Existing mushroom predators. Mushrooms are predatory. What mushrooms are called carnivorous? Carnivorous mushrooms

Modern science About two hundred species of mushrooms are known that can attack small animals, kill them and even digest them. Their victims can be protozoa, microorganisms such as rotifers, small crustaceans and roundworms. Science knows more than six hundred species of plants that prey on animal food, insects, spiders and other arthropods; they can even eat small vertebrates - frogs, lizards, rats and birds.

Most plants obtain nitrogen through root system, most often with the help of a special bacterium, and most fungi receive nutrients from the soil. But, living in environments where there are not enough nutrients, predatory fungi and plants have evolved - they have learned to make traps to attract prey. Some of them have “weapons” that are more complex than the torture chambers of the Middle Ages. You will go to great lengths to attract prey.

About one hundred and fifty species of tropical insectivorous plants of the Nepenthes species live in South-East Asia, in the Philippines, Borneo, Sumatra, New Guinea, Sri Lanka and the west coast of Madagascar. Some of them are quite large in size and can catch and digest various animals, including small vertebrates.

Three species living in tropical forests Borneo, which resemble a toilet in appearance are Nepenthes lowii, N. rajah, and N. macrophylla. In addition to using trapping leaves that grow on the ground around them to trap and digest small animals, some have toilet leaves located above the ground.

Nature invented these “toilets” as a kind of perch for a small mammal - the common tupaya, which licks the sweet nectar produced by the plant. To reach the nectar, the tupaya needs to climb into the hole in the trap leaf. The rain will wash the prey into the bowl, where the plant will digest it and receive the necessary amount of nitrogen.

Oyster mushroom

This type of mushroom loves to kill the worm

The oyster mushroom is a type of oyster mushroom that grows on the trunks of dying and dead trees and destroys them. The wood is rich in cellulose and lignin but low in nitrogen, so this insidious fungus secretes a chemical bait to attract its prey - roundworms.

When a worm crawls onto a mushroom, the mycelium filaments release a toxin and paralyze the victim. Then enzymes are released that penetrate the body of the worm and the digestion process begins.

dung beetle

Another representative of edible mushrooms is the ubiquitous dung mushroom. It self-dissolves (digests itself) to release a slippery, black liquid mass within 4-6 hours after the spores separate or after it is picked by a mushroom picker. This process can be prevented if the mushrooms are sautéed or placed in cold water. In the video above you can see the whole process.

Roundworms (nematodes) have more nitrogen than they need because they have a bacterium that retains it. They release most of the nitrogen in the form of ammonia, which is why they become victims of fungi. The dung fungus preys on only two types of nematodes - Panagrellus redivivus and Meloidogyne arenaria; upon contact with it, the processes on the body of the fungus hit the worm, the cup catches the prey and presses on it, as a result the contents of the insides come out. This mechanism, combined with a cocktail of poisons, kills the victim in a few minutes. The threads of the mycelium penetrate into his body and digest the remains of the flesh.

A mushroom that kills with a net

Using a sticky net, the mushroom catches its prey and digests it.

The fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora is an anamorphic (vegetatively reproduced) fungus and does not produce a fruiting body. It builds a sticky network of rod- and ring-shaped elements that adhere to the skin of the nematode as a result chemical reaction. Lectin (a special protein on the surface of the mesh) reacts with the secretion on the worm's skin, forming a bond that cannot be destroyed. No matter how hard the worm resists, it will not be able to get out.

As you know, the most common nematode-hunting fungus, A. oligospora, lives in soil, animal feces, and even in fresh and salt water, where it feeds on the products of rotting plants. Sticky networks appear only when there is a potential victim nearby, which the fungus identifies by smell. Worms secrete pheromones, with the help of which they communicate with each other, control their numbers and determine the location of their fellows. Thanks to this secret, Arthrobotrys oligospora can save its energy and not build networks in vain.

Different types of fungi respond to different sets of enzymes, depending on the type of nematode they prefer. But it's not that simple. Certain bacteria produce a large number of urea, which enters the soil and mushrooms that absorb it. The fungus converts urea into ammonia, which takes part in the creation of adhesive networks. Urea also attracts worms, which increase in number as they feed on the bacteria. The bacteria produce more urea, which stimulates the fungus to create more networks and regulate the number of worms. Thus, the bacterium organizes its protection from pests. In addition, this is beneficial for the fungus itself, since the worms produce the nitrogen it needs.

Mushroom cowboy and his lasso

Some types of fungi, for example Dreschlerella anchonia, hunt their prey using a lasso formed from three cells with a special compound, forming a ring with a diameter of 0.03 mm. The nematode crawls into the ring and breaks the line of least resistance on its inner wall. The osmotic pressure inside the ring draws in the liquid, and in a tenth of a second the volume triples. The ring pinches the victim, not giving her a chance to escape. It often happens that due to the resistance of the victim, he gets stuck only in the second ring.

After the victim is caught, the mushroom secretes a secretion that digests it alive from the inside. The ancestors of these mushrooms existed 100 million years ago in southwestern France. And lived in Cretaceous period next to dinosaurs and flying reptiles. But, unlike their contemporaries, the ring was formed from one cell and was even narrower (about 0.015 mm).

Pemphigus

More than two hundred species of the genus Utricularia live in small freshwater bodies and marshy soils on all continents except Antarctica. And all of them are carnivores. These plants are one of the few that do not have a stem or leaves, but only a flower and a trap bubble. This mechanism is present only in this plant species.

The bubble creates a kind of vacuum, pumping liquid from the inside out by contracting the walls. The trap is sealed with sticky mucus, which prevents water from penetrating inside. This mucus contains carbohydrates, which attract prey.

When a small crustacean or any other suitable prey touches the hairs of a predator, the “mouth” opens and the plant sucks in water along with the prey. All this happens at lightning speed, in about 0.001 seconds. The trap is instantly sealed, the plant spits out the remaining water and calmly digests the prey.

Zhiryanka

Insects in search of water land on shiny drops of butterwort secretion and stick tightly

The butterwort plant of the genus Pinguicula uses a mechanism for attracting prey like sticky tape for flies: on the surface of the leaves there are hair-like glands that secrete sparkling drops of mucus. These droplets attract insects that are looking for water.

Insects land on the leaf and stick. The insect's attempts to get out create vibration, and the leaf slowly curls up, absorbing prey and releasing more mucus. Special glands then secrete enzymes to digest the prey. The products of the digestion process are absorbed into the plant through holes in the surface of the leaf. Such holes are unusual for plants; thanks to them, butterworts are susceptible to dehydration.

Their brightly colored flowers with sweet nectar inside are located at the top of the stem, so pollinators are not trapped in the leaves, which are closer to the ground to attract midges, mosquitoes and other insects.

Sundew

The sundew's trap mechanism is even more elaborate than that of the butterwort. The shiny glandular hairs on the leaves (thanks to which the sundew got its name) are longer than those of the sundew, but the mechanism of operation is identical. The glands produce nectar to attract insects, sticky mucus to trap them, and enzymes to digest them.

Flies and other insects land on the leaves to drink dew and stick, then the leaf curls up and absorbs the prey. This rather long process can take up to several hours, but the victim will not go anywhere - it is firmly glued to the sheet.

Carnivorous plants that prefer insects

Carnivorous plants form leaf traps—tall, hollow, tube-like cups containing a mixture of acidic water and a surfactant. Their insect-catching leaves resemble flowers that turn purple-red due to the pigment anthocyanin, which is also responsible for coloring autumn leaves. Near the hole in the trap, the leaves produce sweet nectar that attracts flies, ants, beetles and other insects.

The vertical walls of the trapping leaf are covered from the inside with slippery wax, which helps the victim slide into the pool of water below. If the prey manages to jump out of the pool, it hits the walls of the trap and falls back into the water. A special secretion keeps insects at the bottom, where they are slowly digested. The process is accelerated by a bacterium that lives in this liquid and produces additional enzymes.

About a thousand species of similar plants live in the swamps in the east North America, and twice as many of their relatives of a slightly different family in South America, some of them are found in Northern California and Oregon.

Carnivorous bromeliad

Bromeliads attract small insects by offering them UV protection, but the price for such a beach umbrella is too high

The bromeliad family includes about 3,000 varieties of primitive plants belonging to grasses and sedges; they live only in the American tropics and subtropics. A rare specimen can be found in Africa. The same family includes pineapples, Spanish bearded moss and an endless number of epiphytes that live in the jungles of Central and South America. Many of these plants live in the tops of trees, where they absorb carbon dioxide from the air for photosynthesis. The leaves of these plants form something like a pool where water and tropical tree frogs can lay eggs in these pools, where tadpoles will then hatch. Some bromeliads are succulents and live in the deserts of the northwestern United States. These plants are ideally adapted to a carnivorous lifestyle, especially since insects often fall into water pools and drown. However, only three species are actually carnivorous. The upper leaves of these three varieties support a pool of water, and the outside is coated with a loose powder that reflects ultraviolet radiation and attracts bugs and insects sensitive to sunlight, with the help of a secretion similar to nectar, which these insects feed on. They land on leaves, lose their balance and fall into the water, where, under the influence of enzymes, the prey is digested.

