Lack of negative effects of the biological control agent Duddingtonia flagrans on soil nematodes and other nematophagous fungi

SAUMELL CARLOS A.; FERNÁNDEZ ALICIA S.; ECHEVARRIA FLAVIO ; GONCALVES ISABEL ; IGLESIAS LUCÍA E.; SAGÜÉS MARÍA F.; RODRÍGUEZ EDGARDO M.

JOURNAL OF HELMINTHOLOGY

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2016 vol. 90 p. 706 - 711

0022-149X

The possible environmental effects of the massive use of Duddingtonia flagrans for controlling sheep nematodes were evaluated in two regions. Non-supplemented faeces and faeces from sheep supplemented with D. flagrans were deposited three times on pasture plots and samples were collected 7 and 14 days post-deposition. Samples were cultured in agar-water (2%) with Panagrellus spp. to recover D. flagrans and other nematophagous fungi, and soil nematodes were extracted by baermannization and counted. No significant differences (p>0.05) were observed between supplemented and non-supplemented groups in the populations of soil nematodes and fungi colonizing sheep faeces except in one sample. The top soil in contact with the faeces was sampled to 4 months post-deposition revealing that, with one exception, D. flagrans did not persist in soil beyond 2 months post-deposition. Duddingtonia flagrans does not affect faecal colonization by other fungi and soil nematodes and, once deployed on pasture, does not survive for long periods in the environment.