genes is a step to identifying such signals and to understanding the regulation of this process. We determined the role of hydrophobins produced by Tricholoma terreum in mycorrhiza formation and hyphal development. A hydrophobin was purified from culture supernatant, and the corresponding gene was identified. The gene is expressed in aerial mycelium and in mycorrhiza. By using a heterologous antiserum directed against a hydrophobin found in the aerial mycelium of Schizophyllum commune, we detected a hydrophobin in the symbiosis between T. terreum and its native pine host Pinus sylvestris. The hydrophobin was found in aerial mycelium of the hyphal mantle and also in the Hartig net hyphae, which form the interface between both partners. Interestingly, this was not the case in the interaction of T. terreum with a host of low compatibility, the spruce Picea abies. The differential expression with respect to host was verified at the transcriptional level by competitive PCR. The differential protein accumulation pattern with respect to host compatibility seen by immunofluorescence staining can thus be attributed at least in part to transcriptional control of the hyd1 gene.