Attraction of Nematodes to Living Mycelium of Nematophagous Fungi

Abstract
Methods were designed to detect attraction and repulsion of nematodes by fungi and determine the attraction intensity of different fungi. Of 23 fungi tested, 15 attracted the bacteria-feeding nematode Panagrellus redivivus. Of the 14 nematophagous fungi tested, 10 attracted and 1 repelled nematodes, while 3 were neutral. Among 9 non-nematophagous fungi, 5 attracted nematodes. The attraction intensity increased with increasing dependence of the fungi on nematodes for nutrients.