Biodiversity of Trichoderma from grassland and forest ecosystems in Northern Xinjiang, China

Trichodermaspp., a cosmopolitan fungal genus, has remarkable economic value in industry and agriculture. The resources ofTrichodermaspp. in the grassland and forest ecosystems of northern Xinjiang were explored in this study. A total of 634 soil samples was collected, and 312 strains assigned to 23 species ofTrichodermaspp. were identified.T. harzianumwas the dominant species with 28.2% from all isolates. The principal components analysis indicated that ecosystem was the most dominant impact factor among longitude, latitude, altitude and ecosystems for the species diversities ofTrichodermaspp. with the decreasing trend from the north to the south of northern Xinjiang (e.g., from Altay, followed by Yili, Changji, Bayingolin and finally Urumqi). Overall,Trichodermaspp. were more frequently encountered in forest ecosystems (coniferous forest and coniferous and broadleaf mixed forest) than in grassland ecosystems (desert steppe and temperate steppe). Frequency ofTrichodermaspp. was significantly decreased along with increased altitude and only a few strains were isolated from altitudes above 3000 m. The results provided essential information onTrichodermaoccurrence and distribution, which should benefit the application ofTrichodermain agriculture.