The beneficial role of fungi from the Trichoderma genus and its secondary metabolites in promoting plant growth, uptake and use efficiency of macronutrients and oligo/micro-nutrients, activation of plant secondary metabolism and plant protection from diseases makes it interesting for application in environmentally friendly agriculture. However, the literature data on the effect of Trichoderma inoculation on tomato fruit quality is scarce. Commercially used tomato cultivars were chosen in combination with indigenous Trichodrema species previously characterized on molecular and biochemical level, to investigate the effect of Trichoderma on photosynthetic characteristics and fruit quality of plants grown in organic system of production. Examined cultivars differed in the majority of examined parameters. Response of cultivar Gružanski zlatni to Trichoderma application was more significant. As a consequence of increased epidermal flavonols and decreased chlorophyll, the nitrogen balance index in leaves has decreased, indicating a shift from primary to secondary metabolism. The quality of its fruit was altered in the sense of increased total flavonoids content, decreased starch, increased Bioaccumulation Index (BI) for Fe and Cr, and decreased BI for heavy metals Ni and Pb. Higher expression of swolenin gene in tomato roots of more responsive tomato cultivar indicates better root colonization, which correlates with observed positive effects of Trichodrema.

Trichoderma species are widely known for their antagonistic properties, but plant growth promotion and abiotic stress tolerance have also been reported. Mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance, such as drought in plants in interaction with Trichoderma spp., remain unclear. In this work, the results about the influence of Trichoderma brevicompactum on the physiological parameters and abscisic acid (ABA) content in leaves and roots of tomato, as well as the Trichoderma‐modulated plant response to drought are presented. Both in optimally watered plants and droughted plants treated with Trichoderma, the relative water content (RWC) was 17% higher than in untreated plants. Drought lowered RWC by 25% in both Trichoderma‐untreated and ‐treated plants. Under drought conditions, the better water status of plants treated with Trichoderma is connected with lower stomatal conductance and closure of stomata. The lower increase of root ABA content in Trichoderma‐treated plants that we observed could be an adaptive advantage in sense of smaller inhibition of plant growth induced by drought. Trichoderma modulation of the salicylic acid (SA) marker genes response to drought was observed in leaves. Our results suggest that signalling pathways of jasmonic acid (JA), SA and ABA are involved in response to both drought and Trichoderma. The mutual effect of the tested treatments leads to the modification of gene expression in comparison to the reaction to a single stress. The upregulation of SA marker genes in leaves and JA marker genes in the roots 2 weeks after the interaction with T. brevicompactum indicates that it could be promising biocontrol agent.

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Soil pollution with heavy metals is a serious threat to the environment. However, soils polluted with heavy metals are considered good sources of native metal-resistant Trichoderma strains. Trichoderma spp. are free-living fungi commonly isolated from different ecosystems, establishing endophytic associations with plants. They have important ecological and biotechnological roles due to their production of a wide range of secondary metabolites, thus regulating plant growth and development or inducing resistance to plant pathogens. In this work we used indigenous Trichoderma strains that were previously isolated from different soil types to determine their tolerance to increased copper and nickel concentrations as well as mechanisms of metal removal. The concentrations of bioavailable metal concentrations were determined after extraction with diethylene-triamine pentaacetate (DTPA)-extractable metals (Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, and Zn) from the soil samples by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Two indigenous T. harzianum strains were selected for copper tolerance, and three indigenous T. longibrachiatum strains were selected for nickel tolerance tests. Strains were isolated from the soils with the highest and among the lowest DTPA-extractable metal concentrations to determine whether the adaptation to different concentrations of metals affects the mechanisms of remediation. Mechanisms of metal removal were determined using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), non-destructive methods characterized by high measurement speed with little or no need for sample preparation and very low costs. Increased DTPA-extractable metal content for nickel and copper was detected in the soil samples above the target value (TV), and for nickel above the soil remediation intervention values (SRIVs), for total metal concentrations which were previously determined. The SRIV is a threshold of metal concentrations indicating a serious soil contamination, thus confirming the need for soil remediation. The use of FTIR and XRF methods revealed that the presence of both biosorption and accumulation of metals in the Trichoderma cells, providing good bioremediation potential for Ni and Cu.

Heavy metals in the environment when present in excess have negative effect on survival of plants causing diminished physiological and molecular activities. As they are hard to degrade, their exchangeable fraction is accumulated in plants and animals, thus entering the food chain. As one of the major concerns among consumers worldwide is food safety, organic agriculture is a promising system for its preservation. In this work we have examined soil samples from the plant rhizosphere grown in organic production system at 5 different locations: Gložani, Svilajnac, Čenej 1, Čenej 2 and Temerin, for metal presence and chemical characteristics (soil acidity, humus content and free CaCO3 content). Determination of the total metal content ((As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, Zn, Mn)) in soil samples was performed according to EPA 6010C method using inductively coupled plasma-optima emission spectrometry (ISP-OES). Results showed that the sampled soil is mainly of alkaline character,moderatly carbonate and rich in humus. The content of metals, at all localities, did not exceed the maximum allowed concentrations for the following metals: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc. In the case of cobalt deviation from the MLC value was observed in four samples. However, in the case of copper only one sample exceeded MDK value. Presented results indicate that maintenance and regular soil quality control is necessary in both organic and conventional agriculture.