ABSTRACT
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The Trichoderma species of fungus was first established in 1794 by the Dutch scientist
C.H. Persoon, but it remained poorly characterized for many years. In 1932, R. Weindling
made the first detailed descriptions of Trichoderma as a parasite of other soil fungi and
concluded that, under certain conditions, Trichoderma might be used for the biological
control of fungal diseases. Apart from some further work by Weindling (1934), however,
Trichoderma as a biocontrol agent received little further attention until the late 1970s. This
gap in biocontrol research is typically explained by the intervening successes of chemical
pesticides. Today, however, with hundreds of studies having being conducted on various
aspects of Trichoderma, this fungus has enjoyed commercial success as a soil inoculant
and seed treatment of agricultural crops, with numerous commercial products being
registered around the world. Here we offer a summary overview of this remarkable
organism; for a more extensive review of Trichoderma, see Harman et al. (2004).