Natural and environmental-friendly disposal of wastewater sludge is a great concern. Recently, biological treatment has played prominent roles in bioremediation of complex hydrocarbon- rich contaminants. Composting is quite an old biological-based process that is being practiced but it could not create a great impact in the minds of concerned researchers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the solid-state bioconversion (SSB) processes in the biodegradation of wastewater sludge by exploiting this promising technique to rejuvenate the conventional process. The Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) domestic wastewater treatment plant (DWTP) sludge was considered for evaluation of SSB by monitoring the microbial growth and its subsequent roles in biodegradation under two conditions: (i) flask (F) and (ii) composting bin (CB) cultures. Sterile and semi-sterile environments were allowed in the F and the CB, respectively, using two mixed fungal cultures, Trichoderma harzianum with Phanerochaete chrysosporium 2094 (T/P) and T. harzianum with Mucor hiemalis (T/M) and two bulking materials, sawdust (SD) and rice straw (RS). The significant growth and multiplication of both the mixed fungal cultures were reflected in soluble protein, glucosamine and color intensity measurement of the water extract. The color intensity and pH of the water extract significantly increased and supported the higher growth of microbes and bioconversion. The most encouraging results of microbial growth and subsequent bioconversion were exhibited in the RS than the SD. A comparatively higher decrease of organic matter (OM) % and C/N ratio were attained in the CB than the F, which implied a higher bioconversion. But the measurement of soluble protein, glucosamine and color intensity exhibited higher values in the F than the CB. The final pH drop was higher in the CB than the F, which implied that a higher nitrification occurred in the CB associated with a higher release of H+ ions. Both the mixed cultures performed almost equal roles in all cases except the changes in moisture content.
A total of 82 isolates of microfungi were isolated from 6 sandy soil samples collected from Teluk Aling beach, Pulau Pinang. The soil microfungi were isolated by using direct isolation, debris isolation and soil dilution techniques. Based on morphological characteristics, seven genera of microfungi were identified namely, Fusarium (42%), Aspergillus (24%), Trichoderma (13%), Curvularia (9%), Colletotrichum (6%), Helminthosporium (4%) and Penicillium (2%). The most common species isolated was Fusarium solani followed by Fusarium semitecum, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma viride, Curvularia clavata, Curvularia lunata, Helminthosporium velutinum, Colletotrichum sp. and Penicillium chrysogenum. From the present study, it appears that the sandy beach contains a microfungi reservoir comprising of a variety of genera which contributes significantly to the ecological functioning of a marine ecosystem.
Endophytic fungi inhabit apparently healthy plant tissues and are prevalent in
terrestrial plants, especially root tissues, which harbour a wide assemblage of fungal
endophytes. Therefore, this study focused on the isolation and characterisation of
endophytic fungi from the roots of wild banana (Musa acuminata). A total of 31 isolates of
endophytic fungi were isolated from 80 root fragments. The endophytic fungi were initially
sorted according to morphological characteristics and identified using the sequences of
the translation elongation factor-1α (TEF-1α) gene of Fusarium spp. and the Internal
Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions of other fungi. The most common fungal isolates were
species of the genus Fusarium, which were identified as F. proliferatum, Fusarium sp.,
F. solani species complex, and F. oxysporum. Other isolated endophytic fungi included
Curvularia lunata, Trichoderma atroviride, Calonectria gracilis, Rhizoctonia solani,
Bionectria ochroleuca, and Stromatoneurospora phoenix (Xylariceae). Several of the
fungal genera, such as Fusarium, Trichoderma, Rhizoctonia, and Xylariceae, are among
the common fungal endophytes reported in plants. This study showed that the roots of wild
banana harbour a diverse group of endophytic fungi.
Basal stem rot (BSR) disease caused by the fungus Ganoderma boninense is the most serious disease affecting the oil palm; this is because the disease escapes the early disease detection. The biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum can protect the disease only at the early stage of the disease. In the present study, the expression levels of three oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) chitinases encoding EgCHI1, EgCHI2, and EgCHI3 at 2, 5, and 8 weeks inoculation were measured in oil palm leaves from plants treated with G. boninense or T. harzianum alone or both.
BACKGROUND: Trichoderma sp. SL2 has been previously reported to enhance rice germination, vigour, growth and physiological characteristics. The use of Potato Dextrose Agar as carrier of Trichoderma sp. SL2 inoculant is not practical for field application due to its short shelf life and high cost. This study focuses on the use of corn and sugarcane bagasse as potential carriers for Trichoderma sp. SL2 inoculants.