The plant world is amazing in its diversity; some of us can’t even imagine that so many plants can be carnivorous. We advise you to take a closer look at your indoor flowers, perhaps they also prey on flies or butterflies.

Few people know that carnivorous plants exist, and perhaps very few have heard of carnivorous mushrooms.

These mushrooms are not quite ordinary: they live in the soil and are called soil fungi. They feed on organic substances formed during the decomposition of plants and animals. But among soil fungi there are species whose food is nematodes. Mushroom predators have their own tricks for catching delicious worms.

First of all, the filamentous mycelium spreads in such a way that rings form in the soil. From such rings a real fishing net. Nematodes will not slip through it, especially since the inside of the rings is very sticky. The nematode will try to escape in vain: the victim of the predatory fungus is doomed.

Among the mushrooms there are also “arcanists”. They form special catching loops at the ends of the hyphae. As soon as the nematode gets into it, the loop swells and contracts, squeezing the victim in an insidious embrace.

Predatory fungi even received the special name helminthophages - worm eaters. Could these predators be used to control nematodes?

At one of the coal mines in Kyrgyzstan, a disease caused by nematodes, hookworm, was widespread among miners. Professor F. Soprunov and his colleagues decided to use predatory mushrooms to combat them. In a mine where there were especially many nematodes, powder with fungal spores was sown. The conditions for mushrooms were excellent: there was moisture and warmth. The spores sprouted, and predators began to destroy the harmful worms. The disease was defeated.

Nematodes attack potatoes, sugar beets, and cereals. They do not disdain onions and garlic. It is difficult to name cultivated plants that would not be attacked by nematodes. That's why scientists are developing various ways to combat them, one of them is the use of mushrooms. And although there are still many unresolved questions facing scientists, this method is still promising.

Everyone knows citric acid, which is used both in the household and in Food Industry. Where do they get it from? From lemons, of course. But, firstly, lemons do not contain much acid (up to 9 percent), and secondly, lemons themselves are a valuable product. And now another source and method of obtaining citric acid was found. The mold fungus Aspergillus niger (black mold) copes with this task perfectly.

Russian scientists first developed methods technical use mushrooms to produce citric acid. Here's how it happens. First, a film of black mold is grown in a 20 percent sugar solution with the addition of mineral salts. This usually takes two days. Then the nutrient solution is drained, the lower part of the mushroom is washed with boiled water and a clean, sterilized twenty percent sugar solution is poured in. The mushroom quickly gets to work. Four days, and all the sugar has been converted into citric acid. Now it’s up to the person to isolate the acid and use it for its intended purpose.

This method is quite profitable. Judge for yourself: from lemons collected from one hectare, you can get about 400 kilograms of citric acid, and from sugar produced from sugar beets from the same area, mushrooms produce more than one and a half tons. Four times more!

... It was manufactured in 1943. The war was raging. And people had to wage another war... against mushrooms. Yes Yes. Against the most common mold fungi.

Unable to use the sun's energy to produce nutrients the way green plants do, molds use organic matter, either living organisms or materials from organic matter. So the mushrooms attacked the leather cases of binoculars, cameras and other devices. What about the cases! Their secretions (various organic acids) corroded the glass, and it became cloudy. Hundreds of lenses and prisms failed.

But even this was not enough for the mushrooms. They began to inhabit motor fuel and brake fluids. When fuel containers are filled with kerosene, moisture always condenses on their cold inner walls. And even if it is not enough, it may be enough for mushrooms to begin to take root at the border of water and kerosene. The mold fungus, which extracts carbon from kerosene, is especially good here.

But it turned out to be even more suitable for mold fungi brake fluid containing glycerin or ethylene glycol. A film of mold also forms on the surface of such liquids. During operation of the mechanisms, its fragments are carried along with the fuel and cause clogging of the pipes and valves of the machine.

Many people know the house mushroom - a merciless destroyer of wood. When plastics were created, everyone breathed a sigh of relief: finally there was a material that was not afraid of mushrooms. But the joy was premature: mushrooms have also adapted to plastics.

Take, for example, polyvinyl chloride plastic used for insulation. Then the fungi attacked her, and very cleverly, with the help of tiny mites (up to 0.5 millimeters) that feed on mold fungi. In search of food, ticks crawl everywhere, including into electrical appliances. After they die, the fungal spores inside them germinate and begin to destroy the plastic. If this is insulation, then there may be a current leakage that occurs short circuit. Fungi and other plastics are affected.

True, now special additives are introduced into liquid or plastic that prevent the development of fungi. But for how long? After all, mushrooms are inventive organisms; they can adapt to this.

