Assessment of Combination of Biocontrol Strains on the Fusaric Acid and other Toxins Secreted from Fusarium oxysporum by HPLC-MS/MS Method and Differential Expression Profiling in Arachis hypogaea L

The ability of Fusarium oxysporum (Schlecht Emend. Snyder and Hansen) in Arachis hypogaea L to produce mycotoxins i.e. Fusaric Acid (FA), Deoxynivalenol (DON), Nivalenol (NIV), Zearalenone, (ZEN), Aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2 in Arachis hypogaea L. leaves in vivo was evaluated in relation to combination of three biocontrol agents, Trichoderma viride + Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma harzianum + Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma viride + Trichoderma harzianum. Among the toxins tested, only FA was identified in plants infected with Fusarium oxysporum by LC-MS/MS and quantified using HPLC (4 μg/Kg) Fusaric acid, Deoxynivalenol, Nivalenol, Zearalenone, Aflatoxin B₁, B₂, G₁ and G₂ toxins were not detected in plants treated with the combinations of biocontrol agents. The results demonstrate that this procedure is suitable for simultaneous determination of mycotoxins in Fusarium oxysporum of groundnut and the toxin (FA) identified which contributes to the pathogenicity of the fungus during infection. Further differential expression of genes of three leaf samples of control, infected with Fusarium oxysporum and treated leaf sample using combinations of biocontrol agents (Trichoderma viride + Pseudomonas fluorescens ) depicted 5559 genes in control specific, 4316 genes as infected specific and 4264 genes are treated specific. In treated samples 1265 up and 850 down regulation genes were depicted where as in infected sample 605 up and 509 down regulatory genes were depicted. Gene oncology and pathways were found from Uniprot data base. These findings provide new insights into the genetic and biochemical processes required for FA production of Fusarium oxysporum infecting Arachis hypogaea L.