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How do I kill Thee?   Let me count the Ways!   (# 9)

Hohenbuehelia sp(N90): basidiospores are shot off from the gills of this wood decay mushroom, dispersed by wind and, under 'suitable conditions', germinate to produce adhesive knobs that attach to nematodes, penetrate to the interior and assimilate the host'.  Why do wood decay mushrooms capture  nematodes?   CLICK HERE

Above left - mushroom type fruitbody of  Hohenbuhelia N90 shoots off basidiospores.  Above right - basidiospores germinating in presence of nematodes produce adhesive knobs.

Basidiospores from fruitbody above germinate, in the presence of nematodes, to produce 8-shaped adhesive knobs.   Hilum is the attachment point of the original basidiospore to the basidium of the gilled fruitbody.

Hyphae from the parasitized nematodes colonize woody substrates in the vicinity.   These same hyphae produce hour-glass-shaped adhesive cells to capture more nematodes.      At this early stage of capture, before the fungus has penetrated the epidermis,  the nematode struggles vigourously to escape and can pull the hypodermis away from the epidermis as you see here.   If the nematode is close to moulting, the epidermis can split open and the nematode can escape.

   The vegetative hyphae of Hohenbuehelia secrete enzymes (cellulases and lignases etc) to digest the wood.  The  adhesive cells as seen above capture  nematodes as a supplementary source of  nitrogen.  

Images copyright George Barron from MycoAlbum CD (contains these pictures and 1000 more)

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