The Secretory Pathway in the Filamentous Fungus Trichoderma

Abstract Fungal cells communicate with the external environment through secretion of different molecules, such as proteins. The protein secretion pathway is a complex mechanism in charge to deliver proteins from the intracellular space to the extracellular compartment. This protein transporting pathway is quite conserved in eukaryotic cells and has been thoroughly studied in the baker yeast and some filamentous fungi. Some organisms belonging to the Trichoderma genus are able to establish plant and mycoparasitic interactions, and this is in part achieved by controlled secretion of proteins with different biological functions. Furthermore, some of these organisms are well known producers of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes and thus, there is a growing interest for them in the biofuels industry. Despite all this attention, little is known about the secretory pathway in Trichoderma . Here, we present a comparative analysis of the putative proteins involved in protein secretion in Trichoderma reesei , Trichoderma atroviride and Trichoderma virens .