The objective of the present study was to assess in vitro and in vivo the predatory fungus Arthrobotrys musiformis administered orally, in the form of alginate-microencapsulated conidia, or in natura in liquid medium after passage through the gastrointestinal tract of sheep. Maintenance of the predatory activity of the fungus was evaluated in the in vitro test, and its ability to control parasitic nematodes in naturally infested sheep maintained on pastures was analyzed in the in vivo test. The result of the in vitro test confirmed the viability of A. musiformis (95.5%) even after passage through the gastrointestinal tract. In vivo analysis revealed no difference in the number of eggs per gram between treated and control groups, probably because of the low crowding of the corrals, the insufficient amount and interval time of conidial supplying, permitting dispersal and migration of the larvae in the pasture. However, helminths recovered at autopsy from the tracer animals showed that A. musiformis reduced 50.9% and 57.6% the number of Trichostrongylus colubriformis in the groups treated with microencapsulated conidia and conidia in natura, respectively, and 95% the number of L4 larvae of Haemonchus in the group treated with conidia in natura. Despite the inconclusiveness of the results, A. musiformis was considered a promising agent in the biocontrol of gastrintestinal parasitic nematodes.
biological control; nematophagous fungi; predacious fungi