FINDINGS: A completely randomized design was applied for this study. Trichoderma sp. SL2 suspension mixed with corn and sugarcane bagasse were used as treatment mixture in soil. Growth parameters including rice seedling height, root length, wet weight, leaf number and biomass were measured and compared to control. The results showed that Trichoderma sp. SL2 mixed with corn significantly enhanced rice seedlings root length, wet weight and biomass compared to Trichoderma sp. SL2 mixed with sugarcane bagasse and control.
CONCLUSION: Corn can be a potential carrier for Trichoderma spp. inoculants for field application.
Sembilan aktinomiset endofit telah berjaya dipencilkan daripada pokok yang mempunyai nilai ubatan dari beberapa tempat di Semenanjung Malaysia. Pencilan tersebut telah dikenalpasti melalui pemerhatian morfologi, amplifikasi gen 16S rRNA dan analisis penjujukan 16S rRNA. Saringan awal terhadap aktiviti antimikrob telah dilakukan dengan menggunakan teknik calitan plat. Pembentukan miselium substrat dan aerial, warna jisim spora, pigmen larut dan morfologi rantai spora pada semua pencilan menyerupai Streptomyces sp. dan Microbispora sp. Analisis filogenetik jujukan separa 16S rRNA mendapati pencilan SUK 08, SUK 10 dan SUK 15 saling berkaitan dengan Streptomyceseurythermus ATCC 14975T. Walau bagaimanapun pencilan ini telah dipencilkan dari tumbuhan yang berbeza. Pencilan ini didapati mempunyai aktiviti antimikrob terhadap bakteria dan kulat kajian. Empat pencilan aktif iaitu SUK 08, SUK10, SUK 12 dan SUK 15 berupaya untuk membunuh dan merencat sehingga 100% satu atau lebih organisma patogen seperti Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani, Rhizoctonia solani dan Trichoderma viride. Kajian ini mengesahkan bahawa tumbuhan etnoperubatan adalah sumber pencarian aktinomiset endofit bioaktif yang berupaya menjadi sumber novel dalam pencarian agen antibakteria dan antimikotik.
Microfungi isolated from Malay traditional vegetables such as Centella asiatica, Cosmos caudatus, Oenanthe javanica, Persicaria odorata and Psophocarpus tetragonolobus are well diverse. A total of 40 isolates of the fungi were identified and classified into four genera such as Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium and Trichoderma. Five species of Fusarium were morphologically identified as F. oxysporum, F. semitectum, F. proliferatum, F. solani and F. konzum. Three species of Aspergillus were identified as A. niger, A. fumigatus and A. flavus. The highest number of microfungi was isolated from Cosmos caudatus (12 isolates), followed by Persicaria odorata (9 isolates), Oenanthe javanica (8 isolates), Centella asiatica (6 isolates) and Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (5 isolates). Four isolates of Fusarium species were able to produce moniliformin (MON) and five isolates were able to produce fumonisin B1 (FB1). This is the first report on diversity of microfungi associated with some Malay traditional vegetables.
Bioremediation of crude oil using biostimulation and/or bioaugmentation was done by simulation study in the green house under uncontrolled environment temperature. In this study, the soil with indigenous microbes was spiked with Tapis crude oil at 200 g/kg. The microbial density of the amended soils was augmented by addition of fresh inoculum of microbial consortium which consist of Pseudomonas aeruginosa UKMP-14T, Acinetobacter baumannii UKMP-12T and seed culture two strains of fungi, Trichoderma virens UKMP-1M and Trichoderma virens UKMP-2M at ratio 1:1:1:1 (v/w). The amendment soil was added with 20% (v/w) of standardize consortium inoculum, 20% (w/w) of dried empty fruit bunch (EFB) and the effect of EFB was compared with 0.7% commercial fertilizer (v/w) which contain NPK (8:8:1). Soil with indigenous microbes was used as a control. Results showed total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) degradation for treatment added with NPK fertilizer was 70.36%, addition with EFB bulking agent 68.86% and addition of both NPK and EFB was 100% at day 30 of incubation. The control plot, 62% of TPH degradation was achieved after 30 days incubation.
