Abstract
Duddingtonia flagrans is a nematode-trapping fungus that has shown promising results as a tool to combat parasitic nematode infections in livestock. The fungus interrupts the parasitic lifecycle by trapping and killing larval stages on pasture to prevent re-infection of animals. One barrier to the fungus’ commercial use is scaling up production of the fungus, and specifically of chlamydospores, which survive the digestive tract to grow in fecal pats on pasture, thus have potential as a feed through anthelmintic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dehydration on sporulation of the fungus. Disks of Duddingtonia flagrans type strain (ATCC® 13423™) were grown on 17% cornmeal agar for 26 days at 30 °C, then split into three groups; dried quickly at 38 °C and 37% humidity over 48 h (“incubated”), dried more slowly at 24 °C and 55% humidity over 10 days (“air-dried”), or kept at 30 °C and sealed with parafilm to prevent loss of moisture as a control (“wet”). Half of each dried culture was resuspended in water, then heated to liquify and homogenized through vortexing. Spores were then counted in a Neubauer hematocytometer. Both the “air-dried” and “incubated” drying techniques yielded significantly more spores than the “wet” control (Welch’s two sample t test p values of .0359 and .0411, respectively). The difference in average chlamydospores per milliliter was insignificant between the two drying techniques, although a visual representation of the data shows less spore count variability in the “air-dried” technique.
Highlights
As anthelminthic drug resistance continues to increase in parasitic nematode populations around the globe, alternative treatment methods and control regimens continue to gain importance
While chlamydospore production can be increased through optimization of growth media and supplementation (Sagüés et al 2012), the results of this study indicate that further processing of fungal cultures such as challenging with dry conditions can increase the number of chlamydospores produced, increasing Duddingtonia flagran’s commercialization potential as a parasitic control agent
The observed effect of an increase in chlamydospore formation during drying should be taken into consideration when identifying the effective dosage in chlamydospores per gram if the feed additive is a dry supplement
Summary
As anthelminthic drug resistance continues to increase in parasitic nematode populations around the globe, alternative treatment methods and control regimens continue to gain importance. The ability of D. flagrans to grow in fecal pats, persist on pasture, capture, and kill larval stages of nematodes, makes it an attractive biological control agent It targets parasites in the environmental life cycle stage, thereby preventing infection. Section Editor: Elizabeth Marie Warburton tract of host animals (Larsen et al 1992; Larsen 1999; Grønvold et al 1993; Faedo et al 1997; Ojeda-Robertos et al 2009), delivering the fungus directly to the fecal pats where the larvae will hatch This allows it to be used as a feed additive, which is a more convenient and efficient treatment method than broadcast spreading over pasture. The fungus has a minimal environmental impact and a broad range of potential targets in both ruminant and non-ruminant host species (Braga and Araújo 2014)
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