“...The patients were tormented by severe, unbearable pain, so that they complained loudly, gnashed their teeth and screamed... An invisible fire hidden under the skin separated the meat from the bones and devoured it,” - this is how the ancient chronicler described the still unknown disease, later called “evil writhing.” , "Anton's fire".

It was a serious illness. In France alone in 1129, more than 14 thousand people died from it. Other countries also suffered from it. The cause of the illness was unknown. It was believed that heavenly punishment falls on people for their sins. And no one could have thought that the cause of the terrible disease was bread, or rather, those black horns that were on the ears of grain. But here’s what’s strange: the monks ate this bread, but they didn’t get sick.

More than one century passed before the secret of black horns, ergot, was revealed.

But summer is coming to an end. The threads of the mycelium that come out intertwine, turn red, then become purple, even black purple, become denser and form a characteristic horn. All the troubles come from him. But only at the end of the 19th century it was discovered that horns contain toxic substances - alkaloids.

Why didn’t the monks get sick? The secret is simple. Turns out, poisonous properties alkaloids gradually decrease over time and completely disappear after two to three years. In monasteries, as a rule, there were huge reserves of bread. They lay there for years, and during this time the ergot lost its toxicity.

Now ergot has been eliminated from the fields. However, it is now specially grown. For what? They began to prepare medicines from ergot. They cause vasoconstriction.

Sometimes in the summer in the meadows there are grasses (fescue, hedgehog), which have many rusty-brown tubercles on their leaves and stems. These are sick plants. The disease is called rust. It is caused by special rust fungi. The most common fungus is Puccinia graminis - stem rust of cereals, related to higher mushrooms, although according to appearance it is unlike the honey mushrooms, boletuses and other similar mushrooms that we are familiar with.

Rust fungi are very small and have a rather complex development. At the end of June - beginning of July, the tubercles burst and spores fly out of them. This is a summer debate. They are yellowish in color, oblong or oval, and covered with many spines. The wind picks them up and carries them to new plants. They penetrate through the stomata into the leaf tissue, grow and form a fibniz. The mushroom grows quickly and can produce several generations in one summer. This is why the disease spreads quickly. The trouble is that rust affects not only wild cereals, but also cultivated ones (rye, wheat, oats, barley). Scientists began to study the development of puncture, but in the spring its trace was lost, and in the summer it reappeared on cereals. What's the matter? Where did the mushroom go? And how did it appear again on cereals?

Research continued. It turned out that when autumn comes and the grains ripen, puccinia begins to prepare for winter. Instead of rusty yellow tubercles, black ones appear, which contain special spores - winter ones. Each such spore consists of two cells with a rather thick shell, which protects the spores from unfavorable winter conditions. In winter they are at rest.

How did the fungus end up on cereals again? The way is this: after “sitting out” on the barberry leaves, the spores germinate, forming swellings on the underside of the leaf, filled with new “fresh” spores. And when they got on the grains, they caused rust on them. Needless to say, the device is quite ingenious, with the ability to confuse traces.

But not only puncture has intermediate host. This is typical for many other rust fungi. Thus, in oat rust, the intermediate plant is buckthorn. It was noticed: if there are no intermediate plants near the crops, rust does not develop on the main plants.

What prudence, ingenuity and perseverance these mushrooms demonstrate, winning their place in this world!

When we talk about predators, we immediately imagine representatives of the animal world with large teeth.

Although then the second thought catches up with us: that not only animals are considered predators, because from the biology course at school we remember very well about plants - predators that feed on small insects. So today we will talk about some more representatives flora, which are also fraught with danger and live by eating the flesh of living organisms - these are predatory mushrooms.

No matter how strange it may sound, among the fauna of our planet there are also mushroom monsters that, having neither mouth nor teeth, perfectly hunt and feed on their victims.

But let’s take it in order, let’s find out what types of mushrooms are classified as predators, what danger they pose and what their role is in nature.

What are these mushrooms like?

Predatory are representatives of the genus of fungi that catch and kill representatives of the animal world, of course we're talking about and their miniature forms. These mushrooms are classified in a special environmental group, which mycology identified according to its feeding method.

Predators can also be considered saprotrophs, since in the absence of the opportunity to profit from animal organisms, they are completely satisfied with dead organic matter.

Predatory mushrooms are also called hunters, because in order to catch prey they have to perform certain manipulations.

There are mushrooms. Which can shoot their spores to hit the victim, while the flight range is one meter. Once in the body, the spore begins to germinate and feed on it.

