Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2014) 3(9) 1207-1217 1207 Original Research Article Induction of hydrolytic enzymes of phytopathogenic fungi in response to Trichoderma viride influence biocontrol activity C.Smitha 1,2 , G.T.Finosh 2 , R.Rajesh 2 * and P.K.Abraham 3 1 Department of Microbiology, PMS Dental college, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India 2 Microbiology Division, Biogenix Research Center, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India 3 Department of Biotechnology, Mohandas Engineering College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Soil borne fungal phytopathogens like Pythium,Fusarium,Alternaria,Aspergillus,B otrytis, Rhizoctonia and Phytophthora cause both post and pre harvest pathologies in agricultural crops (Chet & Inbar, 1994).Traditional pesticides, fungicides and fumigants have drastic effects on the environment in terms of pollution and toxicity.The generation of resistant strains due to the repeated application of these fungicides also offers serious challenges (Naseby, Pascual, & Lynch, 2001). As an advent to resist ecological impacts of chemical pesticides and fertilizers an array of biocontrol agents and biofertilizers including bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 9 (2014) pp. 1207-1217 http://www.ijcmas.com Keywords biocontrol, mycoparasitis m,fungal phytopathoge ns, hydrolytic enzymes, Trichoderma viride. Trichodermaviride is one of the most extensively studied saprophytic fungi for its potent biocontrol efficiency. The resistance generated by some phytopathogenic fungi against Trichoderma viride can be attributed to the inactivation of hydrolytic enzymes of Trichoderma viride which mediates mycoparasitism. The studied Trichoderma viride exhibited antagonistic against five phytopathogens namely Aspergillus niger, Pythium spp, Aspergillus flavus, Alternaria spp and Fusarium spp. The presence of coiling suggests effective mycoparasitism in the fungal interactions studied. Hydrolytic enzyme assays of Trichoderma co cultured with pathogens shows increased activity of celluase, chitinase and pectinase over monoculture which confirms positive induction of enzyme secretion by Pythium spp, Alternaria spp and Fusarium spp. The presence of pathogens like Pythium spp, Alternaria spp and Fusarium spp induced the total enzyme secretion of Trichoderma viride ,which can be correlated to increased antagonistic activity of Trichodermaviride against these fungi. Increase in protease enzymes of phytopathogens decreased the total biocontrol activity of Trichoderma which can be due to inactivation of hydrolytic enzymes. It can be concluded that the inducible hydrolytic enzymes of phytopathogens namely protease can modulate mycoparasitm of Trichodermaviride in a negative manner which can affect the total biocontroleffiency