Vol. 10, Special Issue 1, Part K (2026)

Forty nine Trichoderma isolates purified from the soil samples collected from the copper mining locations of Uttarakhand on Trichoderma specific medium. The isolates were classified using the primers ITS 1 and ITS 4. There was no inter or intra species length diversity was noticed, indicating the highly conserved nature of 5.8S r RNA gene in the genome. Similar band pattern of all the isolates confirmed that the isolates were belonged to the genus Trichoderma. Molecular diversity of 49 Trichoderma isolates was performed using eight ISSR markers. Based on UPGMA cluster analysis, 49 Trichoderma isolates were grouped into cluster I and II at 30 per cent similarity. Cluster-I comprise of 28 isolates, was further subdivided into three sub clusters, each of which was further subdivided. Cluster II comprising of 21 isolates, further subdivide into two sub clusters 2a, 2b. Sub cluster 2a was subdivided into two clusters 2a’, 2b’; 2a’ comprised of 15 isolates while 2b’ contain 3 isolates. Sub cluster 2b had only one group of three isolates. Among all the isolates maximum similarity (minimum diversity) was found between TCMS 46 and TCMS 71 (0.67), while minimum genetic similarity (highest diversity) was observed between TCMS 1 and TCMS 79 (0.294). Results showed high diversity among the isolates of Trichoderma. The potential strains may further be tested for antagonism and may use for sustainable crop disease management.