But that’s not all, there are other types of mushroom hunting, by which they are classified. Among them are:

• Monacrosporium ellipsosporum, which have round heads with a sticky substance on the mycelium, with which they capture their prey;
• Arthrobotrys perpasta, Monacrosporium cionopagum – their trapping apparatus is represented by sticky branched hyphae;
• Arthrobotrys paucosporus has a trap in the form of an adhesive network, which is obtained as a result of the ring-shaped branching of hyphae;
• Snow-white dactylaria has a mechanical device for capturing the victim, with the help of which the microorganism is grasped, compressed, as a result of which it dies and becomes food for the fungus.

Predatory mushrooms, however, like other representatives of this vast genus, adapt with lightning speed to any changes in the environment.

Based on this, it is quite reasonable that they have existed since prehistoric times, although since then they have evolved and changed more than once, that is, they have adapted.

Today, hunter mushrooms are distributed throughout the world; they have perfectly adapted to any climatic zones. Predators include primarily representatives of imperfect fungi.

How do mushrooms lie in wait for their prey?

Using the example of mushrooms that arrange their sticky rings, let’s look at how prey is obtained.

And so, as the mushroom grows, it covers the soil with a large number of rings of hyphae, which gather into a network and surround the mycelium. As soon as a nematode or other small animal comes into contact with this ring, instant adhesion occurs and the ring begins to crush its victim and after a few seconds hyphae penetrate the body and devour it from the inside.

Even when the nematode managed to escape, after contact there will already be hyphae in it, which grow at lightning speed and feed on flesh, as a result, within a day, only the shell remains of the prey.

Using the same principle, mushrooms hunt microorganisms that live in bodies of water, only they use special outgrowths as traps that catch victims.

Through them, hyphae penetrate into the body, which completely destroy it.

The fairly well-known oyster mushroom also feeds on microscopic worms. And she catches them with the help of a toxic substance, which is produced by accessory hyphae from the mycelium. Under the influence of toxins, the worm falls into a paralyzed state and the fungus digs into it and absorbs it. However, it should be noted that the fruiting body of the mushroom itself does not produce or contain toxic substances.

Mycologists consider predatory fungi as a special ecological subgroup, since in the absence of animal food, they feed on organic matter, assimilating mineral compounds nitrogen.

Hunter mushrooms are also of interest as a means of controlling nematode pests.

Mushroom predators

A distinctive feature of this peculiar group is its special way of feeding - predatory. Mushrooms catch and kill microscopic animals using special trapping devices. Predatory fungi are widespread in globe. Most representatives of this group are imperfect fungi (hyphomycetes), but this also includes zygomycetes and some chytridiomycetes.

Ten predatory mushrooms and plants that you had no idea existed (5 photos + 6 videos)

Their habitat is soil and rotting plant debris. For a long time, many carnivorous fungi were considered ordinary saprotrophs. Predation in fungi probably appeared in ancient times, especially among representatives of imperfect fungi - they have the most complex hunting devices. Evidence of this is also their wide distribution in all climatic zones.

Predatory fungi are found on mosses and in water bodies, as well as in the rhizosphere and on plant roots.

The vegetative mycelium of predatory fungi consists of branching hyphae (5-8 µm); chlamydospores and conidia are located on vertically standing conidiopses of various structures.

Predatory fungi include imperfect fungi of the genera Arthrobotrys, Dactylaria, Monacroporium, Tridentaria, and Trypospormna. The food of predatory fungi are nematodes - protozoan invertebrates and their larvae; less often, fungi catch amoebas or other small invertebrates.

Dactylaria under a microscope

The traps of predatory mushrooms are very diverse.

The most common traps are hyphal outgrowths covered with an adhesive substance. The second type of traps are oval or spherical sticky heads sitting on mycelium branches. The most common type of trap is the third type - sticky nets consisting of a large number of rings. This type of trap is formed as a result of abundant branching of hyphae. The nets of these fungi trap a very large number of nematodes. Nematodes stick to the sticky surface of the rings and, trying to free themselves, stick even more.

The fungal hyphae dissolve the cuticle of the immobilized nematode and penetrate its body. The process of absorption of the nematode lasts about a day.

Sometimes a large nematode breaks the nets and carries away the adhered fragments of hyphae on the body. Such a nematode is doomed: the hyphae of the fungus, penetrating the body of the invertebrate, kill it.

Traps in the form of spherical sticky heads

Predatory mushrooms also have a fourth type of trap - mechanical.

The principle of its action is simple: the victim is compressed due to an increase in cell volume. Inner surface hunting cells are sensitive to the touch of the prey, react very quickly, increasing in volume and almost completely closing the lumen of the ring (dactylaria dactylaria). The mechanism of action of shrinking trap cells has not been fully studied. The presence of a nematode or its metabolic products stimulates the formation of a trap in the predator. Sometimes trapping rings form due to lack of food or water.

It is believed that predatory fungi release toxins. Predatory fungi, in the absence of prey, develop as saprotrophs, feeding organic compounds and assimilating, like many saprotrophs, mineral nitrogen compounds.

In the soil, predatory fungi compete well with other fungi and microorganisms. Apparently, predatory fungi are another ecological group of soil saprotrophic fungi. Predatory fungi are of interest in the biological control of nematodes pathogenic to plants, animals and humans.

Examples of predatory mushrooms

The vegetative mycelium of predatory fungi consists of abundantly branching septate hyphae no more than 5-8 microns thick. Chlamydospores are often formed in old hyphae. Various trapping devices develop on the mycelium, described below. Conidia in predatory fungi develop on vertically standing conidiophores of various structures and have one or more septa. The first conidium is formed blastogenically at the apex of the conidiophore, then a new growth point appears in its niche and a new conidium develops.

This process is repeated many times, resulting in the formation of a cluster of conidia at the apex of the conidiophore, often thickened and warty. If the conidiophore proliferates at one of the successive growth points and this process is repeated, a series of thickened nodes containing conidia are formed on the conidiophore (Fig.

246). In addition, predatory hyphomycetes include representatives of the genera Tridentaria (Tridentaria) and Tryposporina (Tproprogsha) with star-shaped spores (Fig. 246) and other fungi.[...]

Sometimes nonspecific induction of the development of traps is observed by extracts from animal tissues, blood serum, CO3 ions and other influences.

In the culture of some nematodes, substances were discovered that stimulate the formation of traps in predatory hyphomycetes and were called nemin. It is believed that this is a low molecular weight peptide or amino acid. A protein with non-minic activity was obtained from the body of roundworms. In some predatory hyphomycetes, for example, in Arthrobothrys dactyloides (A. cactyloides), the development of traps occurs in the absence of nematodes under conditions of relative lack of food or water.

Perhaps in nature, these factors, along with morphogenetic compounds such as nemin, regulate the formation of traps in predatory fungi.[...]

What mushrooms are called carnivorous? How do they hunt? How do people use them?

Answers:

Predatory mushrooms (predatory mushrooms) are mushrooms that catch and kill microscopic animals using special trapping devices. This is a specialized ecological group of fungi, distinguished in modern mycology by the way fungi feed - the food is microscopic animals captured by fungi. They may be classified as saprotrophic fungi that feed on dead organic matter, since in the absence of prey they feed like saprotrophs.

Some mushrooms hunt in water. the filaments of the mycelium form outgrowths in the form of rings of three cells that respond to touch. If a nematode accidentally gets into such a loop, they swell three times in a tenth of a second and pull the victim so tightly that it dies.

Then the threads of the fungus grow inside the victim and digest it. Predatory mushrooms can be classified according to the type of traps. The first type of traps are hyphal outgrowths covered with a sticky substance. The second type of traps are oval or spherical sticky heads sitting on the branches of the mycelium. People seem to use it on the farm (vegetable garden).

Continuing the mushroom theme of the previous post.

There are carnivorous animals, there are carnivorous plants, and there are also carnivorous mushrooms.

The predatory fungus Arthrobotrys anchonia caught the nematode ( roundworm) using two three-cell trapping rings. Photo by N.Allin and G.L.Barron (from www.uoguelph.ca)

When we talk about mushrooms, it never occurs to us that the term “predator” can be applied to them. After all, they are motionless, and they don’t even have a mouth. And yet, on earth there are not only insectivorous plants (for example, sundews), but also predatory fungi. This is not a figment of the imagination science fiction writers or Hollywood directors. Of course, their prey is even smaller in size than that of predator plants, but this is precisely the prey that they catch, kill and digest.

What kind of mushrooms are these and where do they grow? Predators include, for example, representatives of the genera Stylopagev\Arthrobotrys from the order Hyphomycetes. Fungi belong to the hyphomycetes, including life cycle which were not found to have sexual reproduction. All such mushrooms were called imperfect (fungi imperfect/). Later, however, it turned out that many of them are the asexual stage of other, already described species. In total, approximately 30 thousand species of imperfect fungi are known, of which more than 160 species feed on animals.

There are much more predatory mushrooms than carnivorous plants. They are almost ubiquitous: they are found in almost all types of soil, manure, and various organic residues. However, as a rule, we do not see them, and if we do, we do not know about their predation. You can only see how the mushroom kills its victim through a microscope.