Kitin merupakan polisakarida struktur yang dapat dicurai oleh enzim kitinolisis kepada pelbagai terbitan yang boleh digunakan dalam bidang perubatan, pertanian dan rawatan air. Pengenalpastian dan pencirian gen-gen Trichoderma virens UKM1 mengekod enzim terlibat dalam pencuraian kitin krustasea telah dilakukan melalui penjanaan penanda jujukan terekspres (ESTs) dan analisis pengekspresan gen menggunakan mikroatur DNA. Sebanyak tiga perpustakaan cDNA T. virens UKM1 yang masing-masing diaruh oleh kitin, glukosamina dan kitosan telah dibina. Sejumlah 1536 klon cDNA telah dijujuk dan sebanyak 1033 ESTs berkualiti telah dijana. Seterusnya, perbezaan pengekspresan gen apabila pertumbuhan kulat diaruh dengan kehadiran kitin krustasea dan tanpa kitin pada hari ketiga dan kelima telah ditentukan. Sebanyak 1824 klon cDNA telah dititik ke atas slaid kaca dan dihibrid bersama dengan cDNA terlabel Cy3 atau Cy5 yang disintesis daripada mRNA yang dipencil daripada kulat yang ditumbuhkan dalam medium mengandungi kitin krustasea atau glukosa (kawalan). Sebanyak 91 dan 61 gen, masing-masing bagi hari ketiga dan kelima didapati terekspres melebihi dua gandaan apabila kulat menggunakan kitin krustasea sebagai sumber karbon. Beberapa gen mengekod kitinase seperti ech1 dan cht3 (endokitinase), nag1 (eksokitinase) dan nagB (glukosamina 6-P-deaminase) didapati terekspres dengan tinggi pada kedua-dua hari. Selain daripada itu, gen mengekod protein hidrofobin, protease serina dan beberapa protein hipotetik juga terekspres dengan tinggi dengan kehadiran kitin krustasea. Protein-protein ini dijangka memainkan peranan penting dalam membantu pencuraian kitin krustasea.
Basal stem rot is one of the major diseases of oil palm (Elaies guineensis Jacq.) caused by pathogenic Ganoderma species. Trichoderma and mycorrhizae were proposed to be able to reduce the disease severity. However, their roles in improving oil palm defence system by possibly inducing defence-related genes in the host are not well characterized. To better understand that, transcript profiles of eleven putative defence-related cDNAs in the roots of oil palm inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum T32 and mycorrhizae at different time points were studied. Transcripts encoding putative Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor (EgBBI2) and defensin (EgDFS) increased more than 2 fold in mycorrhizae-treated roots at 6 weeks post inoculation (wpi) compared to those in controls. Transcripts encoding putative dehydrin (EgDHN), glycine-rich RNA binding protein (EgGRRBP), isoflavone reductase (EgIFR), type 2 ribosome inactivating protein (EgT2RIP), and EgDFS increased in the oil palm roots treated with T. harzianum at 6 and/or 12 wpi compared to those in the controls. Some of these genes were also expressed in oil palm roots treated with Ganoderma boninense. This study provides an insight of some defence-related genes induced by Trichoderma and mycorrhizae, and their roles as potential agents to boost the plant defence system.
The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus thuringiensis alone or with gradual levels of NPK on photosynthesis, growth, fruit quality, aroma improvement and reduced radionuclides of key lime fruits. The lemon seedlings were treated with (T0) without fertilizers as control, (T1) 100g of NPK at 100%, (T2) 5 g of Trichoderma. harzianum at 50% + 50 g of NPK at 50%, (T3) 5 g of Bacillus thuringiensis at 50% + 50 g of NPK at 50 %, (T4) 7.5 g of Trichoderma harzianum at 75% + 25 g of NPK at 25 %, (T5) 7.5 g of Bacillus thuringiensis at 75% + 25 g of NPK at 25 %, (T6) 10 g of Trichoderma harzianum at 100 % and (T7)10 g of Bacillus thuringiensis at 100 %. The results showed that T2 increased net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, internal CO2 concentration, fresh and dry root biomass by 209%, 74%, 56%, 376%, 69.4% and 71.6%, while, T5 increased root volume, root length, and root tip number by 27.1%, 167%, and 67%, respectively over the control trees. The microbial treatments developed cortex, vascular cylinder and tracheal elements of the root. Fruit number, length, diameter, weight, pulp thickness, pulp/peel ratio, juice, total soluble solids (TSS), pigment contents and antioxidant activity increased significantly in the T2 treatment. Vitamin C, total phenols, total flavonoids, and total sugar content increased by 1.59-, 1.66-, 1.44- and 2.07- fold in T5 treated fruits compared to the control. The two microbes increased volatile compounds and decreased radionucleotides in the fruit, moreover, 27 identified and 2 (two) unmatched volatile compounds were identified by GCMS analysis. It is concluded that T. harzianum and B. thuringiensis with 25-50 g NPK treatments improved photosynthesis, root structure, fruit growth, fruit quality, aroma and lessened radionuclides in key lime fruits.
