Study on Nutritional Requirements of Nematophagous Fungi in Terms of Carbon and Nitrogen Sources

Abstract

Nematophagous fungi act as natural enemies for biological control of plant parasitic nematodes. Dactylaria eudermata and Arthropotrys oligospora are the nematohogous fungi producing one to three dimensional hyphal bails and adhesive nets as a capturing device were selected and it was observed that growth and trapping effectiveness is influenced by temperature and C:N ratio. For the assessment of favorable temperature radial growth of both the fungi was studied at different temperature and 25 ºC was recorded as an optimum temperature. Carbon and nitrogen content in media affect their predacity against plant parasitic nematode so their growth and sporulation were studied by providing different carbon and nitrogen sources. Among carbon sources, Glucose was the best source for both the fungi whereas Potassium nitrate for D. eudermata and Sodium nitrate for A. oligospora were recorded as the best Nitrogen sources. Keywords: