Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 00:52:53 GMT From: Peter Cole <carnivor@flytrap.demon.co.uk> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg532$foo@default> Subject: Re: Carnivorous fungi
th_dewitt@ccmail.pnl.gov (Theodore H Dewitt) writes:
...
> I just learned of the existence of carnivorous fungi from a colleague
> at work. This really blew me away. I don't recall reading about this
> in any books on CPs (granted, most of us are primarily interested in
There's a brief mention in CHEERS _Carnivorous Plants of the World_
and SLACK _Carnivorous Plants_ I believe (though I can't put my
hands on them right now.) I recall Dactylorhiza spp. are mentioned
to be carnivorous, but this appears to be a genus that doesn't produce
attractive (or even macroscopic?) fruits.
> flowering CPs; or maybe I just skipped over that part), and thought it
> might be new to others on this list too. My apologies if this is an
> old and beat-to-death topic. I have only read bits & pieces from a
> few papers (a short bibliography is given below), but as a start,
> here's a little of the natural history. Apparently there are dozens
> to hundreds of fungi that are predatory to nematodes. They produce
I hadn't realized there were this many!
> special mycelial structures to trap the worms, which may be adhesive
> branches, networks, or knobs, or hyphal rings that trap by
> constricting or passively snaring (non-constricting) their prey.
and then grow through the captured nematode extracting the nutrients -
I don't know if this is accomplished with the aid of proteolytic enzymes
though.
> [Other fungi can kill & consume nematodes via ecto- or endoparasitism
> of eggs or sedentary females - but these don't strike me as unique as
> the predatory fungi]. The size of the traps runs from 5 um to 50 um
> (microns). There is some evidence that some fungi may gain some
> nutritional benefit from nematodes, but it seems many of the fungi are
> at least opportunistically saprophytic also. Some species live in
> soil and others in nutrient-poor rotting wood (there are probably
> other habitats too). Predatory fungi have been studied since the
> 1880's, and are of commercial/agricultural interest for their
> potential to control phytophagous nematodes. The fungi can be grown
> on special media (agar plus additives) - but I don't know how easy
> this is to do. At least some of the fungi include mushrooms (such as
> the edible Oyster mushroom, Pleurotus pulmonarius; see paper by Thorn
> & Barron), but I imagine many species don't have much ornamental value
Pleurotus spp. are very attractive and there are many spp. (most
not edible I guess from the texture,) coming in a wide range of colours
and forms. These could most likely be grown easily on dead wood, as
they are certainly abundant on fallen trees in our local woods.
> (but that's just my opinion). That's all I know (I'm not a
> mycologist, and apologies for gross errors); maybe others on the list
> can add to this brief natural history.
>
> So, for those of you who may have mastered & collected all of the
> flowering CP's, perhaps the world of carnivorous fungi will be your
> next challenge! ;-)
I have to confess, I have harboured an interest in these for a while
and would certainly be amused to grow some (even though they aren't
plants,) but perhaps I'm just odd - I've actually taken to potting up
liverworts that appear in CP pots because I rather like them (not
carnivorous of course, but the motile sperm is fascinating to look at
through a microscope!) There's nothing wrong with a little
diversification. Sadly there don't seem to be any CF nurseries out
there to indulge us in this though :)
Thank you for the bibliography - that certainly gives a few more leads
than the (few) mentions in more general publications. I'll check out
a few of these articles and who knows, I might yet get organized enough
to track down a few spp. (that should confuse readers of my growlist :-)
Happy growing,
Peter
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