Antifungal activity of commercial disinfectants against a benomyl-tolerant strain ofTrichoderma harzianum

A benomyl-tolerant strain (94110Tr) ofTrichoderma spp. was isolated from airborne fungi in a growing room for sawdust-based cultivation ofLentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler in Hokkaido. The strain was identified asT. harzianum Rifai, so the antifungal activity of benomyl (BEN), thiabendazole (TBZ), benzalkonium chloride (BAC), chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG), and glutaraldehyde (GLA) were tested against six strains ofT. harzianum, including 94110Tr. It was found that 94110Tr was more resistant than the others not only to BEN but also to TBZ, but it had no explicit tolerance to BAC, CHG, or GLA, similar to the other strains. CHG and GLA showed potent antifungal activity against most of the six strains. It is estimated that CHG and GLA are available for disinfection of the benomyl-tolerant strains ofT. harzianum found in edible-mushroom factories.Part of this paper was presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Society for Antibacterial and Antifungal Agents, Toyonaka, Japan, May 1997