Tolerance of Trichoderma isolates to increasing concentrations of heavy metals

The paper reports the growth of Trichoderma isolates in response to heavy metals. Six Trichoderma isolates (TF1, TF2, TF3, TF4, TF13 and TF29) were exposed to five concentrations for each metal (cadmium, copper, mercury and zinc). TF1 and TF13 showed no growth impairment under cadmium. Exposed to copper, TF3 was the most tolerant; this isolate, together with TF13, showed the highest growth in mercury medium. The TF29 was the most tolerant to zinc. This demonstrates the importance of evaluating the Trichoderma tolerance at the isolate level, aiming at a greater efficiency of the use of microorganisms in bioremediation programmes.