text: >Trichoderma is not considered a bad fungi.\n\nUses of Trichoderma\nThese versatile fungi are used commercially in a variety of ways, including the following: \n\nFoods and textiles: \nTrichoderma spp. are highly efficient producers of many extracellular enzymes. They are used commercially for production of cellulases and other enzymes that degrade complex polysaccharides. They are frequently used in the food and textile industries for these purposes. For example, cellulases from these fungi are used in "biostoning" of denim fabrics to give rise to the soft, whitened fabric--stone-washed denim. The enzymes are also used in poultry feed to increase the digestibility of hemicelluloses from barley or other crops. \nBiocontrol agents: \nAs noted, these fungi are used, with or without legal registration, for the control of plant diseases. There are several reputable companies that manufacture government registered products. Some of these companies are listed at the end of this web page. This site will not knowingly list any nonregistered products or strains offered for sale in commercial agriculture even though these products are common and their sale is widely ignored by governmental regulatory agencies. \nPlant growth promotion: \nFor many years, the ability of these fungi to increase the rate of plant growth and development, including, especially, their ability to cause the production of more robust roots has been known. The mechanisms for these abilities are only just now becoming known. \nSome of these abilities are likely to be quite profound. Recently, we have found that one strain increases the numbers of even deep roots (at as much as a meter below the soil surface). These deep roots cause crops, such as corn, and ornamental plants, such as turfgrass, to become more resistant to drought. \n\nPerhaps even more importantly, our recent research indicates that corn whose roots are colonized by Trichoderma strain T-22 require about 40% less nitrogen fertilizer than corn whose roots lack the fungus. Since nitrogen fertilizer use is likely to be curtailed by federal mandate to minimize damage to estuaries and other oceanic environment (see http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/legis98.html; there are a number of other sites on the web dealing with this topic, search for sites dealing with the ‘dead zone’) the use of this organism may provide a method for farmers to retain high agricultural productivity while still meeting new regulations likely to be imposed.\n\nAs a source of transgenes. \nBiocontrol microbes, almost by definition, must contain a large number of genes that encode products that permit biocontrol to occur. Several genes have been cloned from Trichoderma spp. that offer great promise as transgenes to produce crops that are resistant to plant diseases. No such genes are yet commercially available, but a number are in development. These genes, which are contained in Trichoderma spp. and many other beneficial microbes, are the basis for much of "natural" organic crop protection and production.