The β-1,6-glucanases are ubiquitous enzymes which appear to be implicated in the morphogenesis and have the ability to become virulence factor in plant-fungal symbiotic interaction. To our knowledge, no report on ß-1,6-glucanases purification from Trichoderma longibrachiatum has been made, although it has been proven to have a significant effect as a biocontrol agent for several diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to purify β-1,6- glucanase from T. longibrachiatum T28, with an assessment on the physicochemical properties and substrate specificity. β-1,3-glucanase enzyme, from the culture filtrate of T. longibrachiatum T28, was successively purified through precipitation with 80% acetone, followed by anionexchange chromatography on Neobar AQ and chromatofocusing on a Mono P HR 5/20 column. (One β-1,6-glucanase) band at 42kDa in size was purified, as shown by the SDS-PAGE. The physicochemical evaluation showed an optimum pH of 5 and optimum temperature of 50°C for enzyme activity with an ability to maintain 100% enzyme stability. Enzyme activity was slightly reduced by 10-20% in the presence of 20 mM of Zn2+, Ca2+, Co2+, Mg2+, Cu2+, Mn2+ and Fe2+. The highest β-1,6-glucanase hydrolysis activity was obtained on pustulan due to the similarity of β-glucosidic bonds followed by laminarin, glucan and cellulose. Therefore, it can be concluded that the characterization of ß-1,6-glucanase secreted by T. longibrachiatum in term of molecular weight, responsed to selected physicochemical factors and the substrate specificity are approximately identical to other Trichoderma sp.
Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease caused by Ganoderma boninense is the most destructive disease in oil palm, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia. The available control measures for BSR disease such as cultural practices and mechanical and chemical treatment have not proved satisfactory due to the fact that Ganoderma has various resting stages such as melanised mycelium, basidiospores and pseudosclerotia. Alternative control measures to overcome the Ganoderma problem are focused on the use of biological control agents and planting resistant material. Present studies conducted at Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute (IOPRI) are focused on enhancing the use of biological control agents for Ganoderma. These activities include screening biological agents from the oil palm rhizosphere in order to evaluate their effectiveness as biological agents in glasshouse and field trials, testing their antagonistic activities in large scale experiments and eradicating potential disease inoculum with biological agents. Several promising biological agents have been isolated, mainly Trichoderma harzianum, T. viride, Gliocladium viride, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Bacillus sp. A glasshouse and field trial for Ganoderma control indicated that treatment with T. harzianum and G. viride was superior to Bacillus sp. A large scale trial showed that the disease incidence was lower in a field treated with biological agents than in untreated fields. In a short term programme, research activities at IOPRI are currently focusing on selecting fungi that can completely degrade plant material in order to eradicate inoculum. Digging holes around the palm bole and adding empty fruit bunches have been investigated as ways to stimulate biological agents.
Basal stem rot of oil palm caused by Ganoderma boninense is of major economic importance. Observations of the low incidence of disease due to Ganoderma species in natural stands, suggest that the disease is kept under control by some biological means. Trichoderma spp. are saprophytic fungi with high antagonistic activities against soil-borne pathogens. However, their abundance and distribution are soil and crop specific. Trichoderma species have been found to be concentrated in the A1 (0-30 cm) and Be soil horizons (30-60 cm), although the abundance of Trichoderma was not significantly different between the oil palm and non-oil palm ecosystems. Characterisation of Trichoderma isolates based on cultural, morphological and DNA polymorphism showed that T. harzianum, T. virens, T. koningii and T. longibrachiatum made up 72, 14, 10 and 4% of the total Trichoderma isolates isolated. As Trichoderma species are present in the oil palm ecosystem, but at lower numbers and in locations different from those desired, soil augmentation with antagonistic Trichoderma spp. can be developed as a strategy towards integrated management of basal stem rot of oil palm.
