Hydrophobin gene srh1, expressed during sporulation of the biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum

A cDNA clone encoding a spore-related hydrophobin, SRHI, was isolated from a cDNA bank prepared from mRNA induced in sporulating cultures of Trichoderma harzianum by heterologous hybridization using the hfb2 gene encoding a spore-bound hydrophobin of Trichoderma reesei as a probe. Based on sequence similarity the predicted protein was identified as a new member of the class-II hydrophobin family. Including the signal sequences, SRHI has 65% and 56% amino-acid similarity with the T. reesei hydrophobins HFBII and HFBI, respectively, being less similar with other hydrophobins. srh1 is present as one copy in the T. harzianum genome. It is highly expressed under sporulating conditions, both in submerged as well as in aerial cultures. Moreover, nutrient limitation induces srh1 expression. Received: 28 February / 27 May 1997