Among the scientists who began to study them is I.I. Mechnikov. The first predatory mushroom described in the literature belongs to the genus Arthrobothrys. Its sexual stage is known asOrbilia from the group of ascomycetes, or marsupial fungi. Orbilia develops on rotting wood, where its small fruiting bodies, similar to reddish buttons, can be seen. However, some of its hyphae grow into the soil specifically for hunting.

We can say that predatory mushrooms spread their invisible networks right under our feet. And the nets do not remain without a catch. Fungi hunt small soil nematodes such as roundworms and their larvae. Some species living in water catch cyclops crustaceans and small roundworms - rotifers. The victims of predatory fungi can be amoebas and even small insects. However, their main prey is nematodes, which are barely visible to the naked eye. In the soil they are found in huge quantities - up to twenty million per square meter! And the mushrooms did not miss such an abundant food source.

How can mushrooms catch and eat a nematode? There are several types of traps for this. The predator's fishing system often resembles a fishing net with many hooks. Mushrooms Monacosporium cionopagum And Dactylella lobata form sticky, column-like branches. Some species from the genus Arthrobotrys They catch worms by spreading sticky nets or noose rings. Such a trap consists of three cells that form a ring with a diameter of about 30 microns. IN normal condition it is thin, but with a fairly wide opening. As soon as the crawling nematode inserts the front end of the body into the hole, a reaction is triggered and the cells of the ring sharply thicken, squeezing the prey as if in a vice. The animal tries to free itself, tugging at the mycelium threads, but all efforts are in vain. It happens that the victim gets entangled in two rings at once, although one is enough to catch him.

Dactylaria Candida has ring traps that do not squeeze the prey. Interestingly, hyphae with another type of traps - sticky buttons - grow from the eaten nematode. Buttons have a syncytial structure, that is, they are several cells fused with each other and contain several nuclei. Such traps release a special protein that interacts with carbohydrate molecules on the surface of nematodes. As a result, a glue is formed that tightly holds the prey.

In any case, the result of the hunt is the same: the hyphae of the fungus grow through the cuticle (the integumentary membrane of the worm) and secrete digestive enzymes. In many species, so-called assimilative, digestive hyphae penetrate the body of the victim. After a few hours, an empty shell remains from the nematode. Nutrients The fungus uses the mushrooms obtained in this way for the growth of mycelium or the formation of conidia (reproductive organs) and conidiospores.

Fungal traps do not wait for prey to be nearby and release specific substances that attract nematodes. After all, many nematodes feed on fungi and find them using chemical sense. They crawl towards the mycelium thickets in the hope of profiting, but they themselves end up for lunch. In experiments, mushrooms growing on one Petri dish caught more than five hundred worms per day!

It is interesting that some predatory fungi develop adaptations for hunting only in the presence of prey, while others always have them.

Some predatory fungi have come to live in aquatic environment. In a famous group Oomycetes Most representatives are saprophages, that is, they feed on organic debris. Some of them affect fish eggs and form mold on insects that fall into the water. Among them there is also a predator— Zoophagus, which catches rotifers. The name of the mushroom can be translated as “animal eater.”

In addition to inconspicuous mushrooms living in the soil, as it turns out, the well-known oyster mushroom can also be considered a predator! Yes, yes, this one edible mushroom also preys on nematodes. Only the mechanism of predation here is different: the mycelium of the fungus grows thin adventitious vegetative hyphae that secrete a toxin. This poison paralyzes nematodes, but does not kill. Hyphae of another type, directed, search for prey, grow inside, and then everything happens, as in other predatory fungi. The oyster mushroom toxin ostreatin acts not only on nematodes, but also on enchytraeids (large soil worms related to earthworms) and oribatid mites. However, it is not produced in the fruiting bodies, so we can safely eat oyster mushrooms. The original role of ostreatin is protection against mycelium eaters (mites, springtails, tardigrades). Another type of cap mushroom - Conocybe lactea - also produces a toxin that repels and kills nematodes, but this fungus, unlike predatory ones, does not eat dead worms.

In addition to nematodes, oyster mushrooms also consume bacteria. In soil, bacteria usually form microcolonies. Direct hyphae are sent to such microcolonies, grow inside and form special feeding cells that, with the help of enzymes, dissolve bacteria and assimilate their contents. After a fungal attack, only empty shells remain of bacterial cells. Several wood-eating mushrooms, and even some champignons, can hunt bacteria.

Why do mushrooms, and even wood-destroying ones, need predation? The answer is quite simple. Like insectivorous plants, fungi find an accessible source of nitrogen and phosphorus in animals, since these elements are contained in minute quantities in dead wood, and the nitrogen fixation mechanism characteristic of bacteria is absent in fungi. For example, in wood, the carbon to nitrogen ratio ranges from 300:1 to 1000:1, whereas normal growth requires 30:1. An important nutrient is clearly missing. So the mushrooms went on the hunting path.

