Chitinolytic fungi from the Birjand plain of Southern Khorasan Province in Eastern Iran

Fungal chitinases play important roles in the decomposition of wastes, mycoparasitism, and biocontrol of nematodes and plant pathogens through chitin biodegradation. This study was conducted during 2013–2017 to investigate the presence of chitinase genes in Trichoderma and Clonostachys species from the Birjand plain, and to evaluate their ability to degrade chitin. Fungal spores and soil suspensions were cultured on minimal medium containing 1% colloidal chitin from crab bodies to isolate chitinolytic fungi. Chitinolytic ability of the isolates was evaluated on this medium by staining with 1% Lugol’s iodine solution and screening for the production of a bright halo around the colonies. Fifty-two isolates capable of degrading chitin were recovered. DNA extracted from the isolates was amplified using Chit2 or DECH degenerative primers that are related to the chitinase gene, and their sequences were aligned using the NCBI GenBank database. The Chit2 and DECH primers amplified 600-bp and 250-bp fragments, respectively, and according to sequence alignment, the isolates had sequences similar to that of the chi18 chitinase genes. Morphological and molecular characterization allowed identifying the isolates as belonging to the species Trichoderma harzianum (n = 41), T. longibrachiatum (n = 1), T. virens (n = 3), T. brevicompactum (n = 1), Clonostachys rosea (n = 5), and C. rogersoniana (n = 1), some of which may potentially be used as biocontrol agents of pathogenic nematodes and fungi. This is the first report of isolation of fungi capable of chitin biodegradation from the South Khorasan Province in Eastern Iran.