Matched MeSH terms: Trichoderma/classification*; Trichoderma/growth & development
Chitinases are glycosyl hydrolases that cleave the β-1,4-glycosidic linkages between N-acetylglucosamine residues in chitin which is a major component of fungal cell wall. Plant chitinases hydrolyze fungal chitin to chitin oligosaccharides that serve as elicitors of plant defense system against fungal pathogens. However, plants synthesize many chitinase isozymes and some of them are not pathogenesis-related. In this study, three full-length cDNA sequences encoding a putative chitinase (EgChit3-1) and two chitinase-like proteins (EgChit1-1 and EgChit5-1) have been cloned from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The abundance of these transcripts in the roots and leaves of oil palm seedlings treated with Ganoderma boninense (a fungal pathogen) or Trichoderma harzianum (an avirulent symbiont), and a combination of both fungi at 3, 6 and 12 weeks post infection were profiled by real time quantitative reverse-transcription (qRT)-PCR. Our findings showed that the gene expression of EgChit3-1 increased significantly in the roots of oil palm seedlings treated with either G. boninense or T. harzianum and a combination of both; whereas the gene expression of EgChit1-1 in the treated roots of oil palm seedlings was not significantly higher compared to those of the untreated oil palm roots. The gene expression of EgChit5-1 was only higher in the roots of oil palm seedlings treated with T. harzianum compared to those of the untreated oil palm roots. In addition, the gene expression of EgChit1-1 and EgChit3-1 showed a significantly higher gene expression in the leaf samples of oil palm seedlings treated with either G. boninense or T. harzianum.
Trichoderma species are commercially applied as biocontrol agents against numerous plant pathogenic fungi due to their production of antifungal metabolites, competition for nutrients and space, and mycoparasitism. However, currently the identification of Trichoderma species from throughout the world based on micro-morphological descriptions is tedious and prone to error. The correct identification of Trichoderma species is important as several traits are species-specific. The Random Amplified Microsatellites (RAMS) analysis done using five primers in this study showed different degrees of the genetic similarity among 42 isolates of this genus. The genetic similarity values were found to be in the range of 12.50-85.11% based on a total of 76 bands scored in the Trichoderma isolates. Of these 76 bands, 96.05% were polymorphic, 3.95% were monomorphic and 16% were exclusive bands. Two bands (250 bp and 200 bp) produced by primer LR-5 and one band (250 bp) by primer P1A were present in all the Trichoderma isolates collected from healthy and infected oil palm plantation soils. Cluster analysis based on UPGMA of the RAMS marker data showed that T. harzianum, T. virens and T. longibrachiatum isolates were grouped into different clades and lineages. In this study we found that although T. aureoviride isolates were morphologically different when compared to T. harzianum isolates, the UPGMA cluster analysis showed that the majority isolates of T. aureoviride (seven from nine) were closely related to the isolates of T. harzianum.
Trichoderma is a genus of soil-borne fungus with an abundance of reports of its economic importance in the agriculture industry. Thus, the correct identification of Trichoderma species is necessary for its commercial purposes. Globally, Trichoderma species are routinely identified from micro-morphological descriptions which can be tedious and prone to errors. Thus, we emphasize that the accurate identification of Trichoderma strains requires a three-pronged approach i.e. based on its morphological characteristics, multilocus gene sequences of the rDNA [internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 and 2 regions], translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF-1α), Calmodulin (CAL) and its lignocellulolytic activities. We used this approach to identify a total of 53 Trichoderma strains which were isolated from a wet paddy field located at Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia. The 53 strains were positively identified as belonging to three Trichoderma species, namely T. asperellum (43 strains), T. harzianum (9 strains), and T. reesei (one strain) on the basis of its morphological characteristics and multilocus gene sequences. Phylogenetic trees constructed based on the UPGMA method of the ITS 1 and 2 regions of the rDNA, TEF-1α and CAL revealed three distinct groups with the T. asperellum, T. harzianum and T. reesei strains placed under the section of Trichoderma, Pachybasium and Longibrachiatum, respectively. In addition, the lignocellulolytic activities of the isolates were measured based on the diameters of the halo zones produced when degrading cellulose, lignin, and starch, respectively. This diagnostic assay can be used to identify Trichoderma as it produces polyphenol oxidase when Tannic Acid Media is used for the lignin test, endoglucanases when Jensen media is used for cellulose, and it hydrolyzes starch to glucose when the modified Melin-Nokrans media is used for the starch test. Accurate identification of Trichoderma species is needed as these strains can potentially be used as a biocontrol agent to prevent diseases and to increase yield in agriculture crops.
Many researchers have focused chitosan as a source of potential bioactive material during the past few decades. However, chitosan has several drawbacks to be utilised in biological applications, including poor solubility under physiological conditions. Therefore, a new interest has recently emerged on partially hydrolysed chitosan, chitosan oligosaccharides (COS). In this study, degradation of chitosan was performed by Cellulase from Trichoderma reesei® 1.5L and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) were employed to optimize the hydrolysis temperature, pH, enzyme concentration and substrate concentration. Optimization of cellulase T. reesei® using central composite design (CCD) was to obtain optimum parameters and all the factors showed significant effects (p˂0.05). The maximum response, Celluclast® activity (1.268 U) was obtained by assaying the process at 49.79oC, pH 4.5, 3% (v/w) of enzyme concentration and 25% (w/v) concentration of chitosan for 24 hours.
The expression profiles of Δ9 stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase (SAD1 and SAD2) and type 3 metallothionein (MT3-A and MT3-B) were investigated in seedlings of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) artificially inoculated with the pathogenic fungus Ganoderma boninense and the symbiotic fungus Trichoderma harzianum. Expression of SAD1 and MT3-A in roots and SAD2 in leaves were significantly up-regulated in G. boninense inoculated seedlings at 21 d after treatment when physical symptoms had not yet appeared and thereafter decreased to basal levels when symptoms became visible. Our finding demonstrated that the SAD1 expression in leaves was significantly down-regulated to negligible levels at 42 and 63 d after treatment. The transcripts of MT3 genes were synthesized in G. boninense inoculated leaves at 42 d after treatment, and the analyses did not show detectable expression of these genes before 42 d after treatment. In T. harzianum inoculated seedlings, the expression levels of SAD1 and SAD2 increased gradually and were stronger in roots than leaves, while for MT3-A and MT3-B, the expression levels were induced in leaves at 3d after treatment and subsequently maintained at same levels until 63d after treatment. The MT3-A expression was significantly up-regulated in roots at 3d after treatment and thereafter were maintained at this level. Both SAD and MT3 expression were maintained at maximum levels or at levels higher than basal. This study demonstrates that oil palm was able to distinguish between pathogenic and symbiotic fungal interactions, thus resulting in different transcriptional activation profiles of SAD and MT3 genes. Increases in expression levels of SAD and MT3 would lead to enhanced resistance against G. boninense and down-regulation of genes confer potential for invasive growth of the pathogen. Differences in expression profiles of SAD and MT3 relate to plant resistance mechanisms while supporting growth enhancing effects of symbiotic T. harzianum.
Basal stem rot (BSR) is a major disease of oil palm caused by a pathogenic fungus, Ganoderma boninense. However, the interaction between the host plant and its pathogen is not well characterized. To better understand the response of oil palm to G. boninense, transcript profiles of eleven putative defence-related genes from oil palm were measured by quantitative reverse-transcription (qRT)-PCR in the roots of oil palms treated with G. boninense from 3 to 12 weeks post infection (wpi). These transcripts encode putative Bowman-Birk serine protease inhibitors (EgBBI1 and 2), defensin (EgDFS), dehydrin (EgDHN), early methionine-labeled polypeptides (EgEMLP1 and 2), glycine-rich RNA binding protein (EgGRRBP), isoflavone reductase (EgIFR), metallothionein-like protein (EgMT), pathogenesis-related-1 protein (EgPRP), and type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein (EgT2RIP). The transcript abundance of EgBBI2 increased in G. boninense-treated roots at 3 and 6wpi compared to those of controls; while the transcript abundance of EgBBI1, EgDFS, EgEMLP1, EgMT, and EgT2RIP increased in G. boninense-treated roots at 6 or 12wpi. Meanwhile, the gene expression of EgDHN was up-regulated at all three time points in G. boninense-treated roots. The expression profiles of the eleven transcripts were also studied in leaf samples upon inoculation of G. boninense and Trichoderma harzianum to identify potential biomarkers for early detection of BSR. Two candidate genes (EgEMLP1 and EgMT) that have different profiles in G. boninense-treated leaves compared to those infected by T. harzianum may have the potential to be developed as biomarkers for early detection of G. boninense infection.