Kira Stoletova

In nature, there are predatory mushrooms that feed on small living organisms. There are about 200 species of currently existing representatives of the Mushroom kingdom. They are able to attack, eat and even digest soil nematodes. Used for this special devices in their structure, which differ in a number of features from other mycelial hyphae. They adapt well to environmental conditions.

Characteristic

It all started with the fact that in the 19th century, Russian scientists M. S. Voronin and N. V. Sorokin, conducting research virtually in parallel, noticed rings on the mycelium of some types of mushrooms - but for what reason remained unknown until 1888. This year German scientist F.W. Zopf, after conducting a series of studies, found that these strange formations serve to catch microscopically small soil nematode worms. The remains of representatives of the species were discovered in amber.

Nowadays, predatory fungi are classified as a separate ecological group. Previously, they belonged to saprotrophs. This fact is explained by the fact that if there was no opportunity to profit from living organisms, they can also feed on dead organic matter.

They are distributed all over the world. They grow on old stumps, mosses, rhizosphere and plant roots. They also love stagnant bodies of water. They are found on soils, in manure and organic residues. Release toxins.

Irina Selyutina (Biologist):

The vegetative mycelium of predatory fungi usually consists of branching septate hyphae no more than 5-8 microns thick. Chlamydospores often form in old hyphae. Traps of various structures develop on the mycelium. Often, predatory mushrooms capture animals in their traps that are much larger than the hunter. The size of the nematodes that these fungi are capable of catching is 0.1-1 mm, and the thickness of the fungal hyphae is no more than 8 microns (1 micron = 10 -6 m). Catching such large prey was made possible by the emergence of various trapping devices in the process of evolution.

Varieties

Mushrooms are divided into groups, depending on their devices for catching small animals:

• branching hyphae with a sticky substance - protrusions are formed in species growing in water bodies;
• sticky round heads on mycelium;
• the adhesive mesh, which appears as a result of the branching of hyphae in the form of rings, dissolves the cuticle of nematodes and penetrates their flesh;
• mechanical trap - mycelial cells increase, the lumen of the ring closes, the victim is compressed, which leads to its death.

Fungi often form a trap when a prey is nearby. They are formed at the moment when the body of the fungus needs food or water. Sometimes nematodes can escape from a trap, but after such contact they will no longer live. Within a day, only a shell will remain of the animal.

Some predators infect the prey with spores, shooting them 1 m away. Once in the body, they begin to grow and feed at its expense.

Examples

Predatory mushrooms in most cases are mostly representatives imperfect species, which are combined into a group called Hyphomycetes, as well as Zygomycetes and some Chytridiomycetes, representatives of other taxonomic groups. These include:

• Dactylaria;
• Monacroporium;
• Tridentaria;
• Tryposporin.

Examples of predators:

Orbilia: it grows in rotting wood. Reminds me of red buttons. Its hyphae burrow into the soil to hunt. Some champignons also have this ability.

Oyster mushroom: grows on wood that cannot provide it with the required amount of nitrogen. The species is edible. Its mycelia form hyphae that secrete the toxin ostearin. It has a paralytic effect on nematodes (round soil worms), relatives of earthworms - enchytraeids, and oribatid mites. A mushroom that has caught its prey releases enzymes. The digestion process begins. Toxins are not present in the fruiting bodies, so they are suitable for consumption.

Arthrobotrys insectivorous: lives on the surface of the land, has adapted to catching representatives of springtails, or springtails, using a trap capable of capturing an insect.

Practical use

Predatory fungi are used to control nematode pests.

When growing vegetables and champignons, biological products obtained from mycelium and fungal spores are used. They are combined with the following substrates:

• corn chaff;
• composts containing straw and manure;
• mixtures of peat and straw, etc.

The biological product in dry form has proven itself excellent in caring for cucumbers. It is used before sowing and 2-4 weeks after it, embedded in the soil. Dosage – 300 g/m². It is effective to use the mixture when hilling bushes. The same amount of the product is used for champignons. It is introduced into the hole, sowing the mycelium on top.

Predatory mushrooms in the composition of the biological product have a positive effect on the safety of the crop. A one-time use of the product reduces the number of nematodes by 30-35%. When growing seedlings, periodic use can kill up to 30%.

Conclusion

Mushrooms are called carnivorous because of their ability to feed on insects, worms and other small representatives of the animal kingdom. In nature there are much more of them than plants that feed on living organisms. Their main food is soil nematodes. In the soil there are up to 20 million of these pests/m².