In Vitro Methodology to Reproduce the Conditions of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Ruminants: A Useful Tool to Assess Spores’ Viability from Nematophagous Fungi for the Biological Control of Parasitic Nematodes

Select Volume / Issue:

• Volume 3,Issue 1, Jan. 2016

Year:

2016

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

Arthrobotrys Oligospora, Biological Control, Candelabrella Musiformis, Parasitic Nematodes

Authors:

Orozco-Aceves, Martha; Calvo-Araya, José A.; Jiménez-Rocha, Ana E.; Acuña-Navarro, Oscar; Álvarez-Calderón, Víctor

Journal:

IJRAS

Volume:

3

Number:

1

Pages:

37-40

Month:

January

ISSN:

2348-3997

Note:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Abstract:

To be considered as a promising biological control agent of parasitic nematodes of ruminants, a nematophagous fungus must be an efficient predator of nematodes. Additionally, the fungus must be able to survive the conditions of the gastrointestinal tract of the animals when orally administered. The viability of fungal material after its passage through the gastrointestinal tract is traditionally assessed using living animals, which can be expensive and non-practical. Therefore, an in vitro test that can produce similar results as those obtained from an in vivo test is desirable. The main aim of this work was to determine the utility of Tilly & Terry’s methodology (1963; a methodology originally designed to test forage digestibility), which reproduces the conditions prevalent in the gastrointestinal tract. During the experiment, conidia or chlamydospores produced by 11 strains of nematophagous fungi native to Costa Rica were subjected to Tilly & Terry’s methodology, afterwards the viability of spores was tested. Out of the 11 strains, only two Candelabrella musiformis strains that were chlamydospore-forming fungi remained viable after the test. Finally, we discuss diverse aspects regarding the use of Tilly & Terry’s methodology for the assessment of fungal material viability, for example, type and number of spores, incubation times, and aliquot volume used in the viability test.

Full text: IJRAS_358_Final.pdf [Bibtex]