The role of nematophagous fungi in the biological control of nematode parasites of livestock

Abstract

The control of nematode parasites of livestock is presently based entirely on anthelmintic treatment and grazing management. On their own, these methods are not sustainable because parasites invariably develop resistance to anthelmintics and because of increasing public concern about chemical residues in livestock products and the environment. Although alternative, non-chemotherapeutic control strategies, such as vaccines and genetic selection for resistance are the focus of considerable research activity worldwide, biological control of nematode parasites has been virtually ignored. The little work that has been done is restricted largely to western Europe and involves virtually just one fungal species, namely Arthrobotrys oligospora. More recent studies indicate other known nematophagous fungal species are more efficient predators of infective larvae in sheep faeces than A. oligospora, and others have a greater capacity to survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants. These findings plus the relatively sparse numbers of microbial competitors in the fresh faecal environment, compared with the plant rhizosphere where biological control of plant parasites is proving a particularly intractable problem, engenders optimism that the biological control of animal parasitic nematodes may become a practical reality. Such control will never be a substitute for chemotherapy, where the primary purpose is worm removal from the host, but should be incorporated together with other options into integrated pest management systems to provide sustainable nematode control of livestock into the twenty-first century.