First report of interaction of nematophagous fungi onLibyostrongylus douglassii (Nematoda: Trichostrongylidae)

• Main Authors: Fabio Ribeiro Braga, Jackson Victor Araújo, Alexandre de Oliveira Tavela, Vinicius Longo Ribeiro Vilela, Filippe Elias de Freitas Soares, Juliana Milani Araujo, Layane Queiroz Magalhães, Wendeo Ferreira da Silveira, Thais Ferreira Feitosa, Elaine Silva Dantas, Ana Célia Rodrigues Atahyde
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria
• Series: Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária
• Subjects: Nematophagous fungi; Duddingtonia flagrans; Arthrobotrys cladodes; Libyostrongylus douglassii; Struthio camelus
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-29612013000100147&lng=en&tlng=en

Libyostrongylus douglassii is a gastrointestinal nematode parasite of ostriches that can cause up to 50% mortality in young birds. The objective of this study was to compare the predatory capacity of two isolates of the predatory fungi Duddingtonia flagrans(AC001 and CG722 isolates) and one of Arthrobotrys cladodes (CG719) on infective larvae (L3) of L. douglassii under laboratory conditions, in 2% water-agar medium. The results showed that the fungi tested were effective in preying upon the L3 of L. douglassii (P < 0.05), compared with the control group. However, there was no difference in predatory capacity between the fungi tested (P > 0.05) during the seven days of experimental testing. In comparison with the control, without fungus, there were significant decreases (P < 0.05) of 85.2% (AC001), 81.2% (CG722) and 89.2% (CG719) in the average numbers of L3 of L. douglassii recovered from treatments with the isolates tested. In the present study, the three isolates of the predatory fungi D. flagrans (AC001 and CG722) andA. cladodes (CG719) were efficient at in vitro destruction of the L3 of L. douglassii.