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Cytology and Histology

Nematode-Trapping Fungi as Mycopathogens. S. S. Tzean, Graduate Student, Department of Plant Science, Macdonald College of McGill University, Ste.-Anne de Bellevue, Québec, Canada, HOA 1CO, Present address of senior author: Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, China; R. H. Estey, Professor, Department of Plant Science, Macdonald College of McGill University, Ste.-Anne de Bellevue, Québec, Canada, HOA 1CO. Phytopathology 68:1266-1270. Accepted for publication 10 March 1978. Copyright © 1978 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-68-1266.

Arthrobotrys oligospora, A. robusta, and A. superba, three well known nematode-trapping fungi, were found to be pathogenic to Matruchotia varians, Rhizoctonia solani, and a species of Geotrichum by induced, specialized coil-form hyphae. Light- and electron-microscopic views of the host-pathogen interface showed that the coils squeezed the host hyphae and degraded the host cell walls, causing them to collapse and eventually to lyse.