Mycologia
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DOI: 10.3852/mycologia.97.2.338
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Mycologia, 97(2), 2005, pp. 338-345.
© 2005 by The Mycological Society of America

Laboratory investigations of trichomycete prevalence, abundance and fecundity in a Smittium-simuliid model


Mark P. Nelder 1
John W. McCreadie

     124 Life Sciences Building, Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002

Charles E. Beard

     114 Long Hall, Box 340361, Department of Entomology, Soils and Plant Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634-0315

Smittium, the most speciose genus of the "gut fungi" (Zygomycota: Trichomycetes), is found attached to the hindgut cuticle of larval aquatic Diptera. Smittium spp. colonize several host families (e.g., Smittium culisetae in Chironomidae, Culicidae and Simuliidae), but some species appear to be specific to a single host family (e.g., Smittium morbosum Sweeney in Culicidae). The specificity of Smittium spp. within a host family has been difficult to resolve. This research presents evidence that certain Smittium spp. differentially colonize particular species of black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae) hosts as measured by differences in prevalence, abundance and fecundity. Reasons for this differential occurrence and fecundity in hosts are unclear but might include fungal responses to variations in host morphology, physiology, distribution or behavior. Variable fitness of Smittium spp., within a suite of available hosts, could be a factor in the diversity of this fungal group.

Key words: axenic cultures, colonization, Harpellales, Simuliidae, symbiosis

1 Corresponding author. 114 Long Hall, Box 340315, Department of Entomology, Soils and Plant Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 29634-0315. E-mail: mnelder{at}clemson.edu




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S. Vojvodic and J. W. McCreadie
The effect of temperature and host species on the development of the trichomycete Smittium culisetae (Zygomycota)
Mycologia, May 1, 2007; 99(3): 412 - 420.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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Copyright © 2005 by The Mycological Society of America.