ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1646394
This article is part of the Research TopicHarnessing Trichoderma for Biological Control Against Plant PathogensView all articles
In-Depth Comparison of Commercial Trichoderma-based Products: Integrative Approaches to Quantitative Analysis, Taxonomy and Efficacy
Provisionally accepted
Tomasz Kulik*
Paulina StaniszewskaPatryk WiśniewskiZofia TrederMaciej PrzybylskiEwa Wrońska
Mateusz Maździarz
Katarzyna Krawczyk
Katarzyna Bilska
Łukasz PauksztoJacek Olszewski- University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
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Products derived from Trichoderma fungi, primarily marketed as biofungicides and biofertilizers, are widely utilized to promote sustainable and regenerative farming practices. In this study, we characterized Trichoderma-based products currently available in both international and local (the Polish) markets. We estimated the number of viable cells in these products, which is a key factor boosting their efficacy. We found substantial differences in the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) among various products, with all products exhibiting fewer CFUs than claimed. The degree of this inconsistency was notably heightened in the case of biofertilizers. We also determined the species identity of isolates recovered from these products using MIST approach. For most products, results of the multilocus species identification revealed inconsistency with taxonomic classification available on product labels or failed to confirm their taxonomic status. We also assessed variation in the invasion capacity of Trichoderma isolates against economically important plant pathogens B. cinerea, F. graminearum and S. sclerotiorum using in vitro approaches. To address the identified challenges associated with the suboptimal quality of biofertilizers, various targeted solutions are discussed and proposed.
Keywords: Trichoderma, Biopesticides, biofertilizers, biocontrol, biofungicides
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kulik, Staniszewska, Wiśniewski, Treder, Przybylski, Wrońska, Maździarz, Krawczyk, Bilska, Paukszto and Olszewski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tomasz Kulik, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.