Morphogenesis in the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora: an extensive plasticity of infection structures

Observed trap formation, capture, penetration and digestion in a nematode-trapping fungus under controlled conditions, recording what induces traps and how the sequence proceeds after a worm is caught.

Studied in

Arthrobotrys oligospora, Nematoda

Sample size

fungal cultures observed through trap formation and capture

Traps are formed in response to the presence of nematodes rather than produced continuously. After capture, the fungus penetrates the worm’s cuticle, produces an infection bulb, and grows trophic hyphae that digest the animal from inside.

• Laboratory culture on plates; behaviour in structured soil is far harder to observe.
• One species in detail, though the pattern is described across the group.

• Predatory fungi

  Some soil fungi hunt. They build traps — including rings that inflate in about a tenth of a second to hold a struggling worm — and they build them only when prey is present, not all the time.

• Predatory fungi

  The fungus knows when worms are near because it listens to them. It builds traps in response to the chemical signals nematodes use to communicate with each other — with no